Bye Bye 2023! Or better yet, Good Bye and Good Riddance! I am so happy 2023 is in the rear view mirror. It was a really rough year. I don’t totally believe in horoscopes or astrology, but I do think they are fun to read. I’m especially fascinated with the Chinese Zodiac.
According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2023 was the year of the Rabbit and I’m a Rabbit. Plus, as a child I had several pet rabbits: Thumper, Snowball, and Inky. I would love to have another one when the time is right. But, right now I have 2 dogs and 2 cats so I don’t believe it is a good idea to add a rabbit to the mix. Everything I read said the first part of the year would be rough for the Rabbits, but the last half would be amazing. Well, for this Rabbit, that wasn’t quite true. Needless to say, I wasn’t prepared for what the universe had in store. To really show how bad the year was, here’s a summary of my year in review.
January, February, and March
Ended 2022 with 3 broken ribs. I fell at the gym on the Friday before Christmas. We were just getting started with the warm up. It was cold in the gym (6am), so I reached for my jacket. I was closer to the edge of the mat than I thought and down I went. After sitting for awhile, making sure I could breath and filling out the accident forms, I went to the ER. The ER doctors said the x-rays didn’t show any breaks so they were just badly bruised or maybe a hair-line fracture. They gave me some lidocaine patches and sent me on my way. On the Friday before New Years, I was still in a lot of pain so I went back to the ER. This time they did a CT scan and discovered I had 3 broken ribs. Gave me much better pain medication, said take it easy for the next 3 to 6 weeks, and sent me on my way. The gym now has all of their mats outlined with florescent yellow tape. I think it may even glow in the dark.
Started 2023 out in a bit of a financial pickle due to some bad investment decisions I made in 2022. In February I was able to obtain a personal loan to take care of all of the financial issues. Or, at least it should have. But, unfortunately I suffer from the “fear of missing out” syndrome and always seem to be searching for the next shiny object. I made another financial investment. That was not the best idea.
I am allowed to telework 90{6240f97e29b4159de6ff78317e10f820a7e2f517694b3d1c4628c71d0a3ac8d8} of the time and only have to go into the office 1 day per week. While at the office one day in February, I tripped and fell over my own feet. Nothing broken or bruised thank heavens. And, no damage to the still healing ribs, thankfully. Just a bruised ego and embarrassed because there were 3 co-workers that witnessed my acrobatic event.
April, May and June
In March and April, I focused on trying to fix the financial issues. This was extremely important to me for a variety of reasons; some obvious and some not so obvious. However, I didn’t do a good job. I canceled and cut out everything I could think of to reduce my expenses. But, nothing seemed to work. In fact, it seemed like everything I tried just made the situation worse. Two steps forward and 20 steps backward.
In May, I made a last ditch effort to fix the financial situation, and I used my last bit of savings to attend a workshop for the side business I had started in 2019. I was hoping to hear the magic words that would motivate me to make this a success. Upon hearing these words, everything would click into place and I would instantly achieve success. Unfortunately, I return home motivated and full of excitement and then the everyday struggles and the self-deprecating words start playing in my head.
In an attempt to speed up the financial recovery, I made another investment in June. That was a really bad idea! About the 3rd week of June I suffered an MS flare (first one in 10 years) and ended up in the hospital on IV steroids for 4 days. I choose stress for the win!
July, August and September
Shortly after July 4th, I suffered another MS flare and ended up back in the hospital again on IV steroids for 5 days. What on earth was going on?! By the time I got out of the hospital for the second time my finances were in horrible shape. And, now I’ve added a few thousand dollars in hospital fees to the mess. Plus, emergency pet-sitting fees. With none of the investments I had made panning out, I was in a panic. We all know panic and desperation makes for really stupid decisions. Did I mention stress?!
In a feeble attempt to fix the problem, I got more credit cards and personal loans. You know those “personal loans” that are just loan sharks in a quasi-legal disguise. The 200 to 300 percent interest was a big clue, but I chose to ignore it out of desperation. All together the loans and credit cards just made matters worse. It seemed like no matter what I tried, it just made matters worse.
