Six Word Saturday (3/30/13)

The Books, The Dentist, and Insurance

I finished two books this week, Lucky Me by Michael J. Fox and The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom.

Lucky Me

Michael J. Fox jumps around to different times in his life throughout the whole book.  It was kind of hard to get used to until I started reading each section as its own story.  He uses profanity in both the narrative and dialogue.  It was really distracting and disheartening.  It was interesting to hear the story about his Parkinson's Disease diagnosis and he explained the medical procedures and tests really well.  One thing he explained was embyonic stem cell research that he supports.  He claims that the extra embryos used in IVF or other medical processes "just get discarded anyway," so why not use them to help patients with this disease.

The Five People You Meet In Heaven

I had read this book on the recommendation of my sister.  She has very strange taste in books (romances and self-help women's lib stuff) so I had put it off for years, but I saw that the public library had it available so I decided to give it a try.  The story is purely fiction, like someone making up hypothetical situations:  even though the situations are made up, you could still learn from them.  A maintenance worker at a pier carnival is killed in an accident and he gets the chance to speak individually with five people from his lifetime.  Each person tells him how he fit into their life and his lesson to be learned from it.  I thought the book was even kind of helpful to me.

The Dentist

My youngest son had had a toothache and the dentist had given him a prescription to take till he could consult about getting it pulled with an oral surgeon on the 28th.  My husband went with us because he thought I'd get lost, and we had an hour in the waiting room before we got to see the doctor.  He was a young, handsome, smiley guy who made me so at ease!  I'm usually very triggered by the sounds and smells of doctor's offices but I didn't have any problems at all.  The doctor said it was going to be a super-easy fix.  He said it was going to be so quick that he was actually looking around like he could have time to do it right then.  My son just wants my husband to take him for the actual appointment on Monday.  I just feel so much better knowing that doctor was so casual and happy and confident.

Insurance

This isn't going to be boring!  My therapist was on vacation this week but his secretary called me Thursday morning to tell me that my co-pay was reduced to $15 from $30 starting on January 1 so my account was in the black.  We discussed that we would just put it towards the sessions I have that aren't covered by insurance later this year.  I asked her if there was a change in the number of sessions covered (I have 30), and she said she'd call the insurance company and get back to me.  When she called me back, she told me there is no limit on sessions and that they would all be covered!

And then, interestingly, she told me this:  The guy at the insurance company told her that that's the way it has always been.

I keep getting in shock about it every time I think about it.  I had been paying the no-insurance price for 26 sessions a year for about five years.  Background:  I had met my ex-friend J through a bible study my therapist suggested (she led it and was also a patient of his).  Her husband works at the same college mine does so we thought we had the same insurance.  When I had met her so early on in my therapy, at first I wasn't paying with insurance at all because I didn't want people at the college to know my husband was married to a kook and I also didn't want my husband to know I was even going.  But she told me she gets 30 sessions paid by insurance which helped them out a lot, so I started paying with our insurance too.  It never occurred to me that my husband's plan was different.  Well, technically, my therapist and his secretary could have researched my insurance a little better (and a lot sooner!).

At any rate, after 2009 I had been making less and less money from my job.  I used to save up money during the heavy work times to pay for no-insurance sessions.  I was getting really frustrated about it because it takes every dime I make to pay for them, and I've been praying that I could get strong enough to just quit therapy altogether.  I'm going to take this insurance "mistake" as an answer to that prayer.  I feel so relieved that the money worry is out of the way.

Six Word Saturday (3/23/13)

Michael J. Fox and Blue Meal

I'm a little over halfway done with Michael J. Fox's book "Lucky Man."  It's a memoir he wrote after his Parkinson's Disease diagnosis went public.  I ordered it online from the city library, and the copy they had available was a Large Print book but I don't mind.  It has been interesting reading about his past - childhood and family, girlfriends, how he got into show business, etc.  Unfortunately, Michael writes like a 10th grader, which is rather funny because he quit high school.  He didn't help his case much by explaining that "high school" in Canada is ONLY TWO YEARS LONG!  Okay, how hard is it to stick it out and coast for two years?  Even if your grades suck, at least you'd have a diploma.  As I read more of the book, I can tell the real Michael is in no way anything like Alex Keaton (his character from Family Ties).  At least there was something likeable about Alex.  Michael comes off as kind of an arrogant jerk.  Also he talks frequently about his partying (drinking) and it's a turn-off for me.  I can't stand people who think every event and every outing has to include some kind of alcohol.  My parents are smug teetotalers and my husband's parents are those highbrow society drinkers (only the best alcohol for their mouth).  I have one or two glasses of wine at a restaurant but we only go out for special occasions maybe three times a year.

