A winter hike, christmas lights and unpaid medical bills.

Yesterday I got the bill from Austin's doctor visit.  It was an actual in the clinic doctor visit(not Urgent Care) and all they did was a throat culture that was negative and told me he had a virus.  We have insurance but after getting the bill I feel like having insurance doesn't help much anyway!  When you pay almost 168 dollars a month for medical insurance you would think it would pay more than what it does.  Money is always tight and working every day to have nothing left at the end of each month is frustrating but the high cost of medical insurance is an unfortunate burden for working families that live pay check to pay check.  If you can't pay then you have to take out a loan with a high interest rate to get it paid off or you get sent to collections.  Wow!  Amazing that now a days families are taking out loans to pay for medical bills!  In my mind there is something wrong with that.  I guess I should be thankful that my family is healthy and we don't have to go to the doctor that much.  God forbid you would have any long term medical problems .....how could you ever afford it!  Health is important and it is so sad that most people I know would rather be on their death bed than have to go to the doctor for fear of the expense of it. 

 

Here are some pictures from my hike yesterday.  

 

This was my favorite picture of the day.  Was trying to take a picture of a leaf floating down the stream and this is how it turned out.  A blurry mess of color but I love it.  Water Art

 

 

Took Austin to see the lights.  We didn't have much time as we had to pick up Riley.  Can't wait to go back with Riley and Austin.  

 

 

   

The never ending ear infection.

Today was not ideal but we made it through.  Had a lot of fun putting up our Christmas tree last night and Riley kept saying over and over "This is my favorite Christmas ever!"  He loved putting the ornaments on and so did Austin.  Before bed Riley jumped down the stairs and hurt his knee.  He seemed to be fine until it was time for bed.  He was crying and begging for an ice pack and saying he thinks he needs to go to the doctor because he broke his knee.  I was really worried and thought we may have to take him in for an x ray but today he was fine.  Jason let him sleep in a little and took him to school a couple hours late since he was up half the night.  Then when I went to pick him up at school he was crying that his ear hurt again.  He wanted to go to the doctor to get more medicine.  So I called Pediatrics right away to see if they had any openings which they did at 6:15pm.  So off we went to see the doctor.  Sure enough he still has a ear infection.  This will be his third round of antibiotics.  He just finished the last one a couple days ago.  So hopefully the third time is a charm.  It is really sad that every time you go to the doctor you get this sick feeling in your stomach because of  the money you are pretty much ripping up and tossing in the toilet.  Healthcare should not be so expensive!  I totally relate to the patients out there that hate to make an appointment for fear of expenses....I feel the same way.  It is already stressful enough when you or your kids are sick but then you have to worry about how you can afford to pay for the bill. 

We didn't get out of the doctor's office until close to 7pm so we had to stop and get McDonald's for supper before we stopped at the Pharmacy to get Riley's prescription.  Then of course at the Pharmacy we had to wait 15-20 mins for the script to be ready.  Riley and Austin had a fun time playing tag in the store while I patiently waited to get the HELL out of there!  Then when we finally got the script Riley had to go to the bathroom.  It was number 2 so it took a while.  We finally got home at 7:45.  I was able to get pajamas on and get them in bed by 8:15 so I felt pretty proud of myself for that.      

Our Christmas Tree

We decorated the Christmas tree tonight. 

 

 

Portraits and Fun

Hixen Forest Shopping Day

Today was a good day.  I got so much done.  Got some good quality time with Austin this morning before taking him to the babysitter.  After that got some good quality time Christmas shopping.  It feels good to have half of my shopping done and takes some holiday stress off.  I did take a break in between stores to take a short hike at Hixon Forest.  Such a peaceful hike with sparkly snow, white tree trunks on the ground, tall sunlit trees and me.  Just what I needed.