Weekend accomplishments
I got some blood drawn at the doctor's office this morning, and my ultrasound is scheduled for Friday. Of course my gallbladder hasn't really hurt since Thursday, so I wonder if I should drop the whole thing. I mean there's a chance that I have like, pancreatic cancer or something, but I really don't think it's anything that dire. I'm turning 49 in 10 days, it's absolutely the age when non-essential organs start crapping out. I guess I'll just follow through... to set a good example for Mom, if nothing else. (She's been going to physical therapy, so nothing alarming to report on that end.)
I figured out why my insurance kept coming up "inactive" and it's because they were trying to bill Aetna, even though I told those ding-dongs--and it should be obvious just from how the card is designed--that I'm not insured with Aetna, I'm just in their PPO, but Trustmark is who is gonna pay the bill. I called Trustmark as soon as I got into work, just to verify I'm active, and the customer service rep I spoke to was like "Yeah, I field this call 30 times a week. Providers don't know who Trustmark is, but they see Aetna and they know who that is so they go right to them, only for Aetna to say they have no record of this patient."
There is just no minor health issue that can't and won't be made as absolutely stressful as possible due to having to deal with insurance companies. I miss Obama--or at least the idea of him--as much as anyone else who isn't either a MAGA lunatic or a bomb-throwing anarchist (and "libertarians" I guess 🙄), but god damn if he was gonna torch every ounce of his political capital over healthcare I really wish he would have gone all the way.
Anyway, I have an appointment for the ultrasound Friday morning and I'm leaving work early today to get the stupid headlight replaced and I renewed my driver's license online, so it's not even noon on Monday and I feel like I've already done so much.
Saturday I made breakfast; went to CVS, Michael's, and the grocery store--it was raining so I didn't bother with the carwash. The summer was exceptionally dry, but I think we're going to have the same mild but wet winter that most of Texas is. (We are closer to the Texas border than to New Orleans.) I put away groceries, made lunch for the 'rents, then did a couple loads of their laundry. This was less out of altruism than because they already had the first load in the wash, and I wanted to use it to wash my shoes (I have a pair of Hey Dude shoes that are light pink and get pretty dirty, but those shoes are machine washable), and Mom is soooooo sloooooow with laundry. She'll leave the stuff in the dryer until it cools off and wrinkles, then "tumble" it to get the wrinkles out, only to leave it in the dryer again, lather, rinse, repeat.
I also did some light dusting and vacuuming in my bedroom. David made gumbo for dinner, I watched the finale of Loki again, then some horribly depressing Australian investigative journalism thing about the 1979 Luna Park fire. Children were burned alive in that, hence the "horribly depressing" part. Also no one was ever punished for it and everyone (probably) responsible is now dead, so that's great. I don't know why I do this to myself.
Sunday I made some bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches.
Nothing dresses up plastic American cheese like a sprinky-dink of chives! Look, I can cheese snob with the best of them, but for some things you just need a Kraft single.
I watched the new Datelines--they do 2 episodes a week now! my cup runneth over--and changed the bed sheets and finished another sheet of watercolors.
Someone asked me last week why I'm not doing these full size, and I didn't really have an answer other than "I like to make art that is small". And that's just objectively true! Look at most of my cross stitches and art journal/collages, too.
I baked some cookies, did some dinner prep, heated up leftover gumbo for lunch (it's always better the next day), had some wine and read. I'm finally reading Chuck Tingle's Camp Damascus and it's really good!
Dinner was "angry gramma" pizza with turkey pepperoni, fennel, red onion, and olives.
"Nonni" or "grandma" pizza is when the crust isn't kneaded or tossed but allowed to rise in the oiled pan or skillet you're using to make the pizza; it's essentially focaccia, same technique. And it's "angry" because it's a spicy red sauce with a few red pepper flakes in it.
Dessert was chocolate peanut butter cup cookies, which I rolled in some turbinado sugar, because I have tons left from the last time I made crème brûlée so why not.
Everything I made on Sunday came from the newest Smitten Kitchen cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Keepers.
I figured out why my insurance kept coming up "inactive" and it's because they were trying to bill Aetna, even though I told those ding-dongs--and it should be obvious just from how the card is designed--that I'm not insured with Aetna, I'm just in their PPO, but Trustmark is who is gonna pay the bill. I called Trustmark as soon as I got into work, just to verify I'm active, and the customer service rep I spoke to was like "Yeah, I field this call 30 times a week. Providers don't know who Trustmark is, but they see Aetna and they know who that is so they go right to them, only for Aetna to say they have no record of this patient."
There is just no minor health issue that can't and won't be made as absolutely stressful as possible due to having to deal with insurance companies. I miss Obama--or at least the idea of him--as much as anyone else who isn't either a MAGA lunatic or a bomb-throwing anarchist (and "libertarians" I guess 🙄), but god damn if he was gonna torch every ounce of his political capital over healthcare I really wish he would have gone all the way.
Anyway, I have an appointment for the ultrasound Friday morning and I'm leaving work early today to get the stupid headlight replaced and I renewed my driver's license online, so it's not even noon on Monday and I feel like I've already done so much.
Saturday I made breakfast; went to CVS, Michael's, and the grocery store--it was raining so I didn't bother with the carwash. The summer was exceptionally dry, but I think we're going to have the same mild but wet winter that most of Texas is. (We are closer to the Texas border than to New Orleans.) I put away groceries, made lunch for the 'rents, then did a couple loads of their laundry. This was less out of altruism than because they already had the first load in the wash, and I wanted to use it to wash my shoes (I have a pair of Hey Dude shoes that are light pink and get pretty dirty, but those shoes are machine washable), and Mom is soooooo sloooooow with laundry. She'll leave the stuff in the dryer until it cools off and wrinkles, then "tumble" it to get the wrinkles out, only to leave it in the dryer again, lather, rinse, repeat.
I also did some light dusting and vacuuming in my bedroom. David made gumbo for dinner, I watched the finale of Loki again, then some horribly depressing Australian investigative journalism thing about the 1979 Luna Park fire. Children were burned alive in that, hence the "horribly depressing" part. Also no one was ever punished for it and everyone (probably) responsible is now dead, so that's great. I don't know why I do this to myself.
Sunday I made some bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwiches.
Nothing dresses up plastic American cheese like a sprinky-dink of chives! Look, I can cheese snob with the best of them, but for some things you just need a Kraft single.
I watched the new Datelines--they do 2 episodes a week now! my cup runneth over--and changed the bed sheets and finished another sheet of watercolors.
Someone asked me last week why I'm not doing these full size, and I didn't really have an answer other than "I like to make art that is small". And that's just objectively true! Look at most of my cross stitches and art journal/collages, too.
I baked some cookies, did some dinner prep, heated up leftover gumbo for lunch (it's always better the next day), had some wine and read. I'm finally reading Chuck Tingle's Camp Damascus and it's really good!
Dinner was "angry gramma" pizza with turkey pepperoni, fennel, red onion, and olives.
"Nonni" or "grandma" pizza is when the crust isn't kneaded or tossed but allowed to rise in the oiled pan or skillet you're using to make the pizza; it's essentially focaccia, same technique. And it's "angry" because it's a spicy red sauce with a few red pepper flakes in it.
Dessert was chocolate peanut butter cup cookies, which I rolled in some turbinado sugar, because I have tons left from the last time I made crème brûlée so why not.
Everything I made on Sunday came from the newest Smitten Kitchen cookbook, Smitten Kitchen Keepers.