A little victory . . and some future plans.

I had a little personal victory this week. I paid my car loan off! 2 years early! My car is now MY car, not the credit union's car that I am borrowing. And I am going to drive that car 'til she can't drive no mo'. She may not be pretty or flashy, but we've bonded, and she gets great gas mileage. It took me a while to get the guts up to pay that much money all at once. I've been pretty much hoarding money in my savings account for the last year or two, waiting for disaster to strike. It never did, and even with work being much slower than it was, I'm still able to make ends meet and even have a little left over.
A couple of weeks ago, Whammo! I got the impression that it was time for me to get that car payment out of the way. Then to keep taking the same amount every month and put it towards a down payment on a house. Totally unexpected. I always assumed I'd buy a house one day, in the distant future. Houses are for grown-ups, aren't I still more or less a kid? I'll think about it later. Much later.
I want to enjoy my single, irresponsible years. . .
Sure, I'm not all that happy in an apartment. Starting to hate it, actually . . .
but still . . . Later.
After my terribly exciting life of . . . I dunno, travel and other such fun glamorous-ness.
I tried to argue these points with the impression, but the words "It's time." kept repeating in my mind. Can't argue with that, so I guess it is, in fact, time.
Now that I've decided I'm doing this, I'm liking the idea of a home of my own. Nothing big at all, probably one of the tiny 2 or 3 bedroom houses that are common in this area and throughout Sugarhouse. Decorated with my own silly but sentimental knick-knacks. Rooms painted the way I want them. A yard I can be outside in (and not have to go to the park!) with my dog, for there will be a dog. Possibly a cat. And my parakeets, who are currently being cared for by my Mom. They can squawk and squeak all the dang day, cuz there's only me and I don't mind the noise! And I will be able to be my nocturnal self. Wander through my house to my kitchen and make myself food at any hour I want and not worry about waking anyone up. Come home from trips and have that " Ah, I'm home!" feeling, instead of "Well, I'm . . . here. Again."
See?! There I go, getting ahead of myself.
I know it's going to be hard at times. Yards require lots of work. I won't have a pool. I'll be paying bills ALL by my loners. If anything breaks, I've gotta find someone to fix it and pay for it myself. Can't just call down to the office and have maintenance bail me out. I may not be ready for all that responsibility just yet, but I think by the time I have enough saved, I will be.
Or at least I'll learn real quick.

p.s. In the meantime, does anyone have advice as to the best way to start saving? I.R.A? Dedicated savings account? Some combination of the two?

So I'm a dysfunctional girl

For a while now I've had the sneaking suspicion that I don't have a whole lot in common with much of the female population of the world. At least not the female population T.V. stations seem to be targeting during the day. I work evenings most of the week, and since we have the most basic cable you can imagine, most of what is on during the day are things like "Rachel Ray", "Better" (as in "Better Homes and Gardens", but for T.V.), and "Good Day Utah". I try to get into it, but just find myself in a state of bemused detachment. I get this feeling a lot in Relief Society, and when listening to my friends discuss girly things, like movies and books. So for my own amusement I've started a list on ways I differ from friends or the ladies on television shows.

This is for entertainment only! I'm not trying to say I'm superior or inferior in any way. Just my own different self.

So, in no particular order

Why I am a dysfunctional girl:

1. I rarely, if ever, use "darling" as a descriptive word.

2. I don't see myself ever "scrapbooking". Can't I just put my pictures in an album without needing stickers? or themed paper? or special scissors? or paper punchers? Cuz really, I don't find those things exciting.

3. There are fashion/beauty magazines all over my apartment. I have never read any of them.

4. I hate shopping for clothes. It makes me grumpy and frustrated.

5. I have never shrieked and flapped my hands about because I am excited or startled. Nope. I prefer stealthy, ninja-like dropping to the ground.

6. I thought "Wuthering Heights" was twisted, and Heathcliff a creepy, brooding jerk. How is that story romantic??? I don't get it.

7. There is no "color scheme" whatsoever in my room. My sheets do not match my blankets, and my blankets do not match each other. My furniture is mismatched. And yet I sleep just fine.

8. I don't care what "What Not To Wear" says. I refuse to wear pointy-toed shoes.

9. I don't care which famous people are dating each other or not.


10. I don't care which non-famous people in my ward are dating each other or not.

11. If I pick up a book, and the description includes "love story" or "romance", 99% of the time it goes right back on the shelf.

12. Oprah has no effect on my opinions or choices in reading material. Especially since I don't watch her show.

13. On mornings when my choices are sleeping in or doing the hair/makeup thing, sleep wins.

14. There are days I don't give a crap what I look like. I'm not going to change clothes or put on makeup just to run to the store. People will just have to deal with looking at me in sweats and makeup-less once in a while.

15. I've never fantasized about my wedding day. No ideas on colors or flowers or dress or whatnot. I'd just as soon elope and avoid the hassle.

16. I find "chick flicks" boring and/or annoying. And they give girls unrealistic expectations on what to expect from guys.

17. I will most likely live a long and happy life, and never read "Twilight". Speaking of unrealistic expectations, there is going to be a generation of teenage girls shocked and dismayed when they get to high school and find . . . . . high school boys . No beautiful immortals. Poor kids.

I could go on for a while. But I'm tired and you get the idea. Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!

Yet another blog

Seriously, this blogging thing is not as easy as you'd think it would be. Several times in the last couple months I've logged on here with the intention of writing something, only to sit staring at the blank screen. I never realized just how uneventful my life is until I tried out this blogging thing. I haven't been anywhere in a while now, so no news there. I have no cute kids to write about or take pictures of. I do have 2 bettas, PrettyBoy and Guillermo. But they're private types and pretty much keep to themselves. They are also paparazzi-adverse and seem to take exception when I flash my camera into their bowls.

So there's just me. My life is (usually) simple and drama-free. This is the way I like it, so I'm a happy kid. The downside to it is boring blogs, or no blogging at all because they would be the most boring blogs of all time. But I guess it's time to write something.

Work is still slow, as it will probably be for a while yet. We seem to be holding steady at least, with occasional dips into uber-slowness that cause everyone to get a bit nervous. There were some rumors circulating about the spa closing, but I'm not putting much stock in them. Things have a tendency to get blown out of proportion by some of the people I work with. So until I hear something from someone in authority, I'm not too worried.

After being a huge slacker all winter, I'm getting back into running. My goal for this year is to graduate to actual RUNNING, instead of the leisurely jogging I have been doing and pretending it was running. There are a couple of girls I see at the park that have these gorgeous, muscular (not manly-muscular, but feminine, shapely-muscular) legs. They traipse on past me like I'm barely moving, and yet they seem as though they are hardly putting forth any effort at all. Plus they have the nerve to look fabulous at the same time! Makes me jealous! So I've made it my goal to become one of them, that I may make other people jealous. (Although I'd settle for improved running times and not quite as stork-like legs. We shall see.)

But I know the major reason people read my blog is for my boy news. Might as well entertain people with my attempts at a dating life, right? At the moment there is Josh, who I met while dancing at a club towards the end of January. I normally have a rule that I never give my number out at clubs, but decided to make an exception since he was easy to talk to and didn't try to "grind" up against me while dancing. (Besides, he was taller than me while I was wearing heels. And pretty darn cute.) He's a good guy and we have fun being total dorks together, but no, it's nothing serious or exclusive.

So, yay for me, I have blogged. I am no longer the biggest bloggie slacker. For a little while, at least.