Wow

I really haven't felt like blogging....

So...

...the money thing isn't going so well. I haven't shopped, but I have eaten out a few times. At least at cheap take out places though, no fancy sit down places. I am still trying to keep curbed. Cause I REALLY want to go shopping today. And on the positive side, I have made 2 trips to the local GCF with donation stuff, and have another trip ready to go. The next move I make, who knows when that will be, HAS to be easier, I can't handle another 1k check to a mover, and I sure as shootin' can't do it myself! Ugh.

And I just called all of my credit cards (all 2 of them) and one of Jose's and got our APRs brought back down to normal levels. I have to keep an eye on those buggers, they had us up to 26.9 and 24.9! Bastards. They are slippery, gotta keep on top of them. It is ridiculous, they really do just prey on us folks that don't pay as much attention! Well, I am no longer one of those people! Damnit.

Sarah Palin is an idiot

Do I really have to expound on that? I think Queen Latifah aka Gwen Ifill said it best at the beginning of the SNL version of the VP debate when she points out that as long as Palin didn't throw up, cry or run out the debate should be considered a tie. Scary thing that many people are actually doing that. Here is the full skit if you haven't seen it yet, great commentary!


http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/vp-debate-open-palin-biden/727421/

Gearing Up

I am really gonna do it, I am getting myself, mentally, in the zone! So friends, please try not to ask me to join you for a drink or whatever! Come to my house, invite me to yours, etc! Love ya.

New Project

So I have been going kinda nuts, spending money like I have tons of it, which compared to a year ago today, or 2 years ago, I do, but not in the grand scheme of things. SOOOOO... I think that I am going to, beginning October 1st, try to spend a set amount of time not spending money, outside of necessities such as groceries, gas and bills. Of course, with groceries and gas I will do my best to budget, think ahead and all that.

No fun stuff like makeup or new clothes (which for one, I don't need any, and secondly, hopefully I would get out of the size I am in now before long!). No going out to eat, I can clean my house and invite friends over for coffee (good motivation to get the house in the shape I want, plus not eating out will help me get back on WW track!). No movies, I mean shoot, I have Tivo, cable, and oodles of DVDs, plus I can get a library card...No coffee trips, I mean usually I am heading home when I get it anyway and I have tons of coffee and tea stuff at the house. I am really going to try this. Wish me luck...those of you who know me well know what a truly monumental challenge this truly is!

At first I said I was going to aim for a month, but I think that I will say I will do it weekly, with the ultimate goal being a month, but if I approach it weekly I have a much better chance of success. Maybe I should take it day by day...

The wagon

I fell off, that is the Weight Watchers wagon, of course! But I am getting back on. I had really good reasons too. My life starting around the end of last week was a comedy of errors!

I went to Carowinds on Saturday for the first time, had a blast, but wasn't aware of the water park aspect, so got WAY more exposed to the sun than I planned, and of course didn't think to stop and buy some sunscreen from one of the thousands of vendors! So I got a vicious sunburn, scalp and everything! NO blistering luckily, but I was feeling pretty crappy.

Then, on Saturday night or Sunday morning, not quite sure which, I got a lovely break out of poison ivy! First time in my life. I was exposed to it on Thursday at an interpreting job, but it takes a bit to pop out. Actually I think it is still developing! Ugh. It is awful, and oddly enough one of the home remedies that I read about actually seems to help, and that is rubbing the inside of a banana peel on the rash! So both my ankles smell like bananas, tasty!

Of course, there was still the everpresent nausea on top of all of this. I think I finally have it under control, but I frequently have off moments related to that. So with all that going on, I have been eating 'normally' ie, not counting points. But I still haven't gone quite crazy like I did before I joined. So I am getting back on, cause I still have a goal to reach, and I won't let this lull in willpower ruin it for good!

Tummy

I am having stomach issues. The meds they have me on have me constantly, in a low grade kinda way, nauseous. I hate it. Blech. But it is worth it, right?

