Been up early

I woke up around 4 this morning and I finished writing out this week’s ThankfulThursday post.    Then I had an idea to work on the budget.  As I tried to reclaim my information for Mint.com I had to recreate a new password.  I had forgotten what I used for the Turbo tax.  I thought I had an understanding but I will try again later. 

I got up and checked on sky and he was just sitting in the closet.  He came running out and let me pick him up and hold him.  Then we went back to my room and he stayed with me for a while.  He curled up a few times then he sat down and watched me get on the computer.  Then he ran off and then came back. 

I got up at 5:30 and we did our routine.  I managed to fall back to sleep on the couch even with coffee.  The kitties were attentive and that fills my heart.  For as long as I have been their mama there are days I feel I am not always a good mama.  When they show they want to be loveable I feel like I can be doing anything.

So there has been a concern about brown water in the system in Milford.  I had heard about it last week and as the week moved on the RWA and the city (as recent as yesterday) sent out caution messages and suggestions to deal with.  For example let it run before drinking and or limit the use of it for watering lawn and such.  Apparently there is a lot of people using the water and its causing the sediment to get stirred up.  So far it’s not happened here.

I know I have some things to do but right now I just want to sleep.  I want to get a walk in today.  JOC won’t be able to yet.  I will be going to class tonight but that’s it.

I did go for a walk but MapMyWalk has changed and I know I went for at least a mile. ..and it’s all acting weird.   There is something definitely wrong with the phone and the apps.  It didn’t record the route correctly at all.  The pedometer on the other hand says I did well.  It actually shows up on the phone better.  After my trip to the AT&T store I went on a late one and it was much better.

My trip to AT&T store went better.  The guy I worked with told and showed me what I needed to do about the data.  He also said that sometimes apps get corrupted and that they need to be deleted and reloaded (not on a daily basis).  After doing a software update while there everything seems to be working.  I am very relieved.

I chatted with Liz today and we talked about the phone, and about work, and budgets.  I told her without going into great detail that I am getting a budget together.  Late this afternoon I received the car tax and the real estate tax and I nearly died.  I am going to have to do something about that and I have until august 3 to do it.  I will be looking forward to my session with Debra.

Alex contacted me tonight to find out why I didn’t go to class.  I explained I didn’t sleep well and that I was tired but I did take two walks today.  I told him I would be going to the class tomorrow.  Admittedly it will be very early but I am going to try.   I told him I was going to bed early so I best get there.

I was relieved I actually wrote one of my pen pals today.  It was two pages and will talk more about soon.

 

 

 

Spent most of the night

I couldn’t sleep last night worrying about the finances.  I decided sometime after midnight I would have to get back on a budget (I hate budgets) .  Over the years I tried being on budget but never could figure out a good one to have.  Many times I would just ignore them.  Well last night I went to wikihow.com to look for simple budgets and I think I may have found them.  The whole setting up is a pain.  I use the credit cards for almost everything.  So I am not sure if should list only once or separate them.   I found out that even though I may only pay the insurances for the house or car once a year or twice a year figure divide it monthly.  I never could see that on the paper.  I am going to have to talk to Debra tonight about it.

Poor Sky….he had been sleeping in close proximity to me and he did curl up with me the few times I tried to sleep by the time I was ready to actually sleep it was his turn to get up and amble around again.  He came back to make sure I was getting up.  Tiger slept under my desk in my old bedroom again.  They did their own thing for the day.  They were sleeping in different places throughout the day.    I fed them at 5 for the night.

I went for the walk with Judith OC.  Unfortunately I nearly caused and accidents pulling into traffic near her house.  I was flustered and the cop I thought was going to give me an attitude but it never happened and explained I was getting flustered and lost.  I was able to finally find her and she was waiting.  We drove over to the Veteran’s memorial park in West haven and spent the next hour walking all the way to Stowe Restaurant and all the way back to the park.  Unfortunately my POS phone and apps didn’t properly record the steps and as of this writing went back to 0. 

WE had a lovely talk about our lives, family, work, health it was quite nice.  We will be doing it again soon.  She called me to let me know I left a water bottle in the car and she wanted to drop it off.  She did and loves the outside of the house. Not sure what she would think of my housekeeping skills or lack of.

