Monthly Archives: January 2011

Life is a Highway

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“The longest journey begins with a single step, not with a turn of the ignition key.” — Edward Abbey

It was my ambition to write more often, but that has not gone over as well as expected.  I was recently in an accident where my car, my little 1997 Nissan Altima, was totaled.  I am fine, the car just had some front end damage, but since the hood was crushed in, the price of the repairs were almost as high as the value of the car.  So I’ve been without my cute little puppy of a car for two or so weeks.  Sad day.

Just look at how cute they are trying to make it to sell it back in the day.  My car is even more special.  I’ve lost so many hubcaps over the years (seven!) and having three different types of hubcaps for only having four wheels — that’s how  bad it has gotten.  I’ve lost them in State Parks, in the Regent Street neighborhood, and two other losses at other places.  (I did re-capture the one I lost near Regent and Allen.)

The car holds memories.  Of all of the different jobs it has helped me get to (fifteen!), of all of the different athletic practices it got me to (tennis and cross country), and all of the different cities I have lived in while driving it.  I’m sad to know that my car car isn’t going to be the same after this, but I’m happy to know it’ll make a healthy recovery.

For a fleeting moment last night, I thought about going car-less.  It saves on costs, the hassle of parking tickets and finding parking places, and I haven’t missed it too much thus far.  But then I think of how I’ll never ever be able to listen to a homemade mix cd again through it’s crappy speakers.  How I won’t have the champagne delight to dig out of a snow storm.  How I won’t have a prime car to tailgate with at Brewers games.  How the car that has seen me from an awkward teen to a grown adult might find a home with someone else — or even worse (and almost unthinkable) — home with multiple other cars if it is just sold for parts.

So the decision has been made — my car will remain my car.  I will love it even more after getting me through this.  The car drove me away from breakups.  It drove me to my best friends houses.  It drove me to college for the first time.  It held my belongings as I drove from one side of Madison to the other.  It’s been there for me more than I could’ve ever asked for.  So I just hope my car and I can remain close throughout the rest of my graduate school experience.  Because it’s sticking with me through that.

Momma, I’m Coming Home

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“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am blessed to finally work for a university that does believe in taking the day of to celebrate MLK Jr.  Madison is such a progressive city, and I am thankful that we acknowledge the greatness that MLK did in his life.  He has inspired me to push through the difficult times, to keep pressing on for what you believe in, and to work as hard as you can to achieve your dreams.  I just wish he were alive today to see Barack Obama as President of the United States, or just that humanity has begun to accept people for who they are, not as they seem to be.

So, in my day off, I have been observing the greatness of MLK, attempting to get homework done, and starting to get my apartment to look like a real-life home.  I just grabbed a blanket and pillow set the other day to make my room seem a bit more cohesive.

And you can see Lola perched on my bed, like the queen she is.  Sorry my drawer is open in my dresser — the floor isn’t quite level over on that side of the room.  Urm, yes.

There are two main things to complete the room — two king pillows with brown pillowcases to go behind the rest of the pillows and a faux leather ottoman to sit in the corner of my room.  I found a great one that is relatively inexpensive from Amazon.

It’s just waititng until I can get those last things put together.

I’ll always have more picture frames to fill, more blankets to load up on my bed, and more clothing to squeeze into my closet.  But I’ve finally got my eye set on what I want my home to look like, and my apartment is finally feeling like home.

Good Feeling, Stay With Me Just a Little Longer

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Today is the first time in a long time that I have felt like myself. It took a long time to get here, but I am prepared for the upcoming semester and have the correct attitude going into it.

My health has been better. I finally figured out that I cannot eat any form of oil, so that means oil-based salad dressings, oil in pastas and bread, and, sadly, deep fried foods are now out of my diet. It’s been a tough transition, but I have been feeling so much better and I feel as though that I’m back to my old self.

I’m now preparing for the new semester. I started reading ahead for one of my classes, but since the course readings were out of order, I ended up reading way too ahead. But I’ll be getting reading for weeks one through three done tomorrow, and I’ll be getting into work projects after that.

Today I spent cleaning the apartment. Scrubbing the floors, organizing the basement storage, and then getting all of the Christmas decorations down in the apartment. I also finally feel as though my room is fully decorated and feeling comfortable. I am so excited to keep this clean, and show pictures of it soon!

To keep busy, I’ve been watching Brothers and Sisters. It’s a great drama that I’ve been able to keep up with due to the greatness that is Netflix.

The weather is not going to be the best in the next couple of days, but I’m ready to get a little snowed in and then get caught up on everything.