...or at least getting there. I've got the replacement driver's license, credit card and the library card I use most often. I've replaced most of the stuff that wasn't part of the wallet itself, with one notable exception. I have no idea what I'll do about the cell phone. I hate the old one I'm using at the moment, but since I'm stuck with any replacement for two years I want to be sure. If I go for a smart phone, I've narrowed it down to the Palm Pre or Motorola Devour. However, as Richard pointed out, it makes no sense to buy a smartphone with it's $30/month data plan that I'm also stuck with for two years if I want an iPad, because the two would duplicate each other. On top of that, if I get the 3G-capable iPad, I can buy 3G service only as I need it - it's not unlimited like the data plan for the smart phone, but it's cheaper, there's no contract, and I can turn it on and off as needed. If I end up deciding I really do want the iPad (I'd wait until the 2nd generation iPads come out sometime before Christmas before actually getting one), then I'll just replace it with a regular cell phone, and the only thing that will change is that I'm stuck with the new phone for two years (no increase or change to our service plan).
As I've slowly been replacing stuff that was stolen, things have been returning to normal. As of today I have a valid photo ID again (I suppose I could have started carrying my passport around). The police officer who took the report said I would be fine until the replacement license arrived because they have the ability to check those records on the spot if anything happened, and I did have the receipt from ordering the replacement, but I'm still glad I have it back.
I'm in the middle of my annual overhaul of the aquariums. Once a year, usually in the fall after the temperatures drop enough that I'm not refilling the tanks with water that's too warm, I do a couple massive water changes, and systematically clean everything else over and above my regular maintenance. In the case of the smaller tanks, this is not a big deal, but the large aquarium is quite the project.
We've also done a lot of work in the front yard the past few days. I've got three gorgeous lantana bushes, but they've grown so large they're taking over the yard. We pulled a lot of dead stuff out of the one closest to the house, as well as removing anything that reached over the walk or the front patio. It's still a huge plant, but we ran out of room for the trimmings - the rest will have to wait until we have an empty trash bin again. I've also trimmed the Indian Rosewood tree so it's no longer trying to grab people walking to the front door, and we trimmed back all the dead branches on a ground shrub that technically belongs to the neighbor (they rent, and I doubt they know it's their plant because it's spread over the entire area between the two driveways).
Tomorrow I'm hoping to catch up on laundry, clean the kitchen (including the refrigerator), and tackle one of the bathrooms. Wish me luck!
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
And the other shoe drops
Well, I had a great day on Friday, and my weekend was pretty nice as well. I even got caught up on a little of all the sleep I've been missing the last couple of weeks, and was looking forward to a nice dinner at Olive Garden with Richard and Galen to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary (a day early, but I have class on the actual day).
First, we get to Olive Garden and the place is packed - I'm not in any mood to sit and wait for an hour to eat with a hungry 4-year-old, so we went a few hundred feet down the street and had Wendy's. We can do the anniversary dinner another night.
At Wendy's, Galen sat next to me, so I put my bag on the chair next to Richard - I will NEVER do that again! When it was time to leave, I grabbed the remaining stuff on the table to either take with us or throw away, but never thought to grab my bag because I couldn't see it. We were pulling into the driveway when I automatically reached down to pick up my bag and realized it wasn't there. Richard went back to Wendy's while I got Galen in the tub, looked up the restaurant's phone number and called them. They can't find it, and no one turned in a bag. At this point, hoping someone might have shoved it under a table or something, I called my cell phone so they could find it that way. No answer, and they had been told to go ahead and answer if they found the bag.
I called Richard to let him know, then started canceling cards. Looks like they never got the chance to use the credit card, or the ATM/debit card, and I'll have to take care of the library cards tomorrow - there was no cash at all in there, so they're out of luck if that's what they were hoping to gain.
I don't think there's much damage they can do with anything else other than my ID. That's my biggest concern, especially since there's a chance my expired military ID was in there, and that has my actual SS# on it. I'm not convinced it was in there, but I know I've laid eyes on it recently and I can't find it, so it's possible I put in my bag for some reason. The credit card company is reporting the incident to the three major credit bureaus, so hopefully that will minimize the risk of identity theft.
Richard walked all around the restaurant calling the phone, in the hopes they might have dumped the bag after taking what they wanted. They must have turned it off because the last time it went straight to voice mail. I've since deactivated it and transferred service to one of our previous phones. We also checked the account for activity on the phone. Turns out they didn't do anything except call two Arizona numbers several times - all 1 minute calls, except the last one for 2 minutes. We printed out a copy for the police just as the officer arrived at the house.
I think I'd actually feel better if they had tried to use the credit card - at least then I'd know they were after something other than my ID. It's going to be a lousy week, and I wont' be getting much sleep unless I find that military ID. Not having my SS# would really limit the damage they can do.
