Attack of the virus

*230*

  I was germed by someone and that is the reason no post this past Sunday. I am just feeling kind of okay today. I do not know if it was the a watered down version of the flu or a nasty cold but it sucked. The weekend was a blur of dayquil, cough drops, and pee pads. I say I do not know because I didnt have a fever but I was feverish. I had aches in my legs but it only lasted for a day. I was sick as a dog but I did not feel like I was dying. That is why it could have been a watered down version because I did have the flu shot this year. Even though that has been deemed to only be about 20% effective. I have a nagging leftover cough and my bladder needs time to recover but otherwise, I am gonna be okay. The laundry will get done.

Paid Internship

  I am thisclose to having a paid internship with a very large company in my area. I am not going to say what or where at this point. It will be 3 months to start off and can go to a max of 6 months. I will be able to use it as experience and filler on my resume. I need the administrative work to help show that I know stuffs. Just give me a chance! If they like me and vice versa AND they have a job to fill, I could be hired at some point. The wheels are rolling with this so it could be very soon. I also have another job that is very exciting and that is being reviewed. I have not had an interview for it yet but I will be positive. I had contact with the HR department already for that one. I am not putting all my hopes on it but it would be good if this one were to happen also. So I have balls in the air. Who would have ever thought when I started this blog that I would be close to going back in the working world? I wouldnt have. I try not to obsessively look at my email. It is like I am WILLING them to email me back with a time to come in for an interview. Come to me. Come to me. You want me to work for you!

No Boobs for You

  Because of this wretched ick that has befallen me, I had to cancel my boob MRI and Mammo. Plus I had to move my appointment with the boob surgeon so that it is after my scans. That will all happen in March now. I am also going to be able to get my upper endoscopy after all. The gastro is having someone else in her practice do it on a Monday so that Hubs can take me. My gut has felt better since I stopped taking the Methotrexate pills. I saw the Rheumy this week and he has switched me to injections instead. I will give myself a shot once a week. He says that it bypasses the gut so I wont have to worry about that being an issue. It was working so well for me too. Now all my patches have come back and brought friends with them. The pains I was feeling before are back also. I hope the shots do not give me any issues because I really want this to work.

Gotta Make Money, Honey

 I really really really need to get on the selling train. I have been so lazy about it. I have boxes of shit to put on Etsy and I have not even moved a muscle towards doing it. This past week has been a wash out because I have been sick, but that does not explain the past few months. I have literally have tons of shit to sell. I need the motivation. I know money is a motivation but that doesn't seem to be enough to force me to do it. I gotta DO it so these totes can stop staring at me. There are totes full of stuff right behind me. They are there because I have to photograph, post, and put them in a place for when they sell. I need to get boxes and bags and bubble wrap. Give me the motivation to get this started!! I know once I do it, I will continue to do it. I am one of those kind of people. You have to push me off the cliff and then I will fly. 
  I have a big dilemma. It has come time to pay for my garden beds at the community garden. I do not want to be there anymore. I do not like the way it is being run and last year all of our beds were taken over by ants that like to bite. We are not allowed to use chemicals and the people that run the place did not help us at all. I think that is why our peppers did not flourish at all like they have before. There is alot of weird stuff going on at the garden that I am not going to go into. Lets just say that the person running it is an asshole elitist and we will leave it like that. So my dilemma is there is a guy that is selling 4 foot, 100 gallon galvanized steel animal feeders for $50 a piece (or best offer) and I could get four of these and put them in the front yard. Fill them with compost and not have to do the community garden thing anymore. But even at $50 a piece...that is $200. I want to get four of them while he has them because of their small size and when am I going to get an opportunity like this again?
 But I am not supposed to be spending money. What would you do? Ugh! I told him I didn't get paid till the end of the month so we shall see what I do. I will either do it or not do it.

RIP iPad

 My iPad is dead. Okay, not completely dead but she is having issues with the screen. It started acting up a month ago. Yesterday it finally went. I could get the screen up long enough to email myself all the pictures I had saved on it. It is a iPad mini and I won it in a contest. I have had it for five years. It almost never left the house and I used it ever night when I went to bed. I miss it. The screen was big enough to watch videos but small enough that it was not cumbersome. It helped me so much when I was sick or healing. I will not replace it with a android one. NO. I went on the Apple website, I saw this one and I am in love but the price. After taxes, apple care, and such...it is $527. I know I could buy it someplace else but I like the protection you get when you buy it at Apple. Plus I can get a free engraving on it. I was going to call it Heidi`s Toy. 
 It is okay. Maybe if I get one of these jobs, I can save up for it. That gives me a little hope that I will eventually have one again.

That is it for today. I have breakfast/lunch cooking and then I am going to dive into some laundry and recipes. I have been slowly pecking away at the mess in the kitchen. I was literally in bed for three straight days. So maybe it was the flu. I hope you all are not having the flu or a cold. Enjoy the last grasps of Winter. March is coming and I am dreaming of Spring.

