Pooch Plunge

Last year Miss B got her baby maker removed, so she didn't get to 

par-take in the Pooch Plunge Activities.

This year we made sure to get off work a little early, so Sweet B could plunge!

Overall the day wasn't a total bust, she got to run, run, run 

& she met some new friends along the way!

Baby Possibilities...

Don't go reading too far into that title folks!  There are no babies yet and probably not for a little while, but I just wanted to share my frustrations with insurance when it comes to babies...


We have been on separate policies for the last year or so, the Husband at school and myself just a single policy adding up to a little under $200 per month together.  Keep in mind being separate, there is absolutely NO BABY COVERAGE!  Fine whatev - this year we decided we should probably get baby coverage - JUST TO BE SAFE!  Again I don't want to lead you astray, this is just precautionary measures at this point!  So I called BCBS to see how much it would cost to add baby coverage - just in case.  Sit down and hold your pants on folks...  I pay $130 now per month - to add baby coverage it will be an ADDITIONAL - that's right not in place of but IN ADDITION TO that $130 an EXTRA $727.30.  

What's that?  Per year - that's not too bad - 

NO that is an additional $727.30 PER MONTH!!!!!

Coming in for a GRAND TOTAL of 

$857.30 PER MONTH!

OH and did I mention there is an 8 month waiting period????  So if I went with this ridiculous plan, and I got pregnant at 7 months and 29 days - I'M NOT COVERED!!!!!!!  
REALLY BCBS, REALLY?!?!?!


Well that will just not do - goodbye BCBS it was nice knowing you!  

We will go with the 'cheap' guys over at Coventry even though I don't like them in general.  They'll give us coverage at $500 per month thank you very much!

My question is what do all those single women do when they find themselves prego without insurance coverage!?!?  Oh that's right they go and apply for government aid since the insurance companies make it IMPOSSIBLE!

I will spare you my other thoughts, but in conclusion - I think insurance is one giant scam!

Call me Dr. Productive...

Hello all... hope you are having a great week!  Get ready for picture overload!  Since Saturday I've made about 5 To Do Lists and accomplished nearly everything on them!  I don't know what has gotten into me!

Before all this productivity started I took Miss B hiking (that is Kansas hiking folks, no mountains, just hills mounds of dirt) at the lake!  First we started off safe on the trails...

Then Miss B decided to get in touch with her roots and we went off road

We even saw one of her relatives - see the deer in the distance??

After our hike we had to re-fuel - what better way than a little DQ - did you know if you take your dog they will give you a 'pup cup' for FREE!!  Don't worry she didn't waste one drop!

The Husband was gone ALL WEEKEND doing Driver's Ed.  (I'm happy to report he came back to me on Sunday evening in one piece!)  Saturday I went to the Farmer's Market, Sprint Class, Garage Sales and fixed the garage door.  Yep that's right, I fixed the garage door all by myself!  Got a little lot dirty in the process (read: covered in grease)

In hind sight it was probably NOT a one person job as I balanced myself and the rail for the door on a wobbly stack of boxes, but I got it done and I'm still in one piece!  

I knew the Husband wouldn't want to do it when he got home and I really, really wanted to park in the garage again.  Call me spoiled, but I hated having to defrost my car in the am - that doesn't really fit in my am schedule.  In fact I have exactly 30 27 minutes to get ready each morning - and that ends with me running  sprinting out of the house while shoveling breakfast in my face.  I get it done though.  


Back to the point - the Husband is happy and quite impressed might I add AND we have a working garage door!

Miss B spent most of Saturday playing with rocks (weird I know, but one of her favs...) and watching our new neighbors move in -

When I had a break we had a photo sesh...

Sunday morning I bought a sewing machine.  Yup, not really sure what I was thinking.  I've been looking for new pillows and possibly some curtains or valences for the living room and bedrooms but can't find what I like.  So I thought to myself  Self you know how to sew, you can make your own!  (Totally blanking on his name, but please tell me someone remembers our HS Calc Teacher that referred to himself as 'Self'!!)  Forgot to remind myself that I haven't sewn anything since I was about 10... so this could be really interesting.  But how hard could it be?!  It was brand new in the box and I got it for $65 bucks, so I feel like that was a good mistake decision... hopefully :)


I also made some really yummy treats this weekend!  First up some Fiesta Burgers:

I only had hot-dog buns, so that's why they look like footballs!  Very easy, but so good!  Mix in purple onion, juice of one lime, minced garlic, chopped cilantro, minced jalapeno and Monterrey jack cheese into the raw hamburger then make patties and grill.  Top with lettuce, avocado slices (grill the avocado if you're feeling really fancy) and salsa!  Also really good if you toast the buns (hehe - I'm such a teenage boy!)  SO GOOD!




Then for desert the peanut butter lover's dream... Peanut Butter Cake Donuts - recipe to come!  I don't have a donut pan so I just made muffins!

 Miss B was upset she didn't get to have a donut since I ate them all was saving them to share later.  So she shredded the sheets in her bedroom - NOT cool Miss B, Not cool!

 Showing off her 'work'

 Her poor me, I'm so sorry mom look after being scolded.

Have a great rest of the week!

Did I mention...

You may remember a few posts ago that our garage door may or may not be broken.  

Yeah it is.  

Enough said.

Really...

So last week was one of those weeks where you can't ask Why or What Next because then it plops down on your lap and spits in your face.  As you all know we had a little large hot scortching issue with the A/C.  Well that got fixed - or so we thought...
Friday after work I was complaining that it was hot in our house (I should have known better!) so the Husband went to check on our new baby (A/C) and low and behold this is what he found

So you can't really tell from this picture - but the fan inside the BRAND NEW UNIT... 

FELL OFF!!!!!

