I recently paid off my car. I bought my Nissan Versa back in February of 2009 brand new for $13,000 after taxes, and it's been 5 years already of paying it off. When my balance got down to around $2,500 I had the idea to pay it off with my Citibank credit card which has a lower interest rate. Plus, the flexibility works better for me. If I'm furloughed from work or don't quite have enough money that month, I can just pay the minimum and not worry. With the car loan there wasn't too much flexibility since it was one set payment every month.



The next step is working towards paying off my Citibank card by paying $200 every month. I have a $8,000 balance at Citibank with the rest of the car on there now. I had 3 week Government Shutdown & then a 5 week furlough last year. I had to borrow money to pay bills so my balance got quite high. Now that the car is "technically" paid off I can work towards paying down my credit card. I also always give my tax refund every year to my biggest balance credit cards. So hopefully *fingers crossed* by next year I will be looking at a lot less credit card debt.

 

Let's just say the Pennsylvania Turnpike and I have a bad relationship. When I was around 19-20 years old, I ended up getting onto the PA Turnpike by mistake because US Route 1 had a median and I didn't realize I was in the wrong lane, until it was too late. Once you're on the Turnpike, you can't get off until you hit another exit. It's all highway, so there's no where to do a u-turn and go back the way you came.

When I got lost years ago this was before GPS on cell phones, etc. I didn't know I was supposed to take the "ticket" the booth printed out. So when I ended up at a toll booth later on crying to the guy that I was lost, all he did was ask for my ticket and charge me more because I didn't have the toll ticket. I couldn't even call anyone because I didn't know where I was.

I remember getting off and driving lost for awhile, until I came to this huge bridge- that probably connected PA to New Jersey. I sure did a u-turn there! I was not going to another state with only a little bit of cash. (This was before I had debit or credit cards too!) Eventually, I found State Rd, which I remembered passed through Philadelphia. I took it until I got home. That my first defeat with the PA Turnpike. Ever since then I've stayed away from the Turnpike. Getting lost, is a huge fear of mine.

So... Thursday evening F.B. & I attempted to take on the PA Turnpike again. We had directions to Allentown printed from Google. Which were not specifically CLEAR about which way to go when there's a FORK in the road! We ended up getting off the wrong exit and driving for miles. We ended up in Landsdale PA, first. Somehow using the GPS on my phone, we got back on the turnpike, but ended up in Norristown, PA. We ended up paying tolls about 3 different times and spending a over $7.00 just to get lost!

Traffic was atrocious when we finally got back on the PA Turnpike for the 3rd time to head home. There were no lanes, it was like Philippine traffic all over again! We were lost for a good 2 and a half hours. Wasting gas and cash on tolls. It was not a good experience, I'm not good when it comes to getting lost because I panic. Let's just say we never did make it to Allentown, PA... I needed a shot of vodka when we did finally get home. I had an awful migraine and needed a nap!

Since getting to Hershey Park also involves taking the Turnpike our plans for that changed as well. Maybe someday I'll attempt the PA Turnpike again and maybe I'll actually defeat it, instead of it defeating me! But not anytime soon...

Tomorrow F.B. and I are heading to the Philadelphia Zoo. It's my last vacation day from work. We already purchased our tickets and printed them out online, so there's no backing out of that. At least driving there doesn't involve the Turnpike! :-p

I have a new header banner as you can see! The image to the left is a seagull on the Schuylkill river bridge in Philadelphia on Market Street. The middle picture, is skyscrapers in downtown Philadelphia on Market Street. And the right picture is a palm tree during sunset at Manila Bay, Philippines. :-)

A few weeks ago I took Basil to the vet to find out about getting him neutered. May 20th, I dropped Basil off at the vet around 8:30am. I was able to pick him up at 2:30pm. Poor Buddy is now neutered. They used surgical glue on him and he has to take SMZ-TMP antibiotic for 2 weeks. He also has a recheck visit at the vet on May 27th. He won't take his antibiotic in the oral syringe, so I have to mix his medicine in baby food. When I brought him home Thursday night they had given him pain killers, so he had some Strawberry Ensure and then zonked out in his igloo in the cage. (This is his incision if you're squeamish don't click!)

