It's always something new with the car

A lot has happened since I've written last. Sorry. I think the more exercise the more energy I have to blog. More on that later.

Wednesday: I got my car back that day. It was nice to only have to be without it for a day. I got a ride from one of my co-workers in the morning which was most instructive. She had some views about what areas of the city are safe and she explained them to me. Fascinating. I know I went to the Y, although I don't remember what I did so I probably just walked. Also, Men in Trees was on.

Thursday: Basically a blur. I think I was really busy. Work has been insane lately. I got back to work after my trip, found 21 messages waiting for me and haven't been caught up since. But I have a neat job and I love every minute of it.

Friday: I worked both of my jobs. At the aquarium, it was my last night actually spending the night on overnights. I told them I can only work half shifts for a while. I might have made it seem like I'd start spending the night again. But I felt the biggest sense of relief I'd felt in a long time thinking I didn't have to spend the night anymore. I think at the point it's not fun, it's good to stop. The change in income didn't even really freak me out. Although it might. More on that later too.

Saturday: After I got home (from my final full overnight) my mom called. This call was so good that I'm basically immune to "your mom" jokes. She says, "I just got a letter in the mail from NASW inviting me to be a delegate on a trip to South Africa. Do you want to come?" All I can do is grin....

Amanda came over on Saturday too and we walked around Lake Nokomis. She took me to Caribou and worked off some of her debt. Then we went to the Riverview and watched 27 dresses which is a winner. Just the right amount of fluff, humor, and actual plot. Great. And a total hottie in the lead. Plus Amanda bought me the jumbo popcorn and pretty much erased her debt to me.

Sunday: I ran today. Outside. Slowly. I think part of the problem is that I lost some confidence in myself over the winter so I held back. I could have gone faster. And there's this hill which I've written about before and here which comes late in my run and I was thinking about it the whole time which made me really tight and nervous. I'm glad I ran outside today since tomorrow is going to be a nuthouse. It's not the snow, it's that it takes a few days to clear off the sidewalks so I can't run outside on those days either.

As I was leaving to meet Amanda I found my car in distress again. Poor thing. This time there was a gaping hole in the bumper where someone had hit it. And then I'm assuming they drove off. There was a car next to me in the parking lot whose paint didn't really match. So I had to call the police and file a report since this qualifies as a hit and run. And a nice officer came out and filed a report. I guess I'll go back to the body shop I went to last time. I wonder how long they'll want my car this time.

Amanda and I had an awesome breakfast. Yum. And then I came back and took a nap. When I woke up, I went grocery shopping and did a whole bunch of cooking. Don't worry, I didn't actually eat any of it, it's all in preparation for my week. Seriously, that breakfast was like my meal for the day.

I made lentil soup, turkey apple picadiilo (with zucchini instead of tomatoes), and banana corn fritters. Now I've got my dishwasher loaded and my newly discovered favorite feature, a delayed start. Since the kitchen and the living room are basically the same thing, I try not to run the dishwasher when I'm in here. It's too loud. So I have to remember to start it before bed. My usual strategy is to take all the pillows off my bed as a reminder to start the dishes before going to sleep. Those days are over. I can choose to delay the start time two, four, or six hours. Nice.

Looking forward to April: Well, April starts the month of all my bills being due. It's the month that both the mortgage and one of my loans come due. And I need to remember to pay my association fee as well. In an effort to save money, I'm going to try to go the whole month without going out to eat. I have decided to exempt Caribou Coffee because otherwise this whole thing is doomed to fail. Although, I'm trying to step down the Caribou as well (April is 3 times per week). Apparently I've had a dinner scheduled for like a month so that night gets to be exempted too. Hopefully the roads will be clear by then.

I'll let you know how the 30 days of not eating out goes.