The Po Show

Standing on the East Coast, pointed toward California, and clicking my heels three times

Monday, January 28, 2008

Productivity

We had brunch in Brooklyn yesterday with a friend we haven't seen in about 6 years. She was in Ross' program at UCLA and was one of the group of people we hung out with in the early years of his grad school odyssey (which began, gack!, 14 years ago!!). We were childless back in those days, of course, and it was a great time to go out drinking and to parties and to football games at the Rose Bowl (with lots more drinking). We were the only married couple for several years, but over time many of our group met their matches, paired off, and married. For a long time, we were the only ones with a child, but now many of them have babies and toddlers too. One by one, the people in our group left town to go do field work in points around the globe, to take jobs after dropping out of the program (the Ph.D. biz just ain't for everyone, as many people discover), or just because they found something to do somewhere else. But those first few years were a lot of fun and I think of all those folks with fondness.

This friend is in New York for a few weeks, taking a class. She seemed much the same as she was when we last saw her in L.A. six years ago, very funny and sweet and with one of the loudest laughs I've ever heard. She's been living in Switzerland and Florida and various other places, and is thinking of moving to New York. She's still single, relieved that her brother and his wife are having a baby so that takes the pressure off herself, and she carries pictures of her little dog with her in her purse.

It's always weird for me to sit down and talk with people who knew me in my previous incarnation, back when I worked. I don't know what to say when they ask what I'm doing now. "Doing the stay at home mom thing" is what I usually say, with a certain amount of self-deprecation. Everyone always says, "Oh, that's great!" but then they don't know what to say after that.

But yesterday, I didn't really mind. It didn't matter that I didn't have a job to talk about, something to show that I was still a productive member of society, as I was back in the day. The two products of my life's work were sitting at the table, eating pancakes and playing their DSs, and they answer the question "So what have you been doing?"

Posted by: po / 8:34 AM

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Greetings from the Land of Phlegm

(Yeah, that title was for you, you know who you are ;).)

We've been doing pretty well so far this winter, illness-wise. Other than my and Tessa's 2 day bout of dysentery-like stomach horror around Christmas, my whole family has been keeping pretty healthy. Which is amazing considering the temperature fluctuations we've been having for the last several months. Usually warm-cold-warm-cold is just a recipe for sickness, but we've been managing to keep it at bay.

Now we've been hit with a bug that has swept its way through the ranks. Matthew started coughing a few days ago, a cough that got progressively more harsh and disgusting-sounding. Tessa picked it up, coughing in stereo. On Tuesday when I picked her up from school she was pale, and said, "I wanted to go to the nurse, but I made it through the day." Freaking trooper!

Yesterday they both looked awful in the morning. Matthew's throat was so raw that he could barely talk. I looked in his throat and his uvula was swollen twice normal size. So they both stayed home, and I took Matthew to the doctor for a strep test just in case. It was negative, thankfully.

By afternoon, I was sneezing and my nose was running and my throat was sore and my head felt like someone had smacked me with a two-by-four. Lovely. I downed Airborne and sucked on Cold Ease, but it was obviously too late. Today I feel like I'm looking at everything from underwater.

Matthew told me just now that he is feeling "completely better." Tessa was well enough to go to school today (though just before leaving she suddenly announced that she had a stomachache, despite the fact that she'd been dancing and hopping around five minutes earlier). They are so much more resilient than I. I feel like crawling into bed and staying there for a week. Instead I'm doing four loads of laundry.

Ross just called a little while ago, and he's obviously got it. He just got back from a 2 day trip to DC last night, and seemed fine. But today he says that he's completely congested and is having trouble breathing. He was waiting for me to look up something online for him, and I told him that he sounded like an obscene phone call, with all the heavy breathing :D.

I know there are good and reasonable reasons for why humans produce so much mucus when they are sick, but I just think there could have been a better way.

Posted by: po / 10:35 AM

Monday, January 21, 2008

MLK

Sleep,

Sleep tonight,

And may your dream

Be realized.

On Friday after school, Tessa said she was making a poster for the holiday. She busily set about drawing, and taped her creation to the wall. I went to look at it, and it was a large grey headstone, with "Martin Luther King Jr." on it. A wee bit morbid, but I thought it was touching.