Total vet damages... $334.00. Ouch... (thank you credit card.) at least recheck visits are free. I called just about every vet in the area and only my vet and another more expensive vet did them, so I really had no choice. And because of his aggressiveness towards his brothers, he had to be neutered. In 4 weeks Basil should be able to move in with the girl ratties!

Basil a few weeks ago eating a necco wafer candy. (Ignore the baby food on his tail, hehe!)

P.S. My awesome new bumper sticker! (The middle sticker)

There is also a new page I created on my blog called: My Pet Rats. You can find it in the top right column.

Congratulations Patty! You've won the latest giveaway! I used a random number generator to determine the winner!

Please email your address to: tunaymahal8279ATyahooDOTcom and I will get your prizes shipped off to you!

I'm also including an extra prize of L’Occitane's Verbena Shower Gel. It's a brand new 1 fl.oz travel size. I'm currently obsessed with their Verbena scent. I just ordered a few more products, I have to post about! Congrat's on winning!!!
In other news, nearly 3 weeks later I finally got to pick up my car from the body shop tonight! The blizzard of 2010 did $2,000 worth of damage to my car. They had to repaint the hood, roof, buff out the windshield scratches. I had to pay a $500.00 deductible on my insurance plan, but State Farm covered the excess expenses. Very happy to have the car back because it costs me $203 dollars for driving the rental car 8 days. That was mainly because of the $17.99 insurance plan I put on it. Needless to say, my tax refund will be paying for all my car expenses. I just picked up a tarp cover at Walmart tonight for $50 so before this next snowstorm hits Thursday evening my car will be covered & protected from scratches!

I have to post about our latest immigration updates sometime this week. The lawyer went over with me all the next steps we'll be taking. For now our I-130 has been submitted and we should hear back in 3-5 months. I know... so long to wait but it's going to fairly quickly once that part is over!

NOTE: Our lawyers Peter J. Gonzales & Shanna Stanton have changed firms. They are no longer with Kahiga Tiagha. They are now with Green and Spiegel LLC, but still located in Philadelphia. 

In rattie news, Ginger's sneezes were actually a respiratory infection. She started wheezing last weekend and was having trouble breathing. She had a visit to the vet and she's on antibiotics now for 2 weeks. He also took a look at her tumor under her right arm, but it can't be removed until her respiratory infection clears up and it's definitely getting bigger... slowly. On top of that, poor girl somehow sprained her foot in the cage and I've been putting ice on it and giving her a children's pain reliever to reduce the swelling. It's definitely looking a lot better now though!

I also stopped in Pet's Plus on Monday afternoon to see what's going on with the blue hooded rat I purchased back on February 5th. She still has mites... the vet was coming back on Thursday to check on her. They've been treating her orally and topically and it's not clearing up.

I posted my thoughts on the Rat Chatter Forums where I'm a moderator. We think they may not be cleaning her cage properly once they treat her for the mites- because the ivermectin doesn't kill the mites eggs. Which could be why the problem hasn't cleared up. I ordered some ivermectin myself online last night and if I haven't heard back from the pet store, I'm going to go pick up my blue hooded girl next Friday and treat her for the mites myself at home.

I'll have to take some precautions if I do that though. I already have a spare cage which I'll have to keep in a completely different room from my other girls. I'll have to also make sure I shower & change my clothes after handling the new girl before I touch my other girls. And her cage will have to be scrubbed down with diluted bleach & water every week when she gets her ivermectin treatment. Hopefully things will clear up much faster once she's at home with me!

2-19-10 was my 2nd month of being married! Can't believe it! Just last month F.B. & I were at the Manila Hotel celebrating our 1st month... I'm still in the middle of changing my last name everywhere. My credit cards finally started to arrive with my new name. I still have to get a new passport though!

The 2nd blizzard of 2010 in Philadelphia left it's mark in more ways than one...

When we got hit with 28 inches of snow last weekend and then 24 inches on Wednesday all the heavy wet snow started making our trees sag really really badly... one of the trees dented my dads car and my own car had tree branches sagging down onto the hood and roof along with snow and ice. Then I saw the scratches... long massive scratches all over the front of my hood. Of my brand new car that I've owned just 1 year...

