This Was Suppose To Start Sooner

So I declared that effective March 1st I was going to really concentrate on getting my shit together.  I restarted tracking my expenses in order to effectively budget my money.  I also need to recommit to being healthier too.  Notice how one of these is 'I've restarted' and the other is 'I need'...  Opps!

The last time I blogged I spoke of the fact that so much of my life was in limbo.  Well, within 24 hours or so 2 of the areas of my life was no longer in the limbo it was at the time I blogged.  The move at work is done for the most part and should be finished as of now.  I've sort of settled my office...just need to get some work done and move a few cabinets, but I have to wait to get to that this coming week, because we all know I'm not moving those cabinets by myself!  Ha!

In other news, I did not get approved high enough for a mortgage to get a house I would be happy with.  I sort of expected this thanks to all of those student loans I'm hauling around on my credit reports.  I could get a house, but not something that is going to make me happy so I've decided to wait.  There was some discussion between my aunt and I about me renting a house, because this place is just too small for the munchkin and I and her moving in here still.  As of yesterday that decision was tabled.  Instead my auntie and I are going to rent a storage unit together so I feel less stuffed into this place and since she is going from a 4 bedroom home to a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment, she will need it too.  And we are going to paint my house to make it feel fresh for me and make it easier to stay here in the coming months as I continue to work on getting my debt further under control (see the tracking of expenses & budgeting discussed earlier!), so I can buy a house in the future...one that I'll be happy with!

We are only early into March and I feel like this is going to be a really good month for me.  So even though I was suppose to be blogging about getting my shit together effective March 1 on March 1 it is better late than never!!

There Is No Other Option Left

Yes, in one week my life and everything I was holding high fell and shattered on the cement floor! I take complete and full responsibility for that fall and the following shattering. I had a strong run for a few weeks and even had a very strong weekend last week, but this week everything fell apart. I made it to the gym on Monday and then apparently everything went downhill starting Tuesday. This was the same day where I had to have extensive repairs made in my home, which were totally not expected. This is also the same day where for over 4 hours I had a bunch of people in my house and I also knew I had to take my munchkin to karate since my aunt's work schedule was screwed up that day. It was also the same day that I spent dreaming of Red Lobster and was rudely denied due to an electrical problem.

Once I had experienced that one bad day it just kept repeating itself every other day this week or so it seemed. Wednesday was the day of the washer problems. I had hoped this would be fixed by the end of the afternoon, but yet again...a denial. I discovered that I would have to wait another week to get that taken care of too. Not what I had planned at all.

The biggest problems I seemed to be facing this week was I was definitely feeling exhausted and was still dreaming about that Red Lobster dinner that I was denied Tuesday. Yesterday I just couldn't seem to get anything moving over here. I felt dead to the world. I so could have laid down and took a really long nap, but I didn't. Instead I made plans to finally get my Red Lobster dinner with the munchkin and my aunt after his karate class so I could stop dreaming about my Sunset Passion Colada and my coconut shrimp! Of course we were in the midst of a little snow storm (1-2"s). I was exhausted before we made it to dinner, so after my two drinks I was totally ready for the bed.

The munchkin and I were in the bed by 9pm last night...I was stuffed and very sleepy with the perfect amount of frozen alcohol mixed in. This all led me to get up very early this morning (hello 5:15am!) and realize that even though I apparently took this past week off I have to get my life back in order or else in just over 3 weeks I will be in some serious trouble and I won't be able to bail myself out of that mess. This is a requirement for me this week. No more screwing around. It is just me, my list and BarBri...we will be one this week and I will get back on that wagon of having my life together. No if's, and's, or but's about it! No more excuses!!!

My Friday To-Do List:

1. Go & see my guy

2. Write out my shopping list

3. Go shopping

4. Pick up the house

5. Study, study, study!!!!!

6. Do laundry

7. Workout

8. Get my allergy shot

9. Write my guy

10. Pick up our pictures

11. Get re-motivated

12. Get re-focused for next week

13. Plan out our week

14. Get re-committed to my healthy living

15. Get re-organized

16. Get my shit back together

It All Started With A Little Blue Puddle

This all started Saturday night after my wonderful bubble bath and right before I went to bed when I noticed a little puddle of blue under the back of my toilet. I discovered that the tank on my toilet was leaking. It was 1:30am Saturday night. Nothing I could do about it and no one to call to help. And it wasn't serious enough Sunday to call my plumber. Um, hello? Paying a plumber on a Sunday? No thank you!

