This and that...

Since there's nothing going on right now that warrants its own post, I decided to just do a mish-mash update. Mish-mash perfectly describes life right now. :)

• Julianna and Jacob finished their swimming lessons. They both did great. Julianna was in Level 3, although I think she really could have passed Level 3 last year. She passed this year and is now in Level 4...the level Jacob's in. Jacob did a great job too, but there's much to learn in Level 4 (they learn ever stroke, including butterfly) and 8 days of lessons just isn't enough to learn it in. So, Julianna's in Level 4 and he's in Level 4 and more than a bit mortified. Typically we only do one session of swim lessons a year, so I won't have to deal too much with the drama of that situation until next year.
• We finally ran out of all the sample medications the allergy/asthma specialist gave us and it's time to buy Jacob's meds on our own. The doctor was wonderful when prescribing and completely understood our budget limitations. Instead of the pricey ($100 +) Singulair, we're trying Zyrtec; instead of the $100+ Flovent Discus, he was excited to share with us a prescription discount card for Alvesco. Right on the card it proclaims in large letters that it will reduce your copay to $0. Perfect right? The Flovent would have been very difficult to fit into our budget, I knew $0 might be too good to be true, but the doctor and I both assumed it would be a very affordable medication. See where this is going? Yeah, not so much. We spend two and a half hours at the pharmacy trying to get his medication straightened out. Two and a half hours. That's almost child abuse people. I called before we left to be sure the medication would be ready. Oh yes, I was assured, no problem, and it wasn't, it was ready. The prescription card wouldn't work. Okay, 15 minutes of phone calls later it worked. Oops, the copay was $70.00. Definitely not thrilled with that, but it was loads better than the Flovent so we'll be going...oh wait, this is 15 days. Fifteen days worth is not going to do it, we need 30 or the cost will be really crazy. Well, the pharmacy couldn't give us 30 days without consulting the doctor and it was time for the pharmacy to close for lunch. That's all right, we did some quick shopping and were first in line when the pharmacy opened after lunch thirty minutes later. The pharmacist came up to me and said, "you're not going to believe this." She was right. For 30 days, the copay, with the generous discount card (not), was $207.00. OUCH! Also, not really doable. With Mark's prescriptions, mine, etc., I had no idea where that money would come from. The pharmacist offered to research some alternatives and call the doctor. LONG, oh so long story short, Jacob's back on Discus, and a $100 monthly drug doesn't seem as horrible as it did a month ago. I still can't believe the whole thing took two and a half hours, and I'm not thrilled with the cost, hopefully we'll be able to wean him off the medication eventually. If you have good insurance, be very, very grateful. Our $6000.00 per person deductible, that is our work provided insurance we pay dearly for, sucks. Sorry. I don't like that word, but sometimes it's the perfect word to describe a situation.
• Julianna was very, very sick this weekend. Very sick. Some kind of horrible vomiting virus from hell that fortunately, and knock, knock, knocking on wood, no one else caught. Seriously, she was so ill she passed out Monday morning. I'm very thankful she's mostly all better now, all the vomiting has left her with a horrible sore throat, hopefully that will pass in the next day or two. Not fun, that's for sure.
  
• Jason and Lori are getting closer and closer to moving. I'm going to watch Matt & Lily for them for several days next week so they can pack up more of the house. They'll be moving in the next week or two and I'm very excited to have them close. Lately I feel like I'm questioning many, many of the decisions we've made in our lives, sometimes I wonder if we did the right thing in choosing to have me be home all these many years when I see how precarious our financial picture is. When things are really bad, I try to look at our amazing relationship with Jason and it does make me feel like we did the right thing. I truly don't think he would be the same person or that we would have the same family if I'd been working outside the home all these years.
• I'm still trying desperately to find another child or two to watch in the fall. It's starting to panic me, honestly. I'm putting up fliers, I've tried online sites, I've posted on Facebook. I just can't seem to find anything. Our financial situation changes a lot this month, permanently, and very negatively, and I'm getting worried. Very. If you have any ideas on how to connect, I'd love to hear them. The only people who are responding are not willing to pay the price I charge, some want to pay as much as half of what I charge. I just can't bring myself to lower my price. I provide a quality situation and I deserve to be paid accordingly. Still, college bills are coming and I'd feel a whole lot better if I could find something.
• Photography. *sigh* I've given up on my 365 project. As you know I was taking a photography class and enjoying it very, very much. I enjoyed the actual class, I enjoyed what I was learning; I enjoyed that feeling of doing something just for me, much to my surprise. Unfortunately, the night of my last class Julianna got very sick. Mark had taken her to the pool and she had a big problem there, then they were leaving the pool and she threw up twice. She was crying and upset (obviously), and Mark called me. I had to leave my last class, which I completely understood, it's just what you do as a Mommy, but it was a wee bit frustrating that as soon as I got her showered and cleaned up she was fine. Anyway, missing my class seems to have taken all the wind out of my sails. I got tired of just taking a picture of something, anything, because I realized all of a sudden I didn't have one yet for the day. I'm looking forward to having some time to develop to putting into practice what I learned in the classes I was able to attend, but for now, 365 just wasn't working.
  
• Lastly, I'm trying to figure out what to do this weekend. We want to do something fun, something special. For the first time in a very, very long time we're not going on vacation and it's leaving me wanting to do as much as we can with special weekends. What are you doing this weekend? Any tips on inexpensive but fun places to see and things to do? Preferably within 2-3 hours of Columbus?

Whatever you do, I hope you get to spend it with family. I hope it's relaxing and rewarding and that you have a wonderful time.