What I don't see...

Yesterday I was talking to a friend about my weight.  HE brought it up.  I don't mind since he is also trying to lose a little weight.  I told him I was frustrated because the scale wasn't moving and I still struggle to get into my Levi's.  HE said, "I can tell you have been working out.  I can see that you look like you are losing weight.  Even if your scale isn't moving. I can see some changes."

This made me realize something - when I look in the mirror I don't see the changes because I am used to what I have looked like for the last few years, and if the scale isn't moving I must not be changing. Right?  Wrong.  Apparently, it is showing in my face, my arms, and a little around my waist.  Now the scale just needs to catch up.

While it is not always comfortable to talk to a man about weight our little chat motivated me.  Not because it was negative - it wasn't - but because it was positive.  Someone can see something about me that I don't see and what I don't see is the good that is happening to me because of the healthier choices I am making.

Complication's of the Single Life

Being single isn't exactly a picnic.  It has it's ups and downs - as I am sure marriage does.  Sometimes being single can be complicated. Take tonight for example. 

For the past couple of months I have been on an online dating site.  I have had some interesting experiences with people I have met online so I don't really log into the site that often or have a high interest in meeting someone from there.  I have a couple of male friends I go out with on occasion and that has been enough of the dating world for me.

Last night I logged into the sight and had an email from someone in my same little town.  He asked me where I went to high school.  I wrote back and told him where I went and when I graduated. He came back asking me if my maiden name was Amy ______.  Turns out we were neighbors when I was growing up.  For me this is a little weird but what the heck he isn't a stranger.  We chatted back and forth for a bit and he said he would like to get together and catch up.  I gave him my number and figured I would hear from him in a couple of days. 

This evening he sent me a text asking if I wanted to run down to the One Man Band for a soda and cheese fries. Since I bailed on working out with my friends for the evening, I agreed and told him he could pick me up.  Normally when I meet someone I met through the online dating sites, I will meet them somewhere.  They don't get to know where I live until I know them a whole lot better.  But since I already know this guy, I figured it would be okay.   Turns out he lives just up the street from me, behind my friends house. We went and had cheese fries and good conversation.  I was back home about an hour later.

Meanwhile....I had sort of made tentative plans to hang out with one of my other male friends but nothing concrete. I had not heard from him prior to this other guy inviting me out so I assumed the tentative plans weren't happening.  I did make an effort to find out if he would be stopping by and did not get a response.  Well he dropped by my house while I was on the cheese fry date.  He called after stopping by but I had left my cell phone home.  I called him back when I saw that he had called and told him that I went out with a friend since he didn't let me know whether or not he would be coming by.  He correctly assumed it was another man.  I'm not sure what he thought about it but figure if he doesn't want me seeing other men then he needs to step up his game.

I rarely date but wouldn't you know that the one night in months that I have something that can be considered an actual date, someone else also wants to spend time with me.  This is when being single gets a bit complicated and crazy. 

Oh my...

I think now would be a good time to crawl under a rock and hide for a little while.  My landlord called to ask if I was the lady who brought up sewer payments at the city council meeting. Um..Yeah...Me.  Let's change the subject now. PLEASE?!?!

Aside from the phone call from my landlord, today was a pretty good day.  I went shooting with a friend and had a nice workout this evening.  After dinner I sat down, curled up with a blanket, and took a nap.  It was one of those where you can still kind of hear what's going on but you are "comfortably numb".  Yeah it was that good.  Until I felt my son hovering over me with "the look".  He get a look about an hour before it is time for me to get ready for my exercise class that says, "Get up. Get moving.  Don't be a slacker."  He has gotten really good at this.  When I told him that I felt like getting in my jammies and going to bed, he just looked at me, looked at the clock, then back at me.   After that I got up and began getting ready for class.  He takes his job as motivator seriously.

The weekend project that I thought would be fun really wasn't.  I painted a headboard and a bookshelf for my son's room then move all of the furniture around.  He was at his Dad's and I was thinking this would be kind of a "While You Were Out" sort of thing.  But after moving the furniture, I wasn't feeling to great and spent the rest of the day sitting in my recliner, reading a book. There are still a couple of things I want to finish up for his room but they can wait.  My son really liked how I changed his room and that is always a good feeling.

