I intend to become certified to interpret American Sign Language (henceforth known as ASL), but like everything there is a cost to this training. That cost, according to my careful, if somewhat liberal, calculations, comes to around $13,250 with textbooks and various other accoutrements, over a four-year span (one year of which I'll likely be able to work full-time, thank god).
Why am I talking about money crap? Well, for two reasons: one, it's my blog and I can write whatever I want, so nyah. And two, it made me think of the funny (well, I think it's funny) anecdote that forms the title of this post. Given that I (and GP, if he's so inclined, which I think he is) will have to move to Vancouver for my schooling, our lives are going to be hella (ha, I'd never say that in person but it seems appropriate here) expensive. And I am wondering how I'm going to make my ends meet. I doubt GP will really have to worry because he's a lawyer and we all know lawyers are rich.
Anyway, the point is I got to thinking about the idiom "make ends meet" and how, when I was a kid, I always thought it was "make endsmeat", like you're making a kind of meat. As in "What are we having for supper?" "Endsmeat and potatoes, dear.". That kind of thing. And now I think it's funny that I thought that, but it makes total sense because people always say "makeendsmeet" so quickly that it's hard to tell where the word boundaries are. (I want to make some nerdy linguistics joke here, but I'll refrain, mostly because I can't think of anything witty enough right now.)
What I'm trying to say here is that kids don't think about money because (hopefully) they don't need to. Obviously I have to think about money more and more, the less kid-like I become, but I think remembering your kid-ness is important because it reminds you that taking time to have fun and think up imaginary things like endsmeat is just as important as taking time to plan out how to make ends meet.
A picture (or two, or three) of a very simple dinner, which consisted of grilled garlic/lemon chicken, a beautiful salad, and some yummy iced tea I made (from scratch, of course):
Making ends meet drives me nuts. As do student loans.
ReplyDeleteBut that wasn't what I was going to say; what I was going to say was: my sister's boyfriend is fluent in ASL (it was his first language because both his parents are deaf, although he isn't), so if you end up moving to Vancouver and want extra practice, you should make friends with him. My sister is pretty decent at it too actually. I only know the alphabet and about 20 or 30 other words. Also, if you need help with neighbourhood / transit / etc recommendations I'll be happy to help...although I assume this isn't immediately pressing.
Just realized you probably don't know who this is. Oops!
ReplyDeleteUm, guess?
Kim, to make ends meat you could become a web cam girl (?).
ReplyDelete2) Student debt in Canada is $13 billion (and counting), not including provincial loans, lines of credit and credit cards (so maybe more like $20 billion). So, if you don't want to become a web cam girl, take on some debt to pay for your future. You won't be alone.
Scylla- I don't like guessing games. Tell me! All the people who jump to mind don't have sisters.
ReplyDeleteKB- Greg suggested being a surrogate mother the other day, which I'm beginning to think is a viable option. Also thinking about selling my unlaundered panties to creeps on Craigslist. I think I'm allergic to debt.
It's Kyla -- sorry, forgot I had a super cryptic blogspot display name!
ReplyDelete