Insurance Update (Almost Snarkless)

I'm torn between a little bit a snark and just admitting brain fry over this health insurance business.  It looks like we are all covered come November 1 for three of us, but the paperwork required for the CHIP application has felled a small forest already and is threatening several more acres before we are (hopefully) approved.  If my kids were all healthy it wouldn't concern me. However, I have one child who has been suffering weekly migraines for a month now, and the most recent migraine refused to pack its bags without a doctor visit so insurance or no he had to go to the doctor for relief.  It required four shots and a new prescription to resolve.  Another child broke his glasses for the millionth time (and permanently) last week so today we must go to the optometrist to get new contact and glasses prescriptions, as well as new contacts -- PE has been murder on this child's eyewear this fall.

And because this is the government we're talking about, they get 30 days to review our application.  I don't know if we'll even have coverage come November 1 for our youngest three. I sent off the most recent batch of paperwork with Justin today. "File this by November 2" they say.  If I had known it would take TWO months to apply for CHIP I would have started in early August . . .  except we didn't know then we would lose our insurance in October.

Isn't bureaucracy lovely?   Ha. Worked a bit of snark in there after all.

A Lesson in Bureaucrazy

Yes, I mis-spelled "bureaucracy" on purpose because it is enough to drive normal, sane human beings to the brink of insanity.  If the government is involved, then it doesn't just take a person to the precarious edge of mental stability, but dropkicks the mind far out into the vast eternal chasm of confusion, leaving an eye-stabbing headache in its wake.  I have plumbed such depths this week in trying to sign up for health insurance for my family.

Due to ongoing chronic health issues of many stripes, my husband is on long-term disability now.  There has been improvement in some areas, but others remain as they have for the last several years.  With this change to long-term disability comes the loss of employer-provided health insurance.  My first and most immediate response was to decide to return to full-time employment outside the home. I thought that would be the simplest route to finding health insurance for the family.  Besides shocking my children, I found it was not nearly as simple to rejoin the workforce in the Outside World.  Without going into a lengthy diatribe about that experience, I will just say that after counseling together my husband and I decided to pursue seeking health insurance through an insurance marketplace that offered subsidies to qualified families for now rather than change my status to Workforce Mom.

The headaches began.

I spent several days reviewing the multitude of health plans available to us, trying to decipher what the differences were and just what we could afford.  Do we go for higher Out of Pocket expenses in favor of lower deductibles or higher deductibles and lower OOPs? (I know how that last word looks in that sentence.  I think it fits.)

We made our decisions, but the actual form-filling-out proved to be the most torturous by far.  With computer pages reloading in the middle of filling out a form or taking me back to the beginning of the process all over again once I thought I was to the commitment stage, and random but detailed questions about family income, assets, and expenses, I waded through the processes.  I made multiple phone calls to people with varying degrees of empathy, helpfulness, and communication skills.  At the end of the week I think we have now made our applications for two health plans that will hopefully, maybe, cross-my-fingers be what will work for our family for the foreseeable future.

Here is what I learned:

-- When in doubt, call Select Health for answers to questions.  Their service representatives were the easiest, kindest, and most helpful to talk to.  Particular kudos go to Kim, McKenzie, and Alice for patiently and thoroughly answering all of my questions, even though I didn't end up going directly through Select Health to get the Select Health plan I signed up for on an exchange site.

-- Dental insurance is crazy expensive! We're still trying to decide what to do with that.  I think we will likely go with some kind of a discount card program that will defray some of the cost.

-- If you want to start your insurance on the first of the month you have to have applied for it by the 15th of the previous month.  This was the most painful piece of information to find out.  It is not explicitly noted anywhere either.  It is also the most expensive piece of information to find out because we will not have insurance now until November 1st.  If I had been aware of that kind of deadline I would have been working on this at the beginning of September instead of the end so our insurance could have started on October 1.  With chronic conditions for two members of my family, this will make October an expensive month for us.

-- Transitional insurance will get you through the month, but will only cover catastrophic kinds of events.  It does not cover prescriptions, preventative care, or regular office visits.  So it doesn't help us at all.

-- The federal government should hire call center representatives with good grammar and a Midwestern accent.

