The Most Productive Day Ever

I have lived one of the most productive days in my life.
5:50a - Wake up. Wow, it's really early for a day I don't have to go to work. It's early for any day really.

6:00a - Run. Run fast. Come back and write about running fast.

8:20a - leave for Crystal/New Hope/Way-the-heck-away, meet considerable amount of traffic. I was trying to get onto 35W northbound (for a mile to get onto 94) and just couldn't get on. So I went over to Lyndale to take that up. Lyndale is under construction. I don't know why I was surprised. Everything else is under construction as well around here.

9:00a - Meet to look at cabinets. I was surprised to find I really knew what I wanted pretty much. I want wood, natural finish in a door style that is classic. A minimal amount of decoration is acceptable. Too much decoration or glass fronts are not acceptable. No decoration is unacceptable. Eww. I don't know how much they cost yet. It's the missing link in all of this.

10:00a - Get title and tabs for car. I now have my own car. I'm scared that something will happen to it as soon as I don't have the support of my parents to take care of him. I don't know what to do. Yes, my car is a boy. His name is Oscar. The Brookdale Government Center (hey, I was already up there) is actually fairly nice. And a very nice gentlemen helped me get tabs and helped me not have to pay a boatload of sales tax. Thank you sir.

11:30 - It's getting to be time to eat again. I kept thinking I would get a latte but I didn't seem to manage it. Instead I went to a credit union to join. I did. I also learned you can join a credit union and apply for a mortgage on the same day. I applied for a mortgage today. I'm really not all that freaked out. Between that and the cabinets and the car, you'd think I would be, but I'm really fairly calm about everything. The guy was really helpful and helped me find ways to keep my payments a little lower in the beginning.

12:30 - Chipotle. It's so much better when I'm not in a hurry to get back to the office. According to my calculations, this may be one of the last times I eat out. Ever. I haven't completely gone through my budget. It looks like I'm going to have to cut out some discretionary spending. I also decided that if Amanda is going to work on Friday nights, there's no reason I should quit the aquarium just yet. A little extra cash... ya know.

3:00 - I took a break after lunch. Attempt to put plates on car. No success. Both bolts in the back (screws really) were rusted in place. I went to the hardware store to buy paint for the bedroom and something to address this issue as well. It was about then I realized that Kelly and I needed to get the last part of Amanda's gift. I took care of that. (After all, I had the day off.) I got home and sprayed the stuff around the bolts to loosen them up.

4:30 - call Dad. Much better conversation than yesterday.

5:00 - Second attempt to put new plates on the car. Minimal success. I finally got one bolt off. And then I snapped the second one. My back license plate is now secured with one bolt and a lot of duct tape. I thought the duct tape would work because I've applied to various parts of several cars in the course of my life. The duct tape I applied to the front license plate of this car in 2004 was still holding today. By the way, my car now has Minnesota license plates. I will never find it in any parking lot or on any street again. Who has those ribbon magnets that go on cars? I need one. The pink ribbon. I don't think I could handle a yellow or American flag ribbon. I'd put a red ribbon on for HIV awareness. But seriously, the pink ribbon magnets. And how bummed am I that I now have to drive through Wisconsin in a car with Minnesota license plates? Just when I go home but still.... Wisconsin eats Minnesota drivers for breakfast.

5:30 or so. While applying duct tape to license plates someone crashes their bike in the street. Neighbor lady (who I don't know) walking dog sees kid, asks if he is ok, freaks out. Demands a phone from me. Yup, I'll just pull that right out of my shorts... It took a little while to get the kid squared away but he was really fine. That level of freaking out was not necessary. Called Jenny. Talked with Amanda. It takes Amanda 15 minutes to walk one mile from her parking spot by the squirrel to her chem lab in a building that resembles Hogwarts. I was listening.

6:00 - now the real work begins. I started cleaning, knowing I had to clean out my living room. Why? Remember at 3:00 when I bought paint for the bedroom? That's right, it's time for that now. This is my third time painting a room in this condo. I don't have that many left. After the hallway, I feel like I'm in a groove. We'll see how long that lasts. I cleaned the living room. At some point, I opened another bank account, a high yield savings account with ING. Thanks Amanda.
And then I started cleaning out my bedroom. I think I'd like to have my bed not be on stilts for a while. It's just too hard to move while it's like that. It took me longer to prepare my bed for moving than to sheetrock. Sheet rocking takes like two seconds though.. I got my clothes into the front closet with the coats. A couple of things in the bathroom, and some stuff out in the living room. My bed and chair are in the center of my room, covered in stuff I didn't want to move as far. It's a good thing I have an aerobed.
After the moving of the room, I taped the walls. Given my last experience with tape, you may be surprised that I opted for it this time. I taped the woodwork and the ceilings. Woodwork won't peel and I've used this very tape on my ceilings before. I'm not worried. And then I can be slightly messier.
Finally, wash walls. Now I can wake up tomorrow, contemplate running 3.2 miles and then not do it, and start painting. To be clear, I think I'll go to the gym later. Like I might need to shower there depending on the state of my own bathroom, and whether or not it's filled with things from my bedroom.

11:00 - write blog to tell you about my day.

Things accomplished today:
Car title.
Credit union membership
Mortgage initial application
Chipotle
License plate change
Wrapped Amanda's present (since I finally had all the pieces).
Talked with Jenny
Talked with Amanda
Opened ING savings account
Filled documents.
Ordered Christmas presents for two people. Only one of you read this blog and you know what it is already. Although if you can't think of it right now, I'm not helping.
Totally prepared room for painting. That's not true. I have to take down the curtains but I didn't want to do that tonight. You understand.
Now I will set up my aerobed and try to go to sleep as quickly as possible.