Monday morning I called my other aunt and then my uncle because it wasn't like I was able to afford even a phone call to anyone, because I couldn't pay them when they came out. While talking to them I also mentioned that my washer was having serious issues too. It was making a horrible noise going into the spin cycle and wasn't spinning all the water out and I would have to toss in an extra spin before putting them in the dryer. My wonderful uncle told me to make the necessary calls and they would take care of it. I was relieved...

In between getting this all together Monday morning I put some sausage and sauerkraut over. I was so hungry for it I couldn't wait all day for dinner to roll around. I hit the gym that afternoon and waited and waited and waited for my aunt and munchkin to get here so we could eat! I weighed out my sausage, measured my sauerkraut and sat down to finally eat. Even though I had cooked it all day, it wasn't done enough. Dinner failure. I cooked it again the rest of the night and resorted back to my chips & dips again for dinner. When it was finally done I tried it again. No go! There was no taste. How did I mess up a dish that I've made a hundred plus times? Needless to say I was not happy.

Off to bed I went, disappointed in my dinner, but I also knew I had to be up early for repair guys #1 who were scheduled to be here at 8:00am Tuesday morning. Fast forward to the following morning...repair guys quickly fix my toilet (the tank was lose...who knew that could happen...), so I figure while they are here and since I kept the cost so low I mentioned that it appeared my kitchen faucet had started to leak where the nozzle attached. After a quick look they discover it is more than a little leak...it was also leaking under the sink way in the back too. Of course that wasn't fixable, it had to be replaced. Out of the blue Mr. Fix-It asked me when was the last time I had checked my hot water tank...um, if it had ever been "checked" it would have been before my guy and I split up in '04. So he offers to check it and of course, thank God he did, because it was leaking. God, help me...

So a quote of $1,200 later to replace both my kitchen faucet and hot water tank I figured my day was pretty well shot! Of course this was normally bad all in of itself, but when you also figure that not only did I have to clear out from under my skin so they could replace my faucet I also had to clear out around my back door (a/k/a my laundry and pantry room) and my closet. You must remember...I live in a trailer so every room is small and I have everything packed in tight!! You may wonder why I would have to clear out around my back door, so the guys could drain my hot water tank. You then may ask what my bedroom closet has to do with this mess...well, that's because my hot water tank is impaneled inside my bedroom closet. Convenient, huh?

So four hours and several dollars later, I had the pleasure of putting my kitchen, laundry room, and bedroom back together. I was so excited I could barely contain myself... I did use the opportunity to clean out all of the bakeware I had stuffed under the sink. Seriously, do I need 9 glass baking dishes, 5 of which are the size?! Or 12 cookie sheets?! I didn't think so either. By the time I finished putting everything back together, which of course included sweeping and mopping part of my kitchen floor and my little pantry plus vacuuming my bedroom closet and the surrounding area, it was time to get the munchkin because I had to take him to karate.

Throughout the day I knew I had to take the munchkin to karate and after we would go to dinner with my aunt and every time something went wrong or became much messier than anticipated I just kept telling myself that I could handle it, because tonight I was going to partake in a tall Sunset Passion Colada or two while enjoying Parrot Isle Jumbo Coconut Shrimp at Red Lobster, which I've been craving for a few weeks. Knowing this helped me get through everything yesterday. After karate we headed to Red Lobster just to see that the restaurant was all dark with 3 utility vans outside and a note on the door explaining they were closed due to electrical problems.

I couldn't win yesterday... We ended up going to the China Buffet in town, which was yummy, but since I was so set on my Red Lobster meal nothing was satisfying to me. Of course this caused me to eat more than I should have. And today? Well, now I just sit here waiting for the Sear's Repair Guy to get here to look at that racket machine...opps, I meant washing machine! He should be here between 1pm & 5pm. Of course that means closer to 5pm than 1pm, especially since it is already 2pm...

