2 Negatives Do Not Make a Positive

My mother was reading the obituary of a woman in town that had been very social and a hard worker.  I only knew of the woman.  I did not know her personally.  My mom started picking this woman's life apart and I was shocked at the negativity.  Was Mom jealous of this woman's life? I think the thing that topped it all was when she said that just because she had played guitar in her church did not make her a Christian and she was not in Heaven today.

I had to change the subject.  How did she KNOW if this woman was in Heaven or not?  God judges that.  I would not be making a pronouncement.  The whole diatribe of hers was aggravating.

Then today my oldest sister started complaining about  Christmas presents.  She was yapping about last year's gifts and how she had spent a lot on a present for Scott and Lisa but they didn't spend as much on her and David.  "They got me exactly what I asked for and nothing else." Oh.for.the.love...  "I can guarantee that they didn't spend as much on you as you did on them."

I could not stand it.  "Ok. They got you what you asked for.  And? I don't  care what anyone spends. I put a lot of inexpensive things on my list but they are things I need.  Even if they buy me one small thing on my list, it is one less thing I will have to buy myself. What I choose to spend on someone else is just that...MY choice.  I  am not sizing things up. It takes the joy out of it.  Be grateful!"

Then she proceeded to yap about something mom did for her, "because I would not do it well enough.  I am too stupid and incompetent."

"Oh relax! She did the same thing to me. She has control issues. She has always been that way.  It isn't personal."

Give me strength. 

Bah humbug. 

Melting Away

I have a fairly good bill of health.  The doctor said there is a TINY nodule on what's left of my thyroid.  It is a matter of waiting for it to get a point where I need to begin the fight with the doctor's to remove the thyroid in order to biopsy it.

My blood sugar level is good, my cholesterol level is good. The doctor said my diet it good...just don't do keto and stay away from red meat. He also told me that I was extremely low in D3.  He told me to take 5000 IUs each day, gel capsules.  So, I have been doing that and just recently added magnesium to that.  I had been taking potassium every morning for weeks and it seemed to help me feel somewhat better. 

I lost 3 pounds in 5 days.  I was not doing any major exercising. The only thing I have changed is no carbs after noon.  I have found if I want bread/grain carbs I can eat them but they have to be consumed before noon.  If I don't eat any of them after noon, I will lose weight. Curious...I made this discovery by accident.

An old boyfriend found me.  No..there is no relationship...beyond a friendship and I have made it perfectly clear that there is NOT going to be a relationship.  I told him that I am not interested in a relationship right now and when I am, it will not be him.  He is an ex boyfriend for a reason and we have baggage in a past relationship and I am not messing with that. Besides, I find many things about him annoying.  IF I decide I want to have someone in my life, I am not settling.  I would rather go it alone.  If he tries to push an agenda, he will be cut off.  I have not patience for putting up with someone trying to manipulate me and I have gotten good at recognizing passive-aggressive.

My daughter's bf bought me some CO2 detectors and smoke detectors for my house.  I plugged a few of the CO2 detectors in. This morning the one in the hallway started chirping at me.  I got upset.  I found it weird that the one in the kitchen did not go off and the one in the sunroom with the fireplace burning did not go off. So I moved the chirping CO2 detector to the livingroom. Same thing. Then I moved it to the closed off extra bedroom. Same thing.  So moved one of the other CO2 detector to the livingroom and nothing.  I unplugged it and noticed a compartment on the back.  I opened it and there as a 9 volt battery in there.  Apparently, the battery was low in the chirper.  So, it scared me for nothing.  ugh  Life is annoying enough.

Having the trees cut down drained my finances and now I am catching up with some things.  It is not an easy thing with the Christmas season upon me.  I am definitely going to need to pick up part-time work and pray that Ohio Connections Academy hires me for next year.   However, for now, I just need to concentrate on getting through this school year.

One More Time

I finally made a move.  I called the doctor to get a checkup. Usually if I call to make an appointment and I am a new patient, I have to wait at least a month.  But...no...I was on the books for a less than a week later.  I needed to have my thyroid checked...what is left of it.  It is swollen.  So...here I go again.

The doctor seemed to like my sense of humor.  And why do they always seem surprised to find out I don't take any medications and that my blood pressure is normal?  So, he made me call and schedule a mammogram along with an ultrasound for my thyroid.  I also am having a full panel blood workup done.  yikes.

My 2 trees in my yard were taken down over the course of these last 2 days.  $1200 for 2 trees and the stumps ground into the ground.  Now my yard looks naked.  I am now planning on planting a row of lilac trees in between my side porch and the street.  At least it will smell nice and give me a degree of privacy.  The only problem is it will obscure Lucy's  view. She LOVES to watch the joggers, bike riders, walkers, school kids and cars go by.  So...I may have to plant them off at an angle so that she still has a street view.  I will figure it out. Lucy spent the second day of the tree workers half laying under my desk while she watched them load the logs onto the trucks.

I got the fireplace in the sunroom figured out.  I did not know that once you light it, the temperature sensor tells the flame when to shut off and turn back on!  I open the door from the sunroom into the diningroom and it warms the WHOLE house.  I set the thermostat down for the furnace.  Lucy doesn't want to come in at the end of the day when I shut off the fireplace and want to close the door. The logs are missing because my mom broke them when she picked them up.

I got my rug laid down in my area of the sunroom that is my office.  It makes it look so much more like my office space.

I am killing it with the IEPs I am writing. They are buttoned down!  I am getting my job under control..finally.  I feel like I am getting somewhere.

The next thing I have left is to get the cataracts off my left eye.

Bethany and Jordan are coming to visit next weekend.  They are coming after she gets off work Thursday night.  I am taking Friday off of work. They awarded the Intervention Specialists a $200 bonus and an extra paid day off whenever we want.  So, I am taking mine.

Jordan decided to text with me the other night.  He says that his online trading has slowed down for a bit.  He is going to work for FedEx over the holidays just so he can pay the rent without dipping into his money.  He is saving up to buy a house with cash.  Must be nice.  He is smart.  He is also studying to how to raise gourmet mushrooms.  He sent me pictures of the petri dishes he has that he is trying to grow samples in.  The have some kind of tree stuff in them that the fungus needs to grow.  He is different.  ha ha!  And Bethany will soon be taking her Pharmacy Tech National Cert test.

I think Jordan will be looking around to see if he is interested in them moving up this way next spring or summer.  He, Bethany, Frodo the cat, Pippin the cat and Arwyn the bearded dragon.   And the fungus.

The sad part about the last few weeks:  my cousin Tom succumbed to pancreatic cancer...less than 2 months after he found out he had it.  He was a wonderful, fun, big hearted guy. He was smiling until the end.