I had to make a call to the credit card and to let them know there is a payment on its way.  She reminded another payment will be due soon.   I tried to work on the budget when I was chatting with Debra.  I ended up more confused and more frustrated and angry with myself.  Debra suggested that the goal for this week is to write down what I spent and we would categorize them at another time.

So my session with Debra was a phone session because she was having issues.  As I mentioned we focused on my worries about finances and restarting a budget.  It was draining for me.

After the session I made buttered noodles from this recipe.   It seemed easy but I can never get the water to boil when it is supposed to.  It didn’t help my mood at all.  I made enough for the next couple of meals.

Now that the cats are settled in and the kitchen cleaned I am going to bed.  I am so looking forward to seeing everyone (at least as many as possible) at the gym tomorrow.

 

 

I don't think I want...

After hearing about a cyber-attack today on some sites I frequent (Okay so one) I am not so sure I want to go to those sites tonight.  After I heard Anchorman (do the still call them Anchorpersons?) David Muir open the newscast with the Cyber-attack report I got online to read more about it.  Apparently someone hacked into the company DYN and disrupted many sites.  They are not sure who is behind it.  There are some theories but I didn’t hear them.  I had checked my Bank account on the office Computer even though I brought the laptop.   It wasn’t charging today so I had to wait until I got home to use it.  However I went to a few sites on break.  I have to wonder if it will effect work computer. 

Work was very busy.  I split my time between the refund checks and the mail.  The mail I didn’t finish yesterday and the mail that came today and all the refund checks that came to me both in personal and insurance refunds.  Most if not all have been documented but I had to stop and think of what needed to be done (don’t we all at one point or another?).  I talked it over with the Supervisor and he suggested that I go with the dates that are earlier (I think I had the14th and 19^th in personal and I had the 18^th but put them back.  My GA had today off so she couldn’t finish the one pile that had to be labeled and mailed. 

We had a short Staff meeting today. We had been given a list of our new team leads and was told there was no overtime available.  Well I never did have OT or I would have been there doing it.  But there isn’t always a lot of mail to do and probably the refund checks which get done anyway.  The others are going to be getting lists of their credit balances and they didn’t seem happy about it. 

I was anxious to get out of the office today that I left my cell phone in my desk.  I feel so hollow without it.  I called my sister on the house and had to leave a message and I called Jim too because I heard bad weather has hit PA.  I am wondering if we are going to get it up here tonight.

I found out last night that Yale bowl got new lights and The Bulldogs will be playing their very first Friday night game.  It will eventually air on MSNBC sports channel.  Actually all their games are going to be aired from now on.   It will make traffic around the bowl hectic according to the news reports.  It is also Employee night for the game.

I slept in the sofa recliner last night and guess who slept beside me?  Nope not sky but my little Princess Tiger Lilly and she is beside me tonight as well.  Sky was lying on the back of the sofa for a few hours last night and I am hoping he will do the same tonight.  He has been upstairs most of this evening, and when was down here he seemed to be crying a lot.  Not sure what that’s about but I also think Tiger has been doing the same thing.  I gave them fresh kibble already but need to clean their box out again and the bathroom.

I was quite surprised at how humid it was this morning. There was a light misting rain until I got to work. The sun came out for part of the day and by the time I left the office clouds rolled in and a short time later it the misting rain returned.  By the time I got home the streets were completely wet and a few puddles had developed.  Now its just foggy and overnight we are supposed to get more rain.  I am wondering just how much rain we will get tomorrow.  I do have to be at my niece and nephew’s house for their son’s 7^th birthday party.  It will be late in the day so I probably won’t be having dinner tomorrow night or if I do it will be light.

I got a couple of emails from Mama R today.  The first one was a forward about a Smithsonian article on cats.  Honestly I didn’t read it all because I was at work.  The second one was later on this evening responding to my question of their return to NC.  They did late Tuesday early Wednesday.  They had to wait for their suitcase quite a long time.  Something I think would happen here these days.  The email was fairly long.  I told her about Yale having their first night game and the accident that occurred today and the holidays.

Now that the lights are out and the kitties are not playing with their water bowl for the millionth time I think I am going to bed.

Three Busy Days

The last few days got very busy for me.  As you may remember i had bingo Sunday morning.  We were full capacity and we entertained the thought of getting a bigger room.  It may come to the point that I may change my times of bingo.  I have to think about and call in the next few days.  After Bingo I went to Sis’s.

