When it came to the sleep center bill, I finally just told my husband to handle it as his way is definitely not my way. He's talking about contacting lawyers and suing someone and I'm there begging him not to rack up lawyer fees talking to lawyers as we don't have the money for those bills on top of everything else. He swears he's going to ask if the calls are free consultations when it calls. Man, I hope he does. Why he doesn't just go in righteously angry and negotiate I'm not sure, but I quickly got frustrated, worried and panicky about the way he wanted to handle it, so I just backed away. I paid the sleep center 100.00 in good faith this week, so that will keep them happy through the end of next month. So, it's up to my husband after that.
I actually managed to get a decent amount done off of my goals list for the month this last week. I got the winter tires put on my car, got mine and the kid's flu vaccinations taken care of (my son was good as gold through the shot, but hopped down and ran for the door when he saw the band aid...he hates those things *laugh*), got my daughter through her orthodontist check up (which we don't have to go in for like another six months from what they told me). And I paid our bills. Deep hurting was involved for sure, but they are at least paid :).
This weekend I refused to let myself sink into depression or black moods, so I decided to clean and organize instead. This, my friends, is one of the best pieces of advice I can give. If your "big picture" life seems out of control or there are things you can't control that are effecting you, work on something you CAN control. Like organizing a hallway closet (seen up top) and determinedly coming up with a system that allows you to fit your carpet cleaner, your vacuum cleaner and all of it's attachments (which the attachments were stacked over by my heating vent and the vacuum cleaner and carpet cleaner were in the hallway as that was the only place I could find to put them) and all of your cleaning tools (sans cleaners...I'm still trying to figure out a good spot for those) in the closet along with your most heavily used bulk food items (for me it's buckets of flour, sugar and bread flour) in the closet.
I've also cleaned here and there as I went about my business trying to get things nice and clean so I can implement a cleaning schedule. So far the swath of destruction that are my kids have thwarted me, but I'm working on it.
This week's goals are including things like finding room for 12 boxes of manicotti noodles that are coming in from Amazon. I added those onto my monthly order as I kept thinking of things I'd like to get for winter and on a whim I checked the price of manicotti noodles. I'd bought the 12 pack of manicotti noodles YEARS ago (and I mean like when my kids were tiny type of years) and had paid like 28.00 for them, but they'd lasted forever and then I look on Amazon and in pure disbelief they are like 7.00 and some change for 12 BOXES of manicotti noodles! I immediately ordered it (without the 5 items on Subscribe and Save to get the 15% off, when I checked yesterday they were only like 9.00 and some change for the 12 boxes. Compared to what these go for at the store, I'd definitely check that out if you use them :).
So, this week's goals are lofty, but I'm still hoping to get them all done.
Cleaning/Organizing Goals:
- Clean and scrub children's rooms (hoping to work on this today)
- Move video shelves upstairs one at a time.
- Once video shelves are moved prepare to move china cabinet (glass shelves and husband's help needed as while pretty light it's still bulky). Luckily it's in two pieces
- Find room for Amazon.com order when it comes in
- Move daughter's dresser into closet
Sewing Goals:
- Work on daughter's Halloween costume
- Work on Christmas gifts
- Mend daughter's pants
General Goals:
- Felt wool for one Christmas gift (praying this works alright and I can do it without clogging up a washer or a dryer. Here's hoping!)
- Sit down and plan menu for next week with daughter (she's earning the right to call a meal every week IF she does what she is supposed to do. She's also going to start helping me to cook and do the dishes. Whether she likes it or not...so far not *laugh*).
- Work on reupholstering couch and love seat (waiting on my husband to get me some bulk tacks from the industrial hardware store).
Men sure get hotheaded. Thats how my husband would be. I'm more of the well, it sucks, but I have to pay it, even if someone slipped up. Lets set up a payment plan. I was calculating last night, Jan 2018 I will be done paying off from the tick bite I got in 2013. Massive bill. But it was interest free!
ReplyDeleteThis week is the semi annual consignment sale I've been partipating in the last few times. I drop off my stuff wednesday. I wasn't able time wise to find 200 items to sell, which I prefer to do since its $10 to sell, but hey, I get to get in to shop an hour before the public so I am happy. Hopfully some of the stuff sells. If I get $100, I will be really happy. The rest, will be spring yard sale stuff.
