I have a life?

I have never actually needed a calendar before now. I mean, in general, for the past several years, my schedule has been M-F Work from 8-4:30, M,W,Th school 6:00-10:00, S&S Work at Photo Job. If I did anything out of that routine, it was so exciting (and rare) that I wasn't about to forget it.

Over the past few weeks, I've realized that I've got several things going on in my life and need to remember them. Let's see, I've got three test dates to remember in the next couple of months. Don't want to schedule anything on top of those! PJ and Little A are going to be in the Panhandle for ten days this month and I'm going to go see them. (While I'm there, I'm sure I'll see the grandparents and Miss A and Little B and their parents.) My sister will be here (maybe) in October. Fun stuff!!

You see? I mean, this is more than has gone on in my life for a long time! My calendar was from 2004... no kidding. I found a lovely (and free) template for a calendar and printed off the months I need and now, like most households, I have a calendar stuck to my fridge with my upcoming events marked on it.

In other news... can I just say finding health insurance is a total pain in the hiney? I knew leaving my job would also include leaving group health insurance, but I'd looked at different companies and policies online and done quite a bit of research, so I knew it would be expensive, but I figured it wouldn't be too bad.

What I failed to take into account was the fact that health insurance companies are evil. They can and will "uprate" you for having a hangnail anytime in the past 5 years. Heaven forbid you actually have any kind of health thing. I found out that because I have been diagnosed with depression I can't get mental health coverage. That didn't surprise me, to be honest. What totally ticked me off, though was the fact that the one company that would insure me uprated me for it -- didn't cover it, but charged me more.

I was also uprated for having seasonal allergies. I'd dare to guess that maybe 75% of the people in the U.S. have some sort of seasonal allergies and take something for it, yet, it was another excuse for the insurance company to uprate me. The policy was originally quoted to me for about $155 a month. By the time I got uprated for everything, it was going to cost me $245 a month and I would have a $750 deductible for prescriptions and a $3500 deductible for health/doctor's visits.

Thank goodness for COBRA insurance. I will actually pay more to keep the insurance through my job, but it is better insurance and I can get coverage for my hangnail!