Here's to you (*cough *cough)

Originally, this post was going to make reference to the fact that I was wearing black to mourn the loss of my identity. No, someone hasn't stolen it. Rather, we started all the paper work to change our photo ids, bank accounts, leasing agreements, and all that jazz to our new hyphenated last name. It was a rather amusing post, regaling you with how the change - which I had originally hoped to delay for years, if it was ever to come to fruition - was forced upon us by the purchase of airline tickets under our new names (a gift from Scott's parents) for a wedding we're attending out of province in a few months.

And then I got a phone call (actually, a text message - Scott doesn't talk on phones) which effectively shut down every single bank account, credit card and piggy bank with either of our names on it. Scott was accepted in school this fall. While we are accustomed to budgeting for tuition payments, the web design program he is entering is a full-time condensed program which runs for a solid 12 months. While that means becoming one of those lucky couples with no kids and few financial obligations a lot sooner (or, as I prefer to think of it, able to take on a mortgage much sooner!), it does also mean eating up all of our life savings. In order to avoid going into debt (we collectively have taken 14 years of post-secondary education without incurring a single cent of debt), especially since it may be a while before I can find a job (stupid American economy making people in Canada nervous), I am going to have to cut way back on all non-essential spending. Glad I found a pair of jeans at Value Village the other week, or my butt would be naked.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some celebrating to do. Since we're both fighting colds, we're going to crack open a bottle of cough syrup and toast being one more step closer to our future!