All is Well that Ends Well... I think.

Welcome to Monday once again. I have to say that this was quite the interesting week for me for many reasons! I did have the week off from school (the school where I teach, not the school where I am a student). It was nice to sleep in a bit for sure. I was supposed to be defending my Master's Thesis Proposal on Tuesday to get it approved to start working on it, but my meeting time got changed for the third time! This was so stressful because I really need to get started if I want to be done in time to graduate in May! Since my plans changed, I spent the day with Max instead. He is such a sweet kid. He always makes me smile when I am feeling a little down. And I got another email from James, which is always nice. He sounds like he is doing well and going through the typical routines of a deployment.

Wednesday wasn't really very interesting. I went to school at SU the same as I usually do and then I went to Zumba Wednesday night. My travel time was when things got a little interesting. It was snowing pretty bad (well, not more than usual, but that is bad to me) and I was being extra careful. Even though I was being extra careful though, as I was turning into my neighborhood, I slid right across the road and almost into the ditch! That was super scary. The same thing happed about 30 seconds later turning onto my own little road... this time being even MORE careful. I already knew something was up with my car because of a vibration I was getting, so I was going to bring it in Thursday anyway.

Thursday rolled around and I got up early for my Master's Thesis Proposal defense. I was shockingly nervous even though I knew the material with no problem. I took a few pictures to commemorate the moment...


Dressed in my "Big Girl" clothes :-)


Kasey had some good wishes ready for me on my bathroom mirror!!

After a some discussion and a few edits, I am APPROVED! I was very excited about that considering the possible changes that my advisors were talking about could have extended my project by eight or nine months! That would have been bad. Instead, they have me covered to do just what I wanted and still have the ability to get it done by May!

Next, I moved on to the car place that has always treated me very well. They looked at my car (for free, which was super nice) and informed me... to my dismay... that I had serious brake problems! For those of you who know a thing or two about cars, calipers are supposed to move, one of mine was so bad off that it didn't even move at all! The estimate that they gave me was enough to make me fall out of my chair. My Dad thought it was a little crazy, too, so he suggested I call a friend of his. I did and I am glad because he helped me out a lot. He sent me to another shop where his step-son-in-law worked. They were great. I only went there after calling Toyota because my Dad's friend thought it was crazy that a caliper would be bad so quickly (less than 3 years). Toyota was so rude and wouldn't even take me car in to be looked at for another week (plus I would have had to pay when I got there for the check-up)! They wanted me to drive my car like that?!? Are they crazy?!? Their main office will be getting a letter from me! Anyway, I digress, so the place I ended up going was called Cole Muffler. They cut the price from the original place by $200. I don't even think they made much of a profit through this deal at all! But they saw that I was distressed (and sincere, not seeking a deal) and really went to the grind for me. It was so great!!


Does he look broken? :-(


Good people. End of story.

They took my car right away and said they would have the part by Friday (the next day) to fix the car right up. Customer service at it's finest! Kasey was very pleased as well and on the way to drop the car off on Friday she stopped and got a Box of Joe and some yummy donuts from Dunkin Donuts to give to the guys. They were very greatful! She even took me out to breakfast to lift my spirits!


I was not as happy as I looked in this picture... actually, I probably was, but I was about to be much poorer than usual!

By early Friday afternoon, I was able to go get my car back! I could tell the difference just backing out of my parking space! It was a good thing that I got it fixed, too, because we had quite the collection of snow on Friday and a little Saturday and even more today! In the condition my car was in before they took care of me, I would have been in big trouble!


Friday, immediately after pulling into my parking space! That is some deep snow! Glad that Jesus (my car is Hispanic) was in tip-top shape!

This has been one of those times where it's hard to bare not having James to turn to. He always makes me feel like I can face anything and that everything is always okay. He just makes me feel good even when things aren't so good, and I miss having that close at hand!

In tremendous news, James pulled into port on Sunday and I got to talk to him for a little bit. He is currently in Crete, Greece. I have a little more information that you can ask me for, but I don't really want to post it, just in case. He was tired when I talked to him, just getting off of work, but he sounded good and it was incredible to hear his voice. I almost instantly broke into tears, I miss him so much. He had the day off today and was supposed to go out and tour the city. They had planned going to the ruins and seeing some other sites! I am so glad that they have the free time to relax and enjoy! I am sure that it has to be really helpful to them. I will keep you posted if I get any more information about his trip!

I guess that pretty much wraps up this week. Today was my first day back to school teaching! I missed my kids, so it was fun to be back. I hope that the sun is shining wherever you are, and if it's not, I hope that you are shining!

Have a very blessed and beautiful week! It's the last week in February! I can hardly believe it!!

James, sweet boy, be safe and please hurry on home to us!

all my love
always,
Jamie