Tired and more rain

I am pooped. I have been working a lot which is great but I am in desperate need of a full pajama day. I did make enough money to pay off 90% of one my credit cards which is a bit of a relief. But, it's a struggle to get ahead financially. My plan, after I pay off all of my debt, is to:
#1 Get a haircut!
#2 Buy a fully 100% water proof rain coat.
#3 Get a chewable umbrella for dog-walking (My nice umbrella has Yardin's teeth marks on it...)
#4 Buy Advil.
#5 Get some extra hiking socks.
#6 Buy a new pair of summer shorts.
I really can't wait but I must. If there are no major disasters I may be debt free by the end of next month. The problem is not having any sort of back-up. Little Car's maintenance was over $700 again for the breaks and other minor stuff. And then another $500+ for the wheel bearing. LC does sound good as new, but if anything else goes I am totally f$%@!). The old New Yorker was a total money pit so I am worried that could happen since Little Car is now almost 10 years old. The good thing is that it's not a Chrysler, the bad thing is I still can't afford it.

Anyways, on another note, my business has gone to the dogs. Literally. I am happy to say I have 2 cat customers next week which I am looking forward to. And, then when I come home to Hal I am so thankful I don't have a dog to worry about. I have to admit I have had moments of just being sick of dogs, which really shocked me, and I have hoped that I would get an easy animal like a gecko or something. When I am with the dogs I really enjoy them, unless they are bad which does happen occasionally. But, it's really exhausting and I am really impressed with the dog owners who walk their dogs rain or shine. The main problem is the lack of a proper rain coat and a worsening ankle problem - neither of which is really dog-related. Anyways, it's pouring again today and I have a full dog day once again so I just need to suck it up.

Oh, and I also have not done my taxes yet. Please don't tell my Mom. I am hoping that maybe today - when the dogs are napping but I won't be able to finish till maybe tomorrow. It's really down to the crunch this year. I believe though, as long as I don't owe money, there is some leeway - but if I'm wrong don't tell me. I don't want to know for sure - I am happy to be in the dark about this. I will try to complete it in time.

Busy busy and addictions

I have been feeling a bit guilty about not posting anything and the time keeps flying by so here I am. The new business, regular work, volunteering, etc. is really keeping me busy. On top of that I am a serious procrastinator as you must all know, so I don't make the best use of my down time either. Bloons Tower Defense and the Fluff Rescue app I downloaded a couple of weeks ago are huge time sucks that I can't seem to resist. Needless to say the kitchen is all Hoardersesque. There is a carpet of Hal hair on top of the carpet. I have 3 laundry baskets full of clean but scrunched clothing and towels. The dirty laundry is spread throughout the house, mostly on the floor.

The upside is that I won some really hard challenges in Bloons and my Rescue is doing really well. Oh, yeah, in real life? I am making enough money to survive AND my preferred dishwasher detergent was on sale at Superstore when I went shopping yesterday. I am having a visitor Easter weekend so I do need to get it together sooner than later. Today is almost done so one more day passes. Maybe tomorrow!

Now I need to post more on my Africa trip - before I forget it all completely - but I don't know when I will finally tackle that. Hopefully soon. My next priority is dealing with income tax...ugh.

Crazy dream

I remember my crazy dream so thought it was about time I posted again. My dream was about me having to be in a belly dancing performance. I did not feel prepared enough but since it would be a group dance I thought I could still pull it off. My Mom was there for some reason and there appeared to be other shows going on in the same place. Then I saw my teacher and she said I would need to make sure I got dressed up and had a show name picked and I panicked. I spent the next half hour (or whatever in dream time) looking for a copy of the program to see if I was performing by myself or not but I could not get a copy. I couldn't find my car to get my belly dancing gear. I yelled at my Mom to stay put because I needed to try to find these things. I finally found a program but it ended up being for another show. And, then I could not remember the routine...I finally woke up as my panic increased. Thank goodness really, because I would have hated to have to perform! Since I haven't been back to bellydancing yet I think it is just a result of me being a bit tense with work, but I guess the dancing was on my mind too.

Things have been pretty busy and I went through an intense procrastination period which I blame partly on work stress. Non-pet related work that is. However, I did manage to make some good progress this week and got a bit more organized at home and finish some outstanding projects which made me feel better about life in general. At least it's almost the weekend.

Update

Things are ok at work. My mother continues to ask about it...So, yeah. I am just trying not to loose my temper with her. So far so good, but it has been a bit touch and go.

