New pics!

New Moo pics on Facebook!

She's into EVERYthing!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=39876&id=1060500500&l=c9c76d76b2

I Am Thankful...I Am Thankful...

23. I am thankful for...getting to spend yesterday shopping with my mom and going to see New Moon with her and Tara.

24. I am thankful for...being on the phone with the people at my insurance company and dentist's office instead of in person, because if I'd been there they would have gotten the full-fledged LOOK, as it were, and more rude facial expressions and eye rolls than they would have known what to do with. Because LET ME TELL YOU...

I had my wisdom teeth out like two weeks ago. My regular dentist told me several months ago that I'd need to have them done by an oral surgeon because he didn't think he could just pull them out. So I have my x-rays sent over to the oral surgeon, and he agrees that they'll need to be surgically removed. Now, I wasn't looking forward to having them yanked out with only a little novocaine to numb the pain, but I would have done it if the dentist had said that was all I needed--I wasn't about to pay the $250 it cost to be put to sleep.

But I trusted both of my highly trained medical (dental?) professionals when they told me that I needed to have my teeth out surgically and needed the general anesthesia. Imagine my surprise this morning when I moseyed out to my mailbox and found the explanation of benefits from my dental insurance company, and after eagerly tearing it open and perusing the contents, reading that I was going to have to pay that $250 after all becuase they weren't going to cover the anesthesia. So I'm all, wtf and I call the insurance company, who is, of course, TONS of help, let me tell you.

When the insurance lady pulled up my claim on her handy dandy computer screen, she saw that the oral surgeon had submitted a claim for 2 simple extractions, and they don't cover simple extractions of 2 or fewer teeth because they feel that novocaine is sufficient unto the task. Which is all fine and good, lady,but let me remind you that I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS, IT WAS RECOMMENDED BY MY DENTIST.

So I called my oral surgeon's office, again all wtf, and they really weren't much more help. They basically told me that the oral surgeon also thought that the teeth were going to need to be surgically removed, but when he got in there to take them out, he saw that they could just be pulled....so he just pulled them. Apparently they should have woken me up, then injected with me novocaine, and THEN pulled the teeth. Or at least, then insurance might have covered it then.

And now...I just feel like a deflated balloon. I"ve been so irritated about this all day, and I just don't have the energy to be mad about it anymore. Until tomorrow, at least.

Why Am I Up This Early?

19. I am thankful for...the last day before the last day before Thanksgiving break (I've been a little remiss in my updates the last few days ).

20. I am thankful for...Thanksgiving Break!!!

21. I am thankful for...my "second family!" So many people don't get along with their in-laws, but I've been so very lucky that my husband's family has welcomed and included me into the family!

22. I am thankful for...well, if I'm being honest, I wasn't very thankful yesterday, since I was on the couch with a migraine most of the day. I had some painkillers left over from my wisdom teeth surgery, but my husband's dog ate them...so it was pretty much me and some regular old Tylenol. I was thankful for my husband, who at least tried to call my doctor and see if they'd call me in some sort of pain medication, but they just told him to take me to the emergency room. Riiiiight. I was also thankful for the snuggle time I got with my baby Moo!

23. I am thankful for...my Moo and my Mommy! Off to Ann Taylor for me!

Humpity Hump

18. I am thankful for...my family, who is all pitching in to help Brian and me with Charlotte for the next couple of days. That's the worst thing about the small in-home daycare...when there's an emergency, she closes, and I have a 14-month-old with nowhere to go. We'd never make it without our awesome family!

And...in honor of the late great George Carlin...HSIOW??!?!?!?!? (Holy Shit It's Only Wednesday????) I really, really, really wish that tomorrow were Friday. Oh well. Hasta.

Nums

17. I am thankful for...well, 2 things, really. One, that my Mommy and Ron took Moo and me to dinner at...the Lob! (teehee I heart SNL.) And two, I may have found a way to incorporate some Monty Python and the Holy Grail into my teaching of The Crucible. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that makes it a good day in my book.



There are things I am NOT thankful for...but we'll save those for January. Love you all!

Monday Thankfulness

16. I am thankful for...only 4 more days until Thanksgiving Break!!!

I know what you're thinking, I just had a 5 day weekend, but really, that doesn't count. 3 of those days were spent having body parts forcibly removed and then recovering from the aforementioned assault on my person (for which I had the privilege, mind you, of paying $120). So again I submit to you that those days don't count.

So 4 days left. Moo sleeps, I'm watching Jeopardy and working ESOL stuff and trying to decide when it's ok for me to go to bed. I'm thinking soon.

I Am Thankful...

14. I am thankful for...good friends to have a great time with! I lubs you, India and Lee!

15. I am thankful for...the great day I had visiting with my Dad and Kim, then shopping with my Mom and mini-Moo!

Tomorrow I head back to work after 5 days. I'm not looking forward to it. Luckily, however, I have 5 days of work and then another week off! It's going to be a busy week though--my AP kids are starting on The Crucible, and most likely got lazy while I was gone so I have to whip them back into shape. Intensive Reading...I don't know what I'm going to do with them. You'd think since they're the group that makes the most difference in our school grade, that the most resources would be allotted to make sure they are successful, but that doesn't feel like the case sometimes.

