The End of The Wagon

The past 4.5 years I have driven a 99 escort station wagon. Otherwise known as The Wagon.  Last week, after 251,215 miles it met its fateful end.
Last Friday my friend Tiffany called to ask if I could pick her up from work because she blew a head gasket while driving in that morning. So we planned for me to pick her up at 10:45 in order for me to drop her off and head in to work at 12.  I set off to pick up Tiffany, stopped to fill my gas tank as I was near empty, and continued to Woodbury. It was snowing lightly, nothing to major and the radio said it would pass through within an hour.  I picked up Tiffany and we were on our way, we were approaching the on-ramp for the highway and I asked Tiff if it was the right place to turn, cause sometimes I get side roads and on-ramps confused.  Well indeed it was our turn.  We weren't traveling real fast as there was snow on the ground and we were about to turn.  But as I turned the car we began sliding around on the road.  Tiffany exclaims "don't hit the wall" and I said "I won't" (I really didn't think we would) but then I realized I could not get control of the car and in fact we would be hitting, so I said "dang it, why'd you say that now we're going to..." SMACK! We hit the wall preventing us from soaring into the highway below.  I watched us hit and the next thing I know I opened my eyes with a ringing in ear, pain in my thumb, and pain in the my shoulder/neck, and realized the air bags had deployed and the car was quite damaged.  Well luckily Tiffany and I were not seriously injured and we only hit a wall no other vehicles. The front bumper was all smashed in and the windshield had cracked in a few places.  And thus ended the wagon.  It was hauled away by a friendly tow driver, I went and cleaned out my belonging and signed over the title earlier this week. I also took the license plates to transfer to my new car.  I got the front one of just fine, but the back one had one nut that just would not come out, I had to get help from the same driver who towed it away, It's like the wagon just didn't want to let go.
The moral of the story is good tires are very important to your car and you should not put off buying them.  Cause even in a pathetic little to hour storm in Wisconsin/Minnesota causes slippery roads.
I can't say I'm terribly upset by the lose of the wagon. I got a new car already, that's much quieter and  nicer to drive.  The wagon was beginning to have its struggles anyway. It's like if something was destined to live to be 100 and die naturally but instead died in an accident at 99.5. Ironically just the Wednesday before my accident a co-worker of mine asked me how many miles my car had because he had the same car as me.  This past week his car died on him on his way to work.  Not a good time for 99 escort station wagons I guess.
I will miss the wagon a little I suppose. Like when it comes moving time, or when I need to put something large in my car.
So Wagon, I am sorry of how I ended things. You didn't deserve such a murderous death, may you rest in recyclable pieces.

Random Sights

Last night while walking up the stairs in my building and I happen to look up at the top of the window and what do I see but a tank top sitting on top of the curtain rod. I mean this window is way up in the air and the tank top seems pretty tucked in there so I really wonder how it got all the way up there.

Happy Thanksgiving!!! (a day late)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Last year my brother was really sick so I didn't go back to my parents. This year they had stuff going on and again, I didn't go. However, it made me very thankful for the 2nd year in a row that I had wonderful friends who welcomed me in to spend the day with them and their families. I do feel truly blessed.

I also couldn't help but think about about last Thanksgiving. (For your viewing pleasure refer to last year's blog....http://jkflutterfriends.blogspot.com/2010/11/happy-thanksgiving.html)  I remember it being really cold and there was snow on the ground. Joy and I were sleeping in when we had a lost car pull into our driveway. We thought they were lost because it appeared to be a nice family with a giant cardboard box and we weren't expecting company. Well, it turns out that even though we weren't the specific needy family that requested a Thanksgiving dinner from a local church/charity, we were the fortunate residents to receive an entire dinner on our doorstep. It was pretty amazing and rather funny. I couldn't help but to secretly hope someone would ring my doorbell again this year....

How to Waste the Last 5 Minutes at Work

Have you ever noticed how those last 5 minutes of work go by the slowest? I sure have. That's why I made a list. Don't worry. I'm here to save the day (or the last 5 minutes of your work day).

1) Check your online bill due dates.
2) Throw away garbage from your purse or wallet.
3) Google or youtube something random. Related randomness will generate for your entertainment.
4) Explain to a cold caller from India why you can't just transfer them to the executive team at your company.
5) Chat/flirt with a co-worker. I prefer flirt because quite honestly I could use the practice.
6) Check facebook. Heck, just post how bored you are.
7) Pick the split ends from your hair. Guy equivalent - don't you think about sex every 2.8 seconds or something?
8) Delete old emails.
9) Daydream.
10) Write a list of the top 10 ways to waste the last 5 minutes at work.

<3 always,

Kat

Guess who finally unpacked!

