Mingling with a song, coupons and apps

Current questions {week of 3/28/11}:

1. What is your favorite song right now?
2. How good are you about using coupons at the grocery store?

3. Do you have a Smartphone? If so what are your top 3 games/apps?

 

Friday News, Busy Saturday, Lazy Sunday

Friday – Angel went in for his Colonoscopy.  They said that the antibodies for Celiac is really high, and while they did rule that out recently, they need to look into it again.  Angel will have to swallow a camera.  Angel talked to them about Anna and the doc said she will most definitely be affected.  We decided to hold off til we know for sure this time.  Maybe going gluten free somehow ruined the test last time.

Friday night, Anna had her performance at a Nursing Home.  I stayed home and Angel took some pics.

When they got home we watched The Secret of Moonacre (I think).  We really enjoyed that one.

Saturday was busy.  We rushed to the first Nursing Home.  We were able to watch the performance from the back but I was not able to take videos or pictures.  Being at the homes was a bit sad for me.  I just kept thinking of my Gram.  She would have loved to see Anna dance.  I really miss her.

After the first nursing home, we rushed to grab a lunch at McD’s, Then headed off to Jazz class.
From there we headed to the next nursing home.  This one had a good size cafeteria and I was able to get some video footage.  whoo hoo.

We headed over to Walmart for some grocery shopping, ended up stopping at their McD’s for ice cream first.  We were supposed to hit the library and post office but I was so tired.  Anna looked exhausted as well.  So we just headed home.  It was almost 5pm when we walked in the door. 

Sunday was lazy day for us.  None of us felt well.  Ethan came around 12:30 and spent the afternoon with us.  We watched Megamind.  Not bad at all.  The kids really enjoyed it.  I recorded them while they were sitting on my lap after the movie.

Something that bugs you.

 

Day 15 - Something that bugs you.

I am behind.  Way behind.  Mainly because of the week with my mom and traveling to and from the Hartford Hospital.  This week isn’t any easier as hubby is at the hospital right now and Anna has alot of dance performances this weekend. 

So I will catch up some how.  It is ok if I am late. 

Let’s see something that bugs me. 

Woman who tickle in public bathrooms and leave a mess for the next person!

Seriously, as women, I figure they would be considerate of others when they are done in public restrooms.  I hate having to use a public bathroom, but even more I hate bringing my daughter or even my grandson in one.  I am sometimes appalled when I see the condition of the toilet seat.  I always always always check the seat before I leave the bathroom.  Which leads to another thing that bugs me. 

Bathrooms that do not have paper towels.  I understand the need to save the enviroment.  But when you have a messy toilet seat and no other seat to use.. it helps to have paper towels to clean such seats with (and sometimes the floor too!)  Toilet paper won’t do in this situation.  When you have a young one that desperately needs to use the potty.. you can’t just leave in search of another bathroom! 

Not to mention the really loud dryers that young children tend to be afraid of.. it is hard enough when I have to hold my hand over the automatic flusher so it won’t send the child screaming and running into the corner of the stall.  Now my child or grandchild has to leave with wet hands because he is terrified of the dryer as well. 

and honestly folks, have you ever actually seen the paper that is supposed to be in the koala care changing tables for your use?  I have never ever seen actual paper.. When traveling with a young child I tend to always bring receiving blankets.. but not with a toddler who needs to be changed. 

So I guess I have issues with public bathrooms.  hmm..

Everything in one place

I have been blogging in two places for awhile now.  My original blog is over at Xanga.  I started this blog way back in 2002.  Anna was just about a year or so.  I even pay for premium there.  The sad thing is you are really limited to what you can do on the website.  A while ago I decided to check out blogger.  I do like it here but don’t want to lose my stuff there. 

One of the down sides of using blogger is my pictures.  You are really limited to how much you can store on the free plan.  I have alot of space over on Xanga, because I pay for it.  The great thing about Xanga is they can send you a backup file of your blogs.  As long as you back it up on your pc, you don’t lose anything.   I have not seen that feature yet here on blogger. 

