Day 141 through 143: Changing A Mindset

 

I had so much hope for 2024, but I haven't accomplished anything. I failed miserably getting back on my diet and exercise program. I lost my job. I can't seem to keep my house neat, though I'm trying. Here is a link to my first post of 2024: New Year  I feel like I'm still in the same place. I started and stopped so many times and I have yet to "get it right". I am going to be starting 2025 with the same goals as 2024 .. and 2023 ... and probably 2022. I have to pull myself out of the hole I've dug and start this final section of life: retirement. I'm not going to fool myself into thinking I will magically find a job in the new year. In all honesty, I don't want a new job. This means I have ZERO excuses not to fully devote my life to losing the weight. I have nothing but time. I do not want to end 2025 in the same place. I want to be thinner and happier.

I wrote the paragraph above on 12-16-24. I'm going to repeat it in every blog through 12-31-24. More on that later.

To catch up, I spent Tuesday 12-17 doing my usual: watching YouTube and playing Cookie Jam. I made my cookie dough in the late morning/early afternoon but didn't get baking until after 3 pm. Why ? Well, I waited for the Cookie Jam reset at 3 pm .. lol ! My spritz cookies came out great and once I got started it was a quick and easy task. These cookies only take 6 minutes to cook, so I was done pretty quickly ! Yesterday (Wednesday 12-17) was rock & roll bingo. I spent the morning watching YouTube and playing Cookie Jam and then showered in the afternoon. I also washed most of the dishes and cleaned the table and counter off. I didn't make too much of a mess with the cookie baking, but I'm glad I cleaned everything up and got the dishes under control. It's been rainy and warmer the past few days so all the snow melted again. Bingo was fun though none of us won. We all came close on at least one game but just couldn't get that last square. After it was over Joe wanted to play the slots for a little bit so I did too. I ended up winning $350 !!!! It was a fluke because I accidentally played at 10 cents instead of my usual 1 cent, so I was betting $8 per spin instead of 80 cents ! I ended up getting the bonus and the big win. I cashed out immediately and was pretty stunned. I only had enough money left in the machine for 1 more spin when I got the bonus, so I was very, very lucky. Perhaps my kindness to our server came back to bless me. It was my turn to pay and the bill was only $62 thanks to a $10 voucher Joe had and the fact that Barb & Rich chose to get their own food. Even so, I gave the server a $25 tip. It's Christmas after all and it's not like I'm destitute. I think in the new year we're going to pay our own tabs for bingo. It's really not fair for me to pay for 5 people's meal when I am only 1 person. Anyhow, I was really happy to win the money.

In a footnote to the closure of the AT&T office, looks like the closure date is 03-21-25. At least these folks have plenty of time to decide what they want to do. I only had 2 weeks notice - which was sad after over 39 years of service. I haven't seen any news stories about the closing, so apparently no one alerted the media. I'm sure it will get out eventually. No one has said where the work is going, but I'm going to guess it's been outsourced to a 3rd party who will pay their workers less money to do the same job. I happened to see a job posting for call center jobs supporting AT&T mobility in Pensacola, FL. It's from a 3rd party company, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the same thing happen with the wireline call center work. On the job front for me, I really don't want to go back to work. I'm going to collect unemployment and make an effort to apply for jobs in the new year, in hopes of not having to touch my pension, IRA or social security before 2026.

So that brings me to today, Thursday 12-19. it's a chilly gray day and snow flurries are in the forecast. Nothing more than flurries is in the forecast through Christmas, so I hope that doesn't change ! I was up shortly after 8 and once the cats were fed I enjoyed my breakfast, coffee, Cookie Jam, YouTube and a short Minnie lap-nap. She didn't stay for long, I guess she had other plans for her day ! The plan for me today was to go out and do some shopping. I need to pick up gifts for Lauren, Alyssa & Erin. I also want to get a little something more for Joe. I'm thinking a tub of cashews and I might make a custom mix of chocolate covered, regular cashews and perhaps some peanut M&M's. We'll see. It's 10:54 now and my goal is to be out of the house by noon. I think I'll get gas, go to Wegman's and perhaps get an oil change. It's been over a year, so I am long overdue ! I also need to go to the liquor store. Christmas is next Wednesday so I need to get this done !

Well, I didn't get out of the house by noon. It was nearly 2:30 when I headed out and I was back home just before 3:45. I only went to Walmart. It's my own fault. I lingered on the couch to finish a challenge round on Cookie Jam and before I was done Minnie decided it was time for nap #2. By the time I finished Minnie had wandered off but I accidentally started the challenge again. If I didn't finish it, I would be sent back to the beginning and the whole point of repeating the challenge from its current level is for the 50 coins you get. So I finished it and decided to just go to Walmart since I wanted to be home before rush hour and before it got dark. I thought about just doing everything tomorrow but it made more sense to get something done today. Weather was fine and it was good to get out of the house and walk around. I was able to finish shopping for Joe and stock up on pet food. I also bought the stuff to make pizza. Call it my last hurrah before January 1 ! Tomorrow I will get out much earlier (like after breakfast !) and get what I need for Lauren, Alyssa & Erin. I'll also put gas in the car and get an oil change if they're not busy. I'm going to wait until Monday for Wegman's so I can get fresh salad items, shrimp and some other appetizer for Christmas Eve. Saturday and Sunday are going to be bitter cold with overnight low's in the single digits, so I'm not planning on going out !

I'm glad I'm not relying on Amazon for anything right now, as some of their union members are on strike. We'll see who comes out on top when it's Teamsters vs. Amazon. Both sides are money hungry crooks ! I'm sure for every individual on strike there are 25 out there that would take their job in a heartbeat, so I'm Amazon is likely not worried. Case in point: the AT&T folks went on strike for a month and now they're losing their jobs. Talk about your empty victory ! Honestly, I'm not surprised. Once the strike happened I figured that center was not long for this world.

Just 31 more days until Trump is inaugurated and boots the Biden's out of the White House. I can't wait ! The Dem's are quaking in their designer boots and I can't wait for Trump to get his cabinet in place and start handing out pink slips ! I'm hoping to see full pardons for all the people charged for the January 6, 2021 nonsense. I also hope to see an end to any and all investigations related to that event. I also hope to see the start of deportations of the millions on illegals, many of whom are criminals. It's going to be an exciting time and I am strapped in for the ride ! I plan to watch the inauguration live, probably on Fox since I'm paying for Fox Nation. 

I am determined to get back to my diet and exercise program starting January 1. My goal is 100 pounds by 12-31-25. That's a stretch goal, but I'm determined to work hard to achieve it !