Here is Cleo with her favorite toy, a stuffed HBU Husky. For a long time Cleo didn’t like to play with toys, but now she obviously does, as evidenced by the stuffing all over our apartment.
Since I wrote last I:
Now I need to get myself to bed ASAP…another 12-hour shift coming up!
This is my brother David’s new hamster, Hampton. He is trying to fit the entire green bean into his mouth!
David and I aren’t married yet, but our little family already includes two dogs, Eddy and Cleo. We just expanded it a little further:
Meet Mary, our sponsored child from Uganda. She is three years old. I am so excited about this. I have wanted to sponsor a child through Compassion for so long, because my parents did it while I was growing up and I really believe in their program. I hope that Mary will grow up knowing a better life. I love her already!
This is the machine that trapped me inside a parking lot, sitting at the gate like an idiot. I really did pay the fee!
Apparently it pays to make barely any money. Last year, since I was a full-time student with only a part-time job, I made about $6,000 and I paid about $1 in federal taxes. I hadn’t done my taxes because I figured there was no way I was getting a refund. But I just decided to do them tonight, using one of the free online services, and wouldn’t you know it? I’m getting a $429 refund due to the Earned Income Credit. This seems crazy to me, and I really hope I’m not doing anything wrong. All I did was follow the instructions. I didn’t make anything up. Does anyone know anything about this?
As I was driving home tonight, I remembered a conversation I had with my dad when I was learning to drive. I think it went something like this:
Me: So the right lane is for the people going below the speed limit, the middle lane is for people going at the speed limit, and the left lane is for people going above the speed limit?
Dad: pause...Yeah, that’s one way to look at it.
That was the way my structured, naive little brain worked. I never would have imagined that the right lane is for people going a little above the speed limit, the middle lane is for people going a little more over the speed limit, and the left lane is for people going a lot over the speed limit. With the occasional crazy slow driver thrown in there.
Speaking of driving, there are exactly two things that I remember specifically learning in driver’s ed. First, that when coming to a stop you should leave enough room in front of you so that you can see the rear wheels of the car in front of you or so that you can see the stop sign. I rarely do this. Second, that the distance at which you should put on your turn signal before turning is approximately equal to the length of two houses. I do this and think of it almost every single day.
There is only one thing that I remember learning in defensive driving, which is that it is considered littering even if you just toss an apple core or a banana peel out the window. But it’s bio-degradable, right? Doesn’t matter. Don’t mess with Texas!
Darth Vader: The Tragic Man Behind The Mask
Yesterday I heard this segment on the radio, and an enormous yearning to have a Star Wars marathon came over me. I wish I had time for stuff like that.
I love orchids. Somebody remembered this and got me one for Valentine’s Day. 
I went to church yesterday, and then went over to David’s parents’ house for lunch as usual. David grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for us. I had a hamburger with cheese and some baked beans. I love baked beans. After some nice conversation at lunch I settled onto the couch, pulled a blanket over me, and started to read while David went to pick up his dry cleaning. After a few pages I began to doze so I put the book down and closed my eyes.
When David came home a little while later we got our things together and drove over to his house. Once there we just relaxed a bit more before we tried to be productive. Then David began doing schoolwork and I did some wedding research. After awhile we gave it up and just sat together, talked about silly things, and I laughed until I had tears coming down. I looked at him and said, “I’m so happy.”
When we got hungry again I cooked us breakfast for dinner - eggs, bacon, and English muffins. I tried to make hash browns and it didn’t work out, but that didn’t matter. We ate and then I had a bit of ice cream, because I found out that Sundays aren’t part of Lent. And I think it just might be worth it to give up sweets for two weeks just because Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie has never tasted so good.
After dinner David and I said a loving goodbye and I drove home. Then I spent the next couple of hours chatting with my roommates who are also two of my bridesmaids. When I got into bed, not too late, and Cleo curled up next to me, I knew it had been a good day.
