Out With the Old, In With the New

So a little over a month ago I made the decision to put a new fuel pump in my car because I didn’t want to buy a new one right now. Two weeks after that my check engine light came on while I was at Bear Lake with my family. Since the car was still running, I drove it home but I was a nervous mess driving it through the canyon. I don’t ever want to do that again. LOL my brother followed me home but he just said at least it was mostly downhill so I could coast if I needed too. Yeah, never again. By the time I got it to the mechanic the light had gone off and they couldn’t tell me what was wrong. So I kept driving it and the light came back on. And then it did this little stutter thing on the way home from my mom’s and I was done. Just done.  I didn’t care what was wrong or what it cost to fix it. I worked from home so I didn’t have to drive it much and did a lot of research and then last Saturday bought a new (to me) car. I got a 2019 Rav4. I was pretty excited on Saturday.

 

Then the anxiety kicked in. LOL I had done my homework and I knew what I could afford and while this is on the high end of it, it is by no means too much. I just haven’t had a car payment for over 10 years and I used my entire car savings account for the down payment. I mean that’s what it was for. But I’m used to having that cushion. Now I have to save up again. And I will. It’s totally fine. It wasn’t my only savings. Just with my brand of anxiety I have to get used to my new normal. I do really like what I got but getting used to it is a little harder that I thought it would be. I feel HUGE in it and I’m not used to driving something bigger yet. And I got rid of my old little Mazda yesterday. One last drive and it was gone. It was a good little car most of the time and now I’m in a monster. I remember when I got my new phone and I hated it at first because it was too big and now it’s just normal. That will happen again. Maybe when it's dirty and smeared with bugs it will feel like mine. :)

I Bought What?!

I was laughing with some coworkers over bad Covid decisions that we’ve made over the past year. I must admit that I’ve made a few, mostly in the form of purchases. LOL There were those scratch off travel maps that I thought would be fun and then they just took up space and were actually not easy to scratch and just annoyed me. The giant outdoor connect four game that was fun once or twice and now sits in my garage and takes up space.  The little shade tent that I absolutely didn’t need and will be lucky if I use once a year. The Hallmark movie channel. I hate Hallmark Christmas movies and Covid didn’t change that. I watched most of the good mystery movies the first week during the trial. It was a total waste. I could go on…

 

"plant animals" I didn't need

Not all of the purchases have been bad. Early on in the pandemic I decided I suddenly couldn’t live without a stand mixer and bought myself a compact Bosch mixer. Mostly, it takes up space on the counter (especially now when it’s too hot to bake), but I have used it and will use it in the future. I definitely didn’t need it but I’m glad I have it. I now have 4 air plants in my house. Didn’t need those either but they are kind of fun to have.

 

The thing I’ve probably spent the most money on is subscription boxes. I used to look at them and think they might be fun but included a lot of junk and were a waste of money. I wasn’t wrong but not exactly right either. There are pretty much subscription boxes for anything you can think of. I’m kind of amazed. I’ve come to realize that yes, they are a waste of money, but they are still fun, and I can usually give away any of the stuff I won’t actually use. The trick is to get a box that you like and will use.

 

My first and still my favorite is the quarterly box from Margot Elena. It’s full of bath and body items, make up, perfume, and candles. Yes, there is always something I probably won’t use at all, but for the most part I love it. The products are so much fun to try and I can usually give the few things I don’t want to my nieces and they are happy to have it.

 

My second favorite is probably the chocolate subscription box I got from Jackie’s Chocolate. I did 3 months of that one for a birthday present to myself. It was so much fun getting chocolates in the mail. They were tasty! I will probably do that one again for a few more months in the winter. They say they pack for every weather but I’m not going to find out how well they pack for the summer heat.

 

I finally broke down and did the famous FabFitFun box. I’ve only had 1 so far and I got the annual subscription so that I could customize everything. It turned out to be a fun box and because I could choose what I wanted, there was very little I got rid of or won’t use. I probably won’t continue it after my year, but it should be fun while it lasts.

 

Let’s see, I did one from Cloth & Paper and that was a bust. Mostly because of me. I love paper products/notebooks, etc. but don’t have their brand of planners or anything and the pens from foreign countries were just ok, nothing to get excited about. That was canceled early.

 

I did the Candy Club box for 3 months and overall, I’d say that was not worth it because I don’t enjoy the types of candy they sell. It’s mostly gummy types in both sweet and sour flavors. I hate sour candy and am not a fan of licorice laces. I shared this box with my family and it was fun to try everything and pass around the little containers, but not worth the money.

 

And finally, the last one is the TokyoTreat box and I have nothing to say about it because I haven’t received it yet. My nephew really wants to go to Japan and we sometimes go to the local Asian market to buy fun things so I thought this would be fun for the family to try for a couple months. We’ll see.

 

There are other boxes I’ve looked at and said no, but I’m sure I will find others I decide to try. Anyway, that’s what I’ve been spending money on over the past 12 months. 

