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A week of highs and lows:

Good: My roommate moved in last weekend; I helped unload the U-Haul (she’d recruited two well-muscled men to move all the heavy furniture, thank goodness). She took all of us out to dinner as a thank-you. The past week has been great — it’s nice having someone around as opposed to being at the apartment by myself. She brought furniture, and plants, and she’s been busy hanging stuff on the walls (something I don’t normally do). It definitely looks more home-like in there now.

Bad: It was nice being off work last Monday for the holiday, but it’s been very busy the rest of the week to make up for it. Not to mention I had to make tons of calls on Tuesday (something I’ve despised doing ever since I worked in a call center years ago — I still say the day I left that job was one of the happiest days of my life). Luckily it’s not something I have to do at my current job very often. My boss knows how much I hate calling, so he keeps me from having to do it unless it’s absolutely necessary. He’s a good man.

Good: One of my roommate’s friends is a fireman. When he came over to help her put her bed together, he made sure to check all of our smoke alarms before he left. They’re, um…very loud. I feel safer now!

Bad: I no longer have a cover on my catalytic converter. I was leaving a friend’s house, and when I backed out of the parking space I could hear something scraping the ground underneath the car. I got out, saw something hanging (I couldn’t pull it off myself — I know this, because I tried), so I backed out and pulled forward several times until it broke off. Hey, I had to drive! This was the same day I was helping my roommate move her stuff in, so when I got there I held up the piece I’d broken off the car and asked the guys if they knew what it was. That’s when I was informed it was the cover to the catalytic converter (not something I knew in advance, of course). Apparently it’s not something I need to have to continue driving, so I’ll get it fixed the next time I go to Richmond for a visit.

Good: My friend Nadine had her baby! Lisa was born after only 3 hours of labor (the same amount of time it took for her son, Tim, to arrive a few years ago). What a cutie.

Good: I found the sunglasses I lost a few weeks ago! I have this great pair of polarized Ray-Bans that were given to me as a gift — they were kind of pricey, so it’s definitely not something I was looking to replace. I’d searched all over my car, under the seats, etc. The other day I had to hit the brakes hard, and they flew out from underneath the passenger seat (a place I’d already checked, of course). I’m just glad they re-surfaced.

At least I was able to think of more good things than bad!