Planning Ahead

It began with a joke I made during a recent sit down with my financial guy. We talked about my spending over the first six months of the year and my biggest expenditures came back-to-back – first my Connie Cat's surgery and then my trip to the TCM Film Festival. Yeah, I bought a new mattress and bed, but that came in distant third. 

 

As we discussed this, it washed over to me that my lifestyle is different from my friends. "Elaine went to Paris, Lisa went to Ireland, and I went to vet." I thought it was funny.

 

"You know," Jonathan said, scrolling through my financials on his screen, "If you wanted to go to Europe, we could make that happen." My spending over the last two years has been less than we projected. I'm OK with that. We still have two+ years of Donald Trump with his fakakta tariffs and international adventurism and insistence that "affordability" is a Democratic hoax. To say I don't trust him with our economy is an understatement of almost mythic proportions, so I'm good with being conservative with my personal finances. 

 

But Jonathan got me thinking about my future and what purchases would make me happy. I need a nice new winter coat, but I think that will be my only big fall/winter apparel purchase. I love my sweaters, but I already have a shit-ton of them and I got two pair of boots last winter.

 

There's a new refrigerator on my horizon. But I neither want nor need bells and whistles there. I'm dragging my feet on this more out of reluctance to toss more steel and copper into the landfill than financial concern.

 

I want to visit my niece and little Violet a couple times before the year is over. I'm attending Noir City Chicago for several nights and I'm headed to Wrigley Field to see my guys, and while I will be spending a lot, it's not on a par with a trip to Europe. 

 

I don't want to go to Europe. I just don't. I'd like to go to Springfield, IL to visit Abe, but that's a hotel and an Amtrak ticket.

 

I am looking forward to the TCM Film Festival in 2027, and I'm excited that I can do it in an elevated way. I know what hotel I want to stay at: The Loews Hollywood. The location is perfect. While I don't think I want to upgrade my room – I'm really not in the room that much – I would like to take advantage of room service more often. Jonathan says I can afford it.

 

But most of all, there's Meeow Chicago. When I'm at the Loews, Connie and Roy Hobbs will be enjoying luxurious digs, too. They can share a suite with a skylight and a climbing tree and boxes to hide in. Best of all, they will have staff attending them from 7 am to 7 pm each day and will be monitored overnight. I'll get photos and text updates every day. I've emailed the owner, who outlined their protocol in case of emergency, which I find comforting.

 

I will have more fun in Hollywood knowing Connie and Roy Hobbs will be under constant scrutiny and care. I take my responsibility to them very seriously. I may not want to go to Europe, but I want to do this, and I'm grateful I can afford it.