First, we get to Olive Garden and the place is packed - I'm not in any mood to sit and wait for an hour to eat with a hungry 4-year-old, so we went a few hundred feet down the street and had Wendy's. We can do the anniversary dinner another night.
At Wendy's, Galen sat next to me, so I put my bag on the chair next to Richard - I will NEVER do that again! When it was time to leave, I grabbed the remaining stuff on the table to either take with us or throw away, but never thought to grab my bag because I couldn't see it. We were pulling into the driveway when I automatically reached down to pick up my bag and realized it wasn't there. Richard went back to Wendy's while I got Galen in the tub, looked up the restaurant's phone number and called them. They can't find it, and no one turned in a bag. At this point, hoping someone might have shoved it under a table or something, I called my cell phone so they could find it that way. No answer, and they had been told to go ahead and answer if they found the bag.
I called Richard to let him know, then started canceling cards. Looks like they never got the chance to use the credit card, or the ATM/debit card, and I'll have to take care of the library cards tomorrow - there was no cash at all in there, so they're out of luck if that's what they were hoping to gain.
I don't think there's much damage they can do with anything else other than my ID. That's my biggest concern, especially since there's a chance my expired military ID was in there, and that has my actual SS# on it. I'm not convinced it was in there, but I know I've laid eyes on it recently and I can't find it, so it's possible I put in my bag for some reason. The credit card company is reporting the incident to the three major credit bureaus, so hopefully that will minimize the risk of identity theft.
Richard walked all around the restaurant calling the phone, in the hopes they might have dumped the bag after taking what they wanted. They must have turned it off because the last time it went straight to voice mail. I've since deactivated it and transferred service to one of our previous phones. We also checked the account for activity on the phone. Turns out they didn't do anything except call two Arizona numbers several times - all 1 minute calls, except the last one for 2 minutes. We printed out a copy for the police just as the officer arrived at the house.
I think I'd actually feel better if they had tried to use the credit card - at least then I'd know they were after something other than my ID. It's going to be a lousy week, and I wont' be getting much sleep unless I find that military ID. Not having my SS# would really limit the damage they can do.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Another good day
Any day where I get things accomplished and feel good about myself is a good day. It used to be that days like that were just days, because they were the norm, but after PTSD and depression rear their ugly heads, your idea of a good day has to change or the depression never ends.
Among my accomplishments today:
1) Washed and vacuumed the car - still needs an interior dusting and a little extra attention to the windows.
2) Picked up ground buffalo, Swiss chard and quinoa at Whole Foods for dinner tonight - meatloaf.
3) Picked up a gizmo to attach an IDE drive to my computer via the USB port - this lets me recover data I want without having to either replace the motherboard in my Windows computer or move the drives to a much older computer. Since my current Mac is capable of running Windows natively, I see no reason to replace the motherboard when one computer can do it all as soon as I install a Windows partition.
4) Talked to a pest control guy about our little digger in the back yard, as well as the crickets and black widow spiders that hang around the house. Because he couldn't see fresh digging, he thinks the last bout of torrential rain may have collapsed the tunnel network, in which case the little pest has probably found better digs elsewhere. The crickets and spiders (who are only here because of the crickets) should be easy to take care of. His advice was to treat once, then a week later seal the gaps (not the holes) between the weep strips and the cement on the house and we'd probably never see them again. Woohoo!
5) Galen did great on his reading lesson again today - we're working on digraphs.
6) Galen is actually taking a nap.
7) Filled and took out one bag of trash, and then filled another while emptying all the secondary trash cans (bathrooms, laundry, etc.).
8) Emptied the recycling can, then refilled it as well as a box upstairs (because I hate dragging the can itself up and down the stairs).
9) Cleaned a bunch of accumulated garbage off my desk. Wow! I forgot the desk was grey!
10) Started a load of laundry (towels and kitchen items mostly).
I've got more on my to do list for today, but this is what I had done by about 2pm. I love days like this because I feel like my old self again. I wonder if the beautiful weather we're having today has anything to do with it?
Among my accomplishments today:
1) Washed and vacuumed the car - still needs an interior dusting and a little extra attention to the windows.
2) Picked up ground buffalo, Swiss chard and quinoa at Whole Foods for dinner tonight - meatloaf.
3) Picked up a gizmo to attach an IDE drive to my computer via the USB port - this lets me recover data I want without having to either replace the motherboard in my Windows computer or move the drives to a much older computer. Since my current Mac is capable of running Windows natively, I see no reason to replace the motherboard when one computer can do it all as soon as I install a Windows partition.
4) Talked to a pest control guy about our little digger in the back yard, as well as the crickets and black widow spiders that hang around the house. Because he couldn't see fresh digging, he thinks the last bout of torrential rain may have collapsed the tunnel network, in which case the little pest has probably found better digs elsewhere. The crickets and spiders (who are only here because of the crickets) should be easy to take care of. His advice was to treat once, then a week later seal the gaps (not the holes) between the weep strips and the cement on the house and we'd probably never see them again. Woohoo!
