Money, money, money...

If I didn't know the adoption was real and going to happen...now I know.

My husband canceled his subscription to the Sunday Times.

(That'd be the Sunday New York Times for any non-Times readers out there...)

I just about fainted when he told me yesterday.

This may not seem like a monumental thing, but if you know Chris then you know that one of his great pleasures in life is hanging out at the kitchen table on Sunday morning reading The Times. So to cancel it...

I would have thought that he'd cancel Entertainment Weekly or Newsweek before bagging The Times.

"It's really expensive," he tells me with something akin to a shrug, "and I read a lot of it on-line anyway."

The thing is that we've been in something of a state about money these days. When it was Just The Two of Us...no problem, we're doing very OK. But now that we're going to be Plus One there's life insurance to consider, diapers, formula and baby-food, part-time day-care, saving for The Kid's college tuition...you get the drift. Expenses we just never had to consider before.

A few nights ago we were in our bedroom retreating from the oppressive heat into our only air conditioned room to read and relax. When I look over at Chris he has stopped reading, is not looking terribly relaxed and is gazing off into nowhere with that little crinkle between his eyebrows that lets me know he's not happy.

"Whatcha thinking?" I ask trying to be cheerful.

"I'm thinking about life insurance," he laments and proceeds to tell me about how expensive it's going to be for us to get a decent policy.

"We'll figure it out," I assure him.

He is not assured and continues to gaze into space...crinkle between his eyebrows firmly in place for the next few hours.

And then yesterday...the news about the cancellation of The Times.

Will this completely pay for our life insurance? No, but apparently it will defray the cost a little.

I suggest to Chris yesterday that we lose HBO from our cable bill. We hardly ever watch it. It won't be missed. And Chris is switching us to a new phone company - apparently to one that will provide just about the same service we have now for about half the cost.

And we're now thinking about other ways that we can economize.

The crinkle between his eyebrows has eased up a bit.

Money, money, money....we'll figure it all out.