There are some days when all I want to do is go home and sleep. Today was one of those days. I have a 9:30 Accounting I class on TR and I just could not get there on time today. I left my house fifteen minutes late, finally got to school, ran up the stairs to my class, only to find that the back door to the classroom was locked! I had to walk to the other door and then in front of the entire class because my desk is on the far side of the room.
My day just started off wrong. After school, I called my former youth pastor's wife and was asked to help with the Disciple Now weekend that is put on every year. It's a big deal in the youth group and I attended it for five years. I loved every minute of it! I met one of my good friends through it, and it was always a great time to grow closer to friends and God. The inquiry made me feel extremely special. This is the first time I've ever been asked to do anything like that!
My day started to turn around after this request. I ate lunch at Chilis with my mom and went to work. The store-front manager filled me in on the things that had been going on earlier in the day. She told me that our boss had read about this neat thing that could be done using our computer system- somehow, we could type in a style and get a picture of the item. None of us had ever heard of that before, much less knew how to do it. I started to play with the system and it took me about five minutes to figure it out. I was so excited- it was so cool! I showed it to the other workers and finally to the boss. I was very proud of myself for actually figuring it out before anyone else.
My day was so much better after that. It made me be excited again about my job. After being there for almost a year, I've been kind of bored lately. It made me want to work on the displays more and hang up new clothes to get steamed and a lot of other nominal tasks that I don't like to do most of the time. I helped our intern do a few sales and special orders. I even didn't mind when two ladies stayed for about ten minutes after we closed because they were trying to order some new uniforms.
After starting the day off badly, I was pretty surprised when it got better. Usually that doesn't happen for me. It really taught me to not write off a day before it's done!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Turning Things Around
Friday, February 1, 2008
An Ode to Big Red
I came home yesterday to see a new car in our yard. A white Chevy Malibu is the newest addition to our cars. Not because my parents just decided to go out and buy a new car; this is because our beloved Buick park avenue, Big Red, is still in the shop, where it has been for over a month. As I stated in a previous blog, I got a new car in November. I had been driving the buick, which I inherited from my grandmother when she decided to buy a new one, since I got my license. She and I had bonded, but she is ten years old with a lot of miles on her.
I'm not quite sure what was wrong with the car when we took it into the shop. My dad took it after my mom got out of school (she's a teacher) for Christmas break. This was the week before Christmas, and we figured they would be finished within a couple weeks. Obviously this wasn't the case.
If you watched the news over the holidays, you might have seen some coverage of the break-ins at David Smith Autoland. They had two, the second about three days after the first. It just so happened that during the first break in, my beloved Buick was the only car stolen from the lot where they keep cars they are fixing. This happened right around Christmas, either the day or two before, when the shop was closed. We found out my car (I still refer to it as mine) was stolen, it was almost a week later. The mechanic who does all of our car work didn't even know it was our car that was stolen until my grandfather went to check on it.
I was devastated. I loved that car! I was at my boyfriend's house when my mom called to let me know, and I couldn't stop myself from crying. Silly, maybe, but you have to understand that I also hadn't cleaned the car out yet, so a lot of my stuff was still in the backseat and trunk.
Two days later, New Year's Eve and my Mom's birthday, we got a call saying that the police had found her. The car was sitting in some lady's yard, and she claimed she knew nothing about it. They had it towed away; towed because the people who took it drove it until it completely ran out of gas.
The top is dented in from when they drove it through the hole they cut in the fence. Everything is gone except for the case to my Vera Bradley umbrella: school books, earrings, and old Gameboy, everything! In the place of my belongings, they had left chicken bones.
Back to the shop it went. It had to be fixed mechanically and bodily: new paint, detailing, the works. And there it has stayed since December 31st.
My mom had inherited the Buick from me when I got a new car. She had given HER new car, an 06 Altima, to my sister, whose Jeep Cherokee was traded in for my car. When school started back, my mom needed a car to get back and forth. Her first was a white Ford Focus- tiny compared to the huge beast of a car we were used to driving. The next one was a red Impala with gray interior. And now we have the Malibu. I just can't wait for the day when my Buick is back in the yard, welcoming me home as I drive into our driveway.
2/1/08
Worries on My Mind
I'm a nineteen year old who lives at home, has an awesome part-time job, and a wonderful boyfriend. What could I possibly be worried about? In an word: college. This is my last semester at Darton. I graduate in May, and have to decide where I am going to transfer. This is proving to be impossible for me.
I spend most of my free time on collegeboard.com, looking up the colleges on my list, checking deadlines, filling out applications, and researching the classes I would have to take. At Darton, I am a journalism major, but, when I transfer, I will become a history major. History: a subject that has always had my undivided attention, whether it has been American, World, or Ancient. I soak it up like a sponge that never reaches its saturation point. I should be majoring in it now, but that just goes to show my indecision.
I've always been an indecisive person. I really have tried to work on it. This is just one decision that definitely is not coming easily to me. Then again, this is coming from the person who was supposed to get a car for her high school graduation in 2006 and finally decided on a car in November of last year. There are just too many things to consider. Where will I live? Will I have someone to live with when I get there? Will I make any friends? Will the classes I choose compliment what I want to do with my life? Will it be difficult for me and ruin my perfect GPA? How far do I want to be away from my parents, my sister, my boyfriend, and my beloved dog? Will I be able to get another part-time job that is as great as the one I have now, with the same flexible hours to accommodate my classes? And what in the world will I do with all of the scrubs I've accumulated by working in a scrub shop for the past year?
I have been told I over think things. Some people might say that's what I am doing with this decision. "You can always transfer," they might tell me. But I disagree. I don't WANT to have to transfer if the college I choose doesn't work out right. I want to go to the place I need to be, and stay there. I want to meet new friends to replace the old ones who I've realized aren't the greatest people to be around. I want to be close enough to come home when I want to, but far enough away to be on my own. Most of all, I want to make the decision that will stop this constant worrying that doesn't leave, no matter how hard I try to put it behind me. I've equated it to feeling like a huge burden is just constantly on my shoulders, and the only way to get it off is to make "the decision."
Until then, I continue to tell myself to not worry about tomorrow; I will be taken care of, no question about it. Whether or not I listen myself is a completely different topic.