Day 31

It has turned so cold! Still blue skies, but bone chilling cold.

We spent the morning cleaning the bedroom closet. More work than I had thought. There was alot of stuff packed in there. Braved the cold and took a load to the thrift store. The garbage can is chocked full. A good start!

I got a call from Dixie from Medical Pros and she is sending my resume to Inland Health for an Accounts Receivable position. I hope that one comes through. I have the interview tomorrow at Group Health and I'm still waiting to hear from the escow company that I had the phone interview with the other day ago.

I made meatloaf, oven baked potatoes and corn for dinner. Now I'm full, showered and jammified (as my friend Sherry would say) and ready for bed.

Day 30

I love Sundays. The weather report was for a wintery mix of rain and snow. It landed up being blue skies and very mild temps. We got up and decided I would show Michael the apartment up on South Hill. Got turned around and it took us awhile to find it. Michael did not like the location. So we drove out to Sunset Hill and looked at the apartment complexes around there. We really liked Canyon Greens.

After discussing this move thing, we have decided our dogs are definitely not apartment dogs and would probably get us evicted in a week. So after much discussion we decided to stay where we are for right now and wait to see what happens.

Day 29

Just a lazy Saturday. I did some packing downstairs and a few loads of laundry. Finally forced myself to go out into the cold and go to the store and get some needed items. Mostly cleaning supplies and lunch making stuff. I broke down and bought a Papa Murphy's pizza. I just did not feel like cooking. Some days are like that.

Day 28

I missed a call from Dixie from Promanix yesterday. So I called and she is off till Monday. I did schedule an interview for next Tuesday afternoon at Group Health. At least this is a real interview and not a group grope like the last one there.

I think I found an apartment we will both like. It is up on South Hill. 2bdrm, updated kitchen, large in size, will take pets and has a garage. The only thing missing that was on our list is the in apartment laundry. I talked to the property manager and she seemed very nice. And it is only $575.00 per month. Bargain. It is definitely a renters market. We plan to go and look at it on Sunday.

Rain/Snow mix coming for tonight. Yuck! I am making beef stroganoff for dinner. 

Day 27

This is about the time in winter that the weather starts to be really depressing. The potholes are on the rise. The road crews say it's the largest amount of deep holes they have seen.

I had my phone interview this morning with the escrow company. It went well enough, but I am sure they have alot more candidates with more mortgage experience than I have, since I have almost none. I will be surprised if I get a real interview. But you never know.

I went out looking at apartments. This dreary weather makes every place look shabby. Most places I looked at didn't take pets or just wasn't any place I want to live. After seeing the dream apartment, no place measures up.

I keep saying at least it isn't snowing and we can actually get out and drive around...but this gray weather makes me blue.

Day 26

Gloomy mild day. Typical winter day, but, no snow and that is always a good thing.

Spent most of the day packing and doing laundry. Seems to be becomming a pattern for me. Did get out for a bit. Went to Walgreens for shampoo and lint traps for the laundry sink and then to the bread store. How's that for an exciting outing?

Set up a phone interview for tomorrow with the escrow company I applied at. Returned Dixie's (from Provisional) call regarding an opportunity. But she didn't call back. Probably filled it.

Michael went to dinner with some work friends so I was free for the night. I thought about going to the movies, but changed my mind. Stayed home and watched alot of the shows I had DVR'd. Harry's Law starring Kathy Bates is one of my new favorites.

Day 25

Foggy and overcast in the morning. Stayed dreary and dark all day, but, NO snow. And that is always a good thing.

I made it out to the valley to Humanix and finished my orientation with Dave. I'm all signed up and ready to go to work! LOL!! On my way back home I stopped at the unemployment office to resolve the issue with the questionnaire I received showing wrong dates. On my way into the building a reporter from KXLY stopped me and asked me some questions about being unemployed and the State of the Union speech from Obama. I told him I think Obama is doing a good job! You know they won't air that!! Once inside I was directed to call an unemployment help line from one of their in-house phones. They were confused on my last day worked. Got it all resolved. Whew!

Dropped off the car payment and mailed Avista's payment so we can drive and have lights. Spent the rest of the day doing laundry and packing.

Had Chris over for dinner. Hamburgers and homemade mac n cheese.

Day 24

It rained all day. A nice good soaker to wash away all those snow berms!

Took the dogs to the Yuppy Puppy to get washed and trimmed. While we were waiting for them to be finished we drove over on Nevada Street and looked at an apartment at Cedar Estates III. She showed us an absolutely beautiful apartment!! I wanted to move in right there and then. Only problem - NO Pets! So it will be awhile before we can move to this dreamy place.

I sent my resume to Accountemps. I used to work for them years ago. Always sent me to terrific companies. I talked to Diane, who has bought earrings from me, and made a date for an interview.

