Day 102: Manic Monday

 

Time for a new mission statement. My goal for 2025 was to lose 100 pounds by 12-31-25 but I've failed miserably. At some point I need to pick myself up and try. A realistic goal at this point is 50 pounds by 12-31-25, so that is where I will start. When will I start ? I don't know .. do I need a "starting point" ? I don't. Every day that I don't "start" just adds to my misery. I plan to just take each day as it comes and do what I can to move closer to where I want to be. Life has changed and I haven't been able to adapt just yet.

I was awake before my alarm today and got up shortly after 8 am. It helps that I went to sleep a bit earlier ! I spent the first part of the morning watching YouTube and playing online slots, then decided to tackle getting in touch with the IRS. I pulled some documents off the ATT website and made sure I had everything I might need before calling just before 11:30. Once I got into the queue the estimated wait was 30-60 minutes, so I decided to start this blog while I waited. While I was waiting I checked their website to see the status of my amended return. It says it was adjusted on 03-21-25 and "completed" on 04-21-25 .. which is rather odd since today is only 04-14-25. As of 11:37 I've been on the phone for 14 minutes. I think the amount due is a mistake and I don't owe anything .. so we'll see what they say ! How can you owe $591 on additional income of $578 ? I amended my return before the 4-15 filing deadline, so it's not like any penalty should apply. It just makes no sense. There is an option to create an account with the IRS to view your tax history and I'm going to pursue that later. 

Once the IRS business is out of the way I plan to take a shower and get dressed. The kitchen is a bit of a mess so I plan to address that as well. I am also going to try and get on the treadmill today. I have to start somewhere ! I've pretty much stopped coughing and only need to blow my nose first thing in the morning. My sinuses are pretty clear right now. It might help that I've started taking vitamins again. I bought gummy vitamins as they're more pleasant than trying to swallow a gigantic tablet.

Last night when I went to bed I changed the sheets, since I was freshly showered. My goal now is to shower every day. I'm continuing to struggle with consistency when it comes to self-care, which is crazy. Is this depression or just pure laziness ? I suspect it's a bit of both. I've noticed I feel better on sunny days, so I really, really think I need a light therapy box. I need to just buy one and give it a try.

As of 11:54 I'm still on hold and have hit the 30 minute mark. Will I get a rep before the 60 minute mark ? Only time will tell ! Hit the 1 hour mark as of 12:24, so hopefully I'll get someone soon. It's 12:54 and I've hit 90 minutes on hold. While I was waiting I created an account on IRS and looking at my tax transcript it looks like the $591 is a penalty for not pre-paying taxes for the life insurance the company held, which is BS. If I can't get the IRS to waive that I'll have to contact the benefit provider and they can pay it ! After 2 hours on hold I spoke with a very nice lady who tried to waive the penalty but the system wouldn't allow it. No surprise there ! She put a 6 month hold on collection for the penalty and advised me to submit form 843 to request the penalty be waived. I filled that out and it's all ready to mail. I'll take care of that first thing tomorrow ! I'm too annoyed to get dressed and go to the post office right now. It's almost 3 pm so there's no point. Rather ironic that tomorrow is "tax day" ! I may go and get chinese after I do that. They're closed on Monday or I'd have done it today !

Breakfast today was cheese danish. There is only one more piece left and then I'll be back to waffles. I snacked on cheese balls while I waited for the IRS. The chocolate covered almonds are almost gone but I still have half a cherry pie. Dinner last night was 2 hotdogs with some frozen corn that I microwaved. It was so good and such a welcome change from green vegetables !

Once the IRS issue was addressed I left out to replace my sign for packaged on the front door and discovered how warm it is out ! It's 64 per my phone but the porch feels much warmer because of the sun. I scrubbed off the old tape marks on the door and put up my new sign. My Nutrisystem order shipped today so I needed to get that sign up. I also put my house numbers back in the window. They had fallen at some point this winter and I had hung them up on wire for a temporary fix. I have some siding repair that needs to be done, so I may ask Will if he will remount the numbers. I didn't have him do it after he finished the siding because I was planning on redoing the porch. I'm glad I didn't spend that money, considering I got laid off ! I left the front door open and Minnie took a short stroll around the porch before settling on her pillow on the back of the couch. It was sunny this morning but it's cloudy now. To my horror, there is a winter weather advisory starting at 6 pm tomorrow with the possibility of 4-7 inches of snow ! What the actual F !!! Looking at the forecast temps I don't think this is going to happen, but we'll see !

The IRS thing ended up derailing my day. I was hoping I could have resolved it during this phone call, but I should have known better. After all, it is the IRS ! It's nearly 4 pm now and I just had a pepperoni pizza melt and a piece of cherry pie. I also checked in on my bank account and thought I needed to submit for my unemployment benefits. Turns out I did that yesterday. I don't know what I was thinking as I usually do it on Monday. Oh well, I'll get my deposit sooner. While I was on the phone with the IRS I also checked in on my retirement benefit. The amount has increased since I last checked and that was nice to see ! If I take a lump sum I'll get around $350k. I'll be having some conversation with my financial advisor once my unemployment runs out. With all that financial stuff out of the way for now, it's slot time !