Help meh save!

THIS is not spend fast worthy!

*250*

  That is a tattoo on MY right wrist. It was done during a special tattoo event for Friday the 13/Valentine`s Day. $31. The owner printed it much bigger then it was supposed to be. He also came to see what it looked like. I think he wants it too so I promptly thanked him for the upgrade. Oh yeah. The kid got one too. So after taxes and tip, I was out $80. It was a bonding moment. We had both been itchy for one. This reminds me of elementary school. Every morning I watched Tom and Jerry while I ate breakfast. If you know T&J, you get the tattoo.
Pretty cool, huh?
Ummm no. It isnt. I am so stupid. I cant even follow a simple task of saving money. I am so utterly broken that it is ridiculous. I would ask for advice but nobody comments or probably reads for that matter. Bots dont respond either.  You that read are not Bots. I apologize for that. I just need some cheerleaders and there aren't any.
 I think it is hard for me because of when this started. I still have $2k to *spend* before the deductible is reached so all is out of pocket. We have been having awful month winter wise. I just paid a huge electric bill. I will probably have to pay taxes this year. Plus I have car taxes and car reg coming up for April so I feel like I am constantly digging out. It is a lame excuse but it is how I feel.
 I also have the influences of the family. They pester me to get this. Buy this. And I have to be strong.  I have to say no no no!

How do I stay strong?  How do I not spend? *whine!*

It is very hard for us to do the *eat from the pantry* way of saving cause we already eat from it. I guess we could eat Ramen and split peas for dinner. Yay! I have been looking up recipes with things I already have in the house.
I was so proud of myself when I saved over $60 at BJ`s Wholesale Club last month and not on frivolous stuff either.  Part of me knows I should do coupons but my brain is not good like that. This has turned into a total crybaby woe as me post but I had to do it. I have to own up that my family and my hair trigger spending finger are to blame.

I think the snow is getting to me. Really I do. It is snowing right now! Has been for a couple hours. I have to go out to shovel after this post. Today I will shovel, water plants, clean/organize food pantry and possibly ignore my taxes for another day.

Spending Fast Game Plan:

Do not veer from the list of approved expenditures.
Do not buy processed foods unless extremely cheap.
Plan Garden for this year.
Put money aside till end of month.
Use that money to pay off a bill that has languished forever.
Lather Rinse Repeat until debt is paid off.
Save Save Save afterward.

Question: Is spending on supplies to make the raised veggie beds a okay expense? It will ultimately save us money in the long run.
That I would like another opinion on.

Today is Fat Tuesday. I have red beans cooking in slow cooker to serve over rice with baked chicken wings. Lots to do today.
Have a great last day of debauchery before Lent!

Multiple jagged little pills

*245*

 I decided that I needed to really look at the amount of pills I have to take a day. This does not represent all because I have a probiotic that I will start taking tomorrow AND my two insulin. Yeah, that is alot. I am posting this picture because I am an asshole. I ate whatever I wanted this weekend. I did so fully knowing what the outcome would be. I had to dose myself multiple times with insulin, I feel like crap, I am gassy, and I woke up with mega liver pain.
 ASSHOLE!
  The kid`s boyfriend came to stay for the weekend. I bought crap for them all to eat and then I proceeded to eat it. Bacon. Bread. Rice. Potato Chips. Ice fucking cream. WTF Heidi...WTF!
 Today is a new day and I am not going to do that anymore. I have to make a birthday cake for the kid. She turns 20 on Monday. I have not decided if I am going to eat any or not. Not after the debauched weekend of eating I have had. I feel like crap on the inside and I am an asshole for doing this to myself. I am trying to heal and I go and eat all that. I am done. Really. This has taught me a valuable lesson. Only takes two days of eating to bring me right back to where I was before.

Here is my dry assed tattoo. I have not put lotion on it yet today and the cap to the acorn is still healing. So it looks like shit. But I forgot to share before so here it is. My finger moustache touch up is healing well also. I am hoping when the scabs fall off that I have an even tat. If not, I am done with trying to fix it. It is what it is.
 We got a new to us washer and dryer this weekend. I am in the midst of washing clothes that have been sitting in limbo since the machine died. We would take all of our everyday clothes to the laundramat but I have two...no three large laundry bins full of wintery clothes that need to be cleaned. I also have leaves to rake and bag. We still have not painted. I think the whole teamwork thing is a crock of shit and I am going to be stuck doing this. I have to groom the dog too.
Ugh!
 So yeah...I am a bit stretched thin and I ate things that I shouldnt have. I am in pain and I deserve it. Healthy eating has commenced and I will stick with that shit!

