So far, March is just bizarre. Last week, the driver’s side windshield wiper was ripped from my car, leaving only a tiny plastic nub. Of course, it needed to be fixed before it rained. I ended up taking it to the place across from Uncle Eric’s and taking his van so I could get to my afternoon class on Thursday night. It’s all fix now, but it was a huge hassle. I wish nothing but ill upon the jackass who broke it.
On Saturday, with a rainy night in the forecast, I headed out to Cobleskill. When I got about halfway there, the rain turned to snow. That should have made me turn around right then, but I continued anyway. Later, after some visiting, I ventured out into the snowy streets in an attempt to get home. AND NEARLY DIED. It took me about two hours to drive forty miles. Route 7 was ridiculous and a complete mess. I swerved several times and I spent the entire trip gripping the steering wheel white knuckled. It wasn’t a very happy drive. Other roads weren’t any better until I got closer to Albany, where it was just drizzling. Once home, I vowed to not drive until July.
But I had already planned an adventure for Sunday that required lots of driving.
Mid-morning on Sunday, after picking up Billie and making a quick stop at Price Chopper, we headed down to the Mitsuwa shopping center in Edgewater, New Jersey. It was still a bit rainy in Albany and it only got worse as we drove south. About halfway down the Thruway, there was a sign that warned of flooding after exit 16. We needed exit 13. Traffic was horrible and we probably could have gotten out and walked the rest of the way and gotten there sooner. The flooding was essentially a giant puddle with orange cones around it. 
It only obstructed one lane of traffic on our side of the road and it made the traffic jam totally not worth it. After this, at the sight of any puddle, panic rightfully ensued. (The northbound lanes were completely flooded, though.) 
On the Palisades Parkway, crossing into Jersey, was a completely different issue. There was no flooding, but there were tons of downed trees and branches (all cleared from the roadway itself). It looked like the apocalypse had hit. And apparently, it had. But at the time, we had no idea there had been a storm. All in all, it was a very strange drive down.
We got to our first stop and spent lots of time in all three stores (a ‘variety’ store, a grocery store, and a book store). I bought some Kamen Rider figures, a textbook, some manga, and dinner, among other things. (Dinner included yummy onigiri 
and mitarashi dango (yummy, but messy) and a crêpe thing with strawberry flavored filling (yummy, but probably not something I’ll buy again).)
Next, we headed north again for the Palisades Center Mall. I’ve been there several times before, but Billie was sufficiently impressed by the sheer size of the mall (think King of Prussia, only more vertical). We only went to Kinokuniya since we had gotten there so much later (and closer to closing time) than we had anticipated, so maybe next time, we’ll have the chance to really explore the rest of it. Even though most of the stores are typical ‘mall stores’, it’s still neat to have them all in one place. Plus Kinokuniya and the Hello Kitty store 
The drive home was much less eventful and exciting (and long) as the drive down, which is a good thing. The day was tons of fun and I hope we can do it again sometime (only with less flooding and apocalypses).
In other news, I am beyond ready for my spring break. It starts next Friday and, thanks to me wanting to go to the guard home show and championships during break, it’ll be a very busy week filled with lots of driving. But hopefully, I’ll be able to finish some of the fun things I’ve been putting off for so long now.
Speaking of, I need to go wash some dishes and then try to sleep a bit.
and then I have to cry about the $150 I just spent on two books. 
by the titles means I have seen the anime.)
