It is open enrollment for insurance at work. Since they changed our health insurance program this year, everyone had to fill out all of the paperwork again. It is a bit of a pain because I even had to fill out all of the beneficiary information for my life insurance and accidental death & disability policies.
If you have an AD&D policy, read it sometime. It is exactly what it says it is. It only pays if I am dismembered or die in an accident, but it is rather comical to read. There are things in there about how much they'll pay if you lose an arm or a leg or just fingers or some combination of your appendages.
Loss Percentage of the Principal Benefit
Life 100%
Both Hands or Both Feet 100%
Sight of Both Eyes 100%
Speech and Hearing 100%
One Hand and One Foot 100%
One Foot and Sight of One Eye 100%
One Hand and Sight of One Eye 100%
Quadriplegia 100%
Paraplegia 75%
Sight of One Eye 50%
Speech or Hearing 50%
One Hand or One Foot 50%
Hemiplegia 50%
Thumb and Index Finger of One Hand 25%
Uniplegia 25%
The funniest part is if I lose my arm in the ocean and can't produce my arm, I have to wait a year from the date of the loss for them to pay the claim. um, huh? So if a shark eats your arm, you'd better get at least part of it back, I guess.
I have more actual life insurance than I thought I had. Basically, like most people in the world, I'm worth much more if I'm dead than if I'm alive. (So not planning on going anywhere anytime soon... planning a long, full life.) But choosing beneficiaries is hard. I don't have a husband to leave it to, so Moma (and Daddy by default, but it's only in Moma's name) is my beneficiary. They also make you choose contingent beneficiaries. So, who to choose? I mean, right now I've got it listed as my sisters. But in all honesty, should I leave it to my niece and nephews for their college educations? Does it really matter 'cause if they are collecting then I'm dead.
Still, these are hard decisions to make. I so hate making decisions.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Day 28: Daddy is so generous
It seems that Daddy shared more than his home with me this weekend. It seems he also generously shared his cold germs. Ugh. I woke up this morning with a headache and sore throat. Double ugh. As the day wore on, my throat got sorer and sorer. Triple ugh.
So... I went to the store and got me some Tylenol Cold and Sinus and I will stay drugged until I'm over it. Hopefully it will be a 3 day cold and tomorrow will be the worst of it. I can feel like crap for one day and start to feel better. That wouldn't be so bad. Especially after last year (and the year before's) case of the flu and all the yucky-ness that went with that. I got my flu shot this year so hopefully I'll avoid that particular unpleasantness this year.
So... I went to the store and got me some Tylenol Cold and Sinus and I will stay drugged until I'm over it. Hopefully it will be a 3 day cold and tomorrow will be the worst of it. I can feel like crap for one day and start to feel better. That wouldn't be so bad. Especially after last year (and the year before's) case of the flu and all the yucky-ness that went with that. I got my flu shot this year so hopefully I'll avoid that particular unpleasantness this year.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Day 27: Just a day
Today was just a normal day. I went to work and came home. Since it's Tuesday I didn't have school so I did something I don't get to do very often... I took a nap. It was so relaxing with both kitties curled up next to me I just fell asleep. Now I am going to bed.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Day 26: I love Christmas!
I love Christmas. I really, really do. I love the fact that for one month out of the year almost everyone has a giving spirit and even people who normally are the me-me-me type will help organize food drives and toy drives for those who are less fortunate. I love the Salvation Army Bell Ringers in front of stores who always wish you a Merry Christmas with a smile no matter the weather. I love the tradition in the Dallas/ Ft. Worth area of Troy Dungan's Santa's Helpers that collects toys for the Toys for Tots Toy Drive. (And seeing all those Marines in dress uniforms is a decided bonus!)
I love the decorations and lights on houses and in stores. I even love decorating my own house even thought I'm likely the only one that will see it. I love putting my Nativity Scene (which is just like the one I grew up with) on my mantle even if that is the only decorations I put out for the year. Christmas is just a fun time of year, in my opinion.
I love the Christmas Season and all the things that go with it except one thing -- Radio stations changing their format to ONLY play Christmas music on Friday after Thanksgiving. I realize that most artists have recorded a Christmas album and has a rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas that only gets airtime once a year, but how many times do I have to hear Silent Night or Oh Holy Night in one day? Just because different artists sing it, it isn't a different song! Throw in a Christmas tune once in a while, even a couple of times an hour, but still play normal music, too, please. Pretty please with sugar plums on top?
It is no wonder people are sick of Christmas by Christmas Day and the bah-humbugs have taken over. There is such thing as overkill and Christmas music all-day-every-day would be that for me.
I love the decorations and lights on houses and in stores. I even love decorating my own house even thought I'm likely the only one that will see it. I love putting my Nativity Scene (which is just like the one I grew up with) on my mantle even if that is the only decorations I put out for the year. Christmas is just a fun time of year, in my opinion.
I love the Christmas Season and all the things that go with it except one thing -- Radio stations changing their format to ONLY play Christmas music on Friday after Thanksgiving. I realize that most artists have recorded a Christmas album and has a rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas that only gets airtime once a year, but how many times do I have to hear Silent Night or Oh Holy Night in one day? Just because different artists sing it, it isn't a different song! Throw in a Christmas tune once in a while, even a couple of times an hour, but still play normal music, too, please. Pretty please with sugar plums on top?
