Iago's medical bills

Right now, I am sitting in the lobby of the eye doctor while Matthew has his exam.  Once he is done, I will pay for his exam and glasses (whatever is not covered by Husband's insurance -- we are lucky to be able to insure him as a "sponsored dependent").  This will run me around $500.

Yesterday, he saw the dentist for his six month follow up.  He needs 2 more crowns and about 9 fillings.  Total cost?  $3200.  He has maxed out his dental benefit for the year and we've already put about $3500 in his mouth so far this year.  We don't know if we are going to be able to do anymore this year.  So I don't know if we'll be able to let him get this work done.

So much for new furniture in the house for a while.  Between husband, Iago, and Igor's teeth, there is little money left over.

"Vacation Day"

Today is day one of vacation.  On the agenda:

• Football camp for Igor.
• Preschool registration for Hannibal.
• Dropping off our two crib mattresses we no longer need to a friend who's becoming a grandma twice over (this was on the agenda, but has since been postponed to later in the week).
• Iago dentist appointment
• Inara veterinary appointment
• Igor Little League game

Whew.  I started the morning by sleeping in a half hour.  Then I did a step aerobics video.  I'm so out of shape and this is a beginner DVD, and I could only do 15 minutes.  Ugh.  Followed by a shower.  Breakfast.  A little Facebook, a little blogging.  Loaded, then unloaded, the crib mattresses.  Now I'm loading paper recycling to drop off on the way to preschool registration.  Busy day ahead!

I miss the old days where vacation meant going somewhere nice and curling up to a nice book.  Oh well.

Trapped in Elevator

Last Monday, I was trapped in an elevator at work.  Here is my saga:

The morning started out with me giving Igor an apple using the apple slicer and slicing my thumb trying to remove the core.  I didn't know it would go downhill from there.

I work in a 5 story building.  I should take the stairs.  I usually do - going down.  But going up, I take the elevator.  We are required to swipe our badges in order to get to my floor - the 3rd floor.  I have never known the elevators to break down, even though they always sound like they are one inch from stopping.

Last Monday, I walked down the stairs to the deli to grab a quick lunch:  a chicken wrap, baked potato chips, and cantaloupe/strawberries.  It was 11:30 and I had a 1:00 p.m. meeting with my boss and a vendor.  I take the elevator up.  It stops on three, makes a "ka-chung" noise, and drops a little.  Then the doors don't open.  I'm in there by myself, with my cell phone sitting back in my cubicle.  Great.  Now what do I do?  I've never been trapped in an elevator before.

I try the door open button.  Nothing.  I swipe my badge and press 3.  Nothing.  I see the "Alarm" button and press it.  It sounds like a doorbell.  I wait.  I can hear people happily chatting in the 3rd floor lobby.  I press the alarm button again.  I don't have any way to tell time, so I eat my fruit.  I press the alarm button again.  Nothing.

I am starting to panic a little.  I have forgotten I have a 1:00 meeting.  Now I'm wondering if my co-workers will even notice I'm missing.  They might just think I'm at a meeting.  We're very self-directed.  I don't want to be stuck in here forever.  Finally, I see this little phone box.  I open it up and press the "Help" button.

I get a recording.  Yes, a recording.  Now, I'm really flipping out.  "We will be transferring you to our central call center.  Please wait.  This message will repeat. . . . We will be transferring you to our central call center. . . "  Oh, ok.  I guess I'll wait.  What else can I do?  Will the call center be in the U.S.?  How long will I have to wait for help?

"Hello.  What is your emergency?"  says the voice from the call box.  Oh, great.  I've dialed 911.  Well, ok --I'm trapped in an elevator!  What else is 911 for?

"Uh, yeah, I'm trapped in the elevator."

"Are you experiencing any medical emergency?" says the friendly female voice on the other line.

"No, just want out of the elevator."

"Great.  Have you tried pressing the door open button?"  Sure. That's the problem.  I feel like I'm on a call with IT asking me if I've tried rebooting my computer.

"Yes, about 5 times."

"Okay, well, sometimes we find pressing and holding it down for 5 seconds resets the elevator.  Can you try that now?"  I AM on the call with IT, it seems!  Ok, I play along.  Nothing happens.

Voice on the phone takes my name, again asks if I'm in distress, and then asks what floor I'm stuck on.  "Is there anyone in the elevator with you?"  No.  "We are sending someone to help you.  Please be patient.  If you experience medical distress, please push the button again.  Or, if you just need to find out where things are, please press the button."  Ok.  I'll just sit here and eat my lunch.  So much for a "quick" lunch.

A few minutes later (what felt like eternity), I hear Dave, the property management company's maintenance guy, knock on the elevator door.  "This is Dave.  Anyone in there?"  Yes, Dave, it's me - Judith.  Are you letting me the heck out of here?  "No, sorry, I have to call the elevator company."  What???  I hear him on the phone and then say, "Oh, your truck just pulled in.  Did someone call you?"  Apparently, pressing the button went straight to the elevator company's main call center and they dispatched a truck.

Dave tells me he's going downstairs to get the elevator people.  I'm out about 5-10 minutes later.  Turns out I was in there about 45 minutes to an hour.  They all ask if I'm ok.  I don't want to admit I'm as panicked as I was.  Then I have to explain what happened so they can try to figure out what went wrong.  Then I got to my desk and had just a few minutes before my meeting.  Good thing I ate in the elevator.

The rest of the afternoon was a blur.  I didn't get much done.  That night, I took Igor to a Columbus Clippers game.  It had a 2 hour rain delay.  We left.  I felt like I had an Eyeore kind of day!  I was so glad when it was over.

