Pregnancy Insurance

When I had my babies all those years ago, we had good insurance through my husband's job. Our insurance covered the doctor visits and the hospital stay and all the other expenses of pregnancy and childbirth. We also had insurance to cover doctor visits and checkups for the babies once they were born. I think that Pregnancy Insurance was an extra option on our insurance that we actually had to choose. It wasn't just an automatic coverage. What if we had decided we weren't having kids and didn't need that maternity coverage, and then, "Surprise!" - along came Beth? I don't know what our options would have been then. Fortunately, now MaternityCard is available to help pregnant women cover all of the costs related to their pregnancy, even if they didn't have insurance when they became pregnant.

Reading!

We stopped at Walmart Saturday morning to pick up the book. Yes, that's right. We had to get Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows because Cory's been dying to read it. Me too, but we're going to blame this on him. So, he got the book about 7:30 in the morning. That was early enough - no need to go out at midnight just for a book. Anyway, all that boy did was read all day, until he finished the book around 4pm. Yes, this boy of mine is a very fast reader, and he remembers everything he reads, too. I wish I could read as fast as he does, but I can't. I did manage to finish the book this weekend, though. As soon as we got home Saturday night - around 8pm, I think - I took possession of that book. I read for a few hours Saturday night before going to bed, and then spent most of the day Sunday reading and not doing much else. There were breaks in there, but it really did take me most of the day and into the night to finish. Like I said. I wish I could read as fast as Cory does.

Now, today, I've had to actually do stuff, and make up for all the things I neglected yesterday. At least it was the weekend.

Got Pain?

I received some samples in the mail last week. They were samples of a product called Freeze It. I read the enclosed letter and glanced at the sample packets, and my first thought was that I was supposed to put them in the freezer and freeze them. Then apply the packet to the pain? Of course, then I read the instructions and realized that these packets contained a pain relieving gel that is to be applied directly to the skin. The name Freeze It refers to the way the gel makes your skin feel when you put it on.

Ok, so I have these samples, and now I need to use them. Do I have pain? Does anyone else in the family have pain? Luckily, Beth had spent the night with her friend Kayla, and sleeping on Kayla's couch had caused her neck and shoulders to be really sore. Not that I wish pain on anyone, especially my kids, but I needed to try this stuff! I rubbed it onto her neck and shoulders and told her to tell me how it felt and worked. It was a nice green gel with a very pleasant smell - not perfumey or anything, but menthol. It was easy to see where I was rubbing the gel, and then it dried quickly so I didn't have to worry about Beth leaning back and getting any on the furniture. The label says greaseless and non-staining, and I say that's very important!

More important? Does it relieve pain? Beth said that right away it got really cold, which felt pretty good. I guess that's where the Freeze It name comes from. She said it helped with her pain and made her feel better, so that's good. I didn't wash it all off my hand right away after rubbing it on her, and my fingers ended up feeling cool and tingly for a while. It was kind of a neat feeling, but since I didn't have any pain, I couldn't tell how it worked for pain. Since then I have read some of the Freeze It web site and noticed that someone is using it for Restless Legs Syndrome. I'm not sure I have RLS exactly, but sometimes my legs do some strange things. I'm looking forward to trying Freeze It for that - next time my legs start acting up.

We got a couple applications from one sample packet, so I think a little goes a long way with this. I think I would like to have the roll-on application. That just sounds ideal to me - I would be less likely to squeeze too much out like I did with the sample packets. Freeze It is available at many retailers and looks like a good value for the money. Affordable, convenient pain relief. I can appreciate that.

School Schedules

The kids got their school schedules in the mail yesterday, in preparation of school registration. They just don't let them forget that soon it will be time to go back to school - and here Cory's only been out of summer school for a week! Cory is taking French after all. Originally he had thought to take Spanish. But then he decided to take French because he likes the teacher. I guess that's as good a reason as any, but I think Spanish is probably more practical. After all, Spanish is on track to become our national language at the rate things are going. Kind of irritating, really, but that's another discussion.

Beth is taking some interesting classes this year, one of them being sign language. I personally think that should be offered for four years and qualify as a language. There is more of a chance that someone could use that for job purposes than some of the other languages. Oh well, she's more interested in interior design nowadays than in being a sign language interpreter. She used to be interested in that. Maybe taking the class will rekindle her interest. Or not

To Learn German

Cory was trying to figure out which language to take in school next year. Our school only offers two, which is one more than my school offered. The kids can take French or Spanish. If he was able to take German, I think signing up for the German Word Daily would be a fun way to learn some extra words or to reinforce the ones he learns in school. He could learn a new word every day with a fun video slideshow with pictures and pronunciation. Even if he can't use it for school, it could still be fun. Living this close to Milwaukee, it certainly couldn't hurt any of us to learn some words in German.