Hoping to get the guest room all tidy too. Its getting so cold I really need to shut it off. Just too much stuff to do that.
Yeah, I'm the same way, especially when it comes to medical bills. I'd just be making payments and grouching about the fact that someone slipped up, but that's me. Instead I called the Anchorage office for the sleep center Monday and explained our situation and how my husband was promised NUMEROUS times that the bill would be covered by our insurance and that they had gotten everything pre-cleared and basically said my husband was ready to sue someone over this as it was blatantly unfair that we should be left holding the entire bag when it wasn't OUR fault at all. The gal said she'd talked to the Wasilla office and get back to me and said at the earliest it would be yesterday. So far I've heard nothing back. We'll see how it goes. If I haven't heard back from them today I'll give them ANOTHER call on Monday and push a bit. I want this resolved one way or the other and my husband doesn't have the time to deal with it and I refuse to let a lawyer do exactly what I'm doing now while I'm paying for it (since this would be the first steps to resolution of the problem I'm sure).
DeleteErika, the Alaska Division of Insurance has a consumer complaint process -- https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/ins/Consumers/FileaConsumerComplaint.aspx -- and if the problem is with the insurance company, this might be a good strategy. I think someone already recommended appealing the insurance decision to the company. When I had a complicated insurance situation (eventually resolved in my favor) 16 years ago, I was told that well over 50% of insurance appeals are granted -- it takes time and letter-writing.
DeleteRobin in OR, who loves your zucchini cheese bread recipe
Erika,
ReplyDeleteWhat are you going to reupholster your couches with? Lynn
Wellll, the couches might end up looking interesting, honestly. I'm just going to reupholster them in whatever fabric I have enough of to do it that is decently thick fabric. I know that's not really the "way" people do it, but that's the most I can afford, so that's what I'm going to do. If it doesn't last for years and years it doesn't last for years and years. Better than the furniture developing holes because it would be flattened and all the foam destroyed in said furniture within days as my son LOVES to pluck things.
DeleteWe have come to that decision too. My husband found a place that has the leather, and fake leather fabric, but I can't sew. We may just get a fabric, and a staple gun and hope for the best. The sectional has good bones and its SO comfortable and while I love the ease of wiping up a spill, fabric might be the only thing I can make work.
DeleteYour Friday's post just kept spinning around in my head all weekend. It seems as if you keep getting hit from all angles. Letting your husband handle the insurance mess is a good idea. He won't do it your way and will probably make mistakes but stand aside. Letting him lead is the HARDEST thing to do. He needs to be a knight in shining armor and save his damsel in distress. Sounds dorky, I know, just trust an older woman.
ReplyDeleteJeannie
PS I wish I had a hall closet. Yours looks great.
PSS I like your cat and I am glad she snuggled with you. Animals seem to understand sometimes and then other times not! Last night Scooter pooped twice (not just once but TWICE) on the floor while we were sleeping. He has been so good about waking me up to go out. So what was his problem last night!!!
I suppose if that is the worse thing that happens to me today, I am doing good.
I laughed when I read you cleaned the house to ward off the depression. When I was off work due to depression, I used the time to paint my house. It made me feel like I was being productive and gave me something to focus on. So, I completely understand your need to clean!
ReplyDeleteMy mother decided today that the living room/dining room needed to have a fall cleaning this week, after our Thanksgiving long weekend. We removed the area rugs to the back deck and I used our carpet cleaner to clean them, then left them there for the afternoon to dry in the sun and air. The curtains also were removed, washed and hung to dry on the line, while she cleaned, waxed and buffed the hardwood floors, and washed down walls, furniture and anything else she could get her hands on. My mom currently is having a problem with her knee, but is going to the Dr.'s this week, so it should be nice and painful by the time she goes. Just shaking my head and staying out of the way...no reasoning with her when she gets it in her mind that something needs to be cleaned!
I'd like to make more jam, but since the house is ripped apart, it probably won't happen this week. Don't think its a good idea with all the chemicals, floor wax and dirt in the sink from dumping her wash bucket. I'll have to see if maybe I can do this later in the week. Other than that, I'm just going with the flow.
Take some paper towels doused down good with white vinegar and wipe down the inside of the sink really good, including the drain. It removes all of that nasty residue stuff and sanitizes it at the same time. Works like a charm.
