Hello dear sparklers! I'm sorry I haven't been on spark as much as I'd like to be. My life has once again turned upside down.
First of all the pandemic is KILLING my little consignment gallery. I closed it in March because FL is absolutely NOT SAFE from the virus due to the stupid Governor who refuses to shut down businesses where the virus runs rampant with any authority. He flip flops back and forth about what he does and doesn't do. Gives NO direction to small businesses on implementing safe reopen procedures.
I re-opened the gallery about June 10th and was open until about the 16th but got so tired of asking customers to PLEASE wear masks and if they didn't have them I had disposables. I got cussed out more times than I care to tell you about with people ranting and raving about THEIR civil liberites being violated and they didn't HAVE to wear masks because its a FREE country and they can do as they damn well please.
Well...here's the dea...l if I get Covid...I'm cooked! I have no one to take care of me and if I get shipped off to a hospital there is no one that can come and see me so I am super cautious about my health. My health is NOT worth risking for a bunch of idiots who have no clue how their selfish precious liberties could be the death nail for people around them.
So I've been feeling guilty and depressed for not being in the gallery. I've done the best I can to put my merchandise online and I am opening the gallery 'by appointment' for highly interested customers. I've made a few sales...but I've also been 'stiffed' a few times with no shows also.
I have to question what the heck is wrong with people? They feel no responsiblilty or courtesy toward others anymore. It's all so sad to me.I'm sure it's always been that way to a degree but it seems with this pandemic people are just worse...angry, obnoxious...and ready to SNAP.
I've also been going through my friend rooster here on Spark. So many of my really close friends have just disappeared. They were people I developed a deep connection with...FOR YEARS...and poof they just disappear. Some were sick so one wonders if they passed on? Some were regular bloggers and then poof...just gone. I miss them...I still worry about them...we do that with friends don't we?
I am still sewing my corona masks and enjoying them. I want to sell them in the gallery if I EVER reopen. I was thinking about just biting the bullet and reopening in a few weeks but I'm not convinced it's worth it. What I saw when I reopened those few days in June were just people that were not serious buyers. They were people just wanting to get out of the house and have something to do. I can't blame them for that. BUT...if they refuse to wear a mask...I've got better things to do then sit there being exposed to a deadly virus with no serious sales. It's just not worth it to me!
In the meantime one good thing has come to pass and that is my new eating plan that has allowed me to lose 11 pounds in 13 days. I have another 50..maybe 60 pounds to shed. I was fat BEFORE the lockdown and my weight was just going NUTS during it. Up and up and UP!
When you are on lockdown while in deep grief over the loss of my dear hubby of 45 years you comfort eat. It was really getting out of control. I gained 12 pounds on TOP of the heavy weight that I already was. I scared myself...what if I developed diabetes, what if I couldn't have the dexterity to continue moving furniture around on the floor of my business. I KNEW I had to do something and then a dear friend told me about an eating plan that was doing wonders for her!
Caring is sharing!
I eat one time a day within a 1 hour timeframe. I eat a MONSTER salad with plenty of low carb veggies and 6-8 oz of protein on it. The other 23 hours of the day I fast. Just non calorie drinks..mostly water but sometimes flavored fizzy water and if I really think I'm losing it I have a bone broth. Am I hungry...no not really..but do I 'FEEL' like I need something YES...I do.
I just try to stay busy and ignore it. BUT..losing a pound a day on most days IS incentative to keep on keepin' on. RIGHT?
On a sadder note some of you will recall my 'Save Our Home' fight that has been raging on for the past 10 years. Well..the bank did dismiss the case in 2017 because they could not come up with proof of the original note...why...because they destroyed it way back before 2010 because the loan was a MERS loan. Mers loans were electronically stored because the banks were too cheap to pay for storage on loan docs. Because they dismissed the case FL law requires them to pay my attorney fees for the defense for TEN years. They are trying everything they can do to whittle down those fees they owe me and pay as little as possible. Once legal fees are paid they can refile the foreclosure and get another bite of the apple. That is their plan...during a PANDEMIC no less!!
It's a long drawn out story that will bore you so I will spare you the details...but I can tell you that every step of the way this bank has forged, lied, fabricated documents, dual tracked us and they STILL are attempting to steal my beautiful home! If they don't have the correct document they just forge one and the court and the judges look the other way..it's all SO dispicable!!
I say it's not over til the Fat LADY sings (actually hoping it's the 'skinny' lady singing...but I'm exhaused, I'm stressed, I'm sad, and I'm feeling so hopeless.
All I can do is continue to put one foot in front of the other and keep on fighting. Please send up prayers for me. If I lose my beloved home so full of memories of my dear lost son and my dear lost husband I really do not know what I will do. I have lived here since it was designed and built for us back in 2001. It means everything to me!
That CAN'T happen..sometimes the little homeowner HAS to win against the greed monger banks! After 10 years of fighting I hope it can finally be ME!
I miss all of you my lovely friends! I'll try to pop in more often because you all mean so much to me...please know that!...and please send up prayers for the protection of my beloved home and small business...this has been a H*LL of a year!!