Holy Moly!!

There's a car sitting in my driveway.
And it's mine.
Free, clear, and actually legal.  Which, for me, is a big change.
It's been a momentous couple of days!
So many things have happened since Tuesday.
For those of you who don't know, my driver's license expired about 10 years ago.  Like so many other people, I wasn't paying attention.  It was about a year before I noticed that it had expired.  We didn't have a car at the time, so I just got a state ID and figured I'd replace it when we had a car...
In order to get legal, I had to take the driver's exam, both the written and the driving part.  I almost feel like a teenager again.
Almost, my knees and hips have been hurting too much to fully live the part.
I went down to the DMV on Wednesday and did the eye exam and the written part.  I passed with flying colors. 100%, nothing missed.  That sure surprised me.  I expected to fail.  I always expect to fail...
Yesterday E and I went down to the DMV and I did the driving test, and I passed.  Not 100%, more like by the skin of my teeth on that part, but I am now a legally licensed driver in the state of Illinois.
So, ya all better watch out.  :->
While we were there, we did the title switch and I got my plates.
All thanks to some INCREDIBLY AWESOME  friends!!  I have a car!  It has plates and everything.
Again, nothing fancy.  It's 2000 Hyundai Elantra.  The drivers side door handle is busted.  Today, when I took it out to get gas and such, the window fell into the door and now there's a CD stuck in the disc player...
But it runs good.
And while I was trying to get the window out of the door, had to partially remove the door panel.  I couldn't get it all the way off, couldn't see how to disconnect the electric window controls...
But, I got it loose and I got the window up and back in place, and it sorta works.  While I was doing that, I sorta fixed the door handle.  Sorta, The handle on the inside is hanging out of the door.  I couldn't get it to screw all the way back in.  Which in the end is a good thing, cuz now I can open the door from inside and I don''t have to worry about loosing the window down inside the door every time I want to get out of the car.  All I have to do is grab the handle and give it tug.
It runs.  It has enough room to carry just about anything I want to carry.  Even 9 ft. lengths of PVC, which I need for a project I've been planning for a while.  So it's all good.
My days of buses and taxis and being a burden to my friends are over.  If I ever get an interview I'll be able to go where ever I have to, no worries.
Life is good.
It takes very little to make me happy.  I got a car and I can almost bend my little finger again.  I'm doing good.
Oh, and hey, nifty household hint.  When I got done messing around with the car I had blank sticky stuff all over my hands and arms.  Soap didn't do any good, and even the alcohol only took a little of it off.  But I remembered something I read about WD40.  A couple of good squirts of WD40 and a few paper towels cleaned it right off.
I'm still submitting apps all over the place and I still haven't heard anything from anyone.  That's a bit discouraging.  But, now I can apply to places like QuickTrip and MickeyD's and be able to tell them, with no hedging, that I have reliable transport.
And I can apply for things that require a license.
And I've been working with Office 2007 and I can honestly say that I have a basic knowledge of Access and Excel.  I stand a better chance of getting some sort of job before the money runs out.
Next week I'm going to take a serious look at the flea market thing.  That will hopefully bring in a little income.  It's worth a try and I need to get all the yard sale crap out of here, it's driving me bonkers, there's little enough space in this house, and having that crap piled all over the place doesn't help.  Once it's all outta here I'll be a much happier camper.
What with prepping for the driver's test and the injury to my hand and studing the Office 2007 stuff I've been a little stalled on the sculpting.  I've been trying to make a Halfling, but I'm having trouble with the nose.  I had one with a good nose the other day, but then I messed up the eyes...
I'm still working on it.
Today I went and spent money I really don't have on a folding table.  It was $40.00 bucks at K-Mart.  Not much, but when you've got nothing coming in, even $40.00 going out takes some consideration.  In the long run I'm calling it an investment.  Weather I set up a flea market stall or have a yard sale, I'll need the table.  And now I have somewhere to lay out fabric for cutting, so it wasn't a total waste.  We'll see how I feel about it next month when the money gets really tight...
The other Holy Moly thing this week, happened Wednesday evening.
Dusty actually got a squirrel.
I don't know how it happened.  I only saw the aftermath.  The squirrel wasn't in the yard when I let them out.  I stand at the back door and make sure the stupid things make into the trees when I let the dogs out.  There's been a few close calls here and there, cuz the stupid squirrels will just stand and watch the dogs for a few seconds before they scamper for cover, but I always wait and call her off it looks like she's gonna get too close.
I check to see what the dogs are doing from time to time.  Dusty's been rooting in the flower garden.  Seems Ashron has taken to hiding out in there and Dusty thinks nothing of diving in to find him.  So I keep an eye on them.
Well, that evening I looked out and saw her with her head down, but I couldn't see what she had.  The last time I intervened in a similar situation she was about to grab a wasp.  Silly dog will go after anything.  I would have just let her get stung, but I can't afford a vet right now, and I don't want to deal with her having a nose twice as big as it should be.  I opened the back door and yelled at her.  She usually comes pretty quick when I do that, but that evening she wasn't moving.  I went out on the back steps and called again, still no response.
Then I heard the screaming of the squirrels, one from the big tree in the middle of the yard and two or three from the trees on the side.  I knew something serious was going down.
The squirrel was dead before I got out there.  I think it was dead before I opened the door.
The stupid squirrels have been laying into the tomatoes kinda hard lately.  They've gotten more than I have, so I'm not too upset over the demise of the little bugger.  But I could have lived without my dog being a cold blooded murderer.  Not that she's mean or anything.  When I got out there she was just staring at it.  I think she was wondering why it had stopped playing.  The blood on her paws was a good clue.  So Wed. I disposed of a corpse.
And then Thursday morning I disposed of another one.  I went to put laundry in the machine and found a dead mouse in the utility room.  Seems it's been a week for dumb animals.  But, ya know, if they're stupid enough to come in this house, or yard, there's not much I can do.
At least the squirrels haven't been hanging out in the yard quite as much the last couple of days.