Not cool, North Carolina

I've been in three accidents (none of them my fault, though!). Two in South Carolina and most recently, the one here in Charlotte. I've had two speeding tickets - one in South Carolina, one in North Carolina. I hate North Carolina in this regard. Since my accident on Friday, May 4, I have received an unsolicited phone call from a collision repair shop and an unsolicited pamphlet from a chiropractic clinic. How is it that North Carolina allows solicitation while South Carolina does not? I can't stand it.

When I got a speeding ticket in North Carolina (which I didn't tell my mom about), lawyers sent her unsolicited letters for legal counsel, so of course, she found out.

North Carolina! I hate that my automobile records are available for spammers. I hate spam...especially on my phone.

The Painful Life of a Waitress

I am a waitress.  This is the most depressing, menial job in existence.  I'm a servant.  I cater to those who assume they are better than me.  I am subject to their mercy.  I have to kiss their asses.  I have to fetch what they want, what they desire.  I must plaster a fake smile on my face every day.  I must savor my rare and greatly needed day off.

I must sacrifice time with my family and time with my friends to watch you enjoy your food and over priced wine with your family and friends...all for $2.13 an hour plus whatever extra you feel is so gracious, but you don't take me into consideration.

We close at 9:30pm.  I like to go home to see my boyfriend, my roommate, my pet, before they retire for the night; because on a Tuesday night like tonight, they have to go to bed at a descent hour.  6:00am comes early. But you don't worry about that.  All you care about is enjoying yourself. Please do, because I enjoy myself on that rare opportunity to go out, but I respect and consider my waitresses and waiters.

It is 10:00pm.  Everyone has left.  By everyone, I mean not only the other guests; but the kitchen staff and the other servers, too.  Haven't you noticed me aimlessly walking about trying to urge you to leave? I've already taken away your empty plates.  I try to find things around the restaurant to do to pass time.

10:30pm. By now I have removed all of your empty plates and wine glasses.  All you are left with are water glasses which I refuse to refill.  I have turned the music off.  All the tables are set for lunch tomorrow.  I wasn't required to do that, but I wanted to get my point across to you.  We are closed.  We have been closed for an hour.  Leave.

10:45pm. Hallelujah! They are gone. Let's hurry up and enter the tip into the computer so I can do my checkout and go home. What?! They left me $12.00 on a $95.00 bill. You keep me past closing, you ask me for more bread continuously, you had an extra special order because apparently you can't eat anything on the menu (or don't want to) and you leave me TWELVE DOLLARS?! Screw you.

I go home pissed off because I made less than $100 tonight after staying at work for more than an hour past closing time.  Not to mention, I worked the lunch shift earlier today, so all in all, I've been here for approximately 10 hours.

The next day a server asks how last night's shift went. Pause. I keep thinking, but I can't really remember.  I can't distinguish last night from the night before - or even last week for that matter.  Every damn day runs together.  There is nothing in my life as a server that distinguishes one day from another.  It's just another day of being someone's bitch while barely making a living.

But of course...who cares?

Whoa!

Are you kidding me? Has it really been three months since I've posted a blog? That's terrible. I'm sorry I've been M.I.A.

I've been quite busy. I got accepted into Presbyterian Hospital's Radiology Technology program and will begin July 9.  I have a new job as a server where I work pretty much 6 days a week. It's pretty tough, but gotta make that money, right?

Christopher and I are great. We went strawberry picking last weekend, but it was slim.  Most of the berries were green, or rotten. It was quite busy, so maybe everybody else got the good ones.

Nothing is new...the same old thing, just another day. I'm just waiting for school to start. I'm so anxious!

Betty Crocker- kinda

Christopher says that specialized kitchen appliances are things that only white people have. For example - only white people want bread makers, salad spinners (ring a bell, sis?), SodaStreams, a separate waffle maker, sandwich maker...whatever. I'm not exactly sure if this is true to form, but he's right about one thing. I want everything "specialized" in my kitchen.

I want a panini press. I want a bread maker. I want a pressure cooker. I want copper cookware (although he says it isn't worth it[the price]...the reviews online state otherwise). I want a large soup/stock pot. I want a griddle. I want a food processor. I want a butcher block table.

All of these things are in my dream kitchen (as well as a double oven and six range stove with a trough sink). If only he had a job that could support me not working...I'd definitely be the next Betty Crocker.

I haven't been able to do as much sewing as I'd like thanks to me working a TON, but I'm just trying to get my finances back to what they were pre-unemployment. I took out over $1000 of my savings during my month long joblessness - I want it back!!