Pets, continued

Well, Charlene, the kitty, has no issues, her bloodwork is perfect, so we just have to give her some special food so that she doesn't have 'tummy' issues. For a 17 year old kitty, she is doing great. Puppers, on the other hand, has been having nonstop issues since his routine teeth cleaning. He finally got some energy and began eating and such, but he has this horrible wheezing that he does whenever he wakes up or just tries to get around quickly. I am taking him back in tomorrow and to be quite honest, pretty pissed about it. Kinda feel like I shouldn't have to pay for another visit since it is due to whatever they did. Bastards better fix my baby! Ugh.

Pets

Today has been a rough day for the babies. Puppers went for a teeth cleaning, and for those of you unaware, dogs and cats must be put under when they get their teeth cleaned. He has had this done before and had no issues, well this time they used a different kind of sedation and he isn't reacting well to it.

First the vet dentist told me he got snappy after he woke up, he went from wagging his tail to growling to jumping to cuddle on his (the doc's) neck, to trying to do his vampire imitation, trying to take a chunk out of the doc's neck, but got a mouthful of stethoscope instead. This is totally unlike my boy, he either likes you or he doesn't, no waffling here. Besides, he only attempts to bite at all when very scared and very rarely has that happened! He is a lover, not a fighter. So then they go to bring him out to me and he bites the vet tech so badly they were sending her to the hospital!! Usually, they say they are required by law to keep the animal for 10 days for observation in these cases, rabies being the issue in question. But luckily he had his latest rabies vaccination there, so they know he was up to date, and they know this was because of the meds. So they let me bring baby home. I told dad this means he is a real dog! Trying to find some silver lining here.

Charlene, my beautiful 17 year old kitty, who has always exhibited wonderful health, may have liver or kidney disease, we are still waiting on the test results. So now Pups is at home trying to sleep off the drugs. He can barely move, wobbles and whines when he does, and in general is a mess. Charlene seems ok, but has a new diet (which will be SOOO fun to administer with 2 other cats and a dog in the house) and may or may not have other things to contend with. My poor babies, and my poor wallet. Ugh.

Whoo hoo, yippee kay ay!

I just went for my first weigh in since I joined Weight Watchers last week, guess what! I lost 4.2 lbs in a week! Whoo hoo! And I didn't even stick to my points the first few days! AHHHHHHH!

Gas

So, as some people may have noticed, gas prices are dropping, a bit, but every bit is appreciated. So the average gas around my neighborhood is 3.77/gallon. Well, on the road to my friend Sheila's house I know that gas is cheaper, it is 3.56/gallon. So I decided to be one of the patient and line up and wait my turn for the 'cheap' gas. As many of my stories end, it ended up costing me more than it should have.

I was in the line and it was taking everyone forever, so finally it is my turn and I get to the pump and after doing the credit card thing and inserting the pump, I sit back to realize the reason it was taking forever, the damn pump was slow as all get out! So as I sit there numbly staring at the numbers CRAWLING by, I start to realize, wow, for only half a tank I sure seem to be getting a lot in there. As I keep waiting for it to stop, some guy yells 'yo, you're overflowing'. See, I set it up on the automatice handle holder (Whatever the hell those things are called) and whatever little doohickey it is that stops it when it is full apparently was on vacation! So I overflowed and had a nice little puddle under my soaked tire. Great stuff. I wonder how much of what I paid for ended up on the damn floor. Thank god it was going slow at least.

And then I think about how the guy who finally alerted me (thank you!!) was like 3 cars behind me and noone else bothered, and you know everyone was staring wondering when their turn would come! Bastards. Anyway, lesson for the day, watch the tank, not the dollar signs! Lesson learned. Dumb me for expecting technology to be reliable.

PCOS

I have it, previously mentioned, and now I am starting meds as well as DEFINITELY having to lose weight, a friend and I are taking immediate steps, like tomorrow, to do so, and I have walked twice this week, meaning walking for its own sake and no other reason, yesterday 3 laps and today 2. Whoo hoo. Maybe some day I will actually fit into those few items I treasured enough to keep for 'someday'. Wish me luck.

Special Olympics

Last Friday, that is to say the Friday before the most recent Friday, my great Friend Theresa and I volunteered to interpret the Opening Ceremonies for the Special Olympics NC MidSummer Tournament. It was such a wonderful experience in many ways.

