Saturday February 21, 2026

We're nearly 2 months into the new year and I've been stuck up to now. Today is a glimmer of hope. Before I get to that, what has been going on since I last wrote on January 18 ? Not much really. Went to bingo on Wednesday's until 2-4. Kim and Joe left for Florida on 2-5 and they'll be gone for 3-4 weeks. Since it's winter I'm not missing the anxiety of the weather and those outings. Did the usual Walmart runs. On 1-31 I spent the day out road tripping with Rich & Barb. Same on 2-15. We've had our fair share of snow this winter but the biggest concern has been the below normal temps. We had a couple weeks of single digit daytime highs and a couple nights where the low was beyond -10. One morning it was -17 per my phone ! The good news is my pipes didn't freeze because I've learned not to turn on the cold water in the kitchen when it's that cold. My heat did the best it could. Upstairs is set to 62 and that was a little bit of a struggle to maintain on those cold nights. I had the laundry room on 62 as well but it's now on 60, which is fine. Some days it was in the 40's out there as I have the door about 80% closed. I'm hoping it will help keep my utility bill a tiny bit lower. I keep the main zone at 68 and most of the time that is manageable. Minnie and I made good use of the electric blanket and I used an electric heater in my bedroom the 2 nights it was below -10. I'm a little scared as to what my next bill will be, but all I can do is pay it and be glad winter is almost over ! I did have a scare with the heat earlier this week. We had a record warm day on 2-16. It was nearly 50 ! So the heat didn't run much that day. The following day I started hearing the water moving through the heat registers. That is NEVER good as it typically means the refill valve is not working properly. I didn't really want to call my heating guy since he always tells me he's trying to retire. I went in the basement and took the cap off the air eliminator to see if that would help. It didn't. The heat kept working but I knew that eventually there wouldn't be enough water and the boiler would shut down. This has happened every winter ! I did some sleuthing online and confirmed where the fill valve is and now it works. It has a lever you can lift up to fill the system manually. So simple ! So I worked up the courage to go in the basement and give it a try. I only opened it for a few seconds and nothing bad happened, so I gave it 2 more shots of water and then waited. Well, lo and behold that did the trick ! No more water sloshing through the system and the boiler never missed a beat. I went back down yesterday to put the cap back on the air eliminator and also looking to see if there was a pressure gauge anywhere. My only concern with adding the water was adding too much and having the pressure be too high. I didn't see a gauge but I'm inclined to believe if pressure was too high the boiler would shut down. I was so proud of myself for figuring this out and resolving the issue myself, especially since it saved me a $100 service call ! Another triumph this past week was addressing the snow built up on my porch roof. Several weeks ago I took my roof rake upstairs and did a trial run to remove some snow. It wasn't easy and I didn't make much progress. The rake is designed to be used outdoors and to pull the snow towards you. It's not really made for pushing. Since it was so warm on 2-16 I decided to give the roof rake another try anyway. Rain was forecast and I knew that snow would get super heavy. I didn't want to pay somebody $200 to do a job that I could probably do myself. It took 2 sessions but I got the job done ! In less than 60 minutes all the snow was pushed off the roof. Basically I cleared a "runway" in the spot where I had previously removed a bit of snow and that allowed me to pull snow towards me and then push it down the "runway" and off the roof ! Two proud moments in the same week ! The day I road tripped with Rich & Barb my driveway was full of snow as the laundry room roof unloaded the evening before. Lucky for me Doug has a tractor and was able to come over and clear it while I was out. He removed a lot of the snow along the house too and I was happy about that. Having that snow removed, having the porch roof cleared off and fixing the heat are 3 tasks that stress me every winter. Maybe next winter I won't be so anxious. Yesterday I went to Walmart as I felt like I had nothing to eat in the house and I was dangerously low on cat food. It was a crappy rainy day but I was glad to get that task done too. I also got the mail and it was 98% junk. I treated myself to McDonald's as I was starving. I also started my taxes. Looks like I'm getting back over $2k, which is great. I haven't filed yet as I want to be sure there are no "surprise" W2's this year. Fortunately I am not desperate for the money.

So that's where I am today. I'm glad the end of February is in sight and I'm hoping for an early Spring ! Last February was brutal with snow storm after snow storm and thankfully we did NOT have a repeat this year .. so far ! Next Sunday is March 1 and for me that means the end of winter is in sight !

