Day 51 & 52: A Light at The End of The Tunnel ?

 

Here we go ! It's a new year. Time to get back on track with diet and exercise. The goal is 100 pounds by 12-31-25. Can I do it ? At this point, probably not but I'm going to keep trying. My original Day 51 and 52 blogs can found here and here. It was the weekend and I was still sick, so there wasn't much to the blog.

I didn't write yesterday mostly because I was out most of the day. Rich texted me about 10:30 that they were going to Aldi's and the restaurant we like in Lowville. Of course I jumped at the chance to get out of the house ! They picked me up just before 12:30 and I got home about 5:30. Before I knew I was going out I had texted Doug to see if he could clear my driveway as an avalanche of snow had come down during the night. He came right over and was still hard at work when Rich picked me up. He once again cleared all the snow along the side of the house. If nothing else that means less melting snow flowing into my basement ! I picked up a couple packages of cookies and a jar of pasta sauce at Aldi and had chicken & biscuits for dinner. It wasn't as good this time and I realized that they use canned chicken, which is kinda gross. The meal was salty but the mashed potatoes were the star ! Next time we go there I am going to eat something different.

Today I was awake before 7 and I'm glad I was up early as mama cat was waiting for me ! Unfortunately two males were out there too and all they wanted to do was fight over the female, who is already pregnant. She ended up running away but hopefully she came back and ate. I spent the morning watching YouTube and playing my slot games. I had some of my leftover chinese just before noon and not long after I finished eating a pickup pulled up outside to shovel the snow off the porch roof across the street. I had intended to try using my roof rake to clear my own porch roof but I watched the two guys working across the street and I could see how hard packed the snow was. I knew there was no way I was going to push if off my roof. So I went to the door when they were done and asked if they could do mine. They did ! It cost me $150 but it is well worth the peace of mind ! With it being warm this week that snow was just going to get heavier and heavier. The only down side is the sidewalk in front of my house is 1000% impassable. The village has not been through to clear sidewalks in a while as they're more focused on getting the streets clear. I expect they'll be on my street soon to haul away the snowbanks and clear the sidewalks.

Yesterday Rich & I talked about me getting an electric snowblower. I'm really sold on the idea as it would allow me to maintain a path AROUND the house so that I can clear snow away from the kitchen window and make sure the heat exhaust stays clear. I could also clean up the driveway instead of having to get Doug to do it and keep the sidewalk clear if the village isn't on top of it. I'm not sure how old Doug is but he's had at least one stroke and I think he may have other medical issues. None of my business but I have to be prepared to handle the snow myself if he becomes unable to do so. I don't think I'll ever find anyone like him again ! Of course, with my luck I'll buy the snowblower and we'll go right back to our mild winters with little snow. That's ok - it would be money well spent ! The one I'm considering is about $1500 plus tax and I have nearly $1300 in credit card points I could put towards it, so it would only cost me about $200 plus the tax on the full cost. As I'm working on this blog Doug is out in my driveway with his tractor right now. Since it's warm he's scraping off the ice on the driveway, which is great !

So as of 2 pm today I have complete peace of mind. The porch roof is clear, the driveway side of the house is clear and there are no big storms in the forecast. The warmer temps this week aren't going to do much to get serious snow melt underway, but every day without more snow is a blessing ! We are known to have snow deep into March, so I really won't relax until April rolls around.

I decided to clean out my email today and found a renewal notice for SiriusXM. I knew it was coming up and I had planned to look into my options, but as soon as I clicked "cancel" on their website I was able to renew for $4.99 a month, which is cheaper than the $7.27 I've been paying ! That rate is only good for a year, but I'll do the same thing next March ! I'm only saving a couple dollars a month, but every penny helps ! I'm saving on my phone bill now too. 

As I mentioned in my last blog, I'm not focused on diet and exercise at the moment. I thought about "restarting" on 3-1 but that just so happens to be a day out. We were supposed to take an Adirondack train trip this past Saturday but because of the snow all train trips were moved out a week. I will consider Monday March 3rd, provided the weather and snow issues have stabilized. In 23 days it will officially be "Spring" but our weather isn't known to follow the rules, lol ! We've been known to have blizzards around Saint Patrick's Day, so we won't be in the clear for at least a month. Speaking of St Patrick's Day .. I'm looking forward to Irish Soda Bread ! Kim always gets it at Price Chopper so I may have to make a special trip to get some.

It's nearly 6:30 and I just checked my email on my phone to make sure it updated to reflect all the emails I deleted via my laptop email program. In doing that I saw an email from a person I had interviewed with back in September. She has an opening and wondered if I was still looking. You see, this is my luck. I accepted that I wouldn't find a new job, resigned myself to being "retired" once my unemployment ends, kind of like doing my own thing all day every day and even planned on spending this summer walking in the state parks ! Honestly, I do not want to start a new job but I feel like I need to take this job if it's offered to me. The longer I wait for social security, the more I will get each month. It would probably be good for my mental health too. We'll see where it goes. If I could get to 65 I'd be happy. If I really like the job and am doing well I might consider working until I'm 67 since that is my full retirement age. It would be nice to be able to use my savings to have the porch redone ! We'll see what happens. I wish I could say I'm happy about this development, but honestly I'm not. I was looking forward to the end of unemployment in June and the road to retirement in July !