Sixteen

Happy Sweet Sixteen to my baby boy! I can hardly believe that he is sixteen already, man how time flies....

Maybe...

Peace and serenity. I feel it coming, hopefully soon. Thanks for all of your for being here for me!

This too shall pass...

I don't think that I have ever described in full detail what life is like being the mother of a bipolar child. I'm not even sure I know how to describe it to be quite honest with you. I can tell you that it is gut-wrenchingly hard, it breaks my heart and it destroys my soul during the bad times. During the good times there is no love better than the love of your child. I wish I knew the secret. I wish I knew the answer. I wish I had the cure. I wish that the fog that has been hovering for so long could be lifted. I wish I had the sweet, loving little boy of years past back in my fold. I wish I could hold him in my arms and instead of promising that everything will be alright, that I could make it alright. But I can't. And I never will have that power. I just have to try and make it to the end of the latest fog and pray that it does clear. I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I just have to hold my head high. I just have to continue to pray to the higher being. I just have to keep believing that HE will answer my prayers. And on days like today, it's okay if I lose my ability to do all of these things and lay in my bed in the fetal position and cry my heart out and grieve for that little boy that I miss so much. And hope and pray, that this too shall pass. Even though the feeling to scream and get mad at HIM for placing this burden on me and my son is overwhelming. This too shall pass... Please God let it pass.

just when you think you've seen it all...

I'm all for equal rights among the genders. I think women can do anything a man can do, and of course be paid the same for any job. But I guess I've been guilty of reverse discrimination when it comes to men doing the same things women do...

Tonight at the high school football game, on the other team there was ONE male cheerleader. Okay, not too out of the norm, have seen this before, especially on the college level. But then there was ONE boy on the drill team. You know the high kicking, dance group that performs at half time? A little strange, but probably the best high kicker on the squad, but when they ended the routine with the entire line going down into the splits? Weird and painful to watch. Still yet, they had ONE male on the flag corp with the band. You know the girls kind of like the old day baton twirlers but they now do routines with flags and such, throwing them in the air and catching them? Now that was definitely weird, and goes into the things I never thought I'd see category.

Most impressive were his fellow flag throwers, all female, wearing their sparkly HALTER tops, all wearing bras. With their bra straps showing! With halter tops! I guess they don't sell strapless bras in that town? My favorite though was the variety of colors of the bra straps, from the traditional white and clear straight to the black ones and a pink one and to top it off a purple one!

Just when you think you've seen it all...

It's Here!

It's Here! It's Here! It's Here!

Season Premiere of THE BIGGESST LOSER starts TONIGHT!

Happy Dance, Happy Dance, Happy Dance.

Even though this day sucked....

Shhh... I have a secret

I'm pretty certain that most of you are aware that I can easily be classified as a strange bird. I know, it's true, and it won't hurt my feelings if you admit it...

Many, many years ago when I was a wee child, my mother got me addicted to, uh, well, um, soap operas. A little embarrassing to admit but yes, no matter how professional I may appear in the workforce, nor how sophisticated and divaish I appear in social situations, in the privacy of my bedroom, in the safety of my home - I am addicted to soap operas.

Not so addicted that I have to watch them every single day of my life, but addicted enough to record them every day and read the synopsis of the episode before deleting it. I'm also addicted enough to read the weekly update in the newspaper and if nobody I know is around to see, I might pick up the Soap Update at the grocery store checkout and sneak it into my purchases. How sad is that?

I have such fond memories of watching soap operas with my mom. There was nothing more special than having a sick day from school and being able to lay on the couch with my sprite and crackers, snuggled up with a blanket and pillow sharing the daily soaps with my mom. It was a bonding experience like no other. Summer vacation days were scheduled around the daily soap schedule so I could catch up on everything I missed during the school year. My senior year of high school when we were allowed to leave campus for lunch was spent at my bff's house drinking sweet tea, smoking cigs and watching our favorite soap before hustling back to the real world of school.

The greatest thing about soap operas is that you really don't have to watch it every single day to 'know' what's going on. Occasionally some new character might show up that you're not quite sure where they came from, but all I had to do was call my mom and she'd fill me in and instantly I was caught up.

Everyone has their own 'favorite' soap opera and there are a few people in the world besides my mom that I share this secret obsession with so it's always fun when I get to talk about my soaps with another human being instead of keeping my addiction inside the closet. Since I'm spilling my guts now, my favorites have always been (in no particular order and always varying in ranking) The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, As the World Turns and Guiding Light.

Back in June I heard that they were planning on taking the Guiding Light off the air after some 50 or so years of production. I was stunned! This was the one soap that my mom and I shared a passion for. Still to this day I can go to my mom's house and we can watch a recorded episode and talk for hours about the lives of our favorite characters. How sick is that? Still I found it sad that I was going to be losing this part of my history.

I never have time to watch my soaps much anymore and even though I record them daily, I usually erase them at the end of the week after reading the highlights. Since June I have been keeping all of the episodes of the Guiding Light because I thought one day I might like to go back and watch them so I could see how it all came to an end. Last week we were having some cable issues and when the tech dude came out he told me that the box was going out and we needed a new one and unfortunately I was going to lose everything that we had recorded to the DVR. I almost died! But none the less, I soon got over it but vowed to start watching my Guiding Light episodes just in case something else happened and I lost them too.