We've spent a lot of time thinking about Dr. King around here. Tessa chose, for her very first formal book report, a biography of the great man. I think Matthew's first book report in first grade was on a book about a bunny who gets lost in the snow. Tessa chose a biography, written to about the third grade level, I'd say, with concepts like segregation and racism and assassination. She read the whole thing, and filled out the question sheet, and then made a mobile out of paper plates. On the center plate is a picture of Dr. King (a color side shot of him, pointing out at the crowds in front of the Lincoln Memorial, fanned out around the reflecting pool, out to the Washington Monument, with a wide smile on his face), and the other four plates each feature a star with a word in the center that describes her subject. The plates read "great," "helpful" [this was supposed to be "helpful to the world" but she didn't have room in the star], "African American," and "brave." It's a tremendous mobile, with pieces of string connecting each of the paper plates.

If the thundercloud

Passes rain,

Then let it rain.

Rain down on him.

Posted by: po / 3:16 PM

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Fricking American Idol

I pay no attention to much of pop culture. I don't know what's going on with Brittany or Paris. I still am not totally clear on who Jessica Simpson is or why she became (in)famous. I don't care.

I have never watched American Idol. I recognize it as a cultural phenomenon that has spawned many imitators. That's the extent of my relationship with American Idol.

TILL NOW :p. I had all my ebay auctions end on Tues. and Wed. night this week. A lot sold BIN, but many others had no bids or were around opening bid coming into their last day. Sometime last weekend, I found out that AI was premiering its new season on Tues., and I was a little perturbed, because it's standard ebay wisdom not to end on "big TV" nights. I wasn't too upset, though, because I've had plenty of auctions end on AI nights over the past few years. I mean, there are weeks when it's on practically every single weeknight, so it's hard to avoid at certain times. I honestly didn't notice much of a difference.

Well, I think the difference this time was that it was the season premiere, and with the writer's strike a lot of people have been starved for new TV. Because on Tuesday night, I literally received no bids while the show was on EST. Then my auctions ended. I can see maybe a little effect, but NO bids? Last night, I did receive bids, but very very few and my auctions did pretty crappy overall. I had a couple of GORGEOUS outfits (like, complete with a sweater and hair accessories, in perfect condition) go for next to nothing. I'd say all of them went for less than they should have. Lots of auctions didn't sell at all, on both nights.

Someone told me that they saw some special on MSNBC talking about the effect of AI on ebay. They showed a graph of ebay sales, and there was this ENORMOUS dip in sales during the hours that AI was on. Crazy. It's obvious too, since ebay put up a listing special yesterday, offering 20 cent listing fees, to encourage people to list during the "dead zone" of AI.

I am so sad. I usually think of the money I make on Tessa's clothes as a "bonus," since she wore them and we enjoyed them. But this time I NEEDED the money :(. At least I can relist the things that didn't sell (NOT on AI nights!) and hope to do better.

I am just blown away that this stupid show (sorry Susanna, I know you used to be a big fan and possibly still are :)) still has such an impact!

Posted by: po / 7:29 AM

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Tummyache

My stomach really hurts, and has done so for about four days now. I keep thinking about all the people I know whose gall bladders went south. I have all of those symptoms. I'm also thinking ulcer, since I have all of those symptoms too. I've tried acid reducers and gas reducers and stuff to coat and soothe. Nothing is making an appreciable difference, and damn, it really hurts.

What I think it really is, is stress. I've been flipped out about money for a week now, and it's taking a toll. You see, I was counting on that insurance reimbursement that didn't come, and we're going to be short this week when I have to pay a credit card bill online on Wednesday. For approximately one full day, we will officially be overdrawn. Ross' paycheck will be deposited in our account very late on Thursday night/very early Friday morning.

I think we'll be okay, since there are three large outstanding checks (all to the therapist and psychiatrist) and at least two of them probably won't clear by Friday. Mental health is expensive, but at least they cash our checks really slowly.

So I've been checking our checking account online incessantly (even over this weekend, though nothing ever happens over the weekend). I ran around last week returning a few things that I could return, to get our account credited (since credits reduce the amount that must be paid from our last statement's balance). I put up all of Tessa's spring/summer clothing on eBay; some of it has already sold Buy It Now and I've been paid for many of the items. It's still not enough. Yesterday, too late I think, I hit upon the idea that I *should* have bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner or something and then returned it, to have that as a credit on the account. That would have covered it. But I'm afraid that it's too late for that now, that a credit wouldn't hit by Wednesday.

I can't tell Ross about this. I just can't get into another big "why don't we have any money" thing with him. It is ridiculous for us to have financial concerns. He makes a substantial amount of money (though certainly not a substantial amount by Manhattan standards). We live pretty frugally. We never go out and do stuff. We have crappy old furniture. I bargain shop as a way of life. Yes, I know that Tessa has WAAAAAY too much clothing, but I bargain shop the hell out of it all, and I make back a very sizable proportion, selling it all later.

