March 2015 Update #85

Feeling at home

Sarah and I still feel like we’re on an extended camping trip since our kitchen facilities span several rooms and two floors. Yet, we have come to regard our current situation as almost normal. Most of the emergencies have abated from daily to less than one per week. Helen’s accidents have reduced greatly in frequency and intensity. (Although Helen had two accidents while I wrote this update.) She hasn’t fallen since September. Our illnesses have reduced from severe to mild – seasonal allergies, teething for Adam, and the occasional upset tummy for Julie when she’s tired.

The lifeblood of bureaucracy

Our official move to Missouri began in December. Reasonably, the Missouri people wanted proof that Texas had turned off all our benefits. Strangely enough, the two states can’t talk to each other. It took Texas over a month before I had a piece of paper discontinuing services. I live for paperwork! Food Stamps approved us fairly quickly and even credited us for the month of transition. Medicaid took a while longer followed by delay after delay.

Most of February had us scrambling for formula and supplies for Julie. The cold and snowy weather interfered with shipments from alternative sources. Some orders arrived with the wrong items. So I’ve had to get RA numbers to return them – more paperwork. Despite some hectic weeks and worried nights she never missed a meal. We now have plenty of supplies and renewed prescriptions with our regular supplier. Hopefully, the next shipment should come next week without any problems.

I have thousands of dollars in bills for unpaid, but covered health and supply services that didn’t make it through the system because someone used the wrong coding. I love fixing other peoples’ paperwork.

The kids finally saw their new pediatrician three months after I first applied and Julie saw her new GI doctor on April 1^st (no fooling). We appreciate the new team although Julie and Adam have mixed feelings after getting their immunization shots and blood tests.

In February, after three weeks of forms, interviews, and phone calls, Julie started pre-school at one of my old schools a couple blocks away. She receives speech therapy in a small class of about twelve kids. Last month she had an official evaluation (can you say paperwork?). At first blush, she didn’t seem to qualify, but the therapist dug a little deeper and found problems in all the more complex sounds. We go in to complete Julie’s IEP forms for school on Monday. I just love paperwork!

We have almost all of Julie’s services setup. We have an advantage of having all our providers much closer now than in Texas.

I got both cars repaired, inspected, and relicensed in Missouri last month. The entire process took weeks as I needed to write to Texas to buy a copy of our cars’ titles. Texas doesn’t send them out automatically like the other states – you must specifically apply for them. I forgot to fill in and mail that paperwork eight years ago. Then, I got caught off guard when Missouri refused to accept my Texas registration form as proof of ownership (despite contrary claims on the Missouri website). I remained of good cheer for having the time to see the process through.

Luckily, I passed my eye exam and don’t need glasses anymore under my brand new Missouri driver’s license. However, I need to drive a vehicle with a left-hand mirror since the vision in my left eye falls below the minimum required. Texas made me wear glasses. Missouri requires a car with a mirror on the left-hand side. Even the lady at the DMV laughed while explaining this to me!

Sarah has complained about her vision for a while. We plan to have Sarah convert her license after stopping by an eye doctor first.

A day in the life

Sarah fills her days with the kids. She established a schedule with them several months ago. They observe quiet time in the late morning and chase each other (anything but quiet) for 30 minutes in the evening. Having Julie in pre-school two afternoons a week gives Sarah and Adam some quality time together. We finally had a sunny warm day to walk her to and from school yesterday. The fresh air and sunshine has helped everyone feel better.

Adam runs freely around the basement. He still puts everything into his mouth seeking relief from interminable teething. He understands basic commands, but only uses words sparingly. He much prefers to grunt, scream, and gesture for his needs. He loves educational cartoons on TV especially math and puzzles. His height and weight place him in the top 25% so he never skips a meal or skimps on seconds. He still doesn’t sleep through the night no matter what Sarah or I do. His crib lays beneath Grandma who thunders her rollator across the floor – alternating stomping and shuffling her feet – in a mad rush for the bathroom at all hours of day and night.

Julie sleeps through all but the loudest bumps in the night. She only stirs from the occasional bad dream or falling out of bed. A hug and a stuffed animal goes a long way to settling her back in for the rest of the night. No additional progress on eating or drinking, but she hasn’t fallen behind on anything. We received a prescription from her GI doctor for feeding therapy at a nearby clinic.

Not having to drive to Texas every five weeks has helped us all maintain our health and sanity. Our last trip at the end of the year went well. We came home exhausted from being sick for most of the trip. We miss our friends, but we don’t miss the long drive.

So much to do

The outside of the house didn’t get much attention due to the intense weather this winter. Believe it or not, but I still have leaves and branches from last year to collect. Small trees need trimming and I haven’t even started the big projects. I despaired for a couple days from all the work I have to do.

The inside of the house hasn’t needed much work since I collected all the Christmas decorations at the end of January. I have all (mine and Helen’s) of our taxes done. I set up a reading area for Helen after she visited a clinic and bought some magnifying and lighting tools. My organizing doesn’t last long until chaos returns. Recently, I have let chaos prevail. I go out shopping with Helen 3-4 times a week as her primary source of amusement. Then, again with Sarah and the kids 1-2 times a week. Of course, Sunday’s at church. About once every other week, I declare a holiday and stay in my office.

I have applied at several jobs in the past few months, but haven’t received any feedback. I have plenty of work to do around the house and with my writing.

After catching up on these Julie Kristina updates around New Year’s, I started focusing on Bible related writing. At first, I worked on an eBook project. Partway through, I started working on a study of Daniel 2. That led to several more passages. All told, I have written about 80,000 words since January. That’s about the size of my first book. I need to decide how to publish/post that material and add some more visual aids to improve readability and overall appearance. Then, I’d like to get back to writing. But overall, my speed has increased greatly.

Andy, Sarah, Julie and Adam Horn