The rest of the day we just stayed and enjoyed out day together.

Day 23

Little taste of spring today. Sun was shining so sweetly. But tomorrow they are calling for a winter rain/snow mix. Nice while it lasted.

We took advantage of the nice weather and drove around looking at apartments. We still have not decided for definite what part of town we want to move to yet. We actually looked at a townhouse in Browne's Addition. Found it really dated, dirty and small. Too many stairs too. So we will keep looking.

Stopped at the grocery store and headed for home. Had a nice steak dinner. Ready to start reading one of my new books and go to bed. Tomorrow we will start using the bedroom downstairs again! So much nicer and the bed is so much more comfortable.

No jobs of interest in the Sunday paper. I did remember to call in my unemployment claim. Found one job on Craig's List and emailed a resume to them.  Remember Bible Guy from the group interview? I think he got the job because his job in Customer Service was advertised. No, I did not apply for it. LOL!!

Day 22

Actually had some sunshine today. It was icy on the steps this morning and a little bit of fog.

We have had 2 bags of books sitting by the hall closet. I decided today was a good day to take them to the used bookstore to trade them in for credit. I went to the one on Division by Kmart. After the clerk went through them and chose the books they would take it came to a store credit of $73.00. I was not expecting that much. I purchased books by Amy Tan, James Lee Burke and Erin Hart. I also got a book titled Feng Shui for Apartment Living. We now still have a credit of $53.00 for Michael to use. He reads alot more than I do.

Dinner and a movie night for us because Michael gets off work at 5:30 for a change. Tacos are on the menu and not sure which movie of the 3 we have from Netflix we will pick.

Day 21

Freezing rain this morning. My morning Facebook report said there were multiple accidents all over town. I decided to stay in today. No use pushing it when there is a chance of an accident. It's not me I'm worried about - it's all those others going way to fast.

I watched shows I had DVR'd like Big Love and Parenthood. Worked on a letter for a storage management position we are applying for. Made a batch of chocolate chip cookies. So I've been 1/2 lazy and 1/2 busy. Nothing of interest on Craig's List today.

Just an ordinary day for the forced to be housewife. I'm not really complaining, in fact, if I was honest I would say I love this staying home. But the money situation would be better if I was working.

Day 20

I awoke this morning sick as a dog they would say. Finally didn't start feeling better till 2:00. My friend, Cynthia, called wanting to chat and make a lunch date for next week. 

I decided to get myself up and dressed. Had to go and pick up prescriptions and a couple other things. Once I got out the house I was feeling much better. Cold today, kind of a wintery mix. I am so looking forward to Spring and even Summer.

When I got home I took the remaining tests for Humanix. I almost forgot how to do fractions...LOL! Where is a sixth grader when you need one!

Day 19

The job interview at Group Health was today. It was one of the craziest ways of interviewing I had ever experienced. There were nine people, including 3 internal candidates being interviewed for this position. When I heard there was internal candidates, I was thinking this is a complete waste of my time. But my experience matched this position so precisely that I had to give it a shot. They took all 9 of us in a conference room and interviewed us all at once, fielding questions to the group. It made me think of speed dating.

One of the internal candidates sat next to me. At one point he was quoting the Bible, which I thought was totally inappropriate. Then they asked all 9 of us a question of how much accounting experience we each had because she stressed that this was an important part of the job. After I gave my experience which 20+ years the Bible guy, which is what I thought of him by then, said he had NO accounting experience but was willing to learn and then he challenged them by saying, "If they did not hire him it would be the biggest mistake ever"! At the end of this group mess they sent us to the lobby and said they would be calling back the 4 they were interested in...sure enough...Bible Guy and 2 other internal candidates and a gal who worked at Sonic were called back. I guess I can chock up this as experience and know I do not want to go to this kind of interview ever again.

Day 18

Day 17

Day 16

Day 15

Day 14

Day 13

Day 12

There comes a time in life when you walk away from drama and the people who create it. You surround yourself with those who make you laugh, forget the bad & focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right. Pray for the ones who don't. Life's too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is part of LIFE . . . Getting back up is LIVING

I have given up drama, personal attacks, hatred and seek only to be loving and kind to all I meet.

Day 11

Day 10

It seems like I have gotten way behind in posting. So I will try to get caught up.

The 4th Mantra Steve describes closely goes with another resolution I have made. To be Kind and to show kindness to all. Sometimes easier said than done. You do not have to prove you are right each and everytime. Just be open to new thoughts and ideas. It doesn't mean you have to agree, but, it is kinder to agree to disagree and find common ground.