My goal for February - spend an entire month without eating out; I don't want to buy even a $7 sandwich. I guess there is one exception - the days I'm working 12 hours and must eat something while there.

Those Darned Resolutions

I'm keeping mine! I know I said I wasn't calling it a resolution, per se. I've a ton more vegetables and fruit into my diet. As we all know, Christopher doesn't eat anything resembling a vegetable, so when I cook, I cater to him. I hardly ever ate vegetables and it showed. But, I've since sauteed some zucchini, squash, and spinach, made spinach smoothies, and I eat at least one orange a day. I'm feeling great!

Just this morning, my breakfast consisted of...
1 hard boiled egg
1 smoothie (spinach, strawberry, banana, blueberry, and OJ)
1 bagel
skim milk

Pretty good, eh?

The scale says I've dropped 5 pounds since I've started eating more fruits and vegetables. Score!!

Gifts and The First Sew

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I wish you the best in keeping your New Year's resolutions. I don't have a resolution, per se, but I am incorporating more fruits and vegetables into my diet.

For Christmas (and his birthday), I gave Christopher a weekend getaway to New York City - the greatest city on earth. We had a blast, even though I shouldn't have worn new boots - my feet were torn apart...but it was worth it.  We arrived on Friday around two, but were unable to check into our hotel until four. We were told to leave our luggage (which were backpacks - not really any luggage to speak of) with the concierge while we went out. We meandered around the crowded streets of Times Square (the location of our hotel).  I had researched the best burgers in New York and came up with the Shake Shack thanks to urbanspoon.com.  We arrived to a l-o-n-g line winding through the restuarant and outside on the sidewalk.  After about fifteen minutes of waiting in line, we placed our order and waited fifteen more for our food to come up. We see people standing around waiting for tables to eat, so we devised a plan.  Christopher was to walk around and scout a table while I waited for our buzzer to go off and get our food.  After retrieving our grub, I meet up with Christopher who still wasn't able to get a table, but low and behold a table gets up right before our eyes. This is our first New York moment.  We slide into the chairs as soon as the family gets up and Chris begins to eat just as a wiry lady screams that we stole her table. What the hell lady? Where were you? You weren't standing by the table to stake your claim. She turns to another woman saying she was waiting after our wiry lady for twenty minutes.  I was too meek, Christopher says since I began to get up as he remained seated eating. She made a fuss, I looked at him with a look that I guess he read to give up, so he got up and we waited for another table, which became available only a few seconds after that encounter.

After four o'clock, we walked back to the hotel to retrieve our bags and check into the hotel.  The concierge gets our bags and hands them to us.  Christopher and I had talked about whether or not to tip him.  Our luggage was nothing more than two backpacks - weighing nothing...and they were checked for less than two hours. We decided we would not tip, but got money out just in case.  Well, good thing we did, because after he handed us our backpacks, we thanked him, and he just looked at us and waited. I am unsure now if he held his hand out, but I want to think that he did. So I reached into my pocket and took out some cash and handed it to him.  What a waste of money.  I would understand tipping him if we had a lot of luggage, or if it was heavy, but no; it was neither of those.

We walked and walked, went  to Book of Mormon, ate New York pizza, I took Christopher to have the best cheesecake of our lives, went to Rockefeller Plaza, the 9/11 Memorial, and walked some more. This trip was entirely too short. I would love to go back, perhaps in the fall and take in all New York has to offer.  Maybe we can concentrate on Brooklyn next time since we both would love to live there.

While we were walking, we ran into this guy, who makes awesome photos using spray paint and random objects. You have no idea what he is going to make until it is finished. It's amazing to watch.

The new World Trade Center.

This is the view from our hotel room. We were a corner room, so we had another side, but I didn't take a picture of that side, for some reason.

For Christmas, my mother got me a sewing machine.  I had been wanting one for ages, but I just couldn't buy myself one for some unknown reason.  I'm a complete novice, although I took a 4-H class when I was younger and I sewed/knitted in Home Ec. Here are some photos of my recent (first) projects.

Christopher watched me as I threaded the needle and loaded the bobbin, and he wanted to practice. So, he made a pillow case. I think he wants to stuff it and make a pillow at a later time.

I tried to make Jolene a snuggie, but I couldn't figure out the collar and sleeve, so she just has a body blanket...which isn't quite right, but it's a start. She's been wearing it for two days now. Surprisingly, she isn't whinning, so I'm keeping it on her, haha. It has been chilly outside lately!

