home again...

well, i made it to Tulsa yesterday evening. of course, my leaving ATL couldn't go off without a hitch. i was supposed to leave bright and early Wednesday morning. for some reason i wasn't feeling...ready to go. i couldn't place my finger on it. i just wasn't ready to leave yet. i guess it was just really really starting to sink in that i was leaving ATL for good. but, made myself up, took a shower, said my prayers, hugged my friend, and left. my first stop was the ATM to deposit a money order from my grandmother. that was supposed to be my gas money. well, at least the bulk of it. so, i go to one ATM and they aren't able to process check deposits. ok, i'll go to another bank. i get to another Bank of America, deposit the money order and then try and take the cash right back out. i then get a message saying that there aren't sufficient funds. i check the balance and it says i have less than $8 in my checking account. clearly this isn't enough to make it all the way to Tulsa. this doesn't make any sense because i'd checked the account yesterday and there was enough money in there. plus, i had just put money in. so, i call and check my account and nothing foreign is in the most recent list of withdrawals. i hang up and call again and listen to all the listings. then i hear something about a $75 check that posted the day before. i can't figure out where this is coming from since a) i don't write checks all that often and b) i don't usually write checks for such a huge amount. so, i'm thinking there's some sort of fraud. by this time, it's nearly 8:00 am, so i call my aunt to let her know what's going on. while i'm talking to her, it dawns on me.... i wrote T.F.A. a check almost a month ago for $75 to cover a test i need to take for certification. and for whatever reason it was just posting to my account. great! my aunt and i both agree that i should just leave the next day since that's my payday and she also gets paid that day so if something comes up tomorrow, she can put money in my account. i could have used my credit card, but i needed cash for the tolls once i got to OK, and it's also just not a good idea to travel so far with no cash. after we get off the phone i burst into tears. all i wanted to do was get home. i mean, i wasn't anxious to be in Tulsa, but you know, i'd been sleeping on my friend's couch for the past few days and i was just ready to be in a stable place for a while. also, i did really want to see the family since i hadn't seen them since late December.

after i pull myself together, i call my friend and let her know what happened and that i'll need to stay another day. i get to her apartment and fall right to asleep and took a loooong nap. my girl went to work out, took a shower, watched TV, read a book, and i was dead to all of this. i think part of my problem was that i was angry and i guess i was just exhausted from the past few days. she and i sat around her apartment all day long and only left for dinner that evening. given my luck, i knew i needed to sit down and stay put. oh, i forgot to mention that on Saturday night, while leaving the office, i swiped a concrete pillar in the parking deck. so, now my pretty blue car has an ugly gash on the back, right passenger door. it's not terribly bad, but it's bad enough. some of the paint is scratched down to the metal. so, that means it'll need body work and a paint job. even with insurance, i have no idea how that's going to get paid. but, i digress... so, i felt that i was too worked up to really go anywhere. we did make it to dinner where i was in a much better mood.

when we get back to her apartment, we talk to one of our friends from college and have such a great conversation. she's on break from med school right now, so it was so very nice to reminisce about our college days and to make plans for homecoming this fall. (i'm actually excited about that---- it'll feel like i'm actually going back instead of just going around the corner.) i get in the bed around midnight or so and shortly thereafter decide to check and see if my check has been deposited yet. (i do direct deposit.) i check the account and there's a negative balance! i kinda thought that would happen because due to the check posting issue, there were some charges that caused my account to be overdrawn. at $35 per overdraft and with four overdrafts... well, you can see how ugly the situation was. now, i knew i was supposed to get paid on the 31st, but i wondered if there was a problem since it was to be last paycheck from my old job. i wondered if they decided to mail the money and basically wondered why it wasn't there yet. i know, i know, it was only a little after midnight. but, it's typically deposited by that time. i somehow went back to sleep, and woke up about an hour later, checked the account, and still no money. of course, since i am a worrywart, i was in a panic. i had to drive home, but i also have a very tight budget to work with, which did not take into account over $150 in overdraft fees. then i remember my check will actually be for more than usual because my left over vacation time is being paid out to me. ok, cool, so i'll have more to work with. then, my little overworked mind started thinking about how i'm sick of being worried about money and how i thought getting a Master's degree would mean more money, blah, blah, blah. (the usual...) i was trippin'!!!

anyway, i eventually went to sleep, got up in the morning, checked the account and there was more than enough, and went on my merry way to Tulsa. the drive went off without a hitch and i got in town around 6:30 p.m. after leaving ATL at 6:00 a.m. since no one in my family has Internet, i'm at a Panera right now with my brother, checking e-mail and blogging. i know my brother's tired of waiting for me, so we're going to leave soon. i'll be around here until the 6th. then it's off to Houston for 5 weeks of summer training! no rest for the weary... :-) of course, that sadly means i won't be able to read my blogs as much as i'd like, but know i'll be back soon. :-)