Acorn Tattoo

*248*

  I took the kid to get her birthday tattoo yesterday. While she was at it, we both got matching tattoos of an acorn. Now the picture i took of it sucks ass..so I will get a better picture of it later and put it in my next post. It is the size of a real acorn and he touched up my finger moustache.
 
 I just finished bagging up all the magazines to go to the hospital. Then I need to make vegan cupcakes for a friend. Going to run to co-op to get castor sugar. I want to start the trim this week..yes we have not painted a damn thing. So much going on and I have not been feeling well. Feeling nauseated and in pain. Sometimes I think it is my liver other times I think it might be my kidneys. I see the urologist on Wednesday. I threw up on Friday evening. I felt so green. I threw up everything. I do not think it was food poisoning because I felt better after I did it but my liver hurt before and after. So I think that had something to do with it. I did not have anything greasy.
Oh well. Life goes on.

I am here. Just not all together with it. I figured I would post so you all that read it know I am still here. I am still going to the gym. I just do not announce it. I think the gym is part of your routine in life...why announce it the world or Facebook?  I think those that announce they are at the gym on a regular basis are just wanting some validation. I showed two pictures when I started in the beginning. That was it. So people that KNOW me know that I am going. Everyone else has no clue. I am getting stronger in the legs, I can walk farther without huffing and puffing, and my gut and boobs are shrinking. I wish the fat in my face would disappear. That would be nice. All in do time.

Time to get moving. It is noon and I am still in my jammies. Have a nice Sunday!

Some much storm, so little time

Hurricane of 1938 New London CT Harbor

This picture is from the aftermath of the 1938 hurricane that made landfall right here in my little city of New London. You can see the train tracks toward the top of the picture. It was a devastating storm. My parents lived in Boston at the time (they were kids) and they remembered it vividly. It was awful.
 Hurricane Sandy will be coming into our area probably Monday night. The weather forecasters and the meteorologists are giving me quite the headache. I think they are all owned and operated by Lowe`s and Home Depot. The storm has been downgraded. It will most likely be a tropical storm by the time it gets here. I am more of an alarmist when it comes to this shit but this storm is going to be like a strong Nor`easter. They got people flipping out thinking we are going to have sustained 70 mph winds for three days straight! That is not the case. I was reading one of our local news sources, Waterford Patch. They gave it to us straight and said they would not sensationalize the storm. It will be rainy, windy and crappy out. There may be some trees that go down and some pockets of power outages. I hope the good Lord it does not happen here cause I got a deep freezer full of food. Thankfully we have a food spoilage rider on our home insurance.
  We have some stuff that could fly away in a stiff breeze that I need to put away today and tomorrow. I have 2 cases of water bottles. I have flashlights and batteries. Emergency candles and $1 store holders. Matches and lighters. We have plenty of non perishable food. Hoping that a tree does not fall on our house and that we do not lose power. Those are two of my wishes for this storm. I have to scrub out both bathtubs today so that they will be clean when we fill them with water (for flushing) if we need it.

  Tomorrow is Natalie`s 19th birthday. This was her gift from her Daddy and I. Are we not the most Puritan of parents? *batting eyelashes*
She is wearing her heart on her sleeve. I was so freaking jealous! I want a new one! I just have those pesky bills to pay. Darn it all.
 She has a nice ice cream cake in the freezer and I am going to make vanilla cup cakes too. We had planned on going out but she wants to stay in because the storm is going to start up a bit on Sunday night. I am going to make Fred`s famous to us chicken wings, garlic mashed potatoes, and I have to get some string beans but my ass doesn't want to venture out to the store cause all the crazy hurricane people are out there. I will figure something out.

