Along Came Holly…

Ben told me today I was being difficult.  Not that that comment in and of itself is a shocker, I have been known to be difficult a time or maybe two in my lifetime.  But this comment was in response to my scheming to go to Key West for Spring Break this year.

We decided in light of the money we are spending on other things that we would not go to Key West for Spring Break, the first time in four years that we won’t be going there.  I admit I was the stickler on this rule–it is truly paradise, but it is very expensive.  Then, last night, Ben decides we should watch the Modern Marvels episode about the intercoastal highway, the one and only way in and out of Key West.  After spending an hour in paradise via DirecTV, I was ready to book a trip.

So this morning/afternoon, I began pricing out plane tickets and places we could stay, even at this late date.  This made Ben really mad since he had just booked a conference for the week before in San Francisco and our plan was to spend part of Spring Break in California this year.  California’s great, just not the warm, tropical paradise that is Key West.

Needless to say, we ARE going to California.  We will spend a few days at Lake Tahoe and a day or so at Yosemite.  Ben wants to stay in a canvas tent with a “bear proof” locker for food at Yosemite…I’m thinkin’ that the Bear will just head straight for me in the absence of food.  A “bear proof” locker and canvas tent?  ARE PEOPLE NUTS?  Am I?

I will let you know what happens as the trip to Cali progresses.  I could be bear bait before Easter!

Well, loyal readers, Bailey’s current health saga continues.  It appears that his back condition is still causing him problems.  Ben took him to our regular vet today and apparently, it is common for beagles to suffer from these back issues.  It will probably be something he will battle the rest of his life as it flares up from time to time.  The current course of action is to continue his current meds until Friday; if he is still experiencing pain like he currently is, they will switch his medicine to something similar to Celebrex.  If that still fails to work, next are steroids.  If both are a bust, we are looking at a specialist vet appointment for back surgery.

Did you hear it??  That “choo-choo”?  You guessed it, the Money Train just pulled up to my door.

No, it is not similar to the Polar Express or Amtrak.  That’s an urban legend.  It is an endless parade of mile after mile of cars that take dollar after dollar out of my hardworking hands to pay for health coverage my family does not have and most companies do not offer.  The Money Train really likes the Rapin Compound; between fertility treatments and vet bills, the neighbors don’t even peek out of their curtains anymore when the whistle blows.

I shouldn’t complain about money–Lord knows there are hundreds of thousands of folks who are in a much worse place than I am, but I can hardly choke out the statement “How much?” without gagging on my own tongue.  I wonder how many more generations we will survive before major changes take place in insurance reform.  Can you see listing your frozen embryos or pets on your dependent sheet?  I am inclined to believe it could just happen in my lifetime…

Ah, Rapin life sure is Loco these days!  I have had a roller coaster of a few weeks…here’s the recap for those interested:

1.  I finally decided to go see my doctor about new antidepressants.  I knew the ones I’ve been on forever weren’t really doing the trick anymore (the voices came back…just kidding!), so my psychiatrist recommended Cymbalta or Effexor.  My general doctor gave me Cymbalta, and as I quote a fellow blogger, “let the gastrointestinal sideshow begin!”  I have been on several antidepressants over the course of the past 10 years, and this one took the side effects “cake”.  I was ill everyday, so after the 10 day period in which I was supposed to overcome the side effects, I went back to the doctor for Effexor.  Surprise!  Effexor is about to lose its patent, so they (Wyeth) are now pushing a new drug called Pristiq and I am my doctor’s first patient on the meds.  Well, Day 2 is done, and I feel much better as far as side effects go.  As for helping subside the actual depression, it’ll be a few weeks before the jury comes back with a verdict.  Good times.

2.  I attended my first baby shower in years.  This was quite a feat, to be honest, since I have allowed myself to bow out of these activities on account of all my infertility problems.  My best friend from high school, Kristie, is having her first child and I was actually excited about going  to see her and shower her with baby fun and games.  Kristie has affectionately nicknamed her child baby rhino because she is HUGE and still has 8 weeks to go, so I was also eager to see how “big” she really was.   Well, she was not kidding.  She is one very large pregnant woman–if I saw her in a grocery store, I would be shocked she wasn’t on the OB ward at the hospital.  Ben also agreed–he used the adjective enormous.  She is doing very well given a difficult pregnancy and even tougher times in her personal life.  She is a trooper–I enjoyed catching up with her, it will probably be our last visit sans baby!

3.  Bailey is sick…again.   Both Ben and I went away this weekend for different activities and Ben’s sisters stayed at our house to watch Toby and Bailey.  Ben called me late Sunday eve on my way back from Ttown and Kristie’s shower to tell me Bailey was acting strange and wouldn’t let anyone touch his back.  He was whining and was obviously in pain–he wouldn’t jump on furniture, his favorite napping grounds.   Bailey has a high threshold of pain as he lived for weeks with an infected tooth in his mouth without our knowledge, so we knew something was really wrong.  Ben decided to take him to the emergency vet (where his sister works weekends from time to time) and they determined he has something called innerdisc disease–its similar to a slipped disc in humans.   He is on pain med’s and we’re hoping his condition improves in the next day or so.  Otherwise, we are talking an MRI to check for soft tissue damage, and those run around $800 on dogs.  I feel my financial aneurysm coming back…

4.  We found out our house is worth even less than we thought after an assessment came back from the bank in our efforts to refinance.  No refinance for a better rate since the mortgage we would need to take out trumps the value of our property.  God bless the mortgage crisis and recession.

Borrowing a phrase from Kristie, “I’m just sliding down the razor blade of life”.  The winter blahs have set in and as nice as Spring Break in Florida sounds, that won’t be on the Rapin calendar this year.  I may just have to go tanning and buy some new clothes like I’m going someplace anyway to relieve the Michigan winter funk setting in over everyone these days…