I called my insurance company, State Farm and because I have full coverage the damage to the car is covered under my insurance policy. They called a collision center for me and I had to drop the car off Friday afternoon. The auto body guy went over the car with me and he showed me how the tree branches had been swaying and scraping in the blizzard. Besides the awful scratches I noticed on the hood of my car, there was long scratches on the front part of the roof, the windshield has scratches! (how does that happen!?) and there are scratches and circles of missing paint on the sides of the car near the windshield. The auto body place made me fill out paperwork and they are going to take pictures of the damage for my insurance company. I'm still waiting to hear back from State Farm to find out how much my insurance covers; if it will cover all the repairs, or if I will have to copay anything.

My insurance company at least covers a big portion of a rental car. I've got an ugly red Chevy Impala at the moment that I have to pay $6.00 a day for. Out of my own pocket though I added an insurance with the car rental place of $17.99 a day in case of any damages or scratches happen to the rental- and with all these mountains of ice and snow and trees still sagging in our driveway and on the roads, it seemed like a good idea.

I'm supposed to hear back from the insurance company in 48 hours. And the collision place is supposed to call on Monday. I'm not sure how long the repairs will take... but I am so sick of winter. And then Monday... there's more snow coming... 6-8 inches, maybe more... yay...

I'm 27 today... another year older, lol. Went to the park in the morning and took Saffy with me. Got alot of nice pictures and it wasn't too warm out in the early morning, I could actually wear a hoodie. Ran into 4 angry mean geese though blocking the path. Two bikers couldn't get through, I couldn't get through, whenever someone would try to walk to the side of the path out of their way they would flap their wings and chase after you! Finally a lady with a dog came through and the geese scattered. I guess they had a nest somewhere close to the path. I think I'm going to start going to the park twice a week for extra exercise... those hills kick my butt! Sad to say alot of my jeans have gotten tighter on me... and I have 2 months and 3 weeks to make them fit again! blah!





































































My boy sent me a letter & two birthday cards and a Watson's Drugstore Lemon Lip balm! He said he had to search 8 stores for it, maybe they are about to discontinue that flavor? I lost the last one he sent me in the creek at the park accidentally a few months ago, it fell out of my pocket accidentally. I promised him I wouldn't take this one to the park! Heehee!

After a quick stop at Starbucks, I was heading to the supermarket when my Service Engine light came on in my brand new Nissan Versa. I've only got 2,100 miles on and I'm not even due for an oil change until I hit 4,040 miles. I checked the manual and it said to check the gas cap, nothing was loose. I even stopped and put $5 worth of gas in even though the tank was already over the halfway point. The light was still on. I called Nissan and I have to take the car up there tomorrow at 9:30am because it could be something with the engine or emissions? Fun....

Turned around and headed to the library to pick up the 6 books I checked out. I love my library. They have an online catalog and I can just pick the books out and they email me when their ready to be picked up. I got there at 11:50am and there were a bunch of people waiting outside... they didn't open until 12pm on the dot.

My birthday got better in the evening. Steak pizza with the family & a chocolate chip cookie cake. Also got alot of great presents. A Sentry Safe from my parents. I've been wanting a fire proof box for awhile, now I'll be able to put my birth certificate, marriage certificate (In December!) and our immigration papers in my lock box. 5 for $25 Victoria's Secret Hip Huggers, Marshall Carry Sack for my ratties and my brothers got me a flashback from my childhood the 1st 3 seasons of the Animaniacs on DVD. Haha.

My passport came back on Friday with my 59 day visa. The expiration is still weird, it's 2 days after I arrive. Maybe I need to send it 1 month before I leave instead of 2. At least I know, once I enter before that date, I can still stay 59 days.

UPDATE 9-5-09: So as I'm approaching the exit I get off to go to the Nissan Dealership the stupid Service Engine Light goes off! WTF?! I still pulled into Nissan and the mechanic said if the light went off it's fine & he doesn't need to check it out. He said sometimes when you get gas if the cap isn't tight enough, etc, when you start the car the computer won't recognize something and it will take driving a certain amount of miles to make the computer reset. Gee, I wish the guy that I talked to on the phone yesterday had told me all I needed to do was drive it! What a waste of time! Glad the car is okay though!

So as I mentioned the other day my brand new 3 week old Nissan Versa has a few scratches on the hood. It happened last Friday. I was at several stores and in several parking lots that night. Either someone scraped it with a key, walked into it or was sitting on it with the back pocket buttons of their jeans. The only thing I can think of is when I stopped at Walmart there was this sports car parked next to mine and these teenage guys hanging around admiring it. So maybe they leaned or sat on the front hood of my car and accidentally scraped it. Either that or someone scraped it intentionally. Either way it really really sucks! My first payment is due on Saturday.