We also had my first snowfall of the winter overnight. It was perfect, because everything is covered but the roads were driveable and I did not get stuck in my driveway. I believe there is more to come though. At least there are now grocery stores and other services in walking distance if there is a huge dump. Last time there was a huge snowfall I was shut up for a almost a week, though I could have walked the 40ish minutes to Tim Hortons if needed.

Today is my last day of freedom

I am back to work tomorrow, which makes my mother VERY happy. She has asked when I go back almost every single phone call for the past month. Our last argument was regarding the definition of 'happy' because she asked me "Aren't you happy to go back to work?" and my reply was "no". Yes, I am "RELIEVED" I have a job, I "NEED" to go back to work, I "WILL" go back to work, I will even "SHOW UP" for work relatively on time and "DO" my job to the best of my ability. But, no, it is impossible to be 'happy' to go back to my job. My mother has a very different perspective on job satisfaction than I do - meaning she believes you don't need to be even remotely satisfied with your job, valued, well-paid, treated well, etc., you just need a job and then you have money to live. On a very basic level I can appreciate this but in that case do not under any circumstances use the word 'happy' in association with me and my job. That's just frickin' illogical. So, things tend to get heated when the topic is mentioned. Anyways, this past weekend she said she would stop asking because I get angry. "Duh" was what I thought, but I refrained from commenting either way to avoid more fighting.

Anyways, I have to say taking 3 months off was one of the best decisions of my life and I highly recommend it to everyone if you can swing it at some point. I will be officially 'in debt' in February, not significantly but it will take a month or two to catch up. But, I managed to pay rent and all my bills up to the present, travel to Winnipeg, then Africa and spend 4 amazing weeks there. I also went on a balloon ride, 2 short boat tours, and zip-lining (and a side note: I saw a brief news report of someone falling into the gorge from the same place I went zip-lining but from the look of it I think they were not on the same line I was, though I have not looked into it - DO NOT tell my mother!). I also managed to still buy and mail all of my Christmas gifts, buy my new laptop, cell phone, and Bogs, pay for initial advertising, business cards, 1/2 of the lawyer's fee, and eat. Though a personal 'shout-out' to all my friends who have fed me and given me left-overs since I've been back. It's much appreciated.

I was not as productive this last week as I had hoped to a bad cold, but I feel better today and managed to get some stuff taken care of before the big day. I am celebrating my last dinner of freedom with home-made hummus because I had very little other options in the cupboard, but it did turn out delicious so it's quite enjoyable. I am officially running out of food though so I must venture out to get groceries with my last remaining cash.  I have planned out what I'm purchasing and plan to make 2 of my casseroles to make it easy for lunch at work - the chicken & broccoli casserole, and cabbage casserole (not light options but nutritious!), and then my pasta dish and other necessities (which includes olives and soda crackers).

On the business front, it has been a very slow start, but I think it will still work out and just requires patience. I have one official customer and have walked their dog twice now. It was just an awesome feeling, and I know it's the right job for me. The hard part is lack of funds for advertising, but I will be contacting local pet-related businesses next (now that I am almost over my coughing stage) and put up some posters and get my business cards out there which is all free. The online advertising is still going on, but I may have to stop some of the campaigns at the end of the month until I can get a bit more money in the bank. I think Twitter and Facebook have been the most impactive and hope to build more awareness through my followers. Wish me luck!

Christmas Spirit

I had salsa, taco chips, and cheese left over from my friend's Christmas get-together earlier this week for dinner. Basically I am not in the Christmas spirit at all and I think that's fine. It doesn't help that it rained like crazy today either. I have not decorated yet but I am thinking I still should this evening. I have a visitor later this coming week so I want to be a bit festive when they arrive and it seems silly to wait to decorate. A little Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer may help me feel something. At the very least a fondness for Christmases past.

The business stuff is coming along and I even got my first customer, a Christmas gift. Unfortunately I discovered Bloons Tower Defense 5 was out so I have been wasting time with that since Thursday. Luckily most of the major business-related tasks were done before I found out. That's a very good thing. My business cards are set to arrive by December 30th so once I get those I can really get going with the rest of my promotions. Wish me luck!

Jet lag

I am totally messed up and have not been able to sleep properly yet. I didn't sleep well in Africa, or at least not long enough, and I didn't sleep well before I left. However, I still consider 'normal' 7-8 hours in a stretch, preferably 11pm - 7 am. So far I have been falling asleep in front of the T.V. by 8 or 9 p.m., waking up at 11 or 12 to go to bed properly, waking up between 2-4 a.m., and either watching movies or staying in bed till 6 to 'rest my eyes'. I really want to sleep properly like the good old days. I will try to stay awake till 11:00 p.m. if I can today and see if that helps. But, if I wake up at 2 a.m. I am going to be super pissed.