Hoppy Easter?

We've reached an interesting point in our family's Easter celebrations.  Dwayne is at work and Dexter doesn't live here.  It's just the two of us now and it seems kind of silly to do the whole Easter egg thing.  After church today, Emerson commented on how he keeps waiting for the Sunday when they speak on the meaning behind the bunny and the eggs.  We already know the other story - Jesus, crucifixion, resurrection, etc.  We got a bit irreverent goofing around with the concept and I found a blog post with a good take on it in addition to a picture that depicted our conversation. 

No colored eggs or bunnies for us this year, but we will keep up our tradition of making potato salad.  The only change will be that the eggs won't have fun coloring leaking through.  Whether we are losing the fun involved with traditional celebrations with our kids or just learning to focus on the real reason for the Easter holiday, things have definitely changed for us.

Spring Snow

 After a few nice warm days this week, we woke up this morning to a thick blanket of snow.  Bummer!  I am so ready for better weather.  Emerson and I have plans for clearing out the sheds and ridding ourselves of some excess junk.  We also need to be able to free up space in the house so we can organize our business stuff better.  I'm not asking for scorching sunshine, just warm enough to get some stuff done.  It would be nice if the warm days were on the weekend instead of while we're working, too.

We've enjoyed family visits recently - Mom, Evonne, Sydney and Seth came up for a weekend and I was glad I could give them the grass dance outfit we made for Seth.  If I had to mail it, who knows when he would have gotten it.  Loren came up for the BYU powwow last weekend and all the various get-togethers for alumni. We really can't get enough of these family visits!

Emerson has had some fun experiences at work recently.  The best was the day when they asked him to substitute for the weightlifting class since the PE teacher was sick.  He really enjoyed it and the school administrators now realize that he's a licensed teacher, so he may get to substitute more in the future.  It's also that time of year where the school districts are starting to list jobs for next school year and we're excited to see what comes up.

Things are getting busier for me at work with the play and working on the annual golf tournament with the Rotary Club.  I'm loving my involvement in the Women's Business Network and I'm excited that we're having an event later this year that should become a legacy of what we've been trying to do for business women.  I'm still tutoring two students and I appreciate the extra money coming in.  One of them is definitely challenging me and I'm trying to figure out how to motivate her (especially since I didn't do so well with my own kids).  I've been glad that other people have been willing to help with the play since our usual director was just barely recovering from getting both knees replaced and then ended up falling at physical therapy and broke her hip.  Fortunately, the kids in this year's cast are amazing and should have no problem being ready in time.

Emerson and I had fun visiting the Scrapbook Expo and the Gem Faire last weekend.  We stocked up on some supplies and got to check out new products.  Business is slow in our shop, but the blog is helping us get some exposure and I'm working hard to keep up with networking online.

Thanks again to all of you for supporting us along the way. Life is full of difficulties and we feel blessed to have our friends and family to help us get through everything.  We're also grateful when we can return the favor and help you out.  I feel blessed to have a husband who loves me so very much and puts up with the moodiness and my crazy schedule while doing the majority of the cooking and keeping the house clean.

The Diet Coke Cake

Dexter went all out for Emerson's birthday this year. He wanted to create a cake that looked like a can of Diet Coke (yes, we are addicted) and he asked his girlfriend (Emily) to help him with the project.  They decided to have it look like a pop can laying on its side and made the bottom half out of rice crispy treats to make it stable.  The top half was three layers of cake which were then carved to the correct shape.  What really impressed me was their attention to detail in using an edible metallic spray for the outside of the can and my son creating the Diet Coke logo free hand.  I chuckled at the "Cake Not Diet" written on the ingredients panel. They even added a gelatin pool under the top of the can to make it look like some Diet Coke had spilled out.  It was amazing!!  I'm glad they took a photo before they brought it to our house....

On the trip across town, the layers of cake started to slide off of the rice crispy treat base (thanks to a layer of frosting in between).  When they arrived at our door, Dexter and Emily were wearing frosting and the cake looked a little more like the ones in the recycling bin.  Still, it was VERY cool and all the hard work was appreciated.

I posted this on my "business"  blog and it has received a lot of great comments.  There's a lot of talent in this family!

I spoke too soon

Apparently, I spoke too soon.  This lovely holiday weekend brought me a new sore throat, lots of coughing, and pretty much losing my voice.  I'm blaming this one on my boss since he's the only one that had this particular ailment.  I'm sure most of you can't imagine me not talking, but I don't have much choice with my squeaky voice.
Fortunately, I still have Twitter, Facebook, and blogging to keep me conversing.  I did have time this weekend to tat a few new things for our shop.  I'm happy with how the Southwest inspired tatted items turned out.  This week I'm looking forward to working on designing some wedding invitations for a friend and helping with represent the Women's Business Network at a business expo.  I sure hope my voice comes back soon!

