Okay, the "ruptured spleen" thing may not be exactly true. I've been calling it a ruptured spleen, but I've also been calling it "my failing liver" and "my punctured lung." It's this vague sort of pain in the general area of my... left upper... thingie. Okay, so I have no idea what body part might be there. It's on the left, but lower than the heart, and not quite where my gallbladder is. Since I have no clue where the spleen is, that's what I've been going with.

I noticed the pain last night while I was working. Hurts when I breathe too deeply, hurts when I lift too much with my left hand, hurts when I pull espresso shots, hurts when I walk. But it isn't debilitating gallbladder-like pain, or even overly distracting UTI-type pain. It's an ache, and it's not so bad. But it is a little worrisome not knowing what body part is hurting and whether I should start preparing for hospitalization or imminent death.

Of course in all probability, it's either a pulled muscle or gas. But "ruptured spleen" has a nice, dramatic ring to it, doesn't it?

The police officer thing is true, though. I called the fuzz because over the weekend, I noticed that someone had stolen the back license plate off of my car. Not my new car, but my old crappy car. (Bet you didn't know I still had my old crappy car! I do. Remind me to sell it sometime.) So I called and asked what I should do, and the dispatcher said they need to take a report "just in case a crime is committed with my license plate." Hey, isn't stealing my license plate already a crime?

The other excitement of the day is that I applied for a student loan deferral for the summer. I did my budget and realized that with no tutoring money coming in (I have zero students at the moment; summertime is dead) and not enough vacation time to cover my two weeks in Holland (I booked our flight this weekend) I can't afford to make my payments for the next few months.

If I qualify for an "economic hardship deferral" (which I am sure I will since I am po') the government pays part of my loan interest. Isn't that nice? Thanks, government! I think they pay the interest on 2/3 of the loan balance or something. I am very excited; I hated the idea of having interest accrue and accrue while I made no payments.

I am considering extending the deferral, since it's automatically good for one year. If I do it for six months, I can probably afford to pay off my outstanding credit card balances. I don't know what would be the smartest financial tactic since all my interest rates are already pretty low, but I will crunch some numbers and figure it all out, grownup that I am.

Speaking of being a grownup, I am trying to convince the BIA that he wants to go to Reno for his twenty first birthday. I normally work on Wednesdays, but for some reason my boss gave me the day off. There are two birthdays in our store that day, so we are going to at least go out drinking, and possibly go to Reno. BIA doesn't know what he wants to do yet but, "At least you're excited about my birthday. That makes me happy." Yeah, you bet your ass!

Speaking of romance being in the air, I got a letter from a friend of mine who has recently reconnected with the love of her life after many years apart, and can't believe her good fortune, and is absolutely walking on air. She sent a picture of the two of them together, and she looks happier than I've ever seen her. She took an immense leap of faith to be with him, and I can't help but be in awe of how much they clearly adore each other and how "meant to be" the whole thing is. I wish I could tell their story, but it's not my story. I am just so happy for her. A little wistful of course, but happy.

That reminds me of a dream I had two days ago. I dreamt that I was graduating and that my mother was throwing me a huge party, and my whole family was there, but for some reason I had to wear a wedding gown. Half of the dream was me getting ready for the "ceremony" that was going to take place, putting on the veil and the makeup and the fluffy white dress. The other half of the dream was me sitting around in this wedding gown in front of my whole family, feeling like an idiot because I wasn't getting married to anyone!

Tim was here over the weekend, and I woke up and rolled over and told him the dream. In this perfect, sleepy, sarcastic voice he said, "Gee. I wonder what that means." Heh.

So yes, Tim was here over the weekend! We had a mellow, relaxing time. We went to bookstores, drank wine, watched movies, played games, ate food, walked around the city, talked a lot, lather, rinse, repeat. It's been a long time since I've lived life in a non-frantic manner. I barely know how to do it anymore. It was fabulous.

Knock at the door! Could it be a cute policeman in a tight uniform? You'll be the first to hear.