My Car

When I turned 16, I begged for a bee yellow Dodge Dakota truck; instead I got a Ford F-150 manual that was red. I wasn't any good at driving the manual, and the truck quickly became my dad's primary vehicle.

When I was in 20 and in college, I needed a car to go to school sites for observation hours as part of my major requirements. Up to this point, I had enjoyed college without a car. I had a boyfriend (now husband) with a truck and friends who had cars with them, so I didn't need one. Unfortunately, I couldn't schedule my observations with any friends, so it was necessary to get a car.

I still wanted a yellow vehicle. We looked and came up with the yellow Suzuki Aerio SX. It's a hatchback which was perfect for the trip across the state. Plus I really loved having a yellow vehicle. I even got matching shoes and purse to go with the car.

I loved my little yellow car, and I drove it all the time. It was the best present I ever got (though it was still my parents' car as they were paying for it). I loved it from the moment I laid eyes on it, and it made driving fun. Plus it was a manual which made things interesting, since before I had no luck with driving one of those.

Driving home from band camp this year, I was exhausted. I wasn't paying very close attention, as I was just trying to stay awake. The traffic was thick on I-440, and it was rush hour. It had been raining off and on all day causing the roads to steam. The 18-wheeler in front of me stopped, and I didn't notice. Though I tried to stop, I didn't make it. My poor yellow car was not happy with me.

Luckily, I wasn't hurt. I broke my big toe on my left foot and seriously bruised the big toe on my right, when I slammed on the brake and clutch to try to stop. The car is definitely not as lucky as me.

I pulled over immediately, but the 18-wheeler kept going. I had to wait for him to pull forward before I could get out from under the back end of his trailer. He didn't even notice I hit him. I couldn't tell how badly I damaged the car, so after consulting Wes I decided to drive home. As I said before, the roads were steaming; little did I know that some of the steam was coming from my car! I had busted my radiator.

Wes's parents bought me a new radiator and his dad installed it for us, which was wonderful. We are slowly trying to find parts to replace the bumper and hood; painting can wait if necessary. His dad managed to get the hood to stay latched with the secondary latch, but Wes won't let me drive my beloved yellow car anymore. Instead he drives my car since he only works 5 miles from home and I work 55 miles; I get to drive his truck.

The moral of this whole story is two-fold: pay attention while driving -- always; and make sure you review your insurance policies once a year. We didn't have full coverage on my car; neither one of us realized it. Now we have to eat the cost of trying to fix my car, which is why it is taking so long. So review those policies!

More info on the year so far...

Still continuing to update everyone on our lives in 2009, let's talk about my job. This past year I was asked to teach two English classes in addition to my four French classes (3 classes total each semester). Now that's not a big deal as I am certified in both subjects, but oh wow -- was it ever overwhelming! Both English classes were new to me (though I did some work with freshmen in college, but nothing with sophomores), so prep time was huge. I would have to read ahead every day plus grade papers, which in English is a much more involved process. I never caught up, staying consistently behind with grades all semester. I felt bad for my students because their grades were never accurate reflections of their progress, plus I didn't feel like I was giving my normal 110% because I was so overwhelmed. Luckily, next year, I won't be teaching English again; though instead, I am teaching theater (another new class).

I am also in charge of prom. Now it's one thing to have helped with prom in high school or worked on your sorority's socials in college; it's completely different to be the teacher in charge of prom. That's right -- I'm the only one! So, I have to do everything: fundraising, selling tickets, decorations, finding venues and vendors; it's an overwhelming task for one person, yet somehow it all gets done each year, and I survive. I always say, "Next year, I will do this differently." And maybe I do, but it never fails that I feel ridiculously overwhelmed.

Also, I am still doing color guard. This year I had the brainstorm to have auditions the first week of March. I had 20 girls try-out for 16 spots, but I ended up narrowing it down to 13. We currently have 12 girls, and I hope that number sticks, because we are in the show-planning stages now, so it would seriously mess things up! I decided that spring practices were a great idea -- another thing to add to my already overwhelming schedule. They definitely have helped so far (along with summer practices), but man, do I wish I would just relax every once in a while.

Lastly, I decided to do Credit Recovery after school to earn Wes and I a little bit of extra money. Credit Recovery is a program that has the kids sit at a computer and complete lessons on a given subject. All the information is given to them to study, take practice tests, and finally mastery tests. Credit Recovery is an option for students who fail with no lower than a 50 in their course of study. The kids have to complete all lessons for the subject, by reading through the study, taking the practice tests, and receiving no less than an 80 on their fourth and final try at the mastery test. They are also required to keep a notebook which counts as 10% of their grade. It seems so silly to me that we give these kids this option and most of them don't even care. Half the time they wouldn't show up; they wouldn't try; it just didn't matter to them. I just figured I stay after school until 4:30/5:00 everyday anyway, so why not? It was rough, but at least the money will come in handy, especially now that our upstairs a/c has definitely gone kaput! So much for getting out of debt this year! But that's a story for another post.

