Wed. 1st--
*JJ was super excited to make the family PBCC sandwiches for dinner...they're like a grilled cheese sandwich only with Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chips. They were actually very tasty!
*Sat. 4th--The Lubbock Stake Primary was putting on an event for the children ages 7-11. As Primary president, I needed to get our kiddos up to Lubbock and back. Nevaeh is almost 8 and planned to attend. The siblings, Denim and Jameson, don't attend Primary on Sundays, so we were thrilled they could join us for the day. Jameson is such a sweetheart. I gave him a temple ring and he made sure he was wearing it. He jumped right in to participate and did a wonderful job.
Demin and Nevaeh.
Jameson.
One of the rotations took us outside and across the parking lot to the temple. It was cold but the temple was beautiful! While I was originally worried about the time that I was spending in Lubbock and not at home doing other needful things, I received a confirmation from the spirit immediately that I was where I needed to be and it was a joy spending the day with these children and my counselor, Janelle.
*Thurs. 9th--Calvin participated in a JV tennis tournament in Monahans, TX. He was assigned to play doubles unexpectedly the day before. Playing doubles has never been his favorite event or his strong suit and he was a bit bummed about the change. But he and his partner rocked it and brought home 2nd Place medals when the only other win for the Tigers was a consolation prize. Maybe he'll start to like doubles more! There was also a crazy dust storm that moved through the area during their tournament!
*Once they had an ultrasound confirm the heartbeat, Jake and Trina announced on Valentine's Day that they are expecting BABY #1!!! We are thrilled for them and us! Can't wait to see our children become parents and our other children to step into the roles of aunt and uncles. Also excited for my parents to add "Great Grandparent" to their list of major achievements. ;)
*Thurs. 16th--Karcyn had a three-day debate tournament in Lubbock for National Debate Qualifier. It would be her first time away from home overnight for a school function. Her debate coach knows about her dietary needs, but I sent her with a cooler full of food anyway, just in case. On Thursday, after arriving in Lubbock, the students went to get their event assignments. Karcyn headed to the building to get her speech topics and then had 30 minutes to prepare her speech. When that time was up, she had to go to another building to give her speech. She was supposed to take a left turn, but turned right instead and got turned around big time on the Texas Tech campus. That campus is sprawling and ginormous! She realized she was lost when she went in circles around one building in particular. So she tried going a different way and it made her situation worse. So she called one of her team captains, Wynn, and left a message when she didn't answer. Karcyn was a little panicked at this point. She was in a dress, with no coat, and in dress sandals that were giving her blisters. Wynn had been competing and when she finished, she called Karcyn and they tried to teach Karcyn how to "pin" her location so they could find her. But before they could do so, Karcyn's phone died. So she continued to walk, with shoes off, and at this point she knew she had long forfeited her event as a no-show and wandered near the chemistry building. After some time, a campus police car showed up and asked if she needed help. She fought back tears and explained she was just trying to find the media and communications building because she's there for a speech event. Another squad car pulled up and the officer said, "I think this is the guy you're looking for" and pointed to Coach Carlock, who was jumping out of the other squad car and hustled toward Karcyn. She cried on his shoulder, grateful to be reunited with her party. Karcyn said there were three things she remembers Coach telling her after he found her. 1--I don't care about the tournament, I just care that you're safe. 2--I was worried the entire time because I was afraid your uncle was going to have my butt if you were lost. (His wife is a nurse who knows Kevin.) 3--It's been 5 years since I lost a child at National Qualifiers. He then told her she could still do the other two rounds. Ironically, the judge in her second round, was the same judge she had to forfeit with. Karcyn said she was a sweet old lady. Karcyn apologized, telling her she got lost and the judge replied, "Here at Tech, that happens way more often than you'd think." When Karcyn relayed this story to me later that night, I was thinking, oh, funny, she got lost for 20 minutes or so. Nope, it was an hour and a half or more!! That would be super scary and cold!! You'd also think that maybe the campus would provide signs/arrows directing visiting youth to the buildings they need to be at. And what happened to having a buddy system? I don't think they'll be letting Karcyn get far without someone with her. She takes after her mom that way. I lose my car in the grocery store parking lot. Sad, but true!
Sat. 18th--JJ bowled his highest ever league game: 138!! The following week, 2/25, JJ bowled his highest yet again: 142!! My 11-year-old has long since passed me in bowling success.
*A common sight that we find at night after sending JJ to bed. He loves his Wings of Fire graphic novels.
Tues. 21st, we got the bill for Cooper's two shot doses of Dupixent for January. We knew it was expensive, but Jared had found a manufacturer's coupon from the web site and applied that to Cooper's account. I about choked when I saw the customer balance and took a picture to send to Jared. Was this before or after the coupon had been applied?!
He replied. "Nice!" I replied back, "How so?" He said, "Your paycheck." To which I replied, "I don't make that much. That's what we owe for January's Dupixent." And thus we began wondering how on earth this medication treatment would be sustainable. Do we even start Cooper on a med we can't afford? I guess with our high deductible, we just need to have $6,000 at the beginning of every year to pay for it and then we should be set. But how will Cooper afford this if, after almost 20 years of Jared being employed in a career, his parents can't afford to pay for it? How can anyone afford that?! A couple days later, Jared called the lab (there's only one who distributes the medicine and mails it in a cooler directly to our house) to inquire about the bill. He wanted to find out how much the coupon had helped. The lady said she saw there was a coupon applied, but it was denied. Twice. Jared asked why? Upon further investigation, she said it was denied because Cooper has government insurance...Medicare, part B.
What? No he doesn't. Jared explained Cooper is covered by commercial insurance (his work insurance), BCBS of Texas. The lady said she can see that, but the computer has Cooper listed as being covered by Medicare. Jared said, "He's 20. And not on disability." She said she could see that, too. So she tweaked a few things and finally announced that we do not have to pay that bill and the next one should only be about $140. Oh man. Hallelujah. That we can do!
*Cooper subbed a lot at Ira the first couple of weeks in February. Then, after Jared presented a list of places in Snyder that were hiring, Cooper applied to Domino's online one night. The next morning, he got a call around 10am, wondering if he could come in for an interview. Cooper went in and was hired on the spot as a delivery driver. They want him working T-Sat. (Sun/Mon. off) from 5pm to 11pm or midnight or closing. It's $9/hr to start, but the manager, Cody, said that he can make an easy $1200 in tips each month. It was the first full-time job Cooper has ever had and the first one really, since before he got his narcolepsy diagnosis his junior year. We were excited for him! He started two days later once his insurance cleared him for driving.
*For awhile now, Karcyn has wanted to have several of her "bros" at school over for her own "bro night" (because she doesn't have enough bros at home? ;) Only one was available to attend, but we told her that was fine because we'd all be at home anyway. Turns out, the young man who could come, Skyler, is sweet on Karcyn and vice versa. So it kind of morphed into an unexpected first date. Skyler and his mom showed up at the door. It was nice to meet her and exchange numbers. I told her we'd drive Skyler home. He came with a gift for her...her favorites, Cheetoh Puffs and Coke. :) They played on the Switch and ate snacks and even JJ got to play with them. Skyler treats Karcyn very well and I told her that he can come over any time!
*I forgot what TEACHER-TIRED felt like! Yowzers!!! I'm so grateful Jared has been taking the boys up to Lubbock on the weekends for bowling because it never fails that I have grading, planning, and studying on top of catching up on stuff at home. I'm exhausted! Teaching full time is NOT for the faint of heart.
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