honeybun – Chasing Simple Dreams

RIP, HoneyBun (2004?-2020) and Callie (2005-2020)

November 21, 2020November 21, 2020Terri

Baby Girl Callie. Just look at those eyes and that face.

Baby Girl HoneyBun during one of her good days at the end.

This isn’t the post I imagined I would be writing last week when I said I wanted to start writing more often but it is one that needs to be written.

If you read my last post before this, you’ll know that I lost Callie this summer, the end of July. Well, last weekend, I lost my HoneyBun also. Two of the sweetest baby girls a fur mom could ever ask for. Each definitely each had their own personalities. As I always say to potential adopters, all animals are unique and have their own personality and quirks. Just like us.

Both of my girls had been with me through multiple cross-countries moves. From Boston to Utah, to Arizona, to Albuquerque in New Mexico, to Naples, to Boston, and then back to Florida via Cape Coral and then Naples once again. Seriously experienced in the moving game.

Callie loved water and by water, i mean ICE WATER. She loved that ice, boy. Every time you walked into the kitchen, there she was, with her little cry of “Rah rah. Rah rah” She would keep it up until you put some ice cubes in her mug of water. (Princesses drink out of mugs, not bowls, don’t you know??) She would start purring as soon as she put her head over the mug. She sometimes had the cutest little trill of a purr. A coworker of mine out in ABQ called her Velcro because when she would pick her up in the treatment area, Callie would hold onto her for dear life, like velcro. Hard to believe that when my ex-hb and I first adopted her, she didn’t like being picked up and held. She soon learned to love it.

When I first met HoneyBun in the shelter, she didn’t like you reaching over her head, so I learned to do what i called “drive-by petting.” You put your hand out to the side of your pet and start petting them on their side or their back and then slowly work your way up to their head. Get it? Drive by. 🙂 Worked like a charm for her and many others.When I first met HoneyBun in the shelter, she didn’t like you reaching over her head, so I learned to do what i called “drive-by petting.” You put your hand out to the side of your pet and start petting them on their side or their back and then slowly work your way up to their head. Get it? Drive by. 🙂 Worked like a charm for her and many others.

It was especially hard for me to lose Callie. She was the one tie I had in my (single) life that was also there when I was married. We adopted Callie in 2006 from the Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem, MA, when she was only one year old. A young girl who had fostered her wrote a letter about her to potential adopters and after reading it, I knew Callie was the right baby girl for us. So that’s how I knew Callie was 15 this year when she passed. She was such a beautiful little girl. So dainty. So talkative when she wanted her ice water. ❤

You’ll note two pics have both Snuggles and HoneyBun. On the round papasan chair, I can just imagine HoneyBun saying, “What the….dude, I was here first!” Note that both of my girls liked to drink out of their own individual glass/mug, given a choice.

With HoneyBun, I’ve never know her true age. I adopted her from the Animal Rescue League of Boston, whose vet had determined she was about 5. I took her to my own vet who said, “mmmm I think she might be older, like 8 or 9.” Older was fine with me. I’ve had a fond spot in my heart for seniors (the underdogs in the pet adoption world) for a long time. I’ve always been Team Animal Underdog. So I’ve always hoped that she was on that younger end of the age range, but it started to be more clear this year that she was more likely on the later end. She developed some cloudiness in her right eye, as you may see from one of the pictures of her. I had my vet here in Naples check her out. It wasn’t an ulcer, and it didn’t seem to be hurting her or like it was affecting her vision. We used some ointment for her eye, which she very sweetly tolerated (followed by a treat, of course). That was back in August.

Both of my baby girls lost weight at the end. We think Callie essentially had renal failure which is very common in cats as they get older, and possibly cancer as well. With HoneyBun, it was determined from blood tests and urinalysis, that she had liver failure and quite possibly cancer. Earlier in the week that she died, she had very high white blood cell counts, but no fever, very high liver numbers and gall bladder numbers. And she was dehydrated. So she got fluids and a long-acting antibiotic by injection and some other stuff as well as a stay overnight with my vet. Tuesday, she came home and she seemed to be doing much better. We scheduled an ultrasound for her the following day with a vet that would come from out of town, hoping to figure out if she had a mass on her liver or just more of an idea of what was going on. That was also when Tropical Storm/Eta was heading toward and made landfall on the Gulf Coast, right around the same time that out of town vet was trying to get to Naples, so her appointment was postponed to the following week.

