Carmen's Funny Cat Pics: Besties for Life

 

Carmen's Inspirational Creations: Ride or Die

 

Carmen's Funny Ecards: Funny Vouchers Ecard

 

I seriously hate when I get stereotyped. It's honestly happened to me for one reason or another since I was a kid. But now if I have a cart full of groceries things are assumed about me as if you can't have a cart full of groceries without being on food stamps or WIC? First of all, I had WIC when my older boys were young. I only had it for my first two and not till they were five, just for a few years, no one after that. And it doesn't mean you're on welfare if you get WIC. 

Although, now that I'm no longer in poverty I realize that people view any kind of handout as welfare. But when you're in it, when you're in poverty, you don't view WIC as welfare. You view cash assistance as welfare. Actually, I still don't view WIC as welfare. There's plenty of people that get WIC that work and don't get other types of assistance including food stamps. 

It's a whole new world when you learn what others view as welfare once you leave the poverty world. Everything's welfare. But, no, none of that and the lady gave me attitude. So I guess if I had vouchers she would have been even nastier than she already was. I later came to realize though that this particular lady is nasty with everyone. 

I even witnessed her nastiness to a woman who appeared to be in her 70s and who was being sweet. Who knows? I also hate shopping near the 1st of the month with my carts full cause then the dirty looks really roll in. You just know what they're thinking. You can see it in their eyes, the disdain and assumptions. Everyone's eying everyone else trying to figure out who's on food stamps cause it's near the 1st. 

I get real dirty looks if I dare run out of things that first week, then the cashier's always surprised when I pay credit or debit. It's disgusting, really. I buy the same amount every week and I pay for it, me. And I don't look down on anyone that needs help. If someone needs help while they're helping their self or if they're disabled, shouldn't we help? What's wrong with this world...

Carmen's Inspirational Creations: Be the Light...

 

#bealight

Getting Sued and Audited at the Same Time: New York's Covid Relief is a Joke...

Sorry for the delay in posting this week. I've been a bit busy being sued and audited at the same time during a pandemic and global crisis. How many times can someone say they've been through that in a lifetime at the same time? I can say TWICE this year for me and the first time in my life EVER. Goody, goody gumdrops.

It's funny too, cause in the "media" they say how they're offering all this "COVID relief" and working with people, and helping people, but is that the reality? In my reality, that wasn't the reality. I did get a stimulus for myself and two kids which I'm very thankful for. But here's what really happened to me this year...my reality and my experience. 

Maybe others were able to get help. But not only was I not able to get help and climbed out of the hell hole of a situation myself that I fell into by clawing my way out, but I was sued twice and audited twice on top of that. Let's get into it, shall we?? Okay. So let's go back to spring of 2020, when the s**t hit the fan globally and everything starts shutting down. 

Schools closed for "two weeks" mid-march here in New York, then suddenly just as quickly as the schools were closing, the news made it seem like certain death in the New York hospitals if you got sick with COVID. If you had COVID like symptoms in the very beginning, you were s**t out of luck because your doctor's office was now closed and would only see you over the telephone, not even web visits initially. 

And there was no testing right off the bat, and then the first testing when it was available was shotty and unreliable. Myself and two of my adult sons were down in NYC just as COVID was exploding in the city, only no one knew yet. We had two appointments at NYU. So then on top of that, one of my sons, one of these two, had also been down in Miami for a week around the time the s**t started hitting the fan. 

I told him not to go but he's an adult and it was something special planned from back in December after a rough year. He was not canceling and no one really knew what was going on. I'm being super careful, but we all get sick. No idea if it was from when we were at NYU, or him being in Miami. I also have a sharp memory of a lady standing next to me at the pharmacy when I was there to pick up my daughter's inhaler and she's telling the pharmacist that she was up from the city and she was right next to me. 

Could have been at the grocery store too - who knows? But we all got sick and it was definitely respiratory illness. Three of us were the sickest. I counted and I was literally the worst of it for seven to eight weeks. The first week to two weeks I could barely sit up straight or talk for long without feeling winded.

It was scary stuff. We got through it though because I'm an herb ninja, okay. It literally is every man and woman for themselves, especially at that time. I whipped out everything natural under the sun that's antiviral and antiinflammatory and we got better. 

