Rockin' Out

So the one thing I wish was different about my car: The cassette player. My car is a 2006. A cassette player, really? I wish it had some sort of hook-up for an mp3 player. Today I was bumming around at Marshall's, avoiding doing laundry, when I found this gadget. You put it in the tape player and plug the other end into your music device. I couldn't wait to try it. I tore open the blister packaging without harming myself and shoved the thing into the cassette player. I plugged in my phone. Nothing. Just a little static. Well, it actually worked when I pressed play on my phone! At first it was very static-y, but when I cranked up the volume on my phone I was able to turn down the volume on the car stereo and rock out without static.

I paid 4.99 for this little gem! In the past I have tried adapters that transmit to the FM radio. They never worked well for me and they always required batteries. This is great. Now I can listen to all the music I have on my phone (probably close to 25G) and I can listen to it through my awesome car stereo system, not my little phone speaker or a cheapie bluetooth speaker. Now I'll have more surround sound than tin sound.

80k

Today I hit 80,000 miles on my car. Dang the miles add up fast, especially here in Texas.

Ready, Go!

After finding out that Kitson had a blow out between Austin and College Station and had to wait hours for AAA we vowed to teach her how to change a tire before Thanksgiving. Tonight Kitson came over for dinner and changed Ross's flattened tire before dinner. Then after dinner she reinflated the the tire, inflated the spare to the correct pressure, and swapped them out. She had a great technique for loosening the lug nuts and did a great job overall. We bought her a jumper box/air pump so that she's more prepared next time she's on the road.

Good Mileage

Commuting down to DC for class without the AC on gives me some good mileage. I think this is the best I may have ever seen on my car. I wish my mileage was always this good.

Real Women (Can) Drive Stick + Super Excitement

I'm driving Ross's car today. Remembering how to drive stick shift is like riding a bike. It comes back fairly quickly. As I've said before, I feel very strongly that everyone should learn to drive stick shift. I think only 8% of cars sold in the US now are manual transmission, but we have a lot of older cars on the road that are the old fashioned stick-shift. I mean, what happens if we are in the middle of a Zombie Apocalypse and you come across an old truck, but you can't get away from the brain-hungry zombies because you can't drive stick?

Despite my strong feelings on the matter I have never taught anyone to drive stick. Tiffany wasn't interested at all. Oh well.

I'm super excited because today I see my mom. For the first time since Thanksgiving. I'm picking my parents up at the airport this afternoon (why I'm driving Ross's car), and I just can't wait to see my incredible shrinking mom. She's lost some weight since I last saw her, but I haven't seen any photos, so I have no idea what to expect. I'll take a photo and post it soon!

Back in the Black

Over a month ago Ross swung a little too wide when pulling into the garage and scraped the bumper and front fender against the edge of the garage door. Ooops. I wasn't mad because it was truly an accident. He wasn't screwing around at all. Still, he hurt, mangled, damaged, defiled, injured, defaced, crumpled, dented, scraped, and scratched my precious car. It didn't bother me too much. It was on the passenger side, so I didn't see it when getting into and out of the car. Still, I wanted it fixed. At the drive in I felt like people were staring at my poor car's booboo. We dropped off the car last week, and picked it up this morning. My car is back to its beautiful black self. I took it to the car wash, then straight home to dry it, and make sure it was really clean. It is all sparkly now. I love my car. Ross is no longer allowed to drive it.

You know how they say you should switch up your routine to challenge your brain? Like brush your teeth with your left hand? I felt like my brain was being challenged this week when I was driving Ross's car. Ross's car is a stick shift. Real women (can) drive stick. My first (and only other car besides my black beauty) was a stick shift, but I hadn't driven stick in a while. I had to wake up my left foot. I kept forgetting to downshift. Luckily I can go from a stop in second gear, and I didn't stall it when I tried to go from a stop in third. Teehee.

I feel very strongly about being able to drive stick. I feel that it is a skill everyone should learn.

Road Block

We had to stop at a road block near Marathon, TX on our way to Del Rio. The Big Bend Open Road Race was having qualifying runs. We were told it would only take 20 minutes, but it actually took about 45. My mom and I got out of the car to take pictures of the cacti and the cars. Luckily it wasn't too hot outside--and there was a breeze.
Marfa, TX and Marathon, TX are kind of frou-frou now. They are full of artist galleries and fancy eateries. I don't know why someone would want to go out to the middle of nowhere for that. I must admit I've always wanted to see the Marfa lights. One of these days I'll go check 'em out. I just hope that if I drive out to the middle of nowhere I actually see them. It would suck to go all that way and sit out there in the middle of the night and not see anything.

Double Feature at the Drive-In

The drive-in theater opened last week, and we missed it. Ross really wanted to go this week, so we did. I was a little worried that we'd get cold, but it was fine. I wore a couple layers of cashmere, my snow boots, and had a blanket for my legs. We took my car, which is definitely the better car for the drive in. I have heated seats for the cold and the top goes down for the summer. We managed to fog up the windows something severe--especially Ross.

The home made chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich was a totally different experience this time. The concessions area wasn't 120 degrees and the ice cream was still solid when we got back to the car. The place wasn't very crowded at all, and the lines weren't long for snacks or the bathrooms. The drive-in is definitely different in the Spring.

