It's almost 4am...

...and I'm going to regret this in the morning. I'm currently up way past my bedtime in solidarity with John, who is writing a school paper. Right now I'm blinded by idiotic love for my husband and him succeeding in school (and not falling asleep with his face on the computer keyboard), but come 7am when I'm prodded awake by the pointy ends of the transformer toy my three year-old insisted on taking to bed, I will regret this and I will probably curse a lot of things. Luckily I'm not a voodoo witch and I'm fairly certain I'm not a gypsy, so I won't have to worry about them having any sort of effect on anything. The only fear will be my son repeating said curses later on...at an inappropriate time/place. 

I kid. 

Mostly.


While I'm super excited to jump back into the blogging (hooray!), it is going to take some adjustment to fit blogging into my daily schedule again. So the next couple of weeks will be a challenge to remind myself to blog on a regular basis. The photo storage thing is still at the very top of my to-do list. I don't even know why I bother even putting it at the top of my to-do list, since I automatically skip over that and the other top ten things I need to do.  I always end up doing the things near the bottom of the list that don't require much physical, mental, or emotional strain.  Maybe that's the trick: put the photo storage issue with the blog at the very bottom of the list. Which in turn tricks my mind into thinking it isn't a huge hassle or this huge looming to-do item. I'll be more likely to get it done that way.  Amazing how our minds are more willing to procrastinate on those things that are most urgent, and be super productive on the mundane tasks that generally don't matter in the large scheme of life.  Whatever. I'm almost twenty-four; there's no way I'm changing my ways now. :) 

So what have I been doing the past couple of days? Chasing a three year-old, getting bossed around by a three year-old, cuddling with a three year-old, entertaining said three year-old, changing pull ups (because the stubborn kid - who obviously takes after his father - refuses to be potty trained) for the three year old, trying to stay warm, trying to learn how to use my camera, researching semi-important things online, cleaning, cooking, sitting on entirely too many things without realizing it (because my butt is numb from my back issues), making DIY headboards (made from canvas and fabric - tutorial to come soon), finishing up a book for my online book club (which reminds me that I need to post more discussion questions...I'm just on a roll with that to-do list, I tell you), lending support (and at times, a stern command) to John in regards to his schoolwork, having a good friend drop off a frozen lasagna/flowers/and get well card to me (it was really sweet :); the funny thing is that she had surgery a few weeks ago and I brought her frozen casseroles I made, so we're just walking messes exchanging frozen meals to each other so we don't have to worry about cooking on top of healing), among other things.  

Oh yeah, and dealing with a huge insurance/doctor/referral/specialist/appointment fiasco.  I'm none too thrilled at this point. The health care system here in Denver is horrid. Independent private doctors everywhere and hardly any of them interconnected and insurance companies only covering certain ones. Patients having to wait weeks to see doctors, jump through hoops for referrals, getting lied to by receptionists or insurance companies, and a whole bunch of hassle.  I miss the stream-lined health care system back home in WA. So much easier on the patient. I also miss our family doctor back home. :(  So anyway, I was supposed to have an appointment today - er, yesterday (Wednesday) - so we called our insurance company on Tuesday to make sure we did everything correct (per their own website) in getting a referral to see a spine specialist. We wanted to make sure we wouldn't be charged unnecessarily or held liable for the costs of our visit.  I'm sure it isn't cheap to meet with a spine surgeon.  So, we called to make sure that what they said on their website was accurate. We've had problems in the past, so it just seemed like a good idea. Sure enough, it wasn't what they wanted.  They're a bunch of douches if you ask me. (Grandmas - excuse the language.) 

So we call the doctor that I had been going to before the ER visit to get a referral sent to the spine specialist, even though the ER doctor who saw me for the bulging disc already referred me to a spine specialist (of course, we had to find a different spine specialist since the one he referred wasn't covered by our insurance).  Our doctor calls to send a referral and finds out that they don't take our insurance, even though I specifically asked them when I called to make the appointment.  They said, "Of course!" Idiots. The very same call where the earliest they could see me was over a week later. It's been a week and a half since I was in the ER. I was told to see a spine specialist immediately. So, because the receptionist I talked to blatantly lied or was a blatant idiot, I had to be referred to a new specialist by my doctor. This is the third spine specialist I've been referred to since the ER visit.  The ER visit where I was told this was a critical issue to get checked out since I'm numb and have shooting nerve pain. Lovely. 

