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Showing posts from November, 2008

Good Thing I Have Health Insurance

Wow. Last night when I got home my Explanation of Benefits from Health Partners was waiting for me. I've been patiently awaiting this to see just how much my eye surgery cost. Services for just the anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist were $594.33 and $927.41, respectively. I'm not really sure why one is so much more than the other. The surgery was $6,762.03. My appointment the day after surgery was $125.20. The two appointments I had earlier in the week, with my primary care doctor and the opthamologist were $220.00 and $387.00. And none of this includes the appointment I had last week or the one I have in two weeks. So far, fixing my eye has cost a whopping $9,016.27! Of that, I have only had to pay $18.72 for eye drops and $30.00 in co-pays. That's it. Thank you U of M for a good health insurance plan!

Well, then...

My sister was giving me a hard time about not posting recently. It's not that I have nothing to post...it's that with it being dark before I even leave work, I haven't been able to take pictures of my recent knitting accomplishments (unless I want to use my flash and have the pictures look horrible). What about over the weekend, you ask? Hey...I was way too busy over the weekend watching DVDs of the West Wing and picking out an appropriate algebra textbook for a 35 year-old (me) to take photos. ALGEBRA? What's up with that? Maybe there will be more on that later. Given the fact that I'm also watching a show that has been off the air for several years (while my friends all watch Lost and Heroes), I'm not sure I want to admit how much more of a geek I am. Quick knitting update: I finished Mystery Sock #1 and am almost done with Kathy's Sock #2. Kathy's socks will be presented to Kathy on Turkey Day, and perhaps she will wear them in early December wh

Too Lazy To Post Tuesday

(I like the Too...to..Tue in the title!) Obviously, I'm not too lazy since I am posting. I am lazy in the sense that I just wanted to share some links, so there is not much of my own content. My sister, who is a mom, reads several "mommy blogs". She's the one who turned me on to dooce , who is so famous she was on the Today show a few months ago. She also reads Mom to the Screaming Masses . I don't read this much (ever) but since I am staying with her for a few days, I spied it on the Macbook. In the post yesterday, she gives recipes for flavored liqueurs . Cool! My step mom makes her own amaretto. Maybe she will post her recipe in the comments. Sara B. sent me this link months ago. I just think it's such a great story, and I saw this security guard the last time I was at the Minneapolis Public Library. He looked shorter in person, but then I remembered that in the picture, he is standing next to a little kid. There are some really good people

How Did I Do?

Weekend Knitting Accomplishments 1) Ribby Cardi Zipper - A total bust. I didn't even touch it! 2) Finished the foot on the Mystery Sock and downloaded the final clue...the toe! 3) Cast on for Kathy's Sock #2 and knit 3 rows so far. 4) Yarn Purchase at the Yarnery . Semi- successful . I didn't see anything that screamed at me, "I am the yarn for your sweater!" which is odd because there was much beautiful yarn there and everyone was so helpful. My mom did get some yarn, so it wasn't a total loss. Afterwards, we drove over to Borealis Yarns , where I got More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch and the booklet, the Magic Loop . Happy Birthday to me! I am spending the next few days with my sister and the Little Guy. Her hubby is out of town, so we are living together, for a bit, just like in the old days. Except with a toddler. The Little Guy was up and talking to himself in his crib for a bit this morning. When his light goes on, he knows

Gonna Get Me Some Yarn

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I have big knitting plans for the weekend. This morning as I walked to the busstop, I decided this weekend I want to: 1) Sew the zipper on my Ribby Cardi. I finished the knitting in FEBRUARY . 2) Complete the foot on Mystery Sock #1. Here is where I left off with it before my surgery. I feel sort of so-so about this sock. I like the stitch pattern, but am not so crazy about how the yarn is pooling. 3) Cast on for Kathy's Sock #2. 4) Go to the Yarnery with my mom on Sunday (she has never been there!) and buy some birthday yarn to make this (ravelry link). I know, my birthday was two months ago. It's taken me some time to decide what I wanted. Mom didn't really go for the "eye surgery yarn" idea. Oh well. Speaking of my eye, it's doing much better. Vision is still blurry, partly because my eye is dilated I am sure. The gas bubble in my eye disappeared overnight, so I no longer have to wear my bright green wrist band. Yay! It was getting annoying. Last night D

What Happened, Mimi?

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That is what the Little Guy asked me Saturday night when he saw me with my eye patch. He then gave me his blue puppy and put a floor rug over me. So cute...meaning the Little Guy...obviously not me. See below. I was very lucky in that I did not have to spend my weekend in face-to-the-floor position. That was a possibility, but the opthamologist/surgeon told me I didn't need to do that. I trust him because he went to Yale and then Harvard Medical School. I spent the better part of my weekend laying around with my eyes closed. I had a hard time keeping my good eye open, so I listened to a lot of Minnesota Public Radio and asked D for a report on the book he is reading about Abe Lincoln. Good times. The surgery went well. I had scleral buckle surgery done. They also injected a tiny gas bubble in to my eye to push my retina back in place, so I get to wear a lovely bright green medic alert bracelet until it dissolves. No nitrous oxide for me or I could go blind! Oh, and I

It's About Time For Some Change!

YES! As I rode the bus home last night, I passed many groups of people in the street, waving signs, yelling and cheering. The excitement was...exciting! I can't remember ever being so excited to cast my vote before! I was lucky that I did not have to wait in line at all to vote. I was in and out of the polling place within 5 minutes. I didn't watch much of the election coverage because I went to bed pretty early. First thing I did when I got up though was turn on the TV and do a little dance around the living room. Yes, I am pleased. Tomorrow is the big day for me...eye surgery. I'll post as soon as I can to let everyone know how it went. Thank you for all your prayers and support!

You Cannot Knit When Your Pupils Are Dilated

You can't. Really. I tried. I had an interesting day, and not in a particularly good way. On the other hand, I know it could have been worse, and I'm thankful. Ha ha ha...how do you like my soap opera style writing? Ya know how in soap operas it always takes about an hour for someone to actually TELL something. Well, for about the last week, I've noticed the peripheral vision in my right eye has been lacking. It was a bit troubling to say the least. This morning I went to the doctor, and after waving her hands around in front of me, she decided I should go see the opthamologist and get an MRI and maybe see a neurologist for good measure. Yikes! First stop was the opthamologist, where there was more waving of hands and wiggling of fingers (the technician's, not mine) which determined that indeed...no peripheral vision. The the dreaded dilating of the pupils. I tried, I really tried to knit for a bit, but after about 5 minutes, the world was blurry and bright and I

More Geocaching

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Yesterday was a beautiful day! After my Arabic dance class, I decided it would be shame to stay inside so I called D to see if he was up for some Geocaching . Of course he was! We headed down to the walking path along Mississippi River Blvd in St. Paul. I love my neighborhood and just one of the reasons is being within walking distance of the river and the walking/running/biking/rollerblading-get-knocked-over-by-a-130lb-Newfoundland path (a story for another day). Just off the main path, a few feet into the woods, is another hidden, more woodsy path. It was there we found the caches. We found several DinoCaches. In the very last one were three new caches, with a note letting us know we could take one and hide it somewhere. We just need to use "DinoCache" in the title. We took one called Apatosaurus because it reminded me of Judd Apatow. I found the first one and I was so excited! We did a lot of traipsing through the woods. There is a fairly steep gorge (well, it som