The Couch - Welcome to the Psychedelic 70's

Thank you, canyon. That's really moving.

I'm a little proud of myself right now. I got an email yesterday saying that my return flight from England on Feb 8 had been cancelled and I'd been rebooked to an earlier flight. Since I'll be an hour and a half away from the airport by train, and the trains aren't that frequent, I wanted a later flight if at all possible (I'm not a morning person). The easiest thing to do would still have been to just let the matter rest and rebook my train ticket, but instead I called the airline in the Netherlands and managed to rebook to a later flight. The KLM customer service guy was extremely friendly and like most Dutch people he spoke excellent English, and it wasn't a difficult call at all, but a year ago I wouldn't have picked up the phone. I would have been too timid to ask for something like this, and too worried that I'd cause trouble.

Way to go Mast! I'm proud of you, too!

Good job, Mast.

Thanks, Jersey..

My dog just scarfed down about 5 huge pancakes without chewing them all the way, he subsequently gave me a heart attacking thinking he was chocking and was going to die in front of my eyes and my kids. Fortunately, he got them all up and is fine. Ugh.. I need to learn not to leave food on any surface, or pups gets to them!!

Wow! That's really something! I wouldn't be able to do that (I guess I would just buy another ticket for the train as rebooking would be too terrible). Great job!

Mast - I always feel a little lonely when a book I enjoy reading ends.

Morning couch.

Been trying to call around to "discount" eyeglasses places to see how much they estimate a pair of sunglasses would be. Even with Walmart's cheapest frame I would be paying about $125 bucks, the other places only go up from there. Some even would be more than my eye doctor's lab with the discount they are offering me on my second pair. So, maybe I will just suck it up and go with the ones at the eye dr's office, since they would probably be a little better quality than Walmart ones. No offense meant to Walmart (that's where I got most of my glasses when I didn't have insurance...either there or Eyeglasses World), but if I am going to pay that much, I might as well get them from my provider's lab. Just to save the money within 30 days now to get them. Yes, they are not a neccessity...but they are probably a good idea for when I am driving in the daytime with the sun. And I would be getting 40% off, so that means I would almost only be paying half the price as I normally would. Maybe I could borrow the $200 bucks from my mom, since the eye place needs half down and the other half when you pick up the glasses. Then I could make smaller payments back to her over a 4 or 5 months. I guess I need to talk to her to see if she would do that. I doubt I will get that much total from various people for my birthday on Monday, but maybe I will get half of it and only have to borrow $100. I have about 100 exrtra bucks a month, but I do not have the $200 extra right now for one large payment. Stupid medical field and jacked up prices.

Mast, good job being brave and calling the airline.

CC, did you decide with job opportunity to go with yet?

Hank, thanks for missing me.

To everyone else, have a great day/afternoon/evening/night/whatever applies.

No squirrel, plans have changes yet again, they have asked me to take over the project completly. Ugggg

Woke up annoyed. Wish I knew why.

Good luck on the decision making, Beaches.

I think I am so out of it today

Just stopped by for a quick hello...

Hi rts!!!! How have you been???

Hi Healed. I've been okay... not yippeeee and not down in the dumps .... just okay.
How are you doing?

(((RTS)))
Good to see you!

Murray... good to see you.

I am doing ok. Glad to see you around, hoping you stick around!!

Hey RTS. Good to see you!

Well, good morning. I'm up early because I didn't sleep last night. I'd been doing so good with my sleep schedule. I had to go off birth control because I lacked insurance, but I finally received my card (went on H's plan). I just need to schedule my annual. Ick. My hormones are out of whack already and even though it was that time of the month two weeks ago, it came back last night with a vengeance. That might be why I didn't sleep, plus I have a 4-5 page paper to write about 6 disparate topics related to the counseling profession. I'm not that fond of my professor...I think she's new to online teaching...because she is not clear about what she wants us to do. Then again, that might be part of being in a master's program, IDK. Trying to relearn APA formatting has been interesting too, especially since the internet was in infancy when I was in college. I have to learn how to cite electronic sources. Blah.

So, whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever time it is, I hope that each of you has the greatest Sunday possible.

Hey everyone...
((RTS)) you were missed.
Mast...good job on rebooking. I am timid and would just take what I got even if it put me in a horribly awkward position.
Also...I am in the "feeling lonely when finishing a book" group too.
Lola...thinking of you. I hope your dreams come true.
Everyone else:

I celebrated a friend's 60th birthday yesterday. It seems like just yesterday we celebrated his 50th. He is the first of our close group to turn 60, it's so odd. 60 used to seem like old...now it's nothing. I am still in my 40's so hopefully I'll be able to celebrate a 60 too.

And this is what I look like at the gym...

Morning, couch peeps.

Just wanted to pop in to say HI and hope that everyone is hanging in there!

Morning couch.

