Little Things I've Noticed

This is going to be a schizo post. I've jotted down a few things over the week, had a weekend trip to talk about, then BAM! when I got to work this morning. A former student worker's sister, who also worked at the Department of Insurance in another office) had gotten into a bad wreck at 1am this morning. She was on top of an Interstate overpass, was ejected from the car, and fell thirty feet to the street below. She's in critical care and I know I don't have the full list of everything that is wrong, but the medics are saying her chances are good because she is young and strong without previous medical conditions.

It hits some of my coworkers harder. Their mother worked for the Department until she died, so both girls have been raised by the working village.

So on that note, here comes my notes on the previous week.

April 22: The albatross is off my neck and the words are flowing a little more free. Only it's not official yet. But apparantly telling myself I'm going to quit is enough to get creative juices flowing again. I finally came up with credible motivation for the villain in Strix, a character trait that had elude me for months. The ethnography is pulling teeth to make the daily word count. I'm going to outline how I want to cover the details tonight and maybe that will help.

April 23: Damn, I guess Amazon doesn't worry too much about stealing identities on their accounts, I just spent ten minutes changing my email address from Hotmail to GMail. It should never take that long to do that.

Also I didn't sell any of the books I put up for sixty days. Which means I'm free to put them out at the garage sale first and see if any of them will go. So in the next two week I'll have to purge my shelves.

I just did a Big Rocks tally. Out of nine items for this week that I have to do, I have finished five including the biggest and most involved: writing out my plans for FanFiction Garret on paper. Holy crap! And I was impressed I'm keeping up with my daily word count for the ethnography. I'm downloading and reading some books from WOWIO tonight. I deserve it. Okay, I just finished all the daily MITs for today! *Happy dance*

Have I not told anybody about WOWIO? Free ebooks and free ecomic books. There is a limit to what you can download and you have advertisement in the files, but that pays the creator of the book. A lot of the webcomics I read have switched to using WOWIO.

April 27: Went to Festival Internationale in Lafayette Saturday and discovered I don't play well in herds and I feel like I'm being a total grump when my schedule is disrupted. I'll never be invited back to anything because I'm turning into a grumpy old man who yells at kids on my grass.

Then on the other hand I introduced them to Pink Five. They'll love me forever.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

Iron Experiment Redux 15

Week 45 = 186.2
Week 44 = 185.7
Week 43 = 187.5
Week 42 = 186.1
Week 41 = 184.2
Week 40 = 181.7
Week 39 = 181.6
Week 38 = 181.2
Week 37 = 180.7
Week 36 = 179.3
Week 24 = 188
Week 12 = 187.6
Week 1 = 205

I had my fun weekend. Now it's time to seriously cut out the carbs again; go to Phase One and stay there for two weeks.

I've done two workouts with the warm-up weight five-pounds under the workout weight. This workout kept both warm-up and workout weights the same. I think I will have to stay here for the next three workouts.

InStride Walker is what the exercise machine on my porch is. I meant to start using it this workout, but I ended up having to end the workout after the crunches. I did get on it to make sure it still works. Well, the parts move but I feel weird doing a walking motion with my legs that doesn't bend my knees. Convinced I was doing it wrong, I Googled about it looking for exercises. Everything relevant that came up were websites selling the used machines. It's not even listed on the company-who-made-it's page anymore. So since, I can't figure out anyway to bend the knees using it, I guess I don't bend the knees.

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The BookWorm

Number Crunching 121

Quicken Cash Flow = 119.01

I don't have anything else to say about this week. Financially, it's rather a blur. A blur that will be cleared up next week when I do April's budget review.

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The BookWorm

Iron Experiment Redux 14

The next two workouts will be copies of this one with separate warm-up and workout weights rather than move to the same weight for both. I managed 35 reps of Breaststroke Level 1. I think in four more workouts I will be at 50 reps and can move to the Level 2 version.

