Fun and Frolic With Long-Term Love

[Dagferi]

I have a Kia Soul and love it. And this girl is a pickup truck suv queen. My last two cars were a 2500 truck and a expedition.

My soul is a little tank when we had 24 inches of snow I was puttering around no problem. It is very Gas efficent. We just took a vacation to Charlotte which is 9 hours one way. Gas round trip was $60 including running all over the charlotte area all week. I seat 5 adults fine. It has a decent trunk. I fit a 55 in tv in with the seats folded down.

Can't beat their warrantee either. Heck the dealer I bought mine at guarantees the engine and drive train for as long as I own my car. Plus oil changes and inspections are free for life.

 

[Hannahfluke]

We used to own a mini cooper and it's a really fun car. The only reason it worked for us, though, is because we also owned a Toyota Corolla, which we used for anything our family of four was doing that required being in the car for more than 30 minutes. It was a little humorous to see my teenage sons in the backseat, they took turns sitting behind me since I'm shorter than my husband and would move my seat up so there would be more legroom. When my husband and I would go to Costco in his mini, it was always entertaining to watch him play tetris with all the food. It actually had a decent amount of cargo space with the backseat down, which was surprising. My boys say that the mini was actually more comfortable than my husband's current car (a Hyundai Voloster), even though the current car has more legroom, because the Voloster's rear window slopes up to the roof in the back seat, giving them less headroom than the mini did, which is more uncomfortable. They do like that the Voloster has a third door so that they don't have to climb over the seats. I have a Mazda 3 sedan now, which we drive if we're going more than 30 minutes away with the 4 of us. I totally get you on the car payment thing. We paid off our cars about a year ago with savings, and while we're putting the car payment money towards paying our savings back, it's so nice to not have that bill that we HAVE to pay every month, regardless of the circumstances (my husband was unemployed for 2 1/2 months last year, it was nice that we could remove those payments to our savings to help cushion the blow of losing 50% of our income for a few months. It sucks that unemployment tops out at a certain amount).

What was PunkRock's original tattoo? Every time I scroll past it, I wonder and so I thought I'd ask.

 

[Bluebird]

Thanks for all the info! I have 3 appointments lined up for test driving this afternoon, and I will definitely update! My current car is a Corolla, so Hannah, you made me laugh. PunkRock's tattoo was a screw up. It was supposed to be a stylized octopus, but the bottom half of the stencil was misaligned, and the details that were supposed to be in the outline were done as weird disconnecting lines - you can see that it is just weird as hell. He didn't look until it was too late.

Anyway, 1 pm is at the Toyota dealer where I got my Corolla. I will be checking out a CR-V and a RAV4 there.

2 pm is right next door at the Nissan place (a couple of Rogues and a CR-V).

3 pm is a Rogue at the Chevy dealer. The salesman called me honey on the phone. You can imagine that they are currently at the bottom of the list.

The next town over has the Forester and some more of the same, but those won't happen today.

 

[Bluebird]

We bought a Nissan Rogue today! I love it. Not thrilled that it is white, but it's amazeballs otherwise. Moonroof, backup camera, Bluetooth, XM radio, navigation system, power windows/locks/seats, keyless entry/driving. One owner, who bought it from this dealership originally, had it serviced like clockwork - all paperwork showing that - and then returned it to buy another brand new one when their loan was paid off. It's in impeccable condition. No scratches or dents or crap on the rug. It's a 2012.

It's not a convertible, but I am happy!

I am sure the salesman loves me. </sarcasm> The price was actually less than blue book, and I told him I wanted the navigation system updated. Then I told him I wanted rails added to the roof rack. When he tried to roll them into the cost, I told him DarkKnight and I would talk about it, over dinner. Yeah, he took care of it immediately. Then later, when we were about to sign, I told him to add that the stuff would be installed by them. (It actually wouldn't be difficult to do, but I wanted to make sure they didn't charge us to do it.)

Honestly, it was so very much low pressure when it came to sales.The finance guy showed us the extra stuffs, like gap insurance and the extended warranty, but when we declined, he never brought it up again. Don't worry though, we got gap insurance through our regular car insurance!

I haven't had a car payment for over a decade. Ugh.

Oh, and they gave me a pig.

