Armona

Thu, 30 Sep 2004 16:47:33 GMT

We've lived here since May. We've had the same phone number since May. We still receive 3-5 phone calls a day as wrong numbers. They're all trying to get the bank. I finally asked someone today which bank they were trying to reach. She said Americrest, so I looked it up on their webpage. Apperantly, what's happening is they have one number to reach all the branches, and they have another number to reach customer service. People here in Oklahoma City are taking the prefix for the number to reach the branches, and mixing it up with the prefix of the customer service number, and getting our number. Not going to use real phone numbers, but the following is an example:
756-9494 - branch numbers (one number for 6 branches)
758-2732 - customer service number
756-2732 - our phone number

So technically, I can't call the bank and complain because they don't really have our wrong number listed. It's just people not getting it right. The only thing I can do is change my phone number, and I really don't want to do that. *sigh*

On a side note, Micah has been filling out applications, sending out resumes, and working on his portfolio. I so hope he gets a good job soon. He's so stressed out trying to get a job and pay our bills, it's hurting the whole family. But at least he's trying to find a job.

Sat, 25 Sep 2004 08:20:43 GMT

We just finished watching the Butterfly Effect. I hated it. Something about it deeply disturbed me. I'm not sure what, but I'm still thinking on it....

Brother!

Mon, 20 Sep 2004 21:10:04 GMT

I hate working with medicaid. We're always given the run around until finally I find someone who answers my question. First of all, they lost all the paperwork we mailed in to them at the beginning of August. So I had to rush like mad to gather it all again at the end of August so our benefits wouldn't be cut off. Of course, that meant a delay in benefits while they figured out whether we were still eligible. Not only that, but we were switched case workers to a fairly-new tight-assed guy who had to call and verify EVERYTHING!! It was dumb. Then my midwife orders some tests that can be covered by medicaid if I qualify. (Since I was newly pregnant, I had to go through a seperate process then what we mailed in, which they didn't bother to tell me until a week after I rushed around finding everything for them.) I called their 1-800 number and asked if I needed a doctor who's covered by medicaid's referrel if I wanted them to pay for it, and was told that they do. Then I called my case worker today to ask him a question about whether things went through or not, and was told that they had switched my medical to a different case worker, one who just started working there this week, is really no more then a temp, and is only taking care of my medical, whereas a different case worker is taking care of my food stamp money. And this case worker had no idea which end was up. Medicaid is seperated into three different coverages, and Sooner Care is Noah's, and so he had me call them to ask about the doctor I wanted to see. Turns out Sooner Care doesn't cover pregnant women, I'll be on straight medicaid, and I can self-refer for the tests. Which means I could have gotten them done three weeks ago, and I had asked this same question to two people at the DHS office, one person at Sooner Care, and another at the Health Service center, and it wasn't until this phone call to Sooner Care I finally get the correct answer. ARGH!!

Anyway, I feel better now that I've gotten that out of my system. I can go get my tests done tomorrow, and I can see my back-up OB about the stupid fungus on my finger, and we're all good to go.

Fri, 10 Sep 2004 03:46:37 GMT

Just to let everyone know, Micah's suddenly started insisting on waking up at 8 am and going to bed at 10 pm, so I don't get much computer time anymore.

Mon, 06 Sep 2004 04:25:15 GMT

Okay, so I received a pumice stone for my birthday. How do I use it? Wet or dry? There were no instructions....

Sun, 05 Sep 2004 15:34:38 GMT

I was woken up by a little whiny voice this morning saying, "I'm hungry, will you fix me breakfast?" Was it my two year old son? No, it was my 28-year old husband.

Sat, 04 Sep 2004 22:59:49 GMT

Great. Now not only do I have roaches in my garage that find their way into my house, but I have jumping spiders. Just what I wanted.

Sat, 04 Sep 2004 19:52:40 GMT

I felt the baby kick yesterday. The day before at the midwives, we could hear the baby move around with the doppler, and yesterday, I felt him/her. Later that day, I was laying down with Noah to get him to sleep, next to Micah, and Micah said hi to me. So I told him that I felt the baby move. He told me, "I felt mine move, too," and smiled. So I patted his round belly, told him that was great, and he went back to sleep. Obviously not quite awake. He only vaguely remembered it the next day. I thought it was hilarious.

