I'm All Choked Up

I see I forgot to mention I felt a lot of drainage in my throat as we drove home from Dallas last weekend.  As I feared, it developed into a full-blown cold, with symptoms like whooping cough, but it can't be that, because I got a fresh vaccination for that last June.  Everything (almost everything -- thankfully, no diarrhea -- always something to be thankful for) was running -- eyes, nose, bladder, throat.  Mucous was clear, so no signs of infection.  Just a good, old-fashioned, make you miserable cold.  I'm down to mostly the cough and the side effects of that, which will probably linger for a month or so.

The Good Stuff:

• I got bike rides, morning pages (for anyone keeping track at home, that's every day this year, so far), and reading done this week
• I started the rework of Cat Eyes.  It's going slow, but I'll get it. I hope.
• If Rossie ever lets me catch her again, I'll give her her first dose of Revolution, then everyone will have this month's medication applied.  I'd been holding off on the kittens to see if they would be adopted and let the new owners decide what to do, but spring is coming, and I want to make sure the little darlings are protected just like our big cats are.
• We attended an Eagle Court of Honor this afternoon for our neighbor's boy.  He's 14 1/2 and started Scouts in 2008.  I don't think it's possible to earn Eagle Scout much faster than he did, and watching the support he had from his parents and grandparents to achieve this honor, I'm not sure how a kid does it without such an awesome support force.
• I tracked on Lose It! and was actually under my calorie goal for several days this week -- it did help to be sick; I didn't want to snack.
• The invoice from the vet was legit -- the staff didn't discount the other spays as much as the vet wanted them discounted, so when they applied all the discounts, I'd overpaid and had a credit.  I think this was more than generous, but I had asked her if she could give me a break on the spaying and neutering price, so the staff was puzzled that I was complaining about having a credit. I didn't want them to not get their due. She is running a business, after all.
• I got a few small things done around the house.
• I stopped in at the local appliance store after leaving the laundromat on Friday.  The washer/dryer combo unit we want is $1399.  They have to order it.  If I just want a washer, I can get one off their showroom floor for $549.  I hate having to reach in from the side to load and unload the washer and to shift the loads.  It's very awkward.  I'd much prefer the stacked unit like we have in San Antonio.  Before we can get it, hubby has to cut a new dryer vent on the washer side of the laundry closet and move the gas to the washer side.  We'll probably leave everything set up on the dryer side. (The washer and dryer face one another with a narrow space between them. This closet was built by taking a corner out of the kitchen.) I'm not going to bug him about it.  I'll just haul a couple of loads a week to the laundromat until he gets it worked into his schedule. (That's the plan, anyway. I may run out of patience.)

The Not So Good Stuff:

• I haven't pulled out PBOTL this week.  I'll blame it on being sick, maybe?
• I'd meant to do preliminary work on taxes, but didn't feel up to that either.
• I picked up all the kittens.  Rossie has expanded her range outside the parlor and has found a place to hide somewhere else in the house.  She's more elusive than ever the last two days.  I guess she'll come around eventually.  She's a good house cat, so I guess I'll just accept her for who she is and that's that.
• I received my TRICARE Prime letter that says they won't cover me next year because I live outside the service area.  Except they will, because my doctor is inside the service area, and I can reapply and sign the distance waiver -- which was what I did when I enrolled in 2008.  When they rewrote the TRICARE (the military medical plan) contracts, they wrote it to kick non active duty people outside the Prime Service Areas off the program and dump them onto TRICARE Standard, which has no enrollment and no premiums (and I'm not sure how it's viewed under ObamaCare laws), but you pay everything for the first $3000 out of pocket every year, then, after that, you're supposedly covered.  In theory, I could have a doctor closer to home by using this option, except in 2008, my doctor was the closest one to me who accepted TRICARE.  Since they opened the Scott and White Clinic in my town last year, there actually IS a doctor who will take TRICARE (but under the new rules, it will have to be Standard), but I avoided Scott and White in 2008, and I have no interest in working with them now, even if they are a five minute drive from my house instead of 40. (Prime has a $300 annual premium and a $12 co-pay for each visit.  There are a few other costs for procedures, but it's very reasonable, and all other expenses are covered.  If I get my prescriptions at a military hospital, they are free, but if I get them from a pharmacy, the run from $9-45. It's a very good deal.  I get that, but military members are promised health care for life if they stick it out to retirement.)
• I have to refill prescriptions at the end of the month.  I'll stop at the TRICARE office and pick up a new enrollment form and check with them that I'm understanding this correctly.

The Week Ahead:

• Continue riding, tracking, reading, and morning pages
• See how many days I can remain under my calorie goal this week (last week, it was five)
• Resume work on the crepe mrytles -- the weather is supposed to be beautiful, so it should help me to be outside
• Get the next iteration of CAT EYES down on pixels.