DeleteIt also works if you have a glass or metal bowl that you're not sure if it's really spiffy clean when you want to whip egg whites. Wipe out the inside with the vinegar and then dry with a paper towel and voila! Works great. I learned that trick from watching "30 Minute Meals" years ago and it still sticks with me *laugh*.
I was shocked to my core about that awful business with the sleep center bill. And, although it doesn't help your situation any, could I add some words of caution about these sleep centers? My father wound up in a horrible situation where when he was told he should get a cpap machine at one of these sleep centers, he said he had to put it off because of the cost involved. He was trying to figure out how to afford one when, a mere two weeks later, he gets a notice in the mail telling him that his driving license is null and void because he "refused prescribed medical treatment"! It turned out the sleep center has a policy of doing this in order to coerce people into buying THEIR cpap machine immediately (instead of shopping around). It took almost 2 months for Dad to get his license back, by writing letters to various officials and getting letters of support from his actual family doctor. [He did get a cpap machine, cheaper, from somewhere else.] I can't imagine what he would have done had he been working still instead of retired, but it was a very scary situation. Since then I have to admit I regard these sleep centers as a bit of a con job --- money seems to be their only concern, not their clients nor their clients' finances.
ReplyDeleteThat is awful! I'm so sorry that happened to your father :(. Luckily on my husband's part his sleep apnea is far from severe. It just disrupts his quality of sleep, but isn't life threatening or anything, so if he gives them the machine back I'm not sure if it'll really make a huge impact on his life one way or the other. I'm hoping we can work something out some other way, but we'll see how it goes.
DeleteMy son is an attorney and I do know the first consultations are no charge. If the attorney charges a fee, it should be discussed at that consultation. Then if the attorney asks for a payment, they will start working on the case once payment is made.
ReplyDeleteNo advice on what to do but if the sleep center first said your insurance would cover it, I certainly don't think you should be paying 100% of the bill, what a bad situation.
I know about cleaning to ward off depression. If other things have you feeling down, a messy house will just make you feel worse.
Best wishes to you. You have certainly been through the wringer lately.
Hi Erica,
ReplyDeleteIf your husband wants to proceed...Alaska Legal Services Corp. helps people with on a low or fixed income. Good Luck. PS They have a website.
It seems like when I go to the doctor, dentist, etc. anymore there's a form to fill out and sign (usually several pages for first visit) and somewhere in there is a little sentence like "I understand that my insurance company will be billed as a courtesy to me but that I am responsible for payment of any billing for procedure", usually you sign and date right below that. If there was something like that involved I would expect your husband should try to relax a little and figure out how he will pay the bill. Been there, done that.
ReplyDeleteYou might have some recourse if you can find anything in your copy of your medical policy (mine is available online, though I don't have a hard copy. Perhaps you can ask your insurance company where to find yours online) that says a sleep study is considered preventive and covered without deductible applying.
These days a great many of us (and more all the time) are becoming accustomed to what a high deductible is like to live with. It takes some getting used to.
I'm so sorry about the bill. Have you received an eob? You should be able to appeal.
ReplyDeleteIt's looking like you have a busy month planned. I have several things I'd like to accomplish this month.
ReplyDelete1. Organization from the move: Keep unpacking bins from the shop. Either put away or donate the items in the bins. The freezers needed to be moved, and they are all moved and set up.
2. Homeschool: This was my first week of homeschooling my niece along with my daughter. It went great, but I needed to be even more structured than with only my own daughter. So, make a detailed plan each Sunday. I plan to take the girls on lots of field trips and do lots of hands-on activities, so it takes planning for that. I am going to have them both participate in the 4H program, so we are going to an event this Saturday for starters on that. We've been to a pond to collect water to observe for a biology experiment. We also went to McDonald's with gift cards from their auntie:)
3. Home: I want to plan my menus to make sure I have food each day that is economical and tasty
and I want to set up some kind of chore chart so that the kids have a little more to do. Between homeschool for several hours each day, working late afternoon and evening and weekends several days a week, exercising at the Y (and dance classes for the girls), and time at church and with friends, I find that the days are racing by. It's a good place to be in right now, but with Rob starting work after an entire year of not working, I'm struggling a little to adjust and do the things he's been doing. I will adjust, it makes sense it will take a little while. Trust me, it's happy busy:)