Speaking of eating, today I'm going to a luncheon with some participants of my earlier Rachel's Vineyard retreats.  The hostess is having a "blue meal."  It is exactly how it sounds - everything we're going to eat is the color blue.  Blue chip enchilada, salad with bleu cheese dressing, and so on.  I am bringing blue raspberry jello with bananas in it.  The luncheon has the same format every time.  We eat and then we pray a five-decade rosary and then we go home.  I really enjoy how accepted and comfortable I feel when I'm with these friends.

Six Word Saturday (3/16/13)

Now I Have To Catch Up

I had meant to write about my weekend (3/7 & 3/8) but I kept putting it off so now I have to write about both last week and this week.

Last Week (3/9/13)

I was a little bit bored so I went on the church's website Thursday to see about downloading some sermons to type up, and on the front page was a notice about the women's conference that weekend, guest speaker Allison Pittman (whose book "Ten Thousand Charms" I'd just finished and other book "Saturdays With Stella" was one of my all-time favorite books).  I immediately called and had them reserve a ticket for me!  The conference consisted of dinner/part I of her talk on Friday and then coming back for breakfast/part II and silent auction/part III on Saturday.  The subject she spoke on was being a friend with yourself (part 1),  with others (part 2), and with God (part 3).  I did get to meet her!  And I bought her newest book "All for a Song" and she signed the inside of it with "Sing a new song!"

This Week (3/16/13)

My youngest son's back molar started hurting him Sunday so I called the answering service for the dentist, but the dentist never called me back.  Monday morning I got a hold of the actual office and complained about not getting a call and then they told me they could see my son as soon as we could get there.  Dentist's offices give me the creeps.  I've had so much experience as a child being afraid of going to a doctor or hospital and now I have a real phobia about such places.  Not to mention that the suction thing for the dentist reminds me of the abortion clinic.  My husband refused to take time off work so that left me to do it.  I told my therapist to pray for me (since I don't have anyone else who cares about me) and amazingly I was very calm driving there and in the waiting area.

This children's dentist has a large back room containing about eight dental chairs in primary colors about three feet away from each other in a line.  My son reclined in one of the chairs and I sat on a stool near him.  There were already four children reclining, two of whom were getting their teeth worked on and/or cleaned. The two children were young - probably at the youngest 3 - and they were both crying.  I just instinctively got protective of them, thinking they're in pain and they're afraid and nobody cares!  I tried not to cry but eventually I put my head down and the tears dripped out of my eyes but I was quiet.  My daughter (who skipped school to be my human GPS and cheerleader for her brother) kept rubbing my arm and then rubbing her brother's arm and saying it was going to be okay.  I felt like a bad mother because I should have been doing that to them.  The dentist wasn't his regular one, it was a man, and he was so nice!  He told me he didn't think the molar was worth saving with a root canal and helped us get an appointment with an oral surgeon to get it pulled on 4/1, and he gave some antibiotics to take till then.

On Thursday I went with my friend/"roommate" M (from my first Rachel's Vineyard retreat) to a movie/pizza night at a Catholic church downtown.  We went to mass first (we were about 10 minutes late).  Afterwards they showed the documentary "Changing Sides" (the story of Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson who quit after witnessing an ultrasound-guided abortion).  Surprisingly, I wasn't hurt or upset by the movie, and I had a really good time talking with everyone.  I think Catholics are very forgiving and accepting, and I just feel so comfortable around them.