My scale measurements are still hovering at 186.5 pounds. Should I add in more cardio? I know I need more than what I get, but I don’t know where to add it. Thanks to gas costs, I haven’t been to the gym. It’s getting warm enough to go swimming, but that means extra driving too. Mom put her glider machine on my porch (right in the way to the weight bench, which I didn’t discover until I went out in the dark to workout and had to move it) but I’m dubious over how useful it can be. At least, it doesn’t cost any gasoline to get to it.

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The BookWorm

Revolution Money Exchange

Breaking the silence to tell you guys about Revolution Money Exchange. From their website because I'm tired and can't phrase it better:

Easily exchange money online.
MoneyExchange is the new way to send and receive money online between MoneyExchange accountholders. It’s a great way to exchange money with friends, colleagues, or online sellers. Share restaurant, travel, or household expenses. It’s easy, secure and, best of all, it’s FREE to register and FREE to send and receive money between MoneyExchange accountholders.

Secure transfers.
With so many leading-edge security features built right in, security comes second nature to MoneyExchange. A PIN is required when you send money from your MoneyExchange account and transfers are processed safely and securely. Click here to learn more about our security features.

Your wallet will thank you.
Best of all – it’s FREE

* FREE to register for an account
* FREE to add money to your bank account
* FREE to send money
* FREE to receive money
* FREE to request money
* FREE to transfer money to your bank account
* A transaction fee applies for check withdrawals, check stop payments, paper statements, ACH returns, and overdrafts. See Schedule of Fees and Accountholder Agreement for more information.

For every referal, I get $10. If you sign up before May 15th, you get $25. I already have mine and I'm planning on adding this payment method to Alt. BM Site and the new site I'm working on.

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The BookWorm

Iron Experiment Redux 13

I went up on the workout weight today, and I think I may have to plateau here a while with the rests I had to take. Humidity is up, and one rest was me going back into the house for water. I used the second barbell for the warm-up weight again, and it worked much better this time. I put my hands outside the iron plates instead of trying to keep them on the inside. So now all I’m left with is having to change the iron plates on my dumbbells. I need to buy another pair of 2.5 plates; I never have enough of those to use.

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The BookWorm

Perhaps Introspection Will Pay Off This Time

I have no doubt that I will slip into an old habit, or just don’t feel like keeping up with a hard won truth, and I’ll have to go through the whole process again. I’m deliberately not reading through the archives to see if I’ve had these particular revelations before.

Aggravations

I hate checking email.
Why?

• I get in trouble at work.
• I’m overwhelmed by all the junk mail.
• I don’t want to deal with any more AMF shit.
• Microsoft Outlook develops issues at home and doesn’t want to run right.
• There’s too much of it and no time to answer the ones I want to answer.
• I feel obligated and then guilty because I can keep up the obligations.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Mild annoyance except when I give into the avoidance strategy.

What can be done about it?

• Set a schedule and a time limit to check email. Before leaving for work but after at least one daily MIT, lunch time for personal Gmail, and when I get home before winding down for the day.
• Always delete the junk mail folder at the end of the day, everyday. Do not let it build up for a few months.
• Switch the website emails to filter through a Gmail account before coming into Outlook to cut down on the amount of junk mail.
• Once during the weekend, take thirty minutes and perform a task on the Reconfiguring Outlook project list or read through the DWL folder.
• Try this for the next month (May 18) before switching to another program.

I hate oversleeping.
Why?

• Throws off the whole day, and puts me in a foul mood.
• I usually don’t get to writing or exercising.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Minor nuisance.

What can be done about it?

• No caffeine after noon! And keep morning caffeine to under two cans, averaging one a day.
• Go to bed and get up at the same time everyday.
• Write regardless. Exercise can be moved to the afternoon when I get home.
• Set up a bedtime routine and stick to it.
• Turn the bedtime alarm clock back on.

I hate the commute.
Why?