 As you can probably tell, I am feeling better about my situation. I am still freaked the fuck out but I cannot hold onto that sadness and gloom all the time. I am moving on. Hopefully I will get some good facts about my surgery on November 9th. The same morning after I see my surgeon, I go in for Pre admission testing and talk to them about making payment arrangements. Then the following week I go in for the surgery. I have had conflicting stories about what is going to happen. I think if my Dr and his PA tell me I will be in the hospital for one day, then I am not getting the kind of surgery that I suspected and was told about by others like me. Because they all were in the hospital for days and had a lumbar drain and shit. I cant be there for one day with a lumbar drain. And they do not send you home with that. So I do not know. That is when I decided to stop stressing and stop talking to those people that are trying to help you.  They were making me nuts!
   My double ear infection is doing better, I guess. I can hear more but right ear still feels like full of cotton. I just had a feeling like somebody stabbed me in the head with an ice pick but I think that is because of the storm that is coming our way. I will hug my bottle of Advil till it is over.





That is about it. We will be carving our pumpkins pretty soon and I will share pics of that. We were going to decorate outside but then the whole major storm of the century popped up so we decided against it. I have a shit load of Halloween candy upstairs in my closet. I wonder if we will get any kids at all this year. Oh well, I will hand some out to the mail man and the squatters down the street.

Bracelet Tattoo

Right wrist.

   I acquired a new tattoo while I was away. I have been thinking of this one for a bit and it was itching at me to get done. I did not have enough cash to have exactly what I want it to become.  I had an opportunity to get the names done first and the cost was  minimal so I went for it. If you didn't already know, these are my girl`s names. I wanted their initials to be next to each other. That is why they are playing off each other in such a way. Later, I am going to have a filigree bracelet design tattooed around it and towards the center on my wrist on the inside to make it a true bracelet. I will not have it go completely around. I like the kind of silver bracelets that are cuff like.
 Even though these girls can really get on my nerves sometimes like all kids do, they are still my girls. They deserve a place in my heart and I felt a spot on my body. Some of you may not agree with tattooing and that is okay. I never had it done before my 40s. My dad had lots of tattoos and he scared us all into not getting any. Plus in the 80s and 90s, it just wasn't the thing to do unless you were around others that gave and received tattoos too. For once in my life, I am a late bloomer!
  Natalie was with me when I got it. I sent a picture to Chelsea in a text message because at the time she wasn't home. She was very surprised and gave it positive feedback. That right there was worth it. To have her know that I really do care about her.
Eventually I have to think of a tattoo of Fred but not his name (taboo!) and I still have to have the ship tattooed for my Dad. All of these are going on my right arm. If I can achieve a full sleeve in my lifetime, I will be very happy.

Happy Father`s day to all the Dads and single Moms out there!

It has been an interesting week and this is why I have not posted anything. I have an article to write for my friend for the gazette but my ass did not wake up till like noon. I will do it in the morning. Yesterday I took Fred to get his Father`s Day gift which was a tattoo. First we went to lunch to have pizza with Natalie. He was hungry. We had a prosciutto, gorgonzola, fig chutney, and pear pizza. It actually tasted good. I was scared of the pear chunks at first but then I just dived in. Good.

 This is what he got on his arm. The NL that is the symbol of our city. He likes it. Later on, he can come back and get some more stuff added to it as he thinks about it. His last tattoo on his other arm is like 18 years old so we had to teach him all the aftercare for it. Raymond left to go to Virginia for a week to visit his Mom. Then Fred and I went to Mohegan Sun casino. I just wanted to go. I kept winning on the machines and giving him the money. When it was all said and done...We both gambled for 3 hours, ate at Johnny Rockets, I bought Natalie an eyeliner at Sephora ($20), and coffees for later..Because of my winning money and what I had to start off with..We only spent $10. Pretty cool, huh? We got home at like 1am and I did not get to sleep till 2am.
I am a bit tired.

  Today he is being lazy but first he went with me to the Dunkin Donuts, then I watered at the garden, and then the grocery store. I am making his chicken wing recipe, potato salad, left over pork ribs, and I have collard greens to shred, I have the broth cooking on the stove right now. That takes over an hour. Then I will wash all the damn dishes and start on cleaning the greens, making the salad, etc. Oh, he wants a tossed salad also. So it is going to be a big feast today. He deserves it. He did alot over the years to make this family run. He should get one damn day of relaxation and food!

