Sign of the Times

I opened up a piece of mail today, read the first line and burst into hysterical laughter.

Let me explain.... the first line was "Your responsible financial history has earned you this $1600.00 travel voucher."

Yes, ok, it's basically junk mail, but the very fact that I received it indicates a change in my life. You see, 18 months ago things were a lot different in my life. Piles of bills, no money and no credit, in spite of working two jobs. A live-in partner who I was supporting and who was draining me dry. Life sucked, basically, and I didn't know how I was going to get out of it.

As it happened, fate took a hand and the partner moved out of his own volition (I didn't have the guts to tell him to leave myself) Once I got over the shock of being on my own for the first time in my life, I set about getting my life in order. Started out small by tossing out all the junk he had left behind and creating a more comfortable environment for myself.

At the same time, I started trying to take control of my finances, which were in an unchecked downward spiral at the time. I hated getting phone calls because they were usually collection agencies.

However, I got on payment plans and kept track of everything. Kept my spending within bounds and eventually things started getting better.

After a year, when the lease on my apartment was up and I felt like I just had to get out of there, I looked into buying a house - pretty sure that my credit was too bad still for such a thing to happen. Amazingly enough, I qualified for a loan on a house and, without having to support anyone but myself (and the cats) I was able to fit the mortgage payments into my budget without too much trouble.

Six months later, when I wrecked my old car and found myself looking at getting a new (actually, 2 yr old) car, I was surprised again when I qualified for the loan, and was actually able to fit it into my budget.

Sort of makes me wonder where all that money was going before, because it certainly wasn't ending up in my savings account.

Anyway, the culmination of it all is that now "my responsible financial history" (excuse me while I fall on the floor laughing) has qualified me for a free Caribbean cruise.

You've come a long way, baby :-)

Crazy Cat Lady

I've mentioned before that I am a member of several online/internet groups and web rings (under my real name, rather than my blogging ID) However, I found one yesterday that is so perfect for me, I'm surprised I hadn't found it before.

It's the Crazy Cat Ladies Society(and Gentlemen's Auxiliary). In their own words, they use humor to counter the stereotypes made about people who love cats. By claiming the phrase "crazy cat lady" on our own terms, we take away its power to offend, and have a lot of fun while doing so!

Sounds like a perfect match for me, right? Me and my seven cats should fit right in :-)

It's Flooding Down in Texas

I don't know if it 's just that I'm a new homeowner, or what, but I find myself very aware of the weather these days. And these days have to be the wettest I can remember!

On the plus side, I'm not having to spend money watering my garden with hose and sprinkler. On the down side, every time we have a hard Texas rain, more of my mulch floats away.

This current rain (flash flood watch in effect till 11 am, I believe) is, at least, watering in the new tree that I got cooked while in the process of planting this weekend.

Same thing happened after we planted sod earlier in the year - weeks of non-stop rain to "water it in."

*Giggle* - sometimes you just have to look on the bright side.

The Dream Factor

Boy, don't you just hate when you're in the middle of the most delicious dream and the alarm goes off and interupts you? And then, after you've staggered across the room half asleep to hit the snooze button, you simply CANNOT get back to your dream?

Worse, you can't even remember it, there's nothing but this vague impression that it was yummy.

Furry cat faces peering inquisitively in yours with a "where's breakfast?" insistance don't help either.

Argg!!

Chuckle of the Week

One more thing before I put the blog to bed tonight.

Flo and Betty with Thongs

Enjoy

Oh My Aching Head!

Every weekend, for the past three weekends, I've had crashing migraine headaches that have rendered my useless for much of the weekend. In each case, the headache comes on after I've been out doing yardwork.

Now, admittedly, it *is* extremely hot and humid here and for a while I thought that was the reason, and had sort of resigned myself to that fact.

Then, lying in bed on Sunday, with the pillow over my head, I remembered an email exchange I had a couple of years ago after a similar bout of severe migraine headaches.

After mentioning my migraines in a discussion forum, I got a private email from one of the posters. Did I, the poster asked, drink a lot of coffee? Hell yes! I drink seemingly gallons of it at work. Did I, the poster then asked, drink the same amount on weekends?

Hmmm - good question. And in fact the answer at the time was no - I didn't have a coffee maker and rarely drank coffee on weekends.

As bizarre as it sounded, caffeine withdrawal was put forward as a possible cause for the headaches, which always came at weekends.

The purchase of one coffee maker and a routine of making a pot of coffee and drinking at least a cup or two before heading outside into the heat, seemed to allieviate the problems.

So why am I having headaches again? Well.... since moving into my new house seven or eight months ago, I've been drinking less coffee - in fact, I don't remember the last time I made a pot of coffee.

