Rearranging the furniture

I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time tonight rearranging my blog.  New theme, auditioned a couple of new headers (I love these headless Hmong outfits.  They seem so conversational.), and revamped the widgets.  I wonder how to get Goodreads, a book review widget embedded in the sidebar.  Does anyone know how to do that?  A comment telling me how to do that would be great.  Like getting a new leather chair with ottoman to go with my new cushy sofa.

Hasta luego.  Voy a buscar algo sabroso.  Un postre, tal vez.

Nanowrimo is almost here…

Tonight we had six people at the meet and greet at Round Table.  Two of them are high school juniors, such eager, enthusiastic kids.  The boy did Nanowrimo last year and completed his 50,000 words.  I’m impressed.  Then his computer fried and he lost it all.  But he’s determined to do it all again.  It should be fun.

It’s getting close…

Credit cards be gone!

Today I juggled a credit card.  I’m determined to get the stupid things paid off.  I have had one card through my credit union for a long time.  That was all I wanted.  Then Costco added an American Express card to its membership card, and I was swept up by the rebate offer.  I signed up, not realizing that the interest was over 17%.  Duh.  So I used it a little, for things like tires that would create a bigger rebate, and paid it off right away.  That was fine until last December when I somehow ran it up too high to pay off all at once.  I took my gd to visit her ggm in Mexico, and ya-da-ya-da, and maxed it out.  Then the big storm hit in January, no power, huge outgo of cash to remove the tree that fell in my front yard, replace my fence that blew down and I missed a payment without even realizing it.  The next month I caught it up, once I noticed that I hadn’t paid it, and didn’t worry about it.  Until they raised the interest to 29%. Yes, indeed.  So I paid it down, and asked them to reduce the interest and they declined, saying they couldn’t do so for at least a year.

At that point I went out looking for a 0% card to transfer the balance to.  When I finally found one, American Express had spontaneously reduced my interest rate to 14.9%, so transferring the balance became less urgent.  I have been diligent about paying that card.  The day the bill is issued, I pay the minimum plus $200 or so.  And I don’t use it at all.

So, here it comes.  Last Thursday, I was traveling for business and decided to put my hotel on that card, since it would be reimbursed.  I had at least $800 available credit on it and the hotel was less than $300.  When I checked in to the hotel, I handed the card to the clerk and a minute later she told me it had been declined.  I was shocked.  I haven’t charged on it, I knew what the balance was and it should not have been a problem.  I used my ATM card and then went to my room to investigate the newest American Express issue.  Nothing looked any different to me.  Finally two days later I received an email from them informing me that they had decided to reduce my credit limit.  They say the wrote me a letter telling me why, but they wanted to let me know right away by email.  (More like by card declinement).

I’ve had enough with them.  Today I activated the 0% interest card and transferred the balance from the AmEx card.  I wish they would notice and feel bad that by jacking me around they lost all that interest I would have paid.  But they won’t even care.  I wonder if Costco would care that the card they have affiliated themselves with is so crooked.  Maybe I’ll try them.  I’ll definitely get a regular costco card so I can cut that sucker up.  That’ll show em.  Right.  My focus on paying them both off is redoubled today.  Every spare cent will go towards that effort.

Tap, tap, tap

Today I went to a “Tapping” session. (http://www.tapping.com/)   I don’t know the science (or philosophy, as it may be) behind this practice, and I wasn’t told about it today.  I just experienced it for a couple of hours, so I’ll start by describing what we did.  First we sat in a circle, in the center of which was a pitcher of water and a box of Kleenex, and were handed two index cards, a small paper cup and a pen.  We were instructed to write our name and a quality we wanted to infuse into the event.  We were to breathe deeply and imagine the pitcher of water infused with the quality we wrote down, and then we each drank a little cup of water to hydrate us before we began.  (The quality I wrote was calm/peace.  I guess that’s what she meant.) Then we were asked to write an issue we wanted to deal with today.  She sort of suggested we not choose a super hot issue (like PTSD, for example), as those are better dealt with one on one.  We were to write it down as though it was the title of a movie, our personal movie.  Then we were to write the negative self-talk we associate with that issue, who we blame for it, and the positive outcomes we’d like to experience with regard to it.

