Marriage Telepathy

I have a new theory why couples who are together a long time don't speak to eachother. It's got nothing to do with running out of things to say. It's caused by the fact that you start reading eachother's minds so often that you forget to speak aloud.

It starts out innocently. You both say "So, you want Pizza tonight" at the same time and you laugh and think that's pretty funny. Then it spreads. A typical conversation begins to lack nouns and verbs.
"Honey, where's the...."
"In the closet"
"Why"
"Nathan"
"K"

Still you think it's normal and no cause for alarm. Then come the days when he picks up the phone to call his parents, and you start getting the kids ready to go, because you know he's calling to make plans for dinner at their house. Or he turns out the only light in the bedroom without asking first, because he knows you're only reading because he's reading. Or you see him standing forlornly in the living room, and hand him the keys/mp3/sunglasses that you realize he misplaced before he even asks about it. Hopefully the code of silence breaks enough at this point for a "Thank you", but no guarantees.

And this is after just 12 yrs of marriage, how bad will it be at 25 or 50?

Yummy

Now that we're possibly moving to Vermont, my new life goal is to be CFO of Ben & Jerry's. With that in mind, I feel a responsibility to buy one of these every day for the rest of my life.


More details here.

Lazy Days

Meant to post these earlier, but the insert photo button was AWOL.

Nathan's been going to swim lessons several times a week all summer. This is him with his teacher. She's been really great, and Nathan has thrived. Here he is getting the treat of dunking her because he'd successfully gone underwater.



And here's some more of underwater Nathan. I swear he's half fish. Another Mother there was asking how I got him to not be afraid of water, since her twin boys are still hugging her and the beach most days. Once I told her that Nathan's afraid of cats and screamed like a girl when one was meowing under our car yesterday, she felt better.


Just one more week of lessons. It feels like summer is ending already, since whatever Dan and I do, I need to think about being back at work by the end of September.

My disease is making me sick

My health insurance situation is making me nauseaus. I just got a letter today that we'll be dropped from our state sponsored insurance as of Sept 1 because Dan's income is too high. New York's other program is $400.00 a month, and seems to only cover $3000 of prescriptions each year. I think the Enbrel I just started is $1000 a month.

So, that probably makes the decision to go to Vermont a little easier, but I still need to find something to bridge the gap between Sept 1 and whenever Dan's new job would provide insurance. Or if we stay in New York, I need to get a job ASAP that has insurance so that we aren't on the NY insurance long enough to hit the prescription cap.

Any gap of more than 63 days in coverage bumps the RA into a pre-existing condition, and new insurance wouldn't cover it for a year. This is the kind of thing that makes me want to move to Canada.

Just put me in a straight jacket now, insanity is just around the corner

My brain is going to explode. Dan's sent a resume to an Inn in Vermont. I should be thrilled. This is where I wanted to go last August, this is the place we pinned our hopes on in December. BUT I DON'T WANT TO MOVE AGAIN. Aaaarrrrrghggh.

Which is really a silly thing to be stuck up on, because we were always going to be moving again. If he gets this job, we wouldn't go back to Placid next spring, we'd stay in Vermont for the forseable future. So if anything, this is great, because we'd get settled back down faster and be out of this holding pattern we're in now. Plus, it's ridiculously close to my Dad's. Less than an hour, and even quicker in the summer when we can go over Bethel mountain instead of around it. And I'd get to see Red Sox games again.

Cons- I have to be careful not to lose Health insurance, so I don't like moving around as much as we used to. Plus, I'd have to change doctors.
- I'd actually miss my Mother-in-law. I was afraid that close quarters would lead to a lot of backseat mothering, but it's been great so far. And my Dad is not going to be up for babysitting as much as she is.
-Packing, again. Aaaarrrrrgggghhghghghghghghghghg.

But the pros outnumber that, especially the pro of not having Dan stab his boss or co-workers because he's fed up with his underpaid, overworked and underappreciated job.