But while getting sick, I lost time from work and fell behind. I tried working through this even the first week when I was my absolute worst till I literally had to listen to my body or else it would have been certain death. I only made $62 that week... The next week, I worked maybe three days here and there when I could, then as soon as I felt winded I'd leave my desk. 

Each week it got better. Had some setbacks. Also had a couple very scary moments where I was honestly afraid for my life. I even put together notebooks of special family recipes for my sons in case anything happened to me - I really did and that took me time because I felt winded doing it and had to do it here and there. 

With all of that said, here we are going through this nightmare and my girls are homeschooling, which at first the schools really struggled with getting the kids adjusted. But on top of all this...the threats start coming in. So I took the little bit I had coming in and made sure I paid in order of threat level priority and I fed my children - utilities were the most immediate cause they can turn those off. 

Even though they said they were "working with people" they were still threatening and I didn't take a chance. So I paid them. I fell behind three months with my landlord but thankfully they put the moratoriums into place to prevent eviction, but he sure wanted to put me out. He wasn't working with me, put my stomach in a knot every month. 

As soon as I got better, I started to work on getting caught back up as best as I could. But it took time because I wasn't making as much as I normally would with my girls home schooling. By the fall I was three quarters of the way caught up with my landlord and by February of this year I was completely caught up with him, including water bills as well. 

It was March of 2020 I had my first letter of a tax issue. But they gave me time and we straightened that out by the end of the year. It was an issue from my 2018 return. Then fast forward...I do my 2020 taxes and now New York was holding up my refund because they see what happened with my federal which was then straightened out. Meanwhile, I'm seriously just a little fish, a nobody.

Just a single mom doing her best barely getting by without handouts and you've got billionaires who shall remain nameless that go, what, ten years of not paying taxes supposedly. It was literally an honest mistake that was straightened out. So now New York is going extra hard on me to prove this and that, including proving my daughters are my daughters...I've been claiming them for 11 years and now this year during a pandemic and when they have "COVID relief for New Yorkers" plastered on their tax website they're asking me to prove they're mine. 

So I do all of that and get them other documentation they needed. Good, I'm thinking. My 1099 should be sufficient, I'm thinking. Wrong. No. They gave me this tiny refund back and want bank statements now and other things, which I'm providing. No problem providing that. But why is my question, why now? The time couldn't be anymore WRONG to hurt someone that's already been through so much this year. 

At the SAME EXACT TIME I was served with court papers by my car's lien holder. Up till "COVID" I had been paying on my car just fine for over two years. After I got sick I fell behind in my car payments. At first the bank worked with me, but the car was no longer a priority. My priorities were: LANDLORD, UTILITIES, AND FOOD. I was forced to sacrifice my car. 

I was making less and the car does not feed us and we were okay without it for now. Long story short...bank stopped working with me last fall. June of 2020 the car wouldn't pass inspection. Needed $2,500 worth of work. I was sold a lemon. I did regular oil changes, wasn't that, and didn't drive it much because I work from home anyway, just normal running around I did with it for kids, store, appointments, family, etc. 

So anyway, I was told when I got the car it was a "sensor," then last June my mechanic tells me it needs all this work to pass inspection. So fast forward again...to the fall. The bank is offering me this "COVID" relief program but I have to get them x, y, and z by such-and-such date and time. I get it to them on the date but literally just TWO HOURS LATE and for good reason. 

I had a loved one in the hospital, which I will not get into. So I explain all of this and nope, we don't care. Now, we're going to sue you during a pandemic. So I said good luck with that, the courts aren't even open yet. 😝 But they waited till they were like the evil vile bank that they are. Forgot to add that they didn't want the car. I told them I took it off the road in October and to come get it, which I have proof of, and they didn't want it cause of the engine issues. 

Then I get second opinion from another mechanic recently to see if it's worth fixing since I'm stuck with the d**n thing and the guy tells me the engine has now seized on the car...and just last week I was served with court papers for this worthless lemon car. Goody, goody gum drops, lucky me, audited and sued all at the same time! Lucky for me, I'M A STRONG PERSON - BRING IT. 