-- And the sign-up process is really an application process.  There is still "processing" that happens once you've submitted all of your information, your blood type, and a list of the contents of your linen closet (kidding about the last two items, but just barely).  You get to wait to find out what the final subsidy is you qualify for and what the final premium will be for your chosen plan at some later date.  Apparently on Monday someone will be calling me from the marketplace I worked through to verify my application with some security questions.

-- And finally, doing things SOONER is always better than LATER. This took many more hours to research, choose, and sign up than I dreamed it possibly could.

While the ACA/Obamacare guarantees the ability to sign up for health insurance (a good thing), it is hardly a simple process.  A gentleman I spoke with at the exchange I ended up using (not the government one) told me I should have tried signing up for health insurance before the ACA.  Somehow that did not make me feel any better.

"I'm from the government. I'm here to help you."

Right.

Watching Time Fly

I have never had the chance to watch robins grow from tiny hatchlings to leaving the nest before this year.  On Independence Day I was stretched out on my trampoline when I caught sight of a robin perched on a nest I hadn't noticed before in the crook of our corkscrew willow.  As soon as he noticed me watching him he froze, leaving the gaping baby wondering where its dinner was.  I've been taking pictures of the tiny brood every other day since then:

Day 1:  July 4.  According to my online research, these tiny, practically bald hatchlings are truly newborn.  Their skin is so translucent you can see their arteries, veins, and organs.  The enormous black bulges on their heads are their eyeballs, which aren't even close to opening yet. 

Day 3:  July 6.  Already they are developing feather fuzz.  There are four babies.  Every time I go out to take a photo both Mr. and Mrs. Robin fly from branch to branch calling an alarm.  I try to stay as little time as possible.

Day 5:  July 8.  I caught Mama Robin on the nest.  They are still tiny enough for her to sit on and keep warm.  As I took a step or two closer she flew up into the tree, hoping I wouldn't notice the nest.  I can tell she is the mama because her coloring is much lighter all over than the male.  Male robins have much darker "hoods" on their heads and very dark backs.  The female's colors are more muted.

The babies now look like strange porcupine hybrids as their real feathers start to come in.  Apparently one of the babies didn't make it -- there is one on the top right side that is face-down in the nest and not showing any of the feather development of the other three.  I don't know what has happened to it since.

Day 7:  July 10.  The babies are so much bigger now and their eyes are opening!

Day 9:  July 12.  It is possible now to spot the babies in the nest while standing on the ground, although I am still hauling out a kitchen chair to stand on in order to take these pictures.  They look so alert.  The nest is starting to look cramped!  I believe my online research said by about this time that Mama and Dad do not sleep in or on the nest any more.  They spend the night on close-by branches. 

Day 11:  July 14, today.  These little ones aren't so little any more!  They hardly fit in the nest now.  You can also see those tell-tale orange chest feathers showing too.  Apparently they will only be in the nest for a few more days now before they start attempting their first flights.

I have several short video clips that I have taken nearly every photo op.  I'll share those too.

A Little of This and That

It's been harder than I thought it would be to keep up on my blog.  I think I need to make better use of my time.  Sorry iPad Boggle.  You're going to have to take a backseat!

I've been working hard in my garden this spring, and I didn't think I was going to have time to do much of anything out there this year.  Miraculously enough, though, I've been able to get some things done.  It's a simple garden this year.  I haven't planted the huge variety that I've tried past years. My biggest goal, aside from actually getting produce from it, is to seriously knock back the field bindweed that has infested everything from flowerbeds and my grass and garden to cracks in the pavement.

I finally got into my beehive to check my bees yesterday and they are going gangbusters. I put a queen excluder, honey super, and a migratory lid on to give them a little more ventilation with the high heat we are experiencing this week.  I propped the lid up with a twig, but that means I have to watch the hive carefully for robbing.  

And here is a quick sum-up of what we've done as a family:

Made donuts.  They were delicious and I swear I put on five pounds that day.

My parents and I found my great-great-grandfather's home that he built in 1902.  He was a building contractor and made many of his own bricks, likely including these:

Several different construction time periods are in this photo.

