Pardon my language

In spite of the cold, I'm steaming right now.  Eleven years ago I had to have emergency gall bladder surgery in the interim period where we had no insurance.  Due to the surgeon botching the operation, I ended up with two surgeries, five days in the hospital and and ambulance bill (not to mention they scheduled the surgery after hours so it was considered overtime.  They also put me in a private room that they stated was for people without insurance.  My total bill (and mind this was 11 years ago) was over $22,000.  We only owe less than $700 right now and the stupid hospital has turned us over to a collection agency.  In 11 years I haven't missed a single payment.  And they say they've asked us and asked us to pay them and we've refused. They want the full amount RIGHT NOW. 

Too bad.  They'll get payments until it's done.  I can't do any better than that.  As it is, I've had to postpone my mammogram because I can't afford it.

Oh, and the stupid bitch at the hospital called me five years after the surgery asking for the amount in full just minutes after I got my diagnosis with breast cancer.  When I told her that she basically said, "too bad," and proceeded to try to coerce me to take out a second mortgage on the house in order to pay off this exorbitant bill.

I know they're trained not to listen to sob stories, but this is beyond the pale.

So...yeah...I'm a bit cheesed right now.

But...Tom has finally come to see the financial situation for what it really is and has finally come to the conclusion that I'm not out there frittering money away and that I really am doing a pretty darned good job manipulating our income to match our outgoing expenditures.  He has also, for the first time since we've been married, given up something he really wants:  an ice fishing trip with his brother and friends.  I couldn't believe it but he called and canceled (without explaining, of course...pride being what it is and all.)  He wouldn't even do that after my chemo and radiation when we had absolutely no money.  He had this feeling of entitlement.

But now he seems to get it.  Finally.

I had to turn the thermostat down another notch or two.  We got the bill and it was around $200 for gas and electric, which seems good but it's still $15 over our highest bill last winter and we had the thermostat at 60 during the day and 50 at night.  I've been leaving it at 58 daytime and 48 nighttime.  Still not low enough.  And we're having a monstrous cold front right now.  Wind chills in the minus 20's tonight.  I've got it at 55 and while it's a bit chilly, it's doable for a while. I'm dressed pretty warmly and I have spent a good amount of time on the bed under a throw while reading so it's not like I'm freezing to death or anything.  Still, I bet that old bitch at the hospital has her thermostat sitting pretty.

Enough griping though.

I found a pattern on Ravelry for an earwarmer to wear with a ball cap so I knitted one up for Zach.  He wears his McSnacky hat in to work instead of his warm cap because he doesn't have anyplace to store his cap while there.  This fits into his pocket nicely and because I made it out of Cascade 220, it's pretty warm.  In fact, he's wearing it without the cap in his room right now. It's a quick knit so I made two of them in case he loses one.

I'm also working on fingerless mitts for my Secret Sister at church.  I knitted her a scarf for December so I'm making mitts and a hat to match for this month.  I'm using the Fetching pattern on knitty.com and it's also a quick knit.  Not sure what hat pattern yet.  I've got a couple set aside and need to choose between them.

Still haven't found my crochet hooks, but I haven't put tons of effort into it yet either.  I did find a few hooks in my storage bins so maybe I have the right size.  Jan says that she used a brushed acrylic yarn and it worked out okay so I'm going with the Plush.  As soon as I find the right crochet hook.

We had a few inches of snow the past few days.  I didn't send Zach out today because it's so darned cold but there  is only an inch or so on the sidewalks.  Not even enough to drag the snowplows out for.  But we did get about 4-5 inches the night before and Zach and I were out shoveling that.  The snow at the bottom of the driveway was packed and heavy but the sidewalk snow was feather light.  It still took us over an hour to shovel it all though.  

School starts on Monday so I'm trying to figure out an eating schedule for us.  Can't afford to eat out as much as last semester but figuring out meals is tricky since we can't always use the commons area which has the microwaves.  I'm not a big fan of cold meals though, especially in the winter so it will be a challenge.  I guess we'll have to eat out on the dollar menu if, and only if, the microwaves aren't available.  Otherwise, we pack a supper.

I'm fixing turkey soup tonight.  I bought two turkeys last week at 50 cents a pound and baked one right off the bat.  I had a huge amount left over so I froze most of it.  I'm throwing vegetables and rice in after simmering it in some spices and such.  It smells good.  And I have homemade bread to go with it.  Just the right meal for a bitterly cold night like tonight.

I have email to answer so please be patient with me.  I'm not online as much anymore because I'm trying to get some stuff done before I go back to driving every day.  And I've been on a reading binge which I can do a lot of while waiting for Zach but why wait?

Off to finish the soup.  Nothing better than the smell of freshly baked bread so I'm drooling a bit right now.

TTFN