Bye Bye Saturn

So I did it. I finally have gotten tired of my white Saturn and traded it in for a Ford Focus. I still remember the day I brought it home. It was a sunny Saturday and I had been bugging my Dad for several weeks to take me car shopping. I was driving the 1995 brown Ford Taurus that Mom and Dad purchased when I was in high school and the White Wonder Chevy Celebrity had to be deeded to the hands of Maggie and I so that we could cart our buns around Mt. Vernon. I had driven the Taurus all through college (it seemed to have an el ed degree as well) and now that I was working full-time at Aquin, with an amazing salary of 22, 560 per year, I was ready to make my first adult purchase. We walked around Rick's used cars and then Dad suggested we head to Cassil Motors on the SW side of CR to see what his buddy Jay had. I remember we didn't look. Instead we went inside, told Jay what I wanted to make for a monthly payment and he picked three cars for me to look at. I test drove a Toyota and then my Saturn. It was the price I wanted and the sunroof, leather interior and CD player were great bonuses. I thought I had made. I drove with the top open back to Mt. Vernon and was so excited to go anywhere.

So why did I give it up. I was tired of the lights going off. Let's see....the service engine soon light has been on since the Aquin Christmas concert of 2006, it's needed 3 sets of tires, the cooling system needed to be fixed, it seemed to be using way more gas than I could afford, it had noises I didn't want to acknowledge. It was time for it to go into retirement...good by old friend...good riddance is more like it. I'm not sad to see it go!

Where did the time go?

So summer seems to have come, gone and never really gotten started. What did I do this summer? I find myself asking that question every other day.

Let's see...I worked for West Des Moines Parks and Rec, which included rollerskating, mini-golf, a trip to the zoo, swimming, fishing, water balloon wars, too many games of lava monster, too many toads in the closet to surprise me, crafts, crafts, and more crafts and lots of KIDS!

I hosted my niece for an entire weekend while Iowa was mostly under water. We both had a blast and I now know most of the lyrics to the Strawberry Shortcake theme song.

I went to Texas with my best friend Candy to see my other best friend Danielle. We drove 1600 miles, went through 6 states, saw the Fort Worth Stockyards, the JFK sites, the ritzy Dallas mansions, danced at a honky tonk, rode a mechanical bull and had our own Brokeback Mountain experience.

I visited western Iowa to meet my boyfriends family and they are just as I suspected - crazy but fun, just like mine. It's a little strange when the second time you meet the family you are packing up his late parents house and missing and mourning them even though you have never met them.

Chris and I traveled to eastern Iowa to visit Mt. Vernon. We endured lots of stares, a run in with the law and a carnival worker (we were doing nothing wrong) and some good times with Josh and Katie.

I prayed for my nephew and his family as they have been to endless appointments to determine if Josh-Man does in fact has juvenile arthritis(at this point we don't know).

I prepared for a large surprise - I can't say more in case certain people read this entry.

I went canoeing on the Des Moines river.

I endured many sunburns and have a cool flip-flop tan on my feet.

I went to the Farmer's Market.

I worried about what my teaching assignment for the fall would be.

I bought a new car...more 'bout that later.

I saw several summer movies and SATC with Kate is still the best.

I went to Immersion, I saw fireworks three times, I laughed until I cried, and I cried until I laughed.

So where has the time gone...into memories I don't think I'll forget!