That's right, this girl!
I finally took my day off to be productive and unpack.  All my clothes are now hanging, in my dresser, or in the dirty clothes basket (I only had enough quarters to wash my work clothes today), I even have a semi organized underwear drawer (that's right Kat, I have my underwear in a dresser drawer. The socks however, still live in the tote.)  I have a place for everything and just about everything in its place! Lets be realistic, I'm not the type to really ever have everything in it's place, so almost everything is pretty darn good for me. It only took nearly a month and a half to get there but I can proudly say that the majority of my floorspace is now visible.
Other than that I have nothing exciting to share with the world, just living the dream working at Menards. I've been really slacking in the job search department.  I guess now that I can no longer use the "I should be unpacking" excuse I'll need to get back on that.
Well, I guess that's my monthly update.  Hopefully something more exciting and bloggable (yep, thats a word now) will come about real soon, I know you all live to hear from us ;) 

.....And I Have Neighbors, Among Other Issues

I realize that my blogging tends to sound a little on the glass half empty side. All I can say is that I'm trying to not be such a negative person. You know, enjoy the sunrise (which I did this morning) and stop to smell the flowers (before they freeze to death). Like I said, I'm a work in progress. All joking aside life is going pretty well. I'm content with where I am in life right now. I'm thankful for my faith, family, friends and job. Really that's quite a lot to be thankful for. I just don't think many people would enjoy my rants about the rays of sunshine in life or the furry kittens of the world. Kittens....I'll leave that for another day at Dunn Bros Coffee (where I enjoy their free wifi with coffee).

Now, let's move onto my recent living alone stories and adventures.

First, I live in a decent size apartment complex. There are 24 large units in my building with multiple complexes on the block. Most of the time I'm fortunate enough to live in a world where I feel as if I don't have any neighbors. I hardly hear a peep from them, until last night that is. It's around 10:15pm and I'm really hoping to pass out at any moment. I've been really tired lately. Out of nowhere I hear giggles from a highly pitched annoying sounding female. Then from what I can assume to be her boyfriend starts laughing too. I'm not so cynical where I find this impossible to tolerate. The tickle-me-Elmo fest continued for only a few moments. I then hear her say in her still annoying but now sounding like a baby voice, "Nooooo, this is my bed. My bed. My bed." *giggle giggle* Whatever, they shut up. If my two required years in the dorms taught me anything it's that when you suspect "coitous" (thanks for my education The Big Bang Theory) you're probably going to have to put up with the ruckus. I don't want to be too crude here. We are all adults, hopefully. Well, let's just say that by the end of their horizontal jogging I lost sleep, realized I would have something to blog about and suddenly had the urge to pound a nail into the wall at 6:30am when I would wake up. I'm sure I could find something to hang....
No, in case you're wondering I wasn't that rude even though they were. I did the mature thing - I sang a top 40 medley this morning in the shower.

Last story for the day. In order to get our security deposit back we had to mail in the receipt for our last months utility bill. Joy had lingering bills as well that were partly mine. She sent me a total and I wrote her a check. I intended to send it today after work. Traffic was good and I arrived at the post office at 5:35. What kind of post office closes at 5:30?? Ugh. I continue on my way to the next post office downtown. I knew it would be a hassle, but it was a bigger hassle than I expected. I couldn't find a place to park. Sorry Joy. I'll try and send your check tomorrow!

Kat

Welcome to Minneapolis

For those of you who aren't aware I've been living in Minneapolis now for a first week and half. It's been an adventure so far to say the least. In this short time I've already met many new and wonderful people, started attending a great church, and have been trying extra hard to learn street names (refer to previous posts on my need to learn direction). Here's a simple breakdown of the past 11 days of my life.

1) People: It's been hard adjusting to life in the big city. I'm grateful for all of the new people I've met and truely hope to develop all of the relationships I've made so far. Everyone has been a blessing despite the curves life continues to throw my direction.
2) Places: There are an overwhelming amount of beautiful places to see. There's always something to do here and for my reforming hermit self, this is a good thing.
3) Apartment Life: From the get go moving into my apartment was a hassle. Prepare for some complaining. Moving over Labor Day weekend is probably the worst weekend to move. When you are finally able to locate that checkin list burried underneath boxes and piles of stuff, you'll probably learn the office is closed. You'll be left with no working stove, a clogged bathroom sink, no smoke detector (but hey you don't have a stove. You're in the clear), and bedroom blinds that don't work. All of this is quite an overwhelming feeling. Especially considering I picked a 3rd story apartment because I ran out of energy to keep looking. However, I'm thankful I have a relatively nice and roomie place to live. It's comfortable and safe. Now, I just have to adjust to hearing noises all night. Maybe after a month I'll be able to sleep through the night? Lord willing...
4) Work: Work is going well. Having a 40 hour a week working lifestyle also takes some getting used to. I'm very thankful for having a decent paying job as a recent graduate. But I know it's not something I want to do with my life forever.

In a nutshell life is goodish. The journey has been and always will be filled with ups and downs. Each experience is shaping the person I'm becoming through the good and the bad. I try my best to remain strong and trust that God has a plan for me. There's no need to race through it or push our circumstances. Instead, I prefer to enjoy the crazy rollercoaster day by day.