The Story of a Setback: Stupid Cars and Stupid Me

Two stupid things happened to stupid me *right* before I moved to NJ.

ONE ENDED UP BEING PRETTY COSTLY

So there I am, just driving along, minding my own business.  I had stopped for some fries at McDonald’s (don’t judge me), and was back on my path, driving along the interstate, listening to an audiobook.  There are two lanes.  The guy in front of me is going kind of slow, so I put on my blinker, and pass him.  I get back over in the right lane.

Then, in slow motion, as I bring some fries to my mouth, I notice a cop is on my left, staring at me.  I munch on the fries and try to just drive along, minding my own business.  Well, don’t you know, he slows down and gets behind me, turns on his lights and his siren, and pulls me over.

I couldn’t believe it.  He asked me to get out of the car.  He gave me a ticket for eating while driving.  WHAT?!  He said, “I saw you eating, and who knows what else you were doing.”  It took everything in me to not be a smart-ass and say, “driving.  That’s what else I was doing.”

A Small Setback: My Stupid Foot and My Out of Whack Week

MY STUPID FOOT

I´ve been working out a lot since I moved to Houston in January. It´s great. I like having my set routine, and no temptation for spending.

About two months ago, my right heel started hurting. From the sole of my foot, up.  I was hoping it would go away. I kind of started walking on my toes on my right foot, so as to avoid landing on my heel and putting extra pressure on it. Landing on my heel definitely hurt.

And then one day in step class, I guess because I was on my toes instead of my whole foot, I landed wrong and twisted my ankle, and almost fell, but caught myself. Shake it off, it´s fine.  That was about a month ago.

Well, yeah, it had been hurting more than ever lately, so I finally went to a doctor. I found an orthopedist who specializes in sports injuries, and man, she was really good. After hearing me describe my symptoms, she sat me on a table with both feet in front of me. My left foot (the good foot) can twist outward, a little bit, normal. My right foot (bad foot) can twist almost all the way around with no pain! I´m like the exorcist with my foot, over here! She said, “yeah. Something´s definitely torn.” YIKES!  (They did xrays, too. The bone is fine.)

Why Now, Cavities?!

Okay, I´ll be the first to admit it:  I got really genetically lucky concerning my teeth.  I´m almost 30 and I´ve never had a single cavity.  I´ve never had a root canal or an implant or a bridge or whatever else people have done in their mouths.  No braces.  Other than getting my wisdom teeth out when I was 18, nothing other than routine cleanings.  Ever.

The Story of a Setback: Stupid IRS and Stupid Me

I had a bad day yesterday.

I was going to go in to work an hour early, but my hubby and I were snuggled up so warmly together, I couldn´t bear to leave him and brave the cold. He asked me to make him breakfast, and I did. It was a sweet morning.

I showered and got dressed and as I was about to head out the door, I popped open my laptop to see my paycheck for Friday (they post the paystubs online two days before we get paid).  I was so excited to look at it, all these extra hours I´ve been working, and I´ve been saving and living wisely and I´m paying off debt!  Yeah!

And well then, my eyeballs almost fell out of my head. My paycheck was severely lower than what it should have been. I inspected it closely and there was a large “tax levied.” What is this??