Consider it done: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16

Just getting started: 17, 18

Needs attention: 10, 11

Family, Finances & Emotions~~Not Always A Pretty Picture

I've been pretty emotional this weekend. It started last night when I was driving home from seeing my guy. I picked up a voice mail from my friend, Captain, and I felt teary eyed listening to it. She didn't say anything in particular in the voice mail, but it hit me just right.

This morning I wanted to go to the local hardware store, because I'm having plumbing issues. I have two facets leaking and a toilet that won't quit running. Part of me thought I would put them off till my guy got out in December, but now that that isn't happening I decided to attempt to tackle these on my own. So I took the tips of the facets off and when I couldn't remove the flapper (yes, that is a technical term) I took a picture of it and off I went. Well, the guys couldn't help me and told me that I would have to take the facets apart and take a piece of of them and bring those in and I would have to remove the flapper and bring it in too. Having struck out I left the store and as I was driving to the grocery store I started thinking of my Papa. He would so have helped me and he would be ashamed of the "men" in my family who won't step up and help me with this.

Feeling dejected, thinking of my Papa and missing him I became teary eyed, again. I spent the rest of the day emotional. I have declared the men in my family as weak and self-centered. These are the things that make me even sadder over the fact that my guy isn't here to help right now, because the crap would have been fixed in a flash!! So after feeling down and pissed off I did what I do so often...I ate my feelings! I swung by Arby's and picked up lunch and came home. I then proceeded to call the plumber I've used in the past. He will be here Monday at 8am to take a look at all of the things I need help with and give me a quote. Of course now I have to pay for someone to come in my home and do what my dad, my uncle & my bro could do. So this got me to thinking about my finances...

My Finances...

Obviously I have a spending problem. My outgoing totals always exceed my incoming totals. I've been tracking my expenses since the beginning of the year. I've gotten rid of three of my expenses so far this year by paying off two credit cards (they were uber small though) and getting rid of my home phone. I haven't put any additional charges on my other two credit cards and actually the last few months I've been paying the amount that would have them paid off in 3 years. I also reduced my monthly car insurance by $19.47. I'm happy with the little progress I've been making.

Of course there are some upcoming bumps in my financial road, which are totally freaking me out!! I have to figure out to live without student loans supplementing my monthly "income" plus pay for PMBR, Bar/Bri & the fees associated with taking the bar in addition to the fact that I will have no income for at least two months while studying for the bar. On top of all of this, I'm also reducing my monthly income by reducing my hours worked by 8 a week in order to do my externship.

Then I started to think...so when I'm an attorney and they ask for my help should I not help and make them hire another attorney like I am having to do with my home repairs?!?

Consider it done: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 18

Just getting started: 4, 7, 12, 19, 20

Needs attention: 10, 11, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

The Things You Hear In The Silence

Well, we remain sans television in j'lynn's world and apparently that isn't going over with with the munchkin or the aunt as I was advised tonight that should I need them tomorrow before his bedtime they will be at her house! LOL I made 2 calls and left 2 messages for the person in charge of our park rules...Since it is almost midnight I assume she isn't calling me back today. Guess tomorrow she will be subject to my hourly calling, because this is f'g crazy!!

I have discovered some things in the silence tonight though...

~People like to walk mysteriously close to my house when traveling through the property next to us.

~I am not the only person totally loving the new Eminem CD as someone is also playing it in their car every time they drive by.

~I apparently have the hearing of a dog, because every so often I hear a pitch squeal.

~My neighbor's are assholes shooting off fireworks just minutes before midnight on a Tuesday night & they are liable to get cut if they don't knock that stupid shit off!!!!

~The fan in my master bedroom either has a ball bearing out or it is about to die.

~I still can't seem to get my butt to bed at a decent time or get up on time either...

Consider it done: 1, 2, 3, 4*, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22

Just getting started: 8, 9, 23, 24

Needs attention: 13

*~~No cleaning lady till Friday, but since I got the house picked up I've moved this to the accomplished list. :)

Doing a little cleaning up

While I waited this morning for the new swing set to be delivered and put up, which is currently happening now, I decided to do a little cleaning up on my blog! Yes, I am lacking motivation to start all of my homework! LOL So I just whittled my labels list down from 94 to 61.