Sat, 04 Sep 2004 06:01:28 GMT

Micah went to bed at 10:00 this morning. I got up at 11:30. He slept until 8:15 or so, and then got up and went to his parents around 9:00 to work on their computer. It's now 1:00 am, and he's not home yet. I've barely had anything to do with my husband all day.

Sat, 04 Sep 2004 05:58:52 GMT

I hate roaches. *shivers* I killed one and flushed him down the toilet, and now I can't pee, even though I know he was dead.

Sat, 04 Sep 2004 04:29:46 GMT

Take the quiz: "Are you an independent thinker?"

A Free Thinking Rebel
Congratulations. You are a free thinker and a rebel. You blaze the hardest trails. Not only do you dare to think your own thoughts in the face of pressure, but you will stand up for them and fight the crowd.

Sat, 04 Sep 2004 04:26:37 GMT

I picked up the Baby Whisperer book to read. I've heard some negative, some positive things, so I thought I'd see for myself. I'm only 3 pages into it, so no review yet. But kellymom.com has a review saying it's a lot like Ezzo and their schedule. So I've been thinking about "parent directed feeding" and have come to the conclusion that parents who do this really don't learn their kids. They don't try to take the time and figure out what they're babies are telling them, and what they need. They tell them. I think it comes down to that they don't trust themselves to be good parents without having control over it. It's sad. These people need someone to encourage them and tell them that they can do it, they can figure it out. They need support that is sadly and horrifically lacking in today's medical, spiritual, and all-around general world. That we think we need these "baby trainers" is a very sad commentary on our society.

Thu, 02 Sep 2004 18:49:21 GMT

There are no Birthing From Within instructors in my state. :(

Thu, 02 Sep 2004 16:42:51 GMT

I just found out my best friend probably has toxemia and will be induced this week. That sucks for her. Plus she's in Utah, so I won't be able to help her in any way. She's the type of girl who can do pretty much anything as long as she's surrounded by support, but if she's not, she does whatever anyone tells her to do. Ah, well. I just hope she and the baby will be alright. I thought about giving her a list of natural inducings so she could try that, but she probably won't want to spend the money on it. Hospital inducing is free. *sigh*

On the plus side, Micah sold his guitar for 1505, which is more then what he paid for it originally. (It helped that it's a specialty guitar that is no longer made.) But that money will catch us up on bills and buy Micah a new pair of badly needed glasses. Now if Micah can just snap out of this funk and actually start working....

I have a midwives appointment today. Micah has insomnia and stress, and didn't go to bed until 11:00 this morning (about a half hour ago, just as I was getting up) so he won't be going with us. Hopefully, the midwife is going to have Micah redo her kitchen floor and do some work in her backyard like building a new fence and knock some of the fee off. That'll be nice.

Wed, 01 Sep 2004 19:51:07 GMT

I decided today instead of just judging it, I would actually watch a whole episode of Boohbah and see if it was worth anything. It's not. It's incredibly stupid. They don't teach anything educational, and there's nothing of moral interest on there. It's awful. They even have kids present an offering to the story people. Brother.

Wed, 01 Sep 2004 18:00:13 GMT

We're trying underwear today. (On Noah, the rest of us already wear underwear.) Noah usually runs around naked, and does fairly well at potty training. But if he has a diaper on, he forgets to tell us. So I'm hoping that underwear, and only underwear, will do okay.

Wed, 01 Sep 2004 17:41:23 GMT

Unique Baby Boutique, where I'm a consultant, just switched over to Natural Family Boutique, and now have much more to offer for the whole family. I'm really not doing much with the company because there's too much going on in my life right now, but if you want to check it out, it's at http://www.naturalfamilyboutique.com/?Celeste. I've already got a list a mile long of what I want to buy for this next baby.

Wed, 01 Sep 2004 17:35:59 GMT

Well, DHS says they never received our application. Stupid. I'm blaming DHS more then the post office. So I had to run down there last night and fill one out so that our benefits wouldn't be completely shut off. Then I'd have to reapply, and that'd be a bigger mess. So now our benefits technically aren't shut off, but they're suspended until my application is processed. If Noah gets sick, I have to pay out of pocket for a doc, and then submit it myself to DHS for payment. It's so annoying. But ah well. At least I didn't get completely shut out.