They were just getting into the house when I arrived.  I got in and we were going to have coffee but soon after it became grand central station.  First it was Rich, the Cousin Donna, some phone calls and then Liz’s Friend Rick.  There was a lot of joking and laughing.  AFter a while Rich and Donna left and then so did I. I headed to the mall.

My first stop was Buy Buy BAby.  I have to tell you it is a great place.  I had no trouble getting there because I moved slowly.  They helped me find the gift and they wrapped it for me.  After that I headed to Carrabba's..  

It was kind of quiet but the service was quite good. I had the Tuscan Pork Skewers with a salad and bread.  It was fairly expensive and I am not sure I would go back there for lunch.  Maybe a dinner but that’s it.  Liz called me while I was waiting for a meal so she headed to the AT&T store in the mall.

This little bit led to a misunderstanding she thought I saw inside the mall (and I clearly said by Chipotles.  Luckily we got passed that was able to buy me a new Android phone.  I am still trying to get used to it.  I have been able to send messages and working on getting email.  We were done by 3.  

I was done for the day by then.  I couldn’t do the grocery shopping by then.  I didn’t do much for the rest of the night and went to bed by 9.  Liz did help me get the phone set up for the wifi before I called it quits.

Monday was a busy day as well.  I was going non-stop.  It was also the day Livi came and did a great job on the house.  Now lets see how long I can keep it up.  BIL had surgery and according to liz he was in pain today and I think began some PT.

Today started off with a little bit of rain and ended with rain.  I think we are supposed to get more during the night.  Work was busy again for me but I kept playing with the phone a few times.  I some how got it on safe mode and it won’t come off.  I have already had to play around with it and may have to go back and get it reset.

I finally made it to the grocery store.  Managed to get everything and a few extras as well.  As usual it only took about an hour.  I was home by 6 and  played with the kitties for a bit.  I put dinner by 6 and 45 minutes later I  was eating one of the stuffed chicken breasts.  

i let the kitties go down in the cellar while I put some stuff down there and I checked in on them and they went up by themselves (I would like to think they did) without me having to chase them.  THey also spent some time in my old bedroom.  I left the door open for them to come out and they did (the door is now closed).

I feel as though I am rambling and not making much sense so I am going to bed.

Things didn't go as planned

Today didn’t go as planned.  I got up early and hung around for a bit thinking I would go at 10 to get the INR done.  Mom suggested I get it earlier so I left here around 9:30 after calling the doctor’s office to see how long the wait would be.  Their voice mail message was “they were closed due to weather”.  I figured they left it that way from the storm.  They didn’t.  I got there after 9:30 and found they were not opened at all so I had to come all the way home made some calls to the Oral Surgeon and Liz.

The first call was semi good.  I explained the situation and they suggested I go to the Milford Lab next to Quest Diagnostics.  I called Liz and explained the situation.  I got to the Lab by 10:15 and registered and then had to wait.  I finally got my blood test.  It was not just the finger prick like usual.  By then I think my BP was up to million. The results would take 20 minutes.  I got to Liz’s and told her what was going on we chatted with Chris who was getting among other things last minute instructions to pick up Rich.  Unfortunately as we got in the car she kept thinking of things to tell him and it was getting later and later.  I think I was calm but not sure. 

We got to the oral surgeon and I explained what was going on.  Eventually we got the results of the INR and it was too high.  4.16.   The procedure was cancelled so I had to wait for Liz to come back to the office (I left my phone to charge here).  Liz came back for me around 12:15 or so.  While she was waiting she was at Rich’s house looking for stuff.

 On the way back to her house we stopped at D&D and got coffee for us and Nel.  He was just coming home from a Doctor’s appointment in Fairfield.  We talked about everything.  The neighbors that stayed with them (apparently it got sticky for all); health; plans for Christmas, and memories in general.  I left around 1 because they had to go to Killingworth to babysit Nel #3.

Mom came home around 2.  We will probably do our own thing like laundry and stuff.  I have taken some Dayquil (Costco version) this afternoon because I sounded bad today.  Later on I will take the night time stuff so I can sleep.

For now though I am going to do the laundry.

Minor Aggravations

It is nearly 11 at night and I am tired. The day was good even though there were some stressful moments. The first stressful moment was the large amount of mail. Then again if I think about it since the lockbox office was moved the volume for each day has moved. So technically this would have been mail for yesterday!




