Orchid

I am determined to keep this orchid alive... but that hasn't saved any of the others, so I am not sure how much hope this one has.

Journey to Healthy

I don't think I blogged about it, but I quit smoking in September. Just cold turkey quit. I had tried so many different ways before, and would sometimes quit for a little while. I started again while I was going through the stress of splitting up with my husband and I knew I didn't really want to be a smoker.

I think it was just time for me, and I couldn't be happier. I'm healthier and happier. Sometimes I get a small craving, but it always passes. Now I have some friends who want to quit, too. One of them in particular has tried several ways of quitting.

She has tried the patch, nicotine gum, and tapering down. In one desperate attempt she even tried making herself sick by smoking an entire pack of cigarettes as fast as she could. Nothing has worked. This time she is trying Electronic Cigarettes. They come in all kinds of flavors. She is a coffee freak, so she is starting off with "Java Jolt", a coffee flavored electronic cigarette. She has ordered them online, and hasn't gotten them yet, but they should arrive soon.

Her brother says that if they work well, he is going to try them also. He would probably get the mint flavored blucigs because he smokes menthols now and likes that flavor.

African Violet on my Desk

While my plant collection is not yet complete, I am taking a lot of pride in the plants I have. These African Violets seem to be doing very well and they haven't stopped flowering.

It's also growing new buds right now! So it must be super happy, right?!

Moo.

I think it might be because I have been planning our family trip to the county fair, but I fell in love with this screen saver when I saw it!

My New Car

I can't believe I haven't taken the time to write about this before but omgsh I got a new car! Not just a new to me car, but a brand spanking new, hot off the lot, dealership license played framed, 14 miles on the odometer new Kia Soul!

I have been doing research for MONTHS! I had saved up money for a downpayment for almost a year, and finally I was ready to buy. I knew exactly what kind of car I wanted and I knew everything about it except what it felt like to drive it.

I will spare you the details of my horrible experience the first time I tried to buy it. The short story is that I had applied online for credit and Ron Tonkin Kia and somehow my application was sent to Ron Tonkin Mazda. I explained the mix up to the woman on the phone but she assured me they could sell Kias off their lot. I'm sure that would have been true of they had some but they didn't. It was just lie after lie and swindle after swindle and typical car sales man after typical car sales man. In fact after about 3 minutes of being on the lot with our salesman I turned around and left after he lied to me about the price of a Kia Soul. He told me I couldn't afford it and I should buy a used car instead. I didn't even confront him about his lie. I just told him that if I couldn't afford the car I wanted then I would just wait until I had saved more money. He said, "Seriously? That's your plan?" scoffing at me. I turned on my heel, got into the car and drove away. Jokes on that guy because I'm driving around the exact car I wanted for $3,000 less than he said I'd have to pay for it.

But the important part of the story is how I bought my Kia Soul. I went online to costcoauto.com and typed in the exact car I wanted - since I exactly knew - a brand new Kia Soul base model in white. A list of Broadway Kia salesmen popped up and the web page said someone would call me within 24 hours. And someone did. I returned the call on Thursday after work and a chipper sounding fellow named Derek asked if I was in a hurry to buy a car. "Nope".

He said it was his day off but he would meet me at the lot if I wanted. I agreed if he didn't mind using his day off then I would meet him. He didn't seem to mind at all. Probably because by the time someone gets to costcoauto.com they are totally ready to buy.

I met Derek. Yes, he was the car salesman type. Not sleazy, but a young, fast talker who was trained to control the situation. As any well aware woman, I let him think he was in control, but one lie or one slime ball move and I knew I was so outta there! Not only that, I'd report him to Costco so he had a lot more on the line than just one sale.

We didn't haggle over price. The car was just a little more than what was listed on the Costco website. Derek quickly explained that it was the base model, but with a few extras. They were all extras that I had wanted, for less than what I expected they would cost so I agreed.

In the end, I paid over $600 LESS than the sticker price for the car. I still paid over the invoice price, which made Derek happy and also made him willing to come in to the dealership on his day off because he knew I would. That's because it's all a part of the deal that Costco makes with the dealers. They do the price haggling for them, come up with a reasonable number for both sides. The customer sees a salesman instead of making a deal with the fleet manager so that means the salesman gets commission and everyone is happy. Especially me.

My Paper Clip Dispenser Runneth Over

This is very easily the messiest part of my desk on any given day. I try to keep things as neat and organized as I can. I clean my desk every night before I leave so that it is fresh for me in the morning. I try to make sure my inbox and billing box are both empty at the end of the day. No matter how hard I work at keeping things neat and under control, the one thing that I cannot tame is this paper clip dispener.

I use way too many paper clips a day. The thing about paper clips is that they are so obviously meant to be temporary - otherwise you'd just staple and be done with it. Since the paper clip is a temporary solution for binding a stack of paper, that means that when that stack of paper eventually gets stapled, the paper clips end up right back in the dispenser. Whenever my paper clips start to look neat and thinned out, I always dread the end of the day when I will eventually have to return all of them back to their cluttered little home. I'm going to have to learn to embrace the chaos.

Beach Things

Underneath one of my monitors is a small cubby type area. It could be used for storage of paper clips, post-it notes, or ink pens, but I use it for beach things. I have a collection of seashells, agates, and smooth rocks that I found on the shore of Depot Bay with Travis on our first beach trip. There is also a pretty purple glass float that his sister brought back for me from the same area when she visited there. The area is very special to Travis and his family - everyone has fond memories of the place. These little beach things please me and I enjoy looking at them. I keep my extra paper clips in my desk drawer.