Bankruptcy and swapping

Had my phone interview with the lawyer's office today and the most amazing thing. The paralegal is Jody -- THE Jody who went missing when Allen and I had to file over 10 years ago. What a wonderful girl she is and she's been working for this office all those years. My 45 minute interview lasted over an hour and half because we were catching up. I almost forgot Allen was dead and was going to call him and tell him all about it. :(

On the upside, my Spring Exchange package was waiting for me at the post office. I love it soooooooo much!!



I have to get into gear now and finish mine and get it out. Tomorrow is March!

Joe

Argh! I ran into Joe yet again today at the cigar store. Before I knew it I agreed to have a beer and pizza with him one day. And gave him my cell number. Then he's talking about how he's getting a divorce -- tried to get the paperwork today but the courthouse was out. WTF? First -- I don't want any relationship or anything. No friends with benefits or any of that crap. I am happy by MYSELF. Second, he's been asking me out since Allen and I were divorced four and a half years ago -- and he's not single? Good thing I'm not interested in a relationship and I'm so glad I never encouraged anything. God! Anyway we need to have a little talk. I have to explain that the only thing that will come out of this is a friendship. Nothing more. And hopefully he'll not pursue it. I wish I'd never given him my number. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!! And more history -- I have to see how many popes I've lived through. And this is only the second in the history of Christdom that one has resigned. Tonight was his last night. We will be without a pope until they elect a new one. I wonder what we do without a pope? I don't remember. And do the cardinals elect a new one politically or does the Holy Spirit still do it?

Good outcome, I think

So once I give the lawyers $1,806.00 they can file a petition in court and my debt will be gone. I wish there was a way to do the payback kind. As it is, I gave them $500 and have to really struggle to find the rest. They want it as soon as possible so hopefully they can do it before my pay gets attached. The great thing about it is that all the phone calls will stop because now we will be able to tell them to call the lawyer and they HAVE to stop.

The officer's meeting tonight went extremely well, I thought. For some reason Yvonne is really upset about something at the meeting. Something Jerry said, I think. But I thought it was a good meeting. I think I know what she's upset about but I don't see the problem. She's probably upset with me too since it is something I've had issues with in the past but the way it was presented tonight was actually good, I thought.

If it's what I'm thinking -- the officers want to have a party for Anita if she wins the mayoral election in November. We can't have any political affiliation, which was always my issue. But if it's done as a private party, then it wouldn't be an Elk thing, it would be a nice thing. At least I thought so. But Jerry made the mistake of saying by doing it as a private party, it would be working it's way around the Elks not being political. So that's what got her upset. But I fully understand Jerry's statement. I don't think he was being sneaky or whatever. He just meant we can honor our friend/co-Elk, at the lodge, that way and it wouldn't be political because it was a private party.

I just wish everyone could get along for once.

Tomorrow will tell

Today was just an ordinary day. I like that. Worked and came home and it's peaceful here tonight. That's a wonderful thing. I'll take it as long as it lasts. Tomorrow will be another story. Work and then to the lawyer to see if there's hope for me. I'm hoping for bankruptcy -- there's no way I can afford payments on the amount of debt I have. At least I don't think I can. We'll see what the lawyer has to say. I believe God watches over me and will make a way.

A good day!

No knitting today but I bowled and I realized how much I miss it. I really sucked but had a wonderful time. Wish they hadn't torn down our bowling alley because I'd start going again. We went to Dunkin Donuts and then on to the bowling alley. We bowled three games. The guys in the lane next to us were phenomenal -- four and five and six strikes in a row. Amazing and wonderful! Afterwards we went to the Wallingford lodge for lunch and then back home. I went down our lodge for an hour or so and then home. I have a feeling I'll be sore as heck tomorrow.

I have a plan

That's what someone in work said today. She was talking about how she's got plans that she's fulfilling before retirement. I like that. I don't know if I'll ever afford retirement but I'd like a plan. Certainly not a financial plan since I'm probably filing bankruptcy and my pension will only be around $600 a month when I reach retirement age. LOL!! I don't know how much I'll be getting when I reach retirement age for social security, if any at all. Mine will not be as much as Allen's and I can collect his survivor benefits. But I will survive. :) Went to the lodge last night and worked on the bulletin for awhile. We'll be going Saturday since Sandy won't go out because we may have snow. So I can Huh! The part before this was written a few days ago and apparently I never finished nor posted it. Today is Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013 and I just saw it and posting it now. I don't know what I was going to finish it with. But we didn't have snow today.