Unlike with Callie who crashed at the end and crashed hard, HoneyBun seemed to bounce back for a few days. Even without an appetite stimulant, she was excited to eat food and actively engage with me. That Saturday, I volunteered at DAS (Domestic Animal Services, i.e. city/county pound) and when I came home, i had some work to do. HoneyBun was sleeping which didn’t seem out of the norm. After I finished my work, I looked and saw her bowl still had a lot of food left in it. And I noticed that she seemed lethargic and didn’t even want to drink too much water. She would sit by the water fountain or bowl but not actually drink from it. And then I saw her looking at the wall with a kind of blank look on her face. None of that was good.

Whereas HoneyBun had been only slightly anemic on Monday, her blood cell count on Saturday was down to 12 percent. The emergency animal hospital vet agreed with me that to let her go would be the kindest thing I could do for her. So I said goodbye. She and Callie’s ashes are right next to each other in my bedroom. I have all of my animals privately cremated these days so they can always travel with me and be with me, no matter where I may find myself. (For those of you not familiar with the term, “private cremation,” there are two types of animal cremations. Private means you get their ashes back. Group cremations means you don’t get the ashes back.”

So the Herd is getting smaller here on earth, but the Herd is growing up over the Rainbow Bridge. I hope that when my time comes to leave this earth, all my babies will be there to greet me and I will have to watch carefully to not trip over all of them if they all come running to see me. Until then, I have their pictures and their memories in my heart and in my mind.

If I could speak for all the animals that have been personally in my life and with whom I have interacted at the end of their life, I would like to make a plea on their behalf. Yes, I know it’s hard for us humans to say good bye to them in the end. Sometimes humans keep them alive longer than they should, when they are in pain or uncomfortable. And sometimes humans decide they can’t handle being with their furball when they close their eyes for the last time. But please, PLEASE find it in your heart to be with them at the end. They have loved you their entire lives, and it is one of the greatest gifts that we can give to them to be there for them in return. It’s an act of love. Being comforted by someone at the animal hospital just isn’t the same.

So, if you have a furry one in your life, hold them tight after you read this post and tell them you love them and let them lick your face or your hand. Thank you, from me and from them.

And I will close this post with a picture of my teeny-tiny Callie drinking out of a giant bowl of water containing LOTS of ice cubes.

Because water just tastes better when it’s cold. 🙂

So. Much. Sleeping.

February 12, 2020Terri

Oh, I wish I was talking about me!! Today is Wednesday. Hump Day. So, I thought you might like an overdose of cuteness to get you through the day. You can thank The Herd, aka the laziest supervisors ever, for their willingness to work so hard at sleeping and relaxing. It’s a hard job but someone has to do it, right?

I’ve been wanting to write for the past couple days and this is a faster one to get up here for you to remind you that no, I’m not dead. 🙂 My hardest decision about this post is which picture to make as The Designated Picture!

So without further adieu, here are some photos of The Herd, doing what they do best, other than pooping and eating. (And yes, Steel, the German Shepherd, who is an honorary member of the Herd until May 2020, when his dad (my roommate) and I will go our separate ways, has even joined in on the fun.) Many were taken from my office. While I slave away to make enough money to put food in their bowls on the floor (dogs) or on the dresser (cats, in order to keep it away from the dogs), they all work soooo hard. #notesarcasm

But yes….they really are my reason for existing and for living.

What is your reason for living and for working so hard? Drop me a comment below and share, if you can, pictures of your babies!!

Sigh…I hope this thing still works

January 26, 2020Terri

Once again, many moons or months have passed since my last post. I’ve started quite a few since then, only to never finish them. I start writing and then I think, who even cares to read my drivel anymore? And is there anyone even out there still reading anything I write? It’s not like I’ve been consistent lately. (Understatement of the year.)