Focus on the positive...

This week has a been a wee bit stressful for me and I've decided now is the time to turn it around.  First step: Focus on the positive.

1 - I finally finished the American Flag afghan I made for my friend Andrea and gave it to her.

2 - My cabinet doors are finished and a good friend came over to hang them for me.  Proving that I don't always have to do everything by myself.

3 - I haven't lost any weight this week but I haven't gained any either.

4 - My body allows me to work out every day. 

5 - I have a supportive family.

6 - My toe is finally healing.

7 - It is almost the weekend and I have a fun project planned.

8 - It is finally starting to feel and look like spring.

9 - I can be proud that I stood up for myself even though the result wasn't what I wanted. At least I had the courage to do so.

10 - I am blessed to have a wonderful son. 

Village idiot?

I am feeling like the village idiot tonight. 

I went to the city council meeting to day to discuss my sewer billing.  The Mayor was introducing himself to me and when I told him my name he jerked back and asked who I was with.  I told him I was a citizen and had sent him and the council an e-mail on Monday.  He told me to sign up for the public forum which I did.  During the public forum I stood up and stated my business.  The council man who had spoken with my last October spoke about what had been happening - basically nothing.  Then there was a mention about being within 300 feet of a connection and having to connect or pay.  This led to them talking about who would be responsible to connect my house to the sewer, whether it is my landlords or the previous owner of the property. 

Now I feel like all I did was open a big can of worms that my landlords are going to have to get involved with meaning they are not going to be ticked off at me if the city requires them to connect to the city sewer. 

Anyway, I have a meeting with the city manager tomorrow at 11:00.  Not sure about the purpose.  I looked at the city ordinace tonight and did not see anything saying I was required to pay for sewer if I am not connected only that buildings within 300 feet of the sewer are supposed to be connected.  Really, I just want to stop paying for it if I am not using it or connected to it and get the $700 I have paid out in the last 3 years back.   I would be happy to pay if I were connected to it but I am not. 

On top of this, I think I am coming down with a cold.  Last night I started feeling crappy at about 7 o'clock.  The same thing is happening tonight.  Runny nose, sore throat, feeling exhausted, and just run down.

I think I am going to take some Nyquil and go to bed.

Am I expecting too much?

I moved into my little rental house in February 2007.  Part of my contract is that I am responsible for all utilities.  About a year ago my landlord mentioned that I have a septic tank and am not connected to the city sewer.  Guess what?  I pay for the city sewer.  My neighbor and I were having a conversation one day and I brought it up.  I can't remember what the conversation was about.  His father-in-law happens to be on the city council and last October he stopped by with some men from the city to verify whether or not I am on city sewer.  I'm not.  He took a copy of my rental contract to verify the length of my residence and a copy of my city bill and told me he would bring it to the attention of the mayor and city council. 

Nothing happened.

My neighbor has since moved to another part of the city but stopped by the other day to check on me.  He asked if the city had stopped billing me for sewer and given me a refund.  I told him they hadn't.  He was not very happy and said he would go to the next council meeting on March 17th and bring it up.

A note about my neighbor.  He and his family were the best neighbors I have had.  He is a volunteer fireman and EMT and each year when the city has the open burn, he would bring the brush truck over and help me burn the many branches and leaves from the fall.  Last year, my brother gave me some sod left over from a landscape job and Jeremy and his wife helped lay some of it down while I was out of town.  He also tilled my garden for me and says after the burn this spring he will come til it again to get ready for planting.  I miss having him and his family next door.

Back to the story.  After the visit from my old neighbor, I went to the city website and reviewed the past meeting minutes.  Last October, it was brought up that my house was not connected to the city sewer per the contract with the real estate developer who split the property.  The minutes said the city planner would check on it but it was not brought up again.

As you can imagine, I am getting tired of paying for a city service that I do not use nor have access to.  This morning I wrote a letter and e-mailed it to the mayor and the city council explaining that I have lived here for 3 years and have been paying for sewer.  I mentioned and quoted the minutes of the October meeting and proceeded to tell them that I thought it was unethical for them to bill a citizen for a service she is not connected to.  I told them it would be appropriate for them to address this at the next meeting (which I will be attending) and requested for them to stop billing me for sewer and to issue a refund check for the money I have paid for sewer.