Dreaming of Spring

Cortlands and MacIntosh

*253*

   My dining room table has these three bags of apples on it. Macs and Cortlands. The room smells nice. I was able to get these for $5 a bag. They are each almost 20 lbs each. That comes to 25 cent a lb. I have decided to do some apple sauce but also some apple jelly. I have to see if I have any more cheese cloth. I love being able to buy something cheaply, make it into something good, and it saves money.

  But first I have to clean house. Ugh.

  I am a person that has a really tidy and well ordered house...in my mind. Yeah, not so much in reality. I have dusty window ledges. How do I tackle that when I have so much to do? It is my running theme in my life. I am a sick person who likes to live in a clean home but lives with family that has ADHD.  It is a freaking party! I try to rein in my ADHD tendencies by sticking with one or two areas of interest a day. The kitchen is always part of that list. It is always a mess in the morning. Always! I never wake up to smooth counter tops and everything put away. Today I will also tackle the downstairs bath. That is the *children`s* bathroom but it is also the one that people would use if they came to the house. It is like a fucking swamp. I leave it till I cant take it anymore. Those will be my two areas of interest. The vacuuming, recycling, mopping, dog washing, stair sweeping, dusting, laundry, and general decluttering will just have to wait it`s turn for more energy.

  Yeah, more energy. That is a funny notion. I miss the days of being able to do what I want and my body doesnt betray me.  I will need to muster up plenty of that fabled energy soon. My bestie, A, has some very bad bad back issues. She will need surgery. She is weaving through the maze of worker`s comp now. I am her friend and she will need my help through this. Rides to the Dr. Care after surgery. I have already started cooking meals and slowly cleaning her house. Cooking and cleaning for her but there are her Mother and Son living there also. Yeah, you read that right. I have two homes to clean. I am not complaining. I love her and it has to be done. I just dont know how.  If you have any ideas, just let me know. I fear that this could hurt me. I am already dealing with something neurological that I dont wanna talk about. It will have to wait cause I dont have the time or the money to afford being laid up right now.

  Positives for today are always good.  The furnace is wonderful. I have it on the low side. It is 20 something out but the house is good. You need a light sweater but we aren't millionaires.  I bought a primrose plant for 25 cents. It breaks my spend fast but I needed to see the flowers that it brings. My friend gifted me a blu ray player. I have to hook it up. Very happy about that! Hubs birthday is next week. I havent decided on the menu but he will have a Almond Joy cake. Oh yeah.I am actually starting to like my grey hairs that are popping up. I have decided I wont color. I earned every one of them!

I will post about the spending fast this weekend. While it supposedly snows.

Cooler days ahead

Estate sale find: $2

*245* <---Dr office scale! Woot!
 Time for a new computer. The letter n is now a wackadoo. I almost have enough saved up for a Mac.
   I had a nice weekend. I did not go to Sailfest but that is what I wanted.They all went and I had the house to myself. Kid #2 is making Chicken Adobo for dinner. And I have ice cream sundae supplies. Yes, I have had some bad shit on my mind and a ice cream sundae will do me a solid at this point. I have been thinking about it since Thursday.
 Some shit has transpired this past week. All I am saying right at this point is I have a mammo scheduled for the 22nd. Probably nothing at all as per usual with me. I just have stuff weighing on my mind about it. Send me some positive thoughts. That is all I ask.  I will elaborate when I know more.

 Cooler week ahead. It will be in the 70s. I am so looking forward to this. I have some shit to do in Kid #1`s room before I start painting. It will be lovely to do it while it is pleasant. She will be home in a month. The veggie garden is progressing. I have teeny cukes and squash blossums. I have some cherry tomatoes growing and the blueberries on my small bush are almost blue!

  I feel I should have more to say but like I said, my mind is elsewhere. I just wanted to post this week. I have to make a better effort at this.

Co-op Mob Scene/Friday stuff

This is the best hot sauce to have in your house

*265*

  I went to the co-op today because they are having a 25% off everything and they close for a week for remodeling after tonight. I had four objectives today. Buy toilet paper..check. Return bad movie to library..check. Mail bills at the post office...checky check check. Go to co-op to buy some essentials for the week they will be closed. Simple right?

Oh so wrong. I was about to get everything done wonderfully. And then I saw that the parking lot to the place was packed. There was all kinds of people in there wanting to get something for a cheaper price. I got the last jar of honey. And it was the smallest jar they sell. I wanted to pick up big essentials for us now to save money. Everyone had the same damn idea.
No produce. No cheese. No coconut oil. I got the last pound of jasmine rice. Crazyyy! I am glad I went though. We have some goodies for the coming week.