“Whoa,” I thought.  “This is sounding personally revealing.  I don’t even know most of these people.”  I tried to choose something that wasn’t too hot, so I wouldn’t be likely to cry.  (the box of tissues worried me a little.)  So I wrote down, “Revaluing the Center.”  I wrote sme other stuff that I won’t detail here, but it was about making time for myself.  We then went around the circle one by one and she asked us to read the things we had written (OMG – is this an encounter group?!).

This is when the tapping came in.  First we rubbed our upper chest in a place that was sore – a lymph channel I guess.  Then the leader would say something  – it’s hard to explain – but she would demonstrate where we should tap our bodies.  It usually started on the eyebrow, then beside the eye, then below the eye,  below the nose, below the lower lip, then the side of the hand, the sides of each finger and then when we got to positive affirmations, the top of head.  I assume we were tapping meridians.  Everyone repeated what the leader said, even though it was one person’s issue.  It seemed like you found an issue, spoke it outl loud, acknowledged it, then affirmed it away.  Something like that.

It turned out that we could all relate to everyone’s feelings.  It all pertained to me, it seemed.  Things like permitting myself to be in my own power, to include humor and laughter in my life.  It went way beyond just my own issue that I had mentioned.

I came away feeling like I had some new awareness, yet at the same time aware that I was holding back.  I didn’t want to get emotional with those people that I didn’t know.  With anyone, actually.  It was interesting, I will say.  I am interested now in seeing if I notice anything in the coming days that seems related to the work.  The website has videos about it.  It was interesting – I’m glad I went.  Tap, tap,tap…

Sunday musings

This morning I went out early with a couple of friends and answered phones for the local public radio station’s pledge drive.  I happened to choose the phone that rang first, so got to answer most of the calls.  It was fun.  I’d always wanted to do that, but had never quite managed to volunteer in time.  I think I could’ve been a good radio personality.  I love the sound of my voice on a microphone!  With those big headphones on it sounds so great!  (Not what I did today, but I’m just saying.) Or I could’ve been a phone sex operator.  OK, maybe not that.

So now I’m pushing to get some work done on my presentation for NWP in San Antonio in November, as well as lesson planning done for the week.  Then I’m going to something this afternoon called “Tapping.”  I don’t know what it is yet, but seems to be a spiritual practice of some sort.  Their website mentions Rhonda Byrnes’ “The Secret,” which is about the Law of Attraction.  Which is actually Abraham information translated into best seller format.  Anyway, I’m interested.  I wonder why it’s called Tapping.  Do they tap your meridian lines or your chakras?  Table tapping?  We’ll see.  I can use some spiritual renewal about now; I’ve been feeling pretty disconnected.

I think what I probably need more than anything is a day or so a week without touching my computer.  I spend too much time there, and not enough on my life, and I need to turn that around.  It is so compelling to just go check things out.  LIke I’ll be working around the house, and my mind will stray to something I want to know about, and I have to stop and go look it up online before I forget.  Then I get sidetracked and don’t get back to whatever I had intended to do.  I’m going to work on that, I think.

On again off again

Okay, today I’m not minding the job so much.  The secret seems to lie in doing loud and embarrassing things with the kids.  We’re all happier doing that.  It is interesting how laughter truly is a tonic.  Laughing just makes you feel better.  Now I’m looking at a weekend of grading papers, getting ready for the quarter to end.

I also need to make time for caring for myself.  I’ll go to the Farmer’s Market in the morning, then to a nearby Hmong New Year celebration. Something else, but I don’t know what aside from schoolwork.

I had some scary news yesterday.  My son the house remodeler removed some rotten siding from the back of my house to replace it, and found some active termite damage.  Interesting, as I had a termite inspection only two years ago and it was clean.  He says it isn’t a very big deal cost-wise to fix, but it looks shocking to me.  The 4×6 that supports the back of the house is totally chewed up.  Did they really manage all that in only two years, or did the inspector miss it?  I wonder if it explains the kind of bounciness in that corner of the house.  Owning a house is a never-ending adventure, that’s for sure.  The money pit.

Deep sigh.

My heart is achy tonight.  I have never disliked my job so much or for so long.  And that’s all I have to say about that.