NEWS! THAT IS GOOD! GOOD NEWS!

I know I mentioned this to you guys in passing but it seems to be actually happening so I feel like I can really talk about this now.

Nick's parents bought a car van and are fixing it up for Nick and I. They estimate it will cost about $1000 to fix everything on it (dented driver's door, dented panel above driver's side front tire, no driver's side mirror--all from the accident that put it in Nick's parents' possession) and they are giving us a year to pay them back. We definitely don't need that long to pay that small amount but it is so very nice of them to give us an extended amount of time. The interior needs to be cleaned out (cheerios, crumbs, children wreckage etc) but other than that, it should be ready for us in the next couple of weeks!

It is a 2002 Chrysler Town and Country minivan. It has heated seats (!), automatic sliding and hatch doors along with cap'n seats, a four disc CD changer and leather seats.

I have not seen it yet and I do not know what color it is so it has not a name. I only know it is awesome and we are so very blessed. I am so thankful. If we really end up moving like we want to, this will be perfect for our big move out of state.

And it makes me want to have/steal a baby to make it useful. Also, road trips: this time it's for real.

Birthdupdate

See what I did there? Remember when I promised you a birthday update and then nothing happened? Well I slept in today and can't sleep so here it is! Finally.

I worked on B-Day because otherwise I would have just sat at home. Alone. And I wouldn't have gotten as many birthday wishes. Work had a mini party for Cindy and I (her birthday is the day after mine) and I realized that I do not want to be working there indefinitely like Ashley. After work I waited for Nick to get home and we went to meet my parents for dinner at Palace of India. My dad was out of town (like he tends to be on my birthday. I don't know if you remember but he was out of town the day I left for France. And he felt awful about it.) but he made it just in time. The food was delicious. My family was awesome. My mom gave Nick a hug (A HUG!) so I think she's finally decided that he is sticking around for a while. Mind you we have been only dating for almost five years, Mother. But whatever. She's weird.

I got a cool retro red dress that I would find and link to for you but I have a cute cat on my lap. I also got a shirt that says "I got an A+ in 'French'" and John Hodgman's new book (autographed!). Oh and a board game I wanted for Christmas that Katti has already found out how to win. Yay!

Thursday, Friday and Saturday we didn't do anything. I got moody (see below) and hid in Nick's car to surprise him at work. That "ruined his surprise" of buying himself ice skates so we can go ice skating together all the time. We planned to go ice skating that night but got sleepy and napped instead. We didn't go Sunday because of the game and finally went Monday.

Monday I got out of class early and went to dinner with Nick's parents (and Jess and Ryan and roommates). We went to Logan's and it was delicious. It turns out that they bought this 2002 Chrysler Town and Country and are fixing it up for me and Nick! After they fix everything it should only cost $1000 and they'll give us a year to pay them back. So soon Nick and I will have an awesome, pimpin', working van/car to drive! This means road trips, kids! And happy Rachel again! Yay!

Nick took me ice skating after dinner. I had to relearn everything but it came back to me quickly. And I wore my own ice skates! I don't know what it is with ice skating but I didn't stop smiling the entire time. It was perfect.

Then we got home and I wasn't feeling well. My nose starting running and I seriously said "oh no I better not be getting a cold" and went to bed early. I woke up with a death cold. Stage 2 of Nick's death cold. I've been sleeping ever since.

Anyway my birthday week was awesome and I'm blessed to have such awesome friends and family. Thank you all for the birthday wishes and presents. Moi, I seriously cannot wait until I get my period again so I can whip that cute little case out. Or my next hot date.

I love you all.

Second week of classes

I hate the first couple weeks of every semester. The freshmen get to their classes a half an hour early and take up all the seats so I have to sit in the front of class. In order to get to class a half an hour early, they need to park very early. So by the time I get to Fulton lot, there aren't any spots open.

Plus, the parking lot isn't plowed and these freshman apparently have no spatial skills. The parking lot is a mess. Cars are all over the place, making the lane wide enough for one car to drive through at a time. Especially at the back of the parking lot.

Thank goodness they haven't discovered the flood lot yet. There were six cars parked there, including mine. I'm definitely clinging to the hope that they will never find it. I don't know where I'm going to park once it rains. They better have gotten their act together by then.


This is apparently the stupidest group of freshmen we've ever had. They don't know how to schedule classes or listen when you answer their questions. And I don't know if I've become a genius overnight, if I'm good at reading comprehension or if these four years have really beefed up my school skills, but these kids in my English class ALL OF MY CLASSES must be mentally disabled. We read a short story for my English class that was narrated by a nameless boy and girl. It wasn't even hard to tell them apart because the girl's text was bold and not capitalized. Half the kids thought the girl was telling the entire story and the bold parts were flashbacks. And this one girl couldn't believe that the boy and girl would use the same phrases. Even though they were lovers. And they weren't necessarily writing at the same moment. That was when the story was unbelievable to her. And she almost started crying when she was telling all of us this...which was weird.

In my philosophy class, we are only reading nine chapters of our first book. These nine chapters don't need to be read all at once but gradually during the upcoming weeks. I seriously heard multiple people say they couldn't read 200 pages at a time and they were thankful we were reading it slowly. TWO HUNDRED PAGES. HOW THE HELL DID YOU PEOPLE GET THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL/LIFE? OMFG.

The Way We Were and Holiday Inn

I finally got to watch the end of The Way We Were. I watched part of it before we went to France but Nick and I had to leave for some reason so I never saw the end of it. Well. It suffered from Roman Holiday syndrome in that spoiler alert the main characters don't get together and I end up being upset with my ovaries in overdrive.

Then today I watched (my favorite holiday movie) Holiday Inn. Every single time I watch that movie I forget how racist it is. Blackface? Check. Minstrel show? Check. African American cook with terrible racist lines and a racist role? Check. Besides Lincoln's birthday, it's great! And it's good to see where the song White Christmas came from too. And Bing Crosby? Sigh...that man and Irving Berlin will always have my heart.

And that was my weekend.

Oh and remember how our car only had two doors that would open from the outside? Well after work on Friday those two doors were frozen shut. I tried for half an hour to get into the car before my boss' boss came by and I asked him for help. He got me into the car but he broke one of the handles. So now we have one door that opens from the outside. He felt awful about it. I told him it was just a door handle. He's probably going to offer to pay for it tomorrow but he was just trying to help. There's no way I can take his money.

And our cats still have fleas.