The Ice is Thin, Come On Dive In

So this is kind of the calm before the grading storm.  :(  Next week starts the avalanche of papers, tests, then more papers for grading.  But then I'm done until January!  Woot!  I'll only need to worry about moving, then.  Bleck.

Today I had yoga, then had to make a quick stop into the pharmacy to get an ankle stable-izer for running to help me from injuring it too much further.  Then I had to quick shower, walk the dogs, then take the dogs to the vet to prepare for taking them on the long Christmas trip that we always seem to have to take. :(

They're all good with their shots and meds.  I came home, did some work for my grad class and now I'm doing pretty good!

And, luxken27 ! Look what I found at the pharmacy!( picture )

So, my insomnia has been back, going on about a week and a half now.  It's definitely a noticeable pattern.

I fall asleep some time after midnight or so and sleep until 5:30 AM.  Usually, I get up to go to the bathroom, and go back to bed to fall back asleep.  Only I haven't been able to do that second part lately.

I'm up until scribefigaro's alarm goes off and he goes off to work.  Only at about 8:30 or 9:00 (9:30 today) do I eventually get back to sleep.  Then I sleep until 11:00 and my whole day is ruined.  At least this is happening on my "vacation" and I have the time to sleep in.  But there are things that I need to be getting done and it's starting to annoy me to sleep in so long.


So I'm still a little on the sleep-deprived side even though I don't get out of bed until 11AM.

Hopefully this will pass soon, but it's really annoying.  It's happened before, about 8 or so years ago, and it eventually worked itself out, but it was total hell.  Really, it just wears on you to keep thinking that you'll fall back to much-needed sleep at any moment just to keep watching the clock tick away for hours.

Bleck.  I'm grumpy.  :(

(Alternate title to this post: How to buy a used car)

Today, I bought and took possession of a new used car.  New to me.

I've never bought a car on my own before.  The one time I was in the room when my car was bought was when I was 16 and my dad took me to the little old lady down the road who was selling her Buick (drove it to church on Sundays) and negotiated with her (don't worry, she held her own and got her asking price).

Since then, it's always been kind of a trade where my dad's company car comes up for sale, so he sells the oldest car in the family and uses that money to buy the company car he'd been driving and switches it out for whoever needed it.  And when I lived in Chicago and first got married, there were many, many years I was carless.  The last car truck I drove was actually inherited by my uncle, sold to my father for pennies on the dollar, then gifted to my brother, then me before our move up here last year.  It was the first car I technically owned with my name on the title.  And it was dying.

So, time for a new car, right?  Right.  I got a bee in my bonnet yesterday to finally do this thing.  I woke up, called my bank about an auto loan and a few hours later was promised almost $10,000 if I wanted it.

That was so weird.

Then, since that took almost no time at all, I do a quick check of used cars in the area and found exactly what I was looking for at a dealership literally across the street (and over a fence) from our apartment.  I walk in (with scribefigaro), ask to test drive, can't find much wrong with the car, and agree to trade in my truck.  They ask if they could try to match/beat my financing through my bank, so I say sure.  That takes the rest of the evening.

I got a call this morning with them telling me they could beat my financing offer and that the car was mine if I wanted it.

I did.

So I bought it.

Wow.

The only glitch was that, while I had researched "How to buy a used car" on Google, I was still a little dumb when it comes to what really happens when people buy cars.  Today, scribefigaro was at work, so I kind of went in a little blind.  Things were going swell when I was suddenly presented with the "service options." It was done in a way that made it seem like it was something required.  I was half-way through agreeing to one option when I realized that this might not be totally necessary.  I couldn't ask, "Do I need this," because I knew what their answer would be, ("Uh, yeah, and the most expensive one") and didn't feel I could take a time out.  It wasn't high pressure or anything, but it did kind of sour the experience for me and I didn't feel like anyone was on my side when I was trying to make a decision about it.  I did ultimately take a service option because I have a hard time saying no to extra insurance and this was a used car.  But still, I wished I had researched that part before going in so I didn't feel so blind.

So, word to the wise: Research everything that happens when you buy cars so you can feel comfortable saying yes or no to things.

Anyway, I now have a car that I'm not worrying about fishtailing in winter, that has new tires, and that I don't have to wrestle around turns.  So: awesome.

And like I said, I feel weirdly adult now.

This weekend, we pretty much just decided to read.

scribefigaro is reading the latest book in A Song of Ice and Fire series.  That book is fucking long, so he's been at it for weeks.  He says it's good though.

As for me, I finished up Catching Fire, the second book in the Hunger Games series.  It was fantastic.  I think I liked the first book better, though.  The horror and intrigue was new and fresh and fascinating.  This time around it's not as shocking.  But I still really enjoyed it.  I even reread different parts to try and fully take it all in.  I think I'm going to let it marinate for a while before I tackle Mockingjay.

Other than that, the puppies are doing well, the weather cooperated, and there were no huge catastrophes with our families (knock wood).  So good weekend.

:)

Real life is starting to chill.  At least for approximately the next week or so.  We'll see.

Anyway: Funny story to relate.

Some background:  I'm a big fan of bean burritos.  As a poor grad student, I came up with a way to love beans and rice and cheese and tortillas.  When I moved in with scribefigaro, I shared this love, and he came up with his own interpretation of a wonderful bean-infused dinner.

Therefore, once a week or so, we do beans for dinner.  It's always a highlight and both of us meticulously prepare our favorites.  This past week, half way through preparations, I got excited enough for the coming feast to compose a song right on the spot (and remember, I have no rhythm and am tone deaf):

I love beans and rice!
Beans and rice are my favorite food!
I love beans and rice!
Beans and rice are great!!!

Unlike most so-so husbands, scribefigaro was NOT rolling his eyes at me.

Unlike most good husbands, scribefigaro wasn't even just ignoring my nerdy outburst.

Oh no, my friends.  scribefigaro was dancing along to my made-up lyrics and looked almost disappointed when they were done.

I've never been more in love.

My cell phone is not working.

It's working, it's on, the battery is full, but it has no bars. Cell phone reception has never been an issue for me in this apartment. We do have a lot of cloud cover, but that's also never been an issue in the past.

Of course, my mind is going back to that episode of Criminal Minds where a pair of killers would jam cell reception (and cut phone lines) before going into a house and murdering the whole family. So I'm on the lookout.

I need to start watching less violent television, I think.

ETA: I turned it off, then turned it back on and it's okay again. Or else the serial killers have moved on. Either way: YAY!