Monthly Archives: September 2014

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Sticker shock at the orthodontist today

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Allyson finally had enough baby teeth fall out that she could see the orthodontist So before I made the appointment i learned Dr. Herr (in Arnold) had retired but someone has taken over his practice. The new guy is still there Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and then up north on thursday and Friday. So we went today and as we were driving there I was thinking about Kayla’s x-rays. Her bottom teeth touched the roof of her mouth so her mandible was jutted so far forward Dr. Herr was concerned and said it was a good thing she came in when she did. Well Allyson’s x-ray was even worse. Her front top and bottom teeth came together in such a way that it looked like she had a bird’s beak going on. Rather freaked me out and the doctor too. But when he evaluated Allyson mouth it turned out it was more the way she held her teeth but her jaw  was in good alignment. She still has four baby teeth, three of which are molars. She is 13 1/2 and he did not recommend waiting until they finally fall out as they are impeding her jaw bone from growing evenly so her teeth look like they have hills and valleys. He said she can get the bands on first if the dentist can’t get her in. So tomorrow I will call for that appointment.

The benefit lady told me that they have Allyson’s birthday wrong with our dental insurance. So it took her a while to get our benefits. She tried arguing with me that I had a 1500 lifetime max. I said no we have crazy insurance and have 1500 a year to spend however so if I put it all towards braces then preventive care will be out-of-pocket. She was convinced I was crazy. Well when she came back, guess who was right? Yeah me. She said that it was the craziest thing she ever heard of. I said tell me about it, it’s the third time I have dealt with it and it makes it really difficult to determine how much will be paid towards braces. So since she will have them on for two years I can get two years worth and we agreed on having the insurance cover 2000 giving me 500 a year for preventive care etc. There is a chance that two of Allyson’s bottom permanent teeth will have to come out in six months which will then make the braces stay on 30 months instead of 24. I told you her teeth were a mess. So what is the final cost of these braces you ask.

FIVE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS! So I will be paying 3300 out-of-pocket. It’s a good thing Kayla is going to community college this year. These kids cost a small fortune. I thought diapers and formula were bad. Emily’s braces 12 years ago was 3500 and Kayla’s were 4200. Thank God I don’t have any more kids because I would have to tell them you can have crooked teeth and learn how to be a ventriloquist. Haha just kidding. Well sort of!

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The best laid plans always go awry

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Such is the life with moles. Today was teacher development day (which prior to attending school board meetings, I always thought was teacher goof off day. However,I know for sure the principal’s have to lay out a plan to improve all the scores in their school and present to the board in two months so I imagine they will use this day for that.) Anyway, Allyson was off of school so we made plans over the weekend to go apple picking at Eckert’s and then see the Cahokia Mounds today. We saw both places earlier this summer only long enough to take a picture with the cake and we wanted to come back and enjoy the day. So we made it to Eckert’s and had fun picking the apples. I think we brought home close to 17 pounds. So I have already made applesauce and have pie crust chilling in the fridge. So I looked up the address to Cahokia Mounds to GPS our way there. And guess what they are closed on Monday and Tuesdays so we couldn’t even go. Everything I ever plan seems to turn into a big fiasco! It’s why I never entertain or leave the house. Ok so I am really antisocial and I am blaming it on bad luck. BAHAHAHA.

We had a good day and have decided we will see the mounds on the weekend and drag Brian along. I am sure he would really enjoy that Indian stuff too. One thing about driving all over creation to find cakes is we have seen a lot of places we never knew existed and want to go back and visit them!

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My first 5K in a year!

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IMG_5613The last time I ran a race was a year ago when I did the ROC (families run for ovarian cancer)run. I did walk (barely) for the RASCALS 5K run with Allyson about a month later. Since then I have been pretty much battling plantar fasciitis or recovery from surgery. And I’m going to be brutally honest I am sick of it! I am sick of my foot hurting pretty much every day. I haven’t really talked about it much because if left unspoken, it really isn’t happening. However, it is. There was about a two-week period where my foot felt great and then it went all to hell. And now by the time work ends both of my feet are hurting and I’m cussing because they wouldn’t amputate my foot like I wanted. I know my left foot is only acting up because I am back gimping on my right. And it’s not the plantar fascitiis pain either. (Of course it isn’t , it’s me I’m talking about). The outside of my right foot hurts because I think I’m rotating out when I walk to avoid the incisional pain. So I switched shoes and that  helped a little. Then I found my 700 custom orthotics and wore those. Now that really helped the arch of my foot but really bugged my heels on both feet. I cannot win for losing. However, this is all I am going to say on the subject. Oh and please if you are thinking she should just quit running that’s not even the issue. Besides today I haven’t run or did any kind of distance in three weeks and I still have pain. Also think about what you love most and never do it again. It freaking sucks BIG TIME.

So anyway I decided I was doing the run today and if I can’t walk tomorrow so be it. This is the third year in a row I have done this race and it is amazing. The sea of tea colored shirts is awesome and its nice to run besides women who are surviving ovarian cancer. The floor I work on, I take care of ladies with ovarian cancer. I see them when they are first diagnosed after surgery and sometimes never again. While I was running I thought of my most favorite patient who is now in heaven. I also thought about my first one who is now ten years in the survivorship. And there have been many more along the way. It kind of put a few things in perspective. My feet might hurt to the point of amputation but at least I am not dying or fighting one of the worst cancers ever. I’m looking forward to next years run as well. Who knows I may be in a wheelchair by then but I will be there!

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You’ve got to be kidding me!

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I may have used this title before but it’s a good one so who cares.