• I get sleepy in the car.
• It’s time I could be spending doing something else.
• The price of gas and wear and tear on my car.
• Possibility of accidents goes up because I’m on the road so much.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Major nuisance.

What can be done about it?

• Be sure I’m awake fully before driving.
• Drive more carefully.
• Buy the cheapest gas I can find.

I hate having a dirty kitchen that expands to the rest of the house.
Why?

• Mess just multiplies and you can’t ever stay ahead of it.
• I’m not poor white trash that lives in a sty!
• I waste time in cleaning frenzies that could be spent on other things.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Nuisance

What can be done about it?

• Follow the chore schedule that works beautifully.
• Stop taking housekeeping so seriously. It’s not bad until it’s a health hazard.

I hate feeling obligated.
Why?

• Because I must fulfill my obligations before I Can do anything for myself.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Annoyance

What can be done about it?

• Start saying no or quantify time promises and stop feeling guilty about it!
• Explore this feeling more.

I hate having no time to write.
Why?

• If I can’t write, why live?
• Writing should always come first and I can’t be selfish and put it first.
• I’m not a writer is I don’t write.
• Everything has to be done and I’m the only one here to do it.
• Writing only serves me.
• Until I get paid, it’s only a hobby. And I don’t deserve hobbies that cost money and time.
• I go foamy at the mouth if I don’t get to write.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Major annoyance and wondering what the hell is wrong with me.

What can be done about it?

• Quit other obligations.
• Make writing time one of the daily MITs.
• Get my fucking priorities straight.

I hate running out of money every month and racking up overdraft fees.
Why?

• I’m a fucking financial ruin until I get it straight.
• The credit union has taken enough of my money that could have paid some of my debts off, or added to savings and not bounce payments anymore.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Major annoyance.

What can be done about it?

• Follow the budget.
• Save money so I can live on last month’s income.
• Stop beating myself up when I fall down.

I hate doing all the work on AMF.
Why?

• No one is really communicating with me anymore.
• I’m being used by just about everyone (and having it pointed out by impartial bystanders).
• People are going to make me the fall guy.
• I don’t know who to trust anymore.
• It’s not my dream, and it’s stealing time to work on my dreams.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Major annoyance.

What can be done about it?

• QUIT!

I hate hiding stuff because I don’t want to upset people.
Why?

• I get stressed because I don’t want to upset people.
• I feel like I’m living a lie.
• I don’t want to be hated, so I avoid telling people anything.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Major nuisance, it’s a personal quirk effecting everything.

What can be done about it?

• Stop avoiding what makes me uncomfortable.

I hate hurting people.
Why?

• I shouldn’t press myself onto people.
• I’m tired of dealing with people, just leave me alone.
• I’m going to hurt them with what I’m asking for or what I have to tell them.
• They’re going to hate me.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Major nuisance, it’s a personal quirk effecting everything.

What can be done about it?

• Stop avoiding what makes me uncomfortable.

I hate my bathroom.
Why?

• No shower.
• No sink.
• No real storage.
• Ugly sheetrock walls painted a hideous color.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Annoyance

What can be done about it?

• Remodel.

I hate being afraid.
Why?

• Honestly, I don’t know why I’m afraid of people hating me, being obligated to people, giving people bad news.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Nuisance.

What can be done about it?

• Stop avoiding things that make me uncomfortable.

I hate wasting time on the Internet.
Why?

• It’s time I could be spending on writing or anything else.
• Bad for my health. I should sit in front of the computer for hours.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Major nuisance.

What can be done about it?

• Set time limits on Internet reading.
• Write first then play.
• Schedule get up breaks.

I hate having no free time.
Why?

• I can never be spontaneous.
• I always feel guilty about taking time off. I have too much to do.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Annoyance.

What can be done about it?

• Recognize that I need free time every day and every week to stay healthy and sane.
• Schedule the obligations and the free time and keep the schedule.
• Get together with people once a month for dinner or an event.

