Tuesday night I was sitting in the K-mart parking lot, wasting time talking to my mom on the phone until I had to go babysit, when billows of smoke began ejecting out of my engine. I quickly turned the car off and watched as smoke continued to float into the air. I had two thoughts while watching the smoke: "Wow...that's a lot of smoke. I wonder if I should get out of the car."

I didn't, in case you were wondering (it was chilly outside!).

But I knew one thing for sure - now I definitely needed to get to my babysitting job - as I was pretty sure we would need that money to fix this new unexpected problem! I called Chris, and he came and switched cars with me, so I could get to my babysitting job. My car is now sitting in the driveway while we figure out what we're going to do with it. The only other vehicle we have is Chris's motorcycle - the other one we're borrowing from some friends. But we're not going to be able to borrow it forever - so I'm not quite sure how this is all going to work out. Chris wants to just look into a new vehicle....I don't want a new car payment. Sooooo...we'll see! He thinks I blew the head gasket - which apparently costs approximately $1000.00. And my car is only worth $1500.00.

Last night, I finally talked to the parents of the boy I tutor for, for an hour. I explained my frustrations and hurt with the lack of communication and follow-through on their end. They then explained their frustrations and where they were coming from. Somehow I ended up getting a raise in the midst of it all. I didn't ask for more money (as I was trying to actually quit altogether), but the dad felt with the rising gas prices, I should get paid more. Who am I to complain?!! So I'll stick it out till the end of the school year, and hopefully will have better communication with the parents for the remainder of the semester.

Chris's new job...wow. I feel really bad for him. He gets up at 3:30am, gets to work by 5:00am, and didn't get off until 8:30pm last night. He had just enough time to shove some dinner down his throat before he passed out on the sofa. Getting to bed at 10:00pm only allowed him 5 1/2 hours of sleep before doing it all again. Although...just having my engine blow up in smoke does make me grateful for the extra money he'll be bringing in with these long hours. I just feel really bad for him. I know he's in desperate need of some sleep and relaxation time.

As far as my eating goes - I'm still on track! I'm not weighing myself every day this week, so I'm very anxious to get on the scale on Monday. But I've gotten my water in everyday (except yesterday), and haven't had any crazy cravings or temptations I've wanted to give into. Except sweet tea. I think that will always be an issue...