Overcoming the Catch-22

Well ... it looks like I found a bank willing to give me just enough to squeak in the purchase of a semi or some other similar small home. It isn't, ultimately, what I really want, but it is a start at least. Now the challenge is to find something that will fit the bill. Wish me luck!!!

On another note, I read something today that had one line that really jumped out at me. Have you ever had that happen? Actually, a line of a song did that to me this morning too. When you stop to think about them, they make perfect sense. The lines were these:

In a Christian song - "He turns our weaknesses into His opportunities so that the glory goes to Him." That's very true.

In a daily meditation book - "The most comfortable people to be around are those who are considerate of others but ultimately please themselves."

I think they speak volumes.

Catch-22s

Have you ever been in a Catch-22 situation? I have many times, and am now again. What a frustrating place to be in.

I need to move within the next 4 months. I have been searching relentlessly for rentals and finding every way I can to be able to purchase a home. Well, the difficulty I am running into is that I don't make enough money to be able to afford to buy even a modest bungalow in this area. It is doubtful that I could even find a semi within the price range the banks will give me.

The Catch-22 part is that if I have to rent, I will end up paying about the same as the mortgage amount that the bank will give me in the first place or even more.

What the *&^% is a person to do? It is upsetting. I keep being told I need a second income, but I have no control over that. I also have no control over my own income. It has been under negotiation for the past year and not looking good for anything substantial. You would think that with the substantial agreement the province just made for money from the offshore oil that they could spread a little joy to their workers. I won't hold my breath.

Please say a prayer for me. I really, really need it.

Ever Wonder?

Have you ever wondered where some of those sayings come from? I have. I love it when I find out where they did come from. Here are a few of them:

• The whole nine yards — During the wars (and probably still today) a belt of ammo for a machine gun is 9 yards long. When the enemy was approaching, the command was to give them the whole 9 yards. This saying is still used today to indicate to "give them all you have."
• Good night, sleep tight — In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase ... "goodnight, sleep tight."
• Honeymoon — It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.
• Mind your Ps and Qs — In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down." Hence, the saying today "Mind your Ps and Qs."
• Wet your whistle — Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.

And a bit of trivia for you:

• It is impossible to lick your elbow.
• What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common? They were all invented by women.
• If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
• 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
• Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David ... Hearts - Charlemagne ... Clubs -Alexander, the Great ... Diamonds - Julius Caesar
• The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.
• The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age 11: $6400 (US probably)
• Coca-Cola was originally green.
• Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
  
• Many years ago, in Scotland a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only ... Ladies Forbidden"... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

Bet you tried to lick your elbow, didn't you? 75% of people will try it. (teehee)

Stress Management

I admit it. I let stress get the better of me in the past couple weeks. I lost all perspective. I haven't gone over the deep end like that in a long time. Not good.

Today someone sent me this list of ways to de-stress. I could have used some of them in the past few days. The good news, though—I am on the way back up.

Some ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

• Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
• Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them. [I failed on this one, I'm ashamed to say. They tasted bitter when I had to swallow them.]
  
• Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
• Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
• If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
• If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
• Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on. [I fell flat on my arse.]
• Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
• The second mouse gets the cheese. [sucks to be the first]
  
• Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
• You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person. [If I am, I would like to know it.]
• Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
• We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colours, but they all have to live in the same box.
• A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour. [This I have done successfully.]

Remember this: "If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes
increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. You have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."

And sometimes we just have to let them go completely. How important are they anyway?

Valentine's Day

So ... it is Valentine's Day again. It just feels like any other day to me. This day really sucks when you are really single. Most everyone around you is receiving expressions of love in one form or another from someone special while you stand by and watch it happen and wish it were you.

I know this is a day of love, but I think it is important to express your love for someone in special ways all throughout the year. Perhaps Valentine's Day is simply an over-rated Hallmark holiday.

Brace myself now for the upcoming Easter holiday. Oh joy!!