I swear, if they offered that up front, I would have signed the paper sooner! Lol

Thoughts about the cars I drove today:

Honda CR-V. I drove two of these, from different dealers. I hated them both. Not only were they more expensive, but they rode like shit. I felt like I was driving a huge vehicle, and I felt very uncomfortable trying to navigate. I drove both an EX and an LX. The blind spots were horrid. The brakes were crap on both, but one of the salesmen actually told me that is just how these ones are. I was not sold at all. I was really surprised, because before test driving, this was my top pick!

Toyota RAV4: I actually really liked this vehicle, but it was the most expensive of everything I drove today. It was zippy in all the ways that the CR-V was not. It felt like a smaller SUV. I would recommend it.

Nissan Rogue: I tried out 4 different ones. They all drove the same, but I have to say that it was the options that cinched it for me. I bought the SV. The S version was so very stripped down, that it made me sad. The leather seat version wasn't as fancy as the one I went with. The turning radius on these is great, and I felt like it had plenty of pep. I love the glove box - holy shit, you could stuff a 4th grader in there! (Uh, I totally don't know and haven't stolen any 4th graders.) It's HUGE.

So yeah, happy!

 

[Bluebird]

I also wanted to update about all of the testing I had done last week - the doctor's office called this morning. All of the STD tests came back clean (of course), and my thyroid and cholesterol numbers are perfect. My blood sugar was almost at a normal level too. It was even lower than when I got kicked out of that medical study by Johns Hopkins. So yeah, all good news. Only, then, what is causing the increased brain fog I have been having? I think the next round of tests will be more invasive. I am going to call tomorrow morning - I didn't have a chance to ask any questions since I was getting ready to leave. I am actually a little worried now. I was pretty sure my thyroid was going to show being out of whack, but it isn't. I don't like not being able to come up with words while talking, and though it was mildly annoying before, it is now happening multiple times a day, like, A LOT.

 

[2muchlove]

I have been having lots of thyroid type symptoms too and my doctor initially said stress, which I refused to accept. Many, many tests later which all show me 100% normal in every way, I have finally accepted that maybe yeah, stress can cause this lol. Maybe not for you, just throwing it out there! I'm not 'that type' of person but I'm having to get my head round yoga and all that stress reducing stuff.

 

[Bluebird]

It could be stress, but this has been going on for quite a while, and has only recently had an uptick in severity. It happens at times when there is no stress - I am teaching, or just chattering away with my husbands. It's very jarring to me at each instance too - it's kinda scary that I can't make my brain say the word I want.

I woke up early today with a headache, so I am awake still, after having medicated for that. On my to do list today is calling the insurance company to make sure everything is exactly as i neednit for my new car, and to get an update on my son's totaled vehicle. It's still sitting in the impound lot and I am not sure what they want to do with it. He needs to get his plates though, so we can transfer them over to my old car, and he can get back on the road!

I also need to call for a pickup on our bagster. It is still taking up half our driveway, and we have more junk to put in a new one. Hopefully we will only need to buy this second one and then demo on the basement will be complete. Have I updated pictures on that?

I have lots to say about plans in that space, but I am being jumped on by a cat at the moment, so I need to save my entry before my phone gets attacked!

 

[Hannahfluke]

I also wanted to update about all of the testing I had done last week - the doctor's office called this morning. All of the STD tests came back clean (of course), and my thyroid and cholesterol numbers are perfect. My blood sugar was almost at a normal level too. It was even lower than when I got kicked out of that medical study by Johns Hopkins. So yeah, all good news. Only, then, what is causing the increased brain fog I have been having? I think the next round of tests will be more invasive. I am going to call tomorrow morning - I didn't have a chance to ask any questions since I was getting ready to leave. I am actually a little worried now. I was pretty sure my thyroid was going to show being out of whack, but it isn't. I don't like not being able to come up with words while talking, and though it was mildly annoying before, it is now happening multiple times a day, like, A LOT.

I'd ask if your thyroid is at the high end of normal (since normally they measure thyroid stimulating hormone, but check to be sure). It can still cause issues if it's within the normal range but high for you, at least it does for me.

 

[breathemusic]

Sudo has a Rogue and we both really like it. The only annoyance is that when the seats fold down forward, they aren't actually flat with the back. Not the end of the world though. He's waiting for the day when my car finally goes bye bye since it's getting old and is a little janky. I'm guessing it won't last another year before it needs some repair that isn't worth the cost

 

[Bluebird]

I actually have low thyroid when unmedicated. Like, it's sitting on the couch playing Xbox instead of making any hormones at all.

Haha BM - that's one of the few negatives I had on this car.