I went to bed early last night (just before 9 pm) as I was tired. I'm not sure what time I went to sleep but I think it was before 11. For some reason I woke up at 2:30 am and by shortly after 4 I gave up trying to go back to sleep. I got up and took a shower then headed downstairs. It's just about 10 am now and I'm dressed and ... drum roll ... ready for the treadmill ! My tablet was dead so that is charging now. It's only at 28% and I'm going to wait for it to hit 50%. Once it does I'll be back in action. I had to cut my toenails before I put my socks on .. yikes ! I definitely need a spa day for my feet !

Exercise is only one part of the changes I need to make if I want to lose weight. I need to address my diet as well, but the dead of winter is not the time. I did avoid buying things like cookies, chip and ice cream at the store yesterday. I regretted that a bit until I remembered I have a couple boxes of cookies from Aldi's, along with a package of frozen ready to cake cookies. I also have a coffee cake mix, a sugar free cake mix and cornbread mix. I did buy myself a big bag of Hershey kisses as I do like to have a bit of chocolate each day. I took a bowl of them to bed last night and never touched them. I'm back to using creamer in my coffee as I'm trying to get away from the sugar free syrups I've been using for years. Aldi's has some sugar free flavored creamers and I kind of like them ! I'm also still on the beef ravioli kick. It's a good quick lunch in winter ! I do have pizza supplies along with pot pies, egg rolls and chicken nuggets in the freezer. On the bright side, I have a 3 pound turkey breast to cook. When the weather gets warmer I will bring salad and veggies back and scale back on the comfort food. I'm also actually going to make an effort to do some outdoor walking at the local state parks, since I can get in for free during the week. 

In financial news, my IRA is doing great. As of today it's grown to $461k. My starting balance was around $373k and I'm hoping the growth continues ! When I was first laid off I was desperate to find a new job as I was afraid of not having enough money. It's been almost 2 years now and I've finally accepted that I have plenty and I don't need a job. I'm lucky to have had 6 months of severance and 26 weeks of unemployment, along with COBRA benefits to get me to 2026. The biggest help is the inheritance from mom. It's what I am living off now and I'm so grateful for that. I'm trying to hold off collecting social security and my pension and right now I'm getting medical for free as I'm considered "poor". My total income for 2025 was less than $18k and my goal is to get through 2026 without tapping into anything other than my savings, in order to keep the free coverage. August of 2027 I'll be eligible for Medicare and my income won't matter. I will likely need to sign up for SS or my pension late this year or early 2027, but I can handle to medical insurance cost until Medicare kicks in. It's ironic, the minute I accepted being retired I suddenly had job prospects. Verizon recruiting emailed me. A job I had applied for last year is suddenly available again and a former colleague reached out about a billing job. Sorry, too little too late. A year ago I probably would have jumped at the chance to get a job in my field but that time has passed. I like doing whatever I want all day every day. I like going to bingo on Wednesday. I like road tripping with Rich & Barb. Rich is retired now and Barb will be retired as of March 1st ! That means weekday road trips are possible ! If I'm honest, I also don't want to go through the hassle of interviewing for jobs only to not get hired. If I were desperate I could have found a customer service job paying minimum wage, but I'm not desperate and I'm worth more. So I'm happy with the decision and confident about the future. I still have all the same bills but the house will be paid for in 2031 and my car will be paid for in September 2027 .. that is next year ! I haven't even hit 30,000 miles so I'm hoping it last for many more years ! If and when I have to get a new car I'm leaning towards a lease or something used. We'll see ! I'm so happy I gave up the casino and have kept my credit cards paid in full for years ! I just treated myself to a brand new phone and I may use my tax refund to buy a new laptop .. we'll. I have over $1400 in credit card rewards that I'm going to cash in to cover the phone. My phone worked fine but it had been locked to AT&T and you can't uninstall some of the junk they put on the phone. You also can't receive updates to the OS once you unlock the phone. My new phone is direct from Samsung and it's unlocked, so my break from AT&T will be complete. I'm happy with my $15 a month Mint Mobile plan ! I kept my old phone so that I have a backup. I lost out on a $330 trade in but buying another new phone would cost a heck of a lot more ! I'm still using my S23+ as I don't have a custom case for the new phone. I need to order one !

I haven't written much lately as my avoidant personality has been working overtime. Avoid stuff and it's not happening, right ? Minnie and I spend our days snuggling on the couch and I'd rather have that furry little body in my lap. She will be 17 this year and I treasure every day I have with her. There have been so many times I wanted to write but she was in my lap and I will always choose her over the computer. Well, today I chose the laptop, but in my defense I was already well into this blog before she meandered over. She settled for the blanket next to me. We'll snuggle this afternoon. 

