HIGHS and lows

This is the time in life when we are suppose to live paycheck to paycheck, understand what it means to appreciate all we have and trust better things are in store...when we hit our 30s. Right? HA. This 20-something life is proving to be gut-wrenching. I thought I was over the days of feeling financially unstable but alas, it never ends.

The other day we were so excited to find out that we would be getting a 5% discount on our rent for the next 12 months because Deren works at a "preferred employee" company. We were happy to not experience an increase in rent like we thought we were going to have. No sooner had we celebrated this small victory than we realized Deren got an unwanted charge of $129.99 and $69.95 from something he had purchased online (another life lesson, but that is a different story). He spent most of the day on the phone with a TERRIBLE customer service rep who couldn't even find his account information! Talk about scam. Next phone call = USBank to report a fraudulent charge. He's going to try calling the customer service rep again Monday to get our dang money back. Word to the wise - don't order crap online. Chances are they are scamming you (okay, I might be a little bit of a pessimist).

To make matters worse, Deren went out to his car to find a ticket on his windshield while it was PARKED on OUR sidestreet. A ticket for expired plates. Okay, before I rant about my distaste for Missouri I must say at least we can AFFORD a $38.50 ticket for expired plates (unless of course we take yet another case to our lovely Missouri court system - they LOVE the Thompsons). OKAY, Here I go....

1. Most (aka ALL) people in the state of Missouri get a nice little postcard in the mail to remind their plates are going to expire soon. Not my husband.
2. I have been paying property taxes on my car for the past two years (another reason I do not like Missouri). Deren has not.
3.We have a strong suspicion Deren's car information has gotten lost in the jumble of property tax paperwork Missouri sends out at the end of each year. (that's right, tax is due 5 days after Christmas. How thoughtful.)
4. The states of Minnesota and Iowa put the MONTH and year on your plate tabs to give you a heads up of when they are going to expire. Missouri puts the year to let you take a 1 out of 12 stab when they might be expiring - the odds are really against you.
5. The proactive measures this state takes to keep their citizens 'in the loop' is appauling.

In the midst of all of this commotion my mom called to let me know my great aunt Eleanor had passed away on Friday night. We had a close realationship growing up, she was like a third grandma to me. Since moving to Iowa for college and to Missouri after graduation I hadn't seen her in a while but it still breaks my heart. Heaven has a new, precious angel.

Bad things happen in threes so we took it all in one day...we're done for a while, right? Right?!

On a positive note about our 20-somethings...this is the age of weddings. My good friend from college got married last weekend and we wrapped up our 2010 wedding season in Cedar Rapids. Lindsay and Levi had a beautiful ceremony and such a fun reception. As always, so fun to catch up with them and other friends we aren't able to see nearly often enough. Congrats you two!! Love you!

Another positive - a friend from school had two free tickets to the Zac Brown Band tomorrow night so I'm excited to head out to a concert with her! I haven't been to a concert in a long time! Thanks DeAirra!!

This post is feeling a tad bit bi-polar....such is our life right now.

Hey! At least we get some extra sleep tonight!!