Professionally, it was wonderful because they actually had us set up in the proper way, with the seating in the right spot for the 'off' interpreter. One of us would interpret (on stage) while the other sat behind the speakers ready to jump in when time was up, and ready to help the other out if something was needed. Also, it was just so wonderful to be in a such a POSITIVE environment. Seeing all those happy and determined faces really makes you put things in perspective. It was such a high and we both hope to be able to work with the Special Olympics again. Yay! Theresa told me I was grinning like an idiot when it was over. I was!

Sunburn

I was at the pool this Sunday, and I had my friend spray my sunblock on, wasn't out more than 2 hours total, and I have blotchy red spots of sunburn, it is bad enough that I got sunburned at all, but it is insult to injury that it is blotchy! Ugh.

Changes

So, I am in a mood or something, because normally I am a job whore (meaning, I take any terp job that comes my way that I am appropriate for) but lately, when the agency calls me, I think, 'ugh, I don't wanna!!' and hope that they can get someone else, while letting them know that I probably can with some rescheduling. See that way they don't think I just don't wanna (which could result in less calls down the road) and shows that I am willing to go out of my way for them. Luckily, the ones I REALLY didn't want were otherwise covered. And the ones I was so-so about I covered unless they got someone else immediately. I hope I get out of this funk soon. I feel pretty much fine except for this. Finally got some good sleep last night after a couple days of pure tossing and turning! It was ugly.

Boredom

I am sooo bored. I am at a job where I am more here 'just in case' so I spend time on the computer. And I forgot my book at home cause I rushed out the door late because I didn't fall asleep well until 5 am-ish. So I am writing. And I have a very long day of stuff booked back to back until 10 pm. NOT fun stuff, work. Not that I hate my work, but I am just saying, I have to be on my toes, except obviously a bit less so at the job I am at now. But when my client needs me, I drop this and run. Not literally, the client is right next to me. :)

Old Loves

I ran into an old ex of mine, pretty heavy duty relationship back in the day. He told me that he is still in love with me. I told him I am married. I don't love him anymore, not that way, but I care about him and I feel for him that he hasn't moved on. It really doesn't make sense to me that he hasn't, it was a pretty rough relationship. I can only figure that he has idealized things in his memory and it isn't allowing him to let go. And it makes me relieved that I could move on. Whew.

Updates...

So, I had to go in this past Wednesday for further blood work....eck. I hate getting blood drawn, I have horrible veins in my arms, they can't find them so they can't stick me there, so they always have to use the back of my hands. If you haven't had this done, let me assure you that it hurts more there. And for some reason, they can never get it the first time. Ugh. I screamed like a 5 year old. But I manage to joke my way out of the office, so I don't think they hate me too much.

Anyway, they still believe that I have PCOS but the first blood test wasn't conclusive, so they are running more in depth tests. Fun for me. I am really psyched though, cause I think there may be some resolution in sight. So I should have some results by Wednesday or Thursday. Keep your fingers crossed for me...

Eh

I am too tired to bother adding to the last post. Maybe one day. Guess if I want this dream to happen I better buy some lotto tickets, eh?

Millionaire

Growing up, I said that I didn't want to be a millionaire, not that I would say 'No, thanks' if someone walked up and handed me a few million with no strings attached. But the idea of working toward a goal like that just didn't appeal to me. I just wanted to be able to have a stable, solid life, a home, and to have the ability to put my kids through college without breaking. In this time of economic instability, I have changed my mind. I want oodles of money.

The sad thing about this is that I have no plan or way to get it, other than winning the lottery. I spend oodles of time dreaming of what I would do if I were to win the lottery. Buy my parents' beach house, buy a friend a house, buy myself a big whopper of a home. Buy my mom her own home. See a theme here?

I would Gift a bunch of people in my life with things like exotic and wonderful trips (for ex, roma), and cars when needed. I would go on a crazy shopping binge, to fill up my new house. Although I wouldn't fill it up TOO much, I want a clean, uncluttered beautiful home.