4. I will be kind, even when the impulse is to be right.

In the past, I have found myself in frequent arguments with my spouse or someone at work. It's not the problem today that it used to be, fortunately. And I think it has something to do with the practice of kindness, as well as the practice of meditation. I now realize, for example, when I've been in an argument in the past, it was nothing more than the ego in me feeling under threat and so lashing out or defending its illusory position or point of view. None of this is necessary and none of this is helpful. So, as someone once framed it, "If you have a choice of being right or being kind, practice choosing kind."







Day 9

More mantras for the New Year from Steve McSwain. I have underlined the words that mean something to me.

The 3rd Mantra:

3. I will practice forgiveness, starting with myself.

Recently, an obituary in the newspaper referred to the deceased as a person who "lived with no regrets." For me, however, I could not imagine such a life. I have many regrets. Today, I'm 55. I regret not having taken better care of my health. I wish I had quit smoking sooner. Exercising longer. Eating healthier. Spending more time, or better quality time, and attention with my children. I have other regrets that are too personal to share with you or anyone else. Sometimes, the regrets become overwhelming. So, I have to practice the art of forgiving myself. What you do to yourself, you do to others. What you do to others, you will also do to yourself. These two sentences alone are enough to meditate upon this entire day. If you cannot forgive others, let that be a clue there's something in you that you haven't forgiven. Mark Twain once said, "Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet shed on the heel that crushed it." Words have never been more beautiful.

Today was cold but clear. We both got a late start on the day. We worked on more packing of the office. Then we drove up to the Yuppy Puppy and picked up some boxes from Aquila. Then we just drove around looking at different areas of town where we might want to start looking for a place to lease or rent. I am favoring Browne's Addition and Michael is still sitting on the fence. It was getting dark and way colder, so we headed for home. All in all a nice day.





Day 8

I chose this picture because of the little frog. I thought it made it seem whimsical. I wondered, where is he leading her to?

A sad day. Democrat AZ Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot while at an open forum in front of a Safeway grocery store. Our political climate in this country has become so full of hate speech and so much of it incites violence. I'm not saying this is why this kid did this, but, you never know what pushes someone over that line that makes them act this way. I've been told we all serve a purpose. Was the purpose of her being shot was to end the hatred and come together to work together for the common good? This is more reason for me to leave negativity behind and try to find common ground with persons who share a completely different political or religious view than myself. I have always believed we all share common ground.

The 2nd Mantra:

I will be one with all that is.

Why? Because I am, in spite of the fact that the ego in me wants to regard itself as separate or, more accurately, distinct and different. The way some spiritual teachers put it is, "I am that; you are that; all this is that; and, that's all there is." What is meant by this is, since we are all the same, it would be helpful to practice seeing yourself not as separate from everyone and everything else but as one and the same. It is amazing what this sort of mindset does to your relationship to yourself, to others and to the environment. You are much more awake, alert and attentive to all things, as well as people, plants and animals. I used to love to hunt but I could no more hunt today, even as a sport, if I wanted to. I'm not saying this is the way it must be for all. But, for me, everything, as well as everyone, is becoming more and more sacred to me. I cannot help but feel the practice of meditation is changing my view of all things.

Today I worked in the office most of the day. Filing paperwork, throwing away unused items and packing the things we actually use. Still have a day's or less work to go and then we can take these boxes to storage and the items we are donating to Value Village.

Day 7

Saying goodbye to all negativity. That is my second resolution. It is so easy to get sucked into someone else's negative energy. I want to stay positive and keep focused on all the good things life presents to me.

Mantra 1

I will practice meditation every day.




This is no longer difficult. But, in the early days of becoming a meditator, it was extremely difficult to shut down the mind with its propensity to chatter almost incessantly. With persistence, however, and with time, my mind began to slowly shut down whenever I entered a state of meditation. Today, I would no more consider starting the day without first meditating than I would to go through a day without eating. Meditation is to my innermost self what food and nourishment is to the outer self, the body. Pema Chodron, the Buddhist monk, said, "We don't sit in meditation to become good meditators; we sit in meditation to become more awake in our lives." It is in meditating on the following mantras that the miracle of inner transformation takes place. I become that which I imagine. Or, in the slightly altered words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, "The antecedent to every behavior is a mantra." You are what you think about. So practice meditating on the following and see what happens.

Day 6

Time for New Year Resolutions and thoughts about what I want to change my life habits to be.

This website helped with priorities.

A mantra is a sound, syllable or group of words which, when recited, are regarded as capable of producing spiritual transformation (or so says Wiki). Actually, mantra is a word common in the eastern world and is itself made up of two words: man meaning "mind," and tra meaning "instrument." So, a mantra is "an instrument of the mind."




In eastern religions, and to a lesser degree in the mystical traditions of Christianity, meditators use mantras to center themselves and so bring health and wholeness to the inner self (or, greater unity between the mind, body and spirit). Benedictine monks regularly use scripture in this fashion. For example, they might recite in meditation over and over again the words, "The Lord is my shepherd" (from the 23rd Psalm).



