fine! i'll make a new post!

So I've been told by a couple people to post again. So here goes.

I decided to change my (engine) air filter myself. I had the part and watched Dad do it last time (when I bought the last one from Wal-Mart and they had the wrong part listed and we did everything to replace the air filter and took the old one out and realized the new one was the wrong size). So, I got my tools out, took off the battery cover and duct cover (and didn't lose the screw like Dad did last time), unclamped the air filter cover, got the old filter out, put the new filter in.... and the clamps wouldn't clamp closed. Something wasn't allowing the cover to close all the way. Crap. So I called Dad and he pretty much told me I couldn't do anything until he got there (where I was working on my car in the parking lot in front of the townhouse I live in). So I waited for him for like 45 minutes. In the meantime I went inside to ask my roommate Sean if he happened to know anything about replacing engine air filters. The girl visiting for the weekend said, "is that, like, for a car?" Pause. Okay. I know girls don't know that much about cars (usually). But.... really? I was nice and just said, "yes, for my car." Yikes!

So Sean came out to my car (with cigarette in hand/mouth and the whole time I thought, "Don't get ashes on my car, and if my car smells like smoke I'm gonna be pissed"). And he tried everything. He said he doesn't know much about cars but he does know how to replace an air filter. Neither of us could get the clamps to clamp without being worried we were going to bend/break a clamp. So I thanked him and waited for Dad.

Conclusion to the air filter drama: 1) I need a tool like Dan has that's a long skinny pointer thing and has a magnet on the end to get clamps that I drop onto the oil pan/air buffer. 2) Some filters have too much rubber around the top and keep air filter covers from clamping closed. 3) If your car has 4 metal clamps to keep the air filter closed, you don't need them all, especially onces that fall off and you can't figure out how to put back on again. 4) If your air filter cover won't close all the way, have one person put as much of their weight on it as possible as another person forces clamps closed.

Today's car issue: tire rotation and alignment. My best friend is NTB (and Dad's membership discount). They did it all, I brought a sandwich and a banana and a book and the waiting was painless, I'm good for the next 3 years (or I should say future alignments/rotations are free for the next 3 years), and whichever NTB employee drove my car into the shop is a smoker. Gah. At least I have an (almost equally overbearing smelling) car freshener. It's one of those packets of smelly beads you put under one of the seats and your car reeks of plasticy blue nondescript odor. I should have just bought the more expensive Yankee Candle Clean Cotton rear view mirror hanging deals. Clean Cotton is my FAVORITE.

On a completely different note, I went to Sweetwater with Dan and Lisa. Congrats to Dan and his new exciting job! And I had a great time and will miss the two of them, among others, a whole lot.

Also on a completely different note, I've been as calm about the whole "unknown" factor about moving to Nashville. I have a place to live with a great friend but it's a long commute to downtown Nashville, so I've also been looking for other places closer to the city. I actually put an ad on craigslist (and got at least 20 responses). One caught my attention, from a chica looking for a roommate for July or August. Not exactly within the 30 days I have to use the pod I'm renting, but I kept reading. Her roommate's getting married then and so she knows she'll need a roommate around then. It sounds like she's got a great place. And we've been in touch a lot and she seems uber cool and down to earth. So I'll meet her and see the place sometime during the first week I'm in Nashville (before I start my job with the Symphony). And we've decided even if I don't like or want to live in the place, we get along well and should hang out. So, it turns out the apartment has a study (bigger than my current room!), and she's willing to rent it out for cheap until her roommate moves then the person who moves into the study can move into the 2nd bedroom. Awesome! So I'm pretty stoked about it. Of course I'm keeping myself in reality check mode and know it might not work out. But it might! And it's a great opportunity anyway. I could move there at the end of February and still be within my 30 days with the pod. I'd live a lot closer to work and closer to downtown. And it seems like a really cool place. And I've made a new friend! So really, no losing situation and I'm really happy about it.

Everything with moving to Nashville is going really well, a couple hiccups here and there but there have been so many wonderful things like getting this job with the Nashville Symphony, Chris getting a great internship with Provident Music Group, having a great place to live (even though it's a little bit away from downtown) with some great friends, and a few other things. I'm just so excited (and sad to leave my family and friends here). I know this is God's awesome plan for me and that I've got a lot more blessings to look forward to.

And THAT is my novel post.