Holy smokes!

Ummm.....the last 8 days have been a little insane. So, now that I have a second to sit down (even though I should still be working on things) let's see what I've been up to. 
EVERYTHING! Except for hot air ballooning, I'm still waiting on that one. Last Monday I spent the morning at my internship and then out to lunch with my supervisors and the others I spent time with there. I was a little sad to say goodbye because I don't know if I will get as lucky next year with such funny, smart women. My fingers are crossed that my internship next year will be just as good but we'll see about that, they set the bar high. After lunch and several errands I packed up my car and woke up early the next morning to head to Louisville. Once I arrived at my new house things did not stop moving until I laid down to sleep. We moved everything from my packed to the gills car and then moved Jason's things from his apartment. Thankfully we had help from his friends and it went a bit easier than I imagined. We spent hours cleaning, packing, moving and unpacking. The next morning we got up early to head down to Nashville to empty out my storage unit and get my furniture. Wednesday was the day that nearly broke my spirit. Jason borrowed his friend's truck to drive while I followed behind in his Volvo. Now, his car is a bit rough around the edges, it's older and not in the greatest shape but it was (what we thought) reliable. We get about 100 miles from Nashville and Jason gets off an exit in the friends truck so I follow. As the Volvo is slowing on the off-ramp it makes a very loud BANG! and just shuts off. Commence the panicking on my part because a) it's not my car and b) there is a semi approaching the off ramp and I can't get the car to pull off to the side nor can I find the hazards. Thankfully I was nearly to the top of the off ramp and there was extra room for the left and right turn lanes so that the semi could get around me. Meanwhile Jason pulls into the gas station unaware that I just broke down and possibly killed his car. He's a big fan of the Volvo. I can see him from the off ramp and just start yelling at him to come help. He runs over and looks underneath the front end as oil is streaming out of the bottom of the car. Now, I'm no mechanic but I know this is very, very bad. Oil doesn't just pour out of the bottom of the car without there being a major problem. We follow the stream of oil a little ways behind the car and notice a piece of HIS ENGINE on the road. Tears. Yep, I start crying as I try to wrap my head around what we are going to do next and how I'm going to get the car fixed with very little money. After calming me down Jason picks up the piece of the car, quickly drops it and finds something with which to pick it up and not burn his fingers. The metal piece shot through the pan underneath his car, we understood that much. Oddly, there was an auto repair shop next to the gas station so we (he) pushed the car over and took the part in to have someone look at it. Long story short the car blew a rod (which was supposedly not my fault, it was due to a lack of oil) which means the engine is toast. After making a few phone calls to his friends he realizes that his car isn't worth fixing because an engine would cost a little less than the car is worth. So we are back on the road in the friend's truck after getting the ok from the garage that we can leave the car parked there. Fast-forward 60 miles and we are back on the side of the road with a flat tire and NO SPARE in his friend's truck. At this point we are making jokes about what a calamity the day is and wondering what else can happen. Well then the tow truck driver picked us up and begins telling us about giving his daughter a Volvo a few years ago that she blew up as well. While discussing his daughter he made some unsavory comments about 'pants on the ground' folks and how they're lazy. At this point we're uncomfortable but listening because there isn't much else to do. As we are pulling into the tire shop the tow truck driver continues talking about his daughter's friends and uses the N WORD. Really? REALLY? Jason and I look at each other in shock and the driver quickly clarifies that word can be used for people of any color, he's merely describing a type of person that 'is lazy, don't work and expects to be handed everything.' I could not get out of the cab of that truck any faster and had we not been in the parking lot I would have asked that asshole to pull over. I don't care if we're in Tennessee, I don't care how you define that word, you just don't use it. Plain and simple, it's ridiculous and I was extremely offended. He left without saying anything else and Jason and I decided to call AAA to let them know about his behavior and language. I am still in shock that a stranger would speak to a customer like that. 
After getting the tire looked at the mechanic informed us that the front tire was separating and the wire was beginning to poke out of the rubber. We look at it and he's right we can't drive another 200 miles or pull a trailer on that tire. So we drove it a tenth of a mile to Firestone where I have an account because we can't afford to pay for another tire. While waiting on the tire to be changed we walked to the mall and strolled around an arcade. We spent $2 to  play duck-pin bowling. I'm good at odd things that involve hand-eye coordination. Not much else but at least I can claim to be a good duck-pin bowler. We then pick up the truck and continue driving to Uhaul to get a trailer. At this point both of our phones are dying and we're crossing our fingers that we don't run into anymore issues. We get to Uhaul and find out that the truck doesn't have a ball hitch nor an adapter for the lights. That's $50 we can add to the already $300 of unexpected costs for the day. Jason has never hauled a trailer and is a bit nervous once we get it hooked up. He did great and we thankfully had no more problems after loading the trailer and heading back to Louisville. The trip that should have taken 7 hours in total ended up taking about 13 hours. We got back and thankfully had some more help from friends with the furniture. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it up the stairs before falling asleep that night. Insanity.
So after Wednesday things went fairly well. We spent Thursday cleaning his apartment, packing, unpacking, etc. Friday involved more of that. I spent a large majority of Saturday sleeping. Though we did find an awesome vintage leather chair and eyeballed an amazing record player in a huge console. We bought the chair, had to say no to the record player for now. We had people over for nerdy board games and cucumber margaritas. Sunday, more unpacking. I started my new job on Monday. The first 3 weeks are training because it's a residential and they are trying to lull the new employees into a false sense of hope that the job is going to be very rewarding and mildly difficult. I've worked residential, we know the truth about that but at least I'm mentally preparing for working at a residential with teenage girls. I'm a masochist. 
So far my coworkers seem nice. This job has made me aware that I still very much reside in the bible belt even if I am a little further North. It is a faith based organization (though they say the focus is not on Jesus) it has a strong history of Catholicism. I don't have to talk about God or pray or even acknowledge the existence of religion if I don't want to because they don't teach to it anymore. It does not stop the new employees from talking about how 'blessed' they are to be working there. The trainers have thankfully made it clear that it is a therapeutic environment, no religion required. I don't know if I would survive otherwise. I feel ok about it and I'm VERY happy to be employed. 
Today is our one year anniversary. Jason is working and I need to get back to unpacking. We'll celebrate at some point, but come on a year is small potatoes. 


Have a wonderful week :)