Ending the night

Went to the diner with Yvonne around 11 and then to the lodge to do the newsletter. We're done and stamped and folded and stapled and they're in my car for me to mail on Monday. Yeah!!! Then home for a half hour power nap and then went to Roseann's to watch a movie. Ugh what a boring movie -- Pandora and the Flying Dutchman. I love James Mason but like Anita said, this movie is as boring as watching paint dry. LOL!! That's it for today. Bowling tomorrow.

What plan?

LOL!!! I have a plan? Right. I plan on having a plan. That's the plan. Work was normal and we're expecting snow tomorrow. It's winter so we should be expecting snow! Ran into Joe after work at the cigar store. He seems like such a nice guy. I asked him his last name since he has such an advantage over me -- I remember running into him several times before Allen died and him asking me if I were still married to him. He's been sort of asking me out for years now. Anyway I now know his last name and I know he went to school with Jerry and Markanthony and PJ. So that's something. I don't want to date anyone -- I've been alone for at least 17 years. I would love a friend to do things with and the companionship and stuff. But not the intimacy that a guy would expect if we got close. Oh well. I did tell him that if he saw my car parked down there and I wasn't at the cigar store, I was at the Elks so he should come up and visit with us. Went to Peggie's for supper and then we went to the lodge for a few drinks and now I'm home. Back to the lodge tomorrow morning to work on the bulletin and then to Roseann's for movie night with her and Anita.

Arrrrrgggggg!

It seems Carol and Anthony might not be leaving. Or if they are, who knows when? Carol's talking about having the Pumpkin baptized and stuff and it's the kind of talk that indicates they're staying up here. All I know is that I need to not count on anyone but myself from here on out. Having others around will be heavenly and I'll love it but not count on it. This should work out well for the lawyer stuff though. The longer they stay, the longer I'm only paying half the household expenses and that means a little more to pay the lawyer with.  I am now the new Lecturing Knight of my Elks lodge. Or at least I will be when I get inducted in March. I'm going to try and do my best!

Last day off

Ach! Back to work tomorrow. I actually like working so I don't know why I'm saying 'ach'. And I'm thinking I better start figuring out how to get more money. I don't know if I can handle a second job although I'm willing to try. I called a lawyer's office today - bankruptcy firm. I'm praying they can help me but he wants $500 retainer and then when I go for my free consultation next week, they'll figure out how much I can afford to be paying them. I've received notice of suit from one creditor that's going to take me to small claims court. I got myself into this mess by trusting other people. Now I've got to get myself out by myself. I believed my 'kids' when they said stuff and now my income will be pretty much cut in half. My fault. I have no one else to blame for my stupidity!!! Anything I do should have been done on my own income and not counting on anyone elses. But that's ok. This too shall pass and I'm not getting myself sick over it!!

Tomorrow night is elections at the lodge. It's going to be a very interesting evening. So I'll either be an officer or not. I think I'll still be bulletin editor. Regardless - I'll stay involved. I believe in Elkdom.

I keep forgetting to use html in here to make paragraph breaks. Oh well, I'm the only one who needs to read this stuff -- hopefully if anyone else reads in here, they'll forgive me. Also, I hope they forgive me for my whining. I try hard to not carry around negativity but have to vent somewhere. This is the place. Plus I can come back in the future to see what my life was like now, you know?

Went down to get fingerprinted yet again for my pistol permit. We'll see how that goes. Maybe three times is a charm. They did it the old-fashioned way with ink. Last time they did it with the computer and with the ink and the time before that was just with the computer. I don't know when I'll find out if it worked or not but if it didn't I'm going to go to the state and see if they can do it. Geez!

