Hump Day

Enough with the ED...
Sunday I noticed that the Boy's ear was bleeding a little. I figured he had a overzealous digging expedition, and let it go. Still bleeding Monday I called the doctor. Now when I say 'bleeding' - it wasn't like a bloody nose, more like traces of dried blood. Got him in for an appointment and off we went. The doctor said there was so much puss he couldn't see the eardrum and it had most likely burst. Nice. Way to go mom. In my defense, had he complained it hurt, we would have gone earlier. Prescribed an antibiotic and eardrops, we headed to the pharmacist.

After dropping off the prescriptions, she noticed that our coverage had been denied. No biggie, I handed her the most recent card. That was the card that had been denied. Apparently, earlier last week, my husband handed me the new-new card and I promply placed it by, but not in, my purse. The tech was very helpful and offered to call our insurance carrier to figure it all out. I told her not to worry about it, that I would just submit a claim.

Got home, with two receipts (for $47 - 10 days of chewable antibiotics and antibiotic ear drops!), and got online. After 15 minutes of creating a account, clicking around, and trying not to lose it, I finally find what I'm looking for "prescription claim form." I'm figuring an adobe form will pop up, I'll print it off and get it in the mail. Oh no. They are going to mail me a form. In 7 to 10 days. By that time, I'll have lost the receipts.

I know I'm fortunate in that I don't have to decide between medication and food. That $47 won't break the bank. That there are parents out there dealing with children that have serious medical issues that require serious money. But I have to wonder how much they're spending on those sunset ads for erectile disfunction. "Either now, or later... It's up to you..."

6 + 2 = 8
Got a late start to the gym today. It's one thing to start training for a marathon, its another to understand the time committment. I didn't truly understand in until a few weeks ago. Saturday alone I spent a little over three hours so I could get 15 miles in - and that's only because I started from home and my mom watched the kids. I can't just "go to the gym." That would be too easy.

I had previously thought that once my mid-week run was over 6 miles, I could split it up - get up and go in the early morning before my husband left, and finish at the gym in the morning. Unfortunately, the last three weeks my husband has been out of town, or going there, every Wednesday. That and 5:15 am is so unappealing. So that leaves me going to the gym.

Without going into too much painful detail, let's just say it's pretty much a circus for me to get to the gym: getting #1 off to school, feeding the other two breakfast, getting dressed, convincing them that we have to go to the gym today, etc. I have to figure for every 4 miles I run, I need an hour: drive to the gym, have the kids go to the bathroom, get my shoes on, me go to the bathroom, etc. Today was 8, so I planned for 2 hours. We left too late and I knew it. But what I didn't plan on was half way through my run, my four year old would need to use the bathroom. For 10 minutes. At that point, I got back on the treadmill completely devoid of focus. I forced myself to complete 6 miles.

So tonight, before swimming lessons, we're heading back to the gym so I can run my other two miles.

Divine
Last night I made brownies - the box kind with the chocolate chunks. I like box mixes and my kids like to help. After mixing and spreading them in the pan, I took out the jar of peanut butter. I microwaved about 1/3-ish of a cup and poured it into a baggie. After snipping the tiniest corner, I drizzled melted peanut butter over the batter. Baked according to directions, there is only one word to describe them - divine.