Yep that's right it just fell off.  The Husband came flying in the door saying several 'choice words' and called the A/C guy.  He too couldn't believe our luck - but he sent someone over ASAP.  Turns out it wasn't near as bad as we were expecting - the company who manufactured the unit just forgot to secure the fan completely, so he put it back together and we now officially (cross your fingers) have had a cool house for the last 5 nights in a row.


In other GOOD news, Miss B's bumps are starting to finally heal!  We talked to the vet again and the Husband really misjudged the dosage the first time around.  He thought she could only have 2 benadryl per day - turns out she's actually supposed to have 4... in the morning and 4 at night. 2 vs 8 = big difference!!

She now expects her little benadryl laced hotdog treat after breakfast and dinner each day.  She sits patiently in the living room while peaking around the corner to make sure we are getting it ready for her.

(Disclaimer - please disregard the background here - this was the leftover chaos from our NO A/C week)

So remember how she was a little loopy with the 2 per day... yeah this is her now - lovin' life :)

So Shiny & New

Folks, we HAVE A/C!
Out with the Old... Eww!

In with the New... So pretty

It was official yesterday as of 3:00, although it took a while for it to cool down.  So we yet again trekked down to the basement to sleep - but by 1:00 I was tired of sleeping on the edge - literally - Miss B had her back against the Husband and all 4 feet were on my back pushing me over the edge of the bed.  Unfortunately at 1:00 in the morning I'm not strong enough or stern enough to move the mini horse, so I gave up and went up to our bed.  It was still around 84 upstairs but man was it better than 98!  I was all kinds of spread out and enjoying my space when I found a cold nose in my face a sniff sniff then she jumped up and cuddled in.  Not long after that the Husband followed suite.  It was like the scene from Land Before Time when Ducky, Spike and Little-Foot joined Cera in the middle of the night!  Love that movie!

The Husband also fixed our gate yesterday.  When we built the fence it was super straight and looked professional if you ask me - fast forward 2 weeks - looked like we were drunk while we built the dang thing! At least 5 of our posts warped causing it too twist and turn every which way.  I make it sound worse than it really is, but it's super annoying!  So with that, the gates got all cock-eyed and one didn't even latch.  Not to mention, we skimped out and bought the cheap-o latches trying to save money - WRONG IDEA!  Now we've got the right latch and it looks so pretty - thanks Husband!
Old Wimpy Latch

 We also had to ghetto rig it - you can only open it on one side... yeah didn't thing that through! So we attached a string which as you can see was NOT working all that well!
New Strong-Like-Bull Latch - AND it opens on BOTH sides!

No strings here!
He also raised it a bit so it didn't hit the ground everytime you open it.

To add to our list of Things that Need Fixed, I may or may not have broken our garage door today at lunch...

Shout out to my FB peope - Thanks for all the Happy Birthday Wishes!  Between that and my cell phone you'd think I was the president with all the messages!
Happy Hump Day!

Birthday CampOut

Happy Birthday Week... to Me!  Actually I think the way this week is going that should be a question not an exclamation.  Sunday morning we woke to a warmer than normal house, which wasn't too unusual considering it is hotter than Hades out there!  We went to church and came back to a very extremely warm house.

This concerned the Husband.  He called a friend and after conversing and checking out our A/C Unit, they both agreed there was most definitely an issue and it was time to call someone.  

So we called and of course Sunday wasn't an option, but they could be there Monday afternoon.  Meanwhile, the house just kept getting hotter :(

We went to Travis & Kelly's House for the evening to escape the heat our house.  When we got home around 9 it was even hotter!  So we decided we had to camp out - downstairs!  Thank goodness for our basement!  It isn't finished and it isn't too pretty, but man is it cool!  The previous owners left a roll of new/old carpet downstairs, so we unrolled it, dragged a mattress down from the spare bedroom and set up camp.  Now it looks like we have squatters living in our basement.

My new vanity... try not to be too jealous

The Husband met the A/C guy this afternoon and quickly found out it wasn't good news.  The compressor was blown - AKA you need a new unit :(  He gave us several options, but ultimately it was agreed that the best option was to replace the unit = $$$$.  But I suppose that is what you get when you buy a forclosure - some good and some bad.  I forgot to mention a few weeks ago, my car began screaming like a banshee when I turned right and shakin' it like a polaroid picture (song?) anytime I got over 50.  So she went to the doctor last week to get some work done... 4 new tires, new brakes, new routers, and a new front axel.  So lets make that $$$$$$$$.


Travis & Kelly invited us back over this evening for dinner since there is NO WAY I'm turning on our oven!  We had salmon burgers and grilled veggies - delish!  If my brain wasn't so fried, I'd have taken my camera! I'm hoping that tomorrow it will all be good when I get home from work - my B-Day is Wed and I'd really REALLY like to be comfortable!


In other unfortunate news, remember how Miss B looked diseased about a month ago?  Well it got better by the end of her antibiotics and we thought we were in the clear.  Then I was looking at her today and turns out they are worse than before, poor thing even has the bumps between her toes :(  I think she might be allergic to her food as we just switched it up about a month or so ago.  So that's fun.  Also she has been stuck in the basement the last two days and is going a LITTLE stir crazy.  She kept trying to go upstairs last night at bedtime - so I finally had to block her off!  Poor thing is super confused!

Then when I left for work she just sat her head on the chairs as I walked away :(

There is some good news this week, the Fair is here!  Yes I'm one of those, I like the fair and all it's cheesiness.  What I'm really excited about is getting me some Fair Food - that is what it's all about - right?  This year they are even having a Farmer's Market night at the Fair - not quite sure what this entails, but I'll be there!

Oh and did I mention that this week is supposed to be the HOTTEST week of the year... AWESOME.

Well I'm off to take a nice COLD shower.

PS.  It is now 98 degrees in our house