Acceptance
After many tears and angry rants, I surrendered, accepted the situation and contacted a debt resolution company. I had to make the madness stop. And, I made the decision to focus on the side businesses I started in 2019 and 2022. At the very minimum, I needed the businesses to make enough money to cover the overhead costs associated with each one and give my personal finances a break. To make this happen I had to accept the fact I was going to have to do the work to make each business succeed and there were no magic wand or words. It was all up to me!
Then to top it off, somewhere in all of this mess, my dishwasher died. I’m working on a house remodel/addition which includes all new kitchen appliances. So, I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a “temporary” dishwasher. However, I discovered washing dishes by hand was not in my wheel house. I would wait until all the bowls or plates were dirty and then I would wash what I needed. Not the best way to manage dirty dishes. I found an “open-box” one I felt I could afford. Thankfully, one of my son-in-laws was able to install it for me so I didn’t have to pay for labor. Thank you, Anthony!
October, November, December
In October, I used my last bit of savings to attend a workshop in Orlando, Florida. It was geared toward networking, goal setting, and many other helpful tips for making the side businesses a success. On the third night, we had a semi-formal awards ceremony at an amazing restaurant just a couple blocks for the hotel. Since it was 90 some degrees, we took an Uber to the restaurant. After eating delicious food, enjoying fabulous fine wines, and good conversation, it was time to head back to the hotel. An Uber was going to take at least 30 minutes. Why not walk?! Afterall, we could see the hotel from the restaurant’s parking lot. Surely, walking two or three blocks was a doable task. Plus, I was wearing “sensible” heels (only 1 1/2 or two inches high) so what could it hurt?!
Black Eye and Bruises!
But, I forgot about my weak left ankle. Way back in the distant past, during the gymnastics module of my high school PE class, I badly sprained it and it has never been the same. Up until 2018, it was prone to re-spraining for no apparent reason. In 2018, I fell and broke my left ankle in two places requiring surgery to repair. Even though I have a titanium plate and 6 pins, my ankle will give out with no warning. Well, about half way down the first block, guess what?! My ankle gave out and with nothing to hang on to I found myself flat on the ground in the evergreen bushes lining the sidewalk.
With just a few scrapes and wounded pride, I took off the sandals I was wearing, got up and prepared to continue the walk back to the hotel. But, the outfit I was wearing had long, wide-legged pants made out of some silky material. While we continued to walk back I was holding the pant legs up, so I wouldn’t trip over them. For some reason, I let go of the pant legs (I don’t even remember doing it) and the next thing I know, I’m face first on the ground in the evergreen bushes again.
High Heals, Long Pants, and a Parking Lot
With a few more scrapes and bruises and an even more wounded ego, I got up, brushed myself off, picked up the pant legs, and we continued walking back to the hotel. Only half a block and the parking lot to go. What could go wrong?! About 20 or maybe 30 feet from the front door of the hotel, I let go of those pant legs again (still don’t remember letting them go) and tripped once more. Third time is the charm! I face planted on the wood border around the parking lot. Not only did I give myself a black eye/cheek that took over a month to heal, I bruised my ribs (opposite side of the ones I broke, thank goodness) and various other body parts.
Rocky for the Win!
For the next few days, people would either make brief eye contact and then quickly look away or ask me if I was okay. When I said, “yes,” they would ask, “are you sure?” Some even asked if I won. My response to this was, “Does it look like I won?” Since the true story wasn’t that exciting (semi-dressy pants and a parking lot), I was coached to tell people that I was wrestling an alligator (I was in Florida after all), wrestling a bear, or saving small children from wild animals. I was home for about 3 weeks and my ribs were still hurting, so off to the ER. Thankfully, my ribs weren’t broken; just badly bruised. The ER doctor told me to alternate taking ibuprofen and acetaminophen for the the next few days and to take it easy for the next 2 or 3 weeks.
Roughly in the middle of November, my garage door decided it wasn’t going to open. When I left to go to the gym, it was working fine (or so I thought). When I got back home, it wouldn’t open. I asked my handyman neighbor to take a look at it and he was kind enough to oblige. After fiddling with gears and such, he got it to open. But, strongly suggested I have a professional garage door service take a look at it. After doing some research and getting some bids, I selected a garage door repair service. During their initial examination, the repair company told me the original install wasn’t completed properly.
