Time flies regardless

Well, it's certainly been a while, hasn't it?

Let me see...

Last published post was on the ninth.  The eleventh was my birthday, which was none too fun.  I wrote a whole post, but decided not to publish it.  Printed word is too open to misinterpretation, and the nature of this post opened a can of worms I simply didn't want to get in to.  Anyway, I spent my birthday in pain, miserable, and frustrated.

I confess that I have fallen behind in school.  I'm on top of my Ling classes, but my Ed classes not so much.  My goal is to have my overdue lesson plan turned in on Monday, and get at least one of the major postings for the other class done this weekend.
Of course, we all know where leads the road paved with good intentions...

Things have been kind of roller-coaster-ish with my honor society.  I'm the secretary, but I really do a lot for the society, and of the officers, I do the most.  I'm rather frustrated because we recently did a Halloween costume drive and we received nothing.  (I'm not counting the 4 costumes my advisor managed to collect and donate after the fact.)  The president and other officers were so lackadaisical and passive that the word did not get spread and hardly anything was done.  The advisor called me a few days ago and said she was going to speak to the president and have me instated in that office in her stead, as I am the one carrying the presidency.  I feel like I'm constantly poking and prodding the officers, and picking up the slack behind them before things fall through the cracks (ah, English metaphor...).

When the advisor met with the president, Pres was very surprised that this would be asked of her.  Apparently she "didn't want to hold me back" or "get in my way" since I seemed "very enthusiastic."  This sounds like BS to me, since her job simply isn't getting done.  I'm not doing her job; I'm not standing in her way.  She either has no idea what she's doing and isn't putting forth the effort to learn, or isn't passionate about it and getting done what she needs to.  In fact, I've been dancing around this semester trying desperately not to overstep my bounds or step on her toes while watching her duties go unfilled.  Which has really been hard for me to do.  But the advisor thinks that there is sincerity behind her remarks.  Anyway, we're meeting tomorrow.  I want to get this solidly figured out before our new member recognition mid-November because right now I feel pulled and stretched and emotionally tossed around.

I'm also contemplating not continuing in my Ed program.  I'm so annoyed with all the bureaucracy and requirements and tests and dancing around that is required to become and be a teacher.  I'm sick of lesson plans and unit plans and accommodations and assessments.  And I honestly don't think I would survive student teaching without going insane.

And there have been some, um, "fun" things going on with my insurance and pharmacy.  Last week I received a package in the mail.  Well, Husband picked up the mail.  He came in shaking the envelope, which rattled like a bottle of meds.  He jokingly asked if I was getting drugs in the mail now.  Um... no...?  Well, I opened the envelope and, sure enough, it contained a bottle of prescription meds.  One of my prescriptions, 90 days worth, all the right info (name, insurance, prescribing doctor, all that), that I had NEVER ORDERED.  (Oh, and a bill for the meds.)

I logged on to my pharmacy's website, and that med is still listed as having three refills left. So I called the company that sent me the meds. (This company is a branch of my pharmacy & has connections with my insurance company.)

Well, apparently it is not some sort of kooky mistake. They received a fax from my insurance co. for this prescription for 3 months and that action supposedly obligates them to fill and send the prescription.

At my last rheumy appt (just over a month ago), he prescribed 3 new meds, and this was one of them. One is for serious pain that doesn't respond to other stuff. The other two I was supposed to try one, and then the other. The problem is that they were both listed on the same prescription. So when I went to fill the one I wanted to try first (not the one I got mailed!), it filled them both. And of course, there was some nonsense with filling the prescription I wanted to try 2nd because it's not in generic and not automatically covered my insurance, blah blah blah. Hence the fax from my insurance co. and the filling of the meds.

I'm frustrated because I haven't even gotten to the point of trying these meds yet with the 2wk sample from the rheumy & the 1st month that got filled "by default." Much less am I ready for this new 3 month supply. I don't know what the side effects will be... heck, I could be allergic to this med, but don't know because I haven't tried it yet. And now they want me to pay the copay for 2 months worth of meds. Boom. Right now. (After paying for tuition and an ER visit and... and... and... this month.)

(Other voice in my head argues back:) But it's only 2 months of copay instead of 3 (apparently I got month free through this mail service). So if I do decide that I do want to be on this medication, this is way better financially than filling it through my local pharmacy.
 

The part that makes me mad is that I had NO SAY in any of this!!!

But I'm starting this med tonight.  It has in it's list of side effects pretty much every possible side effect under the sun, then comments that it is not a complete list of side effects, so who knows how my body will react, but I have a four day weekend, so I figure this is a good time to figure out if I'm allergic to it, at least.   Grrr.