I'm not nearly as creative as my counter-parts with my blog labels (Dani!) and I don't even think anyone uses them except me, but every so often I feel like my labels have gotten out of control. And by looking at the original number I am correct in my assessment! So I did some combining of labels and reclassification. I also did some deleting too! If I've only used a label once I reevaluate if it truly deserves a label (Being spoiled isn't always bad) or if it doesn't (fish tacos). And viola...I get down to just 61 labels!

Yes, I know...I'm just putting off the inevitable and procrastinating doing my homework, but then I really couldn't say I truly lack motivation for things now could I? ;)

Wow...what a difference

I remember on my way in to the office this morning I thought of a great post for today's entry. It was something that happened to me or around me and darn it to all...I can't remember what it was! Ugh...I hate it when that happens. I'll remember later I'm sure of it and as soon as I do I will let you know. Anywho, a few family phone calls later in the morning gave me another great entry, so here goes...

In my battle against my continuing illness I thought maybe something in my house was making me sick or vulnerable to illnesses or producing horrible, horrible allergies, so last week after going back to the doctor a/k/a Urgent Care (yes, I seem to visit Urgent Care more frequently than my doctor, but the schedule is much more applicable to my life...if only my PCP would stay open till 10pm and wouldn't have a 4 hour wait then I might see him more often!) and being put back on antibiotics for a "nasty" sinus infection and tonsillitas I decided it was time to take some household action.

I started by stripping my bed and spraying it with lysol. Then I moved on to my humidifier and cleaned that all up and changed filters. Then last, but certainly not least, I called and scheduled an appointment for someone to come out and service my furnace and central air unit, which is occurring today.

I had my uncle come over and sit to wait for the service people, which then lead to him calling me and asking me about a lock on an electrical box outside. Of course I had no clue what he was talking about. I then proceeded to call my aunt, who then spoke to my mother and called me back about this mystery lock. The story that finally came to me was when I kicked my man out back in 2004 I feared "someone" would do something to my electrical box and I took the lock off my shed and put it on this outside electrical box and put a new lock on my shed to keep my man out of my stuff! Of course what this really means is my mom and dad took the lock from the shed and put it on this electrical box to prevent my man coming and messing with my electrical stuff and to keep him out of the shed too.

Do you see all of the holes to this story? I do!! First of all, "I" did not do any of this. I may have been a consulted party, but trust me in the fog of filing for divorce and kicking my man to the curb and losing my step-son in the process I have no memory what-so-ever about a lock being inter-changed. Second...by taking a lock that my man had a key to and putting it on the electrical box really doesn't stop any potential horse-play does it? I'm thinking he would likely have recognized the lock and knew he had a key for it. It just does not come off as such a deterrent to me. Lastly, maybe someone should have marked this information somewhere or labeled a key, because I now suspect that I no longer have a key for this lock.

Luckily Mr. Fix-It can get his job done without really entering that electrical box...because the talk of bolt cutters and strange men at my house was going to send off all sorts of other alarms at my house today...alarms I really don't want to deal with today.

Of course I'm not sure if I would hear all of these alarms, since as of yesterday I can no longer hear out of my left ear. :( Back to Urgent Care I went last night clearly frustrated with the fact that I can't seem to get better, especially since the last few weeks I had thought "this" was simply allergies. I told the doctor that I traded a sore throat for a blocked ear and everything else remained the same and that my frustration level is really high right now. He proceeded to proscribe me a different, much stronger antibiotic, which I find funny because it is what he originally proscribed last week that he ended up canceling when the pharmacist advised my co-pay was going to be $40. (All of this was done without my knowledge, of course. And I do understand his position when he explained last night that he made a judgment call, because so many of the people that come in to see him really can't afford that co-pay.) I told him I didn't care the cost...just give me something that was really going to work.

Wow...what a difference 2 pills have made! I took this new antibiotic with the newly proscribed heavy-duty decongestent when I got home last night and when I got up this morning I was like a new person! Holy smokes!! My ear remains blocked and I'm certainly not over my sickness as I am "really, really sick" according to the doctor last night; however, I feel like things have turned a corner. I took my morning decongestent before I left for work this morning and can't wait to get home to take a second dose of my antibiotic, so hopefully tomorrow I will feel even better!

Of course the munchkin woke up hacking this morning, which isn't surprising since mommy has been sick, Chica and her girls have been sick and he is with all of us everyday. So he will be seeing his doctor at 4:30pm today...