Off to do ESOL. Yay.

I Am Thankful

There's been a thing going around Facebook that says that between now and Thanksgiving you're supposed to post one thing you're thankful for every day. I don't have that kind of attention span, so I thought I'd do it here...do I have enough things I'm thankful for to make it through a whole month of stuff? We shall see.

1. I am thankful for...my husband, who loves me--imperfections, quirks, annoying idiosyncracies, and all. I'm quite sure I would have left myself a long time ago.

2. I am thankful for...my most wonderful baby. If we could bottle her up and sell Essence of Moo, we'd be the richest people in the world.

3. I am thankful for...my family, without whom I quite simply wouldn't survive. Think it's weird all you want, but my family is the best part of my life, and I wouldn't trade them for anything (most of the time...)

4. I am thankful for...my husband's family. Lots of people don't get along with their in-laws, so I am incredibly lucky to have an in-law family that I love and get along with. I couldn't ask for a better 2nd Family!

5. I am thankful for...my friends. Not many people can say they still have the same friends they had 7, or at 13, or at 18, or even from two or three years ago. I have all of those, and more.

6. I am thankful for...having a job. So many people don't have jobs right now, and I am lucky to have one that allows me to have a home and clothes and food for my family. I complain about it more than I should, but I am thankful to have a job right now when so many don't.

7. I am thankful for...having a job that I love. I know, seems like I'm cheating here, but I don't think I am. Many people right now would be thankful for any job to pay the bills, and I'm lucky to have not just a job but a calling, and to be able to fulfill that calling. Yes, it sounds cheesy, but it's the closest thing I can think of to describe it. Those who don't feel it won't understand it, and that's ok. It's enough that I can recognize my calling for what it is, and I am thankful for the opportunity to do something that I love.

8. I am thankful for...my work friends. Most people go to work and go home and don't really get to know the people they spend the majority of their time with. I'm glad I didn't do that.

9. I am thankful for...my sense of humor. Sometimes you have to laugh or else you'll cry.

10. I am thankful for...Thanksgiving Break being a week away! I'm very much ready for it!

11. I am thankful for...beautiful weather the last couple of days.

12. I am thankful for...having a relatively easy time recovering from having my wisdom teeth out. I was really prepared for an awful experience, but it hasn't been all that bad.

13. I am thankful for...sweet tea, milkshakes, and coffee. I never would have made it through the last couple of days without them!

OK...that was harder than I thought it would be! Everything that pops into my head to be thankful for seems silly. I have thought of 13 things though, so that brings me up to date with 1 thing a day so far for this month. Let's see if I can keep it up...

9 Years

It was about this time of night, 9 years ago, that I got the voicemail from my dad that would change me for the rest of my life. That night was such a blur, and yet now, so many years later, I remember it with perfect clarity.

Everything I can think of to say about Dennis sounds so...maudlin. It sounds ridiculous to say that I think of him every day, but it's true. I miss him so much. Sometimes I dream that he's still alive, and then I wake up...and it's like I've heard my dad speaking those horrible words all over again and I can't breathe.

And that's more than I've said on it in many years, and likely more than I should have said.

I miss you, DK, and won't ever forget.

Something New...

A video! I don't know if it will work, so bear with me...

Charlotte has started to "help" Mommy with the laundry...it's rather hilarious. Every time I do laundry, she follows me into the laundry room and stands at the dryer and looks at me like, "OK, now what"? So just to be funny, I handed her some small piece of wet laundry...and she put it right into the dryer! I figured it was a fluke, so I gave her another one...and she did it again!

All of this of course took place when Brian was at work, and I figured there was no way she'd do it again when he got home, but a couple of hours later when I was changing the laundry again, I took her in there with me, and she put (almost) all of the wet laundry into the dryer. Of course neither of us knew where the cameras were...but this morning, we caught her on video! You can tell about where she realizes that Brian is recording her, and she becomes more interested in him than in helping me, but you get the idea. I also didn't think much about the fact that I was doing her laundry, but she takes exception to my trying to put her lovey in the dryer--she "rescues" it and then pretty much abandons me to my work. Sigh.

Anyway, it's cute, and she's silly.

Note: Brian is super loud, so you may want to turn down the volume a little.

A New Month...

And a new birthday! (For me. In case you were wondering.)

I'd really hoped that once marching season, or at least FBA Marching Festival, was over, I'd be less stressed, but I haven't seen it happen yet. Papers to grade, books to read, house to keep, husband and moo...it never seems to end. So with that, I bid you good night, and leave you with some most precious-est of Moo pics.

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween! Even though it was actually Charlotte's second Halloween, it was the first time she went Trick or Treating, and she had LOTS of fun! We went to Grandma's, then to Granny's, then to Tara's for Trick or Treating with Chacea and Kalle. Even though it was a long day, Charlotte was the cutest little ladybug ever! Here is a link to my album on Facebook; there are way too many pics to post here!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=39488&id=1060500500&l=259115f20a

Enjoy!