I got pulled over last night.

My friend Tatum got a job at a pool hall in Berkeley, so another work friend and I went and hung out, drinking and shooting pool until the place closed. On the way home, I got pulled over. And this was less than good, because I was breaking no less than five laws: driving under the influence, driving without a license, driving without insurance, expired registration, and a broken headlight.

Yeah.

But when he pulled me over, I was very calm. He was friendly and understanding, actually. It took a long time for him to write the ticket so I got a little worried, but when he came back, he told me he was only giving me a fix-it ticket for my headlight. Then he told me that I need to get my car registered soon, because "the new sticker is blue, and yours is red, so every cop's gonna notice." He totally got my back. Thanks, cute cop.

I should mention that although I had been drinking, it was only two drinks over the course of the night and I felt fine to drive. I was at the speed limit and driving without weaving or anything. But for all I know, I might have been over the legal limit. I have no idea what .08 feels like, and I know there was still alcohol in my system. So I got really, really lucky, is the point here.

As the cop drove away, I turned to my friend and said, "Okay, I was not nearly as scared shitless as I should have been. I must be drunk."

Maybe so. But all's well that ends well. Since I got my student loan check I can afford to fix all these problems. Mainly I need to get car insurance (the registration fee I paid ages ago) so I can get my sticker. My blue sticker.

As aforementioned, I got my student loan check on Thursday. Thank all that is holy, because I was down to about $2 in loose change, and I'm barely exaggerating. Now I am a few thousand dollars richer. I am trying not to spend it all in one place, Hey, what fun would that be?

Okay no, really, I need to save some of it. Lean times are a-coming, and I'm trying to squirrel away as much as I can (and pick up more hours at work) so I have something to live on when the semester's over. (My monthly budget is $1200-- which I am trying to cut down, since my monthly income is $800 at most.)

But this whole having money thing is nice for now. I paid off a bunch of bills and earmarked another chunk to pay off incoming bills. It's so nice to get a $300 credit card bill (all Christmas purchases) and know I am able to pay it off in one shot. What a relief.

I did splurge on one thing: a shopping spree at IKEA. I spent $100 on various things, such as a quilt cover Joey has that I've been coveting from afar. I also got a curtain rod and curtains-- the sun never wakes me up, but everyone who stays at my place whines at me for not having curtains. And they're pretty.

Oh! This is exciting too. I was on my way home from work on Saturday and there was a garage sale around the corner from my house. I ended up getting two really nice white bookshelves for $5 each. A total steal.

So what with my new curtains, bookcases and quilt, I decided to rearrange my room and make it all new. (When Abby and I were kids, every so often, my parents would rearrange our rooms. I have no idea if this is weird or not. But I sort of like the feeling of having a completely new room.) I made a little diagram to show where everything would go, decided to go with it, and started moving things.

Big mistake. Big. Huge.

I moved every piece of furniture I own. I vacuumed every inch of my bedroom. I did absolutely nothing today except clean and organize stuff, and let me tell you, I don't think I can walk. Hot shower notwithstanding. (Oh man, I was desperate for a shower. I was delightfully sweaty and disgusting by the time evening rolled around.)

The best part was when I tried to move my desk-- remember, the one I put together backwards? As I was trying to slide it across the room, one leg fell off, and I was like, eeh, I can put that back on later. Then all the other legs fell off, and then the drawer fell out. I was left standing there holding the top of the desk, with the rest of it lying in plywood bits around me.

Greeeeat. Yeah, moving things was a swell idea. Because not only did I have to move it, I had to put it back together. (Well, it's not "put together" so much as "being held up by the wall," but it seems to work.) Also annoying was the hanging of the curtain rod-- I kept having to re-hammer the nails into the wall because they'd fall out. Is there some secret about nails that I don't know?

Goddamn, my back hurts. And I'm not even close to being done. I have tons of stuff to file. My entire wardrobe is in a pile in the corner. In the next room is a mountain of books and various other stuff that needs to find a place to live. I have too many damn videos. And too many damn books. Even with my three new bookshelves, I don't think I'll be able to fit everything.

I blame my parents for teaching me to read.

While I was cleaning, I made another list of things I need to buy. A new longer phone cord, a desk lamp, a curtainy topper thing that probably has a real name, a body pillow, two more pillows (the quilt came with matching pillowcases and you can never have too many pillows), a second futon mattress (mine is getting horribly uncomfortable), a desk organizer, and of course, a printer.

Plus car insurance and bills... well, there goes my student loan check. But my room is pretty.

I have met tons of nifty journalers lately, but an entry about that would be more meta than meta, so I'll just cut to the most important bit: I got to go to Jeremiah's first birthday party. That kid is every inch as adorable and happy and sweet as his photos.

I am bummed that they are moving away-- I barely got to meet Par and Jeremiah, and now they're leaving. With any luck, they will keep in touch through the wonder that is the internet.

Someone needs to keep me supplied with Jeremiah pictures, anyway.

"Then we went to Notre Dame... It wasn't terribly overwhelming. I think my expectations were too high. I was wearing a backpack under my jacket and I had a lot of fun bending down and moaning, 'Sanctuary. Saaanctuary...'"