Bonus!

Our 2006 annual bonuses came through at work about a month ago and I was very, very pleasantly surprised. My previous employer was very stingy with bonuses, it seemed - if we were lucky, we might get the equivalent of one paycheck for a bonus. One or two years, we got nothing. Most years, it was a pittance.

Now, I understand that no company is obligated to pay out bonuses to anyone (and I never figured a bonus into my budget, and nor should you), but in the case of my previous employer, their so-called bonuses were an insult. I'd rather they not even dangle the carrot in front of us. The first year we got nothing, it was particularly despicable as we were told that bonus time would be delayed, then it was eliminated altogether.

My current employer knows how to take care of its employees. They were very, very generous this year. With the money, I'm going to have the opportunity to do two things I really need to do, and one thing I've wanted to do for a long time.

• Replace one or both front doors on the house. Even with a ton of weatherstripping, the kitchen door leaks air like you wouldn't believe.
• New roof on the front part of the house. It's at least 15 years old, and stripping off the old and coming in with new 30-year shingles will put my mind at ease. Plus, we can take the opportunity to evict the squirrels living in the roof who aren't pitching in for the mortgage, and install new roof vents to keep them out for good.
• I'm gonna buy a MacBook Pro. Yep. As soon as Leopard is out and the hardware gets refreshed, I'll be a "switcher"

All three of these things won't happen until spring, or even early summer, so in the meantime that bonus will attempt to collect a little interest in the bank.