Military Spouse Friday Fill-in

Fridays are Military spouse Friday fill-in days over at Wife of a Sailors Blog. It is a fun way to get to know other military spouses and learn about each other each week.

Here is this weeks Friday Fill-in:

1. I always feel like I’m     84      years old, but in reality, I’m far younger than that.

I am to the point in my pregnancy where I am getting very uncomfortable and it is difficult to move. Sometimes it takes me 5 minutes just to get off the couch!


2. I wish my family understood better when I tell them I am allergic to dogs.  
I am severely allergic to dogs and my in-laws just DON'T get it! When we go to their house they refuse to put the dogs outside or in the basement. My husband will put them in the basement and then EVERYONE goes down to be with them because they are lonely...leaving me upstairs...ALONE! I was there a few weeks ago and they let their 100+lb jump up and shove his paws into my pregnant belly. The dogs can't b left outside or in the basement, but it's ok for me to have to go sit on the front porch in the snow so that I can catch my breath and stop wheezing. It's not like they are small dogs either. They have a 100+lb golden with TONS of fur and a 50ish lb pit/lab mix. SO damn frustrating!

3. If you saw me when I feel like getting pretty , you’d think I was a total girly-girl, but if you saw me any other day , you’d think I was a tomboy through-and-through. 
I do love to get dressed up. I love a cute pair of heels, a pretty dress and make-up! I love to feel pretty and sexy, I just don't take the time to do it very often. I am a billion years pregnant and if I put make-up on I