30 Days Without Shopping?!

Being a poor college graduate with a crappy non-college graduate type job, I don't really have the fiances to go on weekly shopping sprees. However, being a second generation shopping addict (thanks a lot, Mom) I tend to spend my free time at the mall, Target, Old Navy, Kohl's, you name it, I spend at it. So after yesterday's binge I have decided it is time for a month of NO SHOPPING. But what kind of addict would I be if I didn't place in a few exceptions. So here are the exceptions...

1. If I am invited to a Halloween party I will be allowed to purchase a costume.
2. Groceries don't count, however impulse buys such as magazines and gum at the grocery store are no goes.
3. My favorite scrapbooking store is closing and having a 75% off sale - all change from my change jar can be spent here.
4. This weekend at work employees receive 30% off - debating whether or not purchasing cute Christmas decorations will be allowed or not... must look at budget closely.

Other than these stipulations my money will only be spent on gas, food when necessary, and bills. Today has been a success - I have officially spent $0.00! Yay! One down - 29 to go!

Argh.

It's been nearly two months since I've posted and, still, I am dealing with the same stupid issue. My dad. After all the trouble my brother has gotten into, you would think me staying the night with my boyfriend a few times a week would not be a big deal. Apparently my dad can't comprehend this. At 4:45 this morning he called me while I was asleep and left me very not nice message telling me that I need to remember where my mail comes and that we will be having a talk because he is sick of this bullshit. I am 23 folks. 4 years away at college with no parental supervision. I am not doing anything wrong. I still clean up my room and take care of my laundry and go to my job. If I were to go home after work at 9 pm everyone would be asleep and I would be bored out of my mind all night. So I go see my boyfriend and eat dinner and sometimes stay there because I am too tired to drive home, the weather is bad, I have had too much to drink, or because, gosh darn it, I just freaking want to! In my dad's brain staying the night with a guy = sex. This could not be further from the truth. If I could move out right now and not have to deal with this ridiculous fight over and over again, I would. But I can't afford it. I don't have money to pay rent. So it looks like I am stuck here with this crap. Oh joy.

Give me a break already.

I came home from work tonite to see my little sister cuddling on our living room couch with a boy. My little baby sister. Okay - you must be imagining, like, an eleven year old. Hannah is 18 and will graduate from high school this year, and yet I still can't fathom the idea of her with a boy. She's told me plenty about her experience with the opposite sex, but it all seems unreal to me. My brother must feel the same way because when he got home ten minutes after me he parked his but on the loveseat to keep his eye on this guy who was holding his little sister's hand. This really must irritate my sister to no end, but when I was in high school no boys ever came over to our house for me. The only experiences I had with kissing were certainly not at my house and I never had a real, significant relationship that called for my parents meeting the guy until I was a sophomore in college (not to say that I didn't date some before that, just not seriously). So when Hannah brings boys home it is a whole new experience for the family. My little sisters all grown up, folks, and I am not sure I am ready for that! On the plus side, if moving in with the boyfriend doesn't materialize by the time my sister graduates and we both have full time jobs - we are so getting an apartment together. She is just that cool that she is the only person I wouldn't mind living with, so she better feel damn special.

To update on the car situation - I was supposed to have a business meeting downtown at a Mexican restaurant today with my neighbor who I have been writing children's stories for on and off all summer for a bit of extra money as he hopes to develop a learning tool to teach children Spanish, and eventually sell said learning tool. This meeting was supposed to be with me, my neighbor and the two other people he has working on the project, a musician and a cartoonist. I spoke with him Monday evening to let him know about my transportation issue and inform him that I would make every effort to be there. Before I could talk to my dad about my car I fell asleep and when I woke up from my late nap he had already gone to bed for the night. So today, my dad calls my cell phone at 12:30 to tell me that I could take my car because he charged the battery and it should work for the day. My meeting is at 1 pm. My dad's phone call woke me up. I had not showered in TWO days (don't judge this is a rare occurrence). But I bolt out of bed and jump in the shower. I scrunch my hair because I know I have no time to blow dry it. I mapquest the directions to the restaurant. It is no exactly 3 minutes till one. I run out to my car, remove the jumper cables attached to it, slam the hood shut, get in and realize... I do not have enough gas to get to the restaurant. I have not driven my car in a week and a half for more than like 5 minutes so I forgot how much fuel was in the tank. To stop and get gas would make me 30 minutes late instead of only 15. There is no way. My neighbor will understand because I told him it was iffy that I would make it but STILL. I need these car issues to be done with so I don't have to find alternate transportation, miss out on things, worry every time I drive to work that I am going to get stranded on the side of the road, and have to wake up with my parents at 6 am to be dropped off at my boyfriends because said boyfriend doesn't have a car either. And so I can have something else to blog about!

Ugh. Goodnight.

The battery's dead again?