It is no wonder people are sick of Christmas by Christmas Day and the bah-humbugs have taken over. There is such thing as overkill and Christmas music all-day-every-day would be that for me.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Day 25: Home Sweet Home
It is great to visit family, but it is also great to be home. It's funny to me that as an adult, you are always "going home." I went "home" for Thanksgiving on Wednesday because I went to where my parents are. That is always home. Today, I came to my own place, I came home.
Anyway, the drive in wasn't nearly as bad as I feared it would be. Slow in the areas I expected, but never a dead stop like I feared it would be and has been on other trips. Most people were driving sanely and the ones who weren't tended to meet Texas' finest.
Traveling with my cats is an experience. I know the whole time I was at Moma & Daddy's house, I was afraid the cats were annoying everyone. Maxie has the most annoying (to me) meow when he is upset, feels he's being left out of the festivities, or just wants attention. On the way home, there was no calming him. He was between the blanket and the car seat yowling at me. It's this deep gutteral "MIIRRWOOOOOWWWWW" sound that tends to carry. He did it in the garage at Mom's (where he could get a lovely echo going) and in the car THE WHOLE WAY HOME (with the exception of a few minutes here and there) just to let me know his displeasure at his situation. Buddy was calmly laying on the center console touching me. As long as he was touching me, he was fine
So, now I am home, the car is unloaded, the cats have been fed and are wandering around sniffing everything to make sure nothing has changed in the four days since they were here. I need to unpack and do a couple of loads of laundry and fold some of the laundry I left undone when I left. But it can wait. I'm home now. I'm on my own couch with my feet on the coffee table relaxing. It's good to be home.
Anyway, the drive in wasn't nearly as bad as I feared it would be. Slow in the areas I expected, but never a dead stop like I feared it would be and has been on other trips. Most people were driving sanely and the ones who weren't tended to meet Texas' finest.
Traveling with my cats is an experience. I know the whole time I was at Moma & Daddy's house, I was afraid the cats were annoying everyone. Maxie has the most annoying (to me) meow when he is upset, feels he's being left out of the festivities, or just wants attention. On the way home, there was no calming him. He was between the blanket and the car seat yowling at me. It's this deep gutteral "MIIRRWOOOOOWWWWW" sound that tends to carry. He did it in the garage at Mom's (where he could get a lovely echo going) and in the car THE WHOLE WAY HOME (with the exception of a few minutes here and there) just to let me know his displeasure at his situation. Buddy was calmly laying on the center console touching me. As long as he was touching me, he was fine
So, now I am home, the car is unloaded, the cats have been fed and are wandering around sniffing everything to make sure nothing has changed in the four days since they were here. I need to unpack and do a couple of loads of laundry and fold some of the laundry I left undone when I left. But it can wait. I'm home now. I'm on my own couch with my feet on the coffee table relaxing. It's good to be home.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Day 24: Thanksgiving 2007 is now in the record books
The holiday weekend has wound down and folks are heading home. C & P are staying at a hotel tonight for an early flight back to ABQ and A&D and the kiddos left a day earlier than planned because of iffy weather (both here and on the way home). It's just me now. So, tomorrow Moma and I are going to clean the house a bit and decorate her house for Christmas ('cause it's more fun to do with someone!) and then I'll head home, too.
It has been a great weekend. The drive down on Wednesday afternoon was easy even thought there was lots of traffic in Ft. Worth and a bit of rain close to Moma's. Thursday was great with all the cooking and laughing and family fun. Friday was more of the same. Then today everything wound down.
The cats in the tent was a great idea (thank you, Daddy). They watched me unzip it a couple of times and Maxie figured out how to do it himself so they pretty much have had the run of the garage for the weekend. But they were close and I didn't have to worry about them, so it was a wonderful solution for what to do with them.
It has been a great weekend. The drive down on Wednesday afternoon was easy even thought there was lots of traffic in Ft. Worth and a bit of rain close to Moma's. Thursday was great with all the cooking and laughing and family fun. Friday was more of the same. Then today everything wound down.
The cats in the tent was a great idea (thank you, Daddy). They watched me unzip it a couple of times and Maxie figured out how to do it himself so they pretty much have had the run of the garage for the weekend. But they were close and I didn't have to worry about them, so it was a wonderful solution for what to do with them.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Day 23: Shopping and ginger bread houses
It has been a full day. We shopped some on the square. Acutally, I did more looking than actual shopping. C bought a couple of things, though so we did contribute to the Black Friday Economy.
When we got back to Moma & Daddy's house, A & B were awake from their naps and it was time to make the ginger bread house.
It was one gumdrop for the house and 4 for Miss A. One chocolate drop for the house, two for Mr. B. And then it was just easier to squeeze the icing directly into their mouths....
Even Uncle P got into the act...
But a beautiful gingerbread house was the sugary end result.
When we got back to Moma & Daddy's house, A & B were awake from their naps and it was time to make the ginger bread house.
It was one gumdrop for the house and 4 for Miss A. One chocolate drop for the house, two for Mr. B. And then it was just easier to squeeze the icing directly into their mouths....
Even Uncle P got into the act...
But a beautiful gingerbread house was the sugary end result.
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