Just Five More Days...

and school will be finished for this year. Our Spring Fling is tomorrow; eighth grade graduation is Tuesday; and report cards go out on next Thursday (my birthday!). I have begun the countdown to my retirement...I plan to work for three more years, and then say goodbye. I have worked in the same school for almost thirty-three years, and will have taught for nearly thirty-six years when I retire. I am well into my second generation of students, and I used to tell DH that when a student came in and said "you taught my grandmother" that I would be on my way out the door. I am probably getting dangerously close to having that happen, so it's time. I will be fifty-eight years old...and widowed. Two things that I never really thought would happen to me!

My great-niece was with me for three days a couple of weeks ago. She's almost two (her birthday is two days after mine and four days before her mother's), and we had a ball! I had two treasures waiting on her...a Red Rider wagon with fold-up back rests and cup holders and a Red Rider tricycle that was still a little big for her (but might be just right when she's back in a couple of weeks for a big joint birthday celebration). We made two trips to the park to ride the train, and had Mexican food one night so she could enjoy sticking her fingers in her own personal container of salsa (and licking her fingers!).

I gave myself an early birthday gift. The engine has gone out on my car, so I was driving DH's car. I have gone several rounds with GM customer service about my engine, but because of the age of the car (a 2001 model), they say they can't do anything to help me. Never mind the fact that it only had just over 43000 miles on it...anyway, back to the birthday gift. While the baby was here, I started researching crossover SUVs, and settled on a Nissan Murano. I knew how much money I had for a down payment, and my credit union is running a car financing special for the next month. I was willing to travel up to one hundred miles from home to get a good deal, but I really wanted to buy locally. Last Monday, I went by the local Nissan dealer and talked to a salesman. He showed me two Muranos that had just come in, and one of them was a 2005 with less than 16000 miles. They finished cleaning it up, I talked to my credit union and my insurance agent, and they met the price I told them I'd be willing to pay. I had planned to buy a car later in the year, but it all fell into place last week...and because of God's wonderful provision for me, I probably won't have to make a payment on the car; the loan special defers payment for sixty days, and I have enough money coming later in the summer to pay off the car. I've never been treated this nicely by a car...