Tue, 31 Aug 2004 16:47:31 GMT

Grrr. I hate dealing with DHS. I mailed in my benefit review report on Aug. 6th. I received 4 letters yesterday, dated Aug. 20th, with my old address (I changed it in the report I mailed in) saying that my benefits were being discontinued because I didn't return the report. The stupid thing is, I tried for 2 months to change my address through my case worker, and she never answered the phone and never returned my calls. And I know that I mailed the stupid thing in! And now I can't get ahold of my case worker. The letters say that I have to appeal within 10 days of the date of the notice, and that was yesterday. But because it had to be forwarded from my old address, I didn't get it until after 5 yesterday. My case worker had better return my call promptly, but I'm not holding my breath....

I hate DHS. Even worse, I hate having to rely on them for benefits....it sucks being poor.

Mon, 30 Aug 2004 02:28:40 GMT

I'm having a horribly depressed day. It's not like I'm depressed at one thing, I'm just depressed. I keep crying. I think I'm just really tired. I'm real short with Noah, too, which I feel horrible for as soon as I am. He's not feeling 100% today, and being real ornery, including throwing his plate of food on the floor. Micah's brother was in town, too, so I spent the weekend with his family. That may have something to do with it. *sigh* Micah went to go find us something to eat, as the only thing here that's ready to be cooked is leftover roast, and we had roast at his mother's house for lunch today. I'm really hoping that a good night's sleep will cure it.

Sun, 29 Aug 2004 17:19:21 GMT

I stayed up Friday night until 3:30 reading Anne of the Island, the last of the Green Gables series. I forget how much I love those books. When I read them, and someone talks to me, I always have a strong desire to answer anneishly, but I don't, because I know I would be looked at weird. I haven't stayed up to read in a long time, and it felt very nice. I even did it with a flashlight so that I wouldn't disturb Noah. Took me back to the days when my room was across the hall from my parents, and a flashlight was the only way I could read without them knowing it. Of course, they did know that I would do it, and would quite often open my door to catch me at it, and then take away my flashlight. I'd steal it back the next day, of course. My younger sister bought herself a package of three flashlights so that when one is taken, she has two more that she can use.

Thu, 26 Aug 2004 18:04:29 GMT

I don't know why I bother reading about Ezzo and his teachings, even if I am reading the anti-ezzo stuff. It just pisses me off to think that anyone could believe this is not only truly what is in the best interest of the child, but what God wants!!

Thu, 26 Aug 2004 17:47:50 GMT

The largest malpractice insurance in Oklahoma just announced this week that they will no longer cover doctors performing VBACs. Which means that 80% of doctors will now require women who have had a previous c-section to schedule another c-section with no trial of labor or anything. Some birth centers with CNMs will still do the delivery, but most of the OB backups and those onhand at the birth center won't be able to have anything to do with the birth. If you've already had a vbac, I think that you're still allowed a vbac, but if you haven't, you're screwed. Which really sucks because women really should have the option to vbac. I don't think a lot of the women will realize that homebirth is an option. It's really sad.

Thu, 26 Aug 2004 16:04:30 GMT

My husband finally put the guitar that he never plays up for sale. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3744569117&ssPageName=ADME:B:LC:US:1 Bid away!! It's an awfully sweet guitar.

Things I learned from my garden:

Mon, 23 Aug 2004 15:48:33 GMT

1. Don't plant so much okra. Each plant produces about one okra every day or so. Which means that we pick 50 almost every day.

2. Don't plant anything on the east side of okra. It's over 6 feet tall, and our beans aren't getting enough sunlight.

3. Make sure that the bush beans really are bush beans. We ended up having to pole our beans this year.

4. Watermelon needs lots of room. It took over the entire garden, and strangled out my cantaloupe.

5. Birds are a nuisance. Find some way of keeping them away from the fresh shoots. I lost more then a couple hills to them.

6. Wear long sleeve shirts, pants, gloves, and socks (with shoes) when picking okra. It hurts to rub up against the leaves and to hold the fruits.

7. Weeding when you're newly pregnant is no fun at all.

8. Plant at the right time.

9. Although having a garden is lots of fun, and a very cheap way to eat organic produce, I'm very sick of eating okra and summer squash with every meal.