About sixteen years ago, I met him for the first time. My trainwreck sibling brought home this adorable puppy he had no business adopting because he had not one thing in his life that wasn’t a mess. I was furious at my sibling – he didn’t even take care of himself, how could he drag
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June 9, 2008
Southwest is running a promotion for a $25 discount when you purchase a $100 southwest gift card.
There are a handful of restrictions, so I would be very careful when deciding whether or not to purchase it.
Purchase dates (for the gift card): June 1st-30th (still have time.)
Requirement: must use Visa. It can be any cobrand as long as it’s US-issued. (Great, I carry one Visa and one Mastercard at all times. It’s not my preferred points rewards card, but it’s still a rewards card.)
Limit: one per Visa cardmember and/or e-mail address. Visa cardmember will earn one $25 fare discount on a $100 or more single card transaction. Shipping and handling fees do not qualify towards the total transaction amount. The $25 fare discount will be sent via e-mail to the Visa cardmember’s account. A valid e-mail address is required to receive the discount. Allow four weeks after the conclusion of the promotion to receive the discount. (Wait, shipping and handling? Just pop the thing into an envelope and throw it in the mail! 42 cents! And BD and I can each buy one, if I have need of two round trip tickets in the near future.)
Discount Valid: Purchase must be made between July 1, 2008 and August 30, 2008 for travel August 18, 2008 through November 19, 2008.
This promotion does not include Business Select, Anytime, or Senior Fares. (Does that mean it’s only good for the Wanna Get Away fares?)
Despite the numerous caveats, I think that I will pick one up because as I look at upcoming travel, I was unexpectedly invited to a wedding in August, and have got a sporting event to attend in October. It’s only good for the event in October, and I’m looking at paying $100 for $125 purchasing power. As long as the flight prices hold until July 1st, or whenever I get that discount, I’ll be able to purchase a $149 ticket for $75 now, and an additional $24 later. Not bad, I say!
My go-to cosmetic routine consists of Oil of Olay’s 4 oz bottles of facial lotion with SPF 15 and some Vaseline for my lips, or any other lip balm if I leave the house without moisturizing. This weekend, BD went on a drugstore run, and my lotion had expired a few months ago, so I asked him to pick up another bottle for me. I almost yelled: “Don’t pay more than $6!” but I just figured that he knows me well enough not to need that extra nag.
He sure made me proud: Longs Drugs had Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renewal Moisturizer (2.5 oz) for 30% off, which brought the total to $9.44. Then there’s a $6 rebate on top of that, bringing the total to $3.44!
I believe the deal’s good for two more days, or at least the sale is (6/12). The rebate is good until July 3rd.
I’ve never used this lotion before, but I’m sure it’s fine. It smells like every Fructis product, yummy!
Yesterday was full of taking care of people. Visited my friend and his dad for a couple hours, visited a girlfriend who has been experiencing chest pains, ran errands for BD so he could get out of town on time.
Later, my girlfriend called: she was so stressed and anxious that her pain had gotten worse and she couldn’t breathe. I went over armed with some meds, gave her a massage and head rub and sat up with her until she could sleep. Soooo glad that I didn’t have to work today.
I’m grateful that I have access to decent medical care, and a doctor who takes the time to discuss all aspects of my life to see how it affects my disease. If I couldn’t manage my own health, I would not have been able to spend time caring for friends in need.
I’m two thirds of the way through my triathlon of appointments today: dentist, doctor and doctor.
Surprisingly, my dentist did not charge me a copay. In years past, I always had to pay fifty dollars worth of copay a year out of pocket. This time, they just had me sign paperwork stating that I was ok with their billing the insurance directly and receiving the payment that would normally come to me. I’m not sure if that means that my insurance has gotten better, the dentist has better billing relationships with the insurance or if they were just ripping me off all those years!
Anyway, I’ll probably call the insurance when I get home to see if my coverage has changed.
My second appt didn’t charge a copay either, so I should only be making small inroads into my FSA today.
More for my other uses!
June 8, 2008
I just found that another good friend’s father is in the hospital. He’s been in and out for the past month, and his condition has steadily deteriorated to the point of serious concern. I’m going to visit him this afternoon, and I’m praying for his recovery. I don’t think our group can stand another loss this soon after losing one father and two grandparents.
I once counseled a good friend: Figure out what you love doing, what you REALLY love doing, something you would do whether or not you were paid to do it. Then figure out how to get paid for it.
His dad overheard and congratulated me for my insight.
Now, I just need to take and tweak my own advice: develop a passion for something that will make real money! 😀
June 7, 2008
As I compose letters, actual, handwritten letters to friends with whom I’ve fallen out of touch, it’s become apparent that I’m hyper-aware of how easy it is to run the negativity reel on a perma-loop. Do you ever get into the habit of complaining? About work, or something at home, or being broke or whatever’s bothering you?
I know I do, and with the exception of running my mouth on this blog on most topics, my braking mechanism is to just shut the heck up. No one wants to hear the whining all the time! A colleague has this tendency to say just about anything on her mind as soon as it occurs to her, and I don’t want to be equally whingy and depressing so I keep my mouth shut.
There’s a balance to be struck, somewhere between the two, where the division between the bright and dark sides are similar to a saw: a little back and forth, but not too much. I know it’s not always going to be equal servings of good and bad, but there’s definitely something to be said for approaching life with a willingness to see both sides of any situation. It’s important not to lose your sense of perspective by being unequivocally utterly cheerful or incurably Eeyore; that’s not healthy or wise.
Most recently, I’ve been bouncing between the two poles of feeling guilty: What the heck happened to my finances? I’ve been working so hard, I should be much further ahead/more comfortable by now! My coworkers who haven’t struggled the past two years are talking about buying homes now? Why aren’t I there, again?
And then feeling angry when I remember: Remember your brother? Remember the loan? Remember the truck? Ohhhh yea.
Both tracks of thought are, unfortunately, negative or intensely negative. It’s then just too easy to dig a big ole hole of frustrated and pull the hole in after me. To combat that, I’ve been trying to do my best to create some progress, no matter how minimal. And remind myself every single day: You’re not going to make that mistake again. Or that one. Or that one. Or any other one involving being a soft touch and your brother. Trust me, you won’t.
Eventually, this mantra will convince me to trust myself and what I’ve learned over the years. Eventually, I’ll master a sense of balance that’s conducive to proactivity, not reactivity. Things have to get better and I’m all about making it happen sooner!