Broke, single, and loving it!

It's spring break for my little punks, which means it's spring break for Teacher Danielle as well. Teacher Danielle, however, doesn't get compensated nearly enough for teaching her little punks and is looking for supplemental employment. So while it's technically spring break, my job this week is to look for another job. ::Sigh::

In between selling myself (in the non-illegal, non-naked way), I happened to stumble across a post from Red over at Gingers is the Watchword. She lists 5 Signs You Know You've Been Single Too Long, and I'd like to supplement her post (like I'd like to do with income, BOOYAH!) with a few reasons why being single is totally AWESOME:

1. You don't have to worry about anyone else's social calendar. Seriously, how annoying is it to have to check with someone before committing to plans? It's different when you live with your S.O., because, really, don't you want an evening away from them once in a while? But that whole I-want-to-see-you-this-weekend-but-I'm-not-sure-if-you-want-to-see-me-so-I'll-just-wait-to-see-if-you-call-me-before-I-commit-to-plans-with-my-friends-but-something-tells-me-I'll-end-up-staying-home thing? SO over it.
2. I don't know about you, but I love sleeping alone. The older I get, the more I realize what a luxury it is to sleep in your own bed, undisturbed. And that luxury comes few and far between once you start dating someone seriously. At first it's all cute and cuddly and sweet. But after a while, the "Hold me, honey" turns into "If you don't stop snoring, I will smother you with that decorative pillow." Again, I don't know about you, but I'd prefer my relationships not to end in homicide.
   
3. You save money. Modern society, modern dating rules, right? Sometimes he pays, sometimes she pays, sometimes you split it. But no matter what that "it" is, someone is spending their hard-earned cheese. (And I don't care what anyone says, there's only so many times I'm willing to sit home and watch a movie with my boyfriend before I start hinting at how good the sushi is at Tao.)
   
4. No commitments, no being tied down, you can pick up and leave whenever you want. Let's say you have a supercool job that requires you travel all the time. Or let's say you have an uber-shitty job and you've found a new one across the country. If you have a significant other who is gainfully employed and has no interest in moving to a suburb of Berlin, then chances are you won't be moving to Berlin, either. But if you're single and unattached, then the entire world is at your fingertips. You want to teach English to kids in Vietnam? Go right ahead! You want to work for the Peace Corps and travel around Africa? God speed! Chances are, that person with whom you passed the occasional weekend before you left will still be around when you get back. And if not, there are plenty of people in Australia that would LOVE it if you came to visit. Just sayin'.
5. You don't have to field endless questions from your friends and family about your "new person." Introduce them to ONE friend, take them to ONE wedding, mention their name to ONE cousin and it's all over. First it's questions like, "How's so-and-so, are you bringing him to dinner?" Then later, expect comments like, "So I hear it's getting pretty serious!" and "OMG if we both get engaged this summer, we could have our weddings a month apart!" from all your attached friends. And really, who needs that?

I have been single now for quite some time and I couldn't be happier. I can go on the occasional date and have the occasional drink and not worry about what to get them for their birthdays. I can see Albert on Monday and Barry on Tuesday and Chuck on Wednesday, and they never have to know about each other. And best of all? At the end of the night, I get to kick my heels off in the middle of the floor, remove my makeup with the door open, and crawl into bed wearing my biggest t-shirt, all while NOT wondering what my mother would say if I married someone named Chuck.