 Today I am going to  make some fried tilapia with egg wash, flour, and panko breading, fried green tomatoes with cornmeal, buttered baby peas, and some of the jasmine rice. I love adding Sriracha sauce to the egg dip. It gives the fish a nice kick in the pants. You have to be careful because if you use too much, you might blow the top of your head off. You can find it in most grocery stores in their ethnic sections but if you have an Asian market, get it there. Much cheaper. You want the red bottle with the rooster on the front and the green cap. You will like it where ever you want to add a bit of heat. 
  The computer has another damn virus. A Trojan this time. I bought the virus protection from the company that helped me before (Malwarebytes) and because I bought it, they are helping me via email right now. They will help me eradicate whatever the hell is infecting this thing. It is crazy. I HATE DELL COMPUTERS! Yes, I said it. When I have money saved up this December, one of my first purchases will be a Mac. A nice big one. Desktop. I like the laptop but for the first replacement, I want a desktop. I like having a central computer that everyone can use and try not to fuck up. So yeah, more problems with this damn dell. I refuse to call them. I have talked to them enough. When we get a replacement, we are going to use a sledgehammer on this computer. I will even videotape it and post that shit!

It has been a cooler day then the past. It will be a nice dinner and Natalie and I are going to watch Disc 2 of season 4 of True blood. It is supposed to rain tomorrow and be much cooler. I cannot wait. I have to take Raymond and Chelsea to work. Then I have to wait around for a cable company tech to try and fix our cable. It is an issue on the street. It is bothering all of our tvs and internet AND we are not the only house. They came to fix it at the pole yesterday but that shit made it worse. Back to the drawing board.

So, if I disappear for any length of time, it is probably cause of the computer. I am hoping I get it taken care of by this weekend. Cross fingers for me!

RIP Mac

*266*

I should have known when I saw Chelsea had completely turned off the computer last night that something was wrong. My Mac desktop is dead. It comes on and you can browse for like 5-10 and then this pain in the ass colored circle comes on the screen. Usually it would go away but now it wont and you cannot close out the browser to start all over again. You cannot do anything. You have to turn the computer completely off. So yeah, it is dead.
I have this Dell laptop that our friend gave us. We are all going to have to use it and some people are not going to be happy. It was given to ME. But someone thinks it is theirs. You have to basically wrestle it out of her hands to get to use it. Sorry bub. We have no other options but phone. You all are NOT going to take over this computer and leave me with nothing. I forbid that shit.
I guess I will get more housework done huh?
 A replacement desktop Mac will be $1200-1400. If I wanted to be spiffy and get a Mac Book Pro (laptop) then that is $1400-1800. As you can tell from my writings, I do not have a pot to piss in. I do have a window to throw it out of though! LOL
So there will be no new computer in this house for some time. I do not want to sound like a snob but we like Apple computers. We like the fact that you do not get viruses. I want that again. She lived 4 years. That is a good run.
I am sounding all sad.
Frankly, I am. So many things have been coming up and NOW the computer dies. I was able to save all my pics and paperwork on the external hard drive. Yay! I hope Chelsea gets the chance to do the same.

This sucks! Really. I keep staring at it but that does not mean it will make it all better. Cant fix it because it will cost too much (i already know).

Okay..back to life. I guess I can wash some floors or some stupid shit like that.

My Mac is dying..waaaaa! waaaaa!

*282*

  This is a picture of an Apple IIe circa 1977 maybe..All I know is my Dad brought one of these babies home when I was in elementary school. How cool was that? I was probably one of the only kids in my class that had a home computer. I knew how to program in DOS. I would not know a DOS file if I tripped over it now.  Fred and I bought our first PC and set up internet when we bought our house in 1998. We have had 3 PCs and then the girls talked me into getting this Mac right here. I have loved it. I made a big mistake though. The economy shit the bed around the same time that I was supposed to renew my warranty contract with Apple. I just did not have the $200 and change to pay for it. And here I sit..with a computer that has been acting up for a year. First I had to have the hard drive replaced. But now we have other issues I do not want to get into. This morning I woke up to the bottom part of the screen is significantly darker then the top of the screen. I looked it up..That is not a good thing..at all. So let us hope that Heidi comes up with the funds to purchase a new Mac (no PCs in this house..LOL) before this one dies.
  My dream would be to have this computer fixed or just get a new one all together AND have a Macbook for myself. No touchies for the kiddies. It would be in lockdown. Only Fred or I could use it. That would be pure bliss for me.  I hate not having money. This is going to turn into a short economy rant now..hehehe I can feel it. We are doing okay...I guess. We are basically living paycheck to paycheck but I have been able to start putting money away. But then shit like this happens and there goes the money! If I could just not have cable tv or buy food..OMG the money I could save. LOL
I had quit smoking so I figured I would have that cushion of money to save. I should be saving almost $3000 a year from not smoking. That is an extra $250 a month. Oh hell no. Because then that money was to pay for the rising cost of electricity, oil for the tank, and cable. You cannot win for losing.  In my perfect house/world right now I will tell you what I would do. I would buy two new Mac desktops and a laptop. I would either get rid of cable tv all together or just have the basic package (hubs has to have football and basketball). We could use the computers for the internet and for watching Hulu and Netflix. One car and the kids would use bicycles. Hell, my ass could use one too. Fred cannot. He has an issue with one of his knees. No  junk food, no soda, no juice, no commercial crap that costs extra. Generic all the way baby. I could go on and on. I have a clothes line but we do not use it!
 I already do so many things that help us but I could do so more. Okay, I know I am whining and some people would say that I need to do something about it to make it better. I just have not figured out what that something is...
When I do, I will let you know.