PBR and Missouri Heat

Right now it's 91F with a heat index of 99F. Moberly is mega hot right now, and I don't mean spring break MTV '99 hot, I mean... Whatever. It's hot. This morning a young child was mowing our lawn on a giant Missouri grass cutting machine. I've never seen such a small human operating such a large machine. I guess that's how they do it here in Missouri though. It was kind of nuts. I took a picture of him and his buddy doing landscaping work. I wonder how much they were getting paid?

So yeah, this was interesting. I told you he was a small kid!

But we're almost out of Missouri. It's been a mega long lonely 7 months for me. I'm surrounded by people everywhere and only one person went out of his way to include me...Justin. Thank you Justin, you Buffalo man. You're awesome! Missouri, Missouri, Missouri...I'm numb to you. I'm on my way back to my land. Lol. The land of Zohan. Burque Town. Down that I-40 road, I'll be there. I can't wait to hike those mountains! I'm going to take thousands of photos and never take NM for granted ever again.

... So we're packing. All of our stuff is in boxes by our door waiting to be hauled out into the Uhaul trailer.

My brothers Ramon and Juan are coming up with two of their friends to help us get back home. Oh and Floofer is helping us out too! Here he is all tired...

Here's another weird thing; Michelle our landlord has been showing our apartment to people while we're still here. It's cool with us I guess, but it's just supper wierd. Today a mother and her two children came in and started examinging our apartment. They were looking in our closet and checking out our bathroom. It was weird. All Michelle does is call us and leaves a voicemail then she comes and shows the apartment. Strange... Well, I'm going to get back to my PBR and my conversation about Panama with my lovely Lindsey. I hope we get some crazy weather before we leave, but no Tornados. Well, maybe a tornado, but not one that destroys our town or our stuff.

Si Señor, CoMo No

Oh money's a funny thing! haha! Well, it's not funny, but it's fun to track. Every week at Starbucks I get a percentage of the tips we receive. This is what I made here at my stay at the Starbucks on 9th & Elm in Columbia, MO. I decided to graph it and find the average and total amount that I made in tips.  It's a really low amount and it probably barely paid for my gas to and from Columbia from Moberly. It helped though!  Click on the screen shot to see a higher resolution image... But seriously, who cares anyway?

Show Me...Thunderstorms!!

Today was my last day opening at the Starbucks. I can't say I'm going to miss waking up at 4am and driving 35 miles. And although I am extremely tired right now, I am content in my day. I am drinking a cup of Starbucks VIA that I did not pay for and I'm thinking about what I want to make for dinner. I might make some rice...I am cooking some black eyed peas right now. I'm not sure. This month has been difficult financially. One would think that on two incomes Lindsey and I could live okay in Moberly, MO. I mean I though so. When somebody mentions mid-Missouri you don't think about the ridiculously high cost of living. Nope. It's not expensive to live out here... So why do we have no money? I think it may be our poor decisions. Whatever. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. I just know we need to learn how to manage our money.

Stress...

Life doesn't always have to be stressful. This month could very easily become overwhelming. We have to come up with a bit of money. We are already behind. We are moving at the end of this month back to Albuquerque. There's good news though. We'll be close to our families again. I'm thankful for Missouri. Oh it was an experience. I can't even develop an opinion right now about Missouri. It's something else. There is a lot of beauty in this state.

It's so weird, there are yucca plants everywhere in Columbia. They are all in full bloom too. When I drive down Ridgeline on my way home I see dozens of them in full bloom. It's like those plants were placed there as a reminder...well not really. I think maybe people on the Santa Fe Trail may have brought with them seeds from the yucca plant and tales of magical adventures and lowriders. Umm..maybe just enchiladas recipes and yucca seeds. I don't know. But there are a lot of yucca plants in Columbia.

I'm excited to get back home. Missouri has forced me to appreciate home more. I'm happy for that. I'm also happy for the people I've met here. The Bales, The Pentlands, The Starbucks. They are all blessings in my life. People who I have taught me things in the past six months.

I want to do so many things when I get back home. I want to be more active in life. I want to go to a show at least once a week. I want to spend a good portion of my day outdoors. I want to start a Netflix account and watch tons of movies. ...I want to check out Mars Hill church. Oh and snowboarding. I'm going snowboarding this winter. I'm going to Taos. I don't want to get one of those new New Mexico plates. At first I thought they were cool, but after I saw them on cars I think they're lame. My opinion may change.

Mmmm...the gravy calls, Missouri. I love you...