Since I’ve been doing transcription full-time, it is hard for me to rationalize writing on here and then typing about 70 pages a day. I know I should start the writing before the transcribing, because sometimes my fingers literally hurt at the end of the day. So maybe write posts on the days that I am mainly just audio proofing and therefore not typing so much? Anyway, it’s hard to believe I’ve been self-employed now for over a year. 15 months as of February to be exact.

Well, The Herd has grown by one since my last writing. Her name is Babs and she is a gorgeous calico cat whose previous fur mom died. Her human sister and I had a mutual friend who posted her picture and story on Facebook and one thing led to another. And well, Babs traveled across the country from LA to Jacksonville, Florida, where I picked her up and drove her back down to the Ft. Myers area. You know how I love my senior furballs.

How could I resist bringing this cutie into my home??

As I mentioned in my last post, I am looking to move in May sometime as our lease is up at the end of that month. Thinking very seriously about the St. Pete/Clearwater area and its environs. Cheaper to live, more liberal and more people around my age. Down here there are a lot of 20-somethings and then there are a bunch of much older folks, like those who have been able to retire and live off of their savings or pensions or what have you. Really hard to make friends when you work at home and aren’t into the bar scene. I do volunteer at a wildlife center on the weekends when I am in town and I love it. But it’s not really a great way to make lasting friends since the volunteers change a lot on the weekends.

I have been dating someone now for the past few months. Yay! He’s about 5 yrs older than me and is very positive with his mindset. Also into fitness. Another yay! He lives north of Orlando. Boo! But he has two sons in the St. Pete/Clearwater area, so many times we meet halfway for both of us, around St. Pete. Or, I go up his way for a weekend, since I can take my work with me and he usually works 6 days a week due to staff shortages. (He works as a fitness director.) Oh, and he’s liberally minded and open to eating vegan or vegetarian food when he’s with me. Yay! Neither one of us makes a lot of money so it’s good that we like to spend time in parks, going for walks/visiting the beach, etc. We plan to go indoor rock climbing together in Tampa the next time we are up there.

Waiting for sunset near the Peace River Wildlife Center in Punta Gorda, Florida

The finances — eh, they’re there. Still working on improving them and increasing my income. Working with several different companies is helping in that I never have a shortage of work. I also learn about different types of proceedings and how they need to be transcribed, as well as from different jurisdictions. I won’t bore you with the details, but it does make my work more interesting as well.

So that’s about all that has changed. I have realized that being a nomad is just too difficult when you have as many furballs as me. I can’t afford nor would I want to drive around a huge Class A at this point. A Class C might work, but I would always be terrified about any of them getting out or being unhappy, and that is no way to live. Plus, living the RV life isn’t always that cheap, and I really do love being near the water. Even if you live somewhere inland like where my boyfriend lives, you are still just an hour away from a huge body of water like the Atlantic. To do the RV thing more cheaply means you live in the desert southwest or where there is a lot of BLM land, and I really need the greenery that I have around me here. I have come to realize that. I do miss the wide open spaces of the southwest though.

There are always compromises, aren’t there?

Anyway, I wanted to write this post while I had the ambition to do so, and while my hands weren’t hurting from typing 15-20,000 words in a day. Yes, you read that right. Not a typo.

Thank you to Dawn from Change is Hard for inspiring me to write this evening, after dropping a comment on my blog letting me know she was thinking about me. I admire her ability to blog so consistently. And if you haven’t read her blog or seen her pictures, well, you’re really missing something.

Again, I do want to write more. It’s just hard when you feel like you don’t have much to say, or you do feel like you have something to say but feel the need to earn an income for your furballs and put a bowl of food on the floor for them. Life, right? I’m not complaining. I love working from home and watching my babies sleep (seemingly all day, lol.)

Steel (roommate’s dog) next to my baby boy, Snuggles. Look at the size difference!

See what I mean? Lots of sleeping going on in this photo.

Sooo much sleeping goes on during the day here. Sometimes I even join them. It cracks me up to go lay down on my bed and then hear the pitter patter of little feet as they wake up from their naps, only to realize that Mom has moved. So they pick their bodies up, stretch, and then come in and lay back down next to me. Sometimes, the bed is very crowded… LOL.

Anyway, I feel like I sound like a broken record when I say that I am sorry for the long lengths of time between posts. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. At least some of the photos were cute, right?