I hate not sticking to any resolutions I make for myself.
Why?

• It means I’m a failure. I have so much to fix and I just stop trying to fix anything.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Major nuiscance.

What can be done about it?

• Stop trying to fix everything that’s wrong at once.
• Concentrate on fixing one thing in a three month period instead of a month. Evidently, a month is not long enough to force a new habit.

I hate having to depend on the undependable.
Why?

• Because it means I have to do everything.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Annoyance.

What can be done about it?

• QUIT depending on them.

I hate school.
Why?

• Financial stress.
• Loops I had no idea about jumping through with the school and Sallie Mae.
• This class is making me spend extra time on AMF and that stresses me out.
• I can’t find time to handle school business so I can graduate.

Real annoyance or minor nuisance?

• Annoyance.

What can be done about it?

• Stop avoiding what has to be done.
• Make deadlines for the paper project.

Once that list was done, I pulled fifteen strategies to relief the stress out of it.

Strategies to Relieve Stress

1. Set deadlines for projects.
2. Use weekly Big Rocks and daily MITs.
3. Set a daily schedule for chores, email, and other things that pile up quickly.
4. No extra caffeine, and no late nights.
5. Write every morning for at least thirty minutes.
6. Use the bedtime alarm clock and set up a bedtime routine.
7. Use the chore checklist.
8. Start telling people no or be honest with what free time I have.
9. Quit AMF.
10. Follow the budget.
11. Stop beating myself up when I fall down.
12. Stop avoiding what makes me uncomfortable.
13. Set time limits on Internet reading and schedule get up breaks.
14. Concentrate on fixing one thing in a three-month period instead of a month. April – June is to fix writing priority.
15. Exercise on schedule. No skipping

Some are easier accomplished than others. Then I started scheduling. It was like doing a mind sweep and a calender at the same time. Then I transferred that list to the calender. Next I’ll need to update the chores checklist and SimpleGTD. I’m undecided whether to keep Joe’s Goals or not. I’m not very good at keeping it updated, and most of what I have to do will be established by Big Rocks and daily MITs.

It doesn’t sound like I’m concentrating on just one thing for the next three months, but really everything that is scheduled is writing related. My goal is to get my writing back into priority level one in my life. I’m optomistic that this hard look at my life will help me do that.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

Iron Experiment Redux 12

Week 44 = 185.7
Week 43 = 187.5
Week 42 = 186.1
Week 41 = 184.2
Week 40 = 181.7
Week 39 = 181.6
Week 38 = 181.2
Week 37 = 180.7
Week 36 = 179.3
Week 24 = 188
Week 12 = 187.6
Week 1 = 205

Okay, I put the full 44 week weight loss record, and took up a whole page in Word on just the list. So I cut it down to the 12 week highlights and what I’m currently working with. The previous weeks’ records are archived in the blog and on an Excel file I’m keeping, so if it’s available if you’re that curious.

This week was period, which explains where two pounds suddenly went. I’ve been working out consistantly and watch the food but I haven’t gone real strict. But I’m happy to see the numbers go down.

I took a two day break between workout sessions because I was nice and did something stupid. I have two coworkers who are walking the stairs at least once a day, though often they manage twice a day. Well, one of them was out last Wednesday, and her partner asked me to walk with her. Our office has already had one accident in the stairwell (her sugar went off and she blacked out while making deliveries), so I said sure. I survived the stairwell. Then Thursday morning I did my Iron Experiment workout.

By the time I arrived at work, my thighs and calves were pulled taunt. It was teeth-gritting to get up and down out of chairs. Friday morning I put on Biofreeze and it helped loosen them up. I decided to do weights Sunday morning to give the legs a rest on Saturday. That strategy worked, I completed my whole workout with no pain, but I had a bath with Epson salt right after just in case.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

I needed to hear this

The Day My Son Almost Died is a great article analyzing how women need to deal with ambition.

