The awesome Dr. Wheeler...

The awesome Dr. Wheeler had this graphic (or one very close to it) when she was explaining asymptotes to us.  LOVE IT!

That might be almost enough to make Laurel not hate Algebra.  😃

Ok, Algebra times!

Ok, Algebra times!

I have a test on Wednesday.  And we're doing all kinds of stuff - including equations with Logarithms.  I feel shaky at best on those.  Gotta get to work.

While standing in my living room petting cats...

While standing in my living room petting cats Shaun apparently didn't pay enough attention to Calypso.   She leaped from the couch and clung to his chest.  "YOU SHALL HOLD ME NOW!!!"

Bun, on the other hand, has a less dangerous method when she wants to be held.  She will stand up against your leg with her arms up.  If you don't pick her up she will climb you.  If you pet her back she will just lean all the way back into your hand until you might as well scoop her up and cuddle her.  It is the cutest thing that any cat has ever done.

Tobi and Adrian both like to be petted, but they don't attention-seek like their sisters.  They are more playful and don't have time for all that.  LOL

My goodness, Tort Baby is busy today!

My goodness, Tort Baby is busy today!  He wanted out first thing and he hasn't been still since he got out.  He's climbing everywhere.  He's playing Spiderman again today.  😃

Shadow just helped me clean out the fridge.

Shadow just helped me clean out the fridge.  That helped my sanity, somehow.  Still kind of in panic mode about how I'll get through next year, but I can't do anything else until I hear back from Medicaid.  The healthcare.gov website sent my info to Medicaid, so I can't edit or delete the application.  Not that you can fudge that stuff, anyway.  It looks at your tax records.

I'm gonna be doing a lot of scholarship-looking over the next few weeks.  If you hear of anything I might be eligible for, please let me know.  Note:  If I have to be going full time I will not be eligible.  Three-quarters time is all I can handle while working.

Anyway.  Happy part of the night:  Caught Calypso massaging Snaga's back and Snaga looking like she was in heaven.  LOL  It was adorable.  Snaga isn't a fan of the other cats, but she may end up liking that one!  🙂

Guess what I am NOT thankful for? This stupid ass state!

Guess what I am NOT thankful for?  This stupid ass state!

I sat down to follow up on my insurance crap since I keep getting emails that if I don't change it by 12/15, my premium will go from $28 to $108.  So I'm in the marketplace thinking "Why are all of these plans so expensive?  I can't afford any of them!" and I look for the tax help thing.  This is what it says for my income level:

"Below $15,930

Since your state hasn't expanded Medicaid you probably won't qualify for Medicaid based on your income alone. You also won't qualify for savings on a Marketplace insurance plan."

So basically I can't afford insurance for next year.  I'm gonna be crippled up and unable to function by the time winter rolls around.  This is seriously not ok.  I have so much to do, but this stupid backwards state would rather see my crippled and begging for disability than going to school and trying to better my life.  I feel so sad and angry and frustrated right now.  🙁

Happy Birthday to me! I've had a good day! 😃

Happy Birthday to me!  I've had a good day!  😃

I slept in with no guilt, so that's always a good start!  😃  Woke up to presents at my door - thanks to the awesome Mary Beth, who always manages to surprise me with something awesome.  This time it was a Jack Skellington hat - just in time for the cold weather, and some smelly-good hand soap.  😃

After that me and the best Shaun ever trekked to Birmingham to meet my new doctor.  On the way he gave me a card.  I'd told him not to buy me anything else because that dishwasher a few months ago was plenty.  Well, he got me a card... a 32 gig SD card to go in my phone!  And also a really cute card that the SD card was hidden in.  It had a squirrel and a kitten on it.  Who doesn't love that?

So in the waiting room at the doctor I got a coupon code for my birthday to one of the sites that sells awesome nail polish.  I ended up pre-ordering that flaky one that I wanted, plus getting another I'd been eyeing, AND getting them shipped for just $13 total.  SCORE!

Then finally it was time to meet my new doctor.  He seems like a good and smart guy.  He examined me and asked a lot of questions.  He seemed happy with my spreadsheet of medications and dates that I had on my tablet, so heck yes for that!  😃  He is not convinced that I have Psoriatic Arthritis because it usually affects smaller joints like hands and feet, not larger joints like hips and knees.  He's testing me for Rheumatoid, just to make sure.

Since I've been doing mostly fine on the methotrexate he wants to keep me on it for now.  He also wants to see me back in 6 weeks to see how I'm feeling and how my test results turned out.

Also, THIS IS THE COOLEST THING EVER.  His nurse dude had to get some blood from me, so I'm used to that.  But he had this tube attached to the thing that sticks in your arm, that then lead to the thing where they pop the glass tubes that they fill up off and on.  That means that they are not snatching the needle while it's in your arm!  Most of my blood-takers have been pretty good, but I had one who was straight brutal.  So that just freakin' made my day!  Seriously - it's the little things, but it made a HUGE difference.  I don't have a bruise or anything and my arm isn't even sore.  Woohoo!

After that we ate at Outback.  It was nice to have a date with Shaun.  I "see" him all the time, but it's really different when I'm crazy and busy versus a time when I don't have anything else needing my attention.  Of course, after Outback, we made a quick trip to Ulta.  They didn't have a lot of polish that I was interested in.  Shaun bought me a lip gloss and a dark gray polish that I didn't have, so that was nice.  THEN, we made the long trip home.

Now I'm here.  I see that I have an ass-ton of notifications, so thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes!  I will go through them in a bit when I'm settled in.  Of course, all of the animals need to be checked on and all that first.  And this house is messy and driving me nuts.  After sitting around so much today I have the energy to work on that, so I'm gonna take advantage of it for a while.

Later, friends, and super thank you to everyone who thought of me today!  ❤