Happy Dance

I got my laptop back today. The wireless connection appears to be working again, so they must've fixed whatever was wrong. And I didn't even have to re-configure everything from the beginning, which was nice (but I did remove sensitive information from it before I sent it out). I have missed it so much. That seems kind of silly, but now that I have become used to the convenience of using a computer wherever I want, it it something I don't like doing without. Also, after sitting at my desk all day working, I definitely do not like sitting there after work to check emails and other things. Having the laptop helps me really feel like I am able to separate my work day and the rest of my day. Plus, I will say that it is nice to do things like check email and write blog entries so much more easily between calls and on breaks.

Yesterday I got a new battery for my car. It was long overdue. In fact, the battery was leaking acid, which is never a good sign. Out of 2 battery options, I chose the more expensive one (by $20) and am loving it so far. I noticed that there are particular times when my driving wasn't as smooth as I would've liked it to have been, but that seems to be better now. Maybe it's all in my head.

So while I was waiting for my car, I walked around the mall here. It was much smaller and quieter than malls I'm used to going to. Perhaps that had something to do with the time of day and the fact that it was a weekday in the summer. But I was able to return a dress I'd realized I would never wear and instead buy a nightgown with a matching robe & slippers for cheaper than the dress (I wanted another dress but didn't really see anything that was catching my eye).

And when I got home, the landscaping company was over at the house. They asked questions about what plants I wanted to keep and what plants they should pull. There were a lot of plants well past their expiration date, as well as many more that would be dead soon. They ended up pulling up a lot of the smaller stuff and trimming and keeping the bigger stuff and the plants that would re-grow. Then they put down some bark to help with weed control, and I'm looking forward to that lower maintenance front yard now. It looks a little bare for the time being, but once things start to fill in, it'll start looking better and better.

We also figured out how to work the sprinkler system in our front yard. One portion does not appear to be working, but the majority of our yard is getting water from the sprinklers that do work, which is so much more convenient than the hose attachment sprinkler we were using before.

I talk on the phone using a headset at work, but it is dying on me and definitely won't last me through my shift tomorrow, so I have to drive into Seattle to exchange it for a new headset. Sometimes it seems like nothing can be easy, and sometimes it seems so hard to get a day off or even a break. I was hoping to veg out after work today, but now I'm thinking I might as well hit the gym after going to Seattle and then try to do some stuff around the house when I get home.