Category Archives: Daily Life

The Winners in the SCOTUS Decision on “Obamacare”

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I should probably mention that the Obama administration *likes* it being called “Obamacare” because it shows that they do care.

So… I thought I’d post a picture of the winners of the Supreme Court decision.

We win!

Wait… isn’t that — yes, that’s Jon and I with Daniel 3 years ago. Obama had only been in office for 2 1/2 months when Daniel was born prematurely. His NICU bill alone was $254K and with all the x-rays and specialists, the bills were close to $300K. Last year’s hospital stay in March totaled more than $500K when all was said and done. The provisions of the Affordable Care Act keep there from being limits on lifetime medical coverage (which I’m pretty sure we could hit easily with Daniel) as well as there being laws prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage to kids with pre-existing conditions which is actually in place in California today. This means that my little medical mystery child will always be covered. (Medicaid is also a lovely thing as they’ve paid the majority of what insurance hasn’t covered.)

I didn’t ask for all the pre-existing condition designations placed on me after having HELLP Syndrome with Daniel and I didn’t ask for Daniel to have to be delivered prematurely at 29 weeks. God willing, insurance companies will not be able to deny me coverage based on pre-existing conditions come 2014. I am thankful, however, that the provisions in place now cover Daniel and I’m thankful to every representative and senator who voted it through.

The Simple Woman’s Daybook: June 25, 2012

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Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY June 25, 2012

Outside my window… sunset. No idea how warm it was today — I wasn’t really outside for much of it.

I am thankful… for Sara’s package.

In the kitchen… dishes, dishes, and more dishes.

I am wearing… charcoal shirt and black sweats.

I am creating… assorted things.

I am going… to the store for apple juice. (Back now.)

I am wondering… why some people think that someone signalling a lane change with a turn signal is a cue to speed up and keep them from doing so safely.

I am reading… Sugarplum Dead by Carolyn Hart.

I am hoping… this week goes smoothly with Jon gone.

I am looking forward to… Bible study on Thursday.

Around the house… dishes to do from Saturday’s dinner party. My kingdom for a dishwasher!

I am pondering… way too many things internally.

One of my favorite things… snuggling with Daniel after his bath.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Breakfast Bunch on Wednesday and Bible study on Thursday.

Hosted by The Simple Woman’s Daybook

I Might Be A Geek…

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I was surfing the Quick Takes on ConversionDiary.Com and one set from Angie of Many Little Blessings mentions the question of whether the city of Constantinople is still called “Constantinople”.

The first thing in my head was…

(wait for it)

OMG THE “THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS” SONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I frantically searched through my iTunes and discovered that it had gotten deleted somehow so I *IMMEDIATELY* went to iTunes and downloaded it. Then I proceeded to sing along with it TWICE while swing-dancing with Finian (my excessively fluffy cat who did NOT approve of this foolishness) and then with Daniel (who enjoyed it immensely). We had to pause “Winnie the Pooh” for all this.

(And yes, Finian is irritated and not speaking to me at the moment. He also still hasn’t forgiven me for the “Zoot Suit Riot” Incident of 2003.)

**UPDATE** I realized there are people who might not have *gasp* heard of either song. So….

7 Quick Takes: Travel Memories, Prayer Requests, and a Trivia Question

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7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Daniel starts back to school tomorrow. It’s not the regular school year — it’s summer school (an hour shorter each day) and goes for a month but it will be a good thing. Daniel needs structure and consistency and it’s a bit hard to get that when he’s home with me. I do my best to replicate his schedule at school (and to keep his naps consistent) but it’s better to have him with teachers who know what they’re doing. During the summer, they have water days on Fridays so we’re supposed to send a swimsuit and swim diapers to school with him. Daniel should enjoy that.

— 2 —

My trip down to southern California last week was awesome. The flights were mostly good — Daniel learned how to take off his seat belt on the way back so I had to hold it on and howled about that — but he slept most of the flight home. My father-in-law was ecstatic to have us down there and he spent as much time as he could with Daniel. We’ll back down in two months and I’m going to try and have us go down on long weekends if at all possible during the school year even if it’s just Daniel and I.

— 3 —

Brett’s Blogathon will be on July 27th starting at 7 a.m. I’m trying to come up with ideas like having a spare change challenge and all this will be announced on the Blogging for Brett site.

— 4 —

The [insert expletive] heat has started. It was 105 on Saturday when I flew in from Ontario and 102 the next day. On Wednesday (the first day of summer), it was 97. I’m thankful that it’s cooling down for the moment. I *need* to do some walking and it’s hard to do when it’s eleventy billion degrees outside.

— 5 —

After my grumpy post on Tuesday, I should probably enumerate some *good* things that happened on Tuesday. Les Schwab fixed my tire for free because it was my first time there. (We had been at the park while the tire was changed.) The woman at Michael’s gave me a really cool bag left over from their giveaway for me to use for the yarn I bought. (The recipient of the yarn product reads this blog so this is all I can currently say…)

— 6 —

I have a prayer request for y’all. My college friend Brian just had back surgery and is in a world of pain. This is the guy who carried me like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder to the health center whenever I’d sprain my ankle, forced food down my throat when I was too depressed to eat, and who is my incredibly wonderful surrogate big brother. Please pray for healing for him.

— 7 —

I have a trivia question for you. Where are the pictures used in my profiles taken? Here are the three I use:

A statue of Our Lady
Sunflowers
The ruins of the original church.

First person to answer correctly and tell me why this place is famous gets bragging rights. You may not guess if you are married to me or are related by blood or marriage. Combing my Facebook albums is also prohibited.

OK… Hevel got it right. It’s Mission San Juan Capistrano and it is the only mission in Orange County. There is one more trivia fact about why it is famous. Who can tell me? In an email, he got the return of the swallows. Thanks for playing everybody!

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at ConversionDiary.Com.

PMS-y Tuesday

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To the [insert racial or socio-economic slur] mothers at the playground today:
I know… it was hysterically funny when my three year old son did a flip off the swings today and ended up crying in the sand. It must have been really hard to sit there apathetically and watch me comforting him and trying to brush the sand off of him without getting up to see if he was OK or to offer me help. I mean, God forbid you actually have to get off your collective butts and ask if we’re OK or offer us some wet wipes so I can clean off Daniel’s face. I’ll tell you what: next time your kid has a fall at the playground, I’ll sit and laugh at them. Will that make us even?
Snuggles,
The mom who was a 15 minute walk away from her diaper bag.

To the people who decided to park in the library parking lot:
The sign says “Library Parking Only” in multiple languages. The library doesn’t open until noon. Thus, it follows that your car should not be in the parking lot until noon. Yet, the parking lot was full at 10 a.m. How about I get a nice petition drive together to have any cars ticketed that are parked in the lot before 11:55? That surely would raise enough money for the local schools to provide for transportation for all the students and give jobs back to all the teachers that were pink-slipped. I have a great idea: stop being lazy bums and park legally.
Hugs and kisses,
The library patron with joint swelling who had a 5 minute wait for a parking space.