Cash Flow

I just submitted my 12th invoice, somehow it is labeled 14 but that's not possible since this is only the 12th month I've worked at my present job. However, this being the 12th month means I've made it to a year. Technically, April 23rd is my one year anniversary at my first real job. I don't even know if I can consider this areal job. Yes, I work full time and have responsabilities but I've done that before, just not for a whole year straight. I would consider a real job, one that takes place in an office and involves a retirement plan - I currently have neither. I do have a home office and Europe is my territory both of which are nice benefits but it's still all a bit surreal if you can understand. On the surface, my job sounds amazing and I'm sure I take the working from home for granted more often than I would if I had recent experience of waking at 6am to commute to work. Let's face the facts, immediately before this I was an English teacher with flexible but unpredictable hours and prior to that I was a grad student/grad assistant/sometimes substitute teacher. It's been awhile since I was working at the 9-5 (APC circa spring 2005) and even then it was only every second day. I guess the last time I had a routine office job was summer of 2003, at the insurance agency. Maybe this is why I still don't feel that I've entered the "real world". The other offputting factor about my job is the pay arrangement. Once a month, I sumbit an invoice and the payment is directly deposited into my bank account. I don't miss having to go to the bank to cash a weekly check but I do miss holding the cash in my hand each week and touching the fruits of my labor. I guess I spend less and save more on this direct deposit scheme but I always feel like I don't have any money and I never feel like I'm getting paid for my work. I don't even get a check stub or an email, just a deposit into my account as if I were working for the mafia. Well, here's to year one, let's hope year two is more fruitful and less stressful.