I think I'll spend the day cleaning out the closets and throwing out toys. Wouldn't hurt to be prepared.

Everything hurts today

Summer Rain

There's a thunderstorm blowing in, finally. I know that temps in the 80's are nothing compared to the rest of the country this week, but with no A.C. and chasing the kids around, it was hot enough. And it didn't help that Nathan fiddled with the thermostat Tuesday night so that we woke up to an 80 degree house. We'll be back in the 70's tomorrow after this front comes through.

It was strangly fitting that our hot water heater broke during the hottest days of the summer. Dan braved the cold shower, but our well water is below 50 degrees, so I didn't attempt it. Instead, we spent the weekend shuttling back and forth to the in-laws until our landlord could get the part on Monday. Of course that was also a night that Claire had a bad reaction to milk and spit up all over me, herself and my bed. That's a night when a warm bath would have come in handy.

Dan's off being a free man tonight and showing off his tattoo. He's gone to Burlington to see Les Claypool, a bassist formerly with Primus. I'll have to think of some treat for myself in return. Lately, my only time alone has been my drives to my doc, not really the "me" time I'm looking for.

Ahhhhhh, a giant squid

I didn't really believe Dan when he came home with this last night. I poked it a few times thinking it was temporary, he didn't appreciate that too much. It's certainly bigger than anything I'd want, and it was a little strang to be sleeping next to it. The artist did a great job with it, very detailed with good color. Takes some getting used to though. 

School Days, School Days

One of the (many) reasons I have not gone back to work yet is that very few jobs list "BA in History" as a prerequisite. Even with all the accounting experience I have, I'm pretty much back to square one if I go for a job. So, I've submitted all the paperwork to go back to school and get a BS in business from Empire State College.

It's all online. I have no idea how long it will take, a lot depends on how much credit I get for classes taken at Bates. Just for the major, it would be at least 10 classes, and I think I'd only do 2 a term, 3 terms a year. But I probably have to take some Math and Science courses too, Bates curriculum was a little too easygoing and I never took a Math course there.

The plan:
Graduate
Work for bank as Financial Planner
Make tons of Money
Open own Financial Planning business
Make truckloads of Money
Open Restaurant and invest in Commercial Real Estate
Make enough Money to buy a small Island

Sounds good, right?

Another Arthritis Update

Had another Doc appointment. I am generally feeling well, but not perfect. And especially after the 1 1/2 car ride and 1 1/2 wait in the office, I had stiffness in my knees and elbows. So my doctor submitted the paperwork for Enbrel, which is really a miracle drug for RA that's only been available a few years. In order for the insurance to approve it, you have to have tried the older, cheaper drugs first, and failed to find relief. Since my Doc helped write the rules on when my insurance would approve my prescription, he's pretty confident I'll get it.

But what he doesn't know is the cost. The drug is at least $1000 a month, and my insurance may say I have to pay a percentage rather than a flat $30-40 a month. If it's affordable, I'll have to give myself weekly injections. If it's too expensive, then we'll switch to drugs that are administered in hospitals by infusion about once a month. But they have more serious side effects.

Doc wasn't too keen on the idea of getting a tattoo either. I will have a supressed immune system and if I get an infection, I'll have to stop the Enbrel. I'll wait and see how Dan does with his tattoo. And also wait until after the summer, when I won't be going swimming anymore.

Laura Bush would hate it

After 15 years of discussion, I think Dan and I are finally going to get tattoos. He's very excited about it, so excited that I think he's forgotten that he nearly passes out just watching me get blood drawn. He's decided on Kokopelli, who's associated with food, surrounded by a sun with blue flames, blue for the gas flames in a kitchen.

I'd always wanted something Celtic, but couldn't decide where to put it. But now I want to celebrate being pregnant, giving birth and breastfeeding. So I think I'll put it up high on my breast. I just need to finalize a design. I kind of like this goddess symbol,

but instead of the spiral on the belly, I'd use this celtic symbol


for the breasts and belly.




