We have Gas!!!

For the last few weeks, our area gas stations have been out of gas. Thankfully, Shannon was able to fill up yesterday before work. He happen to drive by at the right time because by the time he drove home, the gas station was out of gas. But the gas stations nearby had gas. Two nights ago, Shannon said he went to 15 different gas stations trying to find gas, all of them out! I even heard on the news that people were stalking the tanker trucks.

One of our credit card companies is trying to use scare tactics in order to get us to pay our bill -- which is actually pretty entertaining. About a month ago they sent me a letter stating that they are trying to locate my employer, which they obviously had no luck. Then a few days later, they tried calling to “work out a payment plan.” Just this week, they sent another letter stating they are trying to locate any property that I own, such as business assets, automobiles, land, etc. Well, good luck with that!

I did receive 2 payments from my GPT sites! I hope to receive a little more at the end of next month.

Rain

It’s been raining throughout the day for the last 2 days. I haven’t gone to get the mail because I’ve been taking Kyle with me outside and I don’t want us to get soaked!

Our city and many others have been out of gas or low on gas at the gas stations. There were some gas stations that had to limit how many gallons each customer could pump. There are also reports of fights and long lines at the gas station. People have even resorted to calling 911. The news reported that we should have more gas yesterday but it wasn’t as much as we thought. Now they are saying we should be just about back to normal by the end of next week.

Shannon did fill up before this all happened but he is still low. He can make it through the weekend. So hopefully by early next week, there will be gas.

For the last 2 months, Kyle wakes up in the early morning and stays up for a few hours until he falls asleep again. Shannon usually turns on cartoons for him and he tends to fall asleep on his own.

Kyle has his doctor appointment on Tuesday. I am not sure what to expect but this is long overdue. He never had a 2 year check up. He hasn’t been to a doctor in over a year. The last appointment he had was for his 18 month checkup.

Kyle’s understanding of Fish

Since Kyle does not talk, we depend on his non-verbal actions. Well, today we both saw Kyle show an understanding of Fish. We give Kyle a snack called Fish Crackers. Kyle loves these snacks and runs around with one in his hand just playing with it.




When I ask him if he wants fishies, I also use the sign for fish, which looks like this: http://www.mybabycantalk.com/content/dictionary/dictionaryofsigns.aspx?letter=F&word=Fish

Shannon has the day off today and Kyle was sitting in Shannon’s lap watching him play video games. There were fishes on the screen and Kyle put his fingers to the screen and then to his mouth as if to pretend to eat the fish.

Adventures of Plants and Waiting

Shannon had his second day off today. He had split days off for the second week in a row. It looks like he’ll have split days off next week as well.

I ended up taking a nap this afternoon because I was bored and a little tired. I wanted to watch a movie with Shannon but instead, he wanted to watch a bunch of videos and read news articles on the internet instead. I thought he’d like this movie because it’s about the law and finding out the truth, and it’s based on a true story -- Erin Brokovich. A few weeks ago, I had referenced a scene in that movie and I wanted to show him, rather than describe it to him.

We went grocery shopping today and I ended up buying a plant that was on clearance! I couldn’t pass this up because:
1. It was on clearance
2. I really wanted to buy a new plant
3. There were 5 plants in one pot
4. The pot had plants I didn’t have yet and wanted to add to my collection
Since we have our own place again, I have been trying to rebuild my jungle! My new plant comes with a cute outer pot made of heavy paper/light cardboard. It is designed with a “back to school” theme to give to a teacher. When we got home, I gave it a good drink of water with a little fertilizer. I can identify 4 out of my 5 new plants, I will try to find out the name of the 5th plant.

I bought the ingredients to make my own chai tea mix. Since moving to NC, I have been unable to find the chai tea mix that I usually buy. I found this recipe on the internet and I have yet to try it. I found many different versions of chai tea mix so I am hoping I like this one.

Kyle was so good in the store, as always! He’s always so quiet and observant. He just likes looking around at everything and everyone. Once in awhile he’ll turn around and try to pick things up we put in the cart. He hasn’t figured out that he can reach out and grab things on the shelves, which is good. He has tried a few times but we just tell him he can’t do that. He’s not a hyper child in public which is nice.

When we got to the checkout stands, there was no crowd, but there were only a few cashiers open. Of course, we ended up waiting at least 30 minutes and by that time, our frozen foods melted. I am just glad we didn’t buy ice cream because it would have melted completely. There were plenty of self checkouts open but we’ve tried that and it actually takes longer to do, especially when you have a full cart. While we were in line, we saw a toddler bed set with Disney’s Cars on it. I showed it to Kyle and he couldn’t take his eyes off of it. He LOVES Cars! It was cute that he recognized the characters.

Catching up

Since we were approved for Medicaid for Kyle, I was able to schedule a doctor’s appointment for him at the end of this month. I am looking forward to this checkup for him.

Shannon was off yesterday and then he’s off tomorrow. He went to the store last night to get the other half of our groceries. He went earlier this week for groceries but only bought half of what we normally need. He also bought me a big box of envelopes so I am finally able to write my letters. I have about 10 more letters to write.

I placed an order from a company called L’Bri. They sell all natural products made with aloe vera as their first ingredient. Anyway, I received my order yesterday. I had gone to a home party for this company a few months ago and just started using the samples again last week. I loved the feeling of my skin so I bought the full size skin care set.

I seem to have a new obsession with aloe vera and it’s benefits. So far, my plant is still alive.

Picking a Doctor

I don’t have any scientific method of choosing a doctor. The last time I picked a doctor for our son, I chose her from a book from my health insurance provider. I only chose her because she was in the same building as my doctor’s office.

This time around, I don’t know the area and I don’t know what doctors are good or bad. This time, I choose a doctor based on their geographic location. I chose the doctor who was closest to us. We have an appointment set for Kyle later this month.

We were APPROVED!!!

I just checked the mail and found out that Kyle was approved for Medicaid!!!! I am so excited and surprised that we were eligible. I wasn’t sure if we met the requirements, but apparently we do!!! I guess being “low income” has it’s advantages!

Kyle hasn’t been to a doctor is over a year now. I believe he is done with his immunizations, he just needs a regular checkup. It’s definitely nice knowing that we can take him to a doctor without worrying about a $300 medical bill for a checkup.