Some big financial loads have been eased recently. Last year I racked up a several thousand dollar bill in my failed attempt to get custody of the kids. What I couldn’t pay immediately I had to spread over several months, until I was finally free and clear at the end of 2003.

Poli, on her part, didn’t receive her customary bursary last fall, and then we started racking up wedding expenses.

Things weren’t pretty.

Let me rephrase: they were downright ugly.

Then, all of a sudden, Poli got her bursary last week. We got some cash gifts for the wedding which, thank God, pretty much exactly offset the expenses we incurred.

(And if you’ve ever wondered about how expensive a wedding is, well, we tried our best to be economical and still ended up a few grand in the hole!)

And, I just got a bonus from work! Who’d a thunk; I thought bonuses were non-existent since the tech crash. In fact, they *were* non-existent: This is the first time my company has offered one in years.

Yay!

So in other words, I think we’re debt-free for a little while, at least.

But, uh, there’s a baby due at the beginning of August. (I did mention that before, right?) At that point, Poli will be somewhat unable to work or collect maternity leave.

So the pressure’s off for the moment, but it’ll be back on soon enough. I’ll enjoy this respite though.

Now if I could just win that lottery...

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