Ahhhh.....the holiday bloating has finally started to recede! While my weight hasn’t changed, my stomach and waist have begun to tighten up once again. Certainly a nice thing to notice, and feel.

For much of the past week, I’ve been battling some kind of bug. While I haven’t felt any of its effects for the most part, I can taste it in my throat. Part of Sunday and Monday, and just a hint of it this morning. However, it has apparently made itself known at work, as one of my co-workers called in sick last night. Hopefully, this time around won’t be anything like last February. The last time it went through where I work, everyone was out for at least one day, if not two. Myself, I was fortunate enough to have a barely scratchy throat, and 24 hours of slight sniffling. I can only imagine what kind of wreck I would be, if I wasn’t eating according to ER4YT.

Monday morning, I had warned my workout partner that I was fighting something, and that it might be a good idea to go light on the weights. So what does he do? Adds more weight. *sigh* I guess he was hoping to help me, by sweating it out. *grin* Personally, I think he just likes to abuse me. LOL

Last week, I wrote about sensing a connectedness between the happenings in ones life. Little did I realize that I would have a moment or two of my own this week. I haven’t quite figured out the meaning of the following situation, but that should come in time.

While coming home from work Sunday night, I approached an intersection, and saw that the left turn arrow had turned green. There was a vehicle in the left turn lane, but it didn’t move. I came to a stop behind the vehicle, and waited. I wasn’t in a rush, and I’m a bit more patient than most, so didn’t do the impatient horn honking bit. About the time that the light turns yellow, that’s when the driver realizes that it’s green, but it’s too late. So we wait for the next cycle. The left turn light again turns green, and what happens? Nothing. For several seconds, the driver just sits there, and then apparently her brain decides to put itself into Drive. Someone having an off night, or so I figured.

New Hampshire is a ‘right turn on red after stop’ state. Knowing this will come in handy in a second. On my way to work Monday, I came up to an intersection, with a vehicle in front of me. We had the red light, and there was no cross traffic. For whatever reason, she didn’t want to turn. Then again, having the license plate of “EVLGRL” (Evil Girl) might have had something to do with it. *chuckle* So now, twice in two days, I’ve been held up in traffic. The wheels of the mind are starting to spin, and I’m trying to figure out what message it is that I’m meant to understand. I just have to keep in mind that “all hindrances are friendly”. But that wasn’t the end of it.

Tuesday night, while on my way to bowling, it happened again. Someone in front of me decided that making a right turn on red wasn’t something that they wanted to do. Now, if all of them had had out of state plates, I would have understood. But all of the parties had New Hampshire plates. Three days in a row, I’m held up in traffic. I still haven’t figured out why all of this happened, but I know that it was not coincidence, happening three times in three days.

Things that make you go hmmmmm..........

On Tuesday, coming off of my holiday bloating, I turned to working on the house. Took some planking up to the attic, and took some measurements. The attic doesn’t have as much insulation as it should have, and that will be remedied in the near future. I also stripped wallpaper off the walls of the finished part of my basement. And that’s where the fun begins.

You see, I have several invisible, non-paying renters, otherwise known as Earth-bound spirits, or ghosts. Whenever I start a major project around the house, things break. When I began working on the living room back in 2003, my washing machine went up in smoke. Literally. While I was running a load of laundry, I heard the smoke detector go off. I ran downstairs, and walked into a wall of smoke. Fortunately, the washing machine was still within warranty, so it didn’t cost me anything to have it repaired.

In May of this year, I started working on the room that is now my computer room, where I now sit. Apparently, they were quite unhappy with my work in here. First, the lightbulb in the laundry room went. No big deal. The next morning, a Saturday, as I was getting ready for work, something didn’t sound right in the basement. I walked downstairs, made it halfway across the carpet, and then, *s-q-u-i-s-h*. The water heater had let go. Had to call into work, and the rest of the day was spent wet-vac’ing, and getting a new water heater. That Tuesday, a friend came over after work, and we installed the new water heater. Things are good to go, right? Ummm...no. I was happy to have hot water again, and promptly threw a load of laundry in the washing machine. As I was sitting upstairs, watching tv, something didn’t sound quite right with the spin cycle. Going downstairs, I found the washing machine was just at the start of the ‘smoke’ cycle. Fortunately, I caught it quickly enough that it didn’t burn the motor out. The belt didn’t fare so well, and I replaced it several days later. That same night, the light at the top of the basement stairs went. Needless to say, I had a chat with my ‘roommates’.

After stripping the wallpaper on Tuesday, Tuesday night was no different. They made their unhappiness known. I came back from bowling, to find the refrigerator making a racket. Figured my hearing was a little sensitive, and waited for it to shut off. After watching television for a bit, I noticed that it hadn’t shut off, so went and unplugged it. Plugged it back in, and it continued to make a racket. Adjusted the freezer setting, and it stopped. So I went back to watching television, as I wound down for the night. However, peace and quiet were not to be mine. All of a sudden, the television screen turned to shades of green. I’d flip to another channel, it’d be fine. Skip to another channel, green again.

Yesterday morning, I checked the refrigerator out, and all appears to be fine. It’s running much quieter now, and not for nearly as long as it was. The television? I’m still trying to figure that one out. Nothing like watching a tv show, where all the people are green. *chuckle*

Most people would have become extremely aggravated, to have a series of things break one after the other. But being aware of the more subtle happenings in my life, that stress is not there, and I can chuckle at the moment. It’s certainly an inconvenience, but nothing to get upset about. After all, all stress is self-imposed.

Hopefully, in the past few weeks, you have taken the time to slow down, and enjoy the small wonders that surround you every day. As you do, you’ll find that stress and unhappiness just start to melt away, and the bumps in the road of life become that much easier to handle.

Well, I have to go upset my ‘roommates’ again. Hope that you all have a great week, and I’ll leave you with this quote to ponder; “In order to receive a perfect love, you must first give a perfect love”. Until next time.