Healthcare and My Husband

I want to be honest with my readers. The last year has been so tough! If you recall, my husband was hospitalized last year. Right before the holidays. We spent Christmas in the hospital. Praying for his health. It's all that mattered!

We never knew, just how much our lives would change. I'm not just talking the day to day. My husband is still on the road to recovery. He still struggles with his energy. Takes 2 naps a day. Some days, his balance is really off. I can see my husband getting frustrated with himself. I try to be extra supportive every day. But there are days, when he has little patients with himself.

But with my husband slowing down, all of us need to pick up the slack. Unfortunately, most days, it feels like it's just my daughter and I. My daughter doesn't even live close by. But she manages much of our paperwork for us, and helps with the bills and taxes. Yes, owning a business is crazy! I'm so glad that we have her to depend on. And she has made it a point, to spend a few weeks at a time, with us.

We are also blessed to have great employees. Who support us. And help wherever they can. But it's still rough. My husband and I, we had each taken care of one part of the business. And when he got sick, there was a lot to learn. Almost immediately. Suddenly, I was learning about the 30 different taxes we pay. About all the bills that I never knew how to pay. Thank God for our daughter. Who knows about and takes care of much of this.

But on top of all of this, we've never had health insurance. My husband is nearly 80 years old. So he had the basic medicare coverage. It just happened, that my daughter was able to get a new plan going. While my husband was still in the hospital. Right before the deadline.

It helped. But honestly, even with the new insurance, it's really expensive. The first prescription cost, we had to cover, it was $950. We never got reimbursed for any of it! We still paid nearly $10,000, for my husband's almost week stay in the hospital.

We were lucky. The ambulance was paid for. About 80% of the hospital bill was covered. We were able to pay off the doctors and hospital bill late in the summer. The other day, we got a bill in the mail. For $4,000! I about died! It's for an oxygen machine, that my husband has never used! The company dropped it off. Never serviced it. Nothing. But my daughter got on the phone, and medicare paid for it. We're still waiting for service. Good thing it's not life threatening.

My husband has always gone to the doctor, twice a year. We paid $120 for 2 medications that he'd been taking for over 30 years. But we weren't' prepared for $400 a month. On prescriptions and supplies. And that's our co-pay. It makes me wonder how other people do it. My husband is now going to the doctor once a month as well.

In so many ways, we've had to figure things out for ourselves. Our daughter has been such a great help! She knows so much about the health care system. Just the other day, she was on the phone for over 3 hours! Why? To get us some answers. One prescription that we get, went from $140, to $14. Wow!

That's what most of that last year has been. Nursing my husband back to health, taking care of a business, and learning about health care. It's a hard task. Especially with a small business. That my husband and I own and run. Pretty much on our own. Then maneuvering around the health care system. Trying to bring family together. Dealing with my own parents, and their failing health.

I'm hoping to get back to blogging. Reading blogs. Doing more crafts. Getting back to me. Just a little bit. I miss doing things that I enjoy. Things that just make me happy. Even if it's sewing for a half an hour. I need some down time. My husband and I need some down time. Time to get back to us.

Inspiration

This picture has inspired me. To get my Sewing Room in order. Well, as in order as I can get it, right now. Because when we remodeled our house, a couple of years ago, my Sewing Room got a little...well I have a door that needs to be closed off. And windows that need to be finished off, from the inside.

Yes, my Sewing Room is the only room that hasn't been remodeled. The light fell from the ceiling. I had to manage to get it back up. I'm almost positive, that it's not safe in it's current state. It's pretty bad. My husband and I were talking. It's the next and final room, for us to work on. I want to take out the old wood paneling. And I want to paint the walls a soft and cheerful color.

I want to get organized. I want to be very organized. Put things on my shelves. Have my supplies easily available. That's what I want. Because right now, it's not a functioning space. And that saddens me.

How bad is it? My sewing machine and my serger are in another room. I do most of my sewing in our kitchen or living room. And it stresses me out. Because I feel like it makes a big mess. So I want to get my Sewing Room in order.

Now I just need to make some time. And I really need to attack this space. Because I'm tired of losing my supplies. And having to repurchase things. I'm ready to have a room all to myself again. I miss the days, when I would lock myself in my Sewing Room, and would sew for hours and hours!