Friday afternoon, after an extremely long and tiring week, instead of going to get my nails done or a pedicure, which I desperately needed. Instead of taking a long afternoon nap, which I desperately was coveting. I sat down and watched a week and a half worth of Guiding Light episodes. As I sat on my couch for 5 solid hours, I cried and I cried and I cried. I then called my mom and cried with her about all the story lines and how I could 'feel' them coming to an end. I know that sounds really hokey and probably a little psychotic, but the Spauldings and the Lewis' and the Coopers and all the other great characters that I had grown up with had become not only my friends but my family.

I hardly know what the world will be like without Josh and Reva, Philip and Beth, the Bauers and all the other great characters on this show. It's like a death in the family and even though this show has gotten pretty hokey in the last couple of years, okay it's always been hokey, I will miss it and I will miss all of them. Farewell Guiding Light family, thanks for being part of my like for the past 46 years!

And shhh... all of you need to keep my secret!

WTF is up with that?

Just when you thought you finally figured me out and you thought I was going to get on my soapbox this evening and nag about health care reform and the Prez' speech tonight, (didn't you?) I throw a curve ball and today I'm just going to be totally random... wtf is up with that?

I would like to send out (and request please) some thoughts and prayers for my niece. She left today for a tour of duty in Iraq. Not only does this make me extremely sad, but I am frightened for her. I know she will be okay, I know that she will be fine. I know that she knows I love her because I made sure to tell her at least a million times in the past month, mostly in the last week, at least half of those last night. And this morning. Okay will stop that now because the tears are flowing... wtf is up with that?

I have two birthday boy's this month, C1 turns 26 and C3 turns 16. What to do, what to do? I don't have a clue what I am supposed to do or what I am supposed to get either one of them. Maybe I'm birthday'd out? wtf is up with that?

C1 and M are planning on cohabiting beginning the first of the month. I'm not sure if I'm getting old or menopause has taken over my soul but I really don't have any feelings about this, one way or the other. Hell I don't even care if my Mom finds out, wtf is up with that?

One of my stupid cats in currently in my room and won't leave. I don't like animals in my bedroom. Each time she comes out from under the bed and C3 or I try to pick her up and take her out to the garage (her official home), she swats at us and runs back under the bed. I probably wouldn't care so much except she won't quit meowing, wtf is up with that?

I am watching a double header recording of the Duggars' 18 and counting. I honestly think these people are strange, having that many children is just not normal, wtf is up with that?

I went to the doctor today because of some recent stomach issues. Maybe this is TMI but I'm on Day 12 of stomach rot and explosion. Serious explosion issues. Since I refused to join in the festivities of specimen collection, we are going on the assumption that perhaps I have a parasite or intestinal infection and I'm on medication. Anyhoo, I've been a little testy since I fully expected to have lost a gazillion pounds due to the issues, yet my scale at home shows that I have not lost any weight, at all, not one friggin OUNCE, in the past two weeks. Every day same weight, no matter how I stand on that scale. But today at the doc's office, their scale showed I had lost almost 10 pounds since my last visit... wtf is up with that?

Even though I have rotting gut, I really needed a chocolate fix so I just ate a Dove dark chocolate. Yes it tasted really good and yes my stomach is not pleased with me. My message for today - "Start a good habit today" - wtf is up with that?

Can we do this three day weekend every week?

I really could get used to having a three day weekend every week, well only if Hubby only got a two day weekend...

Saturday, with no direct intention, I stayed in my pajamas ALL.DAY.LONG. It was heaven! Actually didn't even realize I was in my pajamas until Hubby came home from work at 2:30 and caught me playing Wii, in my pajamas! Slept in until about 9:00, sat on the deck and read the newspaper and drank a pot of coffee, C3 challenged me to a Wii bowling/golf tournament (I won), he got pissy and went to sulk, so I kept playing and Hubby showed up. Oops. Then I decided that since I was still in my pajamas, what would be better than a nap? Woke up around 6 pm and sent Hubby out to rustle up some dinner. What a wonderful day!

Sunday got up around 8:00, read the paper on the deck and drank a pot of coffee, went to church, came home and took a short nap. C3 decided that he wanted to go to the zoo, so off we went! We hadn't been to the zoo since he was really small, probably before he started school! They have done tons of work at the zoo and it was actually a really good time and of course we forgot the camera!

Today, I had to play catch up for my two lazy days and did a week's worth of laundry and went to the grocery store, made fried chicken for dinner and took a long walk with Hubby to work that off. Now I'm just relaxing and looking forward to a short work week. Well not really looking forward to work, but at least I'm relaxed enough to handle it!

Hope your weekend was great too!

Dead Creatures and Varmints

Back in the day raising three boys it took a LOT to freak me out and get the heebie jeebies. For some reason the older I get the easier it is to freak me out.

