My $25,000 day

So, I need to make $25,000 in the next twelve hours. Think I can pull it off?

Today is the last day of my early bird rate for my event, which historically means about half my attendees will sign up today. Luckily thanks to a website that has good information and a registration page that actually works and doesn't crash every five minutes, it's fairly low-maintenance for me; I just need to stay on top of my email to make sure people aren't having any problems registering, answer questions quickly, and of course obsessively check my PayPal balance. 

According to last year, I need to end today with $40,000. I have $15,000 now. I have more people signed up, but less money, which means that I am not doing a good job of budgeting. Which is scary - because it would be terrible to have a really successful event with tons of people attending but come out of it broke. Still, one of two things could happen: I could make that much money by the end of the day (very doable), or I could fall a bit short but make it up in the next six weeks. I've been doing this event since 1998 and I've always made it. Some years are better than others, but I've never been plunged into irredeemable debt or had to borrow from relatives to make ends meet. 

Of course, it's going to be an expensive year - hopefully, a baby, with all those medical costs, and the expense of putting my second bedroom wall back. Plus B starting preschool, and who knows what's happening with his health care costs (no word on if we've been approved for the low-cost program or not...which worries me). But I long ago accepted the fact that I cannot be a single woman with a career in the arts and do ALL of the following: run a household, have children, be debt-free, save for college, and save for retirement. I can do some, but not all. So far I've managed all but the saving part. I've given myself permission to not worry about saving money for the time being while I focus on conceiving and giving birth to two babies. Right now it's just about keeping our basic needs met. 

Yesterday I began the setup of our little backyard play area. There are some kinks to iron out, for sure, but I think it's going to be a great thing for those hot afternoons when I just can't deal with carting us to the park and walking around in the hot sun. I'll take more pictures when the sand box is set up. Right now I can't deal with hauling the two 50lb bags of play sand around to the back. It was rough enough getting them up two flights of stairs.

In pregnancy news, nothing to report - still feeling good and very not pregnant other than a fullness and bloating and hungrier than usual. Again, could mean nothing, or could mean this one isn't going to make it. It was at this point two years ago that I had the first signs of my chemical pregnancy - that sudden twinge and then bleeding during the movie, followed by two days of nothing, followed by the end. Keeping my fingers crossed to make it past Friday, the five week mark. Then I can feel like I can breathe a little.