A stressful (but I'm still alive!) week

Woah.  It's been a long week.  The biggest piece of information is this: I'm back in Upstate New York--and it's FREEZING!!  Mom came down at 10:30am on March 1st (only four hours after my 14-hour shift was over the night before), and I bought a new battery for my car and headed for the gym in between work and the airport.

We spent a couple of days packing, and some time in the parks, trying to enjoy ourselves on my last days while she was down in Florida with me.  I had a chance to see some of my closest friends one more time before the long drive, and held my tears to the best of my ability.

The reason Mom came down to drive back with me was mainly because I was afraid that I might break down on my own, and be far too anxious to know what to do about it.  Thankfully she was with me, because... it happened.  One of the only things that has NOT been wrong with my 2006 Hyundai Elantra was the tires.  A tire blew.  On I-95 North.  THANK THE LORD right in front of a sign for the next exit ahead.  911 was called.  AAA was called.  And three hours, one tow truck, one thousand worries, two ATMs, and a Domino's pizza delivery later, Mom and I both managed to settle down enough and fall asleep in a Days Inn motel somewhere in South Carolina (we had hoped to get to Virginia the first night--THAT didn't happen!).

Yesterday was the second leg of the trip (after having AAA put my doughnut onto the car at 9am, eating our (FREE!) motel breakfast, driving to Firestone for a new tire and Jiffy Lube for a (FREE!) check to be sure the rest of the car was healthy) and we made it home safe.  Oh, Southern hospitality!! :)

So, that was the craziness of the week, and although I miss my friends in FL far too much already, I am more than excited to see my friends from home (both Albany and Rochester, NY).  So thank you to all of my friends who have expressed comfort and worry after reading my Facebook status about our side-of-the-highway breakdown, and to my Florida friends who have spent the past two months with me!

Mom and I had a long conversation during our car ride yesterday about people TRYING to change.  We came to the discovery that there a lots of things that we can never change about ourselves, no matter how hard we try.  When I signed onto Pinterest last night (1:30am when we arrived in Albany), I came across this pin, which was perfect timing, and did nothing but put a huge smile on my face:

I hope everyone thinks of this quote when they are unsure of what the future holds, or upset with themselves for any reason.  It's something to think about.  Sit back, relax, and be yourself. :)