Moments on Hump Day

Well, it is hump day again. Usually I'm a lot peppier for hump day, but not this week. On top of the original "moment" that I was originally suffering from (back over a month ago), which I truly believe I never got over, I'm now having down moments for various reasons. I am primarily down because of all of the family issues and more specifically because of my guy. I'm working on pulling myself out of this funk, but it is never easy...

In an effort to withdraw myself from this funk I'm working on my original to-do list. I accomplished a few of those things Monday (#6, #7, #8, & #9). Well, since a few of those weren't actually solved and crossed off I followed up on them yesterday. I called another exterminator to confirm the prior story and am waiting for a call back. I have also began to look for another fix it guy because my fix-it guy isn't returning my calls. Funny thing is that last night when we were getting ready to go to our Cinco de Mayo dinner someone was handing out flyers about handy-man services. Is this a sign? I guess I should try them, huh? Maybe they can solve my bee problem too.

Well yesterday I accomplished #1 and am working on #2 right now, except I'm skipping the folding and putting it away for now and if it doesn't get done by Friday I'll work on it then. I also went through my papers, but haven't "done" anything with them yet, but I weeded out the garbage so instead of several piles of papers, I'm down to an approximate 7" stack of papers to deal with...making progress y'all!

I know I will eventually pull out of my funk and a special letter in my mailbox would help me immensely! Also finishing my exams will help loads too! I have my Crim Sentencing final tonight @ 6pm and then I HAVE to take my Crim Pro before 11:59pm Thursday. I'm so not prepared, but it is my own fault. Needless to say, good thing I usually respond best under pressure. I'm just hoping that this time is like the others...

Of course the fact that my allergies are trying to smoother me with post-nasal drip (sorry for the nasty part here!) is not helping. It gets worse the later it gets...I'll be glad when the little white fuzzies and flowers stop flying around. :(

Oh yeah...I went through almost all of my emails last night too! I did have over 40 emails and now I'm down to 2 to respond to...that I'm ultra proud of! Yay Me!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

Happy May 5th! I love today. I have always wanted to celebrate in the heart of the gatherings each year, but since I am almost always in the midst of exams it never happens, but that first year after I'm all done with school and the bar...watch out Cinco de Mayo, here I come!! LOL

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and has the chance to enjoy some chips & salsa and a couple margaritas or cervazas! Too bad I didn't plan ahead and plan a night of treats for the family! Maybe next year.

Munchkin had his first soccer game last night...they lost. :( He was also warned by the coach that if he couldn't get it together he would be sat out for the rest of the game. :( It didn't come down to that, but he gets so damn excited!! And it is like talking to a wall sometimes...

I was also able to get some of my "to do" list done...okay, I called the fix it guy (#6) and left another voice mail, picked up my glasses (#7) and have decided I won't be returning there for my glasses next time, mailed out some documents (#9), and called the exterminator (#8) who told me they won't be coming out because there is a chance that it isn't an active beehive. I will be calling more exterminators today to see if this is a correct response or if the person I spoke to just didn't want to do his job. Still trying to work on #1-5, #10 and #11... Since I'm running out of time I need to get my ass in gear, huh?

Lacking Motivation

Well, with everything going on in life I'm lacking some serious motivation and I need to change that. I swear I think I could sleep for days and days and I'm watching re-runs of NCIS...I think I'm addicted. I think I need semesters to end approximately 2 weeks earlier than they do!

I have a ton of ist to do...just no desire to do any of it. I'm still working on last week's list and added some more:

1. Pick up the house
2. Do laundry (& since I can only do it during the day now~my light switch is not working and I have to call the fix-it guy again this week to come and take care of that problem~I need to get a jump on it!)
   
3. Go through my papers and bills and stuff like that for the week.
4. Get organized for finals
5. & most importantly, get studying for finals!!
6. Call the fix-it guy to work on that damn light switch
7. Pick up my glasses from being repaired, again
8. Call the exterminator for my beehive under my house
9. Mail some documents out tomorrow
10. Get back on WWs....I'm having trouble there too.
11. Take my Crim Pro exam

I'm hoping I go to sleep tonight and wake up totally motivated!