The Kids are Away

Cory is down the street practicing his band music with his friend Pam. We have a hard time getting him to practice on his own, but the two of them really seem to enjoy practicing together. Of course, there's the added benefit of Pam's cat, so Cory enjoys going there. The kids keep begging us for a cat, but we really don't want any more animals. They are more trouble than they are worth.

Beth is at Cristina's. She called a few times trying to figure out if the two of them could go to a movie and what car they could take and how they would pay for gas. Her dad is tired of her always wanting to go places and no one is paying for the gas. Once she actually starts getting paid, she should have gas money. The girls ended up staying home, because Cristina couldn't go after all. There are some cats over there, too. Beth was trying to convince us at dinner that she should be allowed to adopt one of their new kittens. She promised to pay for everything and take care of it and everything or we could get rid of it. Still, we really don't want any animals in the house.

So, the kids are away - and we don't even get to enjoy it. Jeffrey's on the phone with Linksys getting more and more frustrated all the time. Customer service? Yeah. Right.

Ask Jud

Check out this website! Ask Jud any question and get the answer. It's amazing. How does Jud know the answer to any question? Well, there is a secret, and you can only fool your friends if you don't tell them. Here's how I fooled my friends and made sure Jud answered all of their questions the way I wanted him to answer:

When you are typing in your "petition" press the period key (.), this will activate the "answer", now type in the answer to the question you are about to ask. The letters that you type do not appear on the screen, instead, the phrase "Jud, please answer" is printed in the input field. When you are done typing the answer, press the period key (.) again to return to normal typing. Finish the phrase "Jud, please answer:" Be sure to include the colon (:) and this will allow you to type your question. As soon as you put the question mark (?) in, Jud reveals the answer!

There's a rival site to askjud.com where, instead of asking Jud you ask peter - but you're going to have to find that one for yourselves!

Paperwork

Cory called to set up his appointment at Kelly Services so he can fill out his paperwork and be all employed - at least for a few days. He's on the phone, and comes out to ask me if 9:30 is alright. 9:30am? Tomorrow. I'm running things through my head trying to figure out any way to possibly make that work. Cory's not even usually out of bed by that time. Never mind. I can get him up earlier. But tomorrow is Friday. I can't take a quick shower. I need to shave my legs, and that's not quick. So, if we need to be like 45 minutes away at 9:30am, what time do we have to leave? I guess I could take him before my shower, but I really don't like going out in public like that. Yes, I go out walking like that, but that's excusable. Actually going somewhere? Not so much.

So he asked if we could go sometime in the afternoon. Anytime before 3pm. That works.

Travel Plans

I've never done much traveling. I've been to Mexico a few times and to Canada, though I don't remember that. Maybe someday - when the kids are grown and gone. I'm thinking traveling around Europe might be something the kids will decide to do. We knew some young people a while back who packed their backpacks and traveled Europe by rail. It sounded like so much fun and had me wishing I was young and could go along with them. I just never thought of doing anything like that - until they did. Of course, when I was younger, we didn't have the Internet to help plan a trip like that. Having the Internet and being able to look up stuff like France Rail Pass Information and being able to check prices and schedules ahead of time makes planning a trip so much easier - and makes the parents feel more comfortable, too. Rail Shopper explains everything, like which pass to get for going where and lots of other useful tips for traveling by train in Europe. I think it would take a while to read through all this information, and I would love to see a map of the train routes or something a like that because it would help me picture it better.

Wouldn't it be fun to map out a tour of Europe? I'll have to get the kids started planning, and saving.

The Kids are Gonna Work

It sounds like the kids are going to get to work practically every day at the Wisconsin State Fair. They're pretty happy about that, because they will make quite a bit of money. I can't remember how many days Beth worked last year, but she's getting more this year. Cory has band camp the first week of August, so he'll miss the opening day of the fair, but after that he's working too. At first Beth wasn't thrilled at all about her brother working too, since they will have to work together. It just doesn't make sense otherwise or there would be a lot of driving involved. This year, since Beth can drive, it will be nice. Last year, Jeffrey had to leave work to take Beth and Cristina to the fair and then pick them up after work. This year it sounds like they will be working the afternoon/evening shift, so Beth can drive down there and drive home after work. Cristina's working again this year, too, so the three of them will be working together.

We took Cory and got his work permit yesterday, so today he has to call Kelly Services and get an appointment set up to go fill out his paperwork. The girls already did that last year, so they're taken care of.

Beth is also working this week and next at the Italian/pizza place in Palmyra to cover for her friend Ali, who is on vacation. Last night was her first night. She was a little worried about not knowing what she was doing, though she did go in a couple of times with Ali to get some training. It sounds like she did fine, and the owner/manager (I'm not sure which) of the place offered her a regular job, two nights a week. So far she doesn't have anything else lined up, so this will be good. Two nights a week is better than nothing, and maybe plenty when school starts. Another good thing about it is, that if she's still working there during school, she can walk to work after school and doesn't necessarily need to drive. Yes, someone will have to pick her up after work, but that's ok.