Another Year Over

Well, together and apart, we made it through another year. I don't know anyone who isn't glad to put this year behind us.

Tonight, we'll order Chinese food, then I'll celebrate as I do pretty much every New Year's Eve - including the all the previous non-COVID ones: away from the crowds, and because it is just as unappealing to me (and pointless, besides) - away from watching the crowds, if there are any, on tv.

Instead, I'll sit in the sometimes comfort of my home, maybe read a little, maybe do nothing more than sit and listen as the clocks tick. I’ll think about those I love. I'll think about those I'm lucky enough to have in my life. I'll think about those I carry with me every day- whether they are physically near or not.

In other words, I’ll treat tonight pretty much like every other night.

I hope your News Year Eve is, or was, a happy, healthy and safe one. And I hope your New Year’s Day - and the days and months that follow - are happy, healthy and safe ones, as well. Here’s to the hope of a better year ahead.

 

Merry Christmas

 

Santa has just finished his handiwork and as soon as it's quite upstairs, Santa will leave candy under the mini-tree in the upstairs hall plus a few more pieces on Sam's nightstand, and on his Dad's nightstand, as well. Then, finally, it's off to bed for me...

Merry Christmas.

Another Christmas Eve...

 Another letter to Santa.

Here's a closer view (as always, you can click to enlarge)...

Normally, I would  post some commentary - but while it may not be very late for someone like Santa (who still needs to write a reply), it is indeed very late for me. 

So for now, I hope you have a merry Christmas and that Santa answers all your letters, too.

Early Morning Weather

Here's the view from my living room window. This photo taken at six this morning (it's now twelve past six). As you might be able to see, it's snowing outside. 

Originally, this snowstorm was predicted to be a coastal storm - and since I live nowhere near the coast, it was predicted that we would get as much as two inches of snow. That prediction was a few days ago. 

About a day and a half ago, the prediction started to change. Last I looked (about twenty minutes ago) we're now "predicted" to get somewhere around twelve to eighteen inches (kind of a wide range, if you ask me). 

This is just the kind of day I would pray for when I was in elementary school. An unplanned day of vacation. A reprieve from the monotony and slow torture of the school day. So, there's some distant comfort in that.

If I didn't have to shovel a long driveway, and if I didn't have to drive - or worry about other people driving, if everyone were home, sitting comfortably and safely together - I would find it kind of pretty - especially right before Christmas.

Still, Sam has talked about possibly building a snowman - so there's that.

Now it's six-twenty-seven. It's still snowing outside and the wind is blowing, making it hard to tell how much snow has already fallen. Judging by the snow on the fence, it looks to be about five to six inches. 

According to my calendar, winter is officially arrives in four days. 

The wind is blowing.

And it's still snowing outside. 

***

Late Update: 

About a foot of snow by 11:00.

Christmas Spirit

When I was a little kid, the Christmas season had officially arrived when the Captain Kangaroo album was pulled out of the record cabinet. I loved this album. I would play this record in the darkened living room, lit only by the lights from the Christmas tree - and I would lay on the living room floor, staring up at the ceiling, watching the shadows and kaleidoscope colors cast from the tree as the music played.

Sometimes, as I lay there, I would pretend I was riding in the back of a horse-drawn sleigh with the Captain and his side-kick, Mr. Green Jeans, sitting up front. I would tag along as they steered the sleigh under nighttime skies, through forests and snow covered fields - laying back while drinking in their sweet, sweet holiday tunes. Ahhh… the life.

Many years and many non-Captain Kangaroo Christmases went by before I eventually heard the album again. I remember that night well. It was an evening when I was visiting my sister, Sandy. We were sitting in her then nearby apartment, making small talk when, at one point, she pulled out this album and said, “Look what I have!”. I was thrilled. It must have been about twenty-five years since I had last sipped the sweet nectar from this treasured memory.

Then, she played the record.

In hindsight, I should have known something was up. As Sandy put the record on the record player, she kept glancing over at me. Then she sat down across from me - and kept watching me as the record began to play. It took a few seconds, and then… What was this I was hearing? Could this be the same record album I treasured as a little kid? 

I sat there, bewildered, struggling to let this sink in. I looked over at Sandy. She had a sour, sad expression on her face - the kind of expression someone makes when they watch you swallow something they know is unpleasant.

Yikes. This "music" was not as "polished" as I remembered.

What happened to the festive, high-quality, dynamic vocals from the front of the sleigh? This sounded as if the Captain and his friend were struggling to find and hang onto the melody. Their voices oscillated around the general vicinity of the tune and occasionally they even landed on it. But...wow. 

As I listened, I no longer felt as if I were riding in that sleigh from long ago. Rather, it felt more like we were all being dragged along by it.

Ahhh... Oh well. At least whatever the Captain and Mr. Green Jeans lacked in quality, they more than made up for in enthusiasm. 

Despite this traumatic experience, to this day, this record still holds fond memories for me. Admittedly, I don't listen to the music very much - but I sure enjoy looking at that cover.