I took the car up to the dealership today. I had to leave work an hour early to drive up there. When I called the salesman that sold me the car yesterday he said to bring it up and he would look at it and see if they could just buff it out. Well, they tried buffing it out with their strongest stuff and the 2 lighter lines are gone, but the 2 deeper vertical fine lines are still there, they couldn't get it out. Still looks white against the black paint. He said I could take it down to the collision center and get an estimate. He thought it might just need a wet sand. Well the man at the collision center said a wet sand probably won't get it out- it would need to be repainted. So I asked for an estimate and he said $400!!! I tried not to fall over after that price. I said I would have to think about it so he gave me his business card.

That's really too expensive for me. I can't afford that. My Dad said he could try a wet sand but if it needed to be repainted he could do it for much much less. My dad used to do auto body repair before he retired. He said to try a colored wax or touch up paint first though so I'm going to see if I have any luck with them before getting anything drastic done to my new car. First I ordered a Nissan Versa touch up paint pen with my paint color & clear coat. And I'm also going to try Turtle Colored Wax Since I had to order the paint pen online and it will take a week or so to arrive I'm going to see if they have the colored wax at the auto store tomorrow after work.

My manager called when I was on my way home from the dealership and said they would be offering overtime tomorrow from 6am-11:30am so I'll be off to work tomorrow. I really need the money. I have to pay off these credit cards so I can buy a plane ticket to the Philippines sometime this spring.

I also had my taxes prepared last night and my $600 refund will at least put a dent in my $1,800 balance on my credit card. I have to pay that down before I can afford to put $1,500 back on another card. I already got a new 0% APR card from Citibank that I'll be using for my plane ticket when the time comes. I'm thinking of going to the Philippines before or right after Thanksgiving and arriving home mid January 2010. That will give F.B. & I enough time to get our paperwork together before getting married in December.

I still haven't mailed F.B.'s valentines stuff... looks like it will also become his anniversary gift! (Our 5 year anniversary is April 1st.) I ordered his sister some ring guards for her engagement ring. (She got engaged a few weeks ago!) and I ordered F.B. a small something and then I ordered his mom a gift off of Etsy.com. So I have to wait for it to arrive before I mail everything.

I have to call the vet on Monday. The swelling on Sugar's paw has still not gone down completely. It's been about a month and her metacam only lasted 3 weeks. She can walk on it and climb and eat with it. She doesn't cry when you touch it. But she's can't really stand or walk properly on it. It's still so swollen she can't straighten her paw out completely so she walks crooked on it. Also she has alot of porphyrin around her eyes in the morning and rats do not get that unless they are stressed, in pain or ill. I'm hoping when I call the vet on Monday he can just prescribe more metacam since he said last time there was nothing else they could really do for a sprain.

Still Swollen:















It's going to be a very tight paycheck because too many of my bills are falling on the same week. I got my first car payment & first insurance bill and they are due when a few other high bills are due. I called Chase bank to find out about moving the due date for the car to the middle of the month but they said I must make the first payment before they will be able to move the due date. That's another reason I'm hoping she won't have to go in for an office visit, since it's $45 just for the visit and a 2 week metacam prescription was around $26. That's also another reason why I have to go in for overtime tomorrow!

Last Saturday we had overtime at work and I worked 8 hours. I was exhausted by the time it was Friday. Lucky for me Monday is a holiday and we aren't having any more overtime for awhile, so I get a 3 day weekend, yay!

My Valentines was okay... I started with another cold this week a sinus head cold and by Friday I was feeling worse and F.B. & I had a misunderstanding and I was upset with him so I just slept in on Valentines Day and didn't meet up online with him for our "date". This morning I didn't either, but I was just feeling so sick I took some NyQuil and went right back to bed and didn't get up until the late afternoon.

F.B.'s mom had some personalized sheets and pillow cases made up for my parents and a set for me too. They arrived on Valentines. F.B.'s Dad had mailed the package. He's a ship captain and happened to be docked in PA so he mailed the package while he was in the USA. My sheet set is purple. The 2 pillow cases match the sheets.