These are the drapes I made for the one window in our living room. I like them.

I bought some cheap cloth (1.99/yd) and some patterns ($.99/$3.99) so I'll be practicing shorts and dresses next. I absent-mindedly bought the wrong sizes in the patterns, because I didn't notice the sizes marked on the package, so I have shorts in sizes 18W-24W...hopefully I can take them in, maybe, but that is probably above my skill level.

Keep Austin Weird

Christopher and I arrived in Austin on Friday.  We originally planned to stay with a couple of couchsurfers in southwest Austin.  However, after walking around downtown for a bit, eating lunch, and trying a local beer, we got into contact with the couple and they were not at home.  Instead of inconveniencing them, we decided to get a hotel room...which was the most difficult thing.  Every hotel in downtown was at capacity. So we drove and called, drove and called various hotels until finally the Hampton Inn about 5 miles north of Austin had a vacancy.  Clearly, I haven't stayed in a hotel in quite some time because I was kind of taken back by how much a room is. University of Texas wasn't even playing football at home this weekend. I don't know why all of the hotels had no vacancies.

Thank God for iPhones. Saturday we searched for a local breakfast spot.  This is quite important to both Christopher and I since breakfast is our favorite meal. Urbanspoon directed us to a very small and friendly place, the Counter Cafe. After fueling our bodies, we began a search for a collar pin to complete Christopher's ensemble. The search was futile. Apparently, not many people have heard of a collar pin, except for Brooks Brothers for $60.  It wasn't quite worth that much. 

Aly's wedding was about an hour away from downtown Austin at a beautiful venue called Vista West Ranch. She timed the ceremony perfectly with the sunset, the music selection was amazing, her dress was beautiful as were the bridesmaids dresses. Almost everybody there was crying. You could see the love between Aly and Mike - it was gorgeous. At the reception, some delicious BBQ was served and lots of dancing commenced.  Everybody had remarked about Christopher's mustache and later there were some fake mustaches being given out. So all the girls wanted a picture with him and their fake mustaches. It was cute.

One thing I noticed whilst driving and walking around Austin - the trash.  It just seems to be a dirty city.  There is trash all over the banks of the roads.  Grocery bags float along the highways.  The sidewalks are dirty. I liked Austin, but in comparison to Charlotte...it's dirty.

Counter Cafe's special - hot cakes. I could only eat half.

2 free range eggs and Nitrate free bacon. Homemade biscuit (with jam).

Hello, Austin.

Austin food trucks.

Wall art.

Mr. and Mrs. Clark

The couple's first dance.

Aly and myself.

Reunited!

Real mustache + fake ones

Cute couple! <3 them.

Decisions

As most of you know, in January of 2011, I flew back from South Korea to attend an interview for Denver Teaching Fellows. We all know I didn't make the cut, but I was waitlisted.

Cut to Friday, October 28.  I check my email at work on my handy dandy iPhone only to see that Denver Teaching Fellows sent me a message asking me to come in for a final interview.  I don't have to do the entire process again, only confirm my interest and interview. What terrible timing.  There is nothing like a jolt to reaffirm what you feel.  I can't leave Charlotte now. I don't want to leave Christopher, and teaching in Denver isn't so important to me to break up with him. So, there it is. The girl that was once hugely afraid of commitment is coming around. Who knew?

November is upon us, which means it is Movember. (www.movember.com) is an organization that helps raise awareness for prostate cancer and men's health.  Men are encouraged to shave on the first of November and grow moutaches, or just sport a moustache the entire month.  I signed up on the website and received promotional items and a wristband (much like the livestrong ones).  I'll probably post pictures of Christopher's moustache throughout the month. I must admit, though, it was quite odd walking in the door and seeing him without his beard.  I haven't seen facial skin in at least a year.

The time for Aly's wedding is creeping up very quickly. I'm so excited. I can't wait to see her (it's been years - since college).  Not to mention, Christopher is a music lover and Austin is the music city.  It should be fun. :)

Safety

Maybe two months ago, a house only two down from us got broken into.  Two laptops, a stereo, and a purse was stolen.

Christopher religiously goes to bed between 8 and 9. I get home anywhere from 10 to 12. Tonight, I happened to get home to the pleasant surprise of two cops parked right beside our house, one in our yard.  I get out and walk towards them only to find out that the (rather nice) house beside us got broken into.  The criminals jumped the fence in the back (which we share with that house) and broke into a window.  The alarms went off and spooked the criminals - nothing was stolen.

