The Good, The Kinda Bad but Also Exciting, and the Ugly

Lately we've been quite busy with both good and bad things.

First, my car bit the dust. We sold Dan's car before moving because, frankly, it was worth more and we needed the money. But the cross-country move was apparently too much for my 1997 Mercury Sable and its sad little check engine light came on and stayed on. The repair shop brought out a three page list of issues that totaled up to almost a grand more than the thing was worth. (And I already sunk over a thousand in it prior to moving to MA.) Some of these issues were safety related and needed to be fixed relatively soon.

So Dan and I had a talk and we decided that while it might not be the ideal time to get a new car, it would be silly to invest two thousand dollars (the price of fixing her up) in a car that has had numerous issues ever since I bought it. We had some ideas about what we wanted and managed to find a good deal on a 2007.....
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(Wait for it)
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Honda Accord Hybrid!

Isn't she pretty? And yes, that is my sad, dejected Sable to the right.

At first I was a little nervous about getting it, but I've already grown to love it. My new game when driving home is to see how high I can get the miles per gallon. Currently my record in 5:00 traffic is 40 mpg, though my overall average for the drive - which includes highway and city driving - is about 28 mpg.

So going along with the good note I met with my future major professor and the administrative staff at BU. They were all so very nice and helpful and I really feel good about going in. Plus, the campus is gorgeous and the buildings are really lovely. In New Orleans they would have long ago turned them into bed and breakfasts, but here they are just used for classes and offices.


Sure beats our crumbling hovel in the asbestos lined attic at LSU, huh girls?
(Shout out to the FFBs)

Speaking of universities, Chessa (who I've been friends with since I was 13 - we were in Girl Scouts together!!) is coming into town this weekend for an interview with MIT next week. She stopped by this past weekend on her way to a conference in Maine and we got to hang out for a bit. But she had to jet the next day so she could present a poster on something to do with decapitating mice and looking at calcium in brain cells (at least that is what I got from a gigantic poster I didn't understand a word of.) So I'm excited to hang out this weekend with her and my husband (finally.)

See, ever since we moved up here, Dan has been busy studying for the Massachusetts bar exam. In the beginning he was somewhat free to explore Boston but lately he has been in hibernation mode as the exam date loomed. Today was his first day of testing and he'll take the second half tomorrow. So say some prayers, light some candles, make some offerings, or whatever it is you do because Dan could use some good juju right now. Tomorrow he has 10 hand written essays to do and then he has to wait three long months to find out if he even passed. Now that, my friends, is ugly.