Things that freak me out to the point of dry heaves and possibly hurling:

1. Rodents and varmints, including but not limited to mice, rats, chipmunks, squirrels, opossums, raccoons
2. Flying bugs, including but not limited to flies, mosquitos, bees, wasps, dragon flies
3. Blood, including but not limited to fresh blood but pictures of blood
4. Open wounds, including but not limited to bloody open wounds
5. Smells, including but not limited to body odor, dog crap, dead animals

Monday when I came home from work there was a 'smell' as soon as I came in the house. My first thought was now that C3 is back in school the trash does not get taken out on a daily basis and that was were the stench was coming from. Empty the trash, sprayed the trash can down with Lysol, lit some candles and went on with my business.

Tuesday when I came home from work there was a more potent 'smell', actually it smelled kind of like someone had just cooked Brussels sprouts. My first thought was that since I am have been severely slacking on the cooking and shopping department that there must be some rotting food in the fridge. There was, so I cleaned that out and scrubbed it down and took the trash out, lit some candles, sprayed some Lysol and went on with my business.

Today when I got home from work there was a 'stench' a very indescribable stench. Hubby had already lit all the candles and sprayed the Lysol but it had not made a dent in the stench. My first through was that the toilets had overrun and possibly backed up into the tub. Hubby's first thought was that the line in the kitchen was backed up. I checked that and it was clear, toilets were fine, nothing in the tub and Hubby said it smelled like really strong mildew or mold. His thought was to check the laundry room to see if the washer had been leaking, which it had not. I do not know why,maybe a calling from God, but for some reason I was compelled to open the closet that hosts the air conditioner and heater unit.

It didn't take me long, kind of like a split nano second, to slam the door while excreting a blood curdling scream that would not stop nor be controlled as I ran around the house alternating screeching and screaming, violently shaking and only stopping for the dry heaves. My reaction freaked Hubby out so bad that he was afraid to open the door and all he kept doing was chasing me around the house, shouting "What, WHAT, WTF is WRONG WITH YOU?"

It took several long minutes, but between the drive heaves, I managed to blurt out "Dead, Dead, Dead!" This only freaked Hubby out more and from my reaction he was thinking I saw a decapitated head or something and was too scared to look in the closet. When I finally made it outside to the back yard and I finally stopped dry heaving and hyperventilating by placing my head between my knees, I screeched "DEAD OPOSSUM IN THE CLOSET!"

Hubby thinking that by my reaction that it must be a big ass frickin opossum, geared himself up like he was going into a nuclear reactor plant and headed to the closet. I can't actually tell you what happened from that point until he came back outside to tell me he took care of it because I was busy doing the labor breathing outside in order to not hurl all over the deck, but his explanation that it was a 'tiny, baby opossum' that must have crawled through a crack into the attack and fell to his death from the vent in that closet, didn't ease the hurling reflex, nope they got worse. Bad enough that we had to leave the house for a couple of hours until I was brave enough to come home.

Even as I sit here typing this, the hurl reflex is in full force. What if I fall asleep and some crazy ass Momma Opossum decides to find her way into my house and kill me in my sleep for allowing her baby to die? I may never be able to sleep again. I know I will never be able to eat again, the hurl thing is to strong. AND I will NEVER in my life open that closet door again, E.V.E.R!

Conversations with Da boys

C1...

Phone Message from C1 - "Mom, I need you to call me as soon as you can, I really need to talk to you about something serious."

My initial thought:

 

Reluctantly I call him back....

Me:  "What's wrong?"

C1:  "I really need to talk to you about something serious."

Me:  "Well just spit it out."

C1:  "Well you know M and I are talking about moving in together, and I wanted to know how you feel about that?"

Me:  "Son you're 26 years old, an adult making your own way, I don't think my opinion really counts."

C1:  "But I want to know what you and Dad think about her?  About us?"

Me: "We like her just fine, she's a sweet girl, but it's not us that will be living with her."

C1  "I really think that I want to spend the rest of my life with her.  We've talked about a future together."

Me: "Uh, um, uh, I think that's wonderful for you."

C1:  "I love her Mom, I bet you never thought you'd hear me say that."

Me: "Actually, no I never did.  I tell people all the time I will never have a daughter in law or grandchildren.  I've kind of came to terms with that."

C1: "She wants kids, a couple of them at least.  But am I too young to feel this way?"

Me: "You aren't too young to feel this way, but you are too young to start having babies.  You should wait AT LEAST 4 years."

C1: "I agree, but why 4 years?"

Me: "Obviously you forgot what I told you many years ago.  You make me a grandmother before I'm 50, I'll have to whack it off!"

C1:  "GAWD MOM!  I tell you I'm in love for the first time ever and you threaten to whack it off?"

Me: "There are rules son.  You KNOW the Diva rules.  These rules can't be broken..."

C1:  "I was expecting something more like, congratulations."

Me: "Did aliens take over your brain child?  This is your mother you're talking to."

C2...

Text message to Hubby:  "Wow Dad, today was the greatest day ever!  It reminded me why I love this job and working with you!  Love you Man!"

Text from Kat to C2:  "Wow, I don't ever get such loving texts from you?"

Text from C2 to Kat:  "Who is this?"

Hmmm...

C3...

Upon getting in the car after football practice...

C3:  "Mom, I've decided what I want to do.  I'm moving to California!"

Me:  "Hmmm... Don't let the doorknob hit you in the ass on your way out."