The other stressful moment was when the guys at the courier service neglected to pick up mail-the interoffice mail that had been there since yesterday morning. I even told Jack twice that it had to be done. He still didn’t take it. (He really has a knack for pissing me off.) I told my friend Dottie in Credentialing and she told her boss. The reason for telling credentialing is they had important applications that needed to go to the departments. Claudia M came down and asked questions about it and then came down again with Joni. In the end the courier service was called and someone came and picked it up. When I told Gayle this she suggested that from now on I make sure I tell them I am going to be making sure they take the stuff that is needed.



Nancy H and I had been texting through out the day making arrangements to meet sometime soon. I had to call her because I apparently was tripping over my fingers at one point. I think we are getting together some time Saturday afternoon.



Okay I better get to bed. I can tell I am not really making any sense tonight.

Bingo, Pie Baking, Lost Family Members

Hey everyone hope all is well. It’s been a long day here and so I won’t be on long. Last night had a great time but left my cell phone in Roberta’s car last night so I was lost with out it until this evening. I can honestly say I am now into a new card game. It’s the Military Whist Card game. It was a lot of fun and I did pretty well my first time playing. Some took it way too seriously and others were just so fun with it. There were snacks and cake and coffee during the three hour game. Needless to say I part took in that as well. Ended up not feeling well and spending time in the bathroom after the event. It was quite embarrassing. We were back home by 11 and I watched TV and shortly after midnight went to bed.




This morning I stayed in bed until maybe 8. I wanted to be up early so I could get to the folk mass at St Mary’s. That was not “in the cards”. I got ready for Bingo and made a quick stop for breakfast and Dunkin Doughnuts. I had their smoked house egg and cheese sandwich (with some type of sausage). It was good but not something I would order again anytime soon (one word: salt).



When I arrived at the nursing home there was only one resident and that was Ken. I got the coffee going and I ate my breakfast. Eventually more people came and I began the announcements. Ryan came and made him do the calling. We had a lot of fun. We played until almost 11:15. Afterwards I chatted with Claudia H who was working the front desk today.



It was nearly 12 when I headed to Telka’s. a small number of people were there already and we were just getting started. I had the a-peeling job of preparing the apples. Eventually more girls came and over the next 2 hours the pies were ready to be baked. All in all we made 22 pies. The discussions were pretty interesting. Movies we saw the holiday activities that were being planned. In the end we got to eat one of the pies. We were basically cleaned up by 3. I took one of the girls home and headed back to the house by 3:30.



Mom was upstairs puttering around. She wrote out some Thanksgiving cards just because. She had been doing some cooking. She did tell me that my darling cousin Sharon lost her father-in-law the other night. We had gotten word earlier in the week that he had cancer and sadly he succumbed with his family around him. I will pick up a card tomorrow and send it off. I did post hugs to her on her Facebook page a few moments ago.



I went to the 4:30 mass at St Mary’s. It seemed to go pretty fast but I also was fighting a headache. It’s gone now but it was distracting. After Mass I got some gas and then stopped by Roberta’s house to pick up the cell phone. It was in her car under some bags. I also had to stop at the store to pick up some “supplies”.



It was nearly six when I got home. We had spare ribs and potatoes and asparagus and watched our Sunday night PBS stuff. After dinner I fell asleep watching TV in the spare room. I haven’t done much of anything else either.



I did pick out the clothes I am wearing tomorrow to work. I hope they will be good enough for our visitors tomorrow. I am going to drive in tomorrow so that I can get back here in time to take Mom to her Bridges Meeting and for me to get ready for the Inauguration. Let’s just say its going to be another long night.



That being said I am going to say good night. I hope all of you are well and if not know I will send hugs and prayers to you as I go to sleep.

Going to Make an effort

I had decided that today I would make an effort to clean my room and do the chores that needed to be done that I have neglected. As you know when I work most Saturdays by the time I get home I am really not in the mood to do anything. Last weekend I wasn’t home long enough to do them. By the time I did get home I was sleeping. Today is no different.

Mom went to the Opera with Stella today. She left around noon and should be back by 4. She really slept in this morning. I had called around 9:30 to just touch bases with her and instead I got this really groggy sounding voice. We didn’t talk long just gave her traffic update (it wasn’t bad this morning).