Anyway yesterday I was working on my cake photo book (hyper-focused, not OCD) and went to the http://www.stl250.org website to look up something about the Ameristar Casino cake and lo and behold they have added another cake. So now there are two to grow on. This one is located up north at Express Scripts. I had read somewhere that they may end up putting a total for four to grow on cakes out before the end of the year. Ok this is so out of control. How can I totally focus on the Fox superintendent fiasco when I still have cakes distracting me.

Nothing else exciting happening in the mole household. Brian called me at three today to ask me to bring his golf clubs up to the golf course. For the first time ever, he forgot and left them at home. I am telling you, getting older sucks!

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The day at Six Flags

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When the girls were younger we had season passes to Six Flags. After a few years we pretty much stopped going so I stopped buyingg them. Allyson has wanted to go all summer so I had decided by the time Fright Fest would roll around my foot would be ready for it. Over Labor day weekend they ran a special for a season pass for next year plus free parking for 50 dollars. Regular admission price is 45 and parking is outrageous at 20 bucks a visit. So I bit the bullet and bought Allyson, Kayla and I passes. Well today we decided to go and activate them. The park had hardly anyone there so there was no waiting. So within 90 minutes we had ridden Ninja, Mine Train, Boomerang, Superman and Screaming Eagle. Ok I am not sure what I was thinking because after the screaming eagle I had to go to the bathroom and vomit. And by vomit I don’t mean once or twice, it was multiple times. And let me just say I can barely tolerate McDonald’s coffee and coming back up was ten times more bitter than going down. I was done after that and the kids rode Mr. Freeze by themselves. It was about the time I finished  when I remembered why I stopped going to Six Flags. It can be summed up in four words! I AM TOO OLD! When I was younger my dad took my sister and I to Six Flags every summer. We would arrive when it opened, and stay until closing. I have no idea how he did this. And probably about five years after the screaming eagle opened (I was 9 when it opened and we waited 2 1/2 hours to ride it) we rode it 8 times in a row. I don’t even think I could ride it twice now without my head pounding. Speaking of which, I feel like I have a massive hangover so I am going back to laying down.

Lesson learned from today, next time I go I am sticking to the log flume and the old-time cars!

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Rachel you know you are a little OCD?

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If you are wondering how I responded to that my answer was “a little OCD, I think I’m a lot OCD.” I then went on to say right now I’m obsessed with the cakes and the Fox C-6 superintendent debacle. The guy I was talking to follows me on Facebook so of course he cracked up.

My obsessive side of my personality can be a good and bad thing. Let’s look at the cakes for example. I got the idea in my head the week of July 11. On July 19 Allyson and I saw our first cakes which included the big bottle of ketchup. In just seven weeks I have dragged various people to 249. I am waiting until Emily comes home to see the last two because I came up with a fantastic way to end it three weeks ago. So the good is I set a goal and finished it. The bad I have done nothing else but cake plan and go-go-go for fear I would not finish before December 31 when the cakes are removed.

Unfortunately for my Facebook followers the superintendent fiasco is going to drag out much longer. It seems almost every day more and more shocking stuff is revealed.

Now back to being obsessive. That has been a plus in I have learned a lot about computers and technology and how to fix things myself. When I can’t take it anymore and I crack and call tech support and they start by saying unplug the cables I say I’ve already done the basics jump ahead a few screens.

I put a lawn mower together when I was 12. My mom couldn’t figure it out but I did. So yes I freely admit I’m a little OCD. Now if I were only that way about keeping an organized house or cooking.

I am working on my next obsession. I have to get back to scrapbooking. I’m a good two years behind. I am working on the cakes in an on-line photo book and I need to figure out how much to charge for t-shirt quilts. If it were up to me I would do it for cost of materials because get it keeps me from eating or driving all over St. Louis.

Mole moral- life is best for mom mole when she had a project going on.

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Soleil goes to the vet

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We just got back from Soleil’s annual vet visit. First of all fat fry has lost 7 pounds so we should really call her skinny fry. The vet also has animal rescue and had an adoption event going on. In the next room there were kids playing with puppies which really had her attention. I have never seen her crooked ear up so much! However when the vet tech came in and attempted to draw blood, she wanted no part of that and ended up with a partially blown vein. It would take the vet to get her blood. Also Soleil is really getting grey in the face so I asked Dr. Smith if she was older than we thought. She said nope she’s just prematurely turning grey. So I guess that’s what life with moles does to you, makes you turn grey way too early!

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Emily Mole + Post office = Disaster

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I use to love the post office until this summer. It’s been one fiasco after another. It started off this summer with the post office losing her textbooks and filing a claim to get the money back. I swear they took it out on Imperial post office. Every time I go to mail something they ask if I want insurance. I swear they know me. I have  paranoia issues. Anyway the next thing to happen was my Uncle sent her an iron skillet cookbook from Amazon. Someone else signed for it and stole it. He contacted amazon and a new one showed up. We are unsure if they sent a new one or tracked down the person that signed for it. On Saturday Emily gets a voicemail from a detective about stolen mail. I was a little skeptical it could be a scam like the IRS scammers saying if you don’t pay them right now you will be arrested in two hours. Now I should have known better, it was legit. It seems a suspect was apprehended and found with a bunch of people’s mail including Emily’s. What did they take of hers you ask? Why her birth control pills of course because we have to use a mail order company out of FL. They are so stupid that one of Brian’s doctors swear they operate out of the back of a tractor-trailer and get the medicine from Mexico. Anyway we have to call them and have them resend. They are liable to charge me full price but perhaps a police report will help. I cannot believe this. I don’t think she will get them back anytime soon if ever. And certainly not before they expire! Oh the life of a Mole.

Mole moral: If you mail Emily anything send it certified so she has to go to the post office and sign for it!