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Miscellany | including: a bus hit our car

My overnight was fantastic.

I went to a local hotel overnight by myself on Friday, and it was fantastic.

I took a walk in a local free park at sunset.

I ate outside at a little Mediterranean restaurant.

I went to bed early. 😉 Because I am a party animal!

I ate breakfast all by myself.

And I barely talked to anyone.

While I can be a fairly social person, there’s definitely an introverted part of me that is very, very happy to be all by myself for short periods of time.  And since there’s not a whole lot of that in my life, it’s a fun change.

I mean, I don’t want to be by myself ALL of the time.  But a small dose here and there is fabulous.

(Shoutout to my brother for his lovely family and friends hotel discount. I highly recommend having one of your siblings work for a good hotel chain. 😉 )

A bad thing (aka a bus) happened to the new car.

You know how the wreck totaled our Civic a few weeks ago?

wrecked civic

Well, we got the insurance money and used it to buy a new-to-us 2005 car a week ago Saturday.

Yay! No more rental cars, insurance papers, car shopping, and so on. Glad that’s over! Phew.

Well, last Thursday, day five of owning the car, it was parked in our yard.

(Not on the street, mind you. Said car was not touching pavement.)

Anyway, a school bus came by, saw a delivery truck blocking the end of the street, backed into the car, then drove forward again and dragged it, almost into our fence.

wrecked blue car

We seriously could not believe it and I said some words that normally do not come out of my mouth.

Five days of owning a car, and it gets hit by a school bus. While parked. Whyyyyyy??

So, we have a rental car again, and our car is at the body shop.

Mercifully, it seems like the bus’s insurance company is going to repair our car instead of totaling it, so we won’t have to go car shopping again.

And on the upside, there was already a small dent in that door, and that front fender had previously been repainted poorly.

So, at the end of it all, the car will probably be in better shape than it was before, especially since we got to pick a good body shop to send it to.

But still.  I really, really hope that this is the end of car issues for us for a little while.

I skipped my Hungry Harvest this week.

Sometimes, I get a little backlog of fruits and veggies (ok, mostly the veggies if I’m being honest. Fruit is easier to eat!)

Hungry Harvest lets you pause deliveries whenever you want, though, and when backlog happens, I just log in and take out an upcoming delivery.

This gives me a little wiggle room to finish up the produce that’s already filling my fridge so that I have a clean slate (and room in the fridge!) for another delivery.

Hungry Harvest is all about preventing food waste, and for me, that means skipping a delivery every now and then.

I am really loving podcasts.

They cost nothing, which is exceptionally frugal. And I love that I can put in my earbuds and listen to something while I’m going for a walk or doing something boring like cleaning my bathroom or putting away laundry.

There are so many out there, there’s bound to be something that fits with your interests.  Entertain and educate yourself while you’re driving! Or scrubbing your toilet!

(Since I know some of you will ask, I listen to What Should I Read Next, the Fizzle Show, sermons from a local church, two Christian podcasts on marriage that I’m not going to share the names of because some of my more traditional and conservative readers might be offended, and then lately I’ve also been listening to a variety of podcasts that are talking about/questioning/re-evaluating purity culture, which was huge in the church during my teen years.)

We met our health insurance deductible!

Last year, we met it in December, which is pretty useless because the whole thing resets in January.

This year, though, we have a lower deductible, and we met it in April. Which means that for the rest of the year, our insurance will pay 80% of all of our bills (we pay 100% until our deductible is met).

Since our plan is a high-deductible plan, we opted for the HSA account, which allows us to funnel part of Mr. FG’s paycheck, tax-free, into an account for health spending. The money in an HSA never expires, so we always opt for this when it’s offered.

Tax-free money really comes in handy during the pre-deductible-meeting period.

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And that’s all my miscellany for today! Have a lovely Monday, friends.

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Donna

Friday 18th of May 2018

I usually read your blog through feedly but had to come read the comments for clues. I was raised in and live in a very conservative, evangelical area (Bible Belt). Podcasts, blogs, and books are my go to for the biblical teachings I’m searching for and enjoy. I love Jen Hatmaker, Sarah Bessey, Tony Campolo, and Jaimie Wright, to name a few . The Liturgist podcast is a fave!

Marybeth

Wednesday 16th of May 2018

Sorry about your car. Glad no one was hurt. It does make it easier that it was parked and no one was in it. I was at the doctor with my youngest getting her stitches out and the receptionist asked if I had a black mini van. I knew it couldn't be good. A man had driven into the car parked next to mine and thru that car into mine. Not a good day. I had all 3 kids with me. Hubby was in the city. We were stuck there waiting for the cops and then a tow truck for 3 hours. The doctor thankfully took the stiches out quickly and I put YD in her stroller and she went to sleep for a while. I had a bag with water and snacks with coloring so we just hung outside while we waited. Fun memories.

Battra92

Tuesday 15th of May 2018

Holy cow! Joshua seems to have bad luck with cars!

Per podcasts, I enjoy some retro video game related ones but mostly I tend to listen to audiobooks. Most podcasts that are of a subject which interests me are universally terrible, I'm afraid.

D Topp

Tuesday 15th of May 2018

Goodness Kristen... Thankful that no one was hurt in the latest ordeal with car issues. Hard to believe that bus did that when the car wasn't even on the street. Well- like you said- the car should return to you in better shape than when you purchased it. Will be praying for NO more car issues any time soon. Your overnight getaway sounds like it was a great time of recharging. I totally believe in the need for some down time/alone time, every now and again. You go girl!

Shawn D.

Tuesday 15th of May 2018

Oh, dang, that stinks about the car! Make sure the wheel/tire/suspension is checked out, as that dent goes inboard enough that they could have been hit as well.

Kristen

Tuesday 15th of May 2018

Yes! They included that in the estimate for the insurance company.

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