So, as you can see it was a busy semester for me. I would love to say that I am enjoying my summer of relaxation and taking it easy, but again, I am sitting at a computer for 8 hours every day, watching kids complete lessons in Credit Recovery. It will all be worth it in the end -- right?

Another long hiatus from blogging

So, apparently, I am not the world's best blogger. I rarely find time to blog, except during the summer, and then, half the time I forget to do it anyway. So here is another update on us, which will contain lots of random information since I haven't updated since October.

2009 has been a roller-coaster year so far, which for Wes's job (unfortunately) is nothing new. At the beginning of January, he was let go yet again (again through no fault of his own except the company needed a scapegoat). Immediately after being let go, he managed to find another job, which in this economy is amazing! He is now working at Antioch Petroleum/Subway/Cane Ridge Liquor, which is just like it sounds, a gas station with a Subway inside and a liquor store attached. It doesn't pay much, but it is a job, which is more than some people have right now!

It has been really interesting having Wes work at a gas station, because when I was really little, my dad worked at a gas station after graduating with his PhD (back in the economic downturn of the '80s). I would always talk about this experience whenever Wes's current job fell through or something job-related happened. We now joke that Wes will have his own gas station story to tell our kids, like my dad used to always tell me!

The hardest part of Wes's job is that (if you haven't noticed) most Subways in the US are owned by people from India. This is not a big deal. One of Wes's best friends since kindergarten (and my friends since college) is Indian (and his family owns Subways). Indians are hard-workers! Amy and Danny (two of the people he works with) never ever sit down, and like Wes, they generally work at least 12 hour shifts! They hardly ever take breaks, including for lunch/dinner. It's amazing to see their work ethic.

The only issue is that one of Wes's co-workers (nicknamed Shorty) went back to India for four months back at the beginning of March. Ronnie (Wes's boss) tried to hire someone to work those four months to cover Shorty's hours, but he couldn't find anyone that he trusted enough to cover the night shift. So, guess who got stuck with the night shift hours? Yep, Wes. He works 60+ hours a week mostly from 10 pm to 10 am. His only night off is Sunday (and sometimes he doesn't even get that)! With my being a teacher, we have two opposite schedules, though we are actually seeing more of each other now than we were when he was working second shift (3-11 pm). It's still hard not getting to sleep in the same bed, etc. I miss having him around. Plus it's hard to get anything done around the house, because he is working too many hours to have time to help and I am afraid to do things during the day for fear that I may wake him. All around we have three more weeks until Shorty is supposed to be returning from India, and I can't wait. It will nice to actually have a husband again!

I think I am going to stop there on my update for today. I will add more later, as a lot happened since October.

Ears and stuff

I went to the doctor last Monday (again) for my ears, which have been bothering me off and on for a while. I had to go to a different doctor because ours had no appointments available. The nurse practitioner took one look at my ears and wrote up a referral to the ENT. She then called to see how soon they could get me an appointment; I lucked out and they had one available that afternoon.

I went to the ENT, and he could find nothing medically wrong with my ears. He ran all the tests, etc. Including learning that my hearing is 100% and can't be tested any higher (which since I was born with only 80% hearing that tubes corrected -- that's pretty awesome). He finally concluded that my jaw may be the cause of my ear issues, and I am now on a soft-food diet for the next 6 weeks. I also have to take a dose (2 pills) of advil twice a day for the next 6 weeks for the pain. Hopefully, that will relieve the inflammation and I won't have to go back.

The only thing nice about this whole situation is that the diet is kind of fun to freak people out. Everyone is like "why are you on a diet?" and "that can't be good for you." Then I explain why, and they calm down. I am going to miss freaking people out like that. Other than that, it sucks. I am always hungry -- can't seem to get full. One night I ate 5 meals between 6 pm and 11 pm. Granted I don't ever eat big meals -- but complex carbs fill me up even faster and since that is the basis of this diet, I am eating even smaller meals. Plus I burn calories really fast anyway, so I am starving pretty much all the time. I am also pretty tired of the pain. I hope this treatment works though, because if I do all this for nothing, I am not going to be happy. (Nor is Wes -- as he keeps trying to come up with food I actually can eat -- and am not bored with eating.)

Update on life!

It has been quite a while since I updated the blog, and a lot has happened. Where should I start?

The last few months have been hard as far as the family pets are concerned. First Bullwinkle, and then Natasha passed away. Bullwinkle shouldn't have been surprising -- he was 16 (old for a dog), but it did shock both Bobby and me. Natasha was less surprising -- she had been sick for a really long time.

I just feel like so much has changed this last year, and I am having a hard time finding my center. With Grandma passing away, and now the family pets (I really do know they aren't comparable -- but it is still hard for me), I just can't seem to catch my balance. Hopefully things will settle down in the next few months.

On a positive note -- Wes was hired on full time with ComData corporation this past month. It is really nice to see him enjoying his job. And he is happier that he is contributing more to our family now. It is also nice to see the boost in the checkbook each month. I am really enjoying that benefit.