I'm still working on the introspection. I think I took detour into unhelpful self-loathing territory. I'll be back when it's more concrete.

Read Free!
The BookWorm


Progress Bar from Writertopia





There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Number Crunching 120

Quicken Cash Flow = -213.08

Well, I knew it was going to be bad. Especially after going shopping. *Sigh and I didn’t get anything I didn’t need!

It’s going to keep happening until I get a cash cushion. And I can’t get a cash cushion until it stops happening.

Good news: I think I have progress on my last student loan. If Sallie Mae is jerking my chain again, I have a solicitation from Chase for a student loan from them.

I complained about a beauty product that didn’t work, and got my money back. I’m waiting until payday so the deposit isn’t completely lost. Hollywood Casino is also luring me back with $5, something I earned while playing slots with Mom. So I guess that means I actually broke even with what I put in and got out of the machines.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Random thoughts

Looks like it's another unexplainable slow day at work again. At least I get to catch up on checking in.

Finished "For Worse" and need to find beta readers. But I have been silent in the community for a while, I don't know if that will have an effect. And I feel guilty because I can't promise a trade situation with anyone because my time schedule sucks and will probably get worse.

I haven't heard back from North Oaks yet. I think I interviewed well, and the job would be a good fit, but if they would rather have someone who doesn't have to go through hoops to get trained, I understand. Just let me know something so I can put an application in somewhere else. It'll be a week on Friday. I think protocol says wait two weeks before bugging them.

I have heard from my car insurance company's attorney on the lawsuit. Waiting for a call back because I don't know if I was personally served or not. His letter said I shouldn't be, but my mother signed for my suit papers because I wasn't home. The whole thing is a little disconcerting, especially since I got my paperwork done before the year deadline. From what the insurance company told me, they settled the property damage part and will settle the medical once they get the paperwork. So don't worry about it. So I'm trying not to worry about it, but it is on my mind anyway.

My sleep schedule is kinda getting better. Meaning now I am waking up with the alarm clock, but I can't pull myself out of bed so I listen to the last hour of Coast to Coast AM in the dark. Unfortunately, the topics haven't been inductive to driving me out of bed. Whitley Stribner is on tonight. I think worrying about trying to see abducting greys with probes might get me to the light switch faster.

When I get the house's electricity rewired, I'm having an alarm times put on the light switch to my bedroom. Alarms should have lights. I'm a heavy sleeping and when tired enough can sleep through any noise. But I can't sleep with the lights on.

My grandmother has finally been moved. Her report is "You have put me in the crazy house." Because they are two paitents who screamed and moaned all the time "just like Hammond State School." (Since renamed and changed mission, but it was the long-term care institution for the mentally disabled ran by the state started back when they thought the best thing was to take them from their family and hide them from the world.)

Mom's reply: "Well, you worked there for thirty years, you should be used to it." My response to Mom: "She complains about everywhere. She even complained about being at your house. Don't take it personally." I need to go see her, but my schedule hasn't been open.

The schedule, ugh. How's that for a segue? I have to start planning it better. Starting with deadlines. The ethnography is due for a grade May 14, so I have to get cracking on that. I have the website project with writing tutorials, Strix, other website tweaks in the project que. And the amorphous paper due next semester to get me out of school that I haven't started even looking for it. And then there's the Faire, and improving health, and improving finances, and keeping the house clean enough.

Small wonder I'm getting those ack attacks. As in "ACK! TOO MUCH SHIT TO DO! NO TIME TO DO IT!"

While I'm no where at the levels Funny About Money was in, I think I'm going to work through her strategies to pinpoint what I can and cannot do anything about. Most of it is an anxiety that I'm wasting my time without addressing my dreams and goals. I have the introspection to look closer at it on schedule for tonight and probably tomorrow night on commercial breaks.

