One for the records

Look at this, another update so close to my last one! Well, when you are supposed to be spending the day researching foundations in the local library, and are just too darn efficient, you have to find a way to kill some time. Actually, I only have about 15 minutes left, so this will probably be short.

One of the more practical things for which I am now responsible is the maintenance (and payment!) for my car. Mitch and I settled on PLPD insurance for the trusty, rusty Probe (which, by the way, I have had since high school) because it's really not worth the premium on any other policy. So we're paying a mere $66 per month for me to legally drive, and we've decided we aren't going to put any more major money into it. Minor things that have gone wrong over the past few weeks, however, have included replacing the muffler, changing the brake pads, replacing the half shaft (don't ask because I only know what the mechanic-uncle of Mitch's tells me) and something about a ball joint and the fact that my whole wheel could have come off at any time. Hmmm. Total for all this will probably be about $250 which is acceptable, but it's getting to the point where if anything else goes wrong, it's hasta la vista for the Probe. The only thing holding up back from actually looking for a new car (preferably four-wheel drive, now that we are Northerners) is the insurance, which is unbelievably high for a 23 year old driver.

Funny side note, semi-related story: I got paged in the library today so Mitch's uncle could tell me about the ball joint. There's nothing like hearing your name over a loud speaker in a perfectly silent building. Makes you feel a bit sheepish.

On another side note, I have to go. There is a man next to me coughing like he's trying to expactorate a lung, and whenever he types he breathes really hard, like it's too much work. Working in a hospital, I really see the benefits of being healthy and active and eating right, because so many people don't and it is apparent. All right, I'm out before I catch whatever he has!

Toughing it out

So here's a brief update on what happened after my last post: I did call the Traverse Chamber and they had filled the position, which was disappointing. However, I had a great conversation with the vice president, who told me she thought of me often and wondered how I was doing, and offered to pass along my resume if she heard about anything in the area for which I might be a good match. That in itself was a load off my chest. I don't know how to explain it, but knowing that job is not an option in the near future kind of allowed me to get past it and concentrate on doing two things. Number one, making the best of my situation at the hospital and number two, exploring other options. One did come up, a marketing position at Spring Hill, but the job description didn't sound like something I would truly enjoy. So I'm keeping my eyes open and planning to keep in contact with the Chamber...I trust something will happen, eventually, and I'll just beep doing my best.

So that's that. Most of my attention is currently focused on my wedding, which is coming up in less than three weeks. I'm at my parents' house right now and have been working on centerpieces and programs for a good portion of the weekend. Things are coming along nicely, but it seems like the list of things to do gets longer rather than shorter each day. Still, any one who knows me knows how much I like planning every little detail of something, so you all know how much I am loving this!

I think I'm going to go back to being introspective for a moment. The whole concept of "home" is really puzzling me right now. Home was here, in South Lyon, but it didn't take long for home to be Alma, too. I come back here and it still feels like home, minus the fact that my room is now the guest room. I go to Alma occasionally and it doesn't really feel like home, but it is familiar and I miss it. I guess what I'm getting at is Cadillac does not feel like home, even though I live there. Part of that probably has to do with the fact that we have not made any friends outside of work, which is probably because we are not there on the weekends. But on the weekends we would be doing the same things we do during the week after work: go biking, go to the gym, work at the apartment...we don't go "out," and even if we did, I'm pretty bad at meeting people at bars or something because it's out of my comfort zone. I suppose we would go to church and meet people, if we were there on Sunday mornings, so that will probably help. I don't want to come back here, to South Lyon where the city is rapidly eating every square foot of land, and I don't want to go back to Alma because that was college and I'm not in college anymore, but I'm just not truly content where I am, either. Maybe if I could pick up my family and all of my friends and bring them there, then it would be home!

Part of not being content, for me, is to make up crazy dreams. I think Mitch and I should work for four years, then move out West and go back to school for our MBAs. I think we should consider taking Robin up on her dream of opening a Christian camp out West...what could be better than a partnership with some of our closest friends, spending time in nature and impacting young lives? I think we should say, "Damn the Man!" (though Mitch thinks now he's considered the Man because he is in banking) and move to the mountains. I think Adrienne shoudl stay out West when she goes for her clinical, and Mitch and I can move out there, after which he will get a cushy job and support our skiing habits. OK, not it's getting a bit far-fetched, but the first two weren't bad. Mitch says I just need to find a job I like. I say, I have what I thought I wanted (a nice job in a small town in Northern Michigan) but now I'm not ready to have that and I want some adventure!

All right, the wedding programs are almost all printed, so I better get going. Sorry the updates are not more frequent, but hopefully I get better about it.