Work went well got a lot of the EOB pulls done. There was one that was a Medicaid pull that I left for another day. The file itself is massive and if any of you work in the medical field dealing with insurance EOB’s and files then you will understand why. On some Medicaid EOB’s they are not in alpha order and sometimes huge-or did I mention that already?

Snow is expected some time this afternoon. It was supposed to start around 2 and of course it didn’t show up. The weather reports also say snow showers in the morning as well.

I realized today that I haven’t done my family update yet. I am going to review my blog entries and try to get one posted later on today. I usually post it to the journaling lists and the self help list as well as the two pen pal lists I moderate. Of course I will post it here as well. I am trying to figure out how to start it. That’s why I enjoy reading the previous month’s “updates” and the blog entries as I can refer to those.

Oh for some reason my cell phone has no service. When I explained it to Frank G today he seems to think it’s the sim card. It might be loose or something. So if any of you who have my number are trying to call me don’t give up…

Well on to the update entry….

lost my cell phone

I lost my cell phone today. Actually I think it may have been stolen but I don’t know how. I had it when I came home from work. Mom went to a meeting and I had dinner and then got ready for the General Meeting. I also went to the store and left it in the car while I went to get the snack for the meeting. I thought nothing of it and then went home to take the meds. I then went and picked up Roberta.

We left her house closer to 7 (as we usually seem to do) and drove to Telka’s. The girls were making the Valentines and we talked about the inauguration ball and then we had the meeting. I won one of the trivia questions and got a beautiful frame. It is sitting in a basket at the foot of the stairs downstairs.

Anyway when I went to look for my phone I couldn’t find it. I tried in the blue room where I knew I had it before going out (I had gotten one of those automated phone calls) and it wasn’t there. I even did the search by calling the number. It was no where in the house. I went outside to the car to find it and couldn’t find it. I emailed Telka and asked if she had found it. I didn’t see her answer when she emailed.

Halloween 2008

Well today is Halloween and I didn’t dress up this year. I just didn’t feel like it. I was contemplating on taking the ears and tail with me to work but decided against it.

There was a festive/holiday feel to the office. Several people dressed up and some didn’t and wished we would just do our work. There were witches, Foxy Brown, Pocahontas, Ugly Betty, Minnie Mouse, a Devil, Angel. It was quite entertaining to watch.

I was done with the mail by 2:30 and did the readdress and the bad addresses until about 3:30. Then I cleaned up my office put things away. I pulled some EOB’s. When it was time for me to leave I stopped by Elinor’s cubical and said goodbye to her. She told me to behave while she is gone (not sure if she is coming back on a part time basis). Gayle who had been sitting there told her that I do behave and Elinor commented that well since we sit near each other how can I miss behave?

The traffic when I left was sketchy. A huge tractor trailer blocked my normal route (that and some flag sign) so went up to College and then around to Temple to Church Street South. The traffic on the highway was slow. I managed to get to Milford by 4:30. I had to stop because my phone rang. It turned out to be a wrong number but this person called me once before and she was rude.

I got home just after 4:30 and watched the last part of special Halloween episodes of Charmed. Mom came home by 5. She was hoping to be home earlier and she was a little agitated. Apparently her session with the ballot counting was stressful because the guy she was teamed with was annoying and difficult to work with.

She got dinner started and I got changed and started laundry. Mom’s original plan was to have fish and rice but it turned out to be stuffed peppers and rice. It was delicious. While we ate we watched the News.

I couldn’t believe the first 20 minutes of the news. In Waterbury a two-year-old was hit by a school bus and is still under investigation. There are some problems with the Shelton High School and parents and administrators are upset. Then in Stamford a woman was arraigned over killing an infant. Apparently she hacked up her baby and dumped it in a can in the back of her house a couple of days ago. It was gruesome.

On a happier note we started getting trick or treaters just before 6:30. Our first visitor was Shannon across the street. Then a few minutes’ later four children from Chaucer Court came over. Around 7 or so Shea and a friend came to the door.

I got a text message from Jim that was excellent. I text him back but he didn’t get it yet. I called him (that’s how I found out he hadn’t gotten it). He was watching a Boris Karloff movie he didn’t quite understand. He told me that he didn’t get to go to GA but that he called and got some hopeful news that Uncle Ray would be coming home.