I know another option is to set up a paid site.  However, I am hesitant when it comes to the work involved and the cost.  Today I plan on looking a bit deeper into my options.  Any suggestions would be great.  I would like to have everything in one area instead of posting in multiple places. 

A terrific Surprise!

As many know, after Angel’s hospitalization we were hit with many bills.  One being the emergency helicopter that was over 22,000.  The first bill came in total saying that they could not get Aetna to pay.  About a month later we received another bill that said Aetna made a payment and we now owed over 9,000.  Still bad but much better than the first.  Unfortunately with the number of bills we received (12!).  I could only make small payments.. So I started with 10.00.  Some bills were smaller so we paid those in full and the rest got 10. 

Yesterday, we grabbed the mail and I found a check for 10.00 and a notice saying we overpaid.  What??  Angel went online to the insurance site and it appears that Aetna paid the entire bill!  Wow!  What a tremendous blessing!  Of course we still have alot more bills but this is a really nice surprise! 

As I mentioned in the last post, I messed up our checking account.  All day I checked the bank and that 15.00 just glared at me.  I am happy to announce we are now ok.  The State Refund came in along with Angel’s pay and we can now breathe.  This is the reason I never like to go under 200.00 in our account.  You just never know what you will need.  Whew. 

Emotional Ramblings..

I have been hiding alot of my feelings lately.  Someone said something this morning because I mentioned that I am hesitant when sharing certain things on my blog.  She said something that is so true.  This is my blog.  The reason I write is to get out my thoughts and feelings.  I can be pretty negative.  It tends to distance me from others, but if I can’t share these thoughts somewhere.. how will it help me? 

So here it goes. 

Tuesday was a long day.  We spent the entire day at the hospital for my husband’s Transplant Evaluation. I handled it pretty well, til yesterday.

See I am an emotional person.  Always have been.  My mom has always told me I over react.  I worry too much. Tuesday night someone told me I complain too much.

I didn’t think much of it.  I brushed it off.. whatever.

Then yesterday morning things just started piling up in my head.

Tuesday, while Angel was eating lunch.  David started to tell me that Anna weirds him out.  She is strange, and unsociable.  I need to let her hang with the other kids.  Angel said he wants her to ride her bike around the neighborhood.  Explore, etc.  David just kept going with how she should be able to go to the park and how she needs to stop being whiny and how it is not good that she still clings to me at times.

They just went on and on.  I remained calm.  I may have allowed David to go to the store alone at her age.. but she is not David.  Anna will go up to anyone and talk to them.  Especially if they have a dog or cat with them.  She will tell me.. oh but mommy.. she was so nice and pretty.  etc.  She seriously doesn’t believe anything bad could happen to her.  This freaks me out and I feel that I need to be extra watchful.  She is also a bit boy crazy!  I let her play outside but I have to be able to see her when I walk to the window.  She is allowed in the cul-de-sac and rides her bike.

So of course my thoughts are .. am I hurting her.  Am I ruining her life.  Is she unsociable.  Should I put her in school so she has other friends.  If I did put her in school, will I lose her like I did David?

I am not putting Anna in school.. I am not giving her that kind of freedom to roam the neighborhood.  There are things I can do.. but my mind still wanders back to being a failure as a parent.

Mom has been sick.  She has been sleeping alot, not up to playing games, says she wants to watch movies but falls asleep, nothing tastes good, etc.  Her printer isn’t working.  She really wants Angel to come fix it.  We are not sure he would even know what is wrong.  The hard thing is the time it takes to go up there and do that.  We brought her home last night however, we could not stay.  So many things happening.  I always end up feeling bad.  I want her to be happy but I can not control things. 

Angel just got word yesterday that he has to have the colonoscopy done this Friday.  He was going to just go alone.  He can’t do that. They are not going to let him leave.  He isn’t supposed to drive.  So David said he will go with him.  Of course that means another day off David doesn’t get.  He has not seen his son all week.. and won’t til next week now.  Not to mention how Anna is going to get to the nursing home Friday night for her dance, if Angel can’t drive.
This makes me think that things would be so much easier if I wasn’t so afraid of driving.  If I was a driver, it would relieve so much pressure.  However, I don’t know how to control the fears and the visions that come over me when I think of even driving.  It literally scares me to death.