At the end of the day, I'm not worried. It's just sad really and a waste of time. Now I have to take time from work to pull 52 weeks of pay reports, which is time consuming for what? It's just not right to put anyone through this right now. People are going through enough as it is..."COVID relief," pfft, oh, and I never qualified for their rental assistance last year either...such a joke. 

I worked my way out of the poverty I was raised in from my living room over ten years ago. But you know what, they want you poor. They want you IN THE SYSTEM. This too shall pass...I know it will. This was so long that I just realized I left out the douche bag 😂 that tried suing me for a car accident from two years ago involving one of my sons' who was on my insurance at the time. 

My son took full responsibility right from the jump. The guy was literally fine. No ambulance, said he was fine on scene, driveable cars, then almost two years later we get sued during COVID. Come to find out too that he was the boyfriend of a distant relative, odds, right. We found out the injury he was claiming was really from things he did in his free time and he thought he was gonna get a free ride 🤑 on us during a pandemic - people are so dirty. 

The same son had two other accidents where the other drivers were at fault and found at fault by their own insurance companies and they settled but there was no injury cause my son wasn't hurt and he's not that type. The one was head on too and he never went to the hospital even though I thought he should have at least got checked out. But he said he was fine and he's not that way to milk a minor injury for a big settlement. People...🤪

With Love, 

Carmen

Carmen's Funny Cat Pics: I Solemnly Swear Cat

 

Carmen's Inspirational Creations: We're All Mad Here...

 

Carmen's Funny Ecards: Oh no she didn't ecard

 

Finishing My Degree This Fall and Intermittent Fasting Update

I'm a little late posting cause I've been making changes to some of my inspirational creations, which I'm still working on. But I've got so much exciting news. I'm SO excited! I decided recently to finish my degree this year. 

Was gonna do it last year but then COVID happened...so I'm doing it this year. Just officially registered my classes on Tuesday! So I'll graduate next spring and I can't tell you how excited I am. One of my classes is criminology. I'm salivating for that class...this is my passion...law. 

When I finish my associates, will be moving on towards my bachelors and I have a year to decide if I wanna make that more criminal justice or legal studies, because my long-term goal is to go into law. But I'm also interested in profiling...not sure. Law school or masters after that...plenty of time to decide. 

I'm a young minded 42 - never too late. I hope this inspires someone out there that it's never too late to continue or further your education if that's a dream of yours. Also, I got my GED at 16, so I didn't get that graduation ceremony experience. Next year I'll get that experience and my kids will watch me. We're all looking forward to it, so exciting... 

My dream is to help people who get rammed by the broke system (<----good vid on transformation in the system) - the wrongfully accused, getting the shaft during trial, defamation, slander, fighting against slumlords, family law, advocacy, fighting to get laws changed or passed. When I say "system," I mean everything, not just the above scenario. There's so much I want to do... But my other good news is my intermittent fasting update. 

Wow, I'm shook! When you do it right it works SO FAST! The weight is literally falling off of me now that I've sacrificed my morning coffee. It really is mind over matter and it's so empowering to know that I can start my day without my coffee, which is shocking for me considering I used to be like this when it came to coffee... My self-esteem is worth it...so I have my first cup of coffee at two, which is when I break my fast. 

I'm only doing this Monday-Friday, not on the weekends. I eat normal between two-eightish but still try to eat healthy and be mindful of what I'm eating. Not gonna lie, I'll eat a couple potato chips, or a cookie or two, or small portion of ice cream. I'm not dieting. This is different...

But I also eat fruit, veggies, and just like I normally would. I eat healthy and I eat some junk. I don't over indulge on junk. I believe in balance and that wasn't my problem. Nothing else worked for me in my over 40 weight loss journey - nothing, not even working out an hour a day. 

And like I said, this wasn't a problem till I was in my mid to late 30s and had also developed gut issues. They say the gut health is the key to overall health...my gut is healing and this is helping while it heals. I think for me it was a combination, like I said before, of metabolism changes, sedentary work, and my gut issues. 

But it's WORKING! Intermittent fasting works and I wish I didn't waste the first four weeks of my journey with my morning coffee. I would have reached my goal sooner. I'll weigh in at eight week mark which I believe is coming up in two weeks, then I'll share pounds lost. We'll just have to keep in mind that I messed myself up with the first four weeks. 

Till next time...

With Love,

Carmen