Planning ahead this week...

I love being back at school, but at the same time I am very glad this is my last semester. I am so much more organized while in school, and I tend to stay on top of things much better simply because I don't have time to procrastinate. Thus the reason I am actually writing this post on Thursday (and scheduling it to post on Saturday).

I am currently ahead on homework for every class that I have specific assignments for. I like to do this so that if I have a bad day or week, I don't end up behind. I hold on to some, so I can make corrections if needed, and others get turned in early. Not every teacher likes that, and those are usually the assignments I hold on to.

Now, to catch up on the one thing I am behind on, posting a picture of my new car! Just for fun, I'm posting one of the redundant sticker that was on the gas pump the other day....

My beautiful Aveo

In my world, "prepay" and "in advance" mean the same thing... you can prepay or pay in advance, not sure how to prepay in advance... would that be a gas gift card?

Cars...

Ugh, cars can be such a pain, and yet they are so very necessary! My old Neon has given up. It had it's issues and I was hoping to make it last a while longer, but that was not meant to be... It was 13 years old (the original purchase paperwork was still in it) and had over 202 thousand miles on it. I think it earned retirement, even if I wasn't ready to let it go!

The poor dear had 2 (out of 4) cylinders misfiring, creating some scary times pulling out into traffic when it just didn't want to go. On the way to my family reunion the exhaust pipe broke in the middle, getting very noisy all of a sudden and scaring me into thinking it was about to blow up on me. Then it started running hot on occasion, so I added fluids and things were fine for a bit. It was still running, and doing quite well most of the time.

Then on Tuesday it got very, very hot. Then I went to work and it got very, very hot again... Then on my way home from work, it maxed out the temperature gauge, then started smoking, then quit running. My thoughts? I was begging the car to cool off, had the heater going and the windows down, and praying that I would at least make it home... I made it to within a mile and a half, coasting the last bit on the shoulder of the expressway after the engine screamed "ENOUGH!" So, there I sat on the side of the expressway in my smoking car, calling the BP station to have their wrecker come get my car and then calling my mom to please come and get me so I could get home and we could take Nate to school. A quick trip to mom & dad's to pick up dad's truck, a stop for breakfast with them, and then I was on my way to my second day of classes.

The official word from the garage at the BP station was that the Neon needs a different engine and a new radiator. The radiator blew a hole in some part of it, and the head was kaput. My choices? Around $2000 to fix this car, or get a new one. *Sigh* Car shopping sucks when you're *planning* to shop, it's even worse when you *have* to shop. Thanks to my mom & dad, I now have a beautiful new Chevy Aveo that's still under manufacturer warranty, gets good gas mileage, and won't fall apart on me. Pictures will come later, I haven't taken any yet! Well, one... This car is silver, and didn't have the cigarette lighter thingy in it but I had the one from my little silver Saturn (that I adored!) so now this car has a piece of the Saturn in it :)

Center console, with the Saturn's lighter plug thingy :)