In my own experience, I have made it an every-morning practice to meditate and recite the following mantras. This is the first time, however, I've actually written them down. This was itself a wonderful discipline.



In many respects, a New Year's Resolution is a kind of mantra. But, like mantras, resolutions must be practiced daily if you're serious about them becoming your way of living. Which is why, my first mantra is...

See tomorrow's posting for the first mantra.

I've been thinking alot about Ted Williams. I think it is wonderful that a reporter stopped on the side of the road and listened to his story which has propelled him into the media spotlight as their new darling. I worry that all these people wanting to help him will treat him as a commodity rather than a person. I hope he enjoys his 15 minutes of fame while it lasts and can settle down to a real life once the media moves on and finds their next victim.

Day 5

I watched all the congress proceedings and felt a little ill by it all. Here we go again with the same old same old that got us in the trouble we are in now. Thank goodness Democrats held onto Senate. Our saving grace as along as they stick together so the republicans can't sick it to us.

Why are so many birds, fish, crabs, starfish and stingrays dying in their thousands?
Michael found this bible quote for me: "I will sweep away both men and animals; I will sweep away the birds of the air and fish of the sea. The wicked will have only heaps of rubble when I cut off man from the face of earth." declares the Lord. When I heard that, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Scared me! Zephaniah 1:3. Will I be among the wicked ones?

I cancelled and rescheduled my doctor appointment for this morning. Did not want to drive to Deaconess on these icy roads early in the morning. The rescheduled appointment is at the north clinic which is much closer to home and with my Dr Lubbe, not with a physcian's assistant.

I'm feeling a little housebound again. But I have plenty of projects, tv and movies and other stuff to keep me busy.

Day 4

I have been reading since New Year's about all the bird and fish deaths. It makes me wonder what is going on. It is not like a few beached whales showing up on the shore. It's thousands of birds, fish, crabs and goodness knows what else. Why all over the world in a matter of days. Why isn't the media making a bigger deal of this. Fireworks? I don't think so. Google posted a world map of all the places where they found death to these creature. Take a look here.

Didn't get out of the house. Organized the bills and paid quite a few. Had Chris over for dinner which was nice.

Day 3

We made a start - took our first load over to storage.

Picked up my new cell phone from the mailbox place. It is so much better than my Blackberry. I can actually hear people and doesn't drop the call. I got it from Consumer Cellular. $20 per month with no contract. 425 minutes per month. I have been only using about 15 minutes per month. Not much of a phone talker.

Stopped at Ace Hardware and bought all the packing supplies we needed. They are so helpful there, always eager to show you where to find what you are looking for. Now that it is so hard for me to do alot of walking that is so nice.

Day 2

I found another interesting article regarding Michael Vick and his background. Please read and make up your own mind. The more I read about this guy the more it makes sense to do something, even if it doesn't accomplish the goal of having him truly pay for his crime.

This was a lazy day. We watched the movie Prince of Persia - Sands of Time. Loved it! The special effects, costumes, stunts, music and the story was all wonderful.

We cancelled my cell phone. A couple of days ago Michael ordered me a cheaper phone. I do not need a Blackberry smart phone when all I do is make and receive calls from Michael. This will save about $60.00 per month.

I also updated my resume. I found 3 jobs on Craigs List to send it to. So I did accomplish some things. Tomorrow we may get out and do more, weather permitting.

Day 1 New Years Day 2011

Please read this article and you will know why I am all fired up all over again.

I have decided that one of my resolutions will be to boycott all sponsors that sponsor the Philadelphia Eagles who employ Vick. I want to start a grassroots campaign to get as many people as I can to join me. The only way you can make anyone in business to change is to hit them in their pocketbooks. I will be sending this article and a letter to each sponsor to tell them about my boycott. I want to start a Facebook petition also, but, will need to learn how to do that.

There is no room in our world for an animal abuser-murderer! His crime goes way past dog fighting. He has never admitted the full extent of his crimes and I "will never get over it"!

I will be listing the sponsor's names and contact information as I find them, so, if you choose to join me - the more the better.

TV news: I love the new OWN Network! Lots of great shows. I'm looking forward to watching more. I watched the Peter Walsh show and it was great. Gave me inspiration that I can get this house organized so we can make the move easier.

Took the tree down and packed it all up, so, it is now ready to go to the storage unit once it is not so icy and cold. This morning the temperature was below zero. We had a nice dinner of boneless pork chops, blackeyed peas with jalapenos, green beans and mashed potatoes. It felt like Sunday all day, but, it's only Saturday!! Yay! Michael's vacation is going by too fast.