Two break-ins does not bode well.  I'm getting more and more scared to live here. I'm also getting a bit paranoid of coming home late at night carrying as much cash as I do.  Thankfully, Christopher is home (even though asleep) every night, so hopefully that wards off any attempted burglaries.

Jolene had to go to the vet today. Christopher was kind enough to take her while I went to work.  She has an eye infection.  Plenty of green discharge and a red swollen eye, but her spirits are high :) Such a trooper.  She's also keeping a vigilant eye on the house.  Any movement she sees outside of the windows brings barks.

Due Process

Ron Paul along with civil liberties groups have spoken out and condemned the assassinations of two US-born Muslims, one of them highly ranked in al-Qaeda. Do US citizens deserve due process? Yes - they do.  Do enemies of the state deserve due process? I feel they don't.

US-born turned terrorist = enemy of the state = TREASON.

Do those who commit treason against our country deserve due process? NO. We need to protect our country. Take measures to ensure we are safe. Afterall, this is a war. Treason is a greater threat than outside terrorism.

...in my humble opinion.

Praises

I think that a lot of my blog is me being negative; wishing I was elsewhere, never being satisfied with my current situations, complaining about work, dreaming of other jobs, complaining about waiting for school, et cetera.  Well, folks...this one is different. I'm singing praises.

I have the most amazing boyfriend. He randomly got me flowers today. I'm not a huge flower girl, but it is the thought that counts, right? It's a really nice gesture.  He willingly went to my mom's house this past weekend. I didn't even really have to ask....and he ENJOYED IT! What man enjoys spending time with his girlfriend's family? Maybe he's just lying to me, but that's okay in this case, haha. He cooks me breakfast on the regular and dinner when I'm around. He opens the door for me - the car door and public doors. He comes from a great family, and he tells me he hit the jackpot by finding me. Plus, he's attractive, to boot. I'm one lucky gal.

The Itch

Have any of you seen "Black Snake Moan?" If you have, then you'll know what I'm talking about...somewhat. Of course, my itch isn't sexual, but pure, unadulterated, desire...

to change.

For those of you not knowing what "Black Snake Moan" is about, here is a concise synopsis. This chick was abused as a child and grows up being quite the town floozy. She gets the "black snake moan"/the itch, meaning she needs to have *clears throat* relations with a man. So she does. Samuel L. Jackson comes along and saves her. The end.

I have the itch. I'm discontent. I crave a change of location, or change of pace, or change of something. (JOB!!) Maybe I'm just craving an adventure.  My friends Mikayla and Vince just got back from hiking half of the Appalachian Trail.  Christopher and I have been talking of thru-hiking it. Of course, he's quite settled in his job at the moment, and we're quite settled in our 2 year lease. (ugh).

If there is one thing I'm good at, it is slipping out of a contract :) But in this case, I'm sure it would cost me a pretty penny to end a 2 year lease. So...here I am, existing. Looking at job postings daily. Looking at apartments in NYC. Looking at teaching overseas again, but somewhere besides Korea. Looking at driving a tool truck for a company across the United States, but only coming home on the weekends. I'm quite a contradiction, you know. I love all these ideas, but I also love having the stability of friends and family being close. The grass is always greener.

Positive notes: I get to babysit my sister's puppy while she goes home for her 10 year high school reunion. This weather we are having is amazing. Stoli Jolene is getting bigger by the day (and cuter).

This is not a Race

I had another couchsurfing experience.  I hosted two wonderfully funny and awesome guys from England, Nick and Greg.  Unfortunately, they only stayed at the house for one night, but they arrived around 7pm (after being lost in Charlotte for about an hour). We chatted, they showered, and we headed off to Jackalope Jack's, a local watering hole, for some real American fun.  I directed them to try Olde Mecklenburg Copper and they loved it.  For those of you unaware, Olde Mecklenburg Copper is one of three beers brewed in Charlotte. It is truly Charlotte's brewery. Of course I cannot allow someone to come to Charlotte and not try local products. We headed outside to play cornhole - a game neither of them played (and to be quite honest, neither of them were particularly good at it); but it was great fun and we shared stories and laughs. They are great guys, and I feel that if they lived here or we lived there, we'd all be good friends.

Greg is beside me and Nick is the far right.

