the dangers of dipping, not working mail, and running at night

wow. it's been quite a week or so. last friday, my sister and her husband were in a major car accident not far from their house. some idiot "was dipping, and reached for his spit cup," which caused him to drive all the way across his side of the road and plow into my sister's door at 40 MPH or more. heather's car spun around from the impact and hit brian, who was following in his car behind her. the idiot then went on and hit two more cars and a stone wall.

but thank God, they were okay. heather's door didn't buckle and the glass didn't shatter, and they both came away from the accident with some bruises and sore backs. it could have been much, much worse. again, thank God.

right after i had left heather and brian to the care brian's brother and his wife on friday, i went up to marion for 'emily's birthday weekend, part 2.' it was strange going back to school, but also very fun. there were a lot of people in town from my class and emily and i made dinner for our friends at christina and ashley's apartment. good times. (thanks chris and ash for letting me stay at your place.)

at work, one of the people in my unit was 'no longer with the company'-d on friday. and that means the dreaded transfer files for the rest of us. these files are not fun, mainly b/c they're loaded on top of the new claims i receive every day and are horrendously done. a look at one of the files proves why this employee was 'asked to leave.'

and i have started to run again, too. after a month-long hiatus, i have resumed my physical activity and hope to continue to do so. it is kinda weird running in the neighborhood at night though. that's when all the kooky characters come out to play, and they occasionally freak me out while i'm on my run. seriously, once there was this small man walking with his hands behind his back and head down--very autistically, if that's a word--and he was wearing suspenders and probably a little bow-tie....i don't really know exactly, but he scared me. i wasn't comfortable once i passed him; i kept imagining he was somewhere in the shadows waiting to unleash his pent-up fury on me, his helpless and clueless victim. so i ran faster that night, which was probably good.

i also have a question for you all: do you think i could make it three months without buying a single book? it's a little challenge i'm thinking of setting for myself in an effort to force myself to read the books i already own, save money, and as an impetus to study for the GRE. let me know if you think this is something physically, psychologically, and spiritually possible for someone like me to do.