Okay, gotta go. I really do  have a mountainous amount of shit to accomplish.

Heidi the Tattoed Lady

Natalie`s Jellyfish

*267*

 Natalie and I went for our tattoos yesterday. It was really good. I had joked with the guy that I was going to bring him a cake the last time I talked to him. He was raised in Hawaii and the topic of coconut came up. So yesterday morning, I made a 2 layer vanilla cake with butter cream frosting, covered in coconut, and a maraschino cherry on top. I even went so far as to go to AC Moore and get a $2 bakery box and cake rounds (i needed the cake rounds anyway). He was shocked when I walked in with the box. He had to open it right then and there. It was lucky. It is his wedding anniversary today so they have a nice cake to have for the weekend. He has a family so it isn't like I baked this mastodon cake for one person.
  Natalie went first and got the Jellyfish up top on her arm. It was a cover up job. The head of the jellyfish and the star were part of a bad moon tattoo she got a few years ago. The guy tattooed it too deep and caused alot of scar tissue. We will never let that guy touch us or anyone else (who asks) again. So it is very swollen in this picture because of the scar tissue. She is going to go back in a month and have more magenta put into the head. He did not want to anger the thing anymore. So that is why it looks unfinished. It will be done.

In Memory of Mom

I was next. I was having two tattoos done. The first one was this rose. It is an old fashioned sailor tattoo. It is for my Mother, Rose Covino Larson. She died 10 years ago this year and I felt I needed to honor her in a more permanent way. It is on my front right bicep. It hurt but not really. I was not wincing or anything. It was an easy tattoo. I am very happy with it and he loved to do it. He specializes in this kind of art. The kind of tattoos my Dad had are right up his alley.
Then it was time for the second one.....

~Moo-Stache~

This is the reason I baked him the cake. He said he would re-do it for free because it was a shame that it came out the way it did.  I was so scared. It hurt so badly when I had it done the first time. As those of you that follow along, it healed badly. The centers of the rounded moustache came off with the scab so it looked stupid. Fading I am okay with. Stupid, no!
 Well, it barely hurt at all. I mean there were some areas closer to my hand that smarted pretty badly but at that point he was almost done. He predicts that the last tattoo artist may have gone too deep. That is why it hurt like a bitch from start to finish and why it healed the way it did. I also got an unexpected compliment. This dude has no reason to blow any smoke up my ass at all. After he was done with the finger, I said "I bet you do not get many 43 yr old Moms coming in here to get a finger moustache?" He said "No, ah..wait. You said 43? I was guessing you were closer to my age. Like 36 or 37."
I said "Thank you! Thank you very much! "
Wow, 36 years old. I wish. I guess I can thank my Mom for the good genetics in the aging department. She never looked her age. Always younger. I LOVE IT!!

A Rose is a rose

1944

I am getting a tattoo in one week from today. I am also getting my finger moustache touched up for free. I know what I am getting but do not know where i should put it. I am getting an old fashioned sailor style rose with 1923-2002 underneath. It will represent my Mother. Her name was Rose. Now for where to put it. I do not know if I want to put on my upper right arm and start a sleeve. That would require me to have this tat done on my elbow. Or someplace else on my body. I want to be able to see it so I think it will end up on my arm.
Where should it go?

April Fool`s Day Tattoo and my very first pedicure!

*281* <---so this has been maintained for 2 weeks now. I am stepping it up a notch

I went and had my very first pedicure yesterday at a spa down the street from me. The guy doing it specializes in diabetic pedicures. He was funny, nice, and the pedicure was glorious. Day Glo Green with glitter! He told me some tips about my feet. I have a nail fungus. If I put Vicks Vapo rub on my nails every day for 2 months..it will go away and my nails will go back to normal. Yay!
Being an anesthetist is a side gig for him. He works as the general manager of a local tattoo parlor. He informed me that yesterday (April Fools) was Stupid Tattoo day. $40 for a tattoo no larger than a silver dollar. I was totally in and I wanted a bee. Someone who is afraid of bees, getting a bee tattoo. That sounds stupid to me.
We found this cute cartoon bee with a smile and he looks like he is kind of rocket ship like. I loved him above all the others online! I have named him Alistair.
I had a great April Fools day and I did not get pranked once! :)