C3:  "GAWD Mom, not today!  When you cut me off the payroll..."

Me:  "That could be accomplished sooner than you think..."

And the winner is?

When it comes to modern technology, the Kat family is pretty much a day late and a dollar short.

We've had Internet connection at home for a long time but that was mainly because it was a work requirement. Which means we had a computer in the house but until sometime in the last year or so never had a laptop, but once again because of work both Hubby and I each now have one of those.

We've had cable TV or satellite TV or Uverse TV since it's inception mainly due to the fact that I am a TV junkie and the rest of the testosterone beings in the Kat family are sports fanatics. I never really had the desire to upgrade any of the televisions in our house to the flat screen HDTV model and now,in less than one year we have two?

We've had pretty much every game system since Atari but since C3 is a XBOX360 snob we never jumped on the Wii bandwagon despite all the hype. Well until last week when I finally convinced Hubby that we needed some family bonding tools before it was too late and C3 didn't want to bond with us anymore.

Through our journey into the technical device era I was considered the 'techie' of the family and was able to connect and figure out how most of the new fangled devices we bought worked. When we finally got a VCR I was able to hook it up and we could rent movies and watch them although I never figured out how to record anything on it. Of course about a year later that was on the verge of becoming obsolete with the invention of the DVD player but we held firm until we could no longer rent movies on VHS... We finally got a DVD player and while I was able to hook it up neither Hubby nor I could ever figure out how to get a movie to start without calling C3 into the room.

Next we upgraded to satellite dish and didn't actually need that DVD player anymore because we could string that 100 foot telephone cord across the living room into the kitchen phone outlet and order movies directly to our TV. It even had that DVR feature that allowed any brainless twit to figure out how to record shows. The only problem was when it rained or was cloudy or tornadoes were imminent, we had no reception.

We moved up and onto digital TV when we upgraded to Uverse TV and then I could not only record stuff on one channel, I could record stuff on up to four channels and watch something different. So COOL! Thankfully they came and set up all the TVs and remotes and all I had to learn was how to work the remote control.

Then we purchased our first flat screen HDTV and all by myself and some color coded stickers I was able to hook the box back up to the new set and we were still in business. However I never could figure out how to get the TV and the box to work off one remote so we were stuck with keeping up with two remotes. Of course the TV salesdude convinced us that the new TV wouldn't work properly unless we upgraded to HD service from our supplier and we immediately call and ordered that and started paying the badgillion dollars every month. Honestly, although Hubby swore he could tell the difference between the regular channels and the HD channels, they all looked the same to me except the HD channels didn't fill the whole big screen so we mostly watched regular channels.

Then came last Christmas and C2 bought us a surround sound system that we could play DVD's, listen to the radio and I could hook my ipod up and listen to my music. Hooking that up was an experience and because the first system was faulty and not all of the speakers worked so we took it back and got another one which we had the same problem with, then eight hours later and the third upgraded system, we were able to have surround sound with movies but nothing else. We came to the agreement that was the way it was supposed to work and now had three remotes to keep track of.

So last week when I convinced Hubby to pull the trigger and get the Wii system, I finally got it working except I could only get in to work in black and white. GAH! Throwing in the white towel we scheduled the GeekSquad to come out and figure out how to make it all work together.

We learned some pretty valuable lessons today, one that HDTV really does look different than regular TV, who'd have thought? Second, surround sound does work whether you are watching normal TV or a movie or listening to the radio or the ipod, who knew? Third, we also learned that playing Wii is not only competitive but majorly addictive...

As of now, some 12 hours later, I have mastered not only bowling and hold the house record in that game and even though I've never in my life picked up a golf club or hit a golf ball, I am the reigning family champ in that sport as well. The baseball bores me but Hubby and C3 can be really aggressive in that game. Tennis obviously isn't my game and boxing, well we had to hook up the joystick looking things for that and we can't find where we put one of those... I do know that even though I'm the big winner for the day every frickin muscle in my body hurts and my joints are aching so bad that I had to take a whirlpool bath to even lay down comfortably. But, I can not wait until tomorrow...

I swore I wouldn't do it again...

Today was the first day for C3 at the high school. I can't tell you the mixed emotions that come with his entering his sophomore year. I can tell you that I cried like a baby when I dropped MY BABY off at the front door of the school. All this time I've been saying that I'm almost done with so much bravo, it was/is all a facade. I'm depressed as hell...

However in his good child/humor the hormonal mother spirit he allowed me to take the annual 'First Day of School' shot - ain't he adorable?

 

He even let me take a self portrait, he's such an angel...

God I love this kid!

So tonight I did something I swore I wouldn't do again.  It all has to do with my big mouth and my tendency to not be able to shut it...  Last week I went to the football booster club meeting, because we want to support our school, our football team and our son.  There were only about 10 parents there but I figured it was because school hadn't officially started.  Several requests for volunteers were made and I held my ground and dug my heels in and refused eye contact with anyone.  I've done my time with the first two, it's time for the young folks to get involved...

I drug Hubby with me tonight assuming that there would be MORE of a crowd and I didn't want to go alone.  With Hubby, there were a total of 13 parents there.  Thirteen friggin parents with a total roster of 178 football players - wtf?

