Kiss my Taurus Good-bye!

It's the ending of an era that began only four short years ago. My Taurus has been sold. I bought the car back in 2003 when I was a sophomore in college. I had saved my waitressing tips for years to accumulate enough to buy something substantial. That something substantial turned out to be a car. I didn't really do much in the way of searching for a car and test driving the different models. I let my dad handle all those details and I just signed on the dotted line. What I got was a 1995 emerald green Ford Taurus with power windows, power locks and leather interior (ooh-la-la!).

March 2003. Looking F-A-B-O-L-O-U-S with my new car.

That little gem saw me safely on many trips to see boyfriends, visit family and start new jobs, but in recent years, its health had been declining. Most visibly, the clear coat was peeling in a number of places, giving my car a splotchy, scorched look and subsequently, keeping me humble. It was with a heavy heart that I let it go. Had it been up to my unmechanically-inclined self, I would have driven it forever. Or at least long enough to let my bank accounts beef up a little after they were depleted from buying my house. But, the timing was right. Just when my dad was getting increasingly nervous about me driving long distances in a car that was past its prime and needed more tune-ups than I cared to pay for, my uncle approached me with the offer to buy his wife's car so they could get a Prius (brats! so jealous.). And so it came to pass. I ended up with a zippy gold Mazda and an 18-year old girl now calls the Taurus her own. Hopefully she'll have as many good memories with it as I did.

August 2007. Looking F-A-B-O-L-O-U-S with my old car.

Let my people go!

The ten plagues of Egypt have descended upon my backyard. They are a bit out of order and some have been modified to fit our modern times, but still the same, they have come.

First came the darkness over the land (to make the rest of the plagues all the scarier). Next came the locusts in droves (manifesting themselves as cicadas this time).

Then came the raccoons (perhaps in lieu of frogs or flies or lice).

All of these plagues were enacted upon Chad and me as we grilled out last night. I hate bugs, so I must say the cicadas were scarier than the raccoons. To make matters worse, I had to deal with not one, not two, but th-ree different bugs. That's right, I'm a hater, but it's cool, 'cuz I got it like that.

When Blecky Comes a Callin'

My sister Becky and her husband, Blake (collectively known as Blecky) came a callin' last weekend, and it was just the motivation I needed to make some progress on my house. Without any solid, looming deadline for me to complete my home improvement projects, I really hadn't had a reason to move faster than a snail's pace. But with the arrival of Blecky, I knew I had to at least get the spare bedroom/office cleared out so they would have a place to sleep.

Now, prior to Blecky's visit, my spare bedroom-office combo had been acting as the Island of Misfits ("Nobody wants a Charlie-in-the-box!"). All the boxes of odds and ends and any other items I had never gotten around to putting away or didn't feel like putting away ended up there. It boasted a collection of sweaters, shoes, picture frames, luggage and other knick-knacks including a Christmas stocking and some old face paint I'd used to transform myself into a geisha last Halloween. Once I put my mind to clearing out the room, the work went relatively quickly. I even had time to arrange my books by color on the bookshelf. After most of the items were put away, I shoved the rest of the boxes against a wall and called it, "good enough". And the space I'd cleared was good enough. Blecky was able to get their air mattress filled up with no problem (I still need to get an extra bed). Actually, I just need to get all new furniture for that room. All the pieces in it are leftovers from my illustrious college career and have all seen better days, but not many, though, because I think the furniture was pretty crappy when I originally got it from Pamida. Ahh, nothing quite brings style to a room like a matching particle board desk and bookcase.

My s-bare room

My next bit of motivation is coming up in just two short weekends. My other sister and her husband (collectively known as Lola and Mike) and perhaps my mom will be dropping by for a weekend visit! It's just the thing I need to get the last remnants of wallpaper out of my dining room!