Things and Money

In the past week, I've received two requests for handmade items. For a long while, I didn't know what to make of these sorts of requests. People often want to pay for them, but I know that if I charged a reasonable fee, the price would be exorbitant and out of their price range. Besides, I don't like putting financial constraints like that on friendships - part of the fun of making something for a friend involves personalizing it and presenting it as a gift. So my strategy is to request a handmade item in return - the requester can either make the item him/herself, or acquire it as needed. It's tough, though, balancing out these requests with other projects that need to get done. Especially for knitted/crocheted projects (though at least crocheting goes faster than knitting). At least I'm getting a reasonable amount of knitting in, right now, because of mandatory attendance of Genetics lectures (which I already attended all summer). Altogether, though, it's great that so many people appreciate the beauty of handmade items. I want to encourage that.

I got my W-2 in the mail, yesterday. I've been waiting for it, to some degree, because I'm curious about last year's income relative to prior years (I haven't been able to check yet). Coincidentally, the Arizona Republic just published an article about Arizonans' financial conditions, allowing me to measure up my current income against poverty measures. The good news is, apparently my income is almost above the poverty level for a family of four. I'm grateful that I don't have to support three other people on my income, though, because that would definitely mean a major shift in lifestyle - no health insurance, no more "fun" expenses like ceramics or CSA participation, etc. And as the article notes, it's not really possible to get proper nutrition on that kind of income.

The other good news is that, with my return to teaching this semester, I'm getting a bit more take-home pay than I'd been getting since last May. Enough that I might occasionally be able to buy something substantive that isn't strictly necessary, like maybe that cedar chest I've been wanting, for storing my woolens before they are moth-eaten. On the other hand, with an uncertain financial future (when oh when will I get situated with a postdoc?), I should still stockpile resources to some degree.

Other than that, well. I'm feeling a bit of the strain of the new semester, mostly in terms of scheduling my life. With rowing on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Genetics lectures at 9 am on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'm up early every day of the week. That precludes spending much time with scrottie in the later evenings. I have to remind myself that the semester will end, eventually, and I'll have more freedom then. But still, I miss having those times during the week.