Rango was fun. I was worried that it was going to turn all green-preachy, but it didn't. Ross was bothered that the female lead had hair because lizards don't have hair.

I wasn't excited about seeing The Adjustment Bureau. I thought it was going to be like one of the the Bourne movies where he is being chased the whole time. It wasn't. I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it. I found Matt Damon very attractive in this movie. The acting was good, even if the story was a bit predictable.

Great Day

Today was a great day. Ross fixed mocha cappuccinos this morning and when I finished mine I got to drink the leftover steamed chocolate milk. Yummy. Then we headed to the Lexus dealership to take care of 3 things: 1--Get my electronic key fob (that is my Hannukah/anniversary present and I'm really happy to finally have it) 2--The brake light on the dash has been flashing on and off recently (it was an easy and free fix of topping off the brake fluid) and 3--Ask about an extended warranty (we got the information and still have a couple of months to decide which plan to buy). The dealership gave us a fancy push button start car as a loaner. It was a nice car, but I really like mine. The loaner had a lot more of an open feeling. I actually like the tight cocoon feeling of my car.

While my car was being keyed and programmed and all that jazz we drove to York to have some rolls and hamburgers at Logan's Roadhouse. Damn that was a good burger! We went to the Target nearby and I noticed that I was just in a really great mood (No, I did not have Roadhouse Tea).

Tonight (after I took a nap) I got some things done for work (we have a deadline coming up) and managed to do some things on my super long to do list. After all that I did the shred. Two days in a row. So far, so good. I can feel that my calves are tight. It's all that fake jumping rope!

Today = nice productive day.

Sugarloaf Mountain

We had to go to Leesburg, Virginia to pick up the plates for the Lexus yesterday.   Valerie's place is pretty close to Leesburg--as the crow flies, but not as the roads wind.  We thought it would be fun to take White's ferry across the Potomac to go see the Lusters.  We made it to Germantown, but we had to drive the long way around because the ferry was closed. Grrr! 

We joined the Luster clan for a hike up to the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain. We took lots of photos and scrambled around the rocks.  Without Evelyn there I would have been a lot crazier (more reckless), but I wanted to set a good example, so I didn't go jumping from rock to rock or running off-trail (too much).

On the way down Ross and I helped Evelyn with her hiking skills. Ross always says you don't have hands on your butt, so if you want to grab onto rocks on a steep decent, then turn around. Evelyn did a great job. Check out Valerie's blog post for great photos.

It started to rain on the way down, but we were well protected by the forest canopy.  We had snack time at the head of the trail then headed back to the Lusters' house for dinner.

Ross looks so great with a baby.  We don't need a baby, just friends with a baby!  Hahahah.

No, Really, I Know How to Drive

I have had the new car for about two weeks now. I am embarrassed to admit that I had to relearn how to drive (automatic). When we bought the car they dealership recharged the battery because it had been drained in the showroom by continually showing off the awesomeness of pushing a button to turn it into a convertible. Right before we drove off I asked the salesman if I was going to have trouble with the battery. He assured me everything was fine. We drove straight from the dealership to Panera. After dinner I couldn't get the car to start. I immediately thought it was the battery. Nope. The car wasn't in park. Stick shifts don't have park.

A couple days later I had more trouble. Again, park, and oh, yeah, the parking break! I think I've finally gotten into a routine now when starting the car. Sad. You'd think I'd never driven before. In my defense I've never owned an automatic car.

This morning I took Ross's Subaru to get it inspected. It was so strange--driving stick again. I didn't stall or anything, it was just odd. I do miss driving stick--I knew I would. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and warm. Perfect for driving with the top down. Woohoo! (That is if I can get it out of the driveway.)

Codriving

In high school I knew a set of twins who would drive together as a team. The one in the driver's seat did all the driving except actually shifting the gears. Her sister would sit in the passenger seat and shift with her left hand. She just knew when to shift, her sister didn't have to tell her. I was fascinated.

Today Ross was driving and I started shifting for him because he was eating ice cream. Codriving is fun. Shifting with my left hand isn't as natural, but I get the job done. If I get that Lexus SC 430 I'm really going to miss driving stick shift. Ah, but I think all the luxury amenities will make up for it.

Garage Sale and More

This weekend we had a garage sale. Saturday we sold almost all the furniture and a bunch of small stuff. Today, we sold 2 mugs. Oh well, we will donate the leftovers. The clothes didn't really seem interesting to anyone. Our big sale was actually the car. Yep, my first car ever, that little blue Saturn, is gone! I was actually sad to see it go. Ross says he'll buy me a shinier car.

I was glad to get some money for stuff we would have normally donated. The problem is that the house is now a mess. I want to start packing stuff up so that I don't have to look at it laying around everywhere.

The packing hasn't started because I am sick. I spent the afternoon reading and napping. I'm whiny and miserable right now. I think the cold is heading down to my lungs. I'm totally congested, tired, and don't care about anything right now. Since I'm not feeling so great I've gone off the No C diet. It isn't like I was doing so well anyway. I was finding all sorts of sugar to eat. Speaking of C's and sugar--I'm going to have some ice cream.