A Le$$on in Procra$tination

I remember when I was living away for school and once calling up my bank account to hear that I had only 52 cents in the bank. I thought those days were over after I finished school and moved home.

Somehow history is repeating itself this month.

I'm learning a VERY EXPENSIVE lesson on 'Procrastination' right now. It sucks. Don't do it. It'll cost you--A LOT. I'd really like this month to end SUPER SOON. Like tomorrow, please.

"Bad things come in 3" couldn't be any more of a reality for me right now.

Example 1: Not making payments on student loans will result in lenders becoming irate and wanting ALL of their money up front. Not good, when you don't have $K amount in the bank. Thus forcing you to take out another loan to pay off the first loan.

Example 2: When your first car dies, you can't just let it sit in front of your house, forever. Why? Because the registration tag will expire and if a cop notices it, they will tow it for you--at your expense. But it's not just the towing that costs, it's the "storage fee" that gets you as well. So sometimes you have two options of taking care of that.... Option A: Pay the 9 month expired tags, reinstate the insurance on the car and then pay for the towing back to your house. Or...Option B: Sign over the 'Pink slips' to the towing company and pay for the towing & storage fees. Yep, you guessed it, Option B at a total of $327 was the cheaper and wiser choice.

Example 3: Now that you've got a second car, you need to make sure you receive the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicle) letter that informs you of an upcoming tag renewal. When you do receive that letter, it would be of great worth to actually take care of it immediately. When you don't, the DMV tends to get mad and charge you an additional $150 for late fees. And sometimes, it gets worse.... let's say you drive that car to work and park it on the city street. Did you know 'Meter Maids' are allowed to ticket you $25 for not displaying a current registration? Yep, it's true. And if you still don't do anything about it a couple days later, they can ticket you AGAIN. Sad, but very true. So that lesson example can cost you a total of $310.

Can I just say that right now, I feel very much like the flower on the right.......I think I've FINALLY learned my lesson on Procrastionation.

Tuesday night dinner.

Tonight, I went out with my bestie, Bugs:

We went to Macaroni Grill for dinner....OH SO DELICIOUS!!!  Their Chicken Toscana soup was TERRIFIC!! I definitely recommend it!!  After a great dinner and wonderful conversation, we went to California Pizza Kitchen for Red Velvet cake.  She'd never had it before and LOVED IT!  (also recommend that!) However, we also ordered the Pumpkin Cheesecake and that was spectacular too!! It was such a fun & wonderful evening!!  It was nice to hang out and just be best friends!  Sometimes a woman needs that, she just needs her best friend to talk to.  That's the thing I love the most about my close female friends, deep and intimate conversations that only females understand.  

AND THEN....

We made plans for the holiday season, in which we both agreed that we need to get over to the Hotel Del Coronado this year. 

 If you've ever been to San Diego, then

you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

The Hotel Del is San Diego's crown jewel.  It's beautiful and opulent... located right on the beach.  There's something magical and unique about it.  In high school (past transgression time...) I use to ditch school and go hang out there.  Sometimes I'd even lie and say I was there to cover a story for my school paper (not quite a lie since I was on both newspaper staves & yearbook staff).  I seriously love this place, I would LOVELOVELOVE to have my wedding reception there!! There's just so much history there...some good, some famous and some scary & paranormal.  There's a lot of cool lil shops and eateries.  ANYWAYS...Bugs said that her cousin could get us a "sweet hookup"!!  We'd get to stay there for the weekend and spend time at their spa!  OH BABY!!  I'm so freakin' excited/stoked/ecstatic/happy!! I cannot wait!!!  We're not too sure what to do the whole time we're there--I mean, other than hang at the spa.  Who cares!?! I can't wait!

Cinco de Friday.

Fave 5's:

1. Sleep

2.  San Diego LDS Temple

3. Friends who can make me laugh

4.  DayQuil

5.  Massages [Dang, I really miss massage school now--2 massages a day/4 days a week]

The Thursday Blog.

I'm a lil bummed today.

Every Thursday, for the past 2 mont

hs my nephew has emailed home. Now that he's in Fiji, it's on Mondays. That was my favorite part of my favorite day...receiving his emails. Plus, thanks to DearElder.com we were able to email him a letter in the MTC and the MTC would print it out and give it to him on the same day. I really liked that. Ugh...Monday seems so far away. I miss him a lot today.

Also...

I had a TERRIFIC dream last night. It was about a friend and it was dang fantastic. All day I've wanted to talk to this friend and share my dream with them.....but I guess they're a lil too busy to return calls and texts. So, here I am with my lovely little dream kept to myself.

*sigh*

7:13pm

p.s. I got yet ANOTHER parking ticket today for my expired registration that I'm taking care of tomorrow (because it's pay day).  I can't believe I got ANOTHER FREAKIN TICKET!!! I'm so mad!! Karma?? For what?? Man, I need a hug....like a really good guy hug.  :(

7:58pm

p.s.s. The funniest thing I've seen all day:

New goal.

I think I want to see how many days I can post an entry and not have any post comments.  

Wish me luck...so far, I'm on a good start. 

(oh I love sarcasm...but I was being kinda serious)

Are you kiddin' me?!

