It's Been a Week!

So much going on!

I was robbed in November. A lady I'd hired to do some cleaning took some jewelery. I didn't discover the theft until December, and then only partially. It was January before I realized how many pieces had been taken. I hemmed and hawed about it for about a week then called the police to report the theft.

A month goes by, and I finally got the police report from them to give to my insurance company. I called my agent, and he intimidated me so bad I nearly didn't file the claim. But I had to file the claim!

Another week went by and I finally called them. They were fast, efficient, and downgraded my loss by about $2375, so I have to absorb that much of it. To be honest, that includes my deductible, so the amount of actual loss not covered is about $1375.

So that was story number one. Story number two...

I ordered some cat furniture from a reputable supplier. It was almost $400 for the order, and included two cat trees and one scratching post. One of the trees was 80 inches tall, almost to the ceiling, which I figured would give the cats a wonderful view of the bird feeders and space away from each other.

The items were all shipped separately, from different points of origin. The first never arrived, but the second arrived on Feb 10. I got another e-mail, for the third shipment, and looked into the three shipments.

It turns out that the wonderful, tall cat tree was delivered to someone other than me, left by a front door, with no signature confirmation. The delivery company says they delivered it to me. I'm sure it doesn't help that I had several deliveries that week, and continue to receive items I've ordered - specialty cat products, books, online-only office supplies, and so on. So, they closed the inquiry, and are offended that I would even hint at a mis-delivery.

Too bad. Now, I have to do a chargeback against my vendor. I hate to do that, but the item was the most expensive of the three that I ordered. In fact, the one cat tree that I received was a purchase afterthought because the large cat tree was $100 less on sale!

So, I went to my bank and did the chargeback yesterday. I really hate to do that. I really do. It's a black mark against any merchant when that happens. And it wasn't her fault, but the shipper's. The only mistake she made was allowing the shipment to be made without requiring a signature confirmation.

So much for story number two. On to story number three...

My doctor wanted me to take some allergy medicine because of the drainage I experience every night. She prescribed Zyrtec. It's known to make folks drowsy, so I took a pill at night with my other meds on Wednesday.

I had a very fitful night's sleep, came stark raving awake at several points, and my body seemed to slow down. The next day, I was in a fog all day, and had to slap myself awake during my last class. The drive home was a nightmare!

When I got home, I slept. Nothing but. The phone was ringing off the hook, and I just couldn't talk to anyone. I couldn't get the phone to my ear fast enough. I ended up with six messages on the machine. Two were the insurance company, one from the shipper, and three from friends.

I ended up sleeping till about 8:30. I got up and called two friends back, and it was too late to call the third. I ended up staying awake till about 4:30am and then went to bed. I slept like a log till 10:30 when the alarm went off.

It was now Friday, and I had a lot to do. I went to the bank to do the chargeback, went to the court and did my little research job there, and then went to get tires on the car before the next rain hits. I've not had time for that since I had the money, and it was becoming desparate. I almost hydro-planed during the last rain on Thursday, when I was groggy.

I got home, and forget the diet, I wanted a hamburger! So, I got one of those when it was time to have supper.

Story number four...

During all this, as if my week wasn't full enough, I printed the last of the research I'd done for my book. I organized what had been printed and started printing at home, and finished the job at school. I'm now looking for space to work.

I think I'll clear off the perfectly-good work space I have that's an accumulation of stuff that doesn't belong to me and wasted money. There is a furnace filter that's the wrong size, an older laptop computer, and a collection of stuff that belongs to a friend that moved to CA over a year ago. He want's it shipped to him if he ever sends money. Meanwhile, it's taking up space in my house. If I can get the table cleared off, I'll have a great work space for school work, sewing and other purposes.

Story number five...

Well, there's this mess that's been accumulating around my chair. Things fall and I'm not paying attention, so the mess gets bigger and bigger. Last night, I'd had enough. The reason for the mass purge was that my cat Fluffy, who never pukes up hairballs or anything, got sick. All over the place, repeatedly, and nastily. I had to clean up after her.