We also found the house where my great-grandfather Dan courted my great-grandmother Idalah, although the house has been extensively remodeled and added onto since she lived there:

We took a little jaunt up Diamond Fork Canyon (a branch off Spanish Fork Canyon) for a weenie and s'mores roast:

One of the biggest time-takers for the past few weeks has been our children participating in the cultural celebration of our new temple in Payson.  There were great things to participating, but we still aren't sure there were enough of those to outweigh the negatives, unfortunately.

13,000 youth filled the east stands of the BYU football stadium. 

Bronwyn as a line leader in her dance

The grand finale.  Our stake YW were in dark orange and our stake YM were in dark purple.

 We hosted three wonderful Korean students in our home all through their high school years.  One of them, Sam, came back to visit us after six years of law school and law firm work and to introduce us to his lovely fiancee Sophie.  We loved getting to see them both.

I took Bronwyn and Liam with me to the International Peace Gardens in Salt Lake City.  The weather was perfect and we mostly had the gardens to ourselves.

The Chinese gardens.  Can you tell a girl lion from a boy lion?

The Mexico garden!

The Wales garden.  Nothing to see except the Welsh flag and this huge lyre.  They should have at least planted daffodils.

We have some dear friends who live up the canyon near us and Jill keeps a stunning mountain garden.  She invited us to come enjoy it this past weekend.  With the weeks of rain we got in May this year she said her flowers have never looked more beautiful.

I love iris and I've never seen this red color before.

Sunset peeking through the delicate iris petals.

Evan among the lupine.  There were so many colors!

Bronwyn in the lupine.

Liam in the lupine!

I took a turn too.  Not my favorite picture of myself, really.  Maybe it's time for another haircut?

Our family minus Owen.  I really need to remember to take our popsicle picture Owens with us when we go places...

NOW you are mostly caught up.  I want to do more of a blog post about the cultural celebration.  The opening of a new LDS temple is a huge event in many ways and all of us in the Payson temple district are so glad the pre-opening hype is all over and we can just go serve there now.  I have other posts I would like to do too.  Crossing my fingers that I can make better use of my time moving forward...

Weed Removal With a Twist

There are some things I'm good at.  I'm good at washing and drying laundry.  I'm good at pulling weeds and piling them up.  I'm good at starting a sorting out job.  Then there are some things I'm not so good at.  I'm not so good at folding and putting away laundry (neither are my children. Surprised?).  I'm not so good at cleaning up after the sorting out and getting rid of.  And I'm terrible at getting rid of piles of weeds and pruned-off branches.  I can make the piles, but getting rid of the piles takes me FOREVER (much to my husband's chagrin).

This year I decided I would investigate getting a free burn permit and see about just torching the lot.  It turns out it is easy to get a burn permit.  All I had to do was apply online, wait for a green burn day, notify my neighbors, and call the county to let them know.  The stars all aligned recently and my son Evan agreed to be my burning buddy by standing close by with the garden hose ready to douse any errant flames.  Soon my other two children joined us in the garden to see what was going on.

The first pile mostly did the smolder thing (which inspired many "you broke my smolder" movie references) and when the second pile flared up with impressively high and surprisingly hot flames Evan said, "Let's roast marshmallows!" 

I have to confess to some it's-too-much-bother-and-fuss fuddy duddiness at first.  We haven't been able to find our bag of roasting sticks and I could think of several other lame excuses.  Evan persevered, however and I gave in.  He gleefully tossed the hose down and ran for the marshmallows.

When he came back out he found a stick he liked, got it wet with the hose and shoved a marshmallow on the end.  

And Lo, There Was a Beautifully Roasted Marshmallow!

Bronwyn got excited about trying too.  She is good at burning marshmallows.  She is also good at upping the excitement.  She ran for the chocolate bars and graham crackers so we could have s'mores.  Who knew getting rid of weeds could be so much fun?  

This pile burned very hot and mostly smokeless.  This was as close as the kids dared get with the heat.

Six piles of weeds burnt to the ground.  Well, four burnt to the ground and two reduced by at least half in size.  I guess they were a little too green and spent more time smoldering than actually burning.   

