Aggravation - Devastation - Yabba Dabba Do!

 Cinnamon Toast Crunch for breakfast to celebrate my Friday! It's the same way I celebrated Wednesday and Thursday too... but at least I've managed to restrict my cereal addiction to breakfast time only. Of course... there's been a lot of candy floating around this house over the past week so I've had many avenues to pursue my sugar addiction. And it is an addiction.

Speaking of addictions... my cyber-addiction has me freaking out when my trusty laptop is not working right. I mentioned this yesterday, I know, but it's serious and distracting. I mean... I was listing for a co-worker the "concerns of the week" and I listed my concerns about my computer. My kid's basement in Pennsylvania is flooded. Our sweet dog Lily has a big ole nasty festering wound on her leg. A family member has a cancer diagnosis. And I'm worried about getting my laptop back in order.... or replacing it... although I know... this should not be a priority. I gotta have my fix.

My heart is breaking for the folks who are suffering from this past week's storm. In the insurance industry we tend to group these type of life interruptions as either an aggravation or a devastation. A dented fender or a tree on your car is an aggravation. Loss of life, home, job... those are devastation. My little aggravations... the laptop issue... pale in comparison with the devastation that is far, far more serious than we have yet to wrap our minds around.

Not that I haven't had my share of devastation over the past two years. It was about this time two years ago that I was rocking along in my weight loss, eating healthy, feeling great... and then I came down with another bout of bronchitis that knocked me off my perch. The bronchitis had barely left when I came headlong into this back problem that has completely changed my life. It was my cross-roads moment, that point where everything changed, not instantly, but it definitely set me on the course for change. Life is nothing like I thought it would be at this stage of life... but even though at times I feel like Job-ette... I know that it could be so, so much worse. I hope I never lose that perspective.

I was able to complete my Continuing Education necessary for my insurance license renewal yesterday... submit the documentation and get it paid for. This is a HUGE monkey off my back... a Gorilla, actually. It's a huge expense and I received an unexpected blessing to handle the cost. Blessed. Blessed. Blessed. I keep saying it over and over. Working, even a little bit, is physically hard for me. Most days I really struggle to pull it together. However... somehow.... when I put on my work clothes... and I take the little drive to the office... and stop off for my little liquid motivation - be it coffee or tea or lemonade- and I put on my lipstick... I'm able to transform from patient to Doctor... from student to Teacher... I can be that professional Insurance Agent that I need to be to take care of folks who are suffering from aggravation and devastation.

Tomorrow my mom and I have these special shopping passes for Belk. It's some kind of fundraiser deal that we bought into. I've got to start thinking about my Christmas list. I won't buy a lot - which is normally the case for me. I'd love to be all crafty and do the things I see on Pinterest but I know myself well enough to know that it would quickly become a chore and I'd wish I had steered my finances toward things that are less labor intensive... so I'll just skip the Martha Stewart impulse. I may get crafty at some point... I just don't want to have to depend on that. I'd love to have most of my shopping done during the month of November and thus be able to just enjoy the Christmas season. I've got a little bonus money coming and I'll have a few extra hours this month because of the classes I'm taking. I think we get a small Christmas bonus at the office, not sure exactly how that works. Anything is more than I had, more than I would have thought I would have when I was in my unintentional sabbatical period.

Anyways... so that's my Friday. Looking forward to a two day weekend... one day at work... and then another Tuesday off...

And once again, I want to say that I am sooooo grateful to my mom for sharing her very fast, totally awesome laptop with me!

Have a great Yabba Dabba Do Day!