Just Stuff
By Keiti | July 8, 2008This weekend was pretty busy - I finally had my biometrics for my visa application done on Saturday. I swear, it was the quickest government-related appointment I’ve ever had. Growing up in a military family, long lines and waits are the norm - never mattered whether it was to see the doctor or get a new I.D. card. It might be more streamlined now, but back in the day… let’s just say patience has never been one of my best virtues.
As luck would have it, I was in and out of the appointment in less than ten minutes. Of course, it only consisted of getting fingerprinted and having a digital photo taken, but still…it could have been an absolute nightmare.
On Sunday I managed to make it to church where I had the chance to see a bunch of people I hadn’t seen since I went up to Wisconsin - my ex’s dad and stepmom, who have always been cool to me, and M.L.B., who just recently took the Queen Mary 2. She was full of wonderful things to say about the trip and swears I’ll have a great time. My biggest concern is seasickness. Which is silly. Of all the things to be worried about, I have to choose puking.
Such is my life. 
Anyway, now all I have to do is mail in my visa application - I’m still waiting on my last paycheck stub which should (hopefully) arrive by this weekend. Then I’ll overnight everything up to Chicago and wait.
I’m hoping it won’t take too long.
Other than that, I spent the entire weekend stress eating. Not sure why that is. The whole stress eating thing started upon the demise of my last relationship and I’ve just never stopped.
It’s sad, really, but true to form. The funny thing is that I haven’t felt particularly stressed out. Even having lunch with the ex didn’t seem to invoke any buried feelings.
Who knows.
All I know is that I’m so going to Scotland.
And once my visa is approved I’ll give myself free reign to be completely excited about it.
I’m also going to have a yard sale at the end of the month. Hopefully that will allow me to have a bit more pocket money for the trip. I have a three-day stay in London that needs to be financed and a train trip from London to Stirling that needs to be paid for. I’ve been so wishy-washy about the whole Scotland thing for the past couple of months. It’s hard to leave my family and friends to embark on something extraordinary.
I think I’ll be okay, though.
I always am.
Topics: Life in General | 1 Comment »Too Much Time To Think
By Keiti | July 4, 2008Instead of joining in the 4th of July festivities today, I have the house to myself. My parents have gone up to see my brother & I’m home because I have to drive down to WPB tomorrow to get my biometrics done for my student visa. I’ve spent the day finishing up gathering information that needs to be included and I’m down to getting a passport size picture taken which I’ll probably do tomorrow.
I went tooling around this morning and stopped off at Sears Essential to pick up a few things. I saw this great t-shirt that I thought about getting that said “I always find Mr. Wrong”. I decided against getting it for two reasons: 1 - I really don’t need it and 2 - I wanted to wear it today, but realized that it would be wholly inappropriate since I was meeting my ex for lunch. Truthful or not, I’m long over harboring any spiteful feelings.
Aside from that I decided to make a list of what I wanted to accomplish over the next year while I’m in Scotland. Despite taking time out to go to school, real life must go on. So here’s my list (in no particular order):
1. Pay off one loan before I leave
2. Start working on paying on my MC - I won’t get it all paid off over the next year, but I can get a good chunk of it gone
3. Lose 40 lbs (this will be much easier in Scotland because I’ll be far more physically active sans my car)
4. Write the novel I’ve had sitting in my head gathering dust for the past 10 + years
5. Really work to bring money in via online endeavors
6. Decide where & what’s going to make me happy
7. Finish the 3 screenplays I currently have in progress
8. Tidy up Bethany and the Belfry Bat which is essentially finished, but still needs some editing
9. Learn to better control my anxiety (this should be a breeze in Scotland since I don’t have the anxiety issues in Europe like I do here…don’t ask me why)
10. Start eating better
11. Create a budget and stick to it
12. Take up some form of exercise (There are tons of places to hike in Stirling and I’m contemplating getting a bike)
13. Quit smoking
14. Pay more attention to my spiritual life
15. Watch no more than 5 hours of TV a week (Since I’m not planning on getting a TV I think this one will be easy)
We’ll see how much of the list I can accomplish. I may have to adjust it some because I’m not sure how much free time I’ll have with school - file that one under playing it by ear.
Topics: Life in General | 6 Comments »Settling In
By Keiti | July 2, 2008I’m working on very little sleep at the moment. Thanks to my three-hour nap yesterday after I got home, I didn’t get to bed until the wee hours of this morning. The clock read 2:36 a.m. when I last looked at it and I got up at 6:45 or so. Tuesdays are my dad’s day for breakfest out with his church buddies and it falls on me to make breakfast for my mom.
She no doubt tell me that she’d be happy to have a bowl of cereal, but I’d feel guilty if I let her go off to work on just that.
She’s my mom.
So I got up, made breakfast and went back to bed at 8:00. Slept for about 2 1/2 hours then got up thinking my hair appointment was today instead of tomorrow.
Yeah, I’m an idiot. But it’s all good. Hopefully I’ll be able to get to bed at a decent hour tonight and get back on track.
There’s a lot to do between now and the time I leave for Scotland.
