Cars, cars, cars

It turns out that my car is fixed and back to working fine now. My dad and Dan (his mechanic friend) worked on it some more yesterday and finally got the fluid to circulate through the motor. Dad took it on several "test" runs, and says it is now fine for me to use again. Yay! But I still want to go car shopping next weekend (or at least sometime soon). I want to get a Baja most of all, but a newer nicer Subaru would be fine too (mine is a '98 Subaru Outback Wagon). Mine still looks very nice and was well taken care of and I love it, but it needs several parts replaced and the motor knocks. It has about 120k miles which isn't a lot for Subaru, but a car with lower mileage would be nice. So now I'm really excited to go car shopping!
On the way back up here to my apartment last night another deer almost ran out in front of me on the interstate but stopped on the bank, maybe because I was coming? I don't know why it stopped, but I was sure glad it did - my heart just about went up my throat when I saw it running towards the road. I also saw some animal in a pull over area, but it was dark so I couldn't tell what it was. It kind of looked like it was a fox. The rest of my ride was uneventful.
And now I've got a bunch of cleaning and packing that I need/want to do, but my computer keeps distracting me. :-P

Thursday night I took my mom's car back to my apartment so I could make it to my last day of work. When I got there yesterday I discovered that one of my co-workers (who is also a pastry chef) had baked a beautiful cake for me and another girl who was also there for her last day. It was the most amazing cake I've had in a long time, possibly ever. So delicious. And another friend crocheted a beautiful blue and white blanket for me, and made me a turquoise necklace. I'm going to miss everyone.. I met so many nice people while working there. Aside from that it was a crappy day - I was stuck on express and carts the entire time (both of which I dislike). It seemed like it was "Torture Molly Because She's Leaving Day". After work I quickly grabbed some stuff and came back here to my parents' house so Mom could go shopping today with her car (well.. she said I didn't have to come down, that she could wait to go grocery shopping, but I wanted to). I felt sad because I ran over a little (baby?) skunk on the way there... I tried not to hit it but it ran back into the road.. :-(
While I was at work yesterday Dad and his mechanic friend Dan worked on my car, but even with the new water pump they couldn't get fluid to circulate through the motor. It looks like I may have no other choice but to get a new car..
So after shopping today I am going to take my mom's car back to my apartment again tonight and spend the night, hopefully getting to do something with Matt, and then I will clean tomorrow, etc., pack up the stuff I need for the week, and then head back down here. Ugh. I'll be glad when I finally have a routine going.

Stresssssss

Let's just say the last 24+ hours have been a little stressful. It started last night on my way to my parents' house: I had a bag of bagel chips open and sitting on the passenger seat so I could eat them on the way and a thought passed through my mind. I thought "If a deer or something ran out into the road in front of me and I had to slam on my brakes, these chips would spill everywhere..", and then a few minutes later what do you know, a deer bolts out across the road right in front of me. I came so close to hitting that deer - I heard my tires squealing or something (I don't know though because my car has ABS), and I had to swerve the tiniest bit, but that deer was mere feet from my car. That just about gave me a heart attack... However, because of the slight downhill slope at the end of the road where I live, I have a habit of putting my arm out when I hit the brakes to keep whatever is on the passenger seat from falling on the floor, and so none of my chips spilled.
And then what came was worse. When I got to my parent's house and shut off my car, I could see steam just rolling out from under the hood of my car. At first I thought it was smoke, but I got out and smelled it and it just smelled like hot car. I was concerned though because it was hissing and didn't stop steaming, so I called my dad outside to look at it. After some examination we discovered that water/antifreeze was pouring out of the motor (not the radiator). Not good... Especially for a person prone to anxiety. Especially when this anxiety-prone person has to drive to Veremedy the next day, and then back to her apartment an hour away, plus the weekly commutes that will soon begin. There was nothing we could do then so Dad said he'd look closer in the morning. So this left me worried about my car and what I was going to do if it couldn't be fixed, and worried about Veremedy the next day... Ugh.
But in the end my day at Veremedy went well, and Dad thinks that a new water pump may fix my car problem. If not then this weekend I will be car shopping. I'd almost rather do that anyway because my car is old (a '98), and needs several new parts. What's holding me back is that it's my first car, the interior/exterior are in beautiful condition, and it only has like 120k miles on it. But we will see what happens.

Just two more days at Shaw's.. Tomorrow I work 10:15-5:15, then I have to head down to my parents' house so I can go to Veremedy Thursday morning. I am supposed to go in for a kind of "refresher" day. Friday, my last day at Shaw's, is another retarded shift - 12:45-6. This weekend will be awesome though; I am going to visit Amanda and probably spend the night there. And then Monday is my first day back at Veremedy.. Wish me luck!

Finally, I'll be working as a vet tech again...

Last week one of the girls who works at the vet clinic where I used to work called my parents' house and left a message for me. I called her back, thinking that she just wanted to tell me something, but it turned out she called to see if I wanted to work for them again! I told her I'd think about it, and that I'd call her back. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do.... It would be stupid to turn the job down and stay at Shaw's where I would be making $7.25 an hour (and working only part-time!)... but if I took the job I'd have to stay at my parents' house during the week and only come up here on weekends. Finally I decided to take the job. I don't want to work in a grocery store, and I want to make more money. It's gonna be tough with all that traveling (from here to my parents' house twice a week, and then half an hour to work every day), but I think it will be ok. If Matt and I are meant to be together, then this will work out fine.
I gave Shaw's my 2-week notice on Friday, so my last day is going to be Friday the 21st. My first day back at Veremedy will be the 24th. I'm nervous because I don't have the confidence I need yet, and I feel like I've forgotten stuff since school. Ah! I think it will be ok though. I just need to get back in the swing of things.

So long, 21

Yesterday when I got out of work I came down here to spend the weekend with my family. It was so nice to be able to wake up here at my parents' house and spend the day with them and not have to leave to head back to my apartment at the end of the day. I miss going shopping and doing other daily things with my family.

This morning was laid back; I had coffee and a donut for breakfast and relaxed for a little while. Then a little after noon we headed down to West Lebanon to do some shopping. Mom let me pick out some Vera Bradley items for my birthday at Mouse Menagerie - I chose the Mini Hipster, and the Checkbook Cover and Clip Zip ID because they didn't have the Pocket Wallet in my color (which happens to be Java Blue). They also had some really cute teeny tiny notepads at the counter and I got one with kittens on it. So cute! Later we had dinner at Weathervane (a seafood restaurant), and the waitress found out that it was my birthday when I ordered a mudslide. She grinned and said that she would "make the kitchen aware of that", and later brought me a free ice cream sundae for dessert. :)

And for my birthday dinner (which we will have tomorrow instead) Mom is going to make my favorite "pillow" cheese ravioli with Texas Toast (yum!), and bake a coconut cake. Mmm!