Monday was my 26th birthday. Birthdays really haven't been the same since my 18th -- long story that I don't want to get into now. Wes and I celebrated last night (pay day). We went to the Ghengis Grille (Mongolian grill) for dinner, then got Wes a hair cut, ordered new contacts for me, and finished up by stopping by Best Buy to buy my b-day present (the 3rd season of NCIS). I really do like to watch all the TV shows on DVD. Tonight I am going out with Bevin and Jennifer like I do every week. It is nice to have some girl time, and normally Wes goes and plays poker with the guys when I am out with the girls. Of course, we were together last night, so he missed poker night. Oh, well. He won't let me miss my girls night short of serious illness. It's nice to have a hubby who protects my girl time and understands that there are times that we need to be apart.

I will try to update more frequently. I really will. Of course, I have said that before, so we will have to wait and see.

Walking!

It's been a long time since I wrote in the blog, though Wes could easily post too. He just doesn't. Anyway, I wanted to post this a week or so ago, but I got busy.

So, I went home to visit my parents for a weekend after the first week of school, because otherwise I wouldn't get to see them again until November (UT game -- woo hoo!). It was the first time I went home since Grandma passed away, and it was really hard. I cried myself to sleep Saturday night after going to visit Grandpa at her house. Nothing had changed, except Grandma was no longer there. I still miss her every day, though I know she wants me to live my life and move on. It's hard though.

Anyway, on Saturday, after going to Books-A-Million, a standard place to go with my parents, we walked out to the car, and the lights had been left on. My dad thought we would be okay, but the car wouldn't start. Dad said it was no big deal -- we would just walk. And that is exactly what we did. We walked home from Books-A-Million which is 4.5 miles away up hill the whole way. We couldn't call Mrs. Vorees or any of my parents other friends -- though they would have come and got us -- because walking was good for us. Boy was I sore the next day! Oh well, serves me right for wearing flip-flops with my parents (yes -- I know better).

Nothing else of interest has happened. I just have been crazy busy. Hopefully, I will slow down soon. I want some time to breathe.

Night on the Town

In the midst of preparing my classroom for the new school year and having another Color Guard fundraiser (it went better this time), my dad came into town for a conference. He stayed downtown this time (apparently the Comfort Inn had giant roaches the last time), so he decided that Wes and I would have to go downtown with him. What a night!

Wes and I both had to work everyday this week. I also had Guard practice in the evenings on Tuesday and Thursday this past week, so we went out with my dad on Wednesday. We drove downtown and parked by the river across from the Titans stadium where my family always parks in downtown. Then we made the trek to my dad's hotel; only I managed to get the two of us lost. We wandered around for 30 minutes. First we got all the way to the Sommet Center, too far. Then I had us turn the wrong direction on 4th Avenue, making it all the way to the Country Music Hall of Fame before Wes pulled out his cellphone and looked up the address for the Double Tree. We figured out we were going the wrong direction, turned around, and eventually met my dad as he had begun walking downtown to find us. Next time Wes says he is in charge of parking and directions.

After meeting my dad, we went out to dinner at Demos'. It's a great restaurant that is known for their spaghetti and steak. Awesome. Dad and I split a bottle of white zinfandel; Wes drank water. Then it was off to the bars. Dad wanted to show us were he goes with his work buddies when he is in town. The first bar we went to was Cadillac Ranch. It's a rock and country bar and grill, according to its sign. We listened to three singers in a sort of open mike situation. My dad tried to get me to drink, but I was already feeling the two glasses of wine, so I just drank water. Wes and Dad had two beers a piece. We stayed through the first set of an Australian rock band (they were pretty good), and then headed somewhere else.

Dad began to pull out his cellphone and try to find out where his buddies were, but they weren't answering. So we headed to the Paradise Park Trailer Resort bar. This bar was as unpretentious as they come. Two guys play country music all night long. There is lawn furniture in the beginning of the lounge. Over by the pool table, a portion of a truck bed (complete with a tail gate) has been converted into a bench. Dad and Wes again had a beer, while I continued to drink water. They then played pool, a game which my dad won. I actually enjoyed this bar. It reminded both Wes and I of hanging out at Cadillac's in college.

After the pool game, we left, because it was edging past 9 o'clock (yes, we are party poopers). Dad again pulled out the cellphone. Wes and I half-expected him to break out with the "Where you at?" my high school students would say (he at least used proper English saying "Where are you?"). Dad decided that we had to go meet his buddies at Mulligan's since he was always talking about us (nicely, of course). So we met his buddies, and then we went home.

All in all, it was a fun evening. It is sad though that we have lived in the city for a year and a half (and I have lived here alone a year longer than that) and we had to have my dad take us out for the first time. Wes and I decided we had to get out more. We don't have kids, and we aren't dead (being only 25), so it wouldn't hurt us to go out on the town on occasion. We will see if we actually make it out in the future. Personally, we both have our doubts (we are lazy people). It was still fun, and you never know, we may try it again sometime. We'll just have to wait and see.