She started on a pair of shoes that got tossed yesterday afternoon. She has diabetes, so this is kind of a serious turn for her. She continued into several rooms, and hit the paid bills, computer programs (boxed), office supplies, clothes, and of course, all the stuff sitting around my chair. It was bad enough that the pile was growing, but her getting sick on it was more than I could stand.

So, it's been a very full week. Lots of ins and outs, lots of stuff happening. So much for not getting anything done!

Those pills from the doctor? - not taking them anymore. Once was enough.

Decongestants Caused Sleeplessness....

Well, I changed up my meds, removing the two new ones. I kept the heart stuff the same out of safety. I stopped taking the decongestant I was given for the sinus infection a few weeks ago. I don't normally need a decongestant, and they typically disturb my heart. I also stopped the stuff for heartburn. I wasn't sure which was causing the sleeplessness, but medicines that end with "-dine" tend to have something to do with it.

It turns out that it was the decongestant! The doc assured me I could take this one, that it didn't have the "-D" designation that causes so much trouble. Well, I slept the night through last night, one benedryl so I could ignore my bladder until it was time to get up. I slept 8 hours!

I ate right yesterday, so I wouldn't have the night-time heartburn I typically get, too. It was a struggle, but I have to do that if I'm going to get my insulin-resistance corrected, anyway. I have to change a lot to get that under control!

Yes - I have some pretty interesting health plans to put into effect over the next few months. I'm starting an intense cleanse and de-tox program that will take about 8 months to complete, while complying with a program to reset my insulin/sugar balance. By the end of 2011, I expect my body to show some real changes chemically and physically. I only have a few more items to purchase to get started. About another $100 worth of stuff.

Some of the things I need to get are durable or hard goods, that will stay around for a long time; while others are consumable. One item, I'm still sourcing, and I'm not sure how that will work out yet. It's optional, but recommended for a short time.

Anyone interested in this kind of thing can find information at these two sources:

http://emf.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2001/07/14/insulin-part-one.aspx
and
http://www.drclark.net/

I started with this book:

New Job and Back Pain...

Finally! I got a new job. I start on Tuesday. It's part time, but that's OK. I have so many irons in the fire, so many self-employment gigs going on, that a full-time job would just stress me out.

I had to walk a bit in the last couple of days and I had a "Hen Party" at my home, and had to vacuum. So, my back was about over it. Having had a double-spinal-fusion in 1999, I'm acutely aware of any pain in that part of my body. I was able to cope, and nothing bad happened, but last night, after it was all over, I could barely move. I took a Tylenol, not having any ibuprophen in the house, and that barely took care of it. I ended up taking a prescription pain pill, and going to bed. I slept about 10 hours. That's OK, but sleeping so long can just stiffen me up again.

I'll get some ibuprophen when I shop next time.

I love my days off!

I get to stay up late and watch old movies, and then sleep the next day. I don't have to use the alarm clock unless I need to be someplace early in the day. I get to finally rest my weary bones and mind. Mostly my mind. My bones are fine...

My mind though...

I guage if I've had enough sleep by whether or not I wake up dreaming. If I'm dreaming, I've had enough sleep. If not, I need more sleep. I just feel better if I've been dreaming.

However, some dreams can be really strange! Not disturbing, or scary, just strange!

This morning, I dreamt that I served Thanksgiving to my friends, and the turkeys were frozen. And there was one for each of us! The funny part of this, is that I'd started with one turkey, and they multiplied in my kitchen.

In life, the turkey is comfortably defrosting in the fridge, and I'll put it in the oven around midnight or 1am on Thanksgiving morning.

I sure hope I get some takers for the Women's First Annual Thanksgiving Dinner....
I have a 20-pounder and me with five cats. We can't eat it all...