Tuesday Thoughts, Thankfulness, Totally Awesome Links

September 13, 2016Terri

I was so grateful to see this way-too-cute-for-words pairing yesterday. Usually HoneyBun moves when she sees Osito heading toward her bed, but right before this photo was taken, they were snuggled up and sleeping together. ❤ HoneyBun and Osito

Good Tuesday to all of you! This week, I’m thankful for the Patriots having won against the Cardinals on Sunday night’s football game. I admit, without Tom Brady, I was a bit worried about how we would do, but I have a lot of faith in Bill Belichek. To watch the game with some Arizona Cardinals fans, and have the right to talk some smack was just awesome! LOL. They knew it was all in good fun.

As I announced last week, in my post called What the Heart Wants, I’ve decided to go back to school to become a vet tech, with an eye to possibly working with wildlife in the future, or hospice care for animals. (We’ll see what happens!) Being older and wiser than the first (or second or third) time I achieved a degree, I’m determined to find as many options for scholarships and free money to go to school. Last week, I mentioned FastWeb. Today, I came across an app called Scholly. They charge $2.99 to join and that’s the only charge, and the app itself is free to download for iPhone and Android. I don’t watch the show Shark Tank, but I understand his app was featured on that show! Another website I’ve just come across is Scholarships.com – it’s a free database that you can use to look for scholarships, and supposedly is updated every day. I’ll be testing it out this week.

Now, I know not everyone reading this is thinking of going back to school, so I’d like to share another website that I’ve come across recently, and it’s about intentional living (and in part, minimalism, which usually goes hand in hand with intentional living.) It’s called Break the Twitch. In case you prefer to watch videos over reading text, he makes a lot of videos that you can see on YouTube at this channel.

And with this, I need to get off the computer and get ready to go down to the local animal shelter so I can walk some doggies!! Then it’s off to the gym again to try to push myself and sweat a lot! I hope you will all have a wonderful Tuesday! Please feel free to drop me a line below and let me know if there are any amazing links you want to share or think I should highlight in a later post, or what you are feeling thankful for this week!

Also, let me know if you think these posts should come later in the week – would Thursday or Friday be better?

As always, thanks for reading!

Lot Going On…

April 26, 2016Terri

Taken during my off-roading adventure yesterday, something I won’t ever forget.

Sorry it’s been a few weeks since I last updated everyone as to what is going on. It’s been a busy few weeks, and I have been working a fair amount of hours, only to grow larger, I suspect, over the summer. That’s ok, because any overtime I make will be going to pay off debt and save up cash for the leaner times. Also, the way the internet works out here is not so reliable. For me to even be typing this, I have my chromebook tethered via USB to my phone and am using my cellular data. To get satellite internet at my apartment was going to be a huge hassle and a half, involving drilling through the roof (don’t even get me started) and quite expensive. I have decided to just buy more data for my phone if the need arises.

So…ok, where do I start?!

So, you might be wondering – did I sell the RV? Yes!!! I sold it to someone who used to work at the resort where I currently work. He was so happy when he drove away with it. I’ve moved into an apartment and there was a bit of a hassle over the furballs. That’s all I can really write about it publicly, but suffice it to say, it was stressful. Then about a week and a half ago, when I went to a neighbor’s to hang out, I left my door closed (or so I thought) but unlocked. I came home a few hours later to find my door standing open, and Max and HoneyBun had flown the coop. We get high winds here sometimes, and the wind had blown the door open. To say I was panicked is an understatement!

13100716_10153880293669930_8831779144980748478_n — HoneyBun, exhausted after her second escape to the outside world. Never letting that little one out of my sight again!

Max was returned to me the next night, but HoneyBun was on the lam for almost a week until I was able to catch her in a trap that a friend loaned me. She has since made a break for it once, and now I’m even more paranoid of opening the door and OCD-ish when making sure the door is locked every time I step foot outside of the apartment, even if it’s to sit on my own patio. I’ve ordered a flexi-gate to put near the door to act as another barrier – it should arrive in a few days.

12661903_10153665654774930_3586652172348026348_n — This photo epitomizes the sweetness of Bonkers, how he used to curl his paws when he slept, and how sweet and big his heart was. In his sleep, he kept moving closer and closer to Osito until they were touching. ❤ Bonkers. RIP.