To share this joy experience, every year I post one of these clips. This year, I present not one, but two THREE(!) clips for your listening pleasure. 

(Tip: It might enhance your listening experience if, while playing these clips, you lay on the living room floor and stare at the ceiling. Christmas tree lights are not required.)

A Brief Post Script

As a followup to the last post, I should mention that I called the Department of Health again and, after getting cut off after being on hold for about twenty minutes due to "technical difficulties" ("We thought we had that fixed," I was later told), I spoke to someone about my issue (or rather, Sam's issue) with the state health insurance. 

I relayed how I was told that Sam shouldn't even be a part of this program, not if he already has private health insurance (I don't think I bothered to tell her that I was told this by two separate people). Her response: "I don't know who told you that, but that's wrong." I was shocked.

I won't make a long story even longer but I'm sure everything has now been completely resolved and no more phone calls will ever be necessary again. Ever.

Things I'm not Looking Forward to

I hate making phone calls like this.

A couple of weeks back, I had to call the state's Department of Health. It was one of those phone calls that started out for one reason and ended up somewhere else entirely. 

A couple of years ago, when Sam applied for, and was accepted for, assistance through SSI, this acceptance automatically enrolled him in the state's healthcare plan. It's not that he needed the state's healthcare - he was and is covered by private insurance (and will be, hopefully, for another couple of years). But this, apparently, is the way the system works. 

At the time, I called and pointed this out and was told that, even so, he should stay on the state plan - if for no other reason than to have it as a backup. And also, when he does eventually age out of the private insurance, this will already be in place. Fine, that makes sense. Sounds easy enough. Then the paperwork showed up.

For what turned out to be this first packet of paperwork, we (and by "we" I mean "me") had to choose a plan. This involved selecting the right plan from buffet containing a myriad of mysterious codes and just as mysterious providers. Importantly (too us, at least), we had to find a plan that his current doctor accepted. (I won't go into the details on all of this because, first of all, I don't remember all of the details and second of all, of the details I do remember, I don't understand them.)

Anyway, Sam and I filled out the paperwork (well within the time frame, it is important to note) and trotted this packet off to the post office. Literally, the very next day, another packet arrived. This packet contained information about the provider and plan the state had gone ahead and assigned to Sam. Needless to say, this was a doctor in practice we weren't even remotely familiar with. (Given Sam's history, I'm really not interested in getting up to speed with someone who is unfamiliar with his lengthy history.)

This meant a phone call to the state- a call meant to switch Sam to a plan that was carried by his then (and still) current physician. The conversation went nowhere. The person on the other end couldn't even talk to me - at least not about anything specifically related to Sam - unless Sam gave his written permission. As I recall, this also meant they weren't interested in talking to me about any general issues, either. 

In any case, a waiver was faxed to me for Sam to fill out, giving the State permission to talk to me about Sam (and, I assume, to talk to me in general). This faxed-to-me waiver could not, for some reason, be faxed back. It could only be mailed back. So Sam and I filled out the faxed-to-us waiver and mailed it back to the state and after waiting what I assumed was the appropriate amount of time, I called the state again. I got nowhere. This time, they could talk to me - but ultimately, the plan didn't get switched. By the time we got confirmation, Sam was out of his annual re-enrollment period - so that was it for another year.

Rather than fight it (further) I decided to let it ride. We were several years away from having to worry about it and if the state insisted on assigning Sam a doctor that we were never gong to visit, that was up to them. As long as Sam could continue see his regular doctor, under our private health insurance, that was the important thing. Besides, I had more burning issues occupying my time (Hello IEPs! Hello transitioning out of school! Hello SSI and MRC and DDS - and finding Sam a job! Hello everyone and everything Sam related!).

So the years have rolled by and the clock continues to tick. Every year, his annual change of enrollment period comes around and we get a packet which, it says, we can ignore if we don't want to make any changes. At least once, if not twice, I called to make the changes and was met with the usual success - which is to say, none. And since those more immediate issues were still burning brightly, those are the issues that I, with my dwindling amount of sanity, focused on.

This year, I felt I had enough breathing room (Ha!) to try and tackle it again (Ha!). So when the annual notification for Sam's change of enrollment showed up, I made the call. This was the phone call of a couple of weeks ago - the one that started off in one place and ended up in another place entirely.

So, for the first time in what felt like years, I made the call to once again get Sam's plan switched. Somewhere along the line of talking to whomever it was I was talked to, it came out that Sam is also covered under private insurance(!). Why this is surprising, I don't know. It was, after all, not only brought up by me in the past, but also, it was noted somewhere in that original packet we had to fill out and mail back. Apparently though, they can't find that original packet(!) and shockingly, the state doesn't have detailed notes from any of my previous phone calls. But it's not a complete loss. Thankfully, they at least have Sam's mailed-in (not faxed-in) waiver.

In that most recent phone call, I ended up talking to at least three different people, each time being switched to the next person by the person before. At least two of those people told me that Sam shouldn't even be on the state health insurance if he already has private insurance. I was told that I (meaning "Sam") need to wait until Sam (meaning "Sam") ages out of the private insurance (in two years) and then, at that point, call and enroll him in a state plan (which, I was NOT told, I am sure will go smoothly). 

