Karma

Although I'm not a religious person, I've always believed in the principle of karma--also known as that old biblical proverb about reaping what you sow. I wanted to share with you two  amazing examples of karma that have happened to me just this week.

First, I must tell you all that money has been tight this month at my house. Some of Gregg's aquarium clients were not open over Christmas (the schools, mainly) and so income from those places has been interrupted this month. Then I had to have oral surgery at the beginning of the month, and I had to cover $500 of that up front before my insurance kicked in to pay the rest. In an effort to not dip into our savings account, I've had to watch my spending very closely.

On Monday, Ginger and George's veterinarian posted a sad story on Facebook about a very sick little dog whose owner is elderly and cannot afford the treatment for him. They asked for help covering the cost of the treatment, and even though I only felt comfortable donating $25 under the circumstances, I did it with the thought that every little bit helps. The very next morning, a check arrived in our mailbox from one of Gregg's clients for $250....ten times what I had given!

Then yesterday while at work I got a desperate text from my friend Ronnie who moved to New York about 10 years ago. He's had a terrible run of luck lately. Right before Christmas, he lost his job, and then on New Year's Eve his boyfriend broke up with him and kicked him out of their apartment. He called me on New Year's Day, first thing in the morning, sobbing. All I could do was listen and try to be encouraging. He was temporarily sleeping on a friend's sofa and trying to figure out what to do next. I was so sad for him.

When he texted me yesterday, he said he only had literally $.76 to his name, and asked me if I could please deposit $20 or so into his bank account so he could get something to eat. I was horrified, and told him I would run by his bank's local branch after work and do it. Instead of $20, I deposited $50 for him and told him that I wished I could have done more. He was so thankful, and it made me feel good to help even though $50 isn't all that much when someone is flat broke.

When I got home, there was another check in the mail from one of Gregg's clients.....for $500. Can you believe that?! That's twice this week that I gave money I could hardly afford, and got exactly 10 times the amount back immediately.

Amazing!

Willpower (and the lack thereof)

I hate dieting. Not that I'm exactly "on a diet" so much as trying to make some permanent lifestyle changes to lose weight and to get healthier. And I hate it. Hate it. I'm trying to cut out excess sugar and junk food carbs, and it's harder than I thought. I smelled cookies baking in our café at work yesterday and could have wept. Today an author who did a book signing with us on Saturday brought in a dozen doughnuts as a thank you gift and I wanted one so bad. There were chocolate doughnuts with creamy chocolate icing, and caramel iced doughnuts with tiny sugar heart-shaped sprinkles on top, and custard filled doughnuts....I didn't eat one, but instead of feeling proud of myself for abstaining, I just felt....resentful. Because for all the sacrifices I've made over the last couple of weeks, no sweets or soda or buttery croissants, drinking loads of water, and eating salads and baked sweet potatoes and lean protein, I haven't lost any weight yet. None. Nada.  And then I came home from work today and wanted nothing more after a hard day than to have a glass (or three) of wine, but that's off limits, too. I did finally decide to treat myself to a single beer, and I'm drinking it as I type this, and it's so delicious. I know I'll want a second one, but I need to stick to the one. But a tiny part of me keeps thinking "what's the point?" because I lose weight sooooo slowly and gain it so easily unless I police every bite that goes in my mouth. It's just not fair!

Somebody call the waaaambulance! Jennifer's feeling sorry for herself today!

But in all seriousness....how do you keep your willpower strong in the face of mediocre results and lots of temptations?

In a desperate effort to motivate myself to keep on going, I bought a giant pack of multi-colored star stickers yesterday for adding to my wall calendar each day to track my accomplishments. On a day when I eat healthy, wholesome foods all day I get a gold star. When I drink enough water, a blue star. When I surpass my 10,000 step per day target, a red one. Etc. etc. I thought adding all those stars for this week would make me feel good, but honestly, I just feel kind of silly. What normal adult uses star stickers for a reward? A caramel iced doughnut with heart sprinkles might make me happier. At least for a few minutes, before the guilt sets in. Sigh.

With all that being said, this lunch WAS actually yummy as well as healthy!

Something pretty to offset all the ugliness....

Camellias I picked in my back yard the other day.

Women's March on Washington

Several buses from our area have just arrived in DC for the #WomensMarchOnWashington and how I wish I could have joined them! Two ladies from my book club went to represent us on one of the (three!) buses that were chartered from our area, and I have several other friends from all around the country that are making the trip, too.  My husband had to have a colonoscopy yesterday, and I didn't want to make any travel plans for this weekend when he had a medical procedure pending, but I'm with the marchers in spirit. And I'm so proud of them!

