Kroger Care

It's been a rough day. Nothing terribly bad happened, I'm just very tired and a little lonely. Little guy seems to have his first cold, and I'm afraid I might be in for a rough night. Our family was going to check out a new church community group tonight, but we decided to stay home so we could keep our germs to ourselves. So add disappointed and bored to tired and lonely.

I decide I need to get out for a bit. But where? I could hit a coffee shop.....or even the Nashville Symphony's CD release party at The Flying Saucer. No, I know what I need to do.

I need to go Krogering.

Where else can I go in my nursing shirt stained with spit-up and not have anyone give me a second glance? Where else can I get a gallon of ice cream for 2.99? Where else within 10 minutes of my house is open at 10pm?

I set some ground rules for my trip. One, I can treat myself to some fun items. I'm not a big advocate of happiness through spending, but sometimes a tiny luxury can make a big impact on my pysche. Two, I'm not allowed to buy anything we actually need. Baby wipes and milk can wait until tomorrow, otherwise the trip quickly will transform into a chore.

So I get to Kroger, toting my reusable shopping bag, determined to look super-hip (while still in my stained shirt). Unfortunately, there are no shopping baskets to be seen, so I have to drag a giant cart around the store with me. Ugh. Carts are SO not super-hip.

First stop, flowers. I definitely need some flowers. A single sunflower? A giant bouquet of randomness? Ooh, that bouquet is free if I purchase a pound of M&Ms...... I finally decide to go with a pot of daisies. Hopefully they'll stay perky enough to brighten the rest of my week.

Next, the Halloween section. There's got to be something here to liven things up a bit. A "supermodel wig" featuring a purple bob! Just about perfect, but Ian might not recognize me. Fishnet stockings....yawn......I really want the pink and black-striped tights, but they only come in children's sizes. Interesting commentary on the maturity of my fashion sense.

Having struck out in the Halloween section, I check out the toiletries department for bath fizzies and such. I almost buy an eye mask and pajama pants -- essential ingredients for relaxation -- but decide I would rather find handmade versions on etsy than buy them at Kroger. I'll try that later this evening.

Time for one of my downfalls, the makeup department. I adore makeup, although I rarely wear very much. I just love the pretty colors and the sparkles and, let's be honest here, the marketing campaigns. Tonight I look for a solution to my everlasting problem of mascara that gives me raccoon eyes. I currently have water-proof mascara that I practically have to chisel off, and I still have artifically-enhanced dark circles under my eyes at the end of each day. And so I look at the.....the...[can't bear to say it]....THE FALSE EYELASHES! That's right. You heard me. I've thought about trying false eyelashes in the hopes that I can say goodbye to mascara forever. But I'm not that brave tonight. Moving along.

After a cursory glance at the books and magazines (stopping and staring in amazement at the cover of a romance novel that features a guy holding a baby -- somebody really knows how to market to mommies!), I decide to go back to my standby happiness-in-a-box. Or carton, rather. Ice creeeeeeeeeam. Yay.

I check out at the self-scan and just carry all my items out to the car rather than use a plastic bag. It's only once I'm at my car trying to juggle ice cream and daisies and, um, a chocolate bar that I remember I brought a reusable shopping bag that is still slung over my shoulder, empty.

Yep, I'm a mom. And I'm tired. And my idea of fun is a late night solo trip to Kroger.

But I have brownie moosetracks ice cream, a pot of daisies, a sleeping baby, a handsome husband, and a happy home. I'll take it.

Diving into the Healthcare Debate

So the U.S. healthcare system has some issues. Something needs to change. But what?

I'm pretty lucky as far as insurance and health issues go. I've always had great insurance policies through work or parents or husband, and I don't have any major health issues.

The whole system seems crazy and crooked to an uninitiated person like me, though. For instance, a couple of months ago my insurance company sent me an explanation of benefits regarding my hospital stay around Ian's birth. The hospital sent the insurance company a bill for $20,000 in "hospital incidentals." That's all the EOB said. Hospital incidentals. The insurance company agreed to pay $6,000, and apparently the hospital was satisfied with that.