I sat and listened to the poor President stammer on and on as she made more requests for volunteers and then told us all the things we could NOT do because of the lack of funds.  You know football is a big thing here in Texas and all the schools have these elaborate tunnels/helmets that the Varsity team runs through at the beginning of the game.  Our school's helmet bit the dust apparently 4 years ago and all we have left is the tunnel that is on it's last leg.  To get a new one the booster club needed $6000 and had secured a sponsor for $3000 but couldn't come up with the other half, so, no new tunnel...  Wow, 178 football players and they can't get any of the parents to help raise money or commit to spending $35 per player to buy this?  wtf?

Before I could even slap myself silly, my hand was raised and I asked one simple question - Where the hell are all the parents?  After a long discussion and tears from the President I found that I had nominated and ELECTED myself to the Membership Chairman position and committed to writing a letter and mailing it to the parents of these 178 boys.  wtf?

I really wish there was a button that I could push that stops me from getting on my soapbox and opening my mouth before my foot gets stuck in it...

Happy Anniversary to Me

So I finally got my day off today and it was pretty uneventful, sort of.

Had to get C3 to school at 7 am for his 9:00 scrimmage. Of course a huge storm blew in about 6:45 am with the most magnificent lightening show and horrendous thunder and flooding rains. Dropped him at the school assuming that they would cancel the game and told him to call me and I'd pick him up. Came home and went back to bed and woke up at 9:00 and the sun was shining - crap! Threw myself together, stopped for a starbucks and flew the 20 or so miles down the road and made it just in time to sit on a wet bleacher and soak my shorts and watch them do the handshake thing and head to the bus... That sucked. Mom of the Year once again!

Since I was out anyway I decided to go shopping and buy Hubby a new wedding ring for our anniversary today. 27 years. Or is it 28? Anyway, got a slamming deal on a nice ring, shopped some more, came home and took a nap. Decided to do a low key celebration without getting all gussied up and went and had some good Mexican food and a couple of sangria's. Nice.

I was rather proud of my purchase since he has gone ringless for many, many years, (because he lost the last two...) and presented it to him at dinner. He was quite impressed and said it was the perfect ring. And then, because I am the luckiest woman in the world, married to the most wonderful man in the world (well today anyway), he took me to get my present. And he picked out this:




What a good man that Charlie Brown...

The Diva Speaks...

Being a certified DIVA (shut up, I have papers to prove it) I am all about the do's and don'ts of fashion etiquette. Why I practically made most of them up! There are RULES people! There is a time and a place for every outfit, every accessory, and every shoe. I've slipped a few times in recent years, like last week taking C3 to school at 7:15 am with wet hair, but in my defense I did a quick up-do and wore my Jackie-O sunglasses, lest someone recognize me... Just ask a few of my friends, my opinions on choices of outfits and SHOES run freely. I don't offer these opinions to be mean or anything, but because I want all my friends and fellow woman-kind to have their true DIVA shine through. It's not just a look, it's a whole personality.

So, today I saw that there is apparently a big hoopla because the Prez's wife, the First Lady, had the audacity to wear SHORTS that showed her LEGS while visiting the Grand Canyon on vacation last week. Puhleazzzeeee... STFU!

Any true DIVA knows that in certain situations it is perfectly acceptable to wear shorts whether you are the Queen of Sheba or the First Lady. Uh, hello, visiting the Grand Canyon in the 100 degree heat qualifies as one of those times. She's NOT the Messiah or anything special besides being the First Lady and if you people haven't seen legs before then get a frickin grip! Maybe there is some secret code book that says it's unconstitutional or something, but then none of us would be wearing shorts now would we? GET OVER IT!

Of course, I do have some issues about 'THE' outfit that she choose and a little bit of advice for next time...

First and foremost, no disrespect here, but us larger gals probably should make sure the scale of our outfit does not accentuate our um, largeness... Those shorts were hideous and looked like she'd had them in her drawer for about 20 years... A nice pressed pair of Bermuda's would have worked here.

The buttoned shirt as a cover-up, so 80's, tres' tacky... She should have tried something a little more flowy with a nice bright print. I mean yes, she is touring the Grand Canyon, but was she planning on digging another hole and needed the extra pockets?

Did anyone but me notice that she was NOT wearing a bra with her little cami/t-strap shirt? Mmmm, bad, bad, bad. We always wear a push up bra even under the cami... gravity is not always our friend.

And the hair? Honey, that hair do is only to be worn while taking off our make-up and moisturizing before bed. That is definitely not a public do... No matter how hot it is, we always do our do!

Finally, and I saved the worst for last, the SHOES! DEAR GAWD!!!! Sneakers/tennis shoes were made with ONE purpose in mind, exercise. There is NO other reason to wear them and I don't think you were planning on doing any jumping jacks in the Canyon now were you? With so many other CUTE, yet comfortable, options available to you, WHY, oh WHY, did you wear sneakers? Yuk!

I hate school!

This has been a really long week and I've worked really long hours. Actually it's been a really long month and I've worked really long hours all month. So I'm tired and I want a day off. I want a day that I can sleep in and nobody wakes me up. Can I go out on a limb here and say I really hate that school is starting in a week? I guess it technically started this week because C3 started football on Monday and that screwed up my already screwed up week.