There's just so much going on right now.  Time is racing past and leaving me behind.

World Teacher's Day

"5 October is a day to celebrate teachers and the central role they play in guiding children, youths & adults through the life-long learning process."  Teachers have played a huge role in my life, for the past twenty years.

Marilee Ragland, my 2nd grade teacher-- I remember doing more art in her class than math or reading, but I loved it.  We worked with clay... (I made a turtle)... we drew upside-down... made hats for Easter that had rabbit ears...

Ms. Welte, my 3rd grade teacher-- I started wanting to become a teacher because of Mrs. Welte.  I remember measuring out the size of whales on the basketball court.

Kasey Jonesrebandt, my junior high choir teacher-- I loved Mrs. J!  She gave me a lot of responsibility and helped me reach my potential as a leader in the classroom.

Margaret Higashida, my junior high computer science teacher-- She really let me be creative, which is something I really needed in junior high.

David Thuleen, my high school physics teacher-- His classes were so fun!  We got to drop things and throw things and build things, and everything involved stick figures.

Mr. Raymond, my senior English teacher-- I really learned how to write well in this class.   I owe him a lot.

Kelley Bell, my high school choir teacher-- I loved Mrs. Bell, too!  Again, I was really given responsibility and so many opportunities!

And many of my professors in college: 

Matthew Estes, history-- I learned to appreciate history, even if I still don't like it.

Jocelyn Ahlers, linguistics-- The professor who introduced me to my passion: linguistics!  This professor continues to inspire me and has really been there for me.

Jule Gomez de Garcia, linguistics-- Another ling professor, this one has gotten me into a fieldwork project and let me adopt it as my own.

So thank you to all of these teachers and all they have done for me!

Limited Time Only: Pay More, Get LESS!!!

Today is Friday, but it's not just any Friday... it's Admin Furlough Friday (henceforth called AFF)!  This means that all (or almost all) of the administration at Cal Furlough State San Marcos was not at work.  Nor are they allowed to answer their phones or emails.  The campus was dead.

Oh, except for a few dozen credential program students who showed up for a professional development seminar.  It is mandatory that we attend three such seminars this semester, and as the majority of them are scheduled right on top of classes we must also attend, this was one of the few my cohort could go to.

Guess how many of us showed up?  Two.  Yup.  Me and one other.

But it gets WAY better.

I arrived at 16:15 (for a seminar that was scheduled to start at 16:30).  There were maybe ten people total in the room at 16:30, but no presenters.   And the room is really warm because they don't run the air conditioner on AFF's.  So we wait... and wait... and wait... until one girl mentions that she got an email telling her the room had been changed.  Huh... funny... none of us got such an email.  So said student goes across campus to check in the other building.  Yup.  Sure enough, the meeting had been moved.  Now that we were all a half hour late, we trekked across campus (well, most of them trekked.  I drove.  Perk of "cripple parking" is parking close.  Oh, and calling it "cripple parking" totally tickled my classmate).

So we get to the other building and: It's locked.  Apparently they don't unlock doors on AFF.  We did eventually get into the building to find out that they also don't run the lights in some buildings on AFF.  So the seminar was held in the hallway.  Yippie.  (And it was dull as dirt, thanks for asking.  I love repeating things I've already learnt or consider common sense for the fifty-thousandth time.  However, I did get a few more rows knitted on both the Hufflepuff scarf  I'm knitting for my smallish sister and a few on my hedgerow mitts.  And my classmate was entertained by my sarcastic running commentary.)

I was rather miffed.

Well, anyway, I ought to get some homework done--I have one hour before meeting husband, smallish sister, and ballroom dancing friends for dinner.  Off to do linguistics!  Yay, linguistics!  Something happy after such a dumb seminar.

Oh, and happy National Sarcastic Awareness Month.  This is a good time to make you aware that I am sarcastic.  And most of the post above is sarcastic.  And I'm sorry if I'm rambling... blame my painkillers.

Tradition...

'Tis customary, I suppose, to initiate a new blog with a description of why one is blogging.

So behold, here I am.  I have registered to my name at this moment over a dozen blogs.  So why do I need another, you ask?  I'm actually consolidating.  I'm joining my two presently active blogs here.  So while this is actually my first post here, there will be many posts dated older than this one as I transfer them over from my other blogs.

This blog may contain anything from school to medical stuff to knitting to whatever else strikes my fancy.  So here we are.  Yay for us.  (Oh, and happy National Sarcastic Awareness Month.)