Six Word Saturday (3/2/13)

Reading More Books and Typing Too

The website of the public library has a feature where you "order" a book (or books) and you input your library card number and the library workers get the books off the shelves for you and have them ready at the desk for you to check out when you get there.  Maybe I'm old, but I think that's really cool.  That's what I did Monday just to try it out and it worked.  I was so thrilled, but my husband (who is the computer guy for the university library) said that their library has the same feature and that I needed to get out more, LOL.  Anyway, I got two books:  "Enjoy Every Sandwich" by Dr. Lee Lipsenthal and "Ten Thousand Charms" by Allison Pittman.

Enjoy Every Sandwich:

I originally only wanted to read this book to see if the author gives Warren Zevon the credit for the book's title.  (He does.)  I also read an excerpt of this book online in an article about Dr. Lipsenthal some years ago and had wanted to read the entire thing sometime.  About halfway through the book, I could clearly see that I wasn't living life to the fullest extent that I could, like he was.  So just for that eye-opening thought, I am definitely glad I read this book.  The only negative thing I could say about the book is knowing that certain people will dismiss the entire book after reading the few pages where he pens his thoughts about his past lives, and certain other people out there will dismiss the entire book after reading his thoughts about God, heaven, and forgiveness.  I discussed the book with my therapist this week and I decided I try to just "coast" through my life waiting for the day I could go to heaven and see all the people I've been missing.  But I have been watching since then to see which parts of my life I do feel fully present in (so far, because I'm trying to do better):

• I love washing dishes by hand and feeling the warm water because it feels very calming.
• I love listening to music, especially my favorite songs because it almost seems like I can "feel" the music too.
• I love watching a good movie and snuggling with a dog or two because I feel happy watching something familiar and knowing what's going to happen and what jokes are coming up.
• I love reading because I have to be fully present in order to read, and with fiction I end up getting sucked into the plot and characters.
• I love typing (transcription) because I feel my fingers fly over the keyboard as I'm listening to the voice on the tape, and working makes me happy and I also know that I'm good at my job.

Ten Thousand Charms:  

I wanted to read this book because I enjoyed "Saturdays With Stella" by the same author.  This book takes place during the 1800s and feels a little like the Little House on the Prairie books.  It's about a woman named Gloria who worked in a brothel until she had a baby and about a man who had been in prison but was now a Christian and his wife died giving birth to their daughter.  So just as a convenience, he takes Gloria along with him to move to Oregon and she nurses and takes care of both babies.  I'm about halfway through the book.  I guess I can relate to them (well, especially her) because I feel like my past is always going to follow me and that people will always be judging me for it, yes, even Christian people.  At any rate, apparently this is the first book of a series, which is welcome news to me because even right now I don't want the story to end.

This week for work I had eight assignments!  I give all the glory to God, for blessing me with it, and I am just so grateful.

And on a funny note to end this post, on Thursday the electricity went off on some outlets in our house.  It was weird that I was listening to something on YouTube and all of a sudden my whole computer shut off instantly.  My daughter said her TV and charger weren't working and my son said his video game wasn't working.  I figured out it must be the circuit breaker box because the ceiling lights were still on.  So my daughter found the key for the circuit box and flipped some switches and the power came back.  The funny part is, she came into my office all sheepish and told me she knew why the circuit got tripped.  She has a string of purple Christmas lights around her bedroom door frame.  When she got mad that night about something, she went in her room and slammed her door (like usual, lovely habit she has).  Part of the lights' wire got caught in the door when it was slammed and it broke her lights.  That tripped the breaker.

Six Word Saturday (2/23/13)

A Birthday and A Little Dog

First I just want to say that I've gotten a few typing jobs this week too.  I'm so grateful that God has blessed me again.

My youngest son turned 12 on Wednesday.  We bought him a bunch of things for his Xbox.

Thursday my daughter ditched school again.  At first she said she had a headache and she took some medicine and wanted to stay home till it kicked in, but she ended up stalling about it all day.  I was furious because we don't want her to stay home so much, and my husband had told her he would drive home from work and drag her to school himself if she tried it again.  I was too scared to call him because I knew I would actually be the one he would yell at for not being tough enough to "make" her go to school.  I just remember when I was her age how it felt to be teased or whatever, so it's really hard for me to be firm.  But she abuses that knowledge.

