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Friday, October 31, 2008

A New Job and a Second Car

Monday I start a full-time temp. job grading the Michigan MEAP exams. I worked for this company last year and scored 8th grade creative writing exams for the state of New Jersey. This time I'm scoring K through 6th grade writing. The pay isn't all that great, and I can't do it at home, but it'll give me 4-6 weeks of steady paychecks. With a new baby coming soon, we can definitely use all the money we can get. I don't mind the work either, which helps a lot.

I'll still be tutoring at school on Saturdays. Unfortunately, I had to give up my Wednesday shift (which was more than a day's pay!), but the job is an all or nothing deal. We aren't allowed to miss more than 15 minutes the first week! This is because the entire first week is training, and it ends on Friday with us taking tests. If we don't pass, we don't get to come back for the rest of the project. It sounds harsh, but it makes sense when you consider the importance of the exam. It's crucial that all the scorers are giving the papers the same grade.

This also means that I have to have my own car. I'll be working in the opposite direction of Mark and at roughly the same hours. We had a hard time finding a car that we wanted and could afford, and we ended up settling on a 2007 Ford Taurus. We were looking at mini-vans now that we'll have the backseat full of car seats, but the ones in our price range weren't worth buying.

Friday afternoon Mark is driving out to his grandparents' house in Iowa to pick up the car. His grandfather works with several dealers, and cars are cheaper out there. For some reason, there is also a surplus of 2007 Tauruses. Ours is merlot colored. Mark says it's burgundy, but I think it looked awfully purple in some of the pictures his grandpa sent.

Once the baby comes, this will be my car. We're not too optimistic that the double stroller will fit in the trunk of the Civic :) It's certainly not what I wanted, but I'm just thrilled to finally have my own car!

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I just know the stroller will fit : ). Those trunks are pretty spacious. Merlot sounds lovely!

Anonymous said...

Hey Bekah - so much happening! :) Don't know if it's too late, but our Mazda MPV (2005) has been a great buy for us. The other models didn't get a great review from Consumer's Reports, but that year did.

Brittany said...

Why are big purchase items always the thing needed before having babies? It never fails. We had to buy a new car, before Adam was born. Before Matty was born, we refinanced the house. Seriously... how does that happen?? BUT- yay for a new car! :)