Wait, what? The hospital took $14,000 less than what they requested? If someone didn't have insurance, would they have had to pay the whole $20,000, since they wouldn't have the bargaining power of the insurance company? Or did the hospital just inflate the numbers to make sure they got the money they wanted, in some sort of paperwork version of a flea market negotiation?

And then there's the fact that so many of my friends have limited insurance options due to pre-existing conditions. A diagnosis of a chronic illness means that these people quake at the thought of a job loss, which would mean loss of insurance coverage or a COBRA policy that costs hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars.

If you want to have a baby? Don't even think about it unless you have a nice, cozy group insurance policy. Well, you can eventually, as long as you sit out the year waiting period. They made it a year in case you decide to let the baby gestate longer JUST TO SWINDLE THE INSURANCE COMPANY.

Plus there's the folks who don't bother with insurance or can't afford it and end up at the emergency room because a) it's the only place that will treat them or b) they let a small problem go untreated and now it's a big problem. I don't care if it's their fault and they should have had insurance and blah blah blah -- as humans, they still deserve treatment, and taxpayers still pay for it.

So things need to be fixed. And I have no idea what needs to happen. Universal health care? Mandatory health care that we can choose, like car insurance? (Although the choice to live isn't exactly like the choice to drive.) More competition among insurance companies? The libertarian Christian in me says the church should be providing health care to those who can't afford it, but that's not particularly realistic. The bleeding heart socialist in me says we should pay for everything for everybody!!!!111!!! (I'm a very confused girl.)

So what do you think? Do you know the solution? Leave me thoughts and links in the comments, but PLEASE play nice. I know this is an emotional topic for some of you.

Oh, and here's thoughts from some other friends:
-Nancy at Life with Our Itty Bitty Baby Girl
-Kat at Just Another Pretty Farce -- Kat has several posts on healthcare, so just browse her blog
-Sarah linked to this article on Facebook, so she gets included

Sharing the Road

On a recent sunny day I was out running errands. I watched people walking their dogs and whizzing about on their scooters, and I had a moment of gratitude for my awesome neighborhood. Suddenly, I saw a cyclist whip his bike around the left side of a car at a stop sign, determined to dash ahead of the car in traffic.

I love living in an area where people ride bikes. Here in East Nashville bicycles are more than a weekend activity; residents commute on their bikes and take them on errands.

What I don't love, however, is bike riders who don't respect traffic laws.

Drivers are often chided to "share the road" with their biking counterparts, and of course we do need to be aware of people on bikes and take precautions to keep the road safe for everyone.

However, I ask the bikers out there to "share the road" with drivers as well, and help us keep YOU safe.

I've always been taught that bicycles count as vehicles, and thus are subject to most traffic laws. Personally, I have no problem with amateur bikers being on sidewalks as long as they yield to pedestrians -- probably because I am one of those wobbly beginner cyclists myself, and I'm terrified of wobbling into traffic. But my general understanding is that bikes belong on the right side of the road along with cars.

Countless times I have been driving down the road with cyclists next to me in the bike lane or ahead of me in the regular lane, only to observe the them breeze through a stop sign or traffic light. I think my favorite phenomenon is when cyclists stay in regular traffic until they hit a stoplight, at which point they race onto the sidewalk to take advantage of the crosswalk. It's like some sort of "cyclist uncertainty principle"-- I never know if someone on a bike is going to remain in traffic, dart through a light, move to the sidewalk, or join up with their three other buddies bicycles and block two lanes of traffic (saw that one a few weeks ago).

Anyway, all that to say, I LOVE that people ride bikes. People who commute by bike are even cooler than vegetarians or people who wear Tom's Shoes. But please, when you are riding your bike, obey traffic laws, and help me not kill you. Thanks.

Travel Travails

So a couple of weeks ago I left my new-mom cocoon and took Ian on his first big trip. We decided to accompany Paul (a.k.a. Daddy) on a business trip to Texas.