I’ve been thinking about how lucky I am that I was able to catch up with two people who are an integral part of my life, though not as much as I’d like them both to be. I took a different route home from Wisconsin than the one I drove up and I had no idea I was going to drive through Louisville, KY until I was about an hour-and-a-half out. So I picked up the phone and called A.J. to say hi and tell her I’d wave from the Interstate. I was hesitant to stop because I didn’t want to lose my steam and it’s not as if I had anyone to share the driving with. Five minutes after we hung up I changed my mind (women’s prerogative and all) called her back and made plans to meet her just off the interstate for food & a bit of hangin’ out.
Now, A.J. and I haven’t seen each other in 19 years - not since we graduated from high school - but I swear it was as if no time had passed. We caught up a little bit, dished about the reunion she went to in 2005 that I missed due to my dad’s knee replacement surgery, and talked a bit o’politics.
And…we remembered to take a pic…
She doesn’t look any different than she did when we were younger. Me, on the other hand…well, I’m leaving that one well alone.
I was able to stop in Atlanta the next day to see D.C., my friend, and my very patient webmaster. He’s the man with the mojo. Let me make this perfectly clear: I adore him. Always have, even though we lost touch for about 7 years - he’s funny, and charming, and a complete bad ass. 
And he puts up with my annoying idiocy when it comes to website stuff.
Unfortunately, this stop didn’t go quite as well as I’d hoped because the universe decided it would be a good idea for me to have an anxiety attack after we ate. It’s the first real anxiety attack I’ve had in quite some time and it pretty much blindsided me. Instead of sticking around feeling like an ass because I was freaking out, I felt like an ass because I bolted like a five-year-old scared of the freakin’ dark. I very much wanted to stick around and hang out, but it didn’t quite happen that way.
Thankfully, D.C. was in full control of his faculties and made sure we took a picture. Actually, two, because, despite the fact that I could barely think straight, I had enough sense to dictate that the first one sucked.
So, here’s D.C. and me:
I’ve pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I take the absolute worst pictures. I didn’t even notice my eyes were closed until I hit Gainesville, FL, that night. If I had I would have made him take a third one.
So…here’s to a long, 3-day drive, good wonderful friends, and psycho behavior.
Can I get an amen?
Topics: Friends, Life in General, Uncategorized | 6 Comments »Home Again, Home Again, Jigga Jig Jig
By Keiti | June 30, 2008I rolled into the driveway shortly after 11 a.m. after having left Wisconsin Saturday morning.
I hugged my dad, hugged on Dorian Gray, ate a quick bit then passed out for about 3 hours.
More on the trip later, but here are some tidbits:
Got to see two people I haven’t seen in years: A.J., who I went to high school with and haven’t seen since we graduated, and D.C., my illustrious webmaster extraordinaire.
Drivers and traffic in Chicago are worse than Florida, Atlanta, and California combined. Freakin’ psycho. Plus the city goes on forever. I thought I’d never make it out of the city.
I also so a sign offering used cows for sale.
I nearly peed my pants.
More later. It’s dinner time and I’m starving.
Topics: Life in General | No Comments »The (Un) Happy Hangover
By Keiti | June 24, 2008I have a hangover today.
Not from drinking alcohol or anything illegal.
From eating far too many carbs last night at the Mexican joint.
The only thing I can compare it to is the dry-ice hangover that one gets after spending all night in a club with the dry-ice machine going full-tilt.
The stuffy nose. The inability to concentrate on work. The intense desire to do nothing except crawl in bed, despite the knowledge that you won’t be able to actually sleep.
That was me, today.
It kinda sucked.
But tonight I’ll spend some time mulling over my choices for Chinese lunch tomorrow since DH lost a bet…
I’m thinking maybe Sesame Chicken and an egg roll.
That sounds extraordinarily yummy!
Topics: Life in General | No Comments »Saying Goodbye…
By Keiti | June 24, 2008Tonight was the first of my going away dinners - Mexican with two men from work, both of whom are absolute pervs and both of whom I adore. They made me giggle like a little girl even though I felt like hurling because I’d eaten far too much. Most girls would probably have been offended at their talk, but I love the fact that I can jump right in there with them and it’s not a huge deal.
I like being able to be myself.
My belly still hurts from eating too much.
But my heart is happy for the moment.
I am kind of sad about leaving - I’ve met some really great people up here - who I hope will play a part in my life for years to come - but Scotland is calling and I’m ready to spend some time at home with my family and Mr. Dorian Gray (who probably doesn’t even remember me, I’ve been gone so long) and catching up with my friends and meeting new additions I haven’t yet had the opportunity to meet.
So, 4 days and counting…
Topics: Life in General | 2 Comments »The Saddest Thing of All
By Keiti | June 19, 2008Today I discovered that I’ve been without health insurance since the first of June. Even though I complain about not having health insurance, I do carry a major medical policy in the event of something catastrophic.
Anyway, I periodically check my banking for any erroneous charges and in today’s perusal discovered my June premium had been credited back to me. I was a bit confused so I started making the calls. The first one was to my bank which couldn’t tell me much of anything except that the chargeback had been initiated by my health insurance company. So I called the insurance company only to be told that they had received a cancellation letter from me.