So Friday I'm determined that she get to school.  On the way out to the car, the kids saw a little dog walking around.  My daughter picks him up and puts him in my lap in the car.  She's begging to go get him some food.  I automatically think she's trying to get out of going to school again, so I told her to put him down and I would give him some food if he was still around when I got home.  She was extremely angry with me all the way to school, saying that if he gets sent to the pound that he only has 10 days to live (even though I told her they would check for a microchip to give him back to his family).  She had a point: he was very thin and only had a rabies tag on and no address tag so he probably didn't have anyone looking for him.  I just can't stand it that people do that when they don't want their pets any more.  When I got home, he was nowhere.  Every time my dogs barked, I went outside thinking he might be around.  I'm kicking myself so bad because I could have told my daughter to quickly get one of the Cesar dog meals and a leash, have the dog eat in the car on the way to their school, and then I could walk him on the leash into our house and I could've took him to a vet to see if he was microchipped.  I just hate that feeling "I should have done X."

Six Word Saturday (2/16/13)

This Week God Really Blessed Me

A week ago I went to a luncheon for my Rachel’s Vineyard group.  I forgot to write a 6WS about it so I’ll begin this week’s with it.  There actually were only four past attendees and the rest were coordinators and counselors.  I still had a great time.  The lady who hosted it this time was supposedly a hoarder but the parts of her house I saw were just lovely.  She served cold cuts and homemade chicken soup and chocolate rum cake for dessert.  I absolutely love going to these luncheons with the retreat people because I feel like myself and I don't  have to hide anything and they are always loving and accepting!  We talked about Ben Carson, the doctor who spoke at Obama’s national prayer breakfast last month, and I learned that there is a movie called “Healing Hands” about his life that some of them saw via Netflix.  I don’t have Netflix but I took a gamble to see if someone illegally posted the movie on YouTube, and they had!  It stars Cuba Gooding Jr., and I just love him.  It is a fascinating movie.  I also watched the real Dr. Carson’s speech.

This week God answered one of my prayers too.   I can’t remember when exactly I prayed so vehemently because I’m always conscious of worrying about the low workload I’ve been getting for my typing job.  When I started working from home seven years ago, I was pulling $400 a week typing trial transcripts, and then about four years ago they switched me to just correspondence which halved my income.  Then the workload started dwindling down so badly that some weeks I didn’t make a dime, and I now consider making $30 a week to be a fantastic week.  Anyway, I remember being very upset and praying and I told God exactly why I’d like more work to do:  not to be rich, not to be busy, but just because I enjoy typing and I’m good at it and I feel like I contribute something to the family.  Every day during this past week I was assigned at least one job to do.  Yesterday I just cried and cried because I was so grateful, and then last night I got another assignment too!  I’m just amazed and still so grateful.

Six Word Saturday (2/2/13)

Sometimes My Husband Is Really Funny

We went to McAlisters deli Sunday night for dinner.  We were dismayed that the Muzak in the restaurant was playing a bunch of songs we never heard before (in other words, made after 1995, LOL).  Then "I Can't Go For That" by Hall & Oates started (yay, 1982!).  My husband was subtly chair dancing and singing along - we were so happy!  And then every time John Oates sang "No, no!  No can do!," my husband would put his index finger across his upper lip like John Oates' mustache.  I couldn't eat because I was laughing so hard!

Our dog Hershey likes to sleep with us at night.  He snuggles right next to your chest under the covers.  Even though he's a small chihuahua mix, his little body generates some serious heat!  Then my husband gets too hot and he hands Hershey over to me, always announced with a nickname.  "Please take Peter the Heater!"  "Your turn for Volcano Vic!"  Thursday night's nickname still makes me laugh.  "I've had enough of Mr. Blowtorch!"

Unrelated:  Wednesday night we watched my daughter in her dance class recital.  She was in a group that danced to a square dance/line dance type song and an Orient related dance to Kung Fu Fighting and a Chinese song displaying their flexibility.  The 8th graders did a belly dance type of song.  I thought they did a really good job with the costumes this year.

Today is my sister's 44th birthday.  She has never married.  I feel like she drinks too much too, since she was 13.  Although I'm really mad at her for her opinion about me getting an abortion ("She can't take care of herself let alone a baby" - and my parents listened to her at 15 years old when she hated me), I can't help but think her being a drunk judgmental spinster still at her age is some kind of punishment for saying that to me.