Plans

Don’t you love when you make plans and then God looks and them and goes HAHA nice try…

I said this to my husband this past weekend as we were stranded on the freeway in his dead car. His car had just been paid off and I just bought a new one (so we only had one payment at a time). I was really excited for my new car which should be coming in any day now and we expected my husband’s car to last at least another 4-5 years.

So we were driving on the freeway going up a hill and started hearing this weird thunking noise. It started to get worse so we started to pull over so we could get off the freeway. Suddenly when we were in the far right lane the car started making this jack hammering noise! Suddenly on the freeway exit lane the car shudders and dies. Luckily my husband yanked the wheel and got us over to the shoulder. So I call AAA and we wait in the heat for 45 minutes to get picked up.

We finally get picked up from the tow truck and started our drive back home. Halfway through the ride I see a bee (a really creepy mutant bee that is translucent!) on the windshield inside the car! I try not to freak as I am sitting right by the driver and don’t want to panic him as he is driving us. The bee finally flies away and I cannot see him anymore. Suddenly, the driver screams out and starts to panic! The bee just landed on his hand! He quickly rolls down the window and the bee disappears… so we thought! About 5 minutes pass and the driver freaks out again! It landed on his hand for the second time and after more freaking out we are sure we got it out this time. Well another 5 minutes pass and the driver reaches out and grabs his back and swears the bee is there. He is now driving with one hand grabbing his back and one hand on the wheel… he finally pulls over to get the bee out. Luckily, after that there were no more bee incidents!

We get to the tow place which looks like the sketchiest tow place ever and leave the car. I have been calling Honda to see if my car is ready and was told no (which I knew it wouldn’t be ready till Monday but thought I would try!). For my car I also did a trade in for my current car which died a month ago and since we had a tow truck already I asked if he wouldn’t mind towing our other car. This got me a strange look but he agreed. I called Honda and they said we could bring the car over.

We get to Honda and they were not pleased to realize they gave me $1,000 for my car. I fully disclosed to our salesperson the state of the car so not my fault they gave us that much! I then explained how we had no cars now and was calling a rental. They asked what I bought and when I said it they pointed and said that car? Yes! My car was in! The reason they said it was not ready was because not everything had been installed yet but since they said it looked like we were in dire need I could take the car now and bring it back later to get the rest of the stuff installed. So at least there was one positive.

But getting my new car was not quite the exciting moment I thought it would be. I still have to walk to work because my husband has my car because his work is farther. His car apparently needs a new engine which is $6,000 and of course the warranty JUST ended. So now we have to figure out what to do about that… God is laughing indeed. 

Dead Car

My New Honda CR-V

Grading

I feel like I am really getting into the swing of things now for my class. Their first assignment was due and majority of them turned in their paper early! It was really interesting to be on the other side regarding papers. I am used to writing them in a panic and hoping that the professor will like what I wrote. It was very odd opening up the first paper knowing I needed to judge and grade it. Most of the students did really well and I was impressed with what they had done. I did have one student who did not follow the prompt at all. Of course this was the first paper I graded so I was discouraged at first to see that everything I asked for was not there! Luckily it was only one students and I sent it back with a non passing grade and told them to fix it if they want to pass. I also made sure to speak to them in class about what was wrong with the paper and what I was expecting. I think they get it now but we will see on their revision.

I also had to write up my observations of them in their site. Part of this is to mention weaknesses and areas for improvement. I normally do not like to critique people and want to be nice. It was really hard for me to write and speak to each student on areas to improve but I had to remind myself that by doing that I am helping them in their future career. And just because I am critiquing doesn't mean I can't be kind while doing it! And afterwards I even had someone thank me for the review!

TV

Sometimes I think I watch too much TV... but there is just so much good TV on I can't help myself! I figure since I am no longer in school and don't have kids yet it is OK to watch! Plus we still get outside a lot and I read enough that it counters all the TV :) and we only have one TV in our house so I feel its not that bad! Ok now that I have justified it to myself I will move on! haha

I feel like there were a bunch of new shows this year that got added. Which of course meant that a lot of shows got added to our DVR to test out!

I think my favorite of the new shows that I watched was New Girl. I thought it was cute, funny, and one of those good fluffy shows that don't make me think too hard. Now I do enjoy shows that make me think such as Fringe but I don't need every new show to do that!

I also really enjoyed Up All Night, Person of Interest, and Ringer. Also, started watching Terra Nova for my husband who had really high hopes for it as he loves dinosaurs. So far I have enjoyed the show. As long as you do not take it too seriously it is quite fun! Another one that I actually haven't been recording but have been watching on demand is Whitney. I heard a lot of people complaining about it which is actually what made me want to watch it and I thought it was pretty funny. It was funny because it was so real, I have either done or known people who done what she was doing. So to the haters... sorry I thought it was funny!

Now, I just hope that they all don't get cancelled! That is what happened to us last year, we found 3 great new shows totally loved them and then found out they got cancelled. So I am trying to not get too attached this year just in case!

So far I have kept up with Up All Night, New Girl, and Terra Nova. I have the rest on my DVR to catch up on a rainy day. Just in case I find out they get cancelled mid way I also will not have the heartbreak of being too attached!

Library

I love my Kindle! I know I have said it before but I am saying it again! Now that they have the lending feature up and running and I can check books out from my library it is even more amazing then before! They have made it so easy to access as well. I was leaving for a trip and though I would check the library just to see if it was ready yet and to my surprise it was. They haven't advertised this well but so far that is working in my favor because all the books I wanted were available! I immediately downloaded 3 books. Actually, I tried for more but they have a max of three. And suddenly there they were on my Kindle. I just finished all three and found a way to return them and get 3 more. I had plenty to read before but now it will be non-stop and I love it! Yay for the Kindle!

I am also very interested in checking out their new Kindle's that they have just announced. I looked at the Nook touchscreen version when it came out and wasn't sold on it. It actually was too small and I had a hard time holding it without accidently turning the page. Though if I used it often that might be a habit that you just get used to holding it differently. I also think the Nook Color was a great idea just not for me as when I read I did not want the back lite screen and the distraction of the internet on the same device. But we will see how Kindle compares to what is already on the market! And they have gotten the price to a point now ($79!!) that a lot more people will be able to afford. I used to say if they got it down to $100 I was in and while I caved when it got to $114 (close enough!) I knew of many who were waiting for the less than $100 and they delivered!

Happy Reading! :)