The minute I heard that I started freaking out - I certainly hadn’t cancelled my health insurance - especially since it’s due to expire right after I leave for Scotland and once I start school I’ll be covered by the UK’s national health insurance, so the timing couldn’t be more perfect. I hate to admit it, but my first thought was fraud or identity theft (never mind the fact that canceling someone else’s health insurance certainly wouldn’t benefit anyone trying to steal someone else’s identity), but I couldn’t figure out how anyone would have obtained the information. There’s always system hacking, but that’s not where my mind went first - I’m not going to go into that particular thought process except to say that certain members of my family have pulled some spectacularly stupid crap at times.
So I had the CSR at the insurance company fax me a copy of the letter - by the time I got back to the hotel from work, the fax was waiting for me and I got to work. The first thing I did was look at the signature which didn’t resemble mine in the least; whoever tried to forge my signature didn’t even really put any effort into it. I didn’t recognize the handwriting which relieved me more than I can tell you. Then I read the letter - standard “I’d like to cancel my policy” letter. Short and to the point. Because it was originally faxed, the fax number from the person who’d sent it was still visible, so I googled it and discovered it corresponded to a Dr.’s office in Aurora, Colorado. I called the telephone number listed and verified the fax number. Then I called the Police Department in Aurora and left a message for the officer who handles fraud cases.
A quick check of my credit report revealed nothing out of the ordinary (though I did discover I have a super high credit score - Go Misfit!).
Finally, I pull out the cover sheet that had been sent with the original fax and called the third party company who had forwarded the fax to the insurance company. I’m speaking with the CSR, explaining the situation still trying to figure out what the hell’s going on when I take a good look at the cover letter and realize that the SS# doesn’t match mine.
So after discovering it was a mistake on the insurance company’s part - same name, same policy number, applied for at roughly the same time, but different SS# - I felt like a complete jackass. I called the Police Department back and left a second message for the fraud officer explaining all had been figured out; that it was simply a case of a SS# not being verified with the rest of the information and I apologized for wasting his time.
Then I sat down and breathed a huge sigh of relief - yes, it’s a hassle to have to investigate, put the pieces of the puzzle together, fax over a letter to the insurance company explaining their screw up and get my insurance reinstated. I also plan on calling the other woman tomorrow to give her a head’s up in the event something gets screwy on her end - If I can help someone avoid the same freak out and hassle, I’m al for it.
The bottom line is that I don’t think anyone can be too careful with their identity and credit.
And the saddest part of all is that I immediately jumped to some nefarious goings on and deduced an innocent mistake rather than the other way around.
I can’t express how unhappy that makes me.
Topics: Human Behavior, Life in General | No Comments »Fancy Schmancy Weekend
By Keiti | June 17, 2008After taking some time to hibernate, I actually spent this past weekend outside enjoying the beautiful weather. I’ll be down in the insane heat of Florida in about two weeks so I just had to take advantage of the more temperate climate.
At any rate, my morning started off by taking a walk down to the local farmer’s market. The hotel I’ve been staying in is (as you may recall) right on Lake Michigan and I sauntered along the sidewalk that runs next to the lake. On the way to the farmer’s market I spent most of my time avoiding this:
That, ladies and gentlemen, is 100% pure duck goose poop. And it’s everywhere! A five-minute walk to the farmer’s market took twice as long because I spent the vast majority of the time avoiding the poop.
Once I made it to the farmer’s market I picked up to things:
Fresh Asparagus:
(You can’t really tell from the picture, but most of the asparagus is as big around as my thumb!)
and
Radishes
(these are about three times as large as the puny little things you get at the grocery store.)
I spent the rest of the day lounging around doing not much of anything. It was awesome!
Sunday, DH invited me over to have home cooked food and since I’d said something about it weeks ago we decided to go play a round of putt-putt. He completely kicked my butt.
So, here’s DH looking oh so pleased with himself. (not really - he’s too busy concentrating on hitting the ball…and all the astro turf water hazards…)
And here’s me looking like I’m concentrating, but I’m so not…
(It looks like I actually have cleavage…)
After a round of giggling at all the drunk people and wanting to strangle all the little kids whose parents haven’t seem to have taught them anything even remotely resembling manners we moseyed back to DH’s for food and additional company in the form of his friend, M. We ate, we picked on DH, and we left. Sort of like a food-eatin’, pickin’ on DH drive-by.
Topics: Life in General, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »Welcome to the Nuthouse
By Keiti | June 9, 2008I’m not sure what’s going on, but my anxiety level has been pretty bad lately - not the “hide in the house until it passes” variety, but it’s been enough to set my teeth on edge.
To counterbalance the anxiety, though, I got my first home cooked food today in the form of mac & cheese.
It was yummy goodness.
And completely made my day.
Thanks, dh.
New Writing Added
By Keiti | June 7, 2008I just added a link to a new piece on Triond.
Check out London for Book Lovers.
Topics: writing | 2 Comments »