Life gets complicated, fast

So this was an interesting week. Carla went to Detroit, so I'm back home with the folks. Started out simple enough, and then for whatever reason it clicked Carla and I are getting extremely serious, talking of marriage and everything, so I realized it was time to clean house.

My freshman year at Northeastern I developed an intestinal infection. Treated it with God knows what, nothing cured it. You ever not poop for a month? I have, it ain't fun. So finally mom decides to take me to the hospital. I'm 1/512th Cherokee so I have a CDIB card I never use except for medical emergencies. She tried to take me to the Claremore Indian hospital, somehow got lost, and took me to Tulsa Regional instead. Since it was her fault she got lost, and because being an 18 year old "good kid" I never argued with the parents (at least, on shit that mattered), I had no say in the matter. She promised to pay the bill, but because I was 18 it got put in my name, and a hose up my ass and $5,024 later I'm screwed. She promised to pay it, and promptly forgot.

Then in 2005 I was approached by lawyers. Pay up, or else pretty much. I have always been somewhat of a lucky bastard and was here too. I sent them a letter promising to pay, but explained that I was a college student with no income. If they would wait, once I was done with school I would pay it off. They agreed. All the while, my parents promised to make payments on it since it was their fault.

This week, on realing how serious Carla and I are and that marriage is appearing more inevitable than probable, I decided it was time to clear up the debt. I figured it was around $3,000 now, so I planned to sell $1,200 worth of rifles and pay the rest off in a year. WRONG! Mom and dad sent in $5, yes f-i-v-e dollars on the bill and that was it. Mom forgot about it. I understand that she did, and she had a lot of stuff going on (though mostly in 2004, the year before I got the letter from the lawyers), but that puts me in a bit of a bind. Oh well, what has to be done has to be done.

I've sold my repro Armi Sport 1842 Springfield, and I'm selling my prized U.S. Model 1903 Springfield, my Swiss Karabiner 1931, my Karabiner 98k, my Yugoslavian SKS, my Turkish Mauser, and my new Smith and Wesson Military and Police Revolver. That plus some reenacting gear I won't need should net me about $3,000, so I'm hoping that these sales plus some from my saving will get the bill down to about $1,800 to $2,000 within a few weeks. Then if I pay $150 a month (I got them to agree to $50 a month) I should have it paid off in a year.

Believe it or not, I'm not upset about selling rifles. I'll still have my Italian collection (which still needs a Vetterli Vitali) and my Trapdoor and Krag. I've always said these things, in the end, were hunks of metal and wood and I'm happy to say that when push came to show they were.

That's what I've been dealing with for the past few days, then today another apple falls from the tree. Jon decided to move back to Kansas, leaving me in a bit of a lurch as to a place to live. Sure, for the past two months I've "lived" at Carla's place, but always had mine should she want to be by herself for a night. The logical thing is me to just "move in," i.e. bring my books over (everything else but my bed, half my movies, and rifles are already over there) but I knew we had agreed to wait till summer, and didn't want to rush her. But we decided to move in together in December, and she says that's what she wants. I know I couldn't be happier, but I've also noticed I'm starting to worry all of this is becoming too good and that somehow I'll fuck it all up.

In school notes, I've got a chunk of "The Regulars" read and realize that I hate reading books. Still, tht gives me about seven for the summer "read" with three or four more I've read before, just need to skim. Now to write all the reviews. Blargh.

In Flames of War notes, I've finally repainted my Carro Armato Fiat Ansaldo L6/40s and painted my Carri Veloce L3/35s. Also finally painted the shovels on my last two Autoblinda AB-41 Armored Cars. Now I need to decal all of them. Still need to drybrush my Carro Armato M14/41s and Semovente M. 40s. And paint my final artillery crews for my 75mm Horse Battery, second 100mm Howitzer section, and my 6pdr Corpo Italiano di Liberazione platoon. And my 3rd Fucilieri Platoon. I'll take a break after that before priming and painting my Squadroni Cavalleria.

In work news, I start TAing for Moses' WWII class Monday. I can't wait, he'll let me lecture some times, which means I can blather on about the Italians, North Africa, and naval battles. However that stipend is only for one month, so I'm thinking about going back to being a Wal Mart cashier in July. Maybe full time then switch it back to part time in August. I dunno.... I'll be fine once school starts, I just don't really want to live of funds only in July. We'll see though, I kinda liked the idea of working on my thesis in advance.

H'ok, mom and dad want to watch TV, so I'll guess I'll pay attention to that. Ciao!