The 12 Days of Shutdown and Weight-ing for Willpower

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I've had the workings of a song titled "The Twelve Days of Shutdown" bouncing around in my head all day.  It started after seeing on the TV at the gym this morning that we're entering the 12th day of the shutdown, and it's my first day of being furloughed.  So this song came about..

"On the twelfth day of Shutdown, the gub'ment gave to me....a day off in my pj's."

To back up a bit...the gub'ment shut down at midnight on Friday, December 21st when it came time to pass a new budget and Trump and the Reps demanded funding for "The Wall," and the Dems were like "no, ho, ho, way" (because Christmas was right around the corner and they wanted a few extra syllables for emphasis...naturally).

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I guess it's not really a big deal at this point because history has shown that when Congress and the POTUS finally do decide to get things up and working again, backpay is awarded to those who had to work without pay and those to got to vacay on the government's dime.  However, we're due for our first paycheck next week since all this started, and it will not be coming hell or high water if we're still playing this little game that "The Greatest Negotiator" started.

It's worth nothing that we were all given Monday and Tuesday off to overeat, over-drink, and I guess open a few presents here and there. 😉

Unfortunately, but spun ever so positively, I was informed by my supervisor on Friday, 12/21 that because I'm "one of the fastest workers," I would be reporting on Dec. 26th (Wednesday).  

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I was also informed that should The Shutdown roll into a second week, we would be put on a rotation with those who had the 26-28th off, so that everyone could be given a chance to "make a paycheck" should the usual backpay provision not be included in this budget.  

HOWEVER....things didn't really happen like that.  After working the 26th, the 27th, the 28th, and the 31st, I was finally told that I would be furloughed on 1/2, but would need to report for dooty duty on 1/3 and 1/4.

TLDR:  I'm complaining about just one day off with the five prior paragraphs and line of song.  Ain't the holidays grand?!? 😜

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We had a grandiose good time in Shreveport for the Good Ole' Grubby Christmas, as well as Baton Rouge for the Raunchy Roberts' Reunion, but boy howdy did Nate and I fail epically with riding the healthy eating train into the station.  It feels kind of weird to talk about this "publicly" since weight and weight loss and weight gain are a sensitive subject, but it's been on my mind a lot these past few days seeing how the 1st is a good time for a clean slate, as well as Resolution Galore time!

I'm not completely disappointed with myself seeing as how from January 1, 2018, to January 1, 2019, I've lost nearly 20 pounds (when you don't count the 4-5 pounds of water weight and such that falls off in the first week), but I did have much bigger goals and expectations for myself.  We all know this ain't my first rodeo.  I'm telling myself this is all the more gunpowder to fire off and away here early on and meet or beat my goals my mid 2019, but things get tough by about 3pm when you're like "@#$@ this $^#@! I'm about to go to Costco and buy a bin of clusters and start in a week or so!"

Source - the stuff dreams are made of!

Buuuuuuuuuuut, so far so good over here.  I've survived the 1st, and I'm more than halfway through the 2nd, and though it can be a rollercoaster of willpower and succumb-tion in these first 2-3 weeks (and lawd knows it's never really easy), I'm trying to focus on unlimited vegan cheesecake at the end my end goal and how I know I'll feel when I get there. 

*fingers crossed there is sooner rather than later.*

**that's all for now.  I had bigger plans of writing more and more and more, but I'm feeling lazy from sucky sleep and lack of calories and lack of sugar and lack of... clusters.

REAL fun

I took a half-day off from work today because I had a doctor's appointment, and I needed to visit the DMV...or as it so sassily refers to itself these days, the OMV.   It should really be called the OMG-I'm-going-to-kill-myself-the-next-time-I-have-to-visit-this-dreadful-place.  But I'm getting a little ahead of myself. 

The only reason I made the silly doctor's appointment in the first place was because I needed to get a prescription filled.  However, on the flip side, I figured it's a good idea to get a yearly check-up, and I always liked getting the emailed results from my previous doctor.  (i.e.  "Wow, I nailed my cholesterol test!" "Blood pressure is looking good again, chica - keep at that running!")  My previous doctor also used this online portal system thing from the future, so I could compare my weight, height, blood sugar, blood pressure, blood-y mary intake, etc. from 2011 to 2017.  It's reaffirming when you have a tough day to realize that you're bettering yourself every year physically, since my mind just goes to pot.

ALL THAT TO SAY....when I found this lady within my network and saw that she had raving yelp reviews, I figured I'd leave with a smile on my face, a prescription in my hand, and maybe even a pep in my step.  Are you sensing that didn't happen?  Smart cookie.

What I left with was a sore arm from an apparently past-due tetanus shot (based on the fact that she said you should have one every 10 years and making me feel like I should definitely get one today), a $30 co-pay from my ever-empty wallet, and NO FREAKING PRESCRIPTION.

"Just call us when you're ready to schedule that appointment, and we'll get you taken care of."

Umm...I did that...LAST TUESDAY. 

Sorry, dear reader, for all the yelling, but I explicitly said that I needed to make an appointment to get my prescription filled when I called and set this appointment.  But of course, being the non-confrontational Courtney that I am and always will be, I left disgruntled and tetanus-ified and vowed I would not be back. Ev-er.

As if that wan't enough fun, I journeyed to the ever-spirit-lifting OMV of New Orleans.  "You down with OMV, yeah you know me...."  sing on, my peeps.

I, again, begrudgingly made this visit versus taking care of business online because my license expires in 4 days (happy birthday to me!), I need to update my address (apparently you're supposed to do this within 10 days of moving to a new place (we're going on 346 days...not exaggerating)), and most importantly, because the fine state of Louisiana is moving to REAL ID's (I'm not yelling this time...this is what the website calls them) by 2020 where you have to have this special REAL ID gold star on your license in order to board a plane.

Naturally, seeing that I'm going to be jet-setting like a fool in 2020, I figured I'd go ahead and do myself a favor and not put it off like everyone else will until December 2019.  Apparently, 2020 is the year of travel for myself and others.

When I arrived, they gave me a printed number that said I had checked in at 2:15pm.

I was finally called at 4:11pm.

I was walking to my car with the REAL ID at 4:17pm.

It's too heartbreaking glamorous to describe in detail how it was sitting in the largest DMV OMV this side of the Mississippi with 58 million other miserable people and a loud speaker constantly going off with phrases like "NOW SERVING B119 AT WINDOW NUMBER 8.  NOW SERVING J024 AT WINDOW NUMBER 2.  NOW SERVING B119 AT WINDOW NUMBER 8. NOW SERVING B119 AT WINDOW NUMBER 8."

Not exaggerating (this time), some of those window clerks were trigger happy and called for their number no less than 4 times. 

Also, it should be noted that there were 25 windows, and a whopping 8 were open. 
Welcome to Wal-Mart.

To sum things up, I'll say that I'm glad I got a tetanus shot before my trip to the OMV.

*REAL ID members represent! peace out!*