February Adventures

What's the latest and greatest going on in our household?  I've been easing my way back onto my good pills, so the world is definitely a happier place.  Emerson and I finally got past being sick, but then Dwayne got it.  I think Dexter is now coming down with something.

Gambit is now one year old (as of Valentine's Day) and is mellowing out more.  He and Storm are getting along better and on warmer days we're able to put them outside for a bit.  We're happy with how Storm is doing, but we still miss our Scout.

Emerson's been enjoying his job and one of the teacher's he works with let him know about a local ice hockey team. We are now huge fans of the Utah County Blizzard hockey team - too bad their season is nearly over.  Emerson loves driving the Trooper (except on really windy days) and we're happy to see that it has much better gas mileage than the old truck did (especially since gas prices are skyrocketing).  I know he's going to be happier once the weather stays warm on a regular basis so he can get more stuff done outside.  He's definitely the "cabin fever" type.

Work is still keeping me pretty busy.  I've been tutoring two students regularly and trying to work around their treatment center schedule has been challenging.  For example, on Tuesday, one of the girls was in the Intensive Support Unit (ISU) so I couldn't tutor her.  I tried again on Wednesday, but she was still in ISU.  When I tried on Thursday, I waited until she was done with school, then group therapy, and then dinner.  Unfortunately, she then had recreation therapy and I was told to wait another hour.  I went back to my office and worked for an hour and tried again.  Now she was in the shower!  It was nearly 7 pm by the time I was able to tutor her and by the time we were done, her unit/dorm was already done with evening medications and I had to take her to medical services to get her meds. Very long night!  It's amazing how packed these kids' schedules are and it's a wonder they ever get any free time or even time to do homework.  On the brighter side, I have really enjoyed working with the Women's Business Network and it looks like we have some great plans for this year.  Planning is also underway for our annual golf tournament and I still have plenty to do with the Heritage play.  Still, I managed to get all creative and try tatting with some rope.  I thought it would be a bracelet, but it seems more like a ring for playing ring toss.

Do Over...Please!

I finally got over the worst of being sick and went back to work.  It was hard to be away for so long, especially since I feel bad when I'm not there to tutor the two girls I've been working with.  Besides the fact that I LOVE teaching, tutoring pays better than my regular job.  Right now, I am working with two girls for two hours per girl each week.  I was already able to get one girl off of academic probation.

You're probably wondering what all that has to do with the title for this post.  When I started writing, I realized how negative it was going to be and figured it would be better if I started with something positive.  Now for the other stuff...

Monday morning I returned to work and my first call of the morning was from Dexter, telling me that he had lost his job.  It would have bothered me a lot less if I had known how much worse the day was going to get.  In catching up on what I had missed while I was out sick last week, I found out that  a coworker's 21 year old son had died in a tragic way.  Since the coworker has worked there a long time, he and his family are close friends of Emerson's as well.  We went to the viewing and it was absolutely heartbreaking.  Late Monday afternoon, my friend who works as our safety officer at work and has been managing the play rehearsals called me for help.  She found out her son was in the hospital because of a car accident.  Even though he didn't have serious injuries from the car accident, they discovered other problems that led them to discover that he had leukemia.  Now we're all scrambling to cover the rehearsals so she can be with her son now that he will be in the hospital for a month.  My boss was out of town attending a family gathering for his mother-in-law's 90th birthday.  Just after we updated him on all the other things going on, his mother-in-law passed away.  At that point, we were getting scared to answer the phone anymore.

I know things will get better and time will heal the pain for those involved, but it sure made a tough beginning for my week.  Too bad we can't call a "Do Over" and start this week over again....

Obamacare is EVIL!

We are struggling...and I do mean STRUGGLING...with our insurance choices now that President Obama's healthcare legislation is in effect.  Even though I grew up in a very liberal state, I don't like the idea of the government legislating everything.  There are a few things in Obamacare that I do believe in:

• Lifetime insurance limits should go away
• People should not be excluded for preexisting conditions
• Allowing your adult children to stay on your policy a little longer (although I think it should end when they get married)

I was appalled at the insurance choices we were given at work this year.  Both of them had a $1,500 per person/$3,000 per family deductible.  The one with higher copays didn't include prescriptions in the deductible.  The other one was slightly less expensive and resulted in lower copays, but prescriptions were included in the deductible.  That means that we have to pay 100% of the cost of all doctor's visits, medical expenses, and prescriptions until we reach the $1,500/$3,000 deductible.  After that, we "just" pay the copays. 

