Our house is getting a new roof! Like, this week! We were hoping it would be a limited repair job, but once they got in there it was clear that wouldn’t do. The roofer takes lots of photos and prints them out in his van so we can see all the damage. Roofers must have been delighted when digital photography came along and they didn’t have to take clients up on the roof anymore.

If I have to be spending a large chunk of the emergency fund, I’m happy that it’s on something that’s supposed to last 30 years, and that it’s not on any medical emergencies or funerals or anything. Still– car, furnace, and roof replaced by necessity in a six-month period. (Loose sense of “necessity” for the car, but boy do I love having a family car.) With Sang and I both working part-time, replenishing the funds is likely to feel slow.

On the first night of class at the IPRC, we were sitting around the table talking about our goals, and one of mine was to make a little money. I wasn’t audacious enough to say so out loud, but wouldn’t it be cool if, within a year after graduating from the program, I’d sold enough work to cover my tuition money? But even a hundred bucks on the spreadsheet would be exciting. Placing zines on consignment, or selling stories for a few bucks to magazines, or winning contests, whatever– it would just tickle me to see the tiny beginnings of an income.

Step one: make stuff.