However, I was terrified. What if I forgot something? What if Ian got sick? What if I refused to get on the plane because I'm scared of flying Ian had a hard time on the plane?

As I mentioned over at Finn's blog, I decided to do a practice run first. I took Ian on a grand expedition 30 minutes away to my parents' house so we could practice being away from home. That was a great way to see how he slept in a different place AND to see what I would most likely forget. That was very helpful; more than anything, it helped my nerves to do that practice run.

Experienced momma Nancy also sent me her packing list, and I gleaned an especially useful item from there -- ziploc bags! In fact, I decided I didn't have enough ziploc bags on the trip and ended up buying more, but I was very thankful that I had seen that item on Nancy's list and brought a few for starters.

I also followed The Musician's example and stopped saving the earth for that particular week. Yes, I bit the bullet and used disposable diapers. I'm really glad we made that decision, because I really didn't want to put baby poop in somebody else's washing machine. Plus, disposables meant we could pack a few diapers and then buy the rest when we arrived at our destination.

My friend Katie shared a few travel tips as well, and I took her advice on taking (or buying on arrival) the dish soap and laundry soap we used at home so things would smell familiar for Ian.

So....the trip itself.....

I'm writing this now, so you know we survived -- but the first few days of our travels were pretty rough. We arrived at our hotel (at 11:45pm due to a delayed flight) and found that our room didn't have the promised mini-fridge (essential for breastmilk!), so we moved to a mini-fridge room the next day. The day after that we drove a couple of hours to see family, and we stayed with them that night. Then we drove back to our original hotel a day earlier than planned. So we stayed in a different place each of the first four nights. I think Ian was fine, but I was fairly grumpy and sleep-deprived, especially since I got to do most of the packing while Paul was at work.

Also, it turned out that we did forget something -- our wonderful stroller, which we left at home in the trunk of our car. Trying to carry a baby through the airport without a stroller but with several large suitcases and a Pack n' Play is NOT my idea of fun. Incidentally, the next time I stay somewhere without a Pack n' Play or baby crib, I'll be tempted to order one of the cheap ones online and have it shipped to my destination. The $60-$70 is totally worth the hassle it prevents, especially considering that we had to pay an extra luggage fee on this trip for having suitcases above the maximum weight. Ordering a Pack n' Play and taking more, smaller suitcases probably would have saved us $30.

Anyway, frustrated by our lack of strollerness, I decided to get to know the local baby consignment store. While they didn't have any good deals on strollers, I did find a super-cheap baby carrier that made moving around a little bit easier. Plus, browsing baby stuff was a fun, relatively hassle-free activity to do while Paul was at work.

Once we were able to settle into one place for several days, the trip went smoothly. Ian was a real champ, adapting super-easily to whatever changes came his way. He did wake up crying at least once a night and occasionally during naps -- I think it confused him to wake up in a different place, and his schedule got turned around due to dining out, meeting with family, etc. Normally during night awakenings (which are rare these days), we check on the little guy periodically but don't rock him back to sleep. However, for the sake of our hotel neighbors, we were all about rocking and shushing on this trip! That didn't seem to form any permanent bad habits. though, and Ian quickly went back to self-soothing after we got home.

With the night wakings and all the other daytime activities, I was a tired cookie by the end of the trip. I remember one night toward the end when I was waiting for Ian to go back to sleep. Paul rolled over in his sleep, and I wanted to turn to him and say, "STOP THAT YOU ARE GOING TO WAKE UP THE BABY DON'T YOU KNOW I NEED SLEEP OH MY GOSH." Fortunately, my remaining sanity intervened and reminded me that since Paul was asleep, he probably wasn't doing that on purpose to keep me from getting rest.

One final lesson I learned about travel is to plan for a few recovery days. I expected to be perky and ready to tackle housework the day after we returned, but that was a rather unrealistic expectation. Things got back to normal eventually, though, and I now feel a little braver about venturing out with my little one.

I know some of you have great travel tips, since you gave them to me. Feel free to share your ideas with the rest of us! United we sleep!