all i want for christmas...

so i've been thinking about what to get the girls for christmas. maybe it's time to get addy an easy bake oven? or maybe just a jewelry making kit? maybe amelia would like a book of 1,000 stickers?

i'm trying to go a bit easy on christmas gifts this year, keeping our tightened budget in mind. but then i'm somewhere & i see something i like & i sing to myself--in my head--all i want for christmas & then insert this thing or things. so maybe getting them out there will help alleviate the pressure in my mind...the pulse of I CAN'T BUY THIS RIGHT NOW. & i probably won't be able to buy it for another few years. so get over it. let's see if this works (& yea, unless you are my husband, don't feel the need to buy any of these things for me. totally not the point. buuuutttt, wes when you read this, take notes. *smile*)

• an ipod nano. in pink. or do they come in a teal blue? (my previous mp3 player was lost & then stolen at a restaurant. you know: i call, they say 'oh yea, we found it. come get it' then i call again to tell them i'm coming to pick it up & they say 'oh, we never found it after all' ... bullshit).
• perfume to replace the one that shattered all over the bathroom floor (while we were on a pre-surgery vacation) 14 months ago.

• a fry daddy. oh, how i long to have fried foods sometimes. (most fried foods are covered in gluten flour. yep, boo hoo for me)
• a cardigan, drape neck preferred. sorta like this one. but in black...
• jeans. maybe these. or any jeans, really.
• stretchy pants, like these.
• earrings. something smaller & hypoallergenic so i can actually wear them longer...say overnight! then i wouldn't have to ever change them. so then folks would think i like jewelry (which i do. i just get an allergic reaction to most 'cheaper' metals)
• jule's gluten free flour. enough for a year or more...this stuff is amazing. there's barely any difference in the baking process.
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• a digital food weight scale. b/c i know i won't get a year's supply of jules gf flour...& the best gluten free baking & cooking comes from weighing the flour, not measuring it with cups & such...b/c each different flour has different weights & will make something that could be good either rock solid or crumbly. argh.
• a laptop. i don't even CARE what kind & all that jazz. i just want a laptop so i can go into my bedroom (or the playroom, or the bathroom!--something where i can read blogs & news without interruptions)
• a comfy (non dining room chair) computer chair
• a massage chair...oh how life would be grand...
• a new furnace
• a new toilet. yes, i think about this all the time. b/c ours has overflowed once, runs constantly (even if you don't use it!) & is just plain scary. i have to put so much effort into the actual flush thingy b/c it gets stuck. i have to use BOTH HANDS to flush it. that is not right, eh? the one that needs replaced is the one that overflowed during our church small group, making our light fixture a water feature. *sigh*
• a new roof
• a new a/c unit
• a new car for my husband. but i would prefer it to be a mazda 5 or a ford edge...something i can drive so he can have the aztec! *smile*

anyway. i'll stop here. b/c most likely wes & i will say to each other: let's get a new toilet for each other for christmas & call it even. SUCK. even though it's on my list, well, it's at the bottom, right?

or maybe i'll just want to be healthy.

***

i think i may have become my mother yesterday. this is a good thing, often. let me break it down for you: our health insurance company wouldn't approve one of my sleeping pills. b/c it wasn't a generic. so it's all about the money before it's about me being healthy. so we've been playing this back & forth game for about a week now. they fax something to wes who faxes it to my doctor who faxes it to the insurance company who then acts like they didn't receive it & tells wes who then calls the doctor who says we already did this then wes calls the insurance company. (wes wanted to take care of this for me for a few reasons: my ability to get super duper angry very quickly over things like this & two: i don't have a fax machine at home). but yesterday i had enough when i received a letter--from the insurance company's pharmacist specialist--WTF?--with their lousy explanation of why this certain medication was denied & then they explained that i can 'appeal' this.

so i did. i called & spoke with chuck, a customer service rep. i asked to speak with this pharmacist specialist. he said i would not be able to. he gabbed on a bit about the why's & such & basically blamed this on my doctor. i said let's leave blame where it is, on the company you work for. & now i get to talk with you about it, unless you want me to talk with someone else? he said no. i then told him all my medical diagnoses, the different medications i've tried, the surgery i went through, my restricted diet, etc. then i asked him: since they want me to talk with you about this, what would you have me do? what medications do you suggest?

i guess i shouldn't go into too many details but chuck said he'd have a pharmacist specialist call me within 24 hours. he warned me that he would use more medical terminology & i told him not to worry, i know all about my medical conditions, etc. somehow, miraculously, his manager called me an hour later to tell me that my medication appeal had been approved. maybe they finally took the time to look at their incoming faxes to see that my dr had faxes this appeal last thursday...

so yes, i think my mom mad customer service skills have paid off. or maybe it was b/c i worked in a call center for 3 years. but i have to pat myself on the back for this one...

***

& i am finally wanting to get a bit political. more about that later. but what is up with some christians & churches lately? just being totally un-jesus. it's really pissing me off. i would discuss that instead of my christmas list, but...priorities. (jk)