Just the Facts, Ma'am

They've hired a teacher to replace Mrs. W, or so Mrs. W told me when she called me this evening. (She called because we didn't get to talk today during recess when I was volunteering and she wanted to catch up with me and how I think N is doing. Man, I'll miss her.)

The kids got the first of the year's three report cards today. Em got her usual: lots of 3s (at grade level) and even a few fours (above grade level). N got about half 3s and half 2s (approaching grade level). I think that's accurate in terms of the work he's brought home and that he does in class, but not accurate in terms of what I know he has inside him. Still, I was pleased, especially since he got all Es (Excellent) in the social/listening/cooperation category, with only one S (Satisfactory). They both got the traditional good-report-card presents (usually something vaguely educational), so everyone was happy.

I had lunch with two of my buddies/colleagues from ParentsConnect today. I love hanging with those guys. They're both brilliant and funny and interesting to talk to.

I had a session of my Reintroduction to Judaism class this evening, from 7:30 until 9:30, but I wound up hanging around and talking for another half hour. The time flies in that class. I'm not only learning boatloads of stuff, both trivial and substantive, but I leave there feeling almost physically full, what with all the food for thought it provides me.

I have more work and social commitments coming up in the next four or five days than any one person should even THINK about having.

NaBloPoMo is over. Let the slacking off begin.

The End Is Near

Tomorrow is the last day of the month, and it's sort of making me sad. Because, you know what? I've really enjoyed this whole NaBloPoMo thing. Like, a lot. As for NaNoWriMo? Not so much. Things got interesting at ParentsConnect for me this month (more work, more to my liking, changes a'comin'), and I just didn't have the time to churn out 50K worth of words on a piece that's pretty hard for me to focus on, what with it being about a topic that makes me either hyperventilate or want to hide in a cave.

In other words: I didn't get anywhere near 50K. I didn't even make 10K. But I did do some work on it this month, which is more than I can say for other months.

But back to the BloPo thing. I'm making no promises of continuing to blog daily forevermore. That's...unlikely. Highly. But I am going to try to blog more daily than not. Like, I'll take off the days like yesterday, where I realized at 11 pm that I hadn't put up a post and dashed one off, watching the clock, trying to get it in under the wire. Too much pressure, dude. It could have waited until this morning, you know? And I'll take off the days like today, where I'm in danger of boring you all to tears.

But otherwise, I want to consider this part of my daily to-do list. It helps me with the flow of ideas. It's nice to keep up with stuff, somewhat at least, for a change, rather than keeping a three-mile-long mental list of things I want to say and then never getting to them.

So, watch this space. I still have stuff to say.

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By the way, I'm closing in on 100,000 visitors. It'll take a few more weeks at my traffic's normal rate, but I'll get there, and maybe before the end of the year. So, how should I commemorate? Other authors send out copies of their books for things like this, but in my case, it seems sorta like a downer: "Hey, here's a book about mental illness for ya! Thanks for being my hundred thousandth visitor!"

In other words, suggestions will be much appreciated...especially by visitor number 100,000.

Glad That's Over With

[WAH! I had this post all written out, and then went to put N to sleep, and fell asleep on his bed with him, and so missed posting it yesterday, and now I'm worried that I'm going to be ruthlessly shunned by all other NaBloPoMo participants because even though I'm keeping the original posting date of the 13th, this really didn't go up until the 14th, and I feel so INADEQUATE! Damn that decision to be a mother; it screws up everything!]

So: My car. Nearly $900, a new water pump, a new radiator, an engine flush, a fluid replacement and an oil change later...It looks like I've been spared. There aren't that many times in my life when I will be willing to admit that dropping a grand (if you add in the cost of the rental car) is being "spared," but when you consider that I'm less than two months away from losing two-thirds of my salary, and a major engine overhaul would have probably meant we'd dump that car and get a new-to-us/used one instead, no doubt taking on SOME kind of monthly payment in addition to the health insurance we're now going to have to pay for...well, I call that spared.

I have been spending such an inordinate amount of time thinking about/worrying about/obsessing about money lately. And yet, I've come to realize, I'm kind of a hypocrite about it, because I don't really want to take anyone's advice on how to solve some of the problems-to-be, since that would involve doing things I don't want to do, and/or giving up on things I do want to do, like staying home.

It all came home to me about a week and a half ago, when I was working in the kitchen of my synagogue during Mitzvah Day, making ziti casseroles for families in our community who are in need. I was talking with one of my friends there, telling her about how I was losing my job, and she went straight into "I'm going to fix this for you" mode. And me? If I'd been furred, you'd have been able to literally watch my hackles rise. Instead of thanking her, I argued with her about how I really did have a plan, I really did have it under control, that I didn't have to give up my working from home just yet, that it would all work out in the end. I'm sure she was completely confused by my reaction; I know I was. In retrospect, I'm not even sure the words 'thank you for your concern, though' came out of my mouth at all.

Ah, well. It's not like any of this will stop me from kvetching about it constantly; I'll just have to watch who I kvetch TO. Like you guys. If you all start giving me advice I don't want, I can ignore you. It's harder to do that, though, when you're elbow-to-elbow in a small kitchen, hands sunk deep in marinara and ricotta cheese.

Ferget It

Sticking that NaBloPoMo post at the top here was interfering with Bloglines somehow, and annoying the crap out of me. So, never mind. I'm doing it. You'll just have to take my word for it.

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Our current health insurance is going to run out by the end of the year, unless we sign up for Cobra, which will run us...wait for it...over $1400 A MONTH for the four of us. This, at the same time that our family's for-sure income will be dropping to under two grand a month...less than we owe in mortgage payments. (That makes it sound more dire than it will be; I've always done ample freelancing, and expect to continue to do so. And Baroy's been working steadily on a freelance project that will continue into early next year. But none of that income is guaranteed, so while it's good to have, I can't really spend it on a month-to-month basis, you know?)

Let's just say that I'm not signing up for Cobra.

I did this whine in the past, when I thought I was quitting my job earlier this year, and it turned out OK; we ended up getting accepted at a fairly low monthly rate by Blue Cross on one of those huge out-of-pocket plans that would probably work out OK for us. But I've been hearing so many ugly stories about Blue Cross since then; about them pulling benefits retroactively on people for flimsy excuses. Considering N's disappearing/reappearing testicle and the Hernia That Wouldn't Leave, I see issues for us in the future.

Feh.

So...Have any of you recently applied for private insurance? Is ehealthinsurance.com (or whatever it's called) any good? Has anyone used a broker lately? I'm somewhat spoiled in that I really don't want to have to go Kaiser after years on a really good/expensive PPO; in fact, I'd rather stick with a PPO than an HMO, but I know that may not ultimately be possible.

Your advice is requested...and will be appreciated.

P.S. Could this post BE any more boring?
P.P.S. That was a rhetorical question, thankyewverymuch.