Obamacare also promised that preventative visits to the doctor would be covered 100% by insurance.  What the government doesn't tell you is that you may go in for a health screening for free, but if the doctor finds anything wrong, it becomes a diagnostic visit and you have to pay for it.  Enjoy your income during 2011 since you will be taxed on your income plus your insurance benefits.  The W-2s that employers issue for 2011 are required to include the value of the insurance benefits they paid for you.  Think you can just skip out on insurance and put money aside for when you need it?  Nope!  In 2014, people will begin being penalized a percentage of their income if they don't have a health insurance policy.

All of this has my blood boiling because Emerson and I are on some medications we can't live without but are expensive.  Emerson's diabetes requires several different medications.  Some of them come in generic form, but Januvia doesn't and costs us $199 per month until we meet the insurance deductible.  I take two medications for my bipolar disorder.  One is available as a generic, but the other isn't and costs just under $700 per month.  I tried to get myself off of that medication, but it didn't take long for it to interfere with my ability to do my job and I had to figure out another plan.  We've switched to the other insurance plan and will be paying more per month to have it, but we will only be paying copays on prescriptions.  Doctor's visits will still be full price.

If you're one of those people who thinks that the government should be involved in providing healthcare for the people, you obviously haven't experienced the "joy" of public healthcare.  I have experienced it on the Navajo reservation where only generic drugs can be prescribed and trying to get in to see the doctor when you're sick means sitting in a huge waiting room all day, hoping to be seen.  Try that with a sick baby some time and see how much you enjoy it.  Having been on Medicaid at one point, I can tell you that people treat you like crap and you don't get the best care available.  For example, Medicaid wouldn't pay for the dentist to fill a cavity in my tooth, but they would pay to pull the tooth.  I'm not trying to start a political debate, just needed to get all of this off my chest.  Stepping off my soapbox now...

Yuck!

Everyone around me has been getting sick and I thought I had dodged the worst of it....until it hit me hard this week.  I had fever, aches and pains last week, but now I have the horrible congestion, coughing, sneezing, and sore throat.  This is no run of the mill cold. I wake up barely able to swallow or breathe.  Staying home from work was okay at first, but I also ended up missing the documentary filmed about Heritage's performing arts program.  It's hard to miss something you've really been looking forward to.  The documentary debuted at the LDS Film Festival and was very well-received.  It helped people to see the miracle of the performing arts, the reality of treatment center kids, and what a little courage and faith will do.

Dexter has been battling computer issues at work.  The system hasn't allowed him to log in for weeks and I guess there are huge obstacles to starting a new account for him.  In the mean time, he shows up at work and gets sent home two hours later.  He went from working full time to working hardly at all and he's frustrated.

I managed to undecorate the Christmas tree, but the tree is still up and the box of ornaments is still in the living room.  Part of the obstacle is that the snow and ice has melted enough in the backyard to make it all muddy and mushy and I don't want to trudge through it to store everything.

New Ride

After a couple of weeks of trying to figure out how to manage everything with just one car, I'm so happy we have a second vehicle again.  Emerson's job is in Highland and mine is in Provo.  Our work hours don't match up and there's just no way to share the car.  Illness has hit so many of my friends and coworkers that catching rides with other people was becoming impossible.  I rode the bus a few times, but walking on the ice to the bus stop and then paying $2.00 for the "privilege" of taking a one hour bus ride to get home was ridiculous.  It only takes me 15 minutes to drive to work, but the bus goes all over Provo before it gets where I need to go.

The insurance finally gave us a settlement for our truck this week and the search for a new vehicle was on.  We still wanted a truck so we could haul things when needed, so that's what we focused our search on.  Emerson looked at a few trucks and SUVs and found that some of the ones we liked in the pictures needed work done immediately.  We were so excited when we found this 1999 Isuzu Trooper that turned out to be in really great shape.  The mileage was low and the owner had maintained it well. The price was a little higher than what we had hoped for, but there were several other people interested in it and no chance of talking the price down. Thanks to some help from our family, we were able to come up with enough to buy the Trooper.  After a couple of very depressing weeks, it was nice to see the smile on Emerson's face.  Now that he has a vehicle, his stitches are out, his cold/flu is gone, and he can focus on training the puppy, he's finding some happiness again.

Still Here

We're managing to do okay.  Unfortunately, Emerson caught a cold or flu and had a miserable end to this week.  I think I'm coming down with it now, too.  Storm is getting used to us and she is turning out to be quick to train.  She and Gambit wrestle a lot and she usually wins.  Gambit's only 11 months old and doesn't have the maturity to walk away yet.  It makes us miss Scout even more since she was always so good and patient with the puppies.

Emerson's healing well and most of the claims processing is taken care of.  We hope to have a check next week and will need to start looking for a new vehicle.  The used car market isn't the greatest because of the economy, but we're hoping to get another truck if we can.  Work is still keeping me plenty busy.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to earn money with tutoring and Emerson even did some tutoring yesterday for the Provo School District.  Dwayne is busy working full time doing tech support and getting some extra hours cooking at Heritage.