Concrete Pole + Car = Crunch: A Lesson in Positivity

I think I've made some sort of milestone in the road to positivity...because I didn't let the fact that I crushed my car's back fender on a concrete pole completely derail my otherwise productive and enjoyable day.  But before we get to that bit of nonsense, let's talk about all the positive things that happened today.

First of all, I met my friend Emily for lunch and had delicious seafood gumbo and some good conversation (as we always do, though the gumbo was a new addition). After lunch, we made a quick visit to the location of her wedding reception, which was absolutely lovely and all urban-chic-tastic with exposed brick and things (I like that kind of stuff).  Emily's wedding brings my total wedding count for this summer up to three - one in Kentucky, one in Dallas, and one in Missouri.  (What can I say, I'm a popular person!)  Which means that, by July, I need a fabulous cocktail dress and, if possible, a boyfriend to act as a date to the Missouri wedding (that's the one where I won't really know people.  Or rather, I'll know people, but they'll be people I haven't spoken to in upwards of 4 years...a date would be handy).

Speaking of boyfriends, I've actually found myself enjoying my life as a singleton lately instead of lamenting it.  There's a certain excitement to it, I think...the intrigue of possibility.  And although I sometimes dread meeting new people because I'm semi-secretly an introvert, I'm actually excited about the opportunity living in a new city gives me to meet new people.  Going along with the negativity theme of last year, I always have this tendency to think that if I don't have a boyfriend, or if things don't work out with a guy, that it's because there's something wrong with me.  But, I've decided that this isn't the case; I'm not a defective human being for not being in a relationship.  And although relationships are good and I'm all for them, I don't think I want to just throw away the benefits of being single by spending all my time watching chick flicks and being depressed.  Besides, it's going to take a pretty fantastic man to handle all of the fantastic-ness that is me; not just any guy is up to the task.  I'm excited to find him one day; and, in the meantime, I'm excited to have some time to be on my own, braving the world one step at a time.  If you can't know yourself alone, how are you going to know yourself with someone else, right?  In related news, I quoted Beyonce's "Single Ladies" twice in normal conversation today, to the great amusement of each recipient.

Anyway, back to the productivity of my day: after lunch, I ran a few errands, fought for my right to receive mail at my current address at TWO post offices and then on the phone (I requested a temporary change of address over Christmas break to get my mail forwarded to St. Louis, and somewhere along the line it became permanent).  Then, I went and bought some more textbooks, and went with my friend Miranda to get our DART passes, allowing free access to Dallas' buses and trains and such for all of 2011 for the super-low price of $5.

And THEN, Miranda dropped me off at my car in the SMU parking garage, and I proceeded to immediately back into a pointless concrete pole and crush my back fender.  Yeah.  Behold the result:

And THEN, I had the dreaded task of calling my parents to inform them that I had dented the car.  Which was unpleasant.  Since I'm living off student loans and the car is still completely drivable and there weren't any other cars involved (only architecture), I'm thinking that I'm just going to become "dented car girl" this semester.  I'm not about to make paying my rent questionable by getting a dent fixed when I can still get where I need to go.  (Incidentally, if anyone has had a similar problem in their car and has a repair cost estimate, let me know...)

After talking to my parents (or rather, about midway through) was when I really got depressed about the car. Really, my first reaction was just "Aww, crap.  Oh well..."  I didn't even do anything about it right then, instead I finished running my errands and then went home and called the parents and took the pictures and such.  But, as I suppose is inevitable, I got upset about my sheer carelessness, and subsequently sat around for 2 hours watching "The Big Bang Theory" and "Friends" and eating a dinner of (you guessed it) frozen chimichangas with pizza rolls on the side.  In my depression, I didn't feel much like making a grocery list, much less going shopping for food with a dented car.

The reason I call today a positivity milestone is because after those two hours of deep-friend frozen food and sitcom viewing, I really wasn't all that upset anymore.  I mean, yes, it is annoying.  But it's really not the end of the world.  Around the end of last year, little upsets were enough to completely unravel my whole day and render whatever hours remained completely useless.  But today, I just kind of got over it.  I can't say how, exactly...I've really had a wonderful last three days, and I think for once the negative didn't outweigh the positive.  THIS, my friends, is an accomplishment.  I have such a tendency to dwell on the negative; this time, I just accepted it and moved on.  What's the use of dragging out the negativity?  Is that going to make my car magically un-dent itself?  Probably not.  And yes, I had my rant phase (as always, thank you to my friend Brandi who accommodates willingly my need for to rant), and my junk-food mourning phase, but then I returned to my productive day.  So I give myself an A for positivity AND productivity today.

And so, moving on from the car thing, I finished out my evening by setting up the Wii and Wii Fit, working out with the Wii Fit (which will be reviewed and commented on in posts to come), doing research for the CCFOF, and watching "Bridget Jones' Diary."  Still to come, taking a shower and snuggling into bed for some Alexandre Dumas reading.  So all in all, a good day...even if I did make the car go crunch in the middle of it.

On schedule for tomorrow: grocery shopping, class reading/blackboard posting, and my friend Brandon's birthday party.  Ironically, even though I was super productive today, I keep forgetting I have homework again now.  I have to come up with something impressive to say about the Palomite controversy for tomorrow...and first, I have to figure out what the Palomite controversy is.  I know you're dying for me to get back to you on that one.  In any case, hoping for another good day tomorrow, with less crunching of automobiles!