news from my living room

I woke up today with a scratchy throat. It didn't go away. I think it could be the first cold of the season for me. The weather has been a bit erratic - sunny, rainy, warm, chilly. Of course a sore throat is not out of the ordinary. However, I am worried about this winter. Our bedroom & bathroom does not have heat!!! YIKES! So I'm in the market for a down comforter and maybe even a space heater.

But now on to the fun news....
In my effort to clean out the unused crap from the office, I told my boss to get rid of a lamp and tv. Then asked if I could buy it off him. He was shocked to hear that I don't have a tv. The lamp is a green, tall floor lamp. The tv is a small color tv. He said I could just have them even though I offered to pay for them twice. So today I paid for the taxi home, a small price to pay at 12 lira, which my boss and a co-worker rode in with me, and carried the tv. (It IS nice to be woman here!!!)

This is the first time in over 2 years I've had a tv. Obviously I'm not a tv person. Maybe I'm just done with being an anti-tv freak? No, that's not it. I've just wanted a boob tube to switch on and zone out to. Plus maybe it will rapidly improve my Turkish. There isn't much in the way of entertainment in my house: books and a computer. I've wanted one, but not bad enough to spend the cash.

The next wishes on my list: a down comforter, an oven, a bookshelf and a table to put the oven on (it will just be a small convection oven). No people, I am not so poor that I can't afford these wishes, I'm a stingy-future-planning-dingbat. Get it right. I live frugally, pay my bills on time and save the remainder of my earnings.

I've lived most of my life with the fear of not being able to afford life's necessities and pride myself on the fact that even though I live in a developing country I am able to have a decent life and save some money. Mostly I'm saving the cash to buy my residence permit next month. I have to show a certain bank account balance while being able to pay equivalent to 1 month's rent for the permit. It will happen.

I'm full of contentment knowing that I can meet my goals. Now the goals are: a down comforter, a bookshelf and an oven. Well, those are the closest goals to actually being met.