Hell Week

I'm not talking about college fraternity hazing or tech week at the high school, just before their musical opens (although high school hell week is mega-stressful!!!) This one is my very own personal hell week. So, yes, this a mega-rant and feel free to skip right over it.


First up: the monetary part of hell week.


I somehow need to come up with $700 before the end of the month to pay for the money I still owe my kid's high school in order for her to graduate. If you don't put a minimum of $500 a year in the church collection, they tack on $1000 to the already high ($4250) tuition for participating members of the Catholic community (the parish pays that $1000 if you put in the collection). And since I haven't been to Church in a few years, since my divorce, they tacked it on. And I don't remember getting any kind of notification about it. shit!


I have an $1800 car insurance payment due by the end of the month also. My ex pays half of the kids' car insurance but I still have to come up with the rest. I can split the payment in half and pay some by the end of May and the rest in July, I think.


I just cancelled my mega-cheap week at Ocean City, MD because of the 2 items above. Fortunately, I rent from my good friend and former neighbor, so I'm not penalized for cancelling. She suggested I come down in September, after Labor Day. She says the water is warmer, restaurants have all kinds of deals since it's off-season and she'll give me a super duper deal on the house! So, John and I are thinking about it. Plus, we'll split the cost of the rent and stuff.


Next up: oh-so-fun Health Issues


My health insurance is ridiculously high and I'm seriously thinking about seeing if I qualify for medic-aid. Since I had a physical last month and discovered that I'm falling apart and need all kinds of meds, I think I need to address this. She wants me to have all these tests done and I'm pretty sure my insurance isn't going to cover all of it. I swear to God, if I wasn't afraid I'd lose my alimony, I'd marry John for his health insurance! Oh, that sounds terrible! Actually the only reason we don't get married is because I'd lose 5 years of alimony and I earned that money!!!


As you can read from the previous post, John's cancer is back. He has 2 lymph nodes in his groin (but not his prostate) that are acting up. He's going to need more chemo, most likely and they'll harvest his stem cells and inject them into the nodes. His regular oncologist wants him to see the specialist at U of PA first, but she's on maternity leave and the doctor who is covering can't see him until July!!! Hello!!! This isn't a check-up! This is cancer that keeps coming back! Who knows what will happen by July!


The same night that John found out about the cancer returning, I was heading up to bed and the cat wanted out. So I put down my book and my water bottle and let him out. The lights were out but the light was on in the bathroom at the top of the stairs, so it wasn't pitch black. I start up the steps, but can't find my book and bottle. I turned around to go down and turn the light back on when stupid me forgot I was 4 or 5 steps up and promptly, stepped off into nothing and fell down 3 or 4 stairs. I landed on my bad right side (arthritis in my right hip and leg), landed on my left hand and whacked my head on the wall. So I have a lump on my head and it hurts to touch it, my left hand along my pinky is sore to the touch and my right side from my hip to below my knee hurts. My neck is sore a little too. stupid, stupid, stupid.


Next up: miscellaneous shit that just happens to me


A few weeks ago, my dryer decided it didn't want to work any more and of course, I don't have the money to buy a new one. (see all the shit above for reference) So I decide to see if I can fix it myself!

I get the how-to book out. I'm hoping it's just the belt. (where are Jim and Garret when I really need them? Jim is sooo handy at fixing things! Soaking up the sun in Arizona!) It's not the belt. I haven't had the energy to see what else it might be, so the dryer is in the basement, on it's side, with the top and the back off.


The dryer wouldn't be too too bad except that it's been raining for 8 or 9 days now, on and off every day, and my basement flooded not once, but twice this week! My sump pump must have shifted as the water rose and it wasn't pumping water out. So I had to go downstairs and wade through 5 inches of cold cold water and retrieve the cats' litter box and bring it upstairs because the cats weren't too happy to have to swim across the basement to poop. Then, I jiggled the sump pump and it started to pump the water out of the basement. So I have a dryer that is apart and partially under water, various clothing items of my kids floating around. And a few other fun things. The walls are beginning to mildew, so when it finally stops raining and flooding, I'll have to go around the whole fucking basement with a spray bottle of bleach water and get rid of all the black marks that are showing up on my walls.


Last night, I was at John's for the night, like I do every Wednesday, and they are flashing flood warning for the entire SE PA and NJ area. Great. I get home in the morning and of course, there is another 5 inches of water in my basement because the pump shifted again. So I wade across the basement again, do the jiggling thing and the water pumped out while I was at work.


I can't really fix the pump until there's no water in the hole that the pump sits in. so I have to wait for that and hope I'm home when the next big rain hits and I can try to ward off the flooding at the pass (and also hope we don't lose power)

I made some changes to my comcast account to lower my bill. Got rid of my house phone and all my premium channels and switched up the High def box to a regular digital box. Now I can't get the remote to recognize the TV or the cable box. I also can't get someone who speaks English to help me! And Dani just informed me in her oh-so-sweet (not) voice that the wireless router doesn't work and she can't get internet on her laptop.

Diabetes or not, I'm having the rest of that bottle of wine tonight!

I just want to know when the Karma is going to work in MY favor and not in my ex's favor. That bastard comes up smelling like rose very time and I'm wallowing in a wet smelly basement.