I texted F.B. and told him they arrived and then I got a text message back from him later asking if there had been anything from him in the box. I hadn't noticed it way at the bottom of the box under the sheets. Turns out he had enclosed a package in the box with my valentines cards and a letter as a surprise. He even sent me San Mig coffee & lemon mint Closeup toothpaste in sachets and a Watson's mint lip balm, because he remembered I just ran out of mine. That was sweet of him, I wasn't expecting a package. Too bad I didn't look in the bottom of the box until Sunday morning! I would have gotten my Valentines gifts on Valentines Day, haha!













Cinnamon turned 1 years old today. She's had such a full year. Getting to know her sisters Sugar & Spice, getting an emergency spay in May, losing her sister Spice in December and gaining 2 new sisters Ginger & Nutmeg. We had a little party for her, I bought ice cream cake for the family and the ratties enjoyed a slice too for Cinnamon's birthday, they really enjoyed themselves!

















































Saturday I also gave my new car a wash and discovered some scratches along the front of the hood... like someone almost brushed against it by walking by with something or I don't know what! There's 4 actually. 2 were very light and came out when I rubbed compound on it and then wax. The other 2 are quite deep and look like 2 fine white lines against the black paint. I'm hoping it's not very deep but it's not coming out with rubbing the compound with my hand and the white scratches are distracting against the black. My dad has to get a new pad for his buffer & is going to try buffing it out. I guess if it doesn't come out I'll have to take it to the dealership for repair. Sigh. Saturday after I came out of work from overtime someone has scraped their door against mine and there were 2 big scratches on it then! I had to use the compound on that too, but it was just in the wax coating. What the heck?! I don't make any payments on my car until March and it's already getting scratched by morons in parking lots! Arrgh!

My Dad & I went to Peruzzi Nissan on Saturday for my appointment. We arrived around 12:30pm and looked at some of the 2009 Nissan Versa Sedans on the lot. I got to test drive one that was in my price range and then we went to discuss numbers and do a credit check.

When the dealer showed me my credit report he seemed very impressed. I had a 700+ credit score with 15 revolving accounts and all 1's. I'm obsessive compulsive when it comes to my credit accounts. I always pay more than the minimum and I try to have the balances paid off by the time my 0% introductory rates are up. I mainly use my credit cards for purchasing my plane tickets every year and I'm always looking for a nice 0% APR offer.

The first monthly payment the dealership came up with was $280 a month and that was way out of my price range. I was looking at just under $200 a month. The insurance State Farm had quoted for me was $119 a month and on top of bills, rent, paying off Philippine plane tickets I can't afford that. So the manager came to speak with me and said they would try to crunch numbers and aim for a monthly payment I was comfortable with- they did not try to pressure me or sell me features I did not need. It took 3 of the people at the dealership to find a monthly payment and loan for me. They came up with $217 monthly which was only $30 more than what my highest monthly payment range would be so we settled on that. There was a 3 year road side assistance, etc included already but for adding $6 more to my monthly payment I will be covered for 6 years now- the term of my loan. So that brings my monthly payment to about $223 a month, though I can always pay more than that whenever I have extra. But now I can call them if I have a flat tire or break down, etc. And I need that!

They also took off some of the price of the car to include a CD/Stereo for me. And I didn't want power locks so that wasn't an issue. All together the car came to around $12,000. Of course with taxes and fees it was just over $13,000. My loan is for 6 years and I have to make 72 payments on it. My APR rate is very very low though! (Just 5.34%!) I was happy with that. By the time the car is finally paid off I'll have paid $2,000 in interest... but I'm glad the rate is low.

Never having bought a new car before though- and always having used I didn't think about having the money for inspection/registration, etc, oops! My down payment was only going to be $1,200 but in order to get the monthly payment I wanted they needed a $1,500 deposit and the inspection/resigration, etc was $200. So I had to to write a check for $1,700. My Dad had to actually loan me $400.00 which I have to pay him back this month. My next paycheck isn't until the 9th.

My insurance from State Farm turned out to be lower. It will be $105.00 monthly. That was the other thing we hadn't thought about- when opening a new insurance account they always want the 1st & last months payment. So it was $210.00 to open the account. Ouch. I had to put that on my credit card. If I had thought about those things in advance, I would have waited until the end of the month when I had more money together... but it's okay. I've never owned a new car and my dad has always bought used being a mechanic/auto body and owning a scrap & parts auto lot.

