So I'm sitting at home waiting for my mechanic to call so I can go pick up my car. Normal people would be excited about this but I'm shaking because I'm about to drop this guy a check for an amount of money that I've never spent in one place before and my husband is gripping cuz he has to go to work in less than an hour, AND it's dark, which means I'll have to drive back from this place in the dark. (road anxiety/night blindness)

Wow. That was a long sentence.

These last couple of days have had their ups and downs. My internet was off for about four days, damn paypal, so I haven't updated. Today is Matt's last night on overnights and he starts school in a week. I'm surprised to say I'm sorry to see it go.

At first I hated Matt working overnight, and not for the reasons you may think. Most wives I talk to say they can't fall asleep if their husband isn't lying next to them. But I knew that would never be the case with Matt and I. During his off semester, he stays up till 3 or 4 in the morning on a regular basis. It never really bothered me much, except when I would wake up with an anxiety attack from time to time and he wasn't there. And I've lived alone long enough to not crave nightly companionship. But I did miss him kissing me goodnight before I turned out the light and he retired to the living room.

What I didn't like was how he was trying to adjust his schedule to sleeping in daylight and he was crabby and distant all the time. It was like having a cardboard cut out in place of him all the time.

On the plus side, his moodiness lasted only about a week, giving me a taste of my own monthly medicine. What's really nice is that when I wake up, he's been home for a few hours already and we have breakfast together. Usually, he's read the chapter I've edited the night before and we discuss it. Then I go off to work, and he tries to get some sleep. I try to be as quiet as I can during the day, but luckily he's not as light a sleeper as I am.

Most nights we get to have dinner together. Before we only had dinner two, maybe three nights a week if we were lucky. Now we eat two meals a day with each other!

And the temporary pay raise was nice too. We'll miss that. Money has been bugging me lately. I'm glad we're not in debt, but it feels like we can never get ahead. I see all these other couples who only go to school and live off their student loans and wonder how they do it. Sometimes I have little glimpses into their lives. I see them making the trip to shop at WinCo. I see them baking their own bread and never going out to eat, or out at all, for that matter. Renting movies from the library.

What do I do to save money? I've started borrowing books from friends, instead of ordering them online. I've gone back to generic deli meats. We go to the beauty school to get our haircuts. I mostly shop clearance racks when I splurge on clothes. Our Wal-Mart discount helps too.

There's more, I'm sure. But I should just be thankful I don't have to live off ramen noodles and snack wraps anymore.