Nearly Settled In!

Hi y'all!

I realized the other day it's been a little over a month since I last checked in, back just before I moved. So time for another update! Hopefully these aren't a nuisance to y'all, I just feel better communicating at least something when I can.

So good news is I'm moved! My furry and scalie babes and all of my stuff made it safe with me, I got my old apartment squared away and even got 90% of my deposit back so that helped a ton!

The Mustang and the Honda made it over safe, I have my own washer and dryer now, and my new apartment is about 90% unpacked. I'm going to actually get most of the remainder done this weekend since I wasn't able to get my desk like I'd hoped just yet. I need to get my scanner set up so I can finish commissions and I don't want to put that off any longer. So temporary station will be settled this weekend!

The desk I'll hopefully be ordering on the 17th of this month and then on the weekend of the 24th my dad will come over to help me finish putting up shelves. After that I'll be good to go for now! I'm setting a goal for myself to have my apartment fully settled by around August/September this year, because a few things like curtains, a living room tv and frames for my art and posters will likely have to wait until then. 

Part of the reason I once again find myself running up against a just breaking even situation is my poor truck decided it really wanted my attention a couple weeks ago. Thankfully not as big as it could have been but ouch I was hoping to have at least a LITTLE more cushion to make it through to August when I should be in a more comfortable position once again (Finally!).

So word to the wise, don't pull the door handle off your vehicle! It's more expensive than you'd think unless you are a knowledgable mechanic and can fix it yourself, of which I am sadly not. The door handle itself isn't too crazy expensive, seemed to be between $50-$80 for the one on my truck. No, it was the time and labor to install it that got me. That was a $206 expense that was unexpected. 

After that I knew I was getting 4 new tires and an alignment for it, so I'd budgetted for that even if dropping just over $700 was still ouch. It needed to be done and those tires lasted me 6 years so really that much every 6 years or so isn't bad. So tires were all set, I stopped to grab a quick bite to eat on my home since I needed to pack to go stay and watch my dad and step-mom's dogs the next evening and it was already late. 

Well when I went to leave the truck wouldn't crank...

A super nice gentleman assisted in jumping the truck off and I just drove straight over to AutoZone to have them test the battery (really suspected that was the issue but you never know). The AutoZone guy scared me even more when he mentioned there was zero charge and yes that could be the battery but it could also be the alternator too. The truck warranty is expired so that would have hurt bad if it'd been the alternator. Through all the bad luck that week someone was looking out for me because a new battery seems to have solved that issue, even if another $182 down hurt even more.

So yes, the truck will be 6 years old at the end of this month and tires and batteries generally only really last maybe that long. So they were needed, they just needed to be replaced at a really inconvienent time! At the very least I'm glad I'd just received my tax refund so I could afford those things on my own, but ouch!

Automotive adventures aside, last week I stayed with my dad and step-mom's pups for most of the week while they were out of town, and then I took last weekend to myself to just do whatever and recoup.

Now I'm chugging through another busy work week and trying to get my game plan together for this weekend so I can get as much done as possible. I'm going to work to get my current two commissions' sketches finalized this weekend that way I can move on to inks next weekend and then color soon after!

I'll be visiting my sister at the very end of this month to have a girl's weekend with her and two of her co-workers (we've been playing WoW together lately, forgot how much fun it is to level in a group lol). After that I'll be looking to settle in and open for fresh commissions to be completed in my old turnaround time!

In the meantime I truly do appreicate everyone's patience while I work through getting myself fully settled into my new home and get myself a stable routine established. 

I hope y'all are doing well and having a good week so far, I hope work and/or school or whatever you do each day is treating you well and you're looking down the slide toward a relaxing, fun weekend!

Until next time!

~Stang