As the chips turn

We all have days where we have to do what we don’t wanna do!?!  We’re creatures of habits, some are good, some are bad.

When my mom was struggling to get along on her own after her stroke, she was visited by a nice guy from the county.  I called him to help determine if there were any services they could offer to assist her.  As a non-expert in this kind of stuff, it is what every good daughter should do, call someone who understands what she needs.

She was livid with me and him for even suggesting that she needed help.  I’m positive her stroke added to her feistiness, but, the underlying reason was she absolutely didn’t want to admit that she may not be able to live alone anymore.  Any person who came in to see her limitations was evil.  That included me.

What I remember about that visit was the gentleman’s uncanny ability to interject these words into the conversation, “I can’t sympathize, but I can empathize with what you’re saying, if you give it a try, it may be of assistance.”

She wanted nothing to do with it or him.  She knew he couldn’t sympathize with her reality.  From that day forward, every time I hear someone say they sympathize with whatever situation, I’m skeptical.

I can’t sympathize with a dog who has to pee outside.  There’s no way in hell I’d like to pee outside (except on rare cop-a-squat to pee occasions, but not on a regular basis, like a dog does).  Especially when it is snowing and cold, nope, not happening!  But I empathize with my brave little guy.

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There have been bitterly cold below zero mornings lately where all he does is stops at the edge of the deck, pees and runs right back in.  Yesterday, it was snowing and a bit warmer.  With a semi-plowed area available, he spent time searching for the best spot to let his chips fall as an offering to the yard gods.  He shakes a leg or two, proud of his success, and springs back into the warmth of the house.

You have to remember that the hard days are what make you stronger.  The bad days make you realize what a good day is.  If you never had any bad days, you would never have that sense of accomplishment! – Aly Raisman

I can empathize with Copper – in the sense of not wanting to do something I don’t feel like doing.  I empathized with my mom back then, and I sympathize with myself and the Mr. daily – mom and I we were made out of the same feisty mold.

I’ve been searching for others who would empathize or sympathize with my woes about tax papers and receipts that need finalizing.  Misery loves company right?  I’m the worst influence on myself.  I woke up yesterday in one helluva crab-ass beotch mood knowing it was D-Day, and there was no way I wasn’t going to finish them.  That always makes things better when I got a kick-ass attitude going on.

The Mr. reminded me ever so gently, “You do this every year, you’d think you’d change something?”

Ouch – the truth hurts.  If it hadn’t been snowing, I think I might have taken a walk to cool off.

Instead, Mr. went outside and blew snow before it had even stopped snowing.  He’s one of the smart guys and knows when the heat inside is better left alone.

With little sympathy coming from Mr. or the pets who were in hiding, I searched for compassion.  What’s the next best thing for motivation if the family won’t be there for you?

Chips, of course.  The really bad for you type.  Comfort food to the rescue!

A couple handfuls here and there throughout the day is just what was needed to get me to FINISH.  (Mostly…now I’m just waiting on others, who are waiting to get stuff done before they can mail me the tax statements I’m missing; the ones I need to give to my accountant; who is waiting for me to get the papers to him; so he can let me know when he’ll get to them, to send them to the government who will take their sweet time…holy crap tax sh*t is annoying!)  

Back to the chips – just look at those glorious golden chips (which I normally don’t go for, really! I’m a Tostitos kinda gal) they were begging to be eaten before the bag expired.

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After several handfuls, I checked the expiration date.  I’ll be damned…WTH date is it anyhow?  February 3rd.

As I shoveled them in, they tasted okay – I’m still here to tell you about it, so we’re good.  I thankfully have this handy-dandy tool my father-in-law gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago (dust not included, dust happens when one doesn’t dust the items hanging on the frig).  He just knew there’d come a day when I would need this tool.

He is forever telling me that you don’t have to worry about expiration dates.  Unlike tax papers that do have due dates, food expiration dates are arbitrary.  Even if it has mold on it, you can trim that off to reveal the food you can eat.

And then let the chips fall where they may.

Take that you fricken’ tax papers and receipts – yessiree, they ARE FINALIZED, finally!

Time to dream again about that vacation on a beach somewhere…#GFTH-GFTB!  I rang the bell in the bar, and Mr. and I toasted to another successful “finally-all-caught-up” day!  Cheers!!

So are you a toss it out if the date is expired on the food type of person?  Or do you let it slide if it tastes okay?  Do you wish you had one of my special pens?