Lemonade Anyone?

Remember the saying “when life gives you lemons make lemonade”? That is exactly what I have been doing since mercury raised its head. I know he’s around because I feel his presence. Every week I have a new challenge to deal with. I am squeezing as hard as I can, but I may need some sugar to make the drink palatable.

In my last post I mentioned the negative soul that I had spent the weekend with. I realized after shutting the door on her that she reminded me of my own daughter, who decided several months ago that I do not exist. They both are very manipulative and absorb more energy than they should be reasonably allotted. They are like bulls in a china store who by their very presence demand attention. I’m not going to bore you with a lot of details, but I have definitely decided that I don’t need controlling people in my inner circle. All I need to do is be alert and I will no longer attract them.

I did have a left over challenge to deal with from my trip that I am giving mercury credit for. When I checked my account I noticed there was a big mistake in the billing from the motel. It was over twice as much as it should have been. Without anger, I immediately called the bank help number and filed a claim. Because of my quick action the error was resolved within a couple of days.

Now for the biggie which is still in progress. For this one I will need a lot of sugar and perhaps a bowl of patience, knowledge and positive thought tossed in for good measure!

Last month, some of you may remember, Social Security deposited a sizable amount of money in my checking account with no explanation. It took me two phone calls to find out, yes the money was mine and they would not ask for it back. It was another two weeks before I was sent the letter of explanation, which in truth didn’t explain much. Being reasonably certain the money was mine, I splurged and paid my car insurance and bought much needed tires for my car.

Everything was going well until my mail came yesterday. I opened another letter from Social Security stating “this letter replaces our previous letter”. Basically it informed me that they had made an error which caused a check to be sent to me. The error has now been corrected and they regret any inconvenience. It gets better!

As a result of adjustments to my benefits for 2008 they have determined that I owe them $223 more than the check they deposited last month. They also expect me to send it all back within 30 days. My response this morning is, don’t hold your breath you idiots. I immediately mailed off the form to request both reconsideration and a waiver. It at least buys me a couple of months while the matter is being resolved. Since mercury is out of here on April 23 I am thinking that might help.

So back to my miscellaneous lemons, as you can see I will need a whole lot of sugar to make lemonade before I call Social Security on Monday morning. If there are any angels hanging around who aren’t doing anything I could use your help too. I know I don’t deserve this!