Bad Luck Strikes Again

Usually this time of year is just crap for me. My boyfriend thinks I'm crazy and rolls his eyes whenever I talk about this but it is 100% true. Every year come December the shit hits the fan. Something always happens to completely screw me for the winter.

It typically goes like this:

November = Serious Financial Strain (but manageable)
December = Complete Disaster
January = Steadily tolerating the affects of December
February = Recovery begins

That's always been the way. So usually what happens is, my car breaks down in December. Then I spend the next 4-6 weeks trying to scrape up money I don't have to pay for the repairs. Yup, they are ALWAYS crazy expensive repairs. And since the recession it's been completely ridiculous. I had a starter go about a year and a half ago and it cost me over $500 to fix it. Can you believe that? For a STARTER??

Anyway, I digress. After the car repair nightmare there is typically a lull. I do the best I can just to put gas in the car to get to work and make back the money I lost over the last couple months. Sounds fun, right?

After suffering through all that, tax season comes. I file my taxes and spend then next 2-3 weeks checking my bank account every 5 minutes. Very stressful.

Once my return comes I watch it fly away to make up for all the bills I couldn't pay over the last 3 months. And then spring and summer come and all is calm. After that, the cycle starts again.

Well, I've been fortunate the last 2 years. My boss normally leaves for Florida every winter which is why I have such a financial crisis. The last 2 years he stayed here. I guess I got a little comfortable. This year he finally went back to Florida. When he went, a stroke of bad luck hit and I lost not only that income but one other source of income too. (No need for specifics)

On the up side, my car has not broken down. But another odd stretch of bad luck has taken it's place. I seem to be experiencing a serious tech fail this winter.

I have a TV in my bedroom that I purchased brand new the last year I went to Florida to work. That was about 3 years ago. I almost never use that TV. It's really just there for nights that I cant sleep. No big deal. Except that it suddenly doesn't work. I have no idea why, I've tried everything and the damn thing will not work.

At the same damn time that occurred I noticed that the TV downstairs (our main TV) is suddenly malfunctioning. The speakers are blowing out and making a horrible scratching sound at any given moment and it seems to last anywhere between 5-20 minutes at a time. It's horrible!

As if that's not bad enough considering the insane cable bills I've been paying and now its really for nothing, I tried to watch a video tape and found that my VCR isn't working either. I brought out my spare VCR to find that THAT is broken, too!

*sighs*

Okay, so that goes into the trash. I fire up the old laptop that's been giving me hell for 2 years now and I can't seem to get any work done because it's been freezing up on me. Great. Then I drop my phone on the ground (again) and chipped it enough to make a jagged edge that I managed to cut my fingers on twice so far.

Not bad enough? Okay....

I was sitting on the couch the other day and it was really dry. I kept coughing and my nose was burning so I filled up my handy little Vick's Vaporizer and turned it on. About an hour or so later I got up for something and my socks got all wet. I looked around and noticed that the carpet was completely soaked. I looked everywhere and couldn't figure out where the water was coming from. In the meantime, I had filled the tank of the vaporizer for a second time. While I was on the floor searching for the source of the flooding I happened to glance over at the vaporizer and saw that the tank had emptied. It was only minutes prior that I had filled it. So, yep, it had cracked and managed to dump 2 gallons (that I know of) onto my living room floor which also caused a leak in the basement.

I'm betting my stereo grows arms and legs and tries to take over the world next. We'll see. But hopefully, the worst is gone and the lull will begin.

*sighs*

Come on W2's! LOL!!

2013

Well, the New Year is here and the old year is just a memory. I'm not much of a sappy lady so I don't usually care about the little things like resolutions or things I'm thankful for. But I as I way lying next to my boyfriend on New Year's Day he said, "Did you have a good 2013?" His eyes glimmered with hope and expectation and all I could think was, "Who gives a shit? It's over." But the longer I laid there staring into those innocent eyes as he waited for a response I really started to feel like an ass. So I just smiled and kept quiet waiting for him to lose interest in getting a response.


The next day I thought about it some more......then some more.......and.......some more. A lot of shit happened in 2013. Some good, some bad, some just plain old normal. Whatever that is.

I had many F*ed up moments, like when my boss kept going in and out of the hospital and I had to find a new job (that may have actually been 2012 but it kinda carried through). Or when I had that horrible snap of bad luck and everything I touched broke. Then there was that whole thing where my very first publisher quit because he didn't get rich off the publication of my first book. My car got broken into. My neighbor decided to be particularly nasty and vandalized my property to the point of my having to call the police and put up cameras. I spend the better part of the year playing the Referee between my son and my boyfriend. Then there were those many months of my cat being so sick I needed to take up a new study, veterinary nursing. And I even managed to find out I may have a rather serious health issue. (I'll find out more tomorrow. Tests continue.)

Apart from all of that, there were some pretty wonderful things that happened. My boyfriend stood by me through all of the years shit. He purchased a home and I got to enjoy that with him every weekend. Despite the loss of my publisher I managed to keep moving and I wrote and published my second novel naming myself as the publisher. I spent a good part of the year getting some much needed outdoor exercise. I lost weight. I got my car fixed. I made a decent amount of money and didn't have to struggle so damn much to pay the bills. I improved my patio and got to really enjoy my little fire pit. I got my son to spend more time with friends and experience sleep overs, which he loves! My son finally became a teenager! That's only brag-worthy because I never expected I'd let him live that long. LOL!! I spent a good part of the year getting to know my boyfriend's family who are some of the most wonderful people I've ever met and am extremely grateful for. I've learned some pretty important life lessons that helped me grow as a woman and as a person. And did I mention that my boyfriend stood by me all year?? LOL!!

So I guess I really did have a good year in 2013. And I realized that there's a good chance that this year is going to be pretty good. If for no other reason I'd have to say its because on January 1'st 2014 my son said something I never thought he'd say. He said, "Oh man! Do we have to go? I'm really starting to like it here." when we were getting ready to leave my boyfriend's house to go home. One of the reasons for his new 'like' was because he finally found something he's really interested in........ARCHERY. Which he happens to be really good at and seems to be keeping him outside. :)

With a new laptop, the payoff of my car and getting back to work come spring on my horizon......I'm hoping for a bright and prosperous year ahead.

I hope you've all had the chance to look back and be thankful too. If not..........get blitzed and try to forget about it all. LOL!! ;)