Success

What is success?

Lately, success for me has been accomplishing what I set out to do - whatever that is.

Thursday, success was getting back to below 200. Now that the holiday eating is past, I feel good things are ahead. I just have to watch getting back into bad habits. My next goal is to be at 195 (by next Thursday?) Cecilia handed out an eating log to write down everything I eat this week so we can discuss my success and how we can improve upon it. Well, this morning (Saturday), I remembered the log! Now I have to find it!

I sometimes stumble around through life as if I wake up to a new world every day. Yesterday is in the past, and I don't seem to connect yesterday to today. Did I miss something in school or life training? I think my son is getting worried about me. Although I do have problems with remembering names, and sometimes words (I take Ginko Biloba twice a day!), I'm still lucid, competent, and intelligent. You know, I think moving to another is harder than he expected. He's worried about me. But, I was fine when he lived in El Paso, and I'll continue to survive alone.

Another success -- having an empty nest again. I marvel at how God works. This time last year, my son was pretty down. He searched for jobs for several months (years) with no success. Somehow, he reconnected with a high school friend, and they renewed their friendship. Next thing I knew, he was going to visit them. Then a few months later, they bought another plane ticket for him to visit again -- and then again! Now they want him to move there, so much so that they bought the plane ticket AGAIN!

During those months (years) of job hunting, my son discovered Listia.com, an auction site to buy and sell items (from your junk drawer, junk room, garage) using credits. He was able to "sell" some of his no longer used stuff and use the credits to buy gifts and things. After a year or so of monitoring Listia and marking auction items that didn't fit in the category they were listed in or knowing the item was bogus or whatever, Listia offered him a job as a moderator. He doesn't get paid in cash, he gets several thousand (30 to 80) credits that he can use to buy gift cards or items. Now he's a level 2 moderator, so he gets paid even more credits. He was able to get everyone on his Christmas list a nice gift this year, and it was all because of Listia. That boosted his self esteem by leaps and bounds. The next step is actual money!

We see good things for him. He's enrolled in school, moving to a state that doesn't require bilingual skills, and he has a couple of brick & mortar job possibilities. Huge successes for him.

We have been going through the house gathering things (and large clothing) to sell in a garage sale to clear the clutter and help get some moving cash for him. We "opened shop" at 8:00 on a cool, cloudy, misty Friday, and it was about 9:30 before we had our first customer. She bought 2 items for $1.10. WOW! I spent $17 on the garage sale permit, so we were still $15.90 behind. By the end of the day, though, we had $70 profit (success). Today, it's raining, so I'm hoping we'll have die-hard garage salers out, especially because we're splitting the profit today.

He had his Explorer for sale, initially for $2000, then for $1200. Everyone who asked about the truck initially asked "What's wrong with the truck?" When he said it didn't reverse, everyone offered $600 (half the price). I suggested he change the sign back to $2000 so everyone might offer $1000 ;O). By 3:00, he sold the truck to a young couple who is expecting a baby very soon and in need of another vehicle for $600 cash. I'm disappointed that he didn't get the $1200. I think if he wasn't so worried about selling it before he leaves in 3 weeks(!) he would have been able to get at least $800. But, it's sold and gone, and he's relieved - another success. Now my house looks larger without the black Explorer in the driveway. Plus the sense of security with having a vehicle in the driveway is gone.

Once the garage sale is over, everything we earmarked for it is going to Goodwill - TODAY! Another success is being able to give things away.

I plan to put my workout equipment in the garage to free up a room for a guestroom. It's crazy to have a 4-bedroom house with only room for one bedroom, and no room for my grandkids.

I have other plans also. My son's room is in the "front" room of the house, which is an odd room. It's been everything for the past 33-1/2 years. It was the dining room, then the play room, then the office. It was a library of sorts when my son moved in. Now it's his bedroom. We moved the library into a small bedroom, and he moved in the front room. This arrangement offered privacy for both of us.

Once he moves out, I want to add built-in floor-to-ceiling bookcases in the front room to make it an official library with room for a baby grand piano in the middle in front of the window, set up a guest room, and general overhaul everything.