 

[Bluebird]

Yesterday was DarkKnight's birthday. We had ice cream and gourmet cupcakes. When I went to update my signature to reflect his age change, I realized I never updated PunkRock's last year. Meh. We are old.

So anyway, I had some good sexy times last night. I was so sensitive - I got overstimulated, had too many orgasms and then even though I really wanted one more, it just wasn't happening. DarkKnight finished, and then watched me play with myself for a while, with me getting more and more frustrated that it wasn't going to happen. He offered to help a couple of times, but I was like, I think I know what works on my own body, thanks! Finally, I said ok, what would you do? He stuck his fingers in, hooked my special spot, and I was squealing in less than 30 seconds. Lol Yeah, I think he knows what works too.

 

[Bluebird]

Feeling fabulous today.

I won both the top and skirt in separate giveaways online. Pretty sweet!

I am showing off my undercut today too. It feels a little awkward, but I think I am getting used to it.

 

[Bluebird]

I woke up this morning kinda late, and really not wanting to get out of bed at all.I eventually did though, and after showering I felt pretty amazing. I went out to lunch by myself - holy crap I love driving my new car - and then returned home just in time to pick up PunkRock. He worked til 1:30 this afternoon, and we had a 3 pm appointment at the animal shelter to gather some equipment for the adoption event we're running on Sunday.

This evening I went to dinner with PunkRock - spur of the moment, we decided to go to a local hibachi place that we've visited a couple of times. It was soooo very delicious! Funny thing was, I had forgotten until PunkRock started saying some things - the last time we were there we sat across from an arguing couple! I am pretty sure I wrote about it here, but the guy and girl were fighting about the dinner being her present. Anyway, as soon as PunkRock started spouting of lines, he had me smiling! So, we had a yummy dinner together, and though I was supposed to have a sleepover with DarkKnight, I am still in the basement bedroom with my Awesomesauce.

PunkRock had talked about watching Bladerunner, and I can't pass that up! Funny thing is, he fell asleep almost immediately, but I watched the entire international release myself.

Tomorrow I have a date with my laptop - I seriously need to get my paperwork and budgeting in order! I did have our Bagster picked up this morning, so our driveway is currently clear again and two cars can park side by side again. It's only temporary though - PunkRock picked up another at work and we already have a pile of paneling sitting in front of the sliding glass doors, on the front patio.

I need to call the doctor tomorrow and get a follow up on my thyroid stuff, like what the next round of tests will be like! Never did get to do that yet.

Did I write about DarkKnight and I earlier? Last weekend he had me feeling like complete shit. The three of us were in my old car, having a discussion about my upcoming dental appointment and I told him I would definitely need a ride to and from the dentist, because I'd be getting attachments on again and there was no way I could get there without someone to support me. He shut me down saying that things were pretty tight at work and that he just was not even going to ask. I immediately felt like two inches high. This was like, not my DarkKnight, but my ex husband, telling me that my medical needs were a complete waste of his time. I almost started crying -like seriously bursting into tears - the only thing that stopped me even a bit was the fact that our Pandemic Legacy friend was there in the car with us. PunkRock was seated in the back seat, and thank goodness he had my back - I hear this calm voice telling me that the appointment wasn't for another month, and that I should call and switch it to a Wednesday, because that was his day off, and he would be there for me. This helped IMMENSELY. What didn't was that DarkKnight kept it going, bemoaning that he just couldn't do it and that I was really sort of a jerk for even asking.

So yeah. That happened. I sucked it up though, and then later that night when we were in the kitchen, I calmly explained to him how his words had really damaged my view of him as a protector, and how small I had felt. He apologized, really heartfelt. I do think there must have been something else going on with him, because it was so not him, if that makes sense. He said that he was willing to ask, if I needed him too, but really, by then I felt good with changing the appointment, and I have done that since. However, it got bumped back until like the second week in June!

Whew! That felt good to just write all that down. Don't worry about DarkKnight and I though, it's all good. That was like, last weekend. Anyway, what I meant to just say was that I did change my dental appointment. I haven't worn my retainers at all this week, actually. This is not a good thing but the bottom doesn't fit and it hurts like hell because of that. The top, I just need to put on, dammit. I think i am going to wear them tomorrow during the day, since I will be home doing paperwork. The ortho said really I only need to wear them a few hours here and there, like every other day. My top teeth aren't going to go anywhere and the bottom, well, we know they are fucked up. Only now that I have been rescanned for new Invisalign, I need to at least attempt to get the old retainer on the bottom because we don't want things to shift too much so that the Invisalign doesn't fit at all. It's all seriously shitty though.