Got a call from J last night asking if I could come sit with K at 10 instead of 8. Yea...more sleep. She also said she would finish up about 4, so I wouldn't have to stay until 6. Makes up for last week when I was forced to stay the entire time when I was not feeling well. Yes, it means less money, but that happens sometimes. I would have really liked to keep my normal hours as it would let me earn the extra money for my glasses faster, but whatever...I have no control over what hours I am offered. I only have control over whether or not I accept/take the hours I am offered.

Went grocery shopping for the month yesterday. Got all my lunch stuff for work for about $25. That's for 20 days..just a little over a buck a day...not bad. Cheaper than buying school lunch (it's $3 for adults ($1.40 for kids), even though we get the same portion as the kids). Also cheaper than running out for fast food.

Got everything for my lunches (except my juice) at the dollar store. Got my juice at Walmart. Discount/generic food lunches.

Got a few snackie stuff at the dollar store for at home during the month. Got everything else for the month at Sav-A-Lot. We also have an Aldi, but it is hard to get in and out of traffic-wise, so I try to avoid it. Sav-A-Lot is decent...they have some off-brands and some name-brands. I got a can of green beans for 39 cents. A 64-oz bottle of 100% apple juice for $1.29. I spent $50 bucks there for the month's food. Not bad...$75 bucks total for food for the month. It works.

The only things I will have to buy each week are things like milk, since it would spoil before a month's time. Next month will probably be a little more expensive as I will have to buy things like frozen chicken...I just had enough of those left from last month, that I didn't need to buy it this time.

I got a survey in the mail from the CEO/president/whatever of the medical group my doctors belong to asking me to evalutate my ob/gyn. Heh. How can I evaluate him after only seeing him once? I guess they just took a random sample of patients to send the survey to. Some of the questions were "how long have you been seeing this provider?", "in the past 24 months, how many visits have you had to this provider's office?", "thinking of all your visits from this provider in the time you have been a patient, how often were you seen within 15 minutes of your appointment time?".

I didn't like then appointment time question...he was running late the day I saw him, but it was the only time I every saw him, so the bubble I would have to choose would be "never". He could have just been having a bad day (or had lots of emergency appointments that day). If I answered "never" it may make him look bad when he really isn't. I also saw him on a Monday, the first day they reopened after the holidays, so that is bound to be a busy day and easy to fall behind/late. I don't think that is a fair question for a new patient to answer after only seeing a doctor one time.

I don't understand why they would send a survey to a new patient (been a patient less than a month) anyways. How could they fairly evaluate him without having "known" them as a professional for some amount of time. Yes, the survey was optional to fill out, but some of the questions I would be able to answer after one visit, so I attempted to fill the survey out...I just skipped the questions I didn't like/thought would be unfair for me to answer after only one appointment with him. I hope I don't get one on my PCP...but if I do, at least I would have 2 visits to use to evaluate him.

CC, you sound like you don't want to take over the project.

RTS, "hi". Thanks for checking in.

To everyone else...have a wonderful day/afternoon/night (depending where on the Earth you are).

Hey Wiki, MUE(!), Squirrel, and critterlady (I see you hiding there).

Hey Chopin! Great seeing you around! Hope you're doing well.

Wiki, I love the exercise pic. Too funny, but yet too real, kwim? My T emailed me the other day about a job opportunity - saying that if I apply, he'd put in a good word for me. The job consists of coordinating nutrition food programs for children and would require about 50% local travel. Umm, T, have you SEEN me lately? I'm obese - and you're suggesting that I advocate for healthy meals for kids? I cannot imagine putting myself in a position of being judged on a regular basis in that setting. It's kinda like T suggesting that I enroll in a bikini contest. I know he's trying to get me to work on being healthier, losing weight, etc. - but I'm kinda pissed at the way he went about doing it - manipulative, indirect and in a somewhat humiliating way. Grr.

Good morning, couch. I hope you all have a great Sunday.

Well I didn't sleep that much for a couple of nights last week, but I slept about 10-12 hours last night (going to bed very early and sleeping until about a half hour ago) so I seem to be getting caught up on sleep.

At K's. Already done 2 loads of laundry. Cleaned the kitchen. And fed K breakfast. K is napping now and I am waiting for the 3rd load of laundry to get done so I can move it to the dryer.

RT, glad to hear you are catching up on sleep.

I am another year older tomorrow. Last year was hard as I turned 30 and left my 20's. This year doesn't matter to me...it's just another year older. 31 isn't that shocking. The school board gave me a good birthday present. There is no school tomorrow. The govt. gave me a crappy bday present...jury duty the day after.

Mom and grandma are taking me out to dinner for my birthday. We are going to my favorite restaurant. Carrabba's. I have C in the morning, but he is fun, so I don't mind working with him on my birthday.

Well, I better go check on the laundry.