It had always made a lot of noise and was very jerky every time it opened and closed. I was always expecting it to fall apart at any moment. The initial estimate was a little over $1,200. However when they actually did the job, it was worse than they thought so the final cost was almost $1,500.
Run! The Building is on Fire!
On Thursday, December 7, I went grocery shopping at a local Walmart. I only went to this location because they have the olives I love (jalapeño and garlic stuffed). I was almost finished (only needed to get a couple more items) when they notified everyone to evacuate immediately; the store was on fire! Oh, that explains why I was starting to cough a lot and my eyes were starting to burn. The smoke didn’t cause a full blown asthma attack, but it did irritate it. Used my inhaler a couple of times and thought all was good. Thankfully, no one was hurt and the store only suffered minor damage due to the smoke and water from the fire hoses and the sprinklers. It was back open within a day or two!
The next morning I was still coughing more than usual so used the inhaler again. A little while later my so called “smart” watch alerted me my oxygen levels were really low; trip to the ER low. Thankfully, the watch was lying and my oxygen levels were normal. But, to be on the safe side, they x-rayed my lungs, did some blood work, gave me a a breathing treatment and some oral steroids and sent me on my way. Before I left they told me my blood work showed 2 percent levels of Carbon Dioxide. Said that could be from the smoke at the store the night before or because I’m a former smoker. I quit 25 years ago as of last month?!. They said it didn’t matter how long ago I quit, it still could be from that time frame. Ugh!!
Garage Door Woes – Deja Vu!
The Wednesday after Christmas, I came home from the gym and my almost new garage door would not close. Initially, I came into my house hitting the button to close the garage door on my way in. A little while later, I had to go back out to the garage and found the door wide open. Really?! My first thought was something ran into the garage just as it was closing. Oh, goody! I Checked to make sure the neighborhood cats weren’t hiding anywhere and that nothing was blocking the laser beam “eyes.”
I tried to shut the door again. It started to go down and then went immediately back up. I called the repair service that had fixed the door in November. He asked me to hold the door-open button down without letting go and let him know if it closed or not. It closed all the way. He said that meant the laser “eyes” had died and needed to be replaced. Thankfully, they were able to come over and fix it right away. He said this is a very common event so they always have new “eyes” on hand. This added another $450 to garage door repair. I guess I should be grateful to have an almost brand new garage door for only half the cost.
Bye Bye 2023 and Welcome 2024!
Thankfully, 2023 is in the past and 2024 has arrived. In fact, the first month has come and gone. My big goal for this year is to work intently and consistently on both of my businesses so by the end of the year they, at the very least, are paying for themselves. I’ve worked hard to develop a schedule that allows me to work both businesses, successfully do my full-time job and still have a bit of a life. Everyone knows what they say about all work and no play!
I am so ready to retire and kick the full-time day job to the curb. To achieve that goal, I know it is going to be hard, involve long days and some sacrifices. If I want to watch a TV show, play a game on my phone, listen to a podcast, or read a magazine or book, I have to schedule a block of time to do one of these activities. And, that block of time cannot be a time when I could be doing a money-making activity. And, more than likely, that time block will involve multitasking such as doing laundry, folding clothes and putting them away, doing dishes, cleaning the litter box, cleaning the pet water fountain, or some such menial but necessary task.
When it comes to the two side businesses, I know I’m the one getting in my own way. They both offer amazing training opportunities (7 days a week if I chose to do that), one-on-one mentoring and coaching, tips and tricks for writing ads and pages, and many other resources to be successful. As their way to give back, one even pays for our marketing leads. Which if you’ve ever owned your own business, you know marketing is one of the most expensive requirements. No marketing, No Business! The only reason to fail at either business, is to just not do the necessary work. That has to change! I Must Do the Work!
Now comes the hard part – Taking Action and Implementing Everything I’ve Learned!
Just Do It! No Excuses!