It's 10:58 and my tablet is at 48%, updates are complete and iFit is open and ready to go. I'm going to pee, grab my shake and get this party started ! Note: iFit trainer Ashley Paulson finishing a 100M race and setting a world record is my inspiration to get back to it today !

DONE ! First workout of 2026 is in the books ! It might have "only" been 14m10s plus the usual 3m warm up and 3m cool down .. but it's a start ! Yes, I huffed and puffed and held on to the bars a bit, but I didn't quit ! Am I sweating right now ? Absolutely ! I'm going to try getting another workout in later, but I'm not going to force it. I need to be consistent and if I try to overwork myself I'll just give up again. I haven't been on the treadmill since October and my weight is near 300 again ... so it's a big ask for this old body ! My tablet is back on the charger and I'll see how I feel around 3 pm. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night so I know I'll be tired early.

One thing I need to do is take a "before" photo and weigh myself. I have a tripod and I'm going to use that instead of taking mirror photos. Both tasks will be completed before the day is out !

Once winter is on the way out I will rearrange my living room and get the Total Gym back in here. I need to work on rebuilding strength in my legs and see if it can help me loosen up my hip flexors. I took a look at the online games I play just now. I haven't been playing Dancing Drums for a while but I gave it a shot last night. It's just a boring app because the bet amounts are too low and they haven't added any new games. I started playing Lotsa Slots a couple weeks ago and it very quickly became a "job", in that the daily clan task requires about 1000 spins. It didn't take long to stop winning and end up losing all my coins every day too. I also started playing Monopoly Go and that has already become a chore. It's a never ending chase for dice and the game consists of just circling the board, building things only to have people attack them or steal your cash. So I just uninstalled all 3 apps. I'm going to stick with Jackpot World and the Disney Match game, which I really like. I'm also keeping Cookie Jam and Candy Crush Solitaire. Less times on the games = more time to keep my house in order and exercise ! I really want to get back into my size 10 jeans and my size M tops and it's going to take a lot of hard work to get there !

Speaking of hard work .. workout #2 for 2026 is in the books ! Yep - I managed to get myself back on the treadmill just after 3 and it's 3:42 now. The workout was 14m29s with the usual 3m warm up and cool downs. I will say the 2nd workout seemed a tiny bit "easier" even though it was the same speed and slightly longer. Now the goal is to keep the momentum going.

I'm not going to obsess over what I eat just yet but today I had cheese danish for breakfast and a portion of a cheesy broccoli chicken bake with rice for lunch. It's a Marie Callender entree. It had very little rice so I added a bowl of sticky rice. It stretches the meal and it was much better with the extra rice. The leftovers are enough for 2 more meals ! Now here's the thing: I could make this meal from scratch and it would be much healthier. That being said, the entire package is 875 calories plus the extra rice I added, so say 1000. That's 333 calories if I keep it at 3 servings. That's not horrible. What IS horrible is the amount of sodium: 2,555 for the entire package. That is way too much. Regardless, as I said earlier in this blog winter is comfort food and I know I'm not ready to transition. Good thing winter will be over soon ! I was thinking of April 1 for the day to shop for salad greens etc. but it's a Wednesday. I will plan to shop on 4-2 or 4-3. That gives me some time to come up with some ideas and put together a list of what to buy. My goal is to cook some meals for the freezer and start having salad on a regular basis.

Today was a good day and I'm really happy with myself for a change. I showered. I got dressed. I exercised. I blogged ! Stupid easy things that people do every day with zero effort. Showering when I get up needs to become habit because it sets a positive pace for the day. I'll be doing that tomorrow as I just got a text from Rich ! We're road tripping to Old Forge tomorrow so I'll be out of the house around 9 am ! That likely means no treadmill but I will be back on it bright and early Monday ! I'm kind of glad I was up so early today as it will be easier to get to sleep tonight.

From a weather perspective, temps are going to be in the 30's this week. Monday night's low is 9 and Tuesday's high is only 17 but the rest of the week looks promising. No major snow is expected either and that is a HUGE plus ! Fingers crossed !

It's 4:14 and it's been a full day already. I'm back in my nightgown and relaxing on the couch with Minnie and YouTube. I'm going to end this blog here as the remainder of the day will just be dinner, a snack and then bed. We'll catch up again tomorrow or Monday !