A big change, dental work, and catching up

I can now put it in type: Aaron has a new job!  It's something I've been wanting for him for about 2 years.  (Since about a year after he started his current job).  It's nice to work for the boy scouts and all.  And there were some good things, well one that I can think of: his day time hours were flexible.  He could be with the baby for a while in the mornings I had to work.  He could come to doctor appointments, etc.  But otherwise, it wasn't great.  The hours, while flexible, were long.  Lots of nights, and quite a few weekends.  Answering emails, and phone calls when he wasn't working.  No overtime for these long hours.  Having to run the summer camp 3+ hours away.  (Which was hard when we had no kid, but would have been dreadful this summer).  The benefits were terrible.  There were family benefits, which were kind of expensive, for terrible coverage, with no choice of provider.  As in, we would have to meet our $5000 deductible in January just to pay for my Humira.

I told him when looking for a new job, there are 3 criteria; 2 of which must be met.  Better pay, better hours, better benefits.  The new job currently hits 2, but will hit 3 before much time has passed.  Aaron will be working for the Social Service Administration for the county of Santa Clara.  The pay is a little worse, but there is paid overtime.  And there is an automatic raise after the first six months (which will match his current pay).  The hours are 8-5, no weekends, no nights.  The commute is the same.  The benefits are AMAZING! The benefits are free for us.  We get to keep our Kaiser.  But everything is a $10 copay.  ER visits are $35.  Hospital admission is $100.  $100!   That means next time we have a baby it will cost $100.  Period. And my stupid Humira will be $10 a month.  His last day with the scouts in Monday.  And his first day with the county is the following Monday, so he'll have a few days off.

Last Thursday I broke my tooth.  I had a dentist appointment already scheduled for Tuesday.  But they weren't able to verify my benefits, which I wanted to know ahead of time.  (I'd never used them before, I have a different plan before).  And, we weren't sure when Aaron's awesome new benefits would start.  I was hoping they might start February 1st, so I could wait a couple more days, and have my crown paid for.  But alas, they don't start til March 1st.  Then last night more of my tooth broke, so they were able to squeeze me in today.  My in laws, who usual provide my childcare, as needed, are away on a trip.  So Bertie came with me.  He did really well.  They had to take him away from me, into the front office, while they drilled (mercury dust and such).  Now my mouth hurts a bit, but the actual procedure wasn't bad at all.  The financial portion, however, was pretty bad.  It's going to be about $700 after my insurance. And, there is no payment plan.  I put $200 on my credit card today.  The rest is due when I go back for the permanent crown.

In the afternoon, Bertie and I went shopping for groceries.  I like to give him things to hold while we shop.  I gave him a banana to hold, and he kept trying to eat it, peel and all.  It has several bit marks.  Then, while I was looking at other fruit, he picked up a kiwi off the display and tried to eat it.  I thought maybe I could find him a ripe one, but none were ready.  I found a squeezie yogurt

It tasted good, not overly sweet, like a lot of kid yogurt.  And it said it was spill proof.  But by the end of our shopping trip, we both had quite a bit of yogurt on us.

Until next time!

This and That.

Bertram:
He had his first PT visit this morning.  The PT doesn't think he has any developmental delays.  But he has somewhat poor muscle tone (still within normal range).  So we have some things to work on with him, a lot of core exercises and helping him practice crawling on hands and knees.
He's been a bit fussy lately.  (Last night was terrible!  He woke up a lot).  He got his 5th tooth not long ago, so there may be more.  Also, Aaron and I have colds, so I assume Bertie isn't feeling great either.  But he's still eating well.  He had almost a whole banana (and some rice cake) for dinner.  He's tried pumpkin and prunes recently. He likes both.  Also, he had some teriyaki salmon when we were to dinner with Trish.  He liked it!  He didn't like salmon before, but maybe the sauce helped.
He's been waving a lot, it's really cute.
I talked to Janet about planning Bertie's birthday party.  Aaron and I (well, mainly me, because Aaron doesn't care about parties very much) were originally thinking about pizza and cake.  But Janet and I thought it might be fun to do something different,  We talked about having bagels and King Eggroll.  A very strange combination, but I think it could work.  But the party is just family, so it won't be too big.
Aaron:
Aaron is at a scout conference in San Luis Obispo now.  They have it every year.  It seems like it's been busy, but boring.  He'll be back sometime tomorrow.  He's been stressed with work.  Between end of year stuff, conference stuff, and the usual stuff, there is a lot going on.  There is a little more, but I'll go into it next time.
Me:
Depression has been mostly in check.  My group got cancelled this week: all of Kaiser mental help is on strike.  On Friday, I went to get my Humira, only to find the price changed from $15 to $481!  My drug plan changed a little bit, Humira used to be a "brand name" drug, and now is called a "specialty drug".  Yeesh.  I talked to my GI and he called in a cheaped (but all together less effective) medication.  I called my dad to see if he had any leftover Humira, and told him I was going to use the other drug until my new plan started.  He said he'd pay for it for me, because he's had a lot of issues with switching around medications.  It was important to him for me to stay on.  But I still felt like an asshole, taking the money.
I made a loaf of bread!  I've never made bread before (well, some challah that didn't work out).  It was pretty good too.  A little round rustic loaf.  I think I'll do it again, and maybe re-try challah.
I;d mostly sticking with exercise.  But I decided I needed to drop the Buzzfeed workout for now.  It was too much to try to do both.  I'd rather give my all to one, than do badly at both.  I missed today's though.  My tummy has been weird (non-crohns related).  I'll catch up either tomorrow or Thursday.
Work has been busy, I've been putting in extra hours again.  Our new office is really nice, though, I kind of miss being by myself.
Other:
Zelda hurt her leg last week.  She tripped over Fiona and messed up her carpels.  She's in a boot-splint.  She's hobbling around.
Both cats are outside cats now.  They can go in the garage, but that's it.

2015

We stayed up til midnight to ring in the new year.  Bertie didn't sleep well, so the rest of us didn't either.  We didn't get out of bed until after 10.  I can't remember the last time that happened (certainly before Bertram was born)!  We went to Aaron's folks house for potica bread.  We did some chores, Bertie napped.  Then we went to Target to spend gift cards.  I got a few cosmetics, deep conditioner, and a pair of running tights.  We were carrying things in, so we set Bertie on his play mat.  When we came back a minute later, he was on the other side of the mat.  So he possibly crawled, and we missed it.  :-/  We wanted to nap, but Bertie had other ideas.  We all got up.  Aaron fed baby, while I made dinner.  I waved at Bertie while he was eating, and he waved back!  That's the first time he's done that!  I made a really good dinner, which is kind of rare for me.  We went for our nightly dog walk, and Bertie fell asleep before I'd finished singing to him.

I've been thinking of resolutions for this year.
Getting in shape, of course.  I need to stop letting depression running the show.  I'm going to run, I'm going to hike, I'm going to start the new Bikini Body Mommy workout on Monday.
Eating better/cleaner. I want to cook more, and use prepared foods less.  We also want to eat a lot less meat.  I think I'm going to start cooking all vegetarian at home.   (Except we have a gift card for Omaha Steaks...).  And less soda.
Sex.  (Probably TMI) Ever since Bertie came along our sex life is almost non-existent (part of it is having a baby, and part is depression).  So I'm setting a goal of 2-3 times a week.
Putting in effort.  I usually don't put much effort into my look.  I'm going to try to gussy up a little.  I little make-up, do my hair slightly.  Try to dress cute-ish.

Wish me luck!