He thanked me for being around last weekend and being with the kids. I told him I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. I told him I emailed Emily but haven’t heard from her. I told him she hasn’t been online much in the last week. When I hung up I went and told mom about the conversation. I had already showed her the text message from him.

Mom told me after ward that she had talked with Bob and he had called Ray Jr and got a completely different story from him. So Mom says it can change from day to day.

She also told me how worried and sort of angry at Jim for the way he was last week. Mostly scared because she feels helpless (that my take on it). Apparently while he was driving he pulled over and went to sleep with the kids in the car. She found this out because she spoke to Claudia earlier this week. That’s what Claudia told her.

Mom then told me that she is worried about Bob and his political views and how irrational they seem. He got very loud and Angry about it. I told her at least you were able to finish the conversation!

Well Halloween 2008 has officially been closed at the Phelan Residence. We had a total of seven visitors. Now the rest of the candy will be stuffed away (or I will take it with me on Monday) and the rest of the night I will do laundry and try and empty out mailboxes or write letters.

I had a car accident tonight

I had a pretty good day today. I got to work with no problem and got my work done with no problems (and I got them done early) and Susan R apologized to me today after blaming me for things that weren’t my fault. She had received documents last night that had old dates. This time it wasn’t me. I even got to pull some EOB’s and copying (I think you call that filing) that I have done in 12 years. That will probably be something I will do now that I am back to being organized.

On the way home from work tonight I rear ended a truck on the highway. I am fine but the Hunter is in the shop. Well actually it was towed to the garage up the street. The accident happened in the West Haven area. It seemed like a long time for the cop to come to the scene but he was dealing with a disabled car. I called Mom and she came to the scene about 5. She walked to the other car and asked if he was okay. I really wish she would not do things like that. Even the cop said when I asked him that he wouldn’t recommend/encourage doing that. I did call the Garage and told him what happened. He talked with the other guy and Mom, and the cop. He also asked me if I was okay and stuff. They were all telling me they have all done things like this. The only times I was freaking out was when I couldn’t find my ID holder. I managed to keep it together for the most part.

When I got home I called the insurance company and the car rental place. They came and got me and drove me to the rental agency and now I have a 2008 Dodge Charger. Its black and I are still trying to figure out how to adjust the mirrors and stuff like that. The guy who drove me was very nice. He was from Ansonia and this was a part time job for him. He retired from the city of Bridgeport. The young man who waited on me was very nice as well. He gave me a choice of the SUV or the charger.

After I got the car the place was closing for the night and I headed slowly to the HQ for the meetings and stuff. 5th District and members of Gayle S’s campaign were there making signs. Eventually members of the 5th and 4th District were arriving. Mom and continued to tell them all I had an accident. I got the usually compassionate looks and concerns.

The meeting went fairly well. I took the minutes the best I could for our district as I never had the experience of two districts meeting together. It is probably no different then the regular meeting. After the meeting the 4th decided what we would be bringing to the meeting for refreshments. I am bringing cream puffs. After the meeting I drove home.

Mom had already made it home before me. She was getting into her pajamas and I got into mine. We had a little “eruption”. She was mentioning the fact I had put on weight and I told her I weighed myself and haven’t gained much. She made one comment and I basically told her to shut up. I was furious with her. Why make comments like this? When I came back inside we talked about the weight problem. It didn’t get any worse.

She did it when we were at the HQ too. As I was trying to get tape on the signs she was getting into the middle of it and I almost told her to stop interfering. Instead I just listened.

Well I got some responses from the emails I sent out to the two Tammi’s. I received an email from Liz C reassuring me that I didn’t do anything wrong by posting the email I sent to them. I heard from Nancy G about her experiences with the list. I had told her the other day what mine was. I got one this evening from Janet B. She had not gotten the email I BCC’d. I explained to her what was going on and she said she would look out for htem.

Well I think I better get to bed. I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open and I am fraid I am not making any sense here.

Saying Good Bye to Mr Oliver

It is just after 8:30. I have been up since 6 and did some laundry and watched TV. I have showered and went to feed Junior. I checked some emails and now am getting dressed for the services for Mr. Oliver.

Okay it is several hours later and I am exhausted for many reasons. I didn’t leave for the services until quarter of ten. I walked in with Mary from Torrington. I saw many people I had known over the years and some I did the obligatory hellos and hugs. David was about to make a federal case out of his niece not remembering me. I sat with my friends and then went to the car. It started raining as we waited for the procession to start

The rain started coming down harder and hard as we got to the church. Patrick and I walked in together and sat together. Mom was a couple of rows a head of us. Rose and her mom sat across the aisle. The family walked with the casket while the rest of us were in the pews. I didn’t quite understand that. It was raining and thundering during the entire service.