$844.64 later and my car STILL is not fixed. My gracious dad paid to have my car fixed when he couldn't figure out how to do it himself even though he was a mechanic for like 20 years, because, honestly, how can one live without a car in this day and age? (This is a question I should ask my boyfriend, as his car has been broken since I met him. Obviously I date for love and not money.) In any case, I was happy to go pick up the car with my mom today at 4 o'clock. Gave the man the check. He told me the car was running great. Got in the car, it started right up without making any funny noises, started driving home... then random lights started coming on on the dashboard - anti-lock brakes, volts, airbags... this has happened twice since we have been trying to get my car fixed. It means the battery is going to die. Luckily I got to my house before it did, but after turning the car off it would not start at all. We just put a new battery in the car before taking it to the car place. So either something is wrong with this new battery or something is terribly wrong with the car and causing it to drain the battery. The stress this stupid car is causing me is just entirely unneccessary. I do not have money for a new car. I have only recently been working because I spent five months trying to find a job related to my degree with no luck before resorting to retail. I have to start paying student loan bills in January. I have no idea how I will afford Christmas presents without using my credit card. I thought a college degree was supposed to get you places?

On a related, but no more positive, note, I have been sitting at my house all night (ie. my parents house that I STILL live in), reading blogs, eating white fudge covered oreos, napping, and watching DVDs of 7th Heaven to pass the time. If I were financially set I would have spent the evening at my own apartment, that I fully plan on sharing with my boyfriend when we can afford to live together - even if this one act of rebellion to the wishes of my father gets me excommunicated from the family (I may be exaggerating a tad), cuddling, eating dinner, and just generally enjoying our time together instead of sitting around alone all night. It is not only that I feel trapped without a car and by the "rules" my dad still tries to put in place because I live here, it is that I am on a completely different schedule than everyone in my house. My parents and sister get up early for school and work so they go to sleep early. I, however, work afternoons/evenings so I don't need to get up and stay up till at least 1 am every night. The boyfriend is on the same sort of schedule. Living with him would provide me freedom, company, and no more confrontations with my dad on a weekly basis about how I should not stay the night with him. This would also allow for much less stress to be put on my mom because she is always in the middle of these spats. All in all, I think it's a very good idea. Now I just need to the money to make it happen. Until then I guess I will have to be content with the solitude of my room and my many collections of television shows on DVD.

God, I hope my car gets fixed right soon!

Do you find this bothersome? I do.

I am extremely proud of America for electing Barack Obama as it's 44th president. Racial barriers broke down and I feel the right candidate was elected into office. Whether you agree with me or not - I find it very refreshing to see people who may have some prejudice tendencies putting those aside to vote for someone not based on the color of the skin but, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, "on the content of their character." Now that the election has passed I still feel the need to air one particular grievance. My mother did not vote because she felt she was not informed well enough to make an educated decision. One person would tell her why to vote for Obama, another why to vote for McCain. For her part, I am proud of her for not following advice that she was not sure she could believe. One particular person told my mother not to vote for Obama because he is not a Christian. This person is a very conservative Christian. She is also obviously misinformed. Obama spoke on his beliefs many times throughout his campaign. It is a fact that he does consider himself a Christian. I am appalled that this person said with such certainty that he isn't. This just shows the lack of research and attention to the opposing candidate this person put forth. I am glad my mom did not agree to vote against Obama, even if he was not a Christian. I wish she would have taken the time to find out the facts and vote herself, but at least she did not make an ill-informed decision. And even if Obama were not a Christian - WHO CARES? We were not electing the leader of our church, we were electing the leader of our country, a country which prides itself on the freedom to practice any religion. If Obama were of another religion he would still have morals and values, being a Christian is not the only way to be a good person and I for one am annoyed with people who believe and preach this idea. I believe in God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit and I also believe that God is the only one who has a right to judge. So stop judging others and start loving them!

Goals

Even though I am only writing this blog for myself and not out sharing it, maybe if I write some things down I will feel more motivated. Without classes and time to myself in my own space I am less than ambitious about writing. If I am ever going to make that dream of being a published author come true, I need to get moving. I'm not getting any younger. So here are some (realistic) goals I am going to put into place. With only a part-time job to contend with I have plenty of time that I should not waste sleeping. Although, my sleigh bed that my parents got me as a college graduation gift is heavenly and I would live in it if I could. Anyway - back to the matter at hand.

Goals:
Write for an hour at least 3 times a week (to start... eventually try to do so everyday).
Do not sleep for more than 9 hours a night (I know I am one lucky bitch that this is on my list).
Drink more water and less Mountain Dew.
Eat healthier for more energy.

So it's a start. As I get acclimated to writing again I will set more goals, such as how many pages to write, etc.

Crossing my fingers that this whole blog entry isn't just a waste of time and I actually follow through.

Who knew a broke down car would be the end of the world.

My car broke down last night. I have no job but am willing to max out my credit cards to fix it. The title is still in my dad's name. He is happy my car is broken because now I can't go to my boyfriend's house every night and I can't stay the night places when he doesn't want me to. I am going on 23 years old. Does anyone else see why this is completely messed up? I should not have to ask permission to leave my house. I am not asking for money for the car to be fixed. If my car isn't working I can't get a job. My dad hates that I don't have a job. So why is he happy that my car is broken?