He has to be there at 7:15 am. Normally, and every day this week, I am in the middle of blow drying my curly hair to make it straight at 7:15 am. So I've had to make myself get up earlier every day this week. Did this solve the dilemma? Uh, no. Because now instead of three cups of coffee before starting the beautifying routine that I must endure to be my true Diva self, I'm sitting on the deck drinking 6 cups of coffee to wake myself up from the lack of sleep. Which means at 7:10 am I am in the middle of drying my hair and must stop and drive him up to the school. With WET HAIR in PUBLIC!

The past 4 Friday's in a row I scheduled to take the day off. Why? So that I could have a sleep in until I want to get up, pajama day. I picked Friday because C3 didn't have work outs on Friday mornings at school (yes this is Texas and we LOVE our friggin football but it technically wasn't football during the summer, it was working out... wtfever). Needless to say my Friday off has been cancelled 4 weeks in a row. Damn job. NOW, that we have the official okay to start football practice and they start an hour earlier AND school starts in one week and there won't be any chance of sleeping in, I decided that tomorrow would be my chosen sleep in day. And just you guess what I found out about 15 minutes ago?

Yep, I got the "Oh Mom, forgot to tell you we have football practice at 8:00 am tomorrow..." Are you FRICKIN KIDDING ME? On Saturday TOO? Can't we just have one more week of summer vacation, just one??????

And I'm back with more to say and you probably wish I'd shut up already...

Wow, I got quoted and such over on Jenn's blog! I feel almost famous!

Jenn and other fellow bloggers, make no mistake I am not a Republican Nazi that needs to be reported to Nancy Pelosi, I am a registered Democrat. I am all for health care reform, truly I am.

However, unfortunately the scare tactics and misinformation are flowing pretty freely on both sides of the political bandwagon. Even our President has made some blatant false statements about insurance.

I find it disheartening that health insurance and health insurance companies, as a WHOLE, are being blamed for all that is wrong in the health care system today. Currently ALL insurance policies are governed by every single state and there are millions of regulations and laws that must be complied with in order for an insurance policy to be approved and sold to the public. If the insurance plan that you or anyone is currently on is not up to 'par' then there has always been the freedom to choose to purchase a policy that is exactly what you want.

However, many people today want a plan with Cadillac benefits yet only want to pay for a Kia, and then want to scream and bitch that the insurance companies are ripping them off. If someone wants or expects an insurance plan with all the rich benefits they desire, then they probably need to put their money where their mouth is and fork over the cash...

Health insurance is no different than auto insurance or home insurance. You purchase the benefits that you want based on the price that you want to pay. We all accept that if our car is damaged that we have a deductible to pay and if it's totalled that the insurance company is not going to pay for a brand new car but give us the current value of the wrecked car. We all know that we have a deductible for our homeowner's insurance and hopefully we all realize that if our house burns down that they are not going to replace everything at 100% of current market value. Why is it then that we all get upset that health insurance policies have deductibles and expect us to cover some of our own costs?

Insurance should be purchased for catastrophic cases, just like you do for your auto and home. Why do we expect the government to take care of our medical needs when we don't take care of our own personal health?

If you think for one minute that a government run health insurance plan can give you all of the bells and whistles that you desire and NOT cost you a fortune, you need to seriously think again. The government run program for a family of four with an income of $80,000 will cost $1,200 per month. It is tiered down for people that make less money. I can sell that family a Caddie product right now that will have more than enough benefits, including 100% preventative care, for less than $400 a month. Which plan would you rather pay for?

The proposed plan will not be free and coverage for everything under the sun will not be in it. The proposed plan has a deductible of $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for families. Do you have that kind of money? I don't, and I much prefer to pay the lower premium I have now and stick with my $2,500 deductible plan than be forced to come up with 4 times that amount.

Health care reform should focus on fixing the things that are broken versus trying to force the American people to buying something that will not end up being what they think it is. We should work on the current government run plans like Medicare and Medicaid.

We hear all about the low income people not being able to afford health insurance, are we ever told that you have to be poorer than poor to receive Medicaid? I know many people that don't have an extra nickel to their name that have been turned down by Medicaid. Fix that system and make it work like it was intended.

Despite having paid into the Medicare system for more years than some of you have been alive, the Medicare system is broke. Why? Because the government did not have a check and balance system and has been overpaying doctors for years and years and years and the doctors took the money and kept their mouths shut.

Should a prescription really cost me $500 a month or should we relax the FDA restrictions and stop rewarding the pharmaceutical companies because they line our politician's pockets, both Republican and Democrat?

Should there be insurance for people that are sick? Sure and all the major insurance companies have stated that they would be happy to insure them and charge them the same premium as the healthy people, IF, the government enforces that we are all required to have insurance. We require this for autos and homes, why don't we make this a requirement for human life?

Sorry I got on my soapbox once again, but I do think it is highly unfair to place the blame on an industry that 80% of the people that have purchased a product from state that they are happy with their product. Let's reform health care, let's not blame one industry for the faults of many.