So... I signed my life away (Lol!) today on a 2009 Nissan Versa Sedan! It's black with a black interior and incredibly roomy inside. Much bigger than my 1993 Chevrolet Geo Prizm. They actually said I would have to come back up to the dealership next week to get the stereo installed but by the time all of the paperwork was finished and the car detailed, etc- they had installed the stereo as a surprise, which was very nice! They also included a full tank of gas! I will add some pictures I took of the new car tomorrow. It was dark by the time we arrived home tonight and then I took my parents and brother's out for dinner.


Tomorrow I have to run the $400.00 loan my dad gave me and deposit it in the bank. The dealership said they would cash the check Wednesday. I also have to fax a pay stub over to them and drop off a proof of purchase to my insurance office next week. Oh... and I have to call State Farm too... when they faxed over my temporary insurance card they spelled my first name as Sara on the policy... it's Sarah. I will have to get that corrected before they send out my actual insurance card!

When we left the dealership with my new car it was already around 4:30pm. 4 hours spent looking at the car, settling on a price and finishing all of the paperwork! I was exhausted. We stopped at Circuit City (Which is going out of business, I'm am so upset!) And I picked up an ipod radio transmitter. My 15 year old car had a cassette player so I always used my ipod with a car kit. My new car has a CD player and radio so I got a wireless ipod transmitter. It doesn't work as nicely as I would like it but it was only $11.00. (40% off) I will probably look for a nicer one sometime soon and just burn some of the albums I'm listening onto Cd's for now.

I'm really happy to have the new car, not so excited to start making the payments, lol. But I'm glad I probably won't have as many issues with it as my 15 year old Geo. Thursday morning on my way to work the car was making a thumping noise and I had to pull over in a parking lot. My front tire was completely FLAT! I think I punctured it during the snow/ice storm we had this past Wednesday. We had so much ice, there is still alot in our driveway that hasn't melted yet. We have a very steep winding driveway and it is impossible to get up it when it's covered in ice or snow.

Cell phone pic from Wednesday's snow storm- going down my driveway:


We started having overtime at work this past Saturday. I really hope they will have it again this Saturday. I cannot play around this year, I will have to work overtime on Saturday's when it is offered. I have new car payments, credit card to pay off, new plane ticket to buy, getting married in December... too much to do this year!

I forgot to mention, when I was at the dealership and it was just as I was signing some paperwork they had the radio on and it started playing that 80's song "Sarah". That goes, "Sar-rah... Sarah!" I said to my dad, "Do you hear what they are playing?" Haha, I thought it was pretty weird.

Also when we were waiting for the credit check the salesman, my dad and I were talking and the salesman noticed my engagement ring and congratulated me. He asked if my fiance and father got along and I said, "Well he hasn't met him yet." And went into how F.B. is from the Philippines and how I travel there yearly. Turns out the salesman actually has a girlfriend in Cebu in the Philippines and he will be traveling there in September. They are actually planning to get married. I told him about how F.B. & I will be working with our immigration lawyer early next year and he asked me for our lawyers name. I gave him one of the business cards our lawyer had sent me. He said he will be contacting our lawyer and mentioning my name.

He has never been to the Philippines yet. He met his girlfriend online like F.B. & I met. A friend of his had been to the Philippines and was telling him "horror" stories about their trip. I told him about my experiences in the Philippines and he asked me alot of questions. I really love the Philippines and I miss being there with F.B. Such a small world though... hehe. It made it really feel like this was the car dealership I was supposed to buy a car at. Everything happens for a reason.

I got Hoobastank's new album For(N)ever last week. I loved their past 3 albums. They are one of my favorite bands but I am just not loving this new one. It seems so mediocre to me. The only songs off the albums I really like are, 'The Letter' & 'You're the one'. (I changed my mind, lol. I now like a bunch of songs off this album.)

Update 2-2-09:

Pictures of the car finally!