 I walked to my car today after work and noticed a little yellow envelope.  At first I thought it was a joke....til I opened it up.  Nope, not a joke.  A $25 parking ticket for an expired registration--that I was going to take care of tomorrow!! UGH!! SUCKS TO BE ME!!! I'm almost afraid to drive my car to work in case I get yet ANOTHER parking violation. 

GRR!!

My bad/good/bad week.

Bad:  Last Thursday, my other car was towed from in front of my house.  My other car is my old Kia that died laaaaaaaaaast August (2008).  I didn't renew the registration this past January, so it was towed because it just sat there.  Dead.  When I got home that evening, after 5pm, I called the San Diego parking authority that left a lovely little ticket ($25) for me to pay.  The automated voicemail said that their hours were Monday-Thursday, 8:30am-5pm.  Wow, lucky me that it was now 6pm on a Thursday night.   

Good: My friend, Berkeley, from the temple didn't move to Utah (this week) like he was suppose to...so he was at the temple for one more week.  Hopefully, another week this Saturday as well?  We'll see.  That made me so tremendously happy!!  I love hanging with Berkeley, he makes the shift so much more fun.  We talk & laugh...he has a great personality! He's such a breath of fresh air [compared to the other YSA guys on the shift].  

Then Saturday night, my missionary nephew got to call home from LAX (LA airport) on his way to Fiji.  His family also drove over to see him and spend sometime with him and the 3 other elders from him MTC district.  He sounded so good!!  I was ecstatic!  He later emailed us on Sunday night to inform us that he made it to Fiji and that the mission home was located on temple grounds.  He's so immensely happy to be there and was hoping to start tracting that very night!!  Oh man, this kid is AWESOME and will be a FANTASTIC missionary!!

Last night, a friend put on a musical fireside and my good friend PajamaPants sang a couple pieces.  My goodness, I was speechless.  I attended the fireside for the sole purpose of hearing PajamaPants. I love to hear him sing! He could sing the dictionary and I'd still be very content. He has the most beautiful voice I have ever heard.  It's like a cross between Aaron Neville & Luther Vandross--but BETTER!  I told him that for Christmas, I wanted him to sing me a song of my choosing.  Thank goodness I've got a good 2 months to find a song.  Oh man, it brings tears to my eyes whenever he sings.  BEAUTIFUL I tell ya, so beautiful.  Plus last night, watching him sing brought back a lot of mission memories.   It was a great weekend!

Bad: If you've ever been fortunate enough to deal with a towing company, they charge 'holding fees' every day your car is in their yard.  Today I was finally able to get through to the SDPA and they informed me of where my car was.  I could pick up the car with a current DMV registration ($350+), current insurance (another headache since I cancelled the insurance when I got my new car and the Kia was non-operative anyways) and a tow truck to tow it off the yard ($140)--OR....sign over the car's title to the towing company & pay $327 for towing & holding fees.  I paid the fees and walked off the yard with a garbage bag full of stuff from my ol' "Foxy Roxy".  So many memories with that car... Dang it, another expensive lesson in Procrastination.  

Elder Lomu just called!!

I just got off the phone with my nephew, Elder Lomu, who's on his way to his mission.  He just called us from the airport in LA...he's a mere 3 hours away from me.  I miss him so much. It was so good, SO GOOD, to hear his voice and feel his spirit.  I love this kid.  He's more than my nephew, he's like a younger brother and sometimes even feels like a son.   I miss him so much, you have no idea!   He sounded so excited to head off to his mission!  Oh man, this kid is going to be a TERRIFIC missionary.  His energy is unfailing.  Nothing dampens his spirit at all.  He loves the Gospel and knows it to be true.  Oh man, I wish I could have had his energy and spirit on my own mission.  I am so truly grateful to have him as my nephew and family member for eternity.  

Hi Autumn, nice to see you again!

(( Friday Fave 5's!! ))

Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice (cream) Frappuccino & Pumpkin Cream Cheese muffin!

Autumn leaves in New Jersey

Hallmark cards

Pay days

Foray Medium point pens

Lately…

I feel like I haven’t blogged for a while. Nothing much has really been going on. I’m stoked to be singing with the CV Stake choir again…and for the Christmas concert in December. My AWESOME nephew is LOVING the MTC (Missionary Training Center) and has picked up the Fijian language quite beautifully!! What else… work is fine. Same ol’, same ol’. It’s starting to die down…guess people don’t want to sue people as much. The SD Temple is FANTASTIC as always. I’m bummed that when I go back on Oct. 10, my friend Berkeley won’t be there. He’s seriously been a treat to have around. He’s one of the ONLY YSA guys to have a personality and NOT be afraid to talk to women. LOVED IT!! And he was so hilariously funny!!! Man, I’m really going to miss him. My aunt will be moving out of town by the end of the month and we’ll no longer be working together at the temple. I’m a lil bummed, but it has been wonderful getting to know her this past year. I love the way the weather is starting to turn and become Autumn. I love the colder weather and the wonderful excuse to wear sweaters, scarves and hoodies! YUM! Hmm….what else? I think that’s about it. That’s life on a Thursday.