101

Got me another email from the Prez today. I actually can call him that since we have become quite the email pals lately. Well actually we're not quite pals since he sends me his shit 'canned' emails but doesn't seem to want to reply to my questions or observations...

Don't understand it really, I mean just because I called him a bold face liar and said that he must not have been a very good lawyer since he seems so unfamiliar with the law... Anyway, our friendship doesn't really matter, what matter is the truth, right? Apparently not so much, since I don't seem to be getting through to him in our little email matching game, but admittedly he is a busy man. I guess you'll know if my blogging just disappears that the secret service dudes showed up at my office to cart me away (did you really think I'd give him MY home email address? Geez...)

Today his emails was to blast us 'nay-sayers' that are spreading misinformation and using scare tactics, and I quote,

"Over the next month there is going to be an avalanche of misinformation and scare tactics from those seeking to perpetuate the status quo. But we know the cost of doing nothing is too high. Health care costs will double over the next decade, millions more will become uninsured, and state and local governments will go bankrupt. "

Really, misinformation and scare tactics, you don't say? Dude, I think the majority of misinformation and scare tactics are coming from your camp. I'm just sayin...

So here is the outline of his agenda, to which I have added my comments in red (you know just based on my over 20 years in the insurance field as a licensed agent that must take 40 hours of CE every two years and all)...

THE SECURITY YOU GET from health insurance reform:

• No Discrimination for Pre-Existing Conditions
  Insurance companies will be prohibited from refusing you coverage because of your medical history. You know this sounds pretty good, but let's consider that American Dude A has perfect health and takes care of himself and American Dude B drinks too much, smokes, is morbidly obese with high blood pressure and diabetes. If we accept everyone in to the same pool of risks, if you were American A would you think it was fair that American B was paying the same monthly premium but usurping all the benefits and their cost of care was probably 100/1 of your cost of care? It sounds great to American B, but really is this the only choice available?
• No Exorbitant Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Deductibles or Co-Pays
  Insurance companies will have to abide by yearly caps on how much they can charge for out-of-pocket expenses. Okay this is my favorite of all of them. So what you are telling me Prez is that I am getting all of this quality care for FREE*? I won't have to meet my deductible, pay any out of pocket expenses or co-pays? Cool, but isn't that going to cost the country a whole bunch of money, because I think all these procedures cost money, but why do I care, your picking up the whole tab for free, right? Yearly caps on how much the insurance company can charge for out of pocket expenses. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the doctor and/or hospitals that are actually CHARGING these out of pocket expenses? And isn't it the insurance companies that actually PAY these charges? But again, you're picking up the tab so it's free to me, so what do I care?
• No Cost-Sharing for Preventive Care
  Insurance companies must fully cover, without charge, regular checkups and tests that help you prevent illness, such as mammograms or eye and foot exams for diabetics. No Cost Sharing for Preventive Care! Wow this free thing gets better and better! Of course the majority of all the carriers that I market for already HAVE THESE BENEFITS in their policies, seems a little more like a scare tactic to me... Lucky for me my insurance company pays 100% of these benefits, but good thing I won't have to worry about that because once again, you are picking up the tab, thanks Prez!
• No Dropping of Coverage for Seriously Ill
  Insurance companies will be prohibited from dropping or watering down insurance coverage for those who become seriously ill. Correct me if I'm wrong Prez, but in all the years I've been doing this I do believe that there are all ready LAWS that prohibit this practice and I'm pretty sure that there are LAWS and REGULATIONS that policies must comply with in order TO BE APPROVED BY THE INSURANCE DEPARTMENT OF EACH STATE! Seriously this is my biggest pet peeve with you Prez, I know you are a lawyer, surely you know the law, and I'm almost positive you would KNOW that it is against the LAW for any insurance company to drop anyone because they became seriously ill. Could almost put my life on the fact that there are only two reasons that an insurance company can drop your insurance coverage, 1) You don't pay your premiums and 2) they cancel every policy holder, no matter what their illnesses are, that is on that same type policy. Must totally admit, I have NEVER seen that happen in the past 20 years. Just another scare tactic, we insurance lobbyist are touting, huh Prez?
• No Gender Discrimination
  Insurance companies will be prohibited from charging you more because of your gender. Dude, I'm actually going to give you this one and say I totally agree. Never have understood why because I am female that I have to pay more for my insurance coverage than a male the same age as me. So good one dude, way to go!
• No Annual or Lifetime Caps on Coverage
  Insurance companies will be prevented from placing annual or lifetime caps on the coverage you receive. This is awesome! We will have no worries whatsoever because no matter what the insurance company AND the government health plan (or are we just going to regulate this to insurance companies?) will have to pay every single dime of every single procedure no matter what! A little skeptical here Prez because all this limitless and free health coverage is starting to add up to some big money. Where did you say we were going to get all this money to pay for all of this?
• Extended Coverage for Young Adults
  Children would continue to be eligible for family coverage through the age of 26. How generous of you! Uh, hello, I'm sorry to inform you Prez, but most states already have passed a law very similar to this. You really might want to get some of the people on your team to research these laws, can't be MISINFORMING the American people now can we?
• Guaranteed Insurance Renewal
  Insurance companies will be required to renew any policy as long as the policyholder pays their premium in full. Insurance companies won't be allowed to refuse renewal because someone became sick. Oh my, here we go again with this lawyer/law thingy, where did you say you went to law school again? I don't think I have ever seen a policy that didn't renew each year as long as you kept paying your premium! Oh but there is that sneaky little scare tactic about losing your insurance because you get sick, naughty, naughty Prez! Just to let you know, a little misconception here, I swear I won't tell anyone you haven't figured this out, but so sorry once again, by LAW there are only two reasons why a policy can be canceled and sickness ain't one of them. Dude, you're really striking out here. Might want to stop playing with that snoodle bar dog every night and start study that law stuff again...

