Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Hello from Saratoga Springs NY! We are going to the track later today on a weather day almost exactly like last year when we were here: cloudy with potential rain showers. A bit of a repeat in terms of where we stayed, restaurants, and even weather.

I hear you on the health insurance costs. I retired at 62 and had to pay to stay in my companies group health plan until I reached 65. At that time (5 years ago so it has probably gone up), I paid $860 a month for a plan with extremely large deductibles, so I paid out of pocket a lot. Now on Medicare, I pay $380 a month for Medicare plus a robust supplemental plan and prescription plan where I rarely pay for anything.

Time to get some real coffee as the stuff in the room is just not good. I brought some Keurig coffee pods but it doesn't use them. I definitely need to get motivated which is always more difficult on a dreary day. Good thing I don't live in the Pacific Northwest where dreary days are more common than sunny ones.

Have a winning Wednesday!

Very uneventful travel day, all connections good, flights left on time stc. But still tiring. We arrived at 11pm. Got ourselves up and down to the breakfast. Some peaks of blue sky, today may be the best weather until Monday. We will find things to do. Little sun keeps the temp down a bit. It was 72when we went to breakfast. :)

Enjoy! Also, I thought the family member with the colicky baby might find this useful: https://blog.atriushealth.org/2022/07/soothing-a-baby-with-c olic/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hm august2022&utm_content=colic

Thanks Liz!

On the hunt for homeowners insurance. So many stressful parts of this! Finished a bunch of paperwork yesterday for the mortgage.

My Dad is at Mayo getting his ureter biopsy today. I'm praying it's nothing, but I hear a tone when talking to my dad that doesn't seem to think so. Maybe what the doctors said.

And I missed a board meeting this morning because I got confused about what we were meeting for and where (zoom or Teams). By the time I figured it out, I thought it would be too disruptive to join. Sigh. My brain is too full and overflowing.

As is my stomach. I need to stop eating empty carbs!

Best of luck to your Dad. Will it be a few days before the results come back?

I'm not sure. Sometimes with Mayo it's fast.

Praying also that your dad's biopsy shows nothing concerning and everyone's mind is put to rest. The anticipation with these tests can be so stressful. Breath in-slow it down- breath out, sweetie. You can do this.

Have today "off" work but those days are rarely truly "off". I volunteer in our church garden and today we harvested 106 lbs. of fresh produce that goes to one of the local pantries. Too much hunger around, especially now with grocery prices spring! Feeling blessed that I have never had to worry where my next meal is coming from!

Will travel to my hometown this weekend to visit two of my besties. The graduating class before us is having their 40th reunion and some of our class plans to crash the Friday night festivities. My parents live in the neighboring town so I will go there Saturday or Sunday and pack up boxes for their move. My brother wants to move them Labor Day weekend but it is my weekend/Holiday to work.

Will move DS #3 into the dorms on September 1st. I'm praying that he will thrive, his mental health will be stable and he will continue his sobriety that he has worked so hard for this past year. The peer pressure to party will be a challenge. Of course I will continue to support him even if he relapses (rehab counselors warned us it would be a when not if and so far it has not happened).

I wish DS the best. It isn't easy.