So -- the coffee maker has been recommissioned into service and we'll see what happens next weekend. The grass will need mowing, I'm sure of it. Let's see if I can do it without spending the rest of the weekend holed up in a dark room.

When You've Got It, You've Got it

Funny thing happened last weekend, that I thought I'd share with you.

On Saturday morning, the pest control guy came (no - that's not the funny thing) I've been in the new house a few months now, and over the past couple of months, several pest control companies have been canvassing the area for clients. One was offering a good rate, so I signed up and Saturday was the initial visit. Anyway, the guy arrived, did his work, I gave him a glass of Pepsi, he left and I forgot all about it.

A few hours later, I was pottering in the back yard in a skimpy outfit of shorts and halter top. I should have stayed in the back yard, but came round the front for a moment to get some plant food from the garage.

At that precise moment, here comes the pest control guy in his truck. He sees me, waves and pulls up at the end of my driveway. We start chatting - he had a cancellation and his next appointment in the area wasn't home. He had some time to kill. So we stand there chatting and I become *very* aware of the fact that I am standing there in a very skimpy halter top and his eyes keep drifting downwards.

Crossing my arms to hide my...um... assets... made me feel marginally more comfortable. He got out of his truck to "stretch his legs" and I'm wondering if perhaps he's just trying to get another viewing angle.

Anyway... after we'd chatted about pest control, new homes, pets, and I forget what else, he finally came out with "I like chatting with older women, they are so much more intelligent than girls my age."

It was around that time that I "remembered" something that needed doing inside the house and I excused myself and went indoors.

The second I closed the door behind me, I collapsed into hysterical laughter.

I've Seen it All Now!

I'm one of those who gets embarrassed when I get "perky" in cold weather, so I could hardly believe it when I read at Dave's Daily that nipple enhancement is one of the fastest growing cosmetic surgeries in the U.S. Apparently, it's not only women that like the "perky" look (the same one that embarrasses me when it happens) but men are getting it done too.

All I can do is shake my head and wonder who came up what *that* idea.

What's the Matter With Kids Today?

I was reading something on one of the forums I visit that got a particular song going through my head and I couldn't rest till I found the lyrics.

The poster was a teacher who was complaining about the kids in her class and their bad attitude as the summer vacation drew near.

So I started singing to myself "why can't they be like we were, perfect in every way? What's the matter with kids today?"

Here are the full lyrics of the song - very appropriate today, even though I remember the song being around when *I* was a kid. The song comes from the movie Bye, Bye Birdie, which opened in April of 1960.

Kids

Kids!

I don't know what's wrong with these kids today!


Kids!

Who can understand anything they say?

Kids!

They a disobedient, disrespectful oafs!

Noisy, crazy, dirty, lazy, loafers!

While we're on the subject:

Kids!

You can talk and talk till your face is blue!

Kids!

But they still just do what they want to do!

Why can't they be like we were,

Perfect in every way?

What's the matter with kids today?

Kids!

I've tried to raise him the best I could

Kids! Kids!

Laughing, singing, dancing, grinning, morons!

And while we're on the subject!

Kids! They are just impossible to control!

Kids! With their awful clothes and their rock an' roll!

Why can't they dance like we did

What's wrong with Sammy Caine?

What's the matter with kids today!

---

P.S. Can you tell I don't have any kids? LOL!

E's Visit

E. came to visit last weekend. This was the third time he has visited and as before, we had a wonderful, romantic weekend. WE went out to dinner, watched movies, took my new car to the lake for a picnic. It was the perfect weekend :-)

I've mentioned before that we met in an online chatroom (in another post, I even mentioned *which* chatroom )

Some people treat their chatroom like their local pub and meet and chat with the same people every night. That was pretty much how we both were. When we met, neither of us was looking for a "relationship." I was getting over a disastrous relationship and finding my feet on my own, gaining my independence, rebuilding my confidence. He had a complicated personal life, which didn't need any more complications.

However, during the course of our long chats, we discovered we have much in common. I think we could be poster children for a "good" online relationship - if there is such a thing (which personally, I think there is, but perhaps I'm biased)

The key, I think, is honesty. I don't think we would have got on so well together when we met in person if we had not been absolutely honest with each other. I have to say I had *that* experience with my previous relationship and that was what destroyed it. He told me a bunch of things I found out to be lies (and am still finding out, as it happens)

But E. and I were honest from the start and that has laid the groundwork for a strong relationship that just keeps growing and getting stronger.

The only hard part is saying goodbye at the end of the weekend, although we have found a way to mitigate that somewhat, and that is by setting the date for the next meeting before we leave to take him back to the airport.