I shouldn't have this burning volcano in the middle of my stomach, wondering if this payment is going to go bouncing around the room. I shouldn't, but I do.

Posted by: po / 5:51 PM

Friday, January 11, 2008

Gravel in 2008!! LOL!

So here are the results of my presidential matching quiz:

95% Mike Gravel
93% Dennis Kucinich
83% John Edwards
80% Barack Obama
78% Joe Biden
78% Chris Dodd
75% Hillary Clinton
68% Bill Richardson
37% Rudy Giuliani
28% Ron Paul
26% John McCain
20% Mitt Romney
19% Mike Huckabee
15% Tom Tancredo
8% Fred Thompson

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

I guess I agree with his platform, even if he is a crazy old coot :D. Man, I knew I was a commie pinko, but this really brings it home. Hey, Gravel/Kucinich 2008, my dream ticket :D

Posted by: po / 9:43 AM

Monday, January 07, 2008

I Think I'm Going to be Sick

The claim I submitted for Matthew's therapy visits in Nov. got denied. I called to find out why, and was told that we had exceeded the maximum visits allowed in a calendar year. I hadn't been told there was a maximum number, but yes, it was 30.

I totaled up the amounts for all of his visits in 2007, and how much we got reimbursed by the insurance company.

We paid: $5,850
They paid: $1,372.52

So now I got a new authorization number, and we can start submitting claims again for this calendar year. We have to pay a $1,000 deductible first before they start paying. However, as I found out last year, it's $1,000 of *their* share. So, for example, a visit to the psychiatrist is $250 (he goes every 3 weeks). The maximum amount allowed for a visit is $200. Of that, they pay $140. So for a $250, only $140 goes towards the deductible. A visit to the therapist is $175 (he goes once a week). The maximum amount allowed is $120. Of that, they pay $84, so only that much goes toward the deductible. So by the time we've hit the deductible amount, we've paid about twice that much, or over $2,000. Then they start paying, up to 30 visits.

He absolutely needs this, and it's helped tremendously, but my stomach is in absolute knots. I was really counting on getting the money back from the last claims, and the thought that we have to get back up to the deductible again before we see any reimbursement makes me want to throw up.

And we have GOOD health insurance!

Posted by: po / 7:05 AM

Saturday, January 05, 2008

And A Happy New Year

Hey, I'm back! We had a great trip to SoCal, despite the stomach flu from hell. Matthew did so well, and even had his very first sleepover with the cousins. He tried a million new foods, including chicken pot pie, BBQ chicken pizza, prime rib, brie and gouda, and several kinds of nuts. Unbelievable!

I'm here to share some Tessa-isms that occurred since we got home (super late on Wed. night).

1. Yesterday after school she sat down and drew and cut out a paper snowman. She said that later she would make a snowwoman, so that he could have a wife. Then she said she would make a snowdog, so that while the snowman was at work, his wife wouldn't be lonely. When I recounted this story, Ross asked her why the snowwoman couldn't have a job and go to work too, and she scoffed, "She NEEDS to stay and take care of the house. They are going to have snowchildren someday, you know!" Damn, I really need to go back to work.

2. Today, we were making a tie dye placemat, as part of the wonderful craft kit she received from our dear friends the Coconuts. While it was soaking, she made a sign that said "Watch the Tie Dye" and proceeded to walk around the house, telling us all that we could come watch the tie dye. Ross walked over to look at the bowl, and she showed him the place she had set up, for tips. She wanted him to leave some money, for the privilege of watching the tie dye.

3. Later this morning, she got all in a huff over something minor, sending her into one of her whining/wailing jags that make me want to rip off my ears and put them down the garbage disposal (if we had a garbage disposal). She really can't be cajoled or threatened out of these spells; she just has to work through it on her own. I was starting to lose it, though, so Ross suggested I take Matthew out to lunch. At best, it might bring her out of the funk and she would want to come along. At least, it would let me escape the sound of her whining.

When I told her that I was leaving to take Matthew out, she really got upset. Finally we came to the agreement that if I stayed with her (and Ross took Matthew out), she would stop whining. She continued to sit in the corner, and she took a piece of paper and started drawing. While I was sitting at my desk, she crawled over and slipped a folded piece of paper toward me. At the top it read "B.M.E." then "Best Mom Ever" with a round panda bear sticker in the "O" of Mom. There was a pink heart with a rose stamp. There was an outline of her hand, with

"I (heart) you
My love more valybolw (valuable) than"

and a picture of a treasure chest, with gold, pearls, diamonds, and rubies in it.

I think it's going to be a good year.

Posted by: po / 9:57 AM

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