More Photos Here:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v211/christianchickslc/2009%20Nissan%20Versa/

I haven't updated in a few days, I was so busy this past week and yesterday was spent cleaning my entire room and doing laundry. Sugar had her visit at the vet on Tuesday for her sprain. He did an x-ray to make sure it wasn't a broken bone. Pretty weird seeing the inside of your rat on an x-ray! It was just a really bad sprain. He prescribed some metacam an anti-inflammatory for her to take for 2 weeks. She has to get it once a day and she just hates it, she will try to drool it out of her mouth. The swelling is decreasing slowly and it definitely doesn't look as bad as it did. He skin was really dry and peeling on her paw when the swelling started to go down though so I was putting a dab of olive oil on it to help keep it moisturized.

Finally got a quote on insurance for a new car. It would be $119 a month for full coverage from our State Farm Agent. That's not bad at all. I have to call one of the Nissan dealers back on Monday. He called twice during the weekend but I've been busy this weekend so I will get back to him on Monday. There's about 4 dealers in our area. And once I talk to the one dealer my dad & I are going to check out all the dealers maybe this coming weekend or next weekend. So maybe I will have a new car by March or so! I'm still interested in the Versa Sedan. I also found out one of my co-workers recently got the same car from the dealer right near my house. The same dealer I have to call back on Monday.

My own car was having issues with the shocks last week. I actually had to get a ride to work on Tuesday. It had snowed in the morning and when I started driving the car it was shaking and bouncing so badly I thought something was wrong with the tires. My dad ended up dropping me off at work and my co-worker gave me a ride home. Turns out my car has just entered old age. (It is a 93') I now have to let it warm up for 10-15min in extremely cold weather or else my shocks freeze up. I will be so happy if I am able to afford a new car this year!

F.B. & I were talking recently about snow and what he would think of it. He was wondering how he would drive in the snow & ice too and what it would be like to experience 4 seasons when he moves to the USA heehee.

I visited my Nana on Friday night. I haven't seen her since before I went away to the Philippines and I had some gifts for her and she wanted to see my trip pictures. The ratties paid her a visit too. I took the girls last time I visited. She loved my new girls Ginger & Nutmeg and she gave everyone a Hershey kiss. She said, "See if you come to visit Nana- you get candy!" So funny, heehee.

I ordered 'The True Life of Mary Stuart' by John Guy off of Ebay. I just started reading it and it's really good. I've been reading alot of books about Mary Queen of Scots lately.

I have to start working on getting Valentines stuff together for F.B. too. Though I think he may get his package after Valentines. I'm going to get our trip photos printed up and put into albums like I do every year for us. And I've got to get him a card and write a letter. I'm finally getting a paycheck this monday. I always hate coming back to work after being furloughed because it takes 3-4 weeks before you receive your first paycheck again!

I went back to work on Monday after a 2 month break. I was exhausted all week, I'm just not used to getting up early again. Next week I'll be starting my workout routine with my treadmill Mon-Thurs. It was a busy week and we have update training at work on Tuesday.

I was able to order our wedding bands this week! F.B.'s Christmas package I sent him arrived and I had included a plastic ring sizer for him so we could find out his ring size. I ordered the rings from a wholesale jeweler. We got titanium wedding bands. I wanted something silver in color but very durable. F.B. is going to pay me back half for the rings. I like the satin finish which is more masculine for F.B. and the shiny one is more feminine for me.

Here is a picture of the wedding bands I ordered:























They just arrived tonight and they are so gorgeous! Here are the rings:











The left one is F.B.'s & the right one is mine. F.B. & I happen to have the same ring size. I'm 3 inches taller than him also; so I always tease him and say "At least your shoe size is bigger than mine!"

I've been bidding on Blackberry Pearls on Ebay for a few weeks. I really wanted a new phone but I'm not eligible for an upgrade from T-mobile right now and even the discount price they offer for me is still well around $200.00. The phones on ebay seem to be going for $100.00 as well even with a broken trackball, etc. I was finally able to win one for $65.00 though! The only issue with it... a dog chewed it. Yes! Haha! Here is the listing.

When the phone arrived it actually looked better than the description, the only major damage aside from cosmetic scratches was the back door panel was cracked:













I ordered a nice new hard shell case for it on ebay also for $1.99 and you can't even tell it's not new:

















I had to upgrade to the $24 T-mobile unlimited internet & 400 text message plan though in order to use the instant messaging. F.B. & I always talk on AIM or Yahoo messenger on my breaks at work so we need that. The only time we get to spend together when I'm working is a date online on the weekend and we email every other day Mon-Fri. Technically I'm only paying $14 more than what I was paying for internet & texting, so it's not too bad. And I don't talk on my phone so much. I have the lowest plan T-mobile offers. 300 minutes & unlimited weekends for $29.