Fuck me. Why did I start writing about this?! I was having a pretty good night and now I am full of anxiety. Ugh.

I bought a new NIN Pretty Hate Machine tshirt today. Yesterday I won a significant discount on a cool as fuck pencil skirt with some hot pink, teal blue and white triangles, set on a black background. Someone online today mentioned that they own the same skirt and pair it with this particular shirt, and wow, it seemed like a no brainer to me! I ordered it off eBay immediately. Lately it might seem like I am getting a lot of new stuff but I am seriously on lockdown with spending for a while, from this point forward. Like I said, budgeting time! Anyway, I always get compliments on my styling, though lately I feel like I am stuck in a rut, even with new clothing pieces. I have started grabbing fashion ideas from Pinterest, and I joined a couple of outfit-oriented pages on Facebook.

Uh this is long.

 

[Bluebird]

Gah! I didn't actually go to sleep last night until 3 am. I just wasn't tired. Weird. No anxiousness or worry or anything, just not tired. Sigh. So I didn't get out of bed and start moving today until around 1 pm. I had leftovers for lunch, made a trip to the post office to mail packages out, and then came home to see what was going on with PunkRock. Apparently he got his head stuck between some product and the forklift at work today. He's perfectly fine, but holy fuck.

Anyway, he's taking a nap now, since he had to be up at 4 am today. I will wake him up in a while to get dinner. DarkKnight is all done with work, but I am feeling annoyed as hell right now with him, for no reason. So, I am focusing on budgeting, rather than being irrational. lol I paid my student loan and the heating bill, and then gave up because trying to figure out stuff in the future is still too difficult. I asked both DarkKnight and PunkRock to give me a list of what fun trips they wanted to do this year, and both of them haven't given me much. PunkRock wants to do EVERYTHING and it's hard to pin down anyone one thing, whereas DarkKnight just gets whiny and says he has no ideas. I'm like, motherfuckers - if you want to do something, we have to actually like, concrete plan for it. Ugh. Right now all I have for sure is a trip to the Air & Space Museum at some point with both guys, and a day at the National Zoo with PunkRock. PunkRock also wants to go to the beach (as always) but that's all he has really said. We did have several discussions about kayaking trips, and those I know all about because they were my idea, and I actually do have my shit together. I also think the three of us are going to go to NYC and try and see The Lion King in September for my 40th birthday. That is nebulous in my own mind, because I don't know how far out I have to purchase tickets to make sure we can go, and at this point, I can't spend that amount of money until we know how PunkRock's disability payments are going to work. Sigh.

I am hungry. Maybe that's why I am feeling annoyed.

 

[Rockit49]

I like Yellowstone

... I'm 100% sure I want to go back there this year! I'm ready when you are

 

[Bluebird]

Haha! I have never been to Yellowstone! I am looking forward to buying a small RV and doing some traveling to the national parks, but that won't happen for a few years.

Today is going to be kinda low key, I think. I need to shower, and then maybe work on getting laundry done around here. DarkKnight and I went out and bought a Bluray of The Martian last night, because he had never seen it. I remember liking it back when I saw it in the theater, but the book was way better. DarkKnight asked to borrow the book, but I had to remind him that every book I own is boxed up in the game room, and I am not emptying them all out right now to find a single one.

One of my Biology students emailed me this morning and asked for a written recommendation, so I guess I will be doing that today as well.

It's kinda rainy and that makes me want to roll up in a ball and sleep most of the day! That said, I am feeling frustrated on the lack of progress on my house lately. Everything has slowed way down. At this point, I have no idea when baseboards will ever be up and finished in either the kitchen or living room. I would totally paint the hallway trimwork, if one of my guys would tape it up. I might be able to cajole PunkRock to do that this afternoon when he gets home from work.

 

[breathemusic]

Ugh, I hear you on the slowing of progress. Now that Sudo is back to working during the week and my work is crazy we're just not getting things done at a pace other than glacial. It's sooooo frustrating!

 

[Bluebird]

Ok, so this morning I would have written a very different post, but my day has progressed to a point that a single issue is now occupying my thoughts in their entirety.

I went to the doctor today to discuss my test results from last week. Everything is reading normal. Things look great. This is a problem because my word finding abilities continue to decrease. I was hoping that my thyroid would be wonky, or that my blood sugar was all whackadoo, but nope. None of the meds I take (for thyroid and acid reflux) can be attributed to this issue.