Course the easiest damn thing to do is quit the biggest aggravation. It's not my dream, I don't technically owe it anything and definitely not at my personal expense. For now, that option is off the table with the understanding that I can come back to it once certain conditions have been met. *Sigh*

One other note to myself before wrapping up: reroute all the website emails through GMail accounts to get rid of the spam. I'm really tired of Outlook not catching everything it should catch, and this seems like the easiest tweak. If it doesn't work, I have to rethink my whole email strategy.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Iron Experiment Redux 11

I bumped the warm-up weight to the same as the workout weight. The way I think it should work: two workout sessions with the warm-up weight five pounds less than the workout weight, then two workout sessions with the warm-up weight the same as the workout weight, then bump the workout weight up by five pounds. I don't really know if this is going to work, considering I just spent five sessions at the same weights.

I got both the ab balls aired up yesterday, and it is true, crunches are harder the firmer the ball is. I could only do thirty crunches this morning. Fatigue is also noticeable in the shoulders, especially the left one. I go through the full number of reps and there's no pain, just a little tightness. Course I also wonder if its my body being a little pissed at my budget brain. I called for massage rates and realize I probably can't afford it this month. My car always tends to make me spend money I had earmarked on something else, so why not my body?

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Iron Experiment Redux 10

So much for getting up on time. I overslept this morning. But I got home at 5:15 pm, so I dressed and went out to the front porch and worked out.

Last week, Mom finally found her barbell. About three years ago, I had borrowed it to use while working out with Escape Your Shape but had returned it a few months later. Course about six months after that, Mom asked for the barbell back. "I already gave it back." Mom's answer, "Well, I can't find it." Repeat for two years. She found it finally and put it on my porch with the weight bench. So I decided that if my weights fitted on it, I would use it for my warm-up weight rather than trading weights on my barbell.

Mom freely admits that she bought a cheap-ass weight bench. The weights that came with it are plastic-covered concrete (I leave them on the bench to keep it weighted down). The barbell that came with it is hollow and only four-feet long. Mine is six-feet long and weighs at least 15 pounds. Mom's barbell worked for what I wanted it (my iron weights fitted on it) but it was hard to get it up on my shoulders for the squats. I'm undecided if working with it is less aggravating than changing the weights on mine and having to do math.

I also got up to thirty reps of Breaststroke level 1. I'm not going to switch to level 2 until after I reach fifty. But on today's, I noticed a strange pull in my shoulders I hadn't felt before. I don't know if my shoulders were just tired from the day at work or if I was doing something wrong. The ball needs airing up, along with my office ball. I have to remember to do that tomorrow.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

It's Monday Already?

I'm not completely sure where this weekend went. I went shopping and hurt my budget. And then I cooked. I still have a pot of beef stew and a container of the whole pot roast that need to be divided up. Even though most of the cooking was done with crockpots, I don't know what possessed me to cook five meals. Tonight, I have to finish dividing and freezing meals, and washing dishes. No, the channeling Betty Crocker episode did not end in a spotless kitchen.

My grandmother should be checked out of the hospital and the only long-term care facility that handles IVs. She's going to be on drip antibiotics for the rest of the month because infection has set into her bone on her leg or maybe her foot (my memory is fuzzy), but it is responding to the treatment. Her mind is getting worse. Uncle Scott calls everyday, but by the time Mom talks to her in the evening, all she can do is complain about Uncle Scott never talks to her. I file this under her tendency to play manipulative games and determination to drive Mom crazy before she dies.

My sleep schedule maybe on the road to recovery. I cut back to only one can of caffeinated drink on Sunday. I had to take a Tylonel PM for the withdrawal headache be bedtime, but I woke up closer on time than I have for the past two weeks. Yeah!

Now to work out a schedule for projects, deadlines really. I don't do will with scheduling this day for this project carried through the week and I'm doing equally not well with just finish it when you finish it. Yeah this is what Big Rocks and daily MITs are supposed to cover; guess what I fell off the doing wagon with?

