Life

So, a lot of big events happened last week along side of the mundane. First up, we were approved for coverage for gh! Now, this is a huge deal and a bit complicated. The concern started last fall when Gary switched jobs. He had an offer that was just too good to pass up, with the one drawback that the insurance coverage excluded gh... grrrr. We knew this and had been putting off full time employment there and hanging on to his old job until we finally just decided it was time. We were not sure how appeals... would go, but we couldn't find out until we actually were heading down that road. So, in Oct. we received a 3 month supply from our old insurance and took the leap. Gary's new insurance was going to change with the new year, January, so we just held out. January came, the new hospital system changed prescription drug providers! Woo hoo! Now we live in SC, our benefits company is in CA and our specialty pharmacy which actually fills our prescription is in NC. Somehow we managed to get all of them and our endocrinologist to coordinate all the proper paperwork though the course of Jan. and Tue. we received word that her gh is covered!!! Huge financial relief for us.

Then on Wed., Noah was driving with Gary. (Noah has his permit) The 1992 Toyota Camry finally decided it had had enough. The transmission went and we had to decide it's future. Now, what most of you don't know is that we also owned a Nissan Quest (definitely terminal) with 220,000+ miles. Neither of those cars have a drivers windows that work (both stuck down) or heat or air conditioning or... Gary has driven them without complaint for a long time. We were blessed to get grandma's old car which is in great shape, but he wanted the kids to be safe so they got that one. Soooo on Thurs, with the black cloud of a gh money pit gone we bought Gary a car.

Now, we did not start the day expecting to come home with a car. Gary figured he would just drive the Quest for a bit until we decided what to do but figured it was worth a look because the Quest could blow any day. Amazing, but the perfect car was there waiting. I know, that sounds ridiculous, but Gary had been looking, well, more like dreaming for a while so he was very up on what was out there. He went in with a price range (we have a great friend who has been supportive outside of the car dealership through AJ's.... life) and said show me what you have. He came home with a 2007 Ford Edge. It is by far the nicest car he has ever driven and he loves it. I love the fact that he commutes 50 miles each way through 'unpopulated' areas and I no longer have to worry about him. I don't panic when he calls me on the drive there or home, thinking the big breakdown has come. He gets home without his legs cramping from the long night on his feet and then the crammed ride home...

I had no idea the relief I would feel having the vehicle situation settled. It is stressful to be constantly worried about which car would leave who stranded where and what cash would need to be poured into the money pit to keep it running.