A full week

Went to Walmart to pick up some stuff and to Lowe's and Home Depot. I'm looking for this stuff to get mold off tubs that's supposed to be great and is supposedly sold at Walmart and Home Depot but they were are neither of mine. I'll have to get it online and spend more than the product in shipping. Ach! I pulled out another ufo -- Robin, the shawl by Sharon Dreyfuss. I did knit a little on that. It's so beautiful that I might even wear it and I don't wear shawls. LOL!!! Put a bunch of books up on Ebay. I hope they sell.

Another day

This morning I completely finished the two little tiny penguins. Yeah. My ufos are actually shrinking. Then, since they were out, I cleaned the bathroom. The floor was getting really grungy do to ashes falling and stuff. I sure didn't miss the grunge after I quit smoking. Went to the lodge for an hour and picked up wings from Archie Moore's to eat there. I was soooo hungry. Now I think I'm home for the night and I'll read and maybe knit and watch some tv. I started watching Downtown Abbey last week so I might watch a few episodes of that. Oh yea, almost forgot. I am getting taken to small claims court by a credit collector. I don't think what I got in the mail is the actual court thing since I can't find a court date on it. So Monday I guess it will be time to check with that bankruptcy law firm that I found that's in Hamden. They supposedly have payment plans to pay them and I'm really desperate. I can't believe how much credit card debt I got myself into. I was fine -- actually ahead of the game -- until Anthony got sick and couldn't work and give me his share of the rent. Then I was paying 2/3rds. Once he moved out, it went to half but that's still a huge amount. And now that Carol and family are leaving, I'll have all the living expenses to pay and that's all I'll be able to afford. That and car gas and a little extra for groceries and dog food. I'll get by somehow but I'm worried about that debt.

Back again

Wow, am I missing days. But they're all pretty much the same so I guess it doesn't matter. If I don't have this window open, I forget to post. Work was back in session Wednesday and Thursday. The state is pretty much dug out of the blizzard. Today it's almost 50 degrees. I'm home -- have a four-day weekend for the president's holidays. I did a LOT today. Went to the dentist. I'm going to have crowns done on my front teeth - I can't deal with dentures so we're going with that. How I'll finance it, I have no clue. I figure once I'm here alone, I'll only have enough money to pay the rent, utilities/tv/internet, car insurance, and car gas. If I'm lucky, I'll have around $40 per pay period for groceries and dog food. Paid the car taxes. Went to the library and returned a book and got two more and paid for the one I lost. Went and bought dog food and copious amounts of Tylenol, Advil, and alieve. Came home and took a long hot bath. I might go down the lodge tonight for an hour or two. I was there last night for a few hours. Just came back a little while ago from the Elks. Talked to my sister and Tammy and I are going to get her out for her birthday.

Back to work tomorrow

Someone who lives near the road I have to go on said it's passable. We got the notice saying there's work tomorrow so I'll be making my way in in the morning. I finished the body on a teeny tiny penguin. Just have to do the wings and stuff and another ufo will be done.

More history happening

This storm's place in history has been pushed aside. Yes, it's the biggest (I think) blizzard we in New England have ever seen. But my God -- the Pope is resigning. At first, I thought someone was joking. But he is. They said it's only happened once before -- 600 years ago. Not sure what kind of a sign this is for Catholicism. I don't know that the Holy Spirit is involved at all in papal selection or if it's complete politics like I think it is.I finished the garlic. What I'm going to do with it is still up in the air.

Scarf and garlic and blizzard

So somewhere along the line the storm's name changed from Charlotte to Nemo. Either way we got at least 3 feet of snow. It's amazing. The snow in the back is higher than all the dumpings piled on top of each other that winter three years ago. They're saying it's the worst blizzard we've ever had. Because we live right on the street that faces the back of the hospital, our road is plowed. Anthony and Peggie and others still have around 3 feet of snow in their roads and won't be plowed out for another day or two. I shoveled a bit but Harris, Anthony, Carol and Sam pretty much all shoveled plus some guy that Luisa hired and our cars are still buried and the driveway is only half done. I have to say I LOVE living in New England. I've missed this. So today I started cleaning the pantry and I finished a scarf I'd started a few years ago. All I had left to do was the fringe. And for some reason I started knitting a garlic bulb even longer ago, not too small either -- a little smaller than a tennis ball. I've been working on that and will probably finish it tomorrow. I want to get a bunch of these UFOs done!! Started watching Downtown Abbey on Netflix. It's pretty good and I'll watch more tomorrow. That's about it for today!

