The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

That pretty much sums up my day. It started off pretty good - really good, in fact, for the first 6 hours or so. My department had a volunteer day down at the Empty Stocking Fund. We helped in all aspects, but I spent the entire shift (about 9-2) pushing shopping carts through their warehouse, picking the gifts that the people had selected for their children. By the time 2:00 rolled around, my legs were exhausted! But it was a nice way to spend the day, helping those less fortunate. Afterwards we all headed down the road to Fellini's for pizza & beer - on the company! Nice! But then this is where it went downhill. I had carpooled with my boss, and we left around 2:40 because I had a doctor's appointment. My appointment was at 3:50, and I arrived there at 3:45. The waiting room was full, but I wasn't worried - I had an appointment in 5 minutes. So I waited. And I waited. And I waited some more. More people arrived. People were called back. Next thing I knew, I was the only one still sitting there, and it had been 45 minutes. I asked the nurse how much longer, and got the standard "They have your chart - it should be soon." Ugh! I did not get called back to a room until 5:05, and the doctor did not come in until 5:10 - a full hour & 20 minutes after my appointment!

Then there was the mail - 2 letters from my insurance company about some medications that are commonly used in our house that are no longer going to be covered next year. One is for me - I take it every day. I won't go into details, but you can probably figure it out. It stinks to have to change to something new just because the insurance company decided they don't want to pay for it anymore (despite the fact that they have been paying for it for about 8 years now). The other one was for Liam. He's not on anything regularly, but I guess they sent this because he's had it more than anything else. It is a particular type of antibiotic. Yes, I'm aware there are lots of different types, but since he is allergic to penicillin, that rules out any of those types. There is another "family" of antibiotics that are just not very effective. Then there's Suprax, which has been very effective for him. But they won't pay for it anymore. Not sure what we are supposed to do next time he gets an ear infection or something. So I will be calling them tomorrow to see what exactly is the deal.

THEN...I got home, and Josh is flagging me down to stop before pulling into the garage. The other day I thought I saw something moving in there, but figured it was just a figment of my imagination. Turns out, I'm not crazy (well, at least not because of this, anyway). As he arrived home today, he saw a rat (yes, a RAT!) scurry across the threshold of the garage and back towards the house. Lovely! He went back out while I cooked dinner - took a shovel & was hoping to flush it out, or, worse. He thought he had found where the rat had gone, but it didn't seem to want to come out of its spot. So Josh has run out to Homey D for some rat traps. I draw the line at rats in the house.

Frustrating day, to say the least. But I have to keep thinking about this morning, and all those people we helped, who probably have it way worse than waiting for an hour to see the doctor, or being inconvenienced over relatively minor issues. And then I think about Zachary & Liam, and how funny they are. Yesterday we were in the car, and Josh likes to listen to sports talk radio. There is one guy he really likes (he's from Philly), and he was basically sticking up for crybaby Tebow, saying how it was an emotional game & crying was OK (whatever!). Zachary said, "Can everyone PLEASE stop talking about Tebow?? I am SO sick of the Florida Gators!" Then there is Liam, who has apparently become quite the little helper in his class. Not only does he know everyone's jackets & sippy cups, but he helps out at diaper change times. He apparently goes around to each child, peeking in the back of their pants to check for poopie diapers (or, "tinky diaper", as he calls it). And the ones who have on overalls or something where you can't peek, he will do a sniff test. It makes me laugh to think about him helping his teachers out. Things like this put a frustrating day in perspective. And make me glad that after 4 more work days, I will be on vacation for 2 weeks.