Monthly Archives: February 2017

Lesson

“Old age is not for sissies.” ~ Bette Davis

"Monkey Trouble" - Hollis J. Works

“Monkey Trouble” – Hollis J. Works

We set the alarm this morning so we could go to the bank and the court house before meeting our friends for Lunch Bunch.

We received a letter from our reverse mortgage people several weeks ago saying we were in arrears on our taxes for the year 2015, threatening us with all kinds of dire actions if we didn’t pay up.  I dashed around looking for my receipt, but was unable to find anything. I called the assessors office and they confirmed they hadn’t received any payment from us. We leaped into the car, went to their office and paid our taxes – plus interest  – plus penalty. :0(  We copied everything and sent it certified mail to the reverse mortgage people. I apologized to my husband, saying I must be older and more doofus than I even knew, having forgotten to pay the taxes! My confidence was really shaken.

Yesterday I was doing more on our prep for taxes and FOUND the receipt for the tax payment from February, with a confirmation number from my online payment.

We went to the bank with the receipt and the other paperwork. The lady called somewhere, finally finding out that the electronic payment had been returned, due to a bad address on BillPay. She said they had sent me an email about it, and that it also should have shown online the next time I signed into BillPay.

The end result was that I had entered the address wrong into BillPay, picking up the physical address of the assessor’s office, rather than their post office box. DUH.  I also didn’t see their email or notice anything on BillPay. I had found where the payment was listed on my bank statement, but hadn’t picked up that they had returned the money to my account when the check was returned on that same statement.

So – I feel better than I HAD paid the taxes when I was supposed to, but hadn’t been careful enough about the address I put in BillPay, missed the email, and hadn’t seen the detail on the bank statement. I haven’t completely lost it yet, but I’m playing with a less than full deck….

Bette Davis hit the nail on the head with her quote.

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Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Challenges, Changes

Abby in Pot

abbyinpot

We had a glorious day yesterday – sunshine-y with temperatures in the mid 70s – unheard of for the first day of February. Abby went from lying upside down, lolling out of the cat bed ON TOP OF one of the dog bed, to making a nest in one of the pots I brought in from the deck to the back porch. We LOVE being able to open the back door and the front door, airing out the house.

Today we’re having more normal temperatures – mid 40s – but still really good. All the animals are opting for short runs outside followed by major naps inside. I just checked and have two dogs, two cats, and one husband all asleep in their various ‘nests’ of the moment. :0)

I planted one more celery plant in the dirt on a planter on the window sill. That makes three plants in the soil and 3 more in glasses of water. I’m having a great time, whether I end up with actual stalks of celery or not. I’m going to get ready to plant spinach plants very soon, hoping that my moniker of “Serial Seed Killer” no longer applies.

I’ve been a good girl today, finishing up our office deduction spreadsheet for taxes. Tomorrow I’ll tackle totaling up the rest of our deductions. Hopefully, we’ll be ready to dump everything on our wonderful CPA soon.

I’m going out to spend time on the elliptical now, and then will see about fixing us some lunch.

I hope YOU’RE having a happy, productive day, too!

 

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Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Amazing Animals

“Moonrise CO”

"Moonrise CO" via Earth Porn via Cathy Ruggiero

“Moonrise CO” via Earth Porn via Cathy Ruggiero

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Magic

Nino Chakvetadze via Zen to Zany

Nino Chakvetadze via Zen to Zany

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Filed under Arts and Crafts - Teaching, Favorite Quotes

“Watchtower Guard”

"Watchtower Guard" - Paul Militaru Photography

“Watchtower Guard” – Paul Militaru Photography

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Mirror Lakes

Offbeat via Susan Phariss

Offbeat via Susan Phariss

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I Can’t Handle the Stress!

abby1

Obviously, I need to get some help for Abby. She just can’t handle the stress…..

 

abby2

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Filed under Amazing Animals, Grin for the Day

Oil Paintings I Love – Take 7

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op-ru-aliexpress-com

Ru.Aliexpress.com

 

 

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“Race on the Lake”

"Race on the Lake" - Paul Militaru Photography

“Race on the Lake” – Paul Militaru Photography

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Los Angeles Zoo Signs – Take 6

LA Zoo Signs via Evie Zimmerman, trendingly.com

LA Zoo Signs via Evie Zimmerman, trendingly.com

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Getting the Lard Off Progress Report 2/1/2017

funnypicture.org

funnypicture.org

I told you last week that for some unknown reason, I can eat a week’s worth of carbs and calories after dinner.  Part of the reason is that we’re staying up late. My husband has trouble sleeping. We used to go to bed and read until we were sleepy. He read that he would sleep better if we quit doing that, so we’re downstairs until we’re sleepy now – leaving about 5 hours or so after dinner when we’re close to the kitchen.

Yesterday I put my foot down hard – telling myself I was finished gorging myself and would look forward to my orange dream bar after dinner and THAT WAS IT! Last night was the first night in ages I’ve actually done it. My scale even noticed the difference. So – I’m starting day TWO of acting like an adult on my eating.

Since I’ve been shoving everything in the house into my mouth, my weight and measurements have fluctuated. I’m determined to get back on track, eating low carb and as little sugar as possible. I’m trying to stay under 40 carbs of carbohydrates per day and under 1200 calories. AND I’m trying to exercise regularly. To date I’ve lost 34 lbs and 19″.

I’m doing better on my exercising than my eating. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been doing yoga three days a week, the elliptical twice a week, and upper and lower body strength exercises. My poor old body has had sore muscles to show for my efforts, but I’m feeling better overall, and I feel that I’m working my body from head to toe, in different ways so my body doesn’t get used to anything.

Now that I’m finally on track on my after dinner eating, I’m hopeful I can continue to report actual progress to you.

 

taolife.com

taolife.com

 

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Filed under Acting Like a Grownup, Attitude, Challenges, Changes, DIET!, exercise