I would start a business to keep up my new lifestyle, and as a safety net. I would create a department store for "Real" sized women. Size 10 and up, it would be like Lane Bryant, but bigger and much better. It would have everyday clothes, work clothes, undergarments, swimsuits, basics, glamour clothes, trendy clothes, formal wear, accessories (because big girls need different sized necklaces, bracelets and anklets too, quite often). It would be one stop shopping with a few other little niceties that I won't post here just in case I ever get to do it so that noone steals all of my ideas!

And most importantly, I would start a plan that I have to help single mothers. I would start in Raleigh with a whole apartment building. I would renovate it so that it had a floor of classrooms, a cafeteria, a gym, a laundromat and a medical office. It would almost be like its own little city. Outside we would have a bit of land, enough to have a big playground, some tennis and basketball courts, and a pool that would be able to be uncovered for inseason swimming and covered for year round.

So what I would do with this building now that I have it all set up is to allow single mothers, starting with homeless women, and then with poverty stricken and so forth, to move in, with their families. The apartments would vary in layout, and they would be somewhat small, but well laid out and comfortable. These mothers would have to train in a vocation or get a degree, with specific work intentions, at a local community college or whatever.

Their children would be supplied with basic necessities like clean clothes and such. They would be in school of course. The cafeteria would feed everyone breakfast and set up lunches for the kids to take to school, and it would feed the children below grade school level while the parents and older kids were at school. Of course we would also have high quality day care on sight for those younger kids.

Everyone would be required to contribute to the whole. Parents would not have to get outside jobs the first year (families can stay a max of 2 years, more about that later). They would have nights and weekends free. The mothers would have to teach a class once a week (anything from another language, cooking, knitting, anything that people might enjoy taking) or commit time to helping babysit other kids in the building, or time in the cafeteria. Older children will be required to do similar things. They will help babysit, help in the cafeteria and help tutor younger kids.

All school children are required to maintain at least a C average in school with incentives for higher grades (such as trips and such). Tutoring will of course be available at the home. All children must be engaged in some sort of structured activity whether it is a sport, being part of a school club that is active (meaning actually takes part in activities, not sitting around and talking for one hour a week). After 16 years old, they may take an approved job off site as long as they maintain their grades. They will get help with prepping for college and applying for scholarships and financial aid, as well as getting guidance counseling in general.

All families will be required to enter family therapy for a minimum amount of time, and then for as long as the inhouse therapist deems necessary. This is because these families will likely be coming from difficult situations where the kids and moms were likely exposed to upsetting situations and they need to get out from under all the drama.

The daily rules about living in the home would be quite strict. This would be a place for a family that is serious about changing their lives, not for people who just want a hand out. No males over 18 (that aren't relatives) would be allowed in the building except in common areas past 8 pm. The exception would be for males that came in as 17 and are still in high school. Moms are discouraged from dating if they aren't already in a relationship, but the men they do get involved with are not allowed to stay over ever because that is inappropriate. This is to keep the mothers focused on their goals as well as to keep children from being exposed to potentially negative men (when moms have a habit of choosing 'inappropriate' men it affects the kids). Moms are expected to be home every night (sleep at home, not out with men or partying). If moms need to stay somewhere for a legitimate reason they must leave contact info with the concierge.

There would be constant activities for the kids and the families to do together, movie nights, international food nights, classes, sports activities, and periodic outings, such as trips to museums, movies, theater, amusement parks, and sporting events. The cafeteria would not be open for the nights or weekends unless to cater a special event.

I mentioned a medical office. There would be a 24 hour nurse onsite, with a doctor on site weekdays and Saturdays for basic preventative care and minor issues.

We would have a concierge that I mentioned earlier, this person and their staff would be in charge of keeping track of guests registered with the residents and maintaining the use of the home vehicles. There would be a number of large vans and smaller SUVs for use on outings and for taking families to the grocery store and on errands. There would also be a few 'rental' cars onsite, owned by the home, for use when reserved by licensed drivers (moms) for family things.

My goal with all of this is to give these moms not only a workable skill, but to help them and their kids get a taste of what life can be like, and to enable them with the mental, emotional abilities to succeed in life. More to come, I am getting kicked off the computer....ahhhhh!!