I have some sad news, and it relates to my oldest cat, Bonkers. On the day after Max and HoneyBun escaped, I left work early to come home and search for them. Bonkers was having issues pooping, as he has had over the past year or so (he has dealt with constipation issues, an irregular colon, kidney failure and a heart murmur.) I called the local vet immediately, who was triple-booked, but they urged me that if I could bring him down within the hour, I might be able to get him seen.

Well, a few weeks before this episode, I ended up having to drive 150 miles one way to the town of St. George, in Utah, to help Bonkers out with another pooping issue that required sedation. At that time, because of his heart murmur and other health issues, the doc had wanted to do some blood work before putting him under sedation. His blood work came back and showed high calcium levels, which I learned usually means cancer. However, they couldn’t see a tumor at the time.

12985426_10153862901499930_3179864998481343163_n — After only one day of being on the run, Max seemed very happy to be at home and has stuck close by my side ever since. This photo was taken the day after he was returned (a helpful neighbor called me when Max found his way into their courtyard.)

Fast forward to the day that I took him to the local vet, who felt around his bum area and noticed it felt quite hard. He felt his colon and said that the lactulose which I had been giving him religiously was doing its job and his stool was soft as it should be. But he had a tumor growing near that area which was making his “exit” hole that much smaller, and therefore harder for him to defecate. The doc said that with anal gland tumors, they usually grow fast and are very malignant. If I wanted to consult with a specialist, he predicted it would mean a large medical bill, surgery, chemo, and in the end, a totally incontinent cat of 15 years. It was clear Bonkers didn’t feel well that am, and I had noticed he had not been eating as much the past few weeks, nor was he sitting still for his subcutaneous fluids like he used to. So, I decided to do what was best for Bonkers, and he crossed over the rainbow bridge on April 15th.

Now that Max and HoneyBun have been safely returned to me, I feel like I can finally properly mourn Bonkers. I’ve arranged for him to be individually cremated, and I plan on donating all of his unused medicines to the local vet. The local vet said that while he can’t re-sell the meds himself, he can offer them to an owner who might come in in the future with a pet needing such expensive meds but can’t afford them. (I was able to buy them all at cost from the animal clinic with my former employer.)

I’ve been working as a supervisor of the resort’s campground, but have recently acknowledged what my physiological system has been telling me, and which I suspected was the case – I don’t like being The Boss, and dealing with all those stresses being The Boss entails. So I have asked to be moved to the role of Team Lead. I will still do a lot of what I am doing now – dealing with campers/customers, but not with all of the stresses of having to discipline employees, etc. So right now I’m in a transition period where we are hiring lots of new employees for the summer, and working with my (temporary) replacement in the supervisory role. And yes, there have been some rough patches. Nothing is ever easy. I wish it was, but lately, that just doesn’t appear to be the case where my life is concerned.

I do like living in the apartment. I love taking long hot showers, and being able to even turn around in my bathroom! I love being able to do a load of laundry while I sleep at night. I love living close enough to work so that I can drive home the 2-3 miles at lunch and visit my furballs. I love living so close to Lone Rock that I can even see it from the front patio of my apartment. I love the fact that in April, just yesterday, I was in a tshirt and shorts and sitting at the beach, even if only for a short while after I volunteered at the local animal shelter. And yes, I have loved taking some of their energetic doggies for walks.

I am having a problem setting into a routine, however. I’ve not worked out in weeks now (shock, gasp!) because getting to work by 7 or 7:15 in the am already requires me to get up pretty early and after being on my feet all day, I just don’t feel like going for a run. And I’ve not been writing (obviously, as you’ve seen from the lack of posts on the blog). Until a few weeks ago, I’ll be quite honest. I was so stressed out of my mind on a daily basis from one thing or another that it was all I could do to get msyelf to eat an entire bagel for breakfast without feeling like I wanted to puke. That’s how I get affected by stress.

But lately, my stress level has been coming down somewhat, and I’m working on getting my positive attitude back on a more regular basis. I’m feeling like I can eat food again. i did lose some much needed weight during those stress-filled weeks, so that was actually a good thing, in retrospect. And, I learned some valuable information about myself, so that was also good.