Anyone else think it is unfair to be billed for crap you don't use? Or am I expecting too much?

Nightmares and Faith

Last night I had a bad dream. I can't remember all of the details but here we go. I was with a group of people looking at a really old, deteriorated building. I think it might have been a school at one point. In the yard of this building was an old cemetery/ park. The building had a terrible history. The school master abused the students and was said to still haunt the building. There was one bathroom in particular that was especially creepy. This group of people and I had the brilliant idea to transform the building into a home for troubled youth. Of course, during the transformation we had to live there. The room I took was connected to the super creepy bathroom.

The super creepy bathroom did not have a ceiling and I could see everything that was stored in the attic above. While we were working on the bathroom, something began throwing furniture down on me. No one else. I brushed it off and thanked the ghost or whatever it was saying, "Thank you. We needed to get that down sooner or later." Apparently, this did not please the demon (as I came to call it). He began making noises and causing other chaos. In the middle of this, I kept repeating "Heavenly Father, please make him stop." Eventually the demon would stop.

Later on I was sleeping in the super creepy room and heard a pounding noise. It was loud and became increasingly more insistent. A girl in the room next to me thought something was after her. I reassured her that the thing was after me. Again I repeated, "Heavenly Father, please make him stop" only this time I was less sure about it working, but eventually the noises stopped and I was able to go to sleep.

When I woke up from this nightmare, my body was frozen in place. I was lying on my back with my ankles crossed and my hands folded on my chest. (My sister and I both sleep like this when we are in a deep sleep. My brother in law calls it the casket position.) It felt like forever but I am sure it was only a few minutes before I was able to move. Part of me was terrified but another part knew that I was okay because God had my back.

What I find interesting about the whole thing is that when I was terrified in my dream, I called on God to help me and knew that he would make it right. As I was coming out of my dream paralysis, I had the same thought, to call on God and I would be okay.

I am not a super religious person but I have always had faith. Lately, I feel shaky with it and I think the dream was a reminder to put a little more trust in God and know that he will help take care of me no matter what the crisis.

Back to the real world...

The problem with vacations: they come to an end.

I had a great time in Las Vegas last weekend for the Nascar race.  We arrived at our RV lot on Thursday, set up camp, then wandered over to the track where they were setting up all the venues for the weekend.  It was nice to wander around without the crowd.  We took a couple of pictures of ourselves in front of the merchandise trailors and an awesome Shelby Daytona. I haven't downloaded those pictures from my Blackberry yet but I do have these cool pictures with the Pace Car and Truck. 

Shelby Mustang 350

2011 F150 Shelby Super Snake

Thursday afternoon we went to the Shelby Museum and Shop where they take Ford Mustangs and turn them into uber-sexy and FAST cars.  They also make Shelby Cobras, which are also uber-sexy.  That is the best desctiption this non-car lover gal can give.  The place was closed but as we were leaving someone pulled up in the Pace Car and we asked if we could take some pictures.  The folks were incredibly patient as we oohed and awed over the machines and only winced a little when someone in our group said they were "Pretty".  Not me.  I said "Sexy."

On Friday we headed over bright and early to take the tour of the museum and shop. 

The First Shelby Cobra (top)

My name permanently written on the wall - at least until someone writes over it.

The rest of the day was spent visiting the many venues,watching a little of qualifying, and visiting Freemont street.  Saturday we spent most of the day at Bass Pro Shops and a few minutes on the Strip before it started to rain.

Sunday was race day and us girls displayed out Kyle Busch sign. We picked Kyle Busch because we like  M&M's and anyone that supports Breast Cancer. The sign says "Who doesn't like Busch, boobs, and chocolate?"

When my friend and I walked into the stands to watch qualifying we came across a kabob shack selling strawberry and cream puff kabobs.  I had to have one.  At that moment I was in my own little bit of redneck heaven: wine (from one of the vendors), strawberry kabobs, and NASCAR.