It doesn’t help that we are really broke.  Gas is pricey! It is about 80.00 to fill the van.  Taking mom home, driving Anna to her classes and performances and now drive to Hartford again on Friday and next Thursday is taking it’s toll on us.  Last night Angel found out he needed to get 3 different meds to prepare for the colonoscopy.  Then I messed up big time.  David needed minutes on his phone. I completely forgot that they sometimes automatically take it out from my card.  I went ahead and entered the payment knowing that he would pay me tonight.  After the payment went through I noticed they already pulled a payment, (it didn’t show up a second earlier!)  I called immediately and they fixed it.  However the bank will not show it for 3-5 business days.  Ok, no problem right, 30.00 is in the bank.  We have never in our lifetime had just 30 in there.. but ok.  We can do this. 

I woke this morning and immediately checked the bank.  The monthly bank fee went through!  Now we have 15.00!  Am I freaking out?  Totally! Just a bit. 

There are so many things going on in my mind.  There is the worry about Angel even needing a transplant.  I can’t let myself think that far.  It is terrifying to hear what he will go through.  Then there is wondering if he is going to bleed this time like he did after the last endoscopy?

I feel like there is this huge boulder sitting there on my shoulder.  What is worse is I can’t really talk to anyone.  The friends I have are already overwhelmed with the things going on in their lives.  I can’t make things harder for them.  I know that I can be very negative.  I know that I tend to need to vent alot more than the average person.  However, venting does help me move on.  Keeping it all bottled in doesn’t.  Trying to keep my thoughts and emotions contained causes a huge can of worms to open on my end. 

I want to be the listener.  I enjoy being there for others.  I don’t want to be the needy one. Maybe mom is right and I am supposed to just give it to God and go on my merry way.  I try, but it doesn’t work out so well.  

So yesterday I just broke down.  I just went to my room and started bawling.  Usually I feel better.  I did not. 

Wow!  This is long!  Wonder if I scared anyone away. 

Transplant Evaluation

6:10am. We are heading to Hartford Hospital. I have been up since 4am. I hope I remembered everything i needed to. It is odd being out so early in the morning.

7:42  We arrived at 7am. After some confusion about where to t, we are now settled in a room. Three ladies have been here asking the usual questions and now Angel is being set up with an IV. 

8:24  Angel is now having stress tests done. I am in the waiting room. They say it will be about an hour to an hour and a half. Hope they don't forget me. LOL!

10:24 - That was quite a wait. David joined me in the waiting room.  Angel got done with the stress test at 10 and we had to walk quite a distance to get to the GI building. Now he is all prepped for the endoscopy and colonosopy. He mentioned that the stress test was the oddest feeling. He felt like he just ran 2 miles.  Definitely would be odd when you never left the bed.

1:14 - Things got a bit crazy. Angel finally went in for the endoscopy about 11:15.  I met David at the cafeteria. We both grabbed a slice of pizza and shared some wings. We headed back up around 11:50, just in time. He had just woken up. They did not do the colonoscopy because they never gave us the stuff to prepare for it. They did re-band the esophagus.  He will have to have another endoscopy in six weeks along with the colonoscopy.

We made it upstairs for Angel's lunch. I assumed he would be on liquids again bit they gave him a meal. Penned pasta with chicken, carrots, peaches, a slice of bread and apple juice. He ate it all. Although he had to slow down.

He just left around 1 for a chest X-ray and MRI. We are staying in the room this time. This will be awhile.
3:45 - Angel came back from MRI. His pulmonary function test isn't til 3:30 but the managed to get him in earlier he just left about ten min ago. They say this will take 45 min.

We are finally heading home. We stopped to eat before heading out.  The only information we got was he will have to go back for the colonoscopy.  They have to check for polyps.  If he has any, they need to be removed before transplant surgery because the medications he will be on after transplant can make the polyps cancerous.  It appears he is now on the transplant list.