Are Women Cursed with Bad Car Karma?

Today was quite the adventure, however, it started out as a perfectly normal day. We woke up, went to school, Scott went to work and we had plans to meet and go get lunch. Well, as I got in the car after class to head over to his work, about a mile away, I noticed something was terribly wrong with the steering. Then I started feeling something in the tire. Then I heard squeaking. Then I felt metal against asphalt. Then I realized I was driving on a completely flat tire. As soon as I got to his work, Scott came out and we assessed the damage. After deliberating for several minutes, we decided it would be best to try to change the tire.

Wrong.

It was absolutely impossible to get the bolts unscrewed. They we insanely way too tight. So we attempted the next plausible solution: pump up the tire and drive to "Big-O Tires." Scott got his boss and used his truck for the cigarette adapter thing to turn the little pump on. Because, of course, the one in our car is broken.

After about 10 minutes, our little pump started smoking and the tire was still flat. We turned it off and luckily, Scott's boss (Mike) was just turning the corner with a big air pump. We filled the tire and drove carefully to Big-O. They fixed everything in about 20 minutes (while we finally ate our lunch) and we were off. This whole "lunch break" was supposed to be about 30 minutes but it took about an hour and a half...actually, about 2 hours. And now I"m home.

I present the question "Are women cursed with bad car karma?" because this is the second time I've had car troubles when I've been driving BY MYSELF. Of course, our car NEVER has issues with Scott. Just me. Last time it completely died and I had to walk 3 blocks to get home and find a ride to campus. However, Scott was able to quite quickly get it started and running just fine.

Now as I reflect upon this afternoon, a phrase keeps coming to mind "When it rains, it pours". At first I thought that was the case today, but I decided it is actually not. I decided to count my blessings and be grateful for what could have happened but didn't:

1. The tire could have been completely slashed (they're brand new, great tires)
2. The rim could have been completely destroyed.
3. The tire could have exploded, and caused an accident
4. The rim could have sparked and caused more damage
5. We could have had nobody to help us, or worse, I could have been stranded without a phone and way to get ahold of Scott.
6. We could have had to pay lots of money to replace the tire instead of a free patch job included in the previous owners purchase of lifetime tire service.
7. I could have had school, work, and other commitments all day, when in fact I had absolutely nothing scheduled until 5:00 tonight.

So essentially, today it just rained. It didn't pour. And we have alot to be grateful for. I find that each trial Scott and I have (which has been a seemingly large amount since our marriage), we grow closer together and our trust and love builds. So it's a good thing, right?

Yes. But I'm content with this not ever happening again. :-)

Happy Holidays

I'm so excited for the Holidays! I love this time of the year, it's so wonderful. Last night we were eating dinner and Scott asked what it's like at the Gille home for Christmas. So I told him all the little things we do and what it's like. Then he told me all about the Dodds home. It was so cool! I got so excited for Christmas!

And I can't wait for Thanksgiving! I love seeing family, eating super good food and just hanging out. I think it'll be lots of fun. Mostly I think I'm stoked to be able to spend all the Holidays with Scott. And maybe I'm just a little excited for it to get all snowy... :-) But I dunno when that's gonna happen.

Anyway, school has calmed down a little I think, at least I've tried not to get too stressed. And, one of my friends on dance team is pregnant! ah! It was crazy when she told us all. Especially for me and Scott cuz we're married and it could happen. It's so happy though, she was so excited.

Well, that's all folks!

Things I've learned this week

Things I have learned:

1. Procrastination = big problems. (waiting until the last week possible to do a 12 hour project, then you come to find you don't actually have 12 hours worth of time possible to complete the project)
2. Inviting people over = a clean house! (make sure you call before you come...)
3. Dance = money.
4. Christmas = more money.
5. Time to do/finish/work on "insert phrase here" = impossible (especially while going to school, working, dancing and trying to figure out how to be a good wife and homemaker)

I can't think of anything else real clever right now. All I know is I'm exhausted and I'm not entirely sure why. I'm normally tired, but maybe it was just dancesport this weekend. It was alot of fun, and lots of work. Scott made semi-finals in his class Standard. I made semi-finals in Novice Latin, quarter-finals in Pre-Champ Latin, and one round of class Latin. Overall, I felt really good about how we did. I've been dancing with my partner only since September and we just finished our routines about a week before Dancesport, so we did relatively well. Now I just gotta figure out how to pay for and sew on fringe onto my dress as well as purchase an excessive amount of rhinestones. Gotta love ballroom!

I cannot wait until Thanksgiving when I can finally have a bit of a much needed break. (and enjoy good food and family!) Then I'm even more excited for Christmas break to be home again and spend time with my side of the family. Maybe I'll get pictures from our wedding picked out, thank-you cards finished, and pictures printed for our apartment.... who knows.

If anyone hears of any job opportunities in Provo, particularly in an office (secretarial, receptionist, assistant, etc) that pays $9-10/hour, let me know! I'm in desperate need of a new job. I'm not happy where I'm at, and it's causing negativity in other aspects of life.

In other news, Dancesport this weekend. About 20 minutes of dancing split between two days that all our time and money have disappeared for. Oh, and I'm in the process of making a latin dress, and my coach wanted to see it today, so I showed her. Her reaction? "Oh. You shouldn't even bother putting rhinestones on it or fixing the skirt right away because it just doesn't have that flair it needs. We need to find you something else for this weekend." Yeah, shot through the heart. Oh well, not much I can do. I guess the dance world is extremely subjective, so maybe one day it will work out.

The best thing about being married is playing hooky from work and spending 5 hours with your hubby shopping, cleaning and enjoying each others company on a cold, rainy day.

Election '08

So it's finally Election Day, and honestly, I'm a bit nervous and unsettled. I'm praying for a miracle today. If Obama is put in as President, oh man we got some awful times coming I think. It makes me sick to think how many people are voting for him because they want "change" but they have NO idea what kinda "change" he's for. They just think he's cool. But they're completely blind. Our media has made us U.S. citizens blind to what's happened in our own nation. A teacher in one of my classes said our nation is "as a severed artery on life support that's bleeding and someone is trying to hold it to get it to stop." But we all know that holding a severed artery won't get it to stop, it just helps alleviate it for a short moment.

Do we really want a President that nobody is really sure if he was actually born in the U.S.?
Do we really want a President that helps pass a government grant to a hospital his wife works at so she receives a 160% pay raise?
Do we really want a President who has very little experience with politics as opposed to another candidate who's been in politics for years?
Do we really want a President who is very liberal with gay marriages, and other like issues?
Do we really want a President who could turn our country from freedom to socialism?

I sure don't.

On another note, I can finally breathe from school. Half my classes are done for the month of November, thank goodness. Unfortunately, I still have a ton of work to do and not much time to do it in. And I'm getting ready for ballroom competitions. My first one is this Saturday. We just barely got our Rumba routine today! AHH! Talk about scary! And it is by FAR the most difficult routine I have ever done. And it's not because it's flashy, it's because the stretching and partnering involved, as well as timing. It's gonna take a heck of a lot of work. Good thing I love to dance!

I can't wait for Thanksgiving! Wahoo! Love y'all!

k