Here are some of the Florence, SC marchers en route to DC at sunrise this morning.

Representing the women of the Pee Dee area of South Carolina

And here's just one small example of why resistance to the Trump administration is so vitally important for women. Forgive me for putting something so despicable and disgusting on my blog, but the world needs to know what kind of man Trump is and what his values look like:

"I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldn’t get there. And she was married. Then all of a sudden I see her, she’s now got the big phony tits and everything. She’s totally changed her look......

I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.......

.....Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything." -President Donald Trump

He was caught on tape (you can listen to the audio if you're so inclined) saying these words after he was married to his current wife, who was pregnant at the time. That's how much respect our new president has for women.

Thank you, Mr. President

Today is a sad day for me and for our country. How I'm going to miss President Obama and his beautiful family! He's a truly great man and has been a credit to our country. I'm proud to have voted for him (twice) and I don't think we shall ever see his like again.

Here is an open letter to the American people he released today. It made me cry.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Creepy?

Continuing on the theme of weird things I've seen in public recently, take a look at this.

Those signs were at either end of the lawn in front of a neighbor's house, by the side of the road. We were out walking the dogs last night and spotted them.  Luckily, Gregg always carries a flashlight after dark and so I was able to quickly snap a couple of pictures to share with you.

I've never seen anything like this. The second sign is hard to read, but says, "Thank you, Ideal Funeral Parlor".....and, in addition the bizarre signs, there's an outdoor lamp post by the front door of the house that has a newly installed red bulb. The whole yard is bathed in an eerie glow.

We both thought the whole thing was weird and more than a little creepy. The pictures don't do the creep factor justice, to be honest. It looked like something more appropriate to Halloween than a funeral. Or is that just me?

I Guess It's Cheaper Than a New Paint Job

Spotted in the parking lot at work today.....

My favorite is "In dog beers I've only had one".

Crap morning

It's been quite the morning at my house.

It started off with me waking up from terrible, terrible nightmares. I think they were probably the result of needing to take a pain pill right before bed last night. I almost never have bad dreams so I think that was probably the trigger. I woke up shaken and depressed a couple of hours before I needed to actually get up for work, so I had something to drink, read a book for a few minutes, and then went back to sleep....

....and was awakened a few minutes later by my husband who had just had a frantic phone call from one of his aquarium clients, a nursing home 30 miles away, telling him that the 120 gallon tank in their lobby had water leaking all over the floor. Some old maintenance guy got on the phone, yelling that "the floor is probably ruined!!!" and "get your ass over here and do something!" Gregg took issue with the guy's tone and disrespectful attitude, and the conversation quickly escalated into an argument that ended when the guy actually threatened Gregg with bodily harm. Can you believe that?!

Gregg hung up on him and immediately called the facility manager and told her what had happened. She was suitably horrified by the situation and promised to deal with it. But still....physically threatened by a stranger over the phone at 7am is a first in this house!

Then there was the real issue of the tank losing water (maybe ruining the lobby floor, it's a 120 gallon tank, remember) and no one there having a clue what to look for.  And to make things even more fun, Gregg was due to be at his regular job at the pet store at 9am. Thursday is his live animal delivery day, which means that approximately $3000 worth of live fish were sitting in boxes at the store waiting on him. Dilemma! He was pacing the floor, really stressing out, trying to figure out what to do about all the chaos. He was almost frantic.

Luckily another (sane) maintenance guy from the nursing home called a few minutes later and had taken the initiative (bless him!) to check out the equipment, and it appears that a valve had somehow come loose underneath the tank. He was able to stop the flow of water temporarily. So Gregg decided to go to the store first, cut the new fish loose as quickly as possible, and then rush to the nursing home in a couple of hours to repair the faulty valve. He's hoping the lobby floor isn't ruined....AND that there's not some old janitor dude looking for him to kick his ass!

As for me, after waking up from nightmares, and then watching my husband stressing out over a crazy situation, I got physically ill. I've been taking antibiotics for my mouth, and they've got my stomach feeling all weird anyway. I threw up and I still feel nauseous. So I called in sick to work. I hated to do that. Also, I'm out of paid time off  (my anniversary date is in two weeks, and I'll get a whole year's worth of PTO then, how's that for timing?!) and I've already taken an extra day this week for the oral surgery. My paycheck next week is going to be pathetic! But when you're sick, you're sick. I can't very well go in throwing up. And with the way this day is going, I admit I'm a bit scared to so much as step outdoors!