Unfortunately, I have no artistic talents, so I can't quite figure out how to make this look like a decent tattoo. Any thoughts?

Arrggh!

  

aack, a new obsession

I get sucked into computer hobbies easily. I can stay up for hours wasting time. Sims, fanfic, fantasy baseball, crosswords, minesweeper, each has had their moment in the sun. Especially when I was working the nightshift in Georgia. I'd spend so much time online, that I wouldn't finish my work in time. I'd punch out at 2:00am and spend another hour or two working to make up for it. Then go home and stay up until Dan woke up to go to work.

Now I've found out that Atari.com has online Monopoly. Eeeep. In three days, I've logged about 40 games. I'm not completely ignoring the kids. But if Dan comes home and finds torn kleenex and waffles strewn about the floor again, he'll be justified in hiding the computer from me.

Pirate in Progress

 

Nathan was invited to a dress-up birthday party this Sunday. No, he is not going as a 13 yr old girl. I picked this up at TJ Maxx and decided that with a little surgery it could be a pirate costume. I've cut off the cap sleeves and removed the skirt. I'm going to cut off the bottom of the leggings so they have a rough look. But I'm stumped about the front of the shirt. It's way too girly. I think I have to turn it around so the back is the front. And Dan says we need a sash and belt. Have to look around the house some more. I'll post the final product on Sunday. 

This is getting ridiculous

Bird #3 was flying around the house when we got up this morning. Dan handled that one. I sent an e-mail to an Audobon member and discovered that we have European starlings, they're an invasive species, so I don't have to feel any guilt about removing their nest or otherwise injuring them.

I shoved a box up into the hole in the kitchen, hoping that would block them, but bird #4 dislodged while we were at a demolition derby today. I got him out of the house pretty fast, then heard that something was scratching around inside the box. Birds #5 and #6, two chicks, had gotten stuck in there. At least it was pretty easy to get them out, since I only had to move the box with them in it. I'll try to anchor the box a little better, but also make sure I can move it again if something gets trapped. Our landlord is out of town, but I'll call tomorrow and see if he has a ladder to get rid of the nest and plug the holes better. Enough is Enough!

What is this, a bird sanctuary?

Another bird, this time an adult. It started flying around the living room when we got home, hitting every window at least once. I tried to corral it using two lacrosse sticks, hoping I could direct it out the door. Finally gave up and opened one of the windows. He got the hint quickly and took off across the lake.

Communing with Nature

While the kids were napping today, I heard a small noise in the kitchen. I went to look, thinking it was Nathan, but he was still asleep. About an hour later I was in the kitchen and noticed a lot of dust and crap on the corner of the counter. This is under an area that juts out next to some cabinets, but isn't actually a cabinet. And I just noticed today that it wasn't closed up, so it's essentially open to the attic.

This corner of the attic is also home to a nest of birds, and they make quite a racket all day. Especially today, they were squawking like crazy. So I thought they must have knocked the dust down. Then I finally noticed that there was more than dust on the counter. Hiding behind the detergent, trying not to be noticed, was a little baby bird. She must have been there at least an hour.

Aaackk. What do I do? I quick went to the internet and typed "baby bird out of nest" into the search engine. She had lots of feathers, so I think she's at the learning to fly stage, but I couldn't tell if she was hurt. The advice was to put her back in her nest, but I couldn't get to it. So the second option is to make a small nest and leave it near the main nest. I got my winter gloves on, and carefully lifted her into a bowl of leaves, then covered the bowl with a strainer. She was moving her legs and wings around a lot, so that seemed to confirm that she wasn't injured. I took my cargo outside and wondered if her parents would find her, and how long she'd use the makeshift nest for. But as soon as I took the strainer off, she leaped out and hid in the flower garden. I hope that now that she's outside again, she can fend for herself.

Ya know, I'd like a normal day again. Add this adventure to Nathan running full bore into the Lifeguard chair and giving himself a bloody nose, and I'm about done for the day.