On another note, work has been occupying my time wholly.  I haven't spent any time with Christopher in 8 days. That's a bit absurd when I live with the guy. Work is completely monotonous, dreadful, and mindless. I remember working at Miyo's throughout college and loving going to work. I didn't curse everyday knowing that I had to spend x amount of hours there. I hung out with the people I worked with, and had an overall good time. But here, I hate waking up only to go to work all day then come home to sleep. I don't hang out with my co-workers (aside from Brooke whom I was friends with before I worked with her). I cannot wait to get way ahead on my bills so I can quit and find another job that I can work part time while I go to school.  I mean, I'm paying 200 less for rent here in Charlotte than I was in Columbia. I believe that everyone needs to be happy, for life is short, no? So, I'm working on being entirely happy.  Work is the only obstruction. 

I cannot wait to go back to school. I believe I've settled on Dental Hygiene. Good hours. Good work environment. Good pay. I sometimes feel I am so far behind others. Many of my friends have "real" jobs and I'm just stuck being a server. Although, none of my friends can say they've lived in Korea, ha! I often find I have to tell myself not to hold onto these expectations of everyone else. Life isn't a race and I don't need to rush to find a "real" job. I don't know any other job that will let me take off random days when I want or need, which I enjoy.

Upcoming things I'm super excited for:

- Football season!!

- Aly's wedding

- Thanksgiving/family time!!

- Friendsgiving (friends get together with tons of food and wine)

- Christopher's birthday/NYC trip!! (our Book of Mormon tickets arrived yesterday)

While others say winter is depressing, I delight in the cold, gray days. Can't wait!

Hosting

As some of you may know, I am a part of a community called "Couchsurfing" (www.couchsurfing.org).  This is a website where people from all over the world sign up to host or travel, or maybe both. This is how it works:

I'll be traveling to Austin, Texas, in November. I want a place to stay. I log onto couchsurfing.org and browse the hosts in the Austin area. If I find someone whom I may want to stay with, I contact him/her and send a request.  He/She reviews my profile and decides if he/she wants to host me. If so, we contact each other more and work out the details.

A lot of surfers bring food, recipes, a bottle of wine, or something else to thank you for hosting. I've been a part of this community since 2009, but I never had anyone surf, and I never surfed while I was in college. Now that I have my own place, I've had 3 couchsurfers in Charlotte. One, Daniel, was from San Diego and was doing a cross country trip. He was a great surfer and LOVED Stoli.

I currently have two surfers, Julia and Becky, from Germany and Malaysia respectively.  They are great girls and I'm having a blast. It just so happens that my work schedule this week was easy so I've been able to hang out with them.  Yesterday, we went to Reed Gold Mine and mined for gold. Julia and I did not find any gold, but Becky had a little flake.

Julia and I in front of the underground portion of the mine

Julia and Becky panning for gold!

Yay for meeting awesome people from around the world! I now have a free place to stay in Germany, Malaysia, and Canada. (Becky is from Malaysia, but is studying in Canada).

Drone

It's back to the grind, here. I took a bit of a vacation last week - Thursday through Sunday I was at the beach with my family.  It was a great break from the every day monotony of my life in Charlotte.  I find myself thinking about my times in Korea more and more frequently these days.  I think about the food I ate, the places I went, the conversations I had with Trisha, the fun things we did. We were always going new places, painting pottery, seeing a movie - and it seemed like I was living the good life. I think I have a case of Stockholm Syndrome (of sorts), haha

Maybe I just feel I need something new. Although, I absolutely cannot complain about my life. I have a job where I make enough money; I have amazing roomates (and an awesome boyfriend), a wonderful little pup that is cute as can be, a supportive family, and fantastic friends. So in the grand scheme of things - I am doing quite well.

I hope to take Stoli to the groomer today (apparently she smells), get my oil change (a whopping 4,000 miles overdue), and do some grocery shopping (I've been eating bagles since I returned from the beach). One thing that is super exciting - FOOTBALL SEASON!! It's right around the corner. With that comes cooler weather!! I can't wait.

Bonkers!

It's been way too long since I've updated this blog. Maybe I should start blogging about something other than my life; because, frankly, my life is pretty boring. Work, work, work.

I'm working consistently 6 days a week. The money coming in is nice, but not seeing Christopher, whom I live with, for days on end is pretty crummy.  The other day he made a remark about how he wished I would get a 9-5 job. He said it in passing, not really urging me to do so, but just stating that it would be nice to see his girlfriend more than a few hours on the weekend. I agree, though. It would be nice to have a 9-5, but it's pretty difficult considering the job opportunities are slim.

