3-1 Jedi Joe

Three Dr. appointments scheduled  today.
Here's hoping the rest of the day might be Jedi inspired, I could use the extra powers to get some things done. 

2-29

Happy Leap year, Please click on the photo for some leap year fun!!!!

2-28 Dressing up for the Dr.

Years ago in my college days I  used to dress up when  I had a big exam. Now I find myself thinking about what to wear to the Dr.'s office. 
I had two lovely weeks of no appointments. This week I go back to physical therapy, meet with the Oncologist for a three month check-up and go to the dentist to be  fitted for a crown. You might guess the Dentist is the appointment I most dread. 
This is my Oncologist, Debra Patt. Yep, she's young and pretty and at 5'10" could pass for a model. She's barely 40, married to Pediatric Cardiologist and they have 3 young children (photos posted on the walls in her office) She is a bit  intimidating! 

I know, I've been wearing jeans a lot. Our office is casual, Austin is casual. I'm grasping here for a reason to go shopping.

2-27 Cat Sitting

My son is going out of town and I get the pleasure of keeping  his monster cat, Ash. Ash is about 24 inches long (tail not included) and weighs some 20 pounds. He has long fluffy hair. I've never heard him meow and he is really sweet and docile. 

2-26 brewing kombucha and finding balance

Like $4.00 latte's, Kombucha  has not been in my budget lately. A few years ago I  toyed with the idea of brewing my own but didn't have a source for the starter. Now  there are many people  brewing, sharing their starters (or selling them) and posting all the info on blogs and youtube videos. 

 Thanksgiving weekend I began to grow my own starter from a purchased bottle. I'm now on my 5th  batch of tea. (starter took 3 weeks and each batch 2 weeks +/-). For a few hours of my time and less than $1.00 I yield a gallon of good-for-you kombucha tea. 
If you are unfamiliar with Kombucha here is a nice link that gives you information and history about the tea.
http://www.seedsofhealth.co.uk/fermenting/kombucha.shtml
The yoga lesson of the weekend; balance. Some people grimace when they hear a balance pose called out. I smile. I love the sense or fun and playfulness I find in these poses. You fall out and you get back in it. There's a fine line between concentrating too much and letting go and floating. 
Taking these photos  a few minutes ago was especially fun, I'm not warmed up, I am standing on carpet and using the ten second timer button on the camera! Nice challenge. 

2-24 Cleaning green

I like to purchase cleaning products that lean towards the natural. I've been using  Meyers hand and dish-soap, Ecover in the laundry and Simple Green on everything from the car dash to the counter tops.  The big downside to these products is the cost. I recently rediscovered a book I had  for making your own household cleaning products and decided to give it a whirl. 
First I chose a simple laundry detergent. A cup of this and a cup of that and a dash of scent, I thought I may as well make a double batch. Word to the wise, just like cooking from a new recipe maybe you should do it to the letter the first time before you experiment. I ended up with about 12 cups of goop. Smells nice, works great, texture needs some refining so I'll work on that  the next batch.
I've never been a fan of fabric softeners (too much smell on the clothes and in the house and did you ever take a walk in your neighborhood and smell everyone drying their laundry? total  air pollution). I am now using white vinegar in the fabric softener cycle. No smell, no residue and no static cling. 

 

I've also made a soft-scrub cleanser for the bathroom tiles, an antibacterial counter spray and some gel-in-a-jar air fresheners. 
These  changes feel good and cost pennies. I like knowing that my home environment is less toxic and I can name the ingredients to the products I am using. 
**note, you can find a plethora of great simple recipes online and the ingredients are easily found in your average grocery store with maybe a side trip to a natural grocer for the essential oils, or you can purchase it all online an have it show up at your doorstep**

2-23 2011 Medical bills and my out of pocket expenses

I'll start with saying it is disgusting how much of a discount is given to the insurance companies. If had to do this all out of pocket I would be liable for the full amount where insurance is only having to pay about 1/3 in a negotiated discount. And,  I'd like  to apologize for being one of those people that drive up our insurance costs at work. 
$125,585.56 2011 total charges approved 
$32,793.00 2011 charges rejected  (some of this will go through and I imagine some I will need to protest)
$6620.00 out of my pocket for insurance co-pays and deductibles 
$2500.00  out of pocket misc.   this is what I estimate I spent on vitamins & supplements, hair and clothing specific to the condition, prescriptions not covered.
$2-3,000.00 Lost wages estimate   After my sick time and vacation time was spent, whenever I worked less than 40 hours a week I took a pay cut. 
2012 is clocking in over 35k already with my month of radiation in January.