ok, so the car was supposed to be done on Saturday.

operative word is WAS.

So I get a call on Friday night from the body shop giving me an update about the car. Apparently, AllState didn't want to authorize a new part, and insisted the body shop use a used part. He ended up refusing TWO used parts because they came in damaged. Well, AllState finally authorized the new part, and as soon as it comes in, my car will be DONE. He thinks it'll be in tomorrow...I'm so ready for my car to be back! Dad and I did go over to the body shop to look at it and WOW, does it look nice! I hardly recognized it! We had the rear bumper repainted at the same time because he was able to give me an AMAZING deal...it looked pretty bad, but now it looks amazing!

In other news...
Jessi is now in Iowa. It feels weird. We didn't get to always see each other on a regular basis, but there was something comforting about knowing she was nearby. But, she's only a few hours away, which is good. I definitely plan on "forcing" her back to IL a few times for some wedding stuff...maybe I'll have to plan a few "extras" just for an excuse to get here here!

The 3rd grade concert is a mere two weeks away. The kids are adorable and they are singing VERY well!

The musical is 50 days away. No, I didn't figure that out...the director did. I saw the sets today. They're very PURPLE!!!!!

Maggie and Mona have been moping around for a couple of days since Helio moved to Iowa...I think they liked having a "man" around the house...

I hung up 3 pictures and 2 shelves in my hallway...all of a sudden, things look SO much nicer and home-ier!

Have a great week! What's up with you?

Photographer: booked
Flower: tentatively done
Car: STILL not done (LONG story...I'm NOT happy)
Living Room: fairly cleaned up
Shelves: finally hung
Bedroom: still a disaster...that's the next project

Summative review at school is on Tuesday...overall, I'm feeling great about it, but I still get nervous. Next year is my tenure year, so I really want to make sure that I'm doing a great job!

Have a great day! Will post the story of the car tomorrow (sigh).

Please keep Jessi & Alex in your prayers...Jessi's father in law passed away this morning.

So this week has been pretty eventful overall...

On the car front, my car is now in the shop being worked on. I talked to the guy today, and they're pretty sure that they're going to find more damage behind the bumper...and he's working REALLY hard to make sure I'm well taken care of. Because my hood had some rust on it, they said I had to pay 50% of the cost for a brand new hood and paint job (which I don't agree with, but I guess that's standard)...the car guy is going to talk to a local adjuster when they reevaluate the front of my car and see if they can get rid of the whole betterment thing, which would be AWESOME! If they can do that, or at least bring it down, then I can also afford for them to paint the rear bumper, which looks TERRIBLE. But, I can't justify paying $650 for my half of the hood AND a rear bumper paint job...not right now, at least. He thinks my car will be there all week, and the earliest I can get it is Friday or Saturday...and AllState is already telling me I have to return the rental car as soon as they're done...not sure yet how that's going to impact weekend plans.

Not much new on the wedding front. I've had someone in mind for awhile for photography, and we're hoping that we can work with them...unfortunately, they're a bit pricey. They said they'd give us a discount since we know them through church, but I don't know what that is yet...we'll know on Wednesday. I did meet with another photographer on Saturday (the one I originally thought I'd use before I met these two), and I was really happy with what they could do for us. It's nice to have options!

I've been working with a cat rescue group for the past 5 months. It's been a great experience. The cats are either housed in foster homes or in the local PetSmart, which is where I go for my volunteer hours. I originally volunteered to do DCC (Daily Cat Care), which basically means cleaning cages, socializing and playing with the cats, and overall care. I've been training for a couple of months now to also become an Adoption Counselor, which means I'll be allowed to adopt out the cats. I've fallen completely in love with a few of the cats, and wish I could take a couple of them home (one in particular). Today, however, was one of the more "interesting" days of my time there. We had to give all 10 cats a medical dip because 3 (now 4) cats are showing signs of ringworm. We're not sure where it came from, if it came from another animal in the store, or if one of the cats brought it in. Either way, it required a lot of work! We ended up dipping all of the cats in a lime sulfer solution (yeah, that did NOT smell pretty) and then letting them dry under lamps (and eventually used hair dryers). We also had to clean all of the cages with a 10% bleach solution. Between both of those smells, my nose is STILL burning (throat and eyes finally recovered). They cleaned on Friday as well. With 5 of us there, it took well over 5 hours (which is when I left...they were almost done). We're pretty sure we're going to have to redip the cats (or at least some of them) again in a few days...hopefully we'll be able to either have a few more volunteers to help OR do it somewhere other than PetSmart! I was VERY grateful today for all of the precautions I take whenever I volunteer (such as changing when I'm done, taking a shower as soon as I get home, bagging up the clothes or putting them directly in the wash, etc) so that I don't bring anything home with me...I'd hate for this to get in my house!

Well, it's past my bedtime...and the cats are all staring at me wondering why I'm not in bed with all of them...g'night!

I need a new blog post...

Life's been pretty busy lately. I'm still dealing with insurance-related matters with the accident and my car. I'm going to be calling tomorrow for an update, since I haven't heard anything for a few days. Every time I look at my car, I get a little sad and frustrated all over again that I'm now having to deal with this...but then remind myself that it could have been so much worse.

Not much is new on wedding planning...trying to hammer out final budget stuff so I know what I can afford for flowers and photography stuff. Also working on ironing out the "final" guest list...wow, that is NOT an easy thing to do! It helps somewhat that we have a cap on the amount of people we can stuff into the room where the ceremony is being held...but there are some pretty tough choices we've had to talk through.

School continues to go well. I'm very fortunate to be working in a district where there is NO mention of cuts or layoffs or riffs. We're in a good place financially, mostly due to lots of frugal spending during fruitful years...if we can ride through the next couple of years with slightly less enrollment in our elementary school, I think we'll be ok...we just won't really be adding any new positions, except for filling retired positions. I feel so badly for all of my friends who have found out they're being cut or riffed, and don't know if they'll be rehired.

I need someone to help me organize my house. Downstairs doesn't look too bad now, but wow, upstairs in my bedroom is a MESS! I have a feeling there will be some major throwing/giving away of stuff during the spring and summer months...have to get this townhouse ready for a second person to move in 10 months from now!