It is Time!

Yikes!!! This was me this morning stepping on my scale! I have been very neglectful in my weight loss maintenance. So…I am back on the ball. I have no junk food in my house. Much to my chagrin.

I have been working on the list that was in my last post. I love lists. I must have at least 3 different “to-do” lists around my house right now as I write. Everyday has a to-do list and most days have more than one. It just depends on where I am and what I am doing when something pops into my head that I should do. Do I get everything done? Unfortunately, no. Yesterday I started working on my second bedroom. This room used to be a bedroom but recently has become a storage unit. I had gotten to the point that I would open the door and just close it as it was too overwhelming. Yesterday I took a deep breath and dove in. What a disaster! I cleaned out the dresser drawers, the closet, and everything that had been thrown on the floor. I haven’t gotten to everything on the bed yet. And a lot of the stuff on the floor ended up on the bed! I threw out a lot of stuff but for some reason it looks like I haven’t done very much in there. hmmm…..

I have been having some health issues. Well, I always have health issues! But I went in for some blood work and it showed my liver function tests were high. They redid them. Still high. Tested me for all hepatitis, mono, and HIV (which made me laugh since I am just so high-risk! That is sarcasm.) All of them negative. Redid the test again. Still high… The numbers went down a little but one went up. Sigh. On Friday I had it done again and I am waiting for the results to be posted. Tomorrow morning I am having nerve testing done for my right arm. It has been hurting like there is no tomorrow. I had physical therapy for the first time (in many years) and I have been doing the arm stretches…and what a difference! Last night, no pain. They think it is like carpal tunnel, but in the elbow. From what? From using the computer! Will it get me to stop? Oh, no! This morning it hurts a little, but I will keep on doing the stretches. And if my blood work keeps coming back weird, I will have to see my gastroenterologist. They will have to look at my liver. Oh, don’t laugh at this too hard…I had an intestinal ultrasound so they could look around. It was inconclusive as part of my liver and my pancreas were “obscured by unfortunately placed intestinal gas”! First of all, I didn’t know that gas could obscure organs in an ultrasound, but evidently, it can. Second, I didn’t feel gassy! So there was nothing I could do. I know, TMI (too much information).

I have decided to stay with my TOPS group, basically because they are my TOPS group. I can’t use them as my only social outlet, so I am going to do more meetup events. I have signed up for some–I am going to go to a country western bar and take free country western dance classes (on my bucket list). I have also signed up to volunteer at the Hot Sauce Festival in Austin next weekend. Yes, there is a Hot Sauce Festival. I hate spicy stuff, so I certainly won’t be taste-testing. I’m excited because we will get a free teeshirt. That is enough for me to sign up for anything! I might only wear it once, but I will get a free teeshirt.

I am tired of being broke all the time. I keep thinking that I am 51 years old (52 next month) and I shouldn’t have to be so incredibly broke all the time. What age has to do with it, I don’t know. I am on Social Security Disability. I probably signed something when I first went on it in 1993 that said “I promise to be broke for as long as I am on disability” (which for me, will be until I am 62 and it reverts to regular Social Security). I am actually looking forward to turning 55–I will be eligible to get into federally-funded senior apartment complexes. Some have little cottages (here in Texas they are called “casitas”) Maybe they are called casitas in other states as well, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it is only in Texas. These “casitas” are so cute. These complexes are not slums, even though they are federally-funded. As much as I love my house, I am ready to not have to mow the lawn, etc. Anyway, because I am tired of being so broke all the time, I have scheduled an appointment with CCCS (Consumer Credit Counseling Services) to have them look over my budget and to figure out what to do with my car. I owe more than it is worth, but I can’t afford the payments. I had already refinanced, which is the main reason I owe more than what it is worth. I love my car–an apple green Hyundai Accent. But I need a car that I can afford. I was able to afford it when I first bought it. It was tight for my budget, but I was earning more with part-time work than I am able to now. So I am trying to figure out what to do.

I was going to throw out my old lava lamp–I think I got it back in the 1980s as a Christmas present. I thought it was broken, but decided to plug it in and see what it did. Do you know that thing is still working? It survived a move to Texas from Maryland and has just sat there being a strange decorative item for a lot of years. I thought my cats would be enthused by the globs floating up and down, but they are not impressed. They are not dumb. They know it isn’t something they can eat if they could somehow get to it.

DirecTV is getting a call from me today. I love DirecTV and have been “a loyal customer since 2005”. That is what they thank me for whenever I call. Well, put your money where your mouth is, DirecTV!!! I have a teeny little package–the Family Package–that I pay not-very-much for compared to their other plans. I downsized my plan in order to save money. The new customers who are now signing up are getting a huge plan with a lot of channels, the NFL Sunday Ticket (!!!! I could watch Washington Redskins games instead of the icky Dallas Cowboys !!!) (not meaning to offend any Dallas Cowboys fans here!) and they get the Genie–where you can watch tv in all the rooms of your house and record a bunch of shows at one time. Last time I called, they offered the Genie to me for a mere $200 or $299 or something like that. Oh sure, sign me up. (Refer back to my paragraph on being broke all the time if you don’t understand my bitter sarcasm there!) ha ha I also want to speak with them about DogTv. Really???? I have 2 cats. I don’t get Animal Planet with my measly little package, but they give me DogTv??? Why???? If they are going to give me DogTv, they should add Animal Planet onto the package as well for us other animal lovers. Don’t get me wrong–I love dogs. I expect that I will end up getting a service dog at some point in my life since I live alone. I love animals. I cry during Dances With Wolves (I should say, I sob) when the animals all get killed. I don’t when the people die, but I do when the animals die. I don’t know what that means… But, come on DirecTV…DogTv?????? I want Animal Planet (which you might think would be included in a Family Package plan!) Instead they include Discovery Investigation (I think that is the name). So they include a channel with murders, adultery, more murders, etc. in a package that is geared toward the religious channels. But not Animal Planet. Does anybody else see the problem with this? Or am I just bitter that I don’t get Animal Planet but I get DogTv? So, DirecTV is getting a call from me today. My problem is (and yes, I do have a problem as always…) when I got my new tv after my old one died, I got a HD tv. So I had to start a new contract for 2 years. It is up in April, 2014. But I have no leverage to get more from them (I can’t threaten that I will leave). If you have the leverage, and you threaten, and they do nothing? Go through with cancelling your service. Because you will get a phone call within days from them offering all sorts of things in order to get your service back (and they do!) Sometimes you don’t even have to get that far–just threatening will get them to give you anything you want! But I am going to try anyway. I won’t get anything, I’m sure–except maybe some free movie channels for 3 months or something, but I don’t watch them because they don’t show anything good or anything new!! But I am going to put up a good fight anyway. I’ll go down trying… They may start saying “Thank you for being a crappy customer since 2005”! ha ha  I will post and let you know how it goes. It won’t be good. Promise.

Sigh. I am looking at the clock and know that I have to get up, get into some shorts and a teeshirt (after next weekend it might be my free Hot Sauce Festival teeshirt!) and start working on the 2nd bedroom. I was going to mow, but am putting that off. I have some time during the week that I can do that. Why do it today when I can put it off?

DirecTV better be on the lookout….I’m coming….I just bet they are shaking in their boots! ha ha

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