When it was time to leave there was a mishap. Dave’s cousin fell as the pall bearers were leaving. He got up after awhile but it was unsettling. Patrick and I walked back to our cars and got into the procession to the cemetery. I got out of the car and walked with Patrick up till Rose’s car. We decided that we would follow protocol and wait until the casket and family were taken to the designated spot. Rose and Patrick and I walked over.

The final prayers and a military service were given. After we went back to the cars and headed to Carlene’s. I got a little lost so I ended up following Patrick and Rose. It was after 12. For the next 3 hours we ate, talked and had food. It was during this time Dave made an inappropriate comment about how I tell in around about way how Dave and I met. I told Mary about it tonight. Now Dave wants to go to the Bronx Zoo tomorrow. Well fine when were you going to tell me? He said he would call me back tonight. He hasn’t.

When I left it was after 3 and I was home by 3:30. When I got home Mom was out and I found a package for me. It was a gift from one of my pen pals. It was a casserole dish with a basket. I didn’t do much for the next hour and half except watch TV and then feed junior.

When I got home from there Mom was home. Things were fine until I told her about the casserole dish. She thinks it was an inappropriate thing that it brings a whole different and inappropriate level to pen paling.

Then she changes the subject to the phone. She is so fucking hell bent on me getting rid of the new cell phone I got and trying to find me other thing to get (like one with out a contract and god knows what. When she saw the look on my face she got all huffy like a fucking two year old.


When I went to talk to her about who else was at the house she got snippy and told me I was mumbling. I certainly was not mumbling and I told her and she got this ugly look on her face. I said that is it. We are not having this conversation I walked out of the kitchen saying things like that’s it I have had I am not putting up with this. I said it loud enough she should have heard..

I called Debra this evening and asked to call me and she hasn’t. Of course she doesn’t have an “emergency on call” or what ever so why does the phone ring during our session? I get this feeling that things are going to explode and she will not be able to get me through it.

Made Progress Today

It is after 8:30 and Mom is on her way to a meeting. I had to wake her before 7:30 this morning and that’s very rare. When she comes back from her meeting she said she would help me with the closet. A part of me is really having a hard time with this. She will want to throw things out that I need for probably pen paling.

It is now quarter of 11 and I am still pulling stuff out and going through stuff. Mom isn’t in the closet with me but I do check with her see if she sees things I don’t.

I am tossing all the EOB’s from Anthem for Debra and Dr. Adams and the stuff for Milford Bank. I found some more statements for Debra. I recorded them in to the log sheet for her.

By the end of the afternoon I made more progress. Mom helped me go through some old jewelry and colognes and stuff and clothes. Now I have 1 bag started for going to charity the others to be tossed. My bed still looks like massive pile of clothes and papers. I took a break from it at night though. I still have a lot more to go through and eventually will deal with the papers. I have decided that I will empty all the binders except for the journals and move them upstairs once it is organized up there.

Liz invited me over to her house to spend time with Audrey and Jason. They were shy at first and then a short time later they were talking and playing. Actually it wasn’t long for Audrey because she would jump into my arms or lean on me. We saw “Land before Time”. The first one I haven’t seen. I guess the one that was on this past week was either 2 or three.

I got the new cell phone today. Now I am just waiting on the “Welcome Package” that should be arriving in the next couple of days. I have already given my number out to Roberta tonight when she called. I will give it out to Liz and Nelson and others as I go along. I am so excited.

I heard from Rhonda G today. She says I don’t have to answer her letter and to have a good life. I told her I wanted to write her and that have some charms for her daughter. I really don’t want to have to send her things other than letters. To me it seems like I am trying to buy her off. If she can’t handle the fact that I write regularly she needs to deal with it and stop making me feel like I am in the wrong.

DEcided to get a cell phone

I have decided to get a cell phone but don' t know which one. I have put out a call to all my "groups" and asked them to post here. So don't be afraid people...Mom says she will get it for me as a gift.

My Requirements:

No extras (camera, internet, games etc)
i want a good package (minutes wise) if that's what they call it.