Summer Odds and Ends

It's the hot, hot days of summer. Can’t say this is my favorite time of year, but I will say sometimes the evenings can be nice. I walked to get my mail the other evening and it was still warm, but a little breeze had the air smelling like the canyon and camping and that was nice. Trying to look on the bright side and not wish away my days to cooler weather. I have some time off this week so I’m going to take advantage of the cooler mornings to get outside a bit. I have vacation to use up so I don’t lose it so I’ve spread it out to use up over the rest of the year. 

Not much else going on. I’m still reading a bunch of web comics and my actual book count is probably going to end up low this year. I’ve finished 39 books so far, which is still more than 1 per week (so far) and the caveat applies that I’m doing a lot of re-reading that isn’t counted, which is normal. I’ve haven’t checked so I don’t know for sure, but I feel like my book buying has fallen drastically this year. I’ve still purchased half of the books I’ve read but most of those have been ebooks. I’ve read some good stuff this year, but it’s still a struggle to find books that really keep my interest so I usually fall back on web comics. I’m realizing that even my book reading goes in cycles though so I’m not worried about it. I still love to read and my home library still makes me happy.

 

I made myself finish up a bunch of perfume samples so I could buy more. LOL I’ve been gravitating towards more retro/cologne smelling things lately. That is strange for me. I still like the fresh/floral stuff, but the slightly spicy/woody is also appealing to me now. And I just found one that ends in a very pretty rose, and I’ve never really liked rose before. It felt old fashioned somehow but I’m really liking some old fashioned things now. I’m sure that will also change and next year I’ll be into something else. I still have way too much perfume (regular bottles and samples) but I don’t care. I can’t wear all of it in every season and I like having new stuff to try. 

I’ve been spending tons of money… too much, really, so I think I’ll stop for a while and start saving instead. I don’t need to buy things and probably need to talk myself into doing another purge of all kinds of things I’m not using or wearing any longer. So yeah, it’s just normal life. 

Cars and Decisions

I read this thing in a book, that said something like the coin toss doesn’t lie. Used to make decisions, you have a split second of either Yes! That’s what I want or Oh! I don’t think so types of feelings and then you know what to do.

I had one of those moments last week. I’ve been laughing for a year now that the next big thing to break would be the last straw and I’d be getting a new car. Then my car died on the way home from work. I realized right there that I absolutely did not want to make my car buying decision on the spur of the moment and I actually wasn’t ready to get a new car. My sis and bro-in-law helped me get it towed to a mechanic so they could tell me what was wrong. As I was waiting, the amount I was willing to spend to get it fixed kept increasing. Turns out, I needed a new fuel pump and $1297.00 later my car is up and running again with just the normal weird sounds its been making for a year. It’s not really a good time to buy a car right now; there are still problems lingering from the pandemic. Plus, I’d like to get one more year out of it if I can.  I have a plan in place now for when I do buy a new car. Hopefully, it doesn’t have to happen at a moment’s notice. I already have money saved up for a nice down payment on something fairly new, so that will keep increasing while I wait. I have a few ideas of what I want to test drive, and I have a payment calculator app on my phone. LOL I’m ready now. I still don’t want to do it yet, but this experience showed me how I really feel. That little Mazda and I have been through a lot over the years. 

Nice Weekend

I had a very nice 3 day weekend. My flowers are looking fantastic. A few of them didn’t make it so Saturday morning my sister and I went to another nursery. That was a good mistake. I bought more flowers and even a new houseplant.

 

Sunday, we had family dinner at a park. We had a good time even though a storm was coming in. After we ate and the kids played we went back to mom’s house and then the storm hit. It was raining and blowing crazy hard and then the hail started. A few of the drains in the street got backed up and as soon as the lightening stopped, we took our shoes and socks off and got in the puddles. It was sooooo cold! 

I’m not sure how much hail I got at my house, but only one of my flowers on my back porch had any damage. They sure got lots of water though. I love spring/summer storms!

Poke in the Arm

Just got my second COVID vaccine shot. Yay! It feels so good to have it. 

Right now feels like there might be a light at the end of the tunnel. I sure hope so. 

Cedar City

Had a fun little trip to southern Utah last week. It was really nice to get out. LOL It snowed on us Thursday and Friday. That’s Utah in April for you. Sometimes 4 seasons in 1 day. We did have to switch the day we went to Bryce but other than that, the snow didn’t bother us. I was really glad I packed my winter coat at the last minute though. I definitely used it. 

We stayed in Cedar City and then just drove a few places. I’m definitely going to try and get back down there for the Shakespeare festival this summer. I’m itching to get back to the theater and they are back on this year.

We did a quick little hike to Mossy Cave. It's too late to see the icicles hanging from the top of the cave, but still was fun to see the melting ice and tiny bit of moss. 

I don't think I'd ever get tired of this view at Bryce Canyon. It was cold, but worth it. 

The weather couldn't decide what it was doing. Sunshine and clouds. Sometimes rain or snow.

Found out about the Parowan Gap petroglyphs by the internet and it was a short drive and kind of fun to see. 

I need to remind myself not to have my mom take pictures, but I actually loved this drive in the snow. It wasn't coming down enough to make the roads a mess and ended up being just a really pretty drive over the pass from 89 to Cedar City.