Marsha sounds like a hard choice to make, but if you think you would be really sad to lose the work from your other career, it seems like it might be worth taking the (not insignificant) financial hit in the short term. Starting in April sounds like a good compromise, and you know it's only 6 months of really hellish fees.
Hurrah for changing shape Bloss, your hard work is paying off! I occasionally suggest having a bit of a clear out to my mother, as her wardrobe is stuffed full of ill-fitting hand-me-ups from my sister and me, but she resists, despite often complaining about the state of her wardrobe and looking scruffy. And it's not like she can't afford to buy herself nice clothes. Mad, I tell you.
Sanuk I know what you mean about clothes - one of the reasons I am furiously dieting is because I like the way clothes look on me so much more when I'm a bit slimmer, and love expressing myself through my clothes. As soon as I put on weight, though, I completely lose that and have no desire to stand out at all, so I start wearing rubbish clothes and generally being less confident. It might be superficial, but it's totally true for me.
Pure Collection silk shirt arrived today. Beautiful shape, perfect for me (I could have lived with it being an inch longer front and back, but no big drama), but the colour was foul. About a dozen shades lighter and more pastel than it appeared on the website. Fortunately there was another colour I was seriously tempted by, so have sent it back for an exchange. Am really ordering it to use as a bit of a template, as I have a great shirt pattern, but can't be bothered to faff around with alterations too much, so will work from this one nice shirt to make a couple of silk/very light linen summer shirts. I had forgotten how much I like shirts on me! Plus very easy to wear. Although silk (albeit washable) + preschooler = an interesting result, no doubt.
Right, need to do some more work so I can actually justify all these terribly expensive clothes...