Get a Grip

There are all kinds of things we use to "get a grip" on things. For instance

• pot holders/oven mitts to grip hot dishes from the oven
  
• ice tongs to grip the ice cubes in the bucket
• salad tongs to grip all those loose pieces of salad
• studded tires to grip on icy roads
• snowshoes to get a grip for walking on snow
• pliers to get a grip on something small we can't grip with our hands
• holding a child's hand to keep a grip on them from running into the street

Today, I need to "get a grip"—period. I have allowed stress to overwhelm me to the point where I'm having a hard time getting a grip on my day-to-day life. It caused me to look at a situation the wrong way and misinterpret what was happening. As a result, I hurt someone I care about. I've made my apologies. I only hope I can be forgiven. I'm trying to "get a grip" and stop worrying so much. Get a grip, Miz D, get a grip now. You know better than that.

I Remember ...

These are some of the things I remember from my childhood:

• Being able to buy just half a popsicle for 4¢, a whole one for 7¢
• Scotties chips in a foil bag for 5¢
• Five Star chocolate bars
• Spearmint Leaves that were 3/1¢
• Five loaves of bread cost 96¢
• Ice cream cones were 10¢
• Admission to a movie was 25¢
• Tiny Tim was tiptoeing through the tulips
• Henry Gibson said, "Life is a many splendoured thing"
• Don Messer had a "jubilee"
• Lawrence Welk conducted his band with "uh-one-a, uh-two-a"
• Cry-baby Cannon was a wrestler
• Muhammad Ali floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee
• Searching the woods for blueberries, tea berries, and spruce gum
• Fishing for perch with my Dad to fill his eel trap
• Trips to my grandparent's century farm and spending time with the cows
• Picking mushrooms in a cow pasture
• Weeding the vegetable and harvesting the vegetables
• Playing "show and tell" with the boys next door and getting caught—twice
• Laying in the sun and listening to the Argus planes fly overhead
• Watching bumblebees collecting nectar from the clover on my lawn
• Swinging in the canvas hammock between the trees in our yard until I fell asleep
• Swimming naked in the lake at our cottage

I'm sure there are many things you, too, remember. When I review this list, these are the most memorable things. The one pattern I notice is that the vast majority of these things were enjoyed with my father or alone. I sure do miss him. I guess his influence in my life is why I feel such a great need to have a male as a prominent figure in my life. I love male companionship and really do need it in my life. How lonely life is without it.

Chiropractors

I owe a great deal to my chiropractor. He is wonderful. He has offered me so much relief from pain that drugs, physio, and accupuncture could not address. I went to see him yesterday. I go every 4 months for an adjustment to my back and neck and anything else that happens to crop up in the meantime.

He surprised me yesterday. I was complaining about muscles I had pulled in my ribs in October and had been suffering with since. I explained what happened and how I kept reinjuring them. He examined my back and said, "Oh good ... you have locked up all your ribs on the left side." Wonderful. Apparently the tight muscles pulled the ribs into a locked position and the locked position kept the muscles tense so they would not heal. It was a Catch-22 situation. One continued to affect the other. Now I need a few sessions to get my joints mobile again. I should have gone to see him in October. When will I ever learn???

Nice Change

Hey, Keyboard, it is nice to see a week dedicated to good things. It's like wishing the newspaper only printed good news and left out the bad stuff. Perhaps they should follow your footsteps, even if only for a week.

Your words about your wife are very touching. I believe everyone of us should have a relationship like that. Not that I believe either party should wait hand and foot on the other, but definitely to share that kind of love in whatever way works for them both. It's all about give and take, listening and hearing, understanding and empathy. And above all else, deep, true love with a soulmate. I believe we all have one, but we don't all find them.

I want that. I have always wanted that for as long as I can remember. I need that. I am determined that I will have that, soon.

My Gripes for This Week

These are the things that have aggravated me this week:

• Heat that doesn't seem to be able to be controlled in the office. First we froze so bad our hands were near numb, now it is so hot we can't breathe or stay awake.
• Searching the ads in the paper for rentals only to find the same things day after day and nothing that fits the bill.
• People wearing perfume in a scent-free environment when I am sensitive to it.
• Unrelenting dreams that have been disturbing my sleep for 2 weeks straight.
• Waiting for too long for someone to fix my dryer.
• Software programs that are looking for an installation disk when I try to open them because they were not installed properly, and I don't have the disk.
  
• My daughter's procrastination.
• Songs that are written in a key I can't sing in.

I'm sure the list goes on, but I am too tired from dreaming all week to think straight. Poor baby, huh? Hope you have had a good week. Mine was good in spite of all this. Everyday above ground is a good day.