Good grief! First it was someone calling themselves Michelle calling about some kind of tax or loan relief thing, Then she disappeared for a while and someone calling themselves Nick Johnson took over. Now we’re back to Michelle. At least registering my number on the Do Not Call site has reduced the number of calls by about 95%. Obviously, there are still a few people who just don’t care.

The results of my HIDA scan show I have a low-functioning gallbladder. So I'm going to meet with the GI specialist and see if I need it removed. With all the ear surgery I've had, I'm not afraid of surgery. If it can relieve my symptoms, I'm definitely ready to go under the knife, LOL. It's pretty simple these days too, and I guess they go through your belly button. Robotic or laparoscopic surgery or something like that which is minimally invasive. Interestingly enough, biliary dyskinesia can cause anxiety and depression as well as a host of other symptoms. A normal functioning gallbladder is 35% or higher and mine is at 17%. There’s no way to fix it and it could get worse, so I’m guessing it will probably be removed.

It’s a good thing I kept this appointment because I almost canceled, thinking it wasn’t necessary. At first I didn’t think I was going to be able to make this appointment because of my schedule, and then I had a few days where it actually backed up, which it almost never does. I remember having a fleeting feeling that maybe something really wants me to make this appointment.

The only thing that will suck is that my diet is going to have to radically change after surgery. No more fried or greasy foods.

Between Facebook Viewpoints studies, the $25 gift certificate for leaving reviews, and royalty payments, a lot of what we recently got on Amazon was paid for.

I decided to get a new mandolin slicer because this one isn’t good for slicing, as opposed to dicing.

I also got some fake nails in a blue cameo design that will hopefully help with my split nail that just won’t grow out. The glue doesn’t seem to help much. The very edge still snags on things. So I figured that rather than wrap it in a band-aid, I’ll just slap on some press-on nails. The backs of them snag my hair when I’m shampooing it or if I scratch my scalp, but I’d rather my hair get pulled than my nail get snagged.

The last thing I'm getting is a smudge-burning bowl. I watched some videos and found that I didn’t smudge myself properly the last time around. I wasn’t supposed to keep it bundled, and I wasn’t supposed to put it out. You’re supposed to unpack it and put it in a bowl or something loosely, then light it and let it burn out on its own. I need to do it more often in order to get the medicinal benefits from it to purify our home and myself from negative energies.

The bowl comes on a stand and includes a smudging feather. Now I know why the witchcraft kit contained a peacock feather! It’s to help fan the smoke toward you. You just have to be careful not to inhale it so you don’t cough so much.

It also comes with a couple of healing crystals, a bundle of sage, and a palo santo incense stick.

I don’t know, maybe there really is something to these herbs and crystals because shortly after creating my happy jar spell, things have been better. I think a combination of things is helping, including having Helen. The more tools I have to help me, the merrier.

The only negative things I’m feeling today, although it’s minor in comparison, are annoyed and tired. On New Year’s Eve and the 1st there were fireworks/firecrackers that got kind of annoying. I can see doing it on New Year’s Eve, but the 1st?

There have been more motorcycle annoyances around here lately as well. Places always get noisier that I move to until I’m about ready to leave them so it’s no surprise. I’m sure that when the honker leaves, there will be something else. Maybe the mutt will bark more or a new dog will move in somewhere close enough to be annoying.

I’m lucky I wasn’t woken up on Tuesday because not only did I sleep through the garbage trucks, but Tom said a cement truck was a couple of houses down pouring concrete to widen someone’s driveway. Not for yet another motorcycle, I hope!

The honker didn’t wake me up because I woke up to pee, but when I did, he went out on his motorcycle at about 10:30 and returned at 4. Also, the lady behind him has been in and out on her motorcycle with a friend and that gets old as well. Fortunately, they don’t get too close to our place.

So much for thinking that having out-of-state visitors would keep the honker off the motorcycle because they’re still here. I get the impression that it might be Kari’s brother or sister. They’re welcome to leave now so I don’t have to listen to the door slamming. It’s not too often, but the guy is definitely weird. He pulls in, gets out, shuts the door, opens the door behind him, closes it, opens the driver’s door again, closes it, then opens it a third time a second later. He couldn’t just leave the driver’s door open until he got everything out of it he needed?

So all three panels are back on the back side of the “doghouse,” especially with Irma on her way back any day now. Who knows what kind of power washing and other projects I may have to listen to right outside the bedroom? Sometimes I really do miss country living!

Just an hour into my sleep, acid reflux woke me up which is another symptom of a low-functioning gallbladder. I had to sip some water to soothe my throat so I knew my bladder would wake me up too soon. I managed to doze off for nearly an additional hour after that but then I was woken up by a nightmare. I must have lived close to the beach because I walked about a block, made a little turn, and there was the water. I swam about 25 feet from shore when I got caught in a riptide. I was screaming for help, but the people who were hanging out by the shoreline just stood there looking at me dumbly as if I wasn’t even there.