Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I have so much to be thankful for. I am healthy. Mike is healthy, Chelsea is healthy. Harley is healthy. Eline is healthy. Scruffy is healthy. All of my extended family is healthy. I have a wonderful, loving husband. I have a great kid, a great step-daughter and a great Dutch daughter. I have a beautiful home, lots of nice things, no bills except a mortgage and a comfortable income. I have great friends. I am getting a great education. My life is so good. God has blessed me so much that I sometimes wonder what I did to deserve all of this. I am truly blessed.

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Chelsea's soccer coach

I am very angry right now. We live in one of the most medically advanced countries in the world. Chelsea's 23 year old soccer coach can't get treatment for his cancer, though. Why? Because he doesn't have health insurance. His skin cancer has spread, but because he can't afford the treatment he will die in 6-12 months. How's that for truth, justice and the American way?

A lot of people criticized Michelle Obama when she said she was finally really proud to be American. (Meaning, of course, that she hasn't always been "really" proud, maybe just somewhat proud) Well I think I know some of what she felt. It's hard to be proud of a country that lets people die because they don't have health insurance. Someone said to me "Well he should have gotten a better job so he'd have insurance." Great idea, except that's not always possible, especially when you are that young. And, when you've been diagnosed with cancer before your 22nd birthday it's hard to find an insurance company that will accept you.

So, once again Chelsea learns that there really is no justice in this country for people who don't have money. I just hope it's a lesson she tries to do something about when she's older. That's assuming, of course, that she gets a job with good health insurance, or doesn't get sick if she doesn't.

I guess his family will be thankful tomorrow that they got to have him for this long. Not much else for them to be thankful for.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

News

I got the best news today! Eline is coming home in July for a month! I was so excited I almost cried when she called and told me today! I can't wait! I have a package to send her for St. Nicholas Day. I need to mail that tomorrow. Hopefully it will get there on time.

Chelsea is now working at Old Navy. She's not that thrilled about it but she just needs to learn that sometimes you have to do things you don't like in order to make a living, and she has a car to pay for. I think it will get better once she gets used to it, and once she is cashier trained.

She lettered in soccer a few weeks ago, which was exciting for her. But she got some bad news the other day. Her soccer coach, who is only about 23, found out his skin cancer is back. He was treated about a year ago and was doing fine, but last week he went in for his regular 3-month check up and the results weren't good. He went for a body scan, but we haven't heard anything back. I think that might mean the news is bad. He got skin cancer from playing soccer without using sunscreen. Just something to think about.

Mike turned 49 yesterday. I got him a bird house because he likes to watch the birds in the back yard. I also got him an iTunes gift card. He loves music and wants to download some of his favorite songs. We went out to dinner at Jasoh's. It is a really nice restaurant and definitely the best one we've eaten at in Utah. We like to try new places out and this one was definitely the best. We also ate out at a Vietnamese restaurant this weekend and that was really good, but definitely in a different class.

I know we eat out too much but school is almost over for the semester so I'll be back to home cooking again!

I two papers due and I will finish one of them today. I have two weeks to finish the other. Now, if I don't procrastinate too much I should be done in plenty of time.

We went and bought a new TV today for our living room. We actually have a great room, with a 26 inch TV in it and it is just too small. We bought a 46 inch one today so on Thanksgiving the guys can watch football on it. The kids will be downstairs playing Wii and other video games on the big screen down there.

I am home all alone today. Mike is watching football with a friend and Chelsea is at work. It is actually quite nice. I can listen to my contemporary Christian music with no complaints and I will definitely get this paper done within an hour.

Well that's all for now. I need to get back to work so I can plan for Thanksgiving. We are having about 20 people over so it should be fun!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Update

Lots to report. Chelsea got her license. She totaled her car after 5 days. She's okay, just some air bag burns to her face and neck. Won't leave any scars. I've spent the past week looking for another car. We bought the first one, she has to pay for the second one. It's a 2002 Buick LeSabre. Yes it's big, no it's not something a teenager really wants to drive. I don't care. It's safe and affordable.

Chelsea started her new job today at Old Navy. The best part is she brought home friends and family discount cards. And she will have money to pay for her car.

I got lots of advice about what to do about the wreck. It's been suggested that she pay for the first car ($3400) and now for her insurance ($300 every 6 months). Add that to the cost of her new car ($3000) and she'd be indebted for about the next six years. My philosophy is that she is a good student (B+ average), doesn't drink, smoke, cuss. She is working on her Girl Scout Gold Award (collecting crockpots and creating a cookbook for the Homeless Veteran's Fellowship), she's in marching band, and is trying out for drumline. She goes to church because she wants to, not because I make her go. The accident was because it was dark and raining and neither Mike nor I went over all of the controls on the car with her. She turned on the windshield wipers and they wouldn't stay on. She looked down to see what was wrong, drifted to the right and hit a parked car. Now I'm not saying the accident wasn't her fault because it was. I am saying it could happen to anyone. And yes, the police officer checked her cell phone to make sure she wasn't texting or talking.

So her punishment is that she has to pay for her new car. She has to give me 50% of her paycheck at Old Navy or $100 per month, whichever is more. She has to keep her grades up or drop out of any extra curricular activities. If her grades still are not at least a B average then she will have to quit her job and then she'll have to stop driving the car. I think that's fair. By the way, her insurance did not go up at all. Amazing. I love USAA. They are the BEST insurance company around!