Belled No More

When we acquired the new cat, Inara, she came with a pink paper collar wrapped around her neck with her former name ("Asia") written on it.  We left this on her until a suitable replacement was found.  I stopped at Pet People after my visit to the eye doctor and bought her a pretty green plaid cat safety collar (it comes apart if it gets stuck on something and doesn't choke the cat).  The collar had a bell.

The bell has come in handy.  We know where she is venturing.  It is how I knew she was hiding behind the dryer, how I knew she had finally ventured down the stairs to the first floor, and how I know about her nighttime explorations to the first floor.  It has provided us bountiful information about her comings and goings.

Yesterday, Iago (the residential brother-in-law and babysitter) came downstairs early.  This is unusual.  He was also grumpier than usual for a Friday (Mondays are the worst mornings for him, by Fridays he's typically at least responsive in the mornings).  I asked him if he was feeling well.

"No, tired."
"I didn't wake you up early, did I?"  I asked him.
"No.  It was the cat."
"How did the cat wake you up?" I asked.  After all, this is the same brother that has slept through the smoke alarms in the house going off, who has to have us pound on his bedroom door when he oversleeps and has even gone back to sleep after saying he was awake.
"It's the bell," he says.
"Really?  I've sort of gotten accustomed to it."  It's true.  I have.  Though, at night as we're drifting off, she has a tendency to knock the metallic bell against her stainless steel water dish and it makes enough of a sound to wake Husband.

I waited until I was in the car to laugh.  Seriously?  This little tiny bell wakes him up.  It was too much to keep to myself, so I called Husband.  Of course, Husband was sympathetic to the brother.  "Well, you know, it wakes me up, too."  So did the trains when we first moved in, but now you're accustomed to them.  Sheesh.  Of course, any time he feels I'm not being "fair" to his brother he takes his brother's side.

Later that day, at work, I get a text message from Husband.  "Iago sent me an email asking if we would think about removing the bell from the cat's collar because he hasn't been sleeping.  FWIW, it wakes me up too."

Seriously?  I messaged back that we'd talk at dinner.  We didn't, but I just gave in.  Now we will not know where she is.  But I removed the bell from her collar.  With pliers.  It wasn't easy.  And I didn't even get to give the good news to Iago - the kids went over and told him.

As I was going downstairs, I said something towards his bedroom.  Iago started to come out, saying, "Well, thanks, because I really wasn't sleeping. . . and the bell was keeping me up. . . "

At this point, I'm frustrated.  "I just don't care.  I did it."  How much fuss do we have to make about a stupid cat bell anyway?

For the rest of the night, I paid for that remark.  Husband didn't appreciate me telling his dear brother that I "didn't care."  Well, clearly, I did because I took the damn bell off.  But I just am tired of hearing the excuses / reasons why he's so special and we have to do things to accommodate him.  Isn't it enough that I acquiesced?    Do I also have to be willing to listen to him talk about it ad nauseam?  There's only so much I could take.  But Husband was mad at me for the rest of the night.

The end result:  Cat has no bell.  We don't know where she is or what she's doing.  And the brother-in-law is the only one happy.  Pretty much par for the course around here.

Making progress

We are making progress in many areas.  My ticker today says I have lost 5 pounds.  Husband is doing the same app, which helps.  Though, admittedly, his gripes and moans about the tool or his perceived deprivations make this process more challenging. 

The new cat is getting more accustomed to us.  She stayed out during "family petting time" for a longer period, didn't run under the bed but stayed on top cleaning herself while we did bedtime stories and songs, and then went onto her new perch while we left to tuck the kids in bed.

Today, husband is working on his resume for a job he isn't sure he wants, but that he thinks he should at least be interviewed.  I am blogging and reading some magazines destined for recycling.   This is helping clear more clutter from the living room.

I would say this is a good day.

Inara - cautious explorer

After the fiasco with Husband, Inara cowered under the bed for a couple of days.  We couldn't coax her out and didn't want to pull her out because it would make things worse.  Husband mistakenly left a shirt on the floor next to the bed and in the middle of the night, the cat pooped on it.  "Take that," she said (or so I imagine).  Of course, this meant that I had to reassure Husband that we didn't gain a defective cat with elimination issues.  Husband was afraid we would go through the same thing we did with our previous cats that we had to give up when Igor was a toddler due to their excessive elimination habits.

After a few days, Inara started coming to the edge of the bed and letting us pet her and finally came all the way out.  However, she was cautious.  And she hadn't been eating much.

We went to the pet store and bought her another toy, another mat for the litter box downstairs, and a cat tower to put in our bedroom.  She is showing minor interest in it when we're around, but I've found her sleeping in it in the middle of the night.

We started leaving our bedroom door open.  Monday night, she decided, after we went to sleep, to explore the house.  Based on the tinkling of the bell on her collar and her meowing, she went everywhere - including downstairs.  I heard her scratching in the litter box downstairs (success!) even if we found later that she just marked it.  She did become afraid of the beeping dishwasher, so I went downstairs at 2 a.m. and turned it off.  I got no sleep on Monday.

Tuesday morning we found her under the utility tub in the laundry room.  Iago scared her when he dropped his laundry baskets loudly to the floor.  He does laundry on Mondays, after all (and Monday was a holiday, so this was his "Monday").  He hadn't heard me tell him - 3 times - that she was there, so the darting cat whisking past him and running back up the stairs caught him by surprise.

So, she's starting to come around, but hasn't quite figured out what to do.  We had a great family petting session last night before bed.  She's more friendly with Husband and I in the morning before the kids wake up and in the evening after they go to bed.  She's smart to be afraid of the kids!