From the time I was 6, I was raised by a single mother in the days when those women who worked at all had jobs rather than careers, and they earned a pittance for their trouble.

I lost count of the number of times my mother would say something like, "I have 25c left to get me to the end of the month." Since she had to take a bus into the city for work, we had to eat and all the usual bills had to be paid, it seemed impossible. She often used to say, "I don't know how we're going to make it this month."

But somehow we did. We "made it" every month. And I came to wonder what would happen if one didn't "make it". I mean, what is the alternative? You make it or... what?

My husband is a much more even tempered person than I am, and very little ever gets him down. The one exception to this is money. When we're in financial trouble (as we currently are), he seems to shrink before my very eyes. And of course, I don't understand it. I worry and fret about everything except money, because I always assume that somehow it will always work itself out.

Perhaps I have the luxury of naievete because I've never been the primary breadwinner. But I do find that a disconnect with harsh reality is a great weapon in the fight to maintain one's sense of humour.

What was that you said about insanity...?