Well, this has been a rambling catch-up post, and I hope some of you are still out there, interested to read it. Please drop me a line or comment below if you like. I promise to write more now that I am slowly getting established. And I want to write more fiction as well. The book dream has not left me – it just got misplaced during the move and the following stress.

Let’s Catch Up, Shall We?

February 27, 2016Terri

IMAG0370_1 — Lake Powell from near my RV about an hour before sunset. Yes, I’ve edited the pic for color but it gives you an idea of just how beautiful it is.

So it’s been a busy few weeks since I last posted. I finished up the job at the animal sanctuary and then moved a few days ago to the small (but still bigger than where I just left) town of Page, AZ. You might not have heard of the town’s name, but it’s home to a huge lake (2nd largest reservoir) called Lake Powell. Simply put, it’s gorgeous. I don’t care what the naysayers say about “oh the lake’s level is down so far right now, it’s just a pond compared to what it once was… blah, blah, blah.” You know what? I’m not gonna let them rain on my parade because the view I see every morning and every evening makes it all worthwhile.

The move here was a bit rough at first – some downed trees, and the campsite I wanted didn’t have water running to it. So I ended up taking the site next to it, and am now just hoping the downed trees get cleaned up sooner rather than later. There are also some problems with the water at the new site, but they are workable. I also can’t wait to make my space more inviting – it will have to wait until I get a paycheck as I’ve used the credit card too much lately. But more inviting, it will definitely be! Luckily, the animals seem to have adjusted to the move rather quickly. For the first day, Callie and HoneyBun hid a lot and were clearly freaked out, but they seem to have recovered just fine by now, as you can tell from the photo below.

HoneyBun appears to have settled in comfortably.

So I also just started my new job this week. I will be supervising and yes, it’s been a while since i did that in any official capacity, so I’m a bit nervous, but think I’ve learned a lot over the years from my supervisors, both bad and good. Going to try to discard all the bad habits and things I saw, and do my best to keep the good, plus tweak those things with my own personal style. And you all know me, I like to research the hell out of anything so I’ve been reading some self-help/teach-yourself books on management, and will be trying to hone my people skills as well. I know it won’t all be easy but I hope to not disappoint the ones who believed in me enough to offer me the job.

When it comes to managing, in the past, I’ve tried to always lead by example and make it very clear to folks that I will never ask them to do something I’ve not done or won’t do myself. I hope that will come through loud and clear. And God knows, for 6 months, I took care of a lot of animal poop so I think it’s safe to say there isn’t much I won’t do, if it needs to be done. From what I hear, we get extremely busy in the summer and there will probably be some overtime in my future. If that’s the case, I’ve already decided I will be trying to save as much $ as I possibly can. If it works out for me here, I could see myself trying to buy a small house or condo.

I finally got to take a tour of the Glen Canyon Dam. It’s the second largest, and also Lake Powell is the second largest reservoir in the country, trailing just behind Lake Mead in terms of capacity. I will also be attending a fundraiser for the local animal shelter/adoption agency, known as PAAA (Page Animal Adoption Agency). Hoping to meet other like minded people there – something tells me I will!

IMAG0376 — One of the most gentle dogs I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. After his initial shyness, he and I are buddies now. I’ve been licked on the face several times to prove it. 🙂

I just started pet sitting for a good friend, and will be for the next week or so in the evenings. He has the most awesome, old-souled (yes, “souled” is a word, I’ve just created it!) dog that I swear is part Australian Shepard and Lab by the looks of him, shy but super-loving dog. (In the pic, he has a dog treat on his head. I was trying to bond with him at the time by lying next to him on the floor in the closet where he went and hid when I tried to take his pic. I think the treat convinced him enough to sit still for this one pic.) He also has a very handsome and talkative Siamese who has epilepsy and thus requires medication twice a day. I’ve never seen a cat take a pill so easily in my entire life. You just pop his mouth open and shove it in, and you’re done. Awesome! If I go to Lone Rock tomorrow (as you all know, one of my favorite places to be out here), I may be taking his dog along for the ride and an involved game of Fetch. (In case you are all wondering, yes, Baby O is doing just fine and she’s snoring next to me as I type this, in fact.)