Home Improvement Hoopla

I promised Bronwyn at least a couple years ago we would paint her bedroom a new color of her choice.  She loved the pink walls and the border I had put up for her when she was little, but after 13 or 14 years she was ready for something new.  Liam also wanted to paint his bedroom since it was now completely his own.  Spring break this year found us taking on this project, both rooms at once.

It's amazing how much kids will do when it is something they are excited about, like painting their bedroom.  Both kids worked together to entirely clear out their bedrooms and put the contents in the hallway:

Here are the "Before" pictures of their walls.  Bronwyn had gotten most of her border down herself with a squirt bottle and determination.  Liam's border was a stenciled trout and pine trees border that had been done the same summer I had first painted Bronwyn's bedroom.

Bronwyn enlisted the help of her best friend Sam.  The first day of work involved taping all of the floorboards and door frames.  Bronwyn also had to paint over some perfume oil streaks on her walls from where she'd smeared oils from a perfume-making kit she had gotten as a birthday present one year (from a friend. Not from me).  I guess she was trying to make her room smell pretty.  Bronwyn and Sam wound up with as much primer and paint on them as they got on the walls.

Liam paints primer over the border, which may have not been a wise choice on my part as you'll see below... 

He really wanted his whole room to be purple, but we comprised with broad purple stripes that took three coats of paint. 

I can only make guesses as to why the purple paint peeled off with the tape when we tried to remove it to get ready for the grey.  It may have been the primer layer underneath because I didn't have any problems on the walls where there was no primer.  It may have been that we didn't allow the individual coats to completely harden/cure/dry in between adding the next one.  Maybe I pressed down the edge of the tape too firmly against the wall.  I don't know.  But it changed how I approached putting the grey right up against the purple.

Making progress.  I loved the yellow Bronwyn chose.

Liam helps remove tape. The original plan called for putting tape over the purple layer to cover it up so we could roller brush right up to the edge of the purple....

...but I didn't trust the tape any longer, so I hand-edged all of the grey right up to the purple with a one-inch foam beveled brush.  That took a loooooong time.  I went back and tried to fix the purple stripes by hand with a small foam brush and purple paint too.

Almost done in Bronwyn's room...

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And the finished product!  The kids took complete responsibility for moving their furniture back into their bedrooms.  We'll be getting new window coverings for Bronwyn's window because her blinds were in bad shape when we took them down. At first I wasn't too impressed with the wild designs on her walls, but they've grown on me a lot since then.  She's incorporated designs from her novels she is writing, it's exactly what she wanted, and it makes her happy.  That makes me happy too.  Now I really like it.

Liam's finished room too.  He decided to put up the sheet on his bunkbed to make it darker for sleeping.  I think we'll be getting him some grey sheets to match his walls.   I was pretty excited about how his room turned out.  I had not wanted all purple walls and Liam had not wanted any grey walls.  I decided to sit down with Pinterest, create a board just for his room, and we scrolled through pictures together, pinning pictures that we liked individually and together.  We came across a pin that looked similar to this and both of us looked at it and said, "YES!"  Liam is pretty happy with how it turned out too.

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Home improvement definitely has its hazards, though.  During the painting project I spilled purple paint on Liam's carpet. Yay.  Justin also came up with the family project of assembling a shed for our garden stuff and my beekeeping equipment.  We've worked on it in short chunks.  During an "putting the roof on" segment I was up on a ladder in the middle of the shed trying to screw together two sections of vinyl roofing.  In order to get more purchase so I could weight down the outside with my left arm (below) and screw up into the panel with my right, I put my left arm out and over the roof panel.  As I started to screw the panels together I shifted my weight on the ladder, losing my balance.  The ladder fell away from under me and I got a good scrape on my arm as I started to fall.  I knew right away I was going to have something impressive to show for it:

Day One:  Acquiring the Bruise

Day Two: The Bruise develops some beautiful color

Day Three or Four:  The Rainbow Bruise in full glory

See, in our family, the running philosophy for injuries is that if you have something to show for your pain and trauma then you don't have to do it again.  I never have to fall from a shed roof again.

Most of the color is gone now, save for a purple blotchy line where it was always the darkest. More concerning are some lumps under the skin now that don't show, but that I didn't notice until today when I was finally brave enough to actually touch it.  Maybe I'll go scare myself on the internet by trying to look up what they might be.