And to end with wild turkey. And not the whiskey either. My Friday April 11th workout ended up being done while the neighbor's offspring were out waiting for their school bus. Soon I heard one of them yell "wild turkey! Wild turkey!" Thinking "she's old enough to come up with worse insults than that," I continued my workout until I heard a gobble.

Sure enough, there was a turkey across the street strutting across the tree-studded lawn. I didn't really think much about it. The kids got on their bus. I figured the turkey was probably an escapee from someone's coop and wished him luck as I went on my day.

Sunday morning, Mom calls me. "Bring your camera quick. We gotta a turkey in the back yard!"

"Wow, he managed to cross the street." I didn't get a photo because my uncle's dog decided to bark the bird into the tree line. We did see its beard though and identified it as a male.

Monday evening, Uncle Scott caught a glimpse of a second one, a hen in my backyard. There has been a lot of construction and logging going on toward the river, and this is probably what has drove the turkeys to our yards. Because Pumpkin Center has never been prime turkey hunting country before. Mom's planning on putting out oatmeal for them, and hopefully they will nest nearby.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Iron Experiment Redux 09

Week 43 = 187.5
Week 42 = 186.1
Week 41 = 184.2
Week 40 = 181.7
Week 39 = 181.6
Week 38 = 181.2
Week 37 = 180.7
Week 36 = 179.3
Week 35 = 178.6
Week 34 = 179.4
Week 33 = 179.4
Week 32 = 178.8
Week 31 = 179.2
Week 30 = 181.7
Week 29 = 181.9
Week 28 = 182.8
Week 27 = 182.7
Week 26 = 185.3
Week 25 = 188.2
Week 24 = 188
Week 23 = 186.7
Week 22 = 187.4
Week 21 = 186.9
Week 20 = 186.2
Week 19 = 186.4
Week 18 = 186.3
Week 17 = 186.5
Week 16 = 187.2
Week 15 = 188.6
Week 14 = 188.8
Week 13 = 189
Week 12 = 187.6
Week 11 = 187.8
Week 10 = 189.6
Week 9 = 188.9
Week 8 = 193.4
Week 7 = 194.5
Week 6 = 194.5
Week 5 = 195.5
Week 2 = 199
Week 1 = 205

For the past few weeks, I've been laboring under an assumption that my left shoulder needed to stay at the weights I was lifting. Anything more would damage it.

This morning I said fuck it and up the workout weight by five pounds.

And executed the workout perfectly with no lasting damage. Plus 35 crunches. Now if only I could make this caffeine-withdrawal headache go away as easily.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Iron Experiment Redux 08

Wow, I did 25 reps of Breaststroke level 1! That's the ball pilates exercise I do for back extensions.

Now don't get me wrong. I love pumping iron compared to other exercises. I'm in this for my health, ultimately. However, the vain part of me wants some body sculpting results. It's also locked in with the impatient part of me who wants the results now!

My butt is the perkiest it has ever been. Buns of steel are probably not in my genetic makeup, so I will settle for glutes that will help me kick ass if I need to. My stomach, however, doesn't seem to understand the program. Yeah, I know the chocolate cravings and giving into them doesn't help, but it's hard to stay motivated looking down at the gut that is still out past the boobs. I don't see my butt, so it doesn't work as a motivating body part.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Number Crunching 119

Quicken Cash Flow = 253.05

Course this is before I went shopping. Next Friday's review will be brutal.

I ran a check on how much medical I spent so I can change my FSA amount. Since my teeth were an unexpected emergency, I took that amount out of the equation and came up with $1900.00. I finished that paperwork, and then used the IRS withholdings calculator to see if I needed to change my W4. It came back that I didn't because I should only overpay $100, unless I actually manage to make other deductions. I initially said no to putting anything in the IRA and whatever else the calculator asked for. If I have a miracle upswing during the year, that could change.

