Another dog brag (mostly for @BunsenBurner after her comment on another thread).
After 7 months, and a lot of hard work, my dog has finally learned how to catch a ball.
My dog is dumb. She’s a happy girl, but she’s dumb. Her preferred method is to let it hit her in the face, drop, and then she’ll pick it up. Tonight, it finally clicked that she could catch it in the air. We’re all very proud.
D is on local newspaper’s front page about her interview for being selected first team all league for her sport plus achieving a very impressive GPA of 4.8! It’s a full page article.
Also she got a job today making $60/hr tutoring 3 students. Proud mom bragging!
A tube-like package arrived addressed to baby kiddo - from the office of the registrar… I bet her diploma is inside. 
I did my taxes last week and already got our tax refund! It pays to file early I guess.
I took a deep breath and called our US Senator’s office today, because we have been left hanging by two federal offices for months and don’t know D’s current insurance status. Here’s hoping her office will promptly get back to us so we can get the medical coverage and care she needs. We have been waiting since Sept. and Dec for action and answers, sheesh!
Dear D, I just want to say that you are so sweet and so pleasant. I can’t wait to see you and spend time with you this weekend.
Yippee–had a nice chat with a person from our US Senator’s office and they sent an inquiry to the office I have not gotten responses from to prod them along on our case. He is very nice and sympathetic, but dang they have been dragging their feet since SEPTEMBER!
In desperation, I called my current insurer and laid out the situation to them, as they insure H and me and did cover D until she aged out at age 26. She will either be covered by them as a disabled dependent, if OPM ever makes a ruling as they should, or will be covered under Temporary Continuation of Coverage, which we also filed with OPM, which we haven’t heard back about either. Either way, she will have the same great coverage she had when she was under 26, by our current insurer.
Our insurer will reach out to OPM to find out what’s going on, so we can move forward and do our insurer can work with us instead of having to do paperwork multiple times and have checks and reimbursements going back and forth.
Phew! They were very nice and helpful and took note of the US Senator I told them was also trying to help us get resolution. They will try to help me figure out things before we leave this weekend. I wish I had called them earlier but was trying to be patient with OPM.
Just made a reservation on the accommodations for the trip to the commencement. About $110 each day for two people, but it has to be 3 days. It is not particuarly cheap (by our standard) but it will be on-campus. We decided where to stay by ourselves without a discussion with DS first. (Do not have many opportunities to talk to him.)
Even though we will have access to a car this time, we decide to live on-campus (i.e., in one of the student’s dorm buildings) instead of an off-campus hotel. We do not like to drive. The hotel within the walking distance would be insanely expensive even if it has a vacancy (likely no vacancy by now.)
We have not booked the flight yet. This is harder.
No more FAFSA and tuitions payment for the rest of my life.
Hip hip, hooray!!!
Just bought 2 tickets from HNL to Washington DC. We had been flip-flopping about whether to do anything else while we were there for meetings (other than spend a weekend with S), but finally decided and were able to get the tickets for a good price AND use our $100 travel certificate. We had to book each ticket separately because we had two certificates to use, but YIPPEE! We had expected the tickets would be over $1000 apiece but were under $600 each after the certificates were applied. This makes 4 certificates worth a total of $500 that we are using for travel in February! Booked D’s flight using UR points and no cash, which makes me much happier than if I had to pay a lot of cash for her last minute booking.
Mr R and I went out to dinner and left the dog out of the crate for the first time. We ended up getting held up because of a freak heavy snow band that went through and she was left out for nearly 3 hours.
Came home and aside from one little potty accident, she did great! Nothing is chewed up or otherwise damaged. I’m very proud. (And part of me wonders if the fear I had in my stomach is similar to how parents feel when they leave their teens home alone for the first time… 
)
It’s been a very crappy few months so I’m taking all the small victories I can get 
For all the hassle with the constant mistakes made by Kohl’s, the luggage the kids got worked out well (despite your website errors on 2 of the 3 items) and, more importantly, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the flatiron for my hair, that combined with my Kohls cash and rewards $ and your mistake in my favor, for once (that you acknowledged but let it go) it (the flat iron) cost me only $5. Best $5 I’ve spend in a long time.
Got H and DD1 through medical situations with new doctors (DD in new town; H’s doc had retired). Getting a test lined up for H that doc and I agree he should have (insurance won’t pay; worthwhile $199).
H is ‘getting it’ that I am helping keep him alive, something his two bachelor uncles did not have and died relatively young from prostate cancer - one died with the cancer in his lung and systemic; the other with the spread through kidney and systemic. Dad and his two surviving brothers all have wives and/or nurse daughter to guide them through and not die from prostate cancer which they all have.
DD2 I believe is listening and going to get tutoring for a class where the instructor is a ‘fill in’ person and is falling on his face. Didn’t have the first test completed in time to hand out paper tests to students! Overhead bulb blew out half way through the test - DD had her lap top and stayed to finish - the half of the class that didn’t bring their lap tops went home to finish the test???
We have a household with the power of prayer!
H has so little to complain about - he actually complained that while he is on an antibiotic for URI, he is taking two pills a morning instead of just his BP pill…so life is obviously good with so little to complain about!
Proud of my friend who is donating a kidney to her H’s older brother.
it’s so cold outside, sitting by the fireplace with W feels warm …
Thrilled for my 26-year-old daughter–she got into the Brown University MFA Acting program!! She’s ecstatic.
Oh wow!! Congrats to your daughter!!!
I have been trying not to brag too much to the people around me so thank you for having a forum that I can do this: my middle son graduated in December with both his undergraduate degree and masters degree in Computer Science. Tuesday he started his job at Google as a software engineer. So proud of him!
DD actually called me for some advice to getting her two additional humanities requirements wedged into her schedule - helping her find something like-able and available. After her advising appt, I told her a kernel of information she did not know, and the light bulb went on that mom use to advise engineering co-op students, so she would know how to help me…and we solved the dilemma in our phone call.
My almost 16 month old granddaughter finally took he first steps yesterday!!