Medicare and other great stuff!!!!!!!

Well, I'm now 65 years old!  And once again I must say this growing old stuff is not for sissies!  I have spent the past 3 weeks trying to figure out the medicare thing.  OK, Part A is free (right!!!), Part B cost $100 and is automatically deducted from your social security, Part C is the supplement you must buy yourself and it costs a bunch.  So now they deduct taxes and medical from my social security and I'm nearly at the point that I owe the feds every month.  I know none of you want to hear this but you work all your life and then you get a piddlin' amount of money every month from the govt that is supposed to supplement your retirement income.  Actually the amount left to "supplement" barely covers groceries.  I told someone the other day that I have stopped reading and watching any national news because it scares the livin' daylights out of me.  I got a call the other day from medicare welcoming me to the program and wanting to know if I had any questions.  I told the woman I did and asked her my first question - how much will be deducted from my monthly social security check for this insurance?  Her answer - she didn't have that information.  Now between you and me, why would you call and ask to answer any questions if you didn't have the information to provide the answers?  I, very politely I might add, asked her what kind of information she had.  She replied she didn't like my tone of voice and I replied (not politely) "Well hang on Prissy because my tone of voice is getting ready to sound a lot worse than you ever thought!  And she hung up on me.  I immediately called back the number she had called me on only to hear a recorded message telling me the "call could not be completed.  Please check the number and try again."  I did and received the same recorded message.  Now I'm angry.  Don't my tax dollars pay the salary of Miss I don't like your tone of voice?  Well, I finally was able to talk to someone who did answer my questions and now I feel much more well-informed...don't I?

The exterior painting is a work in progress.  It's been raining a lot and cold so they paint one day and then can't for several.  Hopefully, it will be done next week.  It does look fabulous and I'm excited to get it done.

With all the rain, the basement has sprung a leak.  Water is coming in from somewhere so today I had a gutter person come for a view.  Up here they don't do gutters because in the winter the snow and ice freeze and rip the gutters away from the house.  However, today's gutter man said he could put gutters in 2 areas of the roof edge and redirect the rain water to stop the basement leak.  Of course that comes at a price!!!!!  So anyway, they will be here within the next two weeks to add those gutters.

The next exciting thing that happened was the upstairs tub drain.  The little thing that lifts the drain plug up and down ceased to work.  So I went to my trusty, dusty Lowe's.  I love those people.  I think most everyone in the store knows me.  I bought two things and came home to fix the problem.  I read the directions (I now know what a cotter pin is!!!), removed the old drain open/closer thing, measured the length and replaced the stopper thing.  Hooray!!!!!!  The water still wouldn't drain.  So apparently what I have is a plugged drain!!!!!!  Back to the store I went in search of drain opener stuff.  Got some, used it, no help.  So now I need a plumber!  At a price of course.

This was the last week of school for Garrett and Gracie.  They finished yesterday and Emily had today to complete work and submit grades.  Yesterday I went to Gracie's school for her awards ceremony.  She won every award they gave!  The people sitting around me started to say before the principal announced the name...it will probably be that little Lindgren girl!  I was so very proud of her.  At the same time it was a very sentimental experience for me.  I have been to each elementary school my grandchildren attended and this appears to be the last (at least until TR Baker just might decide to marry again and add to my grandchildren numbers!!!).  I found myself seeing a child that reminded me of each of my grandchildren, and it was fun to watch them.  Garrett also had an awards ceremony and Emily was able to attend that one.  He won quite a few awards too.  One of them was the Algebra award and I know that made his mother quite happy!  Next year all three of them will go to the same campus for school.  Take a deep breath!

Today was my 65th birthday and never did I think I would be spending it without HC Baker.  I know I had a 64th birthday without him, but today was just different.  In another 10 days he will be dead 2 years, and I'm not sure what I'm thinking about that either.  More about that on another day.  Today I spent all day with Gracie.  Garrett was working at the candy store with Brett and Emily was at school.  Gracie and I started with manicures, followed by lunch with TR Baker, then a bit of shopping, then back home where Gracie tried on every pair of my shoes looking for the perfect heels for tonight's birthday dinner!  Her mother was thrilled when she showed up at home wobbling in high heels.  I've always told my grandchildren what happens with Jo stays with Jo.  Once they're home, I loose all authority!

I am blessed by each of you.  I received so many birthday greetings from you today and loved each one.  My life is full of wonderful people who help me get through every day.  Some days I just need a little more help than others!  After two years of being without HC Baker, I'm supposed to be close to my new normal.  I need someone to define that for me.  Life sure is interesting, isn't it?

My birthday is over for 2012.  Best wishes to you and goodnight!