I'm also getting sued. My insurance company assures me they a) won't drop me because of it and b) this happens all the time in Louisiana because paperwork isn't finished by the time the year deadline rolls around and a suit keeps it open. I find it a little demoralizing and more stress I don't need.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Number Crunching 118

Quicken Cash Flow = -36.20
Cash = 66.49

Running late on posts again, so I'm trying to catch up.

The infusion from cash is from Mom insisting we stop at Hollywood Casino and her winning a decent jackpot and splitting it with me. I managed to only lose $5 out of $20.

I went for a second trading-my-time-for-a-paycheck job interview yesterday. the position I went in for turned out to have bad timing: 4:30 - 10:30 Thursday and Saturday, class night and not able to push it back an hour. But I ended up being able to interview for another position seven hours on Saturday and Sunday. Now I just have to wait for the next interview or the sorry-we're-not-interested call.

In the mean time, I have to catch up on homework, AMF work, and set up Internet revenue streams. Scheduling times to maintain these things is now crucial because with another time suck it gets worse.

Internet revenue streams: the surveys I don't think will work out for me as well as they have other people. I end up too many times not being in the target audience they want to survey. I'm not saying pocket change won't add up, but that it's going to take a few months to earn up the pocket change.

Surprisingly enough, I got thirteen votes in favor of see the Writing Tutorials in blog format. So I think that's a great place to start repackaging and selling ad space. With what I already have written, the editing and updating will be less time consuming as I work on other writing projects. Every thing's been knocking my writing schedule off-kilter. This will probably be my last free weekend, so I have to web changes done.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

Iron Experiment Redux 07

Who says doctors can't motivate? Same day I have three month visit is the same day I got back to the weights after a fifteen day hiatus. Hadn't realizied it was that long. No wonder the body weight creeped up.

Week 42 = 186.1
Week 41 = 184.2
Week 40 = 181.7
Week 39 = 181.6
Week 38 = 181.2
Week 37 = 180.7
Week 36 = 179.3
Week 35 = 178.6
Week 34 = 179.4
Week 33 = 179.4
Week 32 = 178.8
Week 31 = 179.2
Week 30 = 181.7
Week 29 = 181.9
Week 28 = 182.8
Week 27 = 182.7
Week 26 = 185.3
Week 25 = 188.2
Week 24 = 188
Week 23 = 186.7
Week 22 = 187.4
Week 21 = 186.9
Week 20 = 186.2
Week 19 = 186.4
Week 18 = 186.3
Week 17 = 186.5
Week 16 = 187.2
Week 15 = 188.6
Week 14 = 188.8
Week 13 = 189
Week 12 = 187.6
Week 11 = 187.8
Week 10 = 189.6
Week 9 = 188.9
Week 8 = 193.4
Week 7 = 194.5
Week 6 = 194.5
Week 5 = 195.5
Week 2 = 199
Week 1 = 205

Now that the weather is evening out, I think I'm going to scale up my fitness schedule to every other day out at the weights. Until I notice bad effects. Hopefully the crap interfering with sleep has ended and I can get up on time.

For the health update, my numbers stayed the same since my last visit in November. I threw all conceot of sticking to the diet out the window for the last couple of months, so I'm fairly sure that didn't help. I think I'm going to pass Mom my South Beach Diet cookbooks and beg for meals conforming to the plan.

Since 500mg of metformin three times a day did not agree with my digestive track, the doctor switched me to Glumetza 500mg three times a day. I also got an Adpex refill and cosmetic treatment for the hair on my face. I haven't filled all of them yet; waiting for the paycheck.

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The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/

So far, so good

No need to move any money out of savings last night. Now if only I could catch up my sleep bank as easily.

Read Free!
The BookWorm

There is a new renaissance festival in Louisiana! Check out the Acadiana Medieval Faire at: http://www.acadianafaire.org/