The thing is, this "not needing the state plan" contradicts not only what I was told multiple times previously but also, I know of at least one of his close-to-the-same-age/close-to-the same-situation friends that has both private and, weirdly, a state plan.

I asked both of those aforementioned "at least two of those people" several if this was correct, that he shouldn't be on a state plan - and both were very clear that, no, he shouldn't be - clear enough, anyway, where both of those nice people were getting not-quite-as-nice by my repeated, just-to-be-sure, questioning. Each of them assured me that, not only was this correct (and not simply their uninformed opinion, as it was implied, I think by me), but that I would get a letter in a couple of weeks, stating this to be the case. 

Ok, if you say so.

This letter came in Saturday's mail.

(Side note: Why do I always get these kinds of letters on Saturdays - when there is no one I can call and instead can only stew on it for the rest of the weekend? Coincidence? Or part of that vast right-wing conspiracy designed to make my life even more miserable than it already is (which, by the way, if this is the reason, it's working)?

Anyway, the letter does indeed confirm the private insurance, but down at the bottom, there's this paragraph (emphasis mine):

"When you obtain health care services from a doctor, hospital, pharmacy, dentist, or any other [State Healthcare] provider, you must show your other insurance card along with your [State Healthcare] card. [State Healthcare] requires that you use the other insurance first, and follow the other insurer's policies and authorization before using your [State Healthcare] benefits."

Maybe I'm reading this wrong but this strongly implies that a person who has private health insurance also has [State Healthcare] (emphasis  mine). 

So it's back on the phone for me. I hate making these kinds of phone calls. I have two years left to get this straightened out - and I'm beginning to think this won't be enough time.

Things I'm Looking Foward to in 2021

1) A (hopefully) less insane direction for this country (however slightly).

2) The end of the pandemic (also hopefully).

3) This... 

This Past Week

I didn't take any pictures of Thanksgiving - or of decorating the tree. Instead, here's a picture of a bird sitting in a tree.

 

Generally speaking, if I don't post, it's either because I've been too busy - or because I haven't been busy at all. I think the reason I haven't posted much this time is more to do with the former than the latter - but I'm not one hundred percent certain on that.

Thanksgiving came and went in it's usual blur - several weeks off planning a meal (well, two, at least), this year with a self-induced reduced grocery shopping schedule. Tuesday before Thanksgiving was spent driving down to pick up Rachael. Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, was spent baking - four pies (two pumpkin and two chocolate pudding), four double batches of party mix (two spicy Chex mix, two ranch-style oyster cracker mix), preemptively baking several pounds of sweet potatoes - and maybe something else. I can't remember.

Thursday, Thanksgiving, was dedicated to stuffing and baking the turkey with my patented "It's getting done too quickly/ I don't think it's cooking fast enough" technique. This, combined with the aforementioned sweet potatoes, some mashed potatoes (of the 'white' variety), and, with the help of Sam, some green beans (cooked in the pressure cooker) and gravy with sliced mushroom (not cooked in the pressure cooker) made up our mid-day Thanksgiving meal. Oh, and crescent rolls. Plus cranberry sauce (which required me to open not one, but two cans). (As I write this, I just realized that I never opened up and put out the olives. I'll have to remember to send them home with Helaina next time she's over).

After our Thanksgiving feast, we managed to go for a long walk. Dinner consisted of eating the pies.

Friday was dedicated to getting our Christmas tree. Unlike in years past, the tree farm was VERY  crowded. Also unlike in years past, I think it took us all of five minutes to find the tree we wanted - a pre-cut tree, allegedly - or at least presumptively - grown at this very same tree farm. This specimen was standing not too far from the overcrowded entrance making it a fairly quick in-and-out. The rest of Friday was spent doing... something, I'm assuming. Most likely eating left-overs. Possibly even something else. It's kind of a blur.

On Saturday, we decorated the tree. Afterwards, we ate (again), I loaded Jake up with food before he headed back out (did I mention Jake made it up? Did I mention Helaina was home?) and then we, or at least me, collapsed.

Sunday morning was spent down the basement - first, trying to clear off the table buried somewhere under a bunch of "stuff", then finding and digging out the Christmas wrapping paper from somewhere else in the basement, and finally, finding and digging out the presents stashed in various places throughout the basement, cleverly hidden among all the crap treasures down there to fool any would-be burglars into thinking the place has already been ransacked and thus they would be wasting their time by trying to rob us. (This assumes that anyone breaking in isn't (criminally) insane enough to already notice that they are surrounded but nothing but piles of crap treasures). 

Anyway, it was at about this point where I realized that I had somehow thrown out my back (one of the few things we throw out). I lasted long enough to wrap a few presents - and then I gave up.

My back is still in less-than-ideal condition but I'm expecting it to feel better any minute now. Once it does, it'll be back down the basement for me, back to wrapping presents. Once that's done, I can start to think about what to make for Christmas dinner.