Oh, the places you'll go

When Scott received his first paycheck from his new job, the first thing I did was calculate how long it would take us to pay off our student loans, now that we were working with two incomes again.  I know.  Super lame.  Fortunately for me, I married a man who hates debt as much as I do, so he didn't serve me with divorce papers when I asked told him I was going to start throwing his entire income (along with a large portion of mine) to our loans.  Although our student debt is staggering (an MBA and a JD don't come cheap), by my calculations, I concluded we would be able to move from red to black within two years, barring any additional "unforeseen disruptions" in our cash flow.  Considering the fact that we've seen a sizable amount of our income shunted off into the black hole of loan repayment for pretty much the entire six years we've been married ($56,088.33 and counting), the prospect of being completely debt-free in two years is pretty tantalizing.  This got me thinking of what we would do with the extra $2,507 per month that will suddenly be classified as "disposable income" once we've paid in full the loans that financed the extra letters at the end of our names.  Just one year of saving the money previously earmarked for loans would exceed $30,000.  Not too shabby.  At first I thought, "We'd finally be able to afford to buy a decent house, cable television and a new car!"  That would definitely be a very grown up thing to do, right?  Buy a nice house in a good neighborhood, get the little luxuries we currently forego, put down roots, and continue to work our way up the career ladder in our respective fields.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I don't want that.  In fact, I want the exact opposite of that.  I want to pare down my possessions to the bare essentials, toss it all in a storage locker, and go be homeless for as long as my savings will sustain me.  Sometimes the only thing that gets me through the workday is staring at the travel photos on my wall and reminding myself that there is an amazing world outside the confines of my office, and at one point in time, I was actually there.  The more time that passes, the more I realize that I don't want to be that person who spent her entire life being an extremely adept attorney, but was too practical and too "mature" to take big risks and do all the things she really wanted to do in life.  I want to see new places, experience different cultures, eat weird food and meet new people.  I want to scuba dive The Great Barrier Reef and walk the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.  I want to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa during the day time and eat really good sushi in Japan.  This has been a persistently nagging desire of mine for quite some time.    The first time I pitched it to Scott, his response was  not quite as enthusiastic as I had hoped.  This, of course, was almost two years ago, when our life circumstances were quite different.  When I put the idea out there again two weeks ago, his response could not have been more perfect: He brought home a huge, laminated map of the world, which he promptly hung in our bedroom.  He presented me with a dry erase marker, and told me to start circling the places I want to go.  The answer is everywhere.  With my favorite travel companion on board, I am determined to make this happen.          

Shoulda put a ring on it.

I love being married, but apparently I'm the worst ever when it comes to remembering to wear the physical evidence of my matrimonial union.  Scott never misses an opportunity to comment on my inherent ability to dash out the door, sans wedding ring.  I always assure him that we're still married, even if I don't sport my bling.  It's not that I dislike my ring; I picked it out and it is a decidedly fabulous piece, but when I'm heading out to face the day, I'm usually focused on how late I'm running, rather than how complete my ensemble is.  Yesterday, I was out taking a walk during my lunch break and listening to an audiobook on my ipod, which is how I motivate myself to tolerate the rest of the workday.  As I was walking, I crossed the road at one point, to take advantage of the sunnier side of the street.  There was a random guy walking several yards ahead of me on the side of the street from which I had just crossed, and he also decided to cross the street shortly after I did, ending up again, several yards ahead of me.  Because I tend to walk pretty fast, I came up behind him, and moved over to the side of the sidewalk, preparing to pass and continue on my way.  I hate sharing the road/sidewalk/world with slow moving people.  But that is another story entirely.  As I passed Slow-moving-random-guy, he decided that would be a good time to strike up a conversation.  I missed the first part of what he said (because I had in earphones), but generally the polite thing to do when someone talks to you is not to ignore them entirely.  So I slightly slowed my pace and popped one earphone out.  The exchange went something like this...

Slow-moving-random-guy: "Out exercising in this 70 degree weather, huh?"

Me: "Oh yes,  I have to take advantage of the sunshine before it starts raining and doesn't stop until next June."

Slow-mowing-random-guy:  "So, I notice that you're quite attractive, and I was wondering if you'd like to go out for coffee sometime?"

Me: (Looks down at left hand, preparing to point to the ring finger that contains the physical evidence of the truth I am about to impart.  Cartoonish pause as I realize my ring is probably sitting on my nightstand, rather than gracing my finger.  Mentally thinking, Oh come on!  Really?) "Um, I'm married...(waves left hand that doesn't have a ring on it)  But thanks though."

At that point, I popped my earphones back in and nonchalantly started run/walking myself out of there.  First of all, what the what????  Second of all, who does that?  I'm fairly certain I was sending all the proper "do not disturb" signals.  Earphones, check.  Dark sunglasses to avoid direct eye contact, check.  Walking pace that no one can keep up with, check.  But apparently when it comes to avoiding awkwardly unexpected encounters that are best left to a club or online dating website, diamonds are a girl's best friend.