Yarn Sale

About 2 weeks ago, I went to Wal-Mart. To pick up a birthday present and a few groceries. Like always, I look at the craft section. We're the only store in town that still sells fabric and such. I noticed a large bin of clearance yarn. So I picked up a few skeins.

Then a week or so ago, I called my daughter. And we were talking about the yarn. I had to agree that it was a good price. And she asked me to pick her up some if I went back. Tuesday, I went. And I picked up a lot of yarn! It was the baby Bernat yarn. And it was almost 50% off.

This is obviously a good thing. It's great to find a good deal. But it is also bad. I can just assume that Wal-Mart is not going to sell this yarn any more. I'm really hoping that our Wal-Mart doesn't close the craft department soon. From what I've heard, this is how it starts...

But now, I've got some nice colors of yarn. And I got it at a great deal. My daughter and I will start working on some projects for our Annual Craft Fair. We do it every year. It's at our church before Christmas. But I'm still a little worried about our craft department.

DMV Fail

I've been trying to get my driver's license renewed all week. It's been miserable. The local DMV is horrible! You go and wait forever. The people working the desks, they pick the numbers of their friends before you. It honestly takes forever.

For me, it takes a bit longer, with a lot more paperwork. Because I have a CDL license. And I'm a CDL certified trainer. With a few other certifications for our business. So I have to bring in a pile of paperwork. My license expires on the 12th. My daughter, she recently went through this. A little less stress, but still had issues.

I thought I had everything. My old driver's license, my birth certificate, social security card, all my credentials, all my paperwork. But the man was so rude. And the 1st day was a complete fail. Not only did I not get a license, but he was incredibly rude!

I took down his name, called our supervisor at our state office. I also called the state line for the DMV. I was really upset! Oh, and I lost a really expensive diamond bracelet. It fell off when I was talking to the man who was helping me. When I walked out, I realized that. Immediately, I went back inside to look for it. It was gone.

This morning, I was spitting bullets mad! We got there 30 minutes before the DMV opened. I was the 3rd person there. We still ended up waiting over 3 hours to be helped. It was unreal. My husband was so mad. But no one seemed to care. We also watched the workers. They knew I had turned them in. But I honestly didn't care. What they had been doing, it was unacceptable.

Finally I'm called to the window. And the same man is giving me a hard time. There is a paper that I fill out for our employees. Since I'm their trainer. That's how they get a certain endorsement on their driver's license. The man was being a jerk. He knew I didn't need one. But demanded that I have one. He gave me the paper and told me that I needed to have it filled out by my employer.

Remember, my husband was there. So I wouldn't leave the little window area. And my husband came to where I was. I was filling out the paper. And the man was screaming at me. His supervisor came to see what was going on. I explained that I'm the person that fills these papers out for our company. I signed and dated the bottom. So did my husband.

When they pulled up our company record, sure enough, I'm the one that does this. I just think this man was upset because he had gotten into trouble. And he wanted me to pay for it. Almost 5 hours after we had arrived at the DMV, I left with my paper driver's license. I have to wait anywhere from 1-7 weeks for my real license.

What a day! We just finished our breakfast. Yes, I know it's lunchtime. But that's how long it took! But I'm excited. Our daughter is coming for a visit. And we have some fun things planned.

Cowboy "Boot"ies

A few years ago, my daughter sent me a pattern for these cute booties. I printed it. And I added it to my box of patterns. Then almost 2 years ago, I decided to start working on some projects. We were getting ready for our church's Craft Fair. I made 3 or 4 pair. They were easy and fast.

Then I forgot all about this pattern. Until last night. I don't remember how to make these. I spent almost 2 hours crocheting and taking apart these booties. I didn't get anywhere! I'm not sure why I forgot how to make them. Or what this extra flap is on the side.

Maybe there was a mistake in the pattern. But when I went to go check on the pattern, that page is no longer online. I did find this one. It looks similar. I'm going to try this pattern today. And when I talk to my daughter tonight, I'm going to ask her about this pattern. Maybe she can help me out. I want to make a few pairs of these. And not even the pair I made a while back, can help me out. I'm just hoping my daughter can.