So we call the new specialist's office and the receptionist isn't there, so we leave a message. Then wait. And wait. And wait. And wait some more. We call back and get the machine again. So we wait some more. And some more. And some more. Until I'm about ready to storm my insurance company and tell them they are idiots and I'm tired of dealing with all of their damn hoops. Then we get a call back. Finally. Schedule an appointment for this coming Monday. Sooner than the other office was able to "squeeze us in", but still five days past when my appointment was supposed to be yesterday. Which means I get to wait over two weeks since my ER visit to see a damn spine specialist, even though it was deemed critical enough to go to the ER and to need to see a spine surgeon.  It isn't like my pain and numbness will be solved at the appointment either; I just need to meet with them so they can tell me what I need to do next to treat it. Since the steroids obviously didn't work, and I can't walk around with a bulging disc pushing on two major nerves and causing nerve pain and nerve numbness. No bueno. 

All of this hassle just because the health care system, the network of doctors, the insurance company and their bureaucratic -implemented ridiculous policies have made seeing a doctor nearly impossible. This is one unhappy patient. 

Then on top of that, our neighbor who lives underneath us (we live in an apartment), stuffed a letter through our door yesterday.  It was barely readable as it was obvious the person doesn't speak English as their primary language and was using an online translator to help them write it. I don't care if they speak English or not, but it makes trying to communicate with each other extremely difficult. The gist of it was that they are a student who is home all day and night studying, and the noise from our apartment above them is bothering their studies and their focus.  And they'd like us to stop making noise.  They shoved a dum dum sucker into our door crack too; I guess as some sort of peace offering for their ridiculous letter?  Just what I needed. I kindly wrote them a letter back stating:

*we already exert more than a reasonable effort in trying to be respectful of the noise we make
*we have a three year-old who we scold when he runs or stomps, but will be allowed to play in his own home during the daytime (we are allowed to live normal lives)
*that said three year-old that is bothering them so much is in bed by 9pm almost every night, so his/her claims of us or him stomping around in the middle of the night (I hardly call walking, "stomping") is unfounded
*we make sure to have all noisy appliances like washer/dryer, dishwasher, and vacuums off by 10pm (which is the time laid out in our lease)
*we keep our TV low at night
*my husband works until late, so we are going to be awake late sometimes, and I'm a stay-at-home mom, so I'm going to be home during the day
*it is apartment living and the very nature of it means you have to put up with neighbors who are frustrating (I pointed out that people smoke out on their balconies when they aren't supposed to and it wafts up and in through our windows, which gives John migraines and Johnny gets exposed to secondhand smoke; I suspect this lovely neighbor is one of the smokers; I also pointed out people out in the apartment pool at 3am when it closes at 11pm yelling and hollering and drinking; people slamming doors and blasting music; people parking where they aren't supposed to; etc.)
*we don't do any unnecessary noisy things beyond normal living in our apartment. We aren't banging things on the floor or blasting music or running laps or anything. We're walking, having a three year-old play, doing daily chores, accidentally dropping things occasionally, etc. We are certainly on the mild end of the spectrum when it comes to neighbors. Especially at night.
*we live in an apartment - what the heck did you expect? They make the walls and ceilings thin. I can't control that. 
*I kindly pointed out that he/she could try ear plugs or music when they were trying to study/focus, and if that failed, they could try and transfer to a third floor apartment, if one is available. 


I was respectful throughout the entire letter, but I made it clear that we weren't violating any terms of the lease, we weren't doing anything unnecessarily loud, and his/her "favor" is basically impossible.  We aren't going to not function normally because they need to have absolute quiet during the day. They should have requested a third floor apartment to begin with. My only fear is that they don't speak much English, so my entire note is going to go to waste, because they won't understand it. So I'll most likely be getting a neighbor eventually storming my door in the middle of the day demanding that we stop walking in our own apartment or they'll complain to the management. In wich case, we kept their letter and we have a copy of our letter (dated) that shows we addressed the situation in a respectful manner and that we haven't done anything wrong and there isn't much else we can do to lessen the noise except move out. Which we can't do, since we have a lease. Honestly, I've had it up to here with apartment living. *sigh*


That's what I've been dealing with the past couple of days. Oh yeah, and getting our tax stuff together to send to my grandma, who will be doing our taxes for free (she's awesome :)). I'm praying the next few days are uneventful. I need a vacation. 

*Update: We also made some really delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies Tuesday night. So the last couple of days haven't been all bad. :)  We used this recipe because we ran out of eggs, happened to have non-fat plain yogurt (we like to make healthy smoothies), and there was no way we were running to the store in this ridiculously cold weather.  There wasn't an option to not make any cookies either, because I needed chocolate, and I was going to get it. Here is the link to the recipe, if you're interested:

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/yogurt-chocolate-chip-cookies/Detail.aspx