Balloon coming in for a soft landing on the third and final day of the Kanab Balloons and Tunes festival. That was a perfect weather morning and as the balloon landed, I could hear the birds singing.

Before I left UT last week, I was able to take in a balloon festival with a new, but very good friend of mine. For three days, the balloons were able to get into the air, which is just awesome. They also had a Balloon Glow portion to the weekend where they had all the balloons set up on the street and at certain times, all would light up their balloons with the propane-powered hot air. It was a pretty amazing sight to see, and it just felt good to be leaving Kanab on an up, rather than down note.

It was so difficult to snap a photo at just the right time as the balloons were lit up!

In case any of you are wondering, yes it’s been two weeks since I’m completely Prozac free as I mentioned in my last post. I’m feeling great. I’ve been getting up and running in the mornings, and went to the local gym for the first time today. Had a great workout that left me feeling tired and famished, and a bit sore, which is just the way I like to feel at the end of a great workout. It’s a feeling I’ve not had in a long while, so I think things are looking up in that department and in so many others as well.

And on that note, I think I will end this post. Thanks as always for reading.

Getting Rid of my Debt (What # am I up to now?)

August 3, 2014Terri

Shhh...the baby is sleeping.... — Shhh…the baby is sleeping….

I seriously have lost count. I know I have not been talking about the Debt Killing much lately and that’s because it has slowed down,while my savings has really ramped up. Now that I know I definitely want to move to WA state by September of next year (and possibly as early as August if I get accepted to the Outdoor School I mentioned in my last post), I have figured out how much I need to save to feel comfortable when making the move. I want to have at least 4-6 months living expenses saved up, a scooter (which I estimate will cost me about 2K), and have planned on saving up about $3K for the move. I figure the motor home will cost me probably about $1200 for gas alone, and I’m thinking right now my budget for the motor home purchase will probably be around 10K. I’m not expecting to get the latest model but want something dependable, and I don’t mind putting in some sweat equity to make it my “home” Ii.e. my goal is to make it feel “beachy” by probably painting the walls, and possibly the cabinets depending on what color they are to start with.) Read more →

Little Things for Which I am Thankful

December 13, 2013Terri

My baby girls, Callie and HoneyBun. So cute and snuggly (HoneyBun is kneading her bed in bliss.)

I wish I could say I was thankful for the extremely cold weather we are having in the Northeast, but I can’t. I hate the cold. That’s why I want to move someplace a lot milder! However, there are many things I am thankful for this week.

I was officially offered a part-time front desk job at the gym where I work out – yay! I’m hoping this means that my monthly membership is going to be free, as that would be a savings of $59/month. I’m also really hoping to gain a lot of knowledge about the inner workings of the health and fitness industry. Not to mention that I will be taking all the money I earn from it and put it in my tiny house fund, or to pay off debt! (I’m thinking the tiny house is the place I would most like for it to go.)
Though it’s been frigid all week, it has made for some incredible sunrises. As I walk into the gym from the bus, I have a great view of the Boston skyline. Some mornings, the sky is a fiery red. The other day, the grayish clouds hanging over the skyline were so solid and opaque looking that they looked like mountains behind the buildings.
Really frigid mornings make for extremely short “pee and poop” trips outside with baby Osito! If time permits, when we come back in, I hold her on my chest like a baby to help her warm up. Doing that, she gives me lots and lots of doggie kisses!
I was also contacted by someone to do some freelance research on a book – yay again! This lady is super awesome and so down to earth. And, right now, I’m very focused on doing the best I can do at whatever project I set out to do.
I’ll be gaining more space in my studio tomorrow when I give my old bike to someone off of Freecycle. It feels good to be giving it to someone who can really use it, and I can already tell by our phone call and our emails, that she is going to REALLY appreciate it.
The heat broke in my apartment last night, but the guys who take care of the building are so awesome, they had it working again within a half hour! Warm and toasty!
After the payment I just made today on my personal loan clears, the balance will be about $633!!
Memories. Yes, memories. They remind me of what life used to be like, and while sometimes they can make you sad, or nostalgic, you can learn from them, time and time again. Literally.

What are you thankful for this week?

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: