Boy-o-boy has this week been a challenge.  First off, Kinhly got sick starting Friday morning.  She started off with a little cough and would giggle as she said “look mom, I’m sick, *cough* *cough*.”  I smiled as I rolled my eyes.  Since Diesel had just gotten done being sick I was sure that Kinhly was wanting the same attention.  Man was I wrong!  Let me preface the rest of this by saying that Kinhly has never been sick before.  Short of having giardia when we came home from Vietnam, she’s never had anything worse than a runny nose and I’ve been very thankful for that.  But, by Saturday it was clear that this was going to be our first bout of illness for her.  Friday and Saturday she would have a fever only at night, sometimes getting as high as 104.5 but being easily broken with regular Tylenol and Motrin.  Sunday night was another story though, by 10pm she had a high fever and a cough again and I was convinced that she should head to the Urgent Care.  Matt talked me out of it.  Then 3am hit and the vomiting started and Matt and I compromised on calling the on-call provider at our Ped’s office.  I told the doc that the fever wasn’t getting lower than 102.5 even with the alternating every-3-hour dosing.  She assured me that she would be ok through the night and that she should just be seen in the morning.  

Morning came and we were all alive, but very tired.  Calling at 7:30am got us a 10:30am appt. with our regular doc.  The doc was sweet and agreed with me that she thought Kinhly had Strep.  Nope - the test came back negative.  So a blood test was done and her white blood cell count was off.  The doc assured me that this just meant her body was fighting something and that antibiotics would kick it.   That was Monday.

We’re now on day 2, Kinhly is on the mend and the house is almost free of the vomit smell!  Yay for small miracles. Until today that is.

While shopping for dog food after dropping Diesel off at school this morning, I got a call from the worst people in the world - bill collectors.  As it turns out, we have a $480 outstanding bill with the hospital from back when Diesel was born - IN 2002!!  They’re finally realizing that the 6 year deadline for collection is coming up this year so they’re jumping on it with the threat of a lawsuit.  Over $480!  And you know, you’ll never really appreciate how cheesy the “I had no clue I owed this money” line sounds until it’s actually coming out of your mouth!  I get our things - spending $50 on food and a new bed as I rush out of the store - ouch!

The first thing I do when I get home is check the State of Oregon Revenue site for an update on our state tax return (the one we haven’t received yet) since that is how we’re going to be able to pay off this crap.  But right there in black and white the site informs me that our return has been chosen for manual review and that we can expect a minimum of 6-8 weeks of additional processing time!  I pick my stomach up off the floor and call the 800 number.  The lovely woman on the other end tells me that they’re wanting proof of our childcare expenses for the year and that they’re needing either cancelled checks for every payment, or signed receipts that were written at the time of service.  I spend the rest of the afternoon combing through our bank statements from January all the way to September looking for every payment made to our former childcare lady.  After several hours, I’d been able to account for all but $150!  Now I just need to visit my bank and order real copies of all these checks.  More money to spend!  

Today was full of sick kids, and depressing thoughts about money.  But, while things may be messed up, I refuse to play the woe-is-me game (beyond the first 5 minutes that is.)  I would rather be thankful.  Ready?  Here I go:

While Kinhly is pretty sick, I’m thankful that we didn’t end up having to take her to the hospital.

While we may have to come up with over $480 for a sudden bill, I’m thankful that we found out about it before it went to a judgement situation.  And that I have an understanding Mom who is willing to take an IOU on an old IOU.

While we may have to come up with all the information for IRS, I’m thankful that we’re getting back a pretty penny when it does finally come.

- and finally -

While things may not always be perfect, we’re happy and that’s one of the most important things.

 

That’s about all the cheesy I have in me tonight.  Tune in next time for some pictures of my extended family!