Yes, it's a blizzard!

Went out only to the post office this morning. It was already snowing lightly when I left. Maybe an inch was on the ground but the roads were sanded and clear. My Ipad came in from QVC. Then I came home and that's where I'll probably be for a few days. Today was productive in a food kind of way -- baked a ham, made deviled eggs, Rice Krispie treats, and bacon ranch dip. Just a bunch of stuff. Oh yes, a nice macaroni and cheese. I'll cook more tomorrow. And I worked on a UFO -- a knitted garlic. Why a knitted garlic? Who knows but I started it years ago and will hopefully finish it in a day or so. The snow is so deep out back that the dogs couldn't pee when I just took them out. I hope they'll be ok until morning and then I can shovel them a path to pee in. They didn't seem to care.

Snow on the way

And I just hope it starts tomorrow night or early enough Friday so the university will be closed and I don't have to drive in. Ach! I LOVE snow but I am petrified of driving in it. They are saying this one will equal the Blizzard of 1978. I have wonderful memories of that blizzard but my life was so very much different then. Anyway they are calling for anywhere from 8 to 12 to 25 inches. We will see! I messages on Facebook with Ray, my old friend Jean's, son. It was a difficult conversation and we both feel so guilty for not helping Jean while she was alive. But there was no way for either one of us to help her. How do you help someone who's being abused but refuses to allow herself to be helped? I wish he wouldn't feel so guilty. He's a good man and needs to live his life free of guilt. There were only four of us at Cosmic tonight so we pretty much just ate and came home. It's always great to see Margaret though. I don't think I posted last night. But I did get nominated for Lecturing Knight last night. I will be running against Dave N. who doesn't care one way or the other if he wins. Both Yvonne and Spencer got their chairs -- Yvonne is Leading Knight and Spencer is Loyal Knight. They are in because no one else is running against them. We'll see how Peggie makes out. This will be an interesting election!

Manic Monday -- not

I am one of the rare people who love Mondays. The beginning of a brand new week. So today was a great day. :) Went to work. Came home and am about to eat a wonderful supper. What more can you ask for?

Interesting day

Went to Bunny's mausoleum with Yvonne today. Tomorrow would have been his birthday. Since he was such a Deadhead when he was alive, Yvonne got us two cards to take to the marble and we put tie-died bear stickers on them. He must have been laughing in heaven. I also signed my card with the name he loved. Then we went to Peggie's for lunch and a strategy meeting. I can't wait until the elections are over. Geez! I did a little hexi knitting at Peggie's, at least that was something. Came home and took a nap and that's it for the night!

Good evening

Just got home a little while ago. The family whose house we went to tonight are so really nice. We went through the house doing a cleansing. This was the first time I ever was involved in something like this and the experience was very good. And before we even got there, we listened to Donna's interview with the family. Margaret and I both agreed that we thought this was not a bad thing but something along the lines of Ghost Whisperer. Of course the kid is scared because she's a teenager and doesn't want this 'gift'. But we'll see if our cleansing helps at all. Lots of praying tonight.

Coming this weekend

Tonight I met Joanne and her roommate, Jerri, for pizza. I might be joining their bible study that they're starting. Weird - weird - weird -- they both know Jorge and his church. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. It does mean that their beliefs lean towards the thumper side but as long as no one tries to convert me, we'll be ok. :) Tomorrow night we are going to do a house cleansing and preliminary investigation. Apparently one person, at least, is being bothered so badly that she's afraid to stay in the house. This will be my first real investigation and I'll be praying a lot - before, during and after. Donna says it's a bad one. Sunday we go to Peggie's in the afternoon and then maybe to the cemetery to visit Bunny. If we do, I'll stop to see my parents and probably Allen's parents. Sunday evening is my Superbowl party -- me, Anthony and Carol and maybe Sam and all it is will be us pigging out. I haven't a clue who's playing football! LOL!!