A Normal Life

Tonight, Richard and I are going to the Guthrie Theater to see Two Gentlemen of Verona. For those of you who don't know, the Guthrie is considered the premier regional theater. They are what you might call "high brow".

So, we are going. We found a good deal on tickets, and we are going to take advantage of them. Of course, like everything else today, the Guthrie is suffering some financial troubles. As I drove home from work, I listened to a news story that said that there would be cuts at the Guthrie very soon.

But back to the "high brow" comment. How on earth do we have the money to go to this much theater? Remember, Richard is unemployed at the moment, and I'm only working 1/2 time. We hope both of these situations will be remedied in the near future, but what should we be doing in the meantime?

When Richard was first laid off, we immediately cut several expenses. We wanted to save as much as possible. Actually, the lay off came at a very good time. Because of the extra time, Richard has been able to rent up our apartment building (something that NEVER would have happened if he was in a regular job). But now we seem to be going out more. We are seeing theater. We are seeing friends.

In all honesty, we are valuing the time that we have together. We are spending our precious money on the stuff that is most important to us...our time. Theater (cheap theater especially) is one of those things that we both enjoy quite a bit. It seems that we need to use this time of underemployment to appreciate one another again. When we both work...when demands are placed on us from someone else...when we don't control our own agendas, then I think we tend to disconnect from one another. Now we are able to connect in a new and exciting way.

We have also learned that it is good to get out of the house. Walking is good. Theater is even better. We have cut out dinner before the show. We have cut out drinks after the show (well, on some instances). We have learned to spend minimally to make a hot date work well!

So, yes, we are living normally. In fact, we are living better than ever.