Relief

Today's post was supposed to be about Penn. Instead it's going to be about me.

Between paying for Mikey's surgery earlier this year, Mikey's death, buying Penn, paying for Penn's insurance and PPE, a looming saddle purchase for Penn, and more non-horsey life items that cost money- finances have been tight.

I'm lucky that I had the money stashed away that paid for Mikey's surgery and recovery. I'm lucky that there was enough leftover and then some to buy Penn. I'm praising me from the past for knowing that I wanted all things horsey and to save every bit of money I made while I was living under my parent's roof.

I love my job:

• I like coming to work (when the buses aren't being supremely annoying).
• I like what I do.
• My boss is great.
• My department is very on board with life/work balance and being flexible (we get two 2 hour early outs or late ins per month to take care of life, and we have work remote capabilities)
• My department also seems to really care about its people
• For my 5 years of service to the company I get a completely ridiculous amount of time off. I get 3-4 personal days, 20 days of vacation and can "buy" 5 more so I essentially end up with more than 5 weeks of time off. Lob that on top of the fact I work from home one day a week.

I was trying to figure out how to make my finances work for next year when there's things that really need to be done... the house needs new gutters and trim etc, husband and I need a new bed. We both passed on a vacation this year to pursue our own interests and do solo "vacation" trips, but we want to vacation together next year- without the focus being horses or cars. Basically, money became quite tight and I was debating finding a new job because there were things I wanted and needed to do!

I got a large promotion today, a new pay grade, and it came with a 16% raise! For reference: a raise of 9.9% or less is usual when you change jobs within my company, and promotions usually amount to 6-7% raises.

I can't go crazy by any means and I still need to make sure I pack my breakfast and lunch every day, but I can finish paying off Penn's bills within the month. Penn himself is paid for, but all of the bills that accompany buying a horse are still on my credit card... something I loathe doing but it was necessary due to all the cash outflow at the time. After that, I can stash everything else for next year. There were 5 local shows and 4-5 recognized shows that I wanted to take him to next summer. I also wanted to try to qualify for First Level Regional Championships since Penn is a bit fancier than Mikey and might have a better shot at doing well. Husband and I wanted to go on a budget vacation too.

But with my raise, tax return, and odd jobs I do all year round, I should be able to do it all!

I'm not religious at all, but today I'm feeling blessed. I have a job that will pay the bills and let me save, I have an incredible second horse, our family has grown by one more cat who makes life before her seem like something was missing, and husband and I are making plans for next year. :-)

Medium trot from Mikey and my first second level test ever (July 2013). So much suspension!
Just because this post needs a picture :-)