I also decided to get some extras for my new phone on ebay. I ordered a 2GB memory card for $6. A new battery for $4 and a new back door panel for $1. So let's see- the phone was $69.00 with shipping and I've spent $12.99 on accessories. That's about $81.00 for a blackberry & accessories. God, I LOVE ebay! If I'm ever looking for something, I always check ebay first to see if I can get a good deal.

I'm also looking to get a new car this year. My Dad has to talk to our insurance company and see how much it would cost for me to get insurance on my own. Right now, I'm covered under his insurance still. I will be 27 this year so I'm hoping it won't be too bad to get insurance on my own. The car I am driving I have had for 4 years now. It's a 1993 Chevrolet Geo Prizm, that my Dad got used (He's a mechanic.) The starter went one year, the alternator last year, I needed new tires. It's falling apart and I want a car that I'm not going to have to worry about getting inspected every year.

And now is the time to buy a car. The prices are so low on some of the new 2009 models because of the issues with our economy. The cars within my price range are about $10,000 brand new. I'm looking at a Nissian Versa Sedan or a Hyundai Accent. First we will talk to the insurance company though, because it depends on how much those payments will be monthly in addition to what my payments on the car would be monthly. And then next year F.B. & I will start working with our immigration lawyer, so the car & insurance payments need to be affordable for me.

NOTE: Our lawyers Peter J. Gonzales & Shanna Stanton have changed firms. They are no longer with Kahiga Tiagha. They are now with Green and Spiegel LLC, but still located in Philadelphia. 

I've had Ginger & Nutmeg for about 2 weeks now. There were some issues with Sugar attacking Ginger though. I've had them separated on levels in the Ferret Nation cage. At first I had Sugar & Cinnamon on the lower level, but that didn't work out so well because Sugar was climbing up and Ginger was poking her hands down between the bars and she ended up getting attacked & bit twice. The 2nd time she was missing a toenail. So I moved the new girls to the lower level instead and there hasn't been anymore attacks. I've slowly been introducing the new girls to Sugar & Cinnamon this weekend. There's been a few scuffles but nothing major.

Tonight I'm going to try play time in the cage on one of the levels. But I'm going to remove their boxes and plastic igloo so no one gets cornered. The cage is a more territorial area, so we will see how things go. I think it's going to take a little longer than it did when I introduced Cinnamon to Sugar & Spice. But it will be nice when they can all live in the same cage together.

Here were all of the girls earlier hanging out in a soda box! So far so good!

Wednesday afternoon driving home from work my battery light came home. My Dad has been a mechanic and done auto body for years. So he checked out the car. It wasn't the battery he thought it might be the alternator. (I own a 1993 Chevrolet Geo Prizm.) So Thursday morning when I woke up for work the car was completely dead. I own a jump box, so I jumped the car & got it started. Stopped at Wawa for coffee. Had to jump the car again... and it was raining out.

When I left work my co-worker Ike came out with me to make sure my car would start. I had to jump it again to get it started. Then as I was saying goodbye to him the car idled out again and died. So I called my Dad and he said if I could put the jump box on the battery and somehow bungee cord the front hood down I could drive home that way. Didn't have any bungee cords in my trunk so Ike tied my hood down tight with a plastic bag. Then he followed me home from work to make sure I made it. When I was right near my house the battery finally completely died. No flashers, no turn signal lights. I was driving solely on the power of the jump box. It was pretty scary. Finally got the car up the driveway and made it home. And waved to Ike to thank him for following me home.

So Dad went with me to the auto store because he was pretty sure it was the alternator. That cost a nice price of $160. Took off work on Friday so my Dad could work on the car. Now it's running perfect again. Infact... it runs quieter now! Last week my air conditioning went and I needed Freon. This week the alternator went. Sheesh. Though I do love my car, it is extremely good on gas! A full tank lasts me 2 weeks! And with the way gas prices are right now I wouldn't trade my car for anything!

BTW: Everyone that drives should own a jump start box. It is great for emergencies! I always keep mine in the trunk. This is the jump start box I own. Inexpensive & very easy to operate. Also it's much safer then asking strangers for a jump when your car battery is dead.