Yes, Ela lost the tooth. It fell out during the night and she found it when she was in the shower tucked between her cheek and gum…just like chaw! I put my fairy hat on, went to Target and got a big ol’ Lego set. We had started getting Legos for Ben, but Ela totally got into them. Ben liked to play with them, but Ela would make the most insane contraptions with them. So, I got her a big Harry Potter set. She spent hours messing with it tonight.

Ela earned the privilege of having the class mascot at the house this weekend. Larry the Lion – it’s just a freaking stuffed animal, but since we have so many allergies (more than in a “middle class” neighborhood) in her class/school, there can’t be any pets in the classrooms. Seriously, when was the last time anyone’s had anaphylactic shock from a gerbil? If we keep going like this, the human race is doomed! Anyway, we have a stuffed animal with a diary for the weekend. Larry’s already seen more in the last few hours to write a dissertation for a PhD in psychology.

Good morning, Streptococcus! I woke up at 2 am with one of those Miss Clavel moments. Something was not right. So I went to Benjamin and he had a fever…SHIT! I should have followed my instinct and brought him to the doctor’s office yesterday. I threw some Advil in him and put him back to bed; it took him forever to fall back to sleep. I’m tired first thing in the morning, but still have to get Ela off to school. No problem…I have college degrees earned on lack of sleep. Got Ben an appointment and got Ela ready and out the door. Yes, he actually did have strep – fifth time this season. No, not a carrier; just a kind and generous host. I had him come home and let him sit in front of the TV all the rest of the day.

Now, a little sidebar about the doctor’s office: We have this insurance that you have a set amount that you have to pony up each year and then the insurance kicks in. The good: you save money because there’s far less taken out of your paycheck each week and overall savings. The bad: You get to see exactly what the doctor’s office charges for services. Strep test: $36…same test kit on the internet: $99…FOR 33 KITS!!! Do I feel used! Yes, I read the manual and can totally do this on my own and the kit gives you the instructions on how to send off the sample for the extended tests (if the rapid test comes out negative). Why can’t I just bring my own test? Hell, I can make a kid gag with a q-tip for free.

Now, another thing about this insurance: They pay for all well-visits. Stop and think for a minute. Go ahead, think for a minute. You’re still reading…Okay, if you didn’t have lots of money and you were sick-ish, would you just run to the doctor or would you wait to see if you could get yourself better? Yeah, you’d wait; so you would be much more likely to discover at 2am that you were VERY sick and need an ER visit – that you can’t afford and the insurance will not cover. So, what if you have the money? Well, that “co-pay” thing or whatever amount that you use up, gets used up on the first visit that cost $2000 and the insurance company is on the hook for the rest of all of your visits for the rest of the year. Okay, now, why get a physical? Pain in the ass (serious pain in the ass at my age); burns up my day; I’m not having problems. You got the point, I have no accountability for managing my health and no real carrot on the end of the stick to do it anyway. If the doctor finds something wrong with me at the well visit, I’m going to have to pay full-price for the cure. For normal, “educated” families, this makes sense, but the majority of the country is not “that.” I may be overextending my thoughts here, but the actuaries are hoping that you don’t go to the doctor and don’t get really, really sick and when you do, you can afford to pay or have the hospital absorb the cost. I don’t know…it’s a good plan for us, but I can’t see this working on a larger scale. I cringe when I have to pay $120 for a “nurse” to spend 3 minutes with us, swab Benjamin’s throat and throw a prescription at us. That sounds like over $3000 an hour. Dang! You understand, this is not a rant. I just don’t get the math. Actuaries must have wicked confusing work because I’m sure it makes total sense on paper, but if I were dirt poor and single, I’d wait til I was “knock knock knockin on heaven’s door” before I’d go to the doctor for a sick visit.

Enough. Shut up already. Stayed with Benjamin while he watched TV and repaired “blue monkey” for Penny and repaired Ela’s coat that got ripped the other day. I’ve found that sewing is really fun. The story: I learned to sew when I was a child. I’m not sure if my mother taught me or I learned from watching – I’ve blocked a ton of my childhood. I went on the Yahoo! group: Freecycle. It’s a cool group that almost every major metropolitan area has that is a group of people who give things away instead of throwning them out. If you want something, you ask and if someone else has it, they give it to you; if you want to get rid of something, you offer it up and if anyone else in the group wants it, they come get it. I asked for a sewing machine. I got an older Westinghouse that was in cherry condition. I brought it to a repair guy and he told me to NEVER sell it because, “they just don’t make machines that good anymore.” I’ve found it to be a very wholesome activity – repairing your clothing. I HATE throwing things away that just need a patch or a new zipper. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this machine. I also bought some fabric, patterns and a copy of Sewing for Dummies. Ela got her first home-made skirt and it looks terrific. What’s really amazing, is that I disemboweled Big Bird and made a pillow for Ela that she will NOT go to bed without as well as a scrap of fabric that I sewed a letter “E” on for her that she carries around like her life depended on it. Sigh…she loves me and admires me – I’m getting a little veclempt, talk amongst yourselves for a minute. Seriously, it’s really sweet.

Going on with my day, a lady named Marilyn came over to paint vines on our dining room wall – no comment, I have no sense of style so anything I say would be silly and overly pragmatic. She did the murals on Ela’s and Ben’s rooms. She’s amazing (after we had hired her to do the kids’ rooms, we found out that she’s known to be the best here “in these here parts”). The kids’ rooms are awesome and now our dining room is “vin-ey.”

Now it’s after 10pm, the kids are asleep, Ben seems to be feeling a little better and his temp is down and I want to let this day slip away into my easily lost memory. I guess now, I can just read my blog…seriously need to look at my home improvement list and start to tie up all the loose ends on my little projects so that I can start fresh on the outdoors projects. Lots to do there.