5) Galen did great on his reading lesson again today - we're working on digraphs.
6) Galen is actually taking a nap.
7) Filled and took out one bag of trash, and then filled another while emptying all the secondary trash cans (bathrooms, laundry, etc.).
8) Emptied the recycling can, then refilled it as well as a box upstairs (because I hate dragging the can itself up and down the stairs).
9) Cleaned a bunch of accumulated garbage off my desk. Wow! I forgot the desk was grey!
10) Started a load of laundry (towels and kitchen items mostly).
I've got more on my to do list for today, but this is what I had done by about 2pm. I love days like this because I feel like my old self again. I wonder if the beautiful weather we're having today has anything to do with it?
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Moving forward
The neighborhood has been quiet again, but I still can't sleep nights. This is nothing new, as not feeling safe is a known quantity in my "issues." I used to think that the loss of all the "feel good" hormones when Galen weaned himself was responsible for my sudden and dramatic rise in depression, but in hindsight I'm thinking it was at least partially due to the fact that Galen's presence in my life makes feeling safe so much more important than it used to be - I have something more valuable than my own life to protect.
As I say that, I'm thinking of someone who decided I wasn't worthy of her friendship because I refuse to judge all Muslims based on the actions of a few fundamentalists who have committed terrorist acts, and I'm not afraid to point out when I thin others are making that same mistake. I'm sure she would think my previous paragraph makes me a hypocrite, because it seems to follow her line of reasoning - I'm apparently going to enlighten my way into a pipe bomb. Well, it's different, and I feel sorry for her and any others who can't see why it's different. I don't feel safe, but I can't point fingers at a group of people who make me feel this way because it's not an identifiable group of people that make me feel this way. I can, however, point a gun at a specific individual who makes me feel this way after they've broken down my front door. The line between the two isn't fine, it's blatant and compelling.
Not much else going on. I need to start taking sleep medication again - at least for a few days - because my insomnia is pretty bad again. I hate taking it because I end up kind of out-of-it for about half the following day.
Galen's doing great with homeschooling. He's reading six-letter words already. He is, however, getting bored with kindergarten math, although learning to actually write the numerals slowed him down for a while. The only thing holding this kid back is his fine motor skills, and that's becoming a non-issue as well. I wonder how long that will last? I've decided to worry about where this is going when it gets there, however. I have a feeling we'll eventually hit a point where the next step requires a developmental leap he hasn't made yet.
We're going to renew our zoo membership again - $60 covers Galen and I for as many visits as we want for the entire year, plus it gives me two guest passes and two tickets to Zoolights (these four tickets at non-member rates cost the same as the membership). We try to go to Zoolights every year, so those are nice to have. Galen's not free anymore, so we'll still need to buy one ticket, but I'll get a member discount on that as well.
Well, Richard's home so we need to get dinner sorted out. Then it's "Thomas and Spencer" at Galen's request (not sure which Thomas movie he's actually wanting to see, but I think he means "Hero of the Rails") and some quality mathematics time for mommy.
As I say that, I'm thinking of someone who decided I wasn't worthy of her friendship because I refuse to judge all Muslims based on the actions of a few fundamentalists who have committed terrorist acts, and I'm not afraid to point out when I thin others are making that same mistake. I'm sure she would think my previous paragraph makes me a hypocrite, because it seems to follow her line of reasoning - I'm apparently going to enlighten my way into a pipe bomb. Well, it's different, and I feel sorry for her and any others who can't see why it's different. I don't feel safe, but I can't point fingers at a group of people who make me feel this way because it's not an identifiable group of people that make me feel this way. I can, however, point a gun at a specific individual who makes me feel this way after they've broken down my front door. The line between the two isn't fine, it's blatant and compelling.
Not much else going on. I need to start taking sleep medication again - at least for a few days - because my insomnia is pretty bad again. I hate taking it because I end up kind of out-of-it for about half the following day.
Galen's doing great with homeschooling. He's reading six-letter words already. He is, however, getting bored with kindergarten math, although learning to actually write the numerals slowed him down for a while. The only thing holding this kid back is his fine motor skills, and that's becoming a non-issue as well. I wonder how long that will last? I've decided to worry about where this is going when it gets there, however. I have a feeling we'll eventually hit a point where the next step requires a developmental leap he hasn't made yet.
We're going to renew our zoo membership again - $60 covers Galen and I for as many visits as we want for the entire year, plus it gives me two guest passes and two tickets to Zoolights (these four tickets at non-member rates cost the same as the membership). We try to go to Zoolights every year, so those are nice to have. Galen's not free anymore, so we'll still need to buy one ticket, but I'll get a member discount on that as well.
Well, Richard's home so we need to get dinner sorted out. Then it's "Thomas and Spencer" at Galen's request (not sure which Thomas movie he's actually wanting to see, but I think he means "Hero of the Rails") and some quality mathematics time for mommy.
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