Frugal Hint of the Day:
I found this at ItsRainingBargains.com:
Entertainment Book - $10 off and Free Shipping on any book purchase!
This book pays for itself just after using one or two of the 100's of coupons.
If you are going to be out of town for a while, pick one up for the city you will be staying in.
You'll be happy to hear that my elbow healed very well. I didn't wear the sling for the full 2 days, but the ice pack, and keeping it elevated above my heart reduced the swelling to practically nothing. The exercises that my physical therapist has me do every day were difficult the first few days, but, if I hadn't been doing them all this time, I probably would have sustained further injuries when I fell.
My physical therapist was absolutely fantastic. Even though most of the sessions were "physical torture", the pain reduction and improvement in my range of motion was miraculous. He developed a home therapy plan for me consisting of heat, stretches and exercises, so I wouldn't have to take so much time off from work for doctor's appointments.
I was achey when I woke up Monday, so I took the day off to recuperate. In the past, I used to check e-mails and voice mails whenever I was out of the office for whatever reason. I was feeling unappreciated at work, so I didn't even bother. Ironically, when I got into work Monday, the first voice mail I picked up was from my boss, saying, "I don't know if you're checking voice mails from home or not, but would you take care of ..... for me, when you come in... Thank you, I'd really appreciate it."
*You have to love life's ironies!*
The rest of the work week went by quickly. Thursday, we had to deal with the "issue", that created a distraction for the rest of us. I can't get into details here, due to the sensitive nature of the "issue". Friday, the boss took 3 of us out to lunch. We went to Uno's, and I had cream of broccoli soup and deep dish pizza. The soup was so filling, that I asked for a box for the pizza. Ironically, I left it at work when I went home, so I'll be tossing it out on Monday anyhow. We somehow got on the subject of people unfairly sueing a company for their own stupidity (like the woman who sued McDonald's because she spilled hot coffee on herself.) My boss was saying he had heard that some parents had attempted to sue one of the fast food chains (maybe it was McDonald's again) because their kids were so fat from eating their food. What is wrong with people????????
The nights went by quickly all week also. I did someone's income tax returns, and picked up two other people's tax information, and I started doing John's and my income tax return. I've been doing friends and friends of friends taxes ever since I took tax classes at SJFC. Every year I say I'm not doing this again because it isn't worth it, and every year I end up with more to do. I feel that I'm helping people out by hardly charging them anything, but then I don't feel it's worth my time for what I get paid. Someone told me last year that if I didn't value my time, no one else would, so I've been charging a little more and trying not to feel guilty about it. Jeez, I sound pathetic.... I feel guilty taking money from my friends, but I had enough courage to complain to the CFO of the company I work for that I wasn't getting paid enough. (Not that it did any good!) Ironically, I'm getting paid to prevent the tax man from taking more than his fair share of their money!
Thursday night, I had an MVA follow-up appointment with my primary care physician. He discussed seeing a neurolgist and a specialist on post traumatic stress syndrome, but I'm a little tired of seeing new doctors. (Do doctor's get commissions off of referralls?) My blood pressure was the highest it has ever been at 175 over 90. I told him about the "issue" at work, and he understood why it was so high. (I was half-hoping he would tell me to take two weeks off from work to keep my blood pressure under control, but no...)
My therapist may not be a Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome specialist, but she does treat other patients with it too. It took me so long to even be willing to see a therapist, and I don't want to switch doctors now. I went to see her on Friday. She wants me to drive short distances so I can build up the courage to drive again, but I haven't done it yet. (I've been waiting for the snow to melt!) She encouraged me to try before next Friday, but the weather forecast just looks like more and more snow. I can't even stand being the passenger in a vehicle! She also provided some insightful information on the "issue", though, so now I see the "issue" with a more sympathetic perspective.
Early Saturday morning, I was woke with horrible stomach pain and I was extremely ill. I won't get into the graphic details. It had to be the fish that I had for dinner Friday night. It reminded of me when my sister and I both got sick after eating at Hooligan's a couple of years ago, except for worse. Every time I got up to do something, I would get sick, so it was a waste of a day. By Saturday night, I was able to keep down soup, crackers and toast, and Canada Dry Ginger Ale. Today, I'm much better, but my stomach is killing me, especially if I sneeze or cough. I'm so frustrated that the last two weekends have been so frustrating!
My bunny is almost five months old now, and at the point where I feel like I'm dealing with a teenager. She's nipping, scratching, and chewing on things she knows she's not supposed to. The research I've done on bunny behavior suggests spaying at 5 months to stop behavior problems, so, I guess raging hormones are the problem. She's already bigger than I expected her to be. Her favorite thing to do outside her cage (besides chewing on things she's not supposed to) is playing soccer with a beach ball. She runs around and pushes it back and forth across the floor with her head and her paws. She plays a bunny version of "fetch" where I'll roll it to the other side of the room, and then she chases after it and pushes it back to me. She tries to get the cat to play, but she's not interested.
The picture below on the left is how she looks right now, and the picture on the right is from back in November. Look at the size of her feet!
Well, anyhow, this is enough rambling for today....
Thanks for reading!
Take care!
Ann Marie