If you are as worried as I am regarding this health reform bill that the Prez is trying to stuff down our throats, Please contract your local senator or congressman and tell then to STOP THIS FRICKIN MADNESS before it's too late!

*FREE - don't let this misinformation fool you, this will not be free! Not only will this cost you in premium dollars but it will cost you in tax dollars. It will also still have a deductible and co-insurance percentage that you will pay out of pocket...

DRUM ROLL PLEASE...

Woo Hoo!

This is my 100th post on Blogger!

Woo Hoo!

Back in my Spaces days, it did not take me half as long to get to this point! But through the years (which BTW was a Kenny Rogers song way back when, actually sung at my wedding over twenty something years ago, which BTW still makes me want to vomit in my mouth, the song, not the wedding, geez people) I have started slacking on my blogging.

I don't know why exactly, I could lie and say it was because I am such an important and busy person, but that's probably not it. Best guess, I got lazy and tons of my blog buddies disappeared. WTF People? When you have no reason to go blog walking because nobody is blog writing... well then you start slacking. I'm just sayin...

But, here on blogger, it looks like we finally made it (okay, another cheesy song, but it's my theme song for Hubby and I, so go ahead and vomit...)!

100 entries - woo hoo - just trying to make it special!

Back in the day when I started blogging, it was easier to come up with something to write about because C1 and C2 were in college and full of stupid shit to share. They've gotten a little boring here lately I must admit. C3 is obviously entering a new phase in life by moving over to the 'big' high school and turning 16 in September which might give me some new material, but between you and me, I pray NOT. My best guess is that you are probably as sick of hearing about menopause as I am of suffering through it. My job is pretty stale at the moment besides the fact I don't know how long that will last if Obama sticks a fork in me. So I guess you might be stuck with just plain ol' boring me for 100 or so more entries?

I'll try to keep it interesting, though I can make any promises. I'll also try to get off my current step stool on Health Care Reform, for today...

I will leave you with a little something that C3 likes to torment hubby and I with, until we are are pulling our hair out, screaming and begging him to turn it off... Enjoy:

Click Here

Now, ain't that special...

JUST IN CASE...

 

Just in case some of you received an email from our President today and just in case you plan on tuning in tonight to listen to his press conference, I just wanted to set the record straight on one simple point.

In his email he states, "It will limit your own out of pocket costs and prevent your insurance company from dropping your coverage if you get too sick."

BY LAW, insurance companies CAN NOT drop your coverage if you get too sick.  Sadly, he does not know this law nor have his advisors educated him on this law, which makes this health care reform bill even scarier to me.

I probably will end up in jail because I was so enraged that the leader of our country was either not aware of this law OR just decided to blatantly lie to scare the American public, that I sent an email to him... So just in case you don't hear from me again...

PS - If you would like a copy of the letter please let me know and I will be happy to email it to you in it's full glory, typo and all...

And today's lesson...

I believe that each and every day we should make an effort to learn one new thing. In one year's time that's 365 new things you will have learned, doesn't the sound of that just make you feel smarter?

As a mother of a teenage boy I am constantly learning new things - sometimes MORE than one per day...

When your teenager's buddies are visiting your home and sitting out on the deck, acting all cool and stuff, smelling like they bathed in their cologne, they can still fool you into thinking they are such cute kids.

When they come in and say "MommaKat, will you please cut up that watermelon because we are all starving and needing a snack?" It will touch your heart because you will think that all of these boys really do love me because they all call me "MommaKat". And they do, so it is nice.

So with a big ol' smile on your face you will slice up that watermelon that's big enough to feed 20 or more people and you will keep on slicing until you have made a huge mess and filled up that giagantic tupperware bowl until it is overflowing. You are pretty sure those boys won't be able to eat it all, but since you are always dieting, you think to yourself that you might want to enjoy some for lunch the next day. Then you proudly walk outside and hand them that big ol' bowl and you tell them you hope they enjoy it and you ask them to please bring the leftovers in.

This is WHEN you will learn your valuable lesson for the day.

DON'T hand over an entire bowl of watermelon slices to teenage boys. Yes they will bring in the leftovers and yes there will be plenty of it left for you to snack on, BUT... because teenage boys do not understand that less is best when it comes to cologne, and, let's be honest, who knows when the last time they washed their hands were? You will pick up that one piece of watermelon and pop it in your mouth and instead of enjoying the mouth-watering taste, you will be instantly gagging and spitting and trying not to vomit when your watermelon tastes like a big ol' soggy piece of men's cologne. Trust me.