So now, I have a label of anomic aphasia. The doctor says normally this is attributed to a brain injury, stroke or a tumor. I don't have any of those in my history. I now have a referral to a neurologist for more tests, and probably an MRI to rule out tumor.

Fucking bullshit.

 

[Bluebird]

Trying to move on - I was so positive and happy this morning. Gonna reclaim that!

Mother's Day was super fun. Things I got: my youngest bought me a stuffed Snorlax, which is my spirit Pokémon. My son came over and surprised me with this HUGE container of sea salt caramel gelato. And my oldest daughter sent me some - fuck there's the aphasia - things that attach to the top of my car to hold a canoe or kayak. So once the car dealership gets in my roof rails, these can clip on to actually hold up the kayaks. I was pretty psyched to get those out of the blue!

PunkRock and I spent the day at a small pet store chain with four cats, but none of them got adopted. That part was a bummer, but we feel pretty confident now about the process of signing out animals and settting up an event. We will do this again the second weekend in June.

In the evening, DarkKnight, PunkRock, my son and I went to eat Indian food, and then I watched the Martian with PunkRock. This is after I had just seen it with DarkKnight. Funny, because I just did the same thing with Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2. Very different space movies, but both well worth a soon-after second watch! Sleepover was with DarkKnight, and I woke up this morning feeling boosted and positive.

I was greeted with wake up kisses from a kitty cat, and then DarkKnight made me some breakfast. I snagged a couple of doughnuts and brought them down to eat with PunkRock when DarkKnight went back to work. I got some amazeballs sexy times, and then I showered and went to my doctor appointment.

So here I am. I am looking forward to my anniversary trip this weekend with PunkRock - his schedule shifted again but I have yet to finalize any plans - this evening I will be paying for our hotel and fun times in and around Baltimore.

 

[Bluebird]

My youngest has a job interview this morning! She just left. Last night was stressful - she always gets in a fight with me about wearing appropriate clothing. She looked fab when she left today though. She has a nice black skirt, a black blazer and a shimmery red top. The biggest problem was that all of her stuff is in storage, and there was no time to dig it out. So instead of black flats, she only had open toed gladiator sandals (hell no) and black boots. Boots it was. I hope she gets this job - her current place of employment is going downhill fast with mass firings and she has been working 12 hour shifts.

Yesterday I finally had time to focus in the evening, and I got half of my weekend trip paid for and planned. My actual wedding anniversary with PunkRock is on Friday, and he works his early shift that day 5 am-1:30 pm. So the plan is for him to come home after and take a nap, then we'll go out to eat - where, I don't know yet - and then go see Alien Covenant. It doesn't get more romantic than that, right? lol I purchased the VIP tickets and reserved the seats I wanted, so that's all good.

We'll spend Friday night at home, and then sleep in a bit and drive over to Baltimore. We plan on stopping at IKEA to get another floor lamp, because we need a second one, and then I paid for 4 flights at iFly, which is an indoor skydiving place. Shit y'all, I am afraid of heights! That's scheduled for the afternoon. When we've finished there, we'll check into our hotel - which I have to get today - and then go to the Cheesecake Factory, which is my absolute favorite restaurant. We're going to play at the Casino a bit too that night.

PunkRock is actually pretty bummed because his next tattoo appointment is tomorrow, and that means no pool or hot tub for him this weekend. He is determined to talk to his artist, but I am pretty sure it is going to be a no go.

So anyway, on Sunday we are going to do an Escape Room, but I have yet to pay for that, so I have to get that scheduled this morning. Depending on the timing, we'd like to have some space to hit up an art museum, but that may be pushing things. We'll see!

I think that this will be a fun weekend away, and it's all a short drive from where we live. I don't mind staycations, especially when we are broke!

I have an appointment this afternoon at the car dealership - my map update and the roof rails have arrived and they are going to install them all for me. Yay!

Last night I took some time to clean up the sunporch and I organized half the supplies we took with us to Sunday's cat adoption event. There's a small closet in the sunporch, and it is now crammed full of 3 camp chairs, a stack of unfolded cardboard cat carriers, a bag of litter, and 8 or so cardboard disposable litter boxes. I have to empty out my car still - I have all of the adoption folders, 4 collapsible cages, the water dishes and toys. Gotta make room for that stuff!