I'm still considering going to CPCC for dental hygeine. I think I have to wait until the summer of 2012. That will give me some time to pay off debt, but on the other hand, that means I'll be 26 before I finish the program. I guess that's not too bad.

Stoli is great! She's still the cutest little puppy in the world. Of course, I'm biased. She's so infatuated with Christopher. She chooses to spend time with him over me. That's not cool. I'm her mommy. Christopher says he's her dad, but I still call him uncle, haha.

We participated in Creative Loafing's Field Day this past Saturday. It was a blast!! I finally got to play volleyball, which I've been missing since I graduated high school.  I found out that Charlotte has a recreational, intermediate, high-intermediate, and a competitive league of volleyball indoors and outdoors. I just have to find the time to participate, because that's definitely a fun way to stay active.

One thing I really want to start doing is sewing my own clothes. I've been scouring crafting blogs and such. I just have to buy a desk and a sewing machine and I'll be on my way to making my own clothes. Farewell high priced stores!!

I can't wait to see my family at the beach in a few weeks. I feel like I haven't seen them in ages. Here are some recent photos...

Stoli cuddling with Christopher

Stoli sleeping. She makes me laugh

Our field day team!

Christopher and me

After field day...what a handsome man!

Donations

If anyone would like to donate to the  "Get Anna a New Bike" fund, I would greatly appreciate it. You can send it to my mailing address, or tell me how to figure out paypal. My email associated with paypal is annasoke@yahoo.com.....my mailing address is 1629 Hawthorne Ln, Charlotte NC, 28205. Anything is accepted and appreciated.

:)

Team Players

If everyone does a little, nobody has to do a lot. This is all too true; yet, some people at my work place feel the need to completely ignore this philosophy. Good to know, though, that those people will not be working at Mimosa very long. :)  Working there is great, but tiring. I'm pulling 10 shifts on average every week. The money is good, but I'm exhausted already!

Not much is happening in my life except work. My birthday is coming up and we will be having a cook out (courtesy of my mom). I'm pretty excited about that, but birthdays don't really mean that much these days. I guess I've hit all the good milestones - 18 and 21, haha.

My bicycle got stolen from work yesterday. I'm really upset because now I'm either going to have to go without, or spend a lot of money to get another one which will derail my budget that I spent a couple hours figuring out how to be debt free before 24. Decisions decisions.

Life at Mimosa

I've begun my dinner training at Mimosa Grill now. I am very pleased. Everyone has been so welcoming and have gone out of their way to say how they are happy to have me as an addition to the dinner servers. (I think they just want some days off, but who can blame them?)

I keep calling CPCC, but they are not returning my messages and I'm not getting an answer at anytime that I call. I may try to go there tomorrow to get some answers. Time is ticking. I have not yet gotten my NC drivers lisence. I need to hurry up and do that so my year to establish residency for tuition purposes is sooner rather than later.

Other than working, I haven't had much time for anything. I should take pictures of the progress of the house. I'm completely moved in. I think Christopher still has some stuff he wants to do, but everything is IN the house. I think Joe is pretty much moved in, too. There are just boxes upon boxes stacked up everywhere. We need to get rid of that business. I heard that cockroaches come from the glue on cardboard boxes. Gross!

Busy Bee

Wow. I have been so extremely busy that I've completely neglected this blog. Here are some quick highlights. The boys and I are pretty much completely moved into the house. I think Christopher has a few things left at his apartment, but his lease is up May 14, so he definitely has to get his things out of there quickly.  My room is still completely messy. I don't have a dresser or anything, so I'm trying to save money for one, or I could just decrease the amount of clothes I have.

This will be my last week at Big Daddy's.  I'm happy because I won't have to drive all the way down to Ballantyne almost every day. Thank goodness!! However, I'm kind of sad because it's super easy work and I make decent money there.  Apparently, I'll be making more money at Mimosa for dinners, so hopefully that'll work out.

I'll be going down to Columbia Friday for Michelle's masters graduation. I'm so proud of her and happy for her!  I'm thinking of going to CPCC for dental hygiene. I have to wait a year to become in-state for tuition purposes. Oh how I hate waiting!!

I bought a second-hand bicycle on Sunday. I'm so happy! I can start riding it to work (Mimosa) so I can park my car. I also live within walking distance to the grocery store, plenty of food establishments, and local watering holes :) Hopefully I'll rarely have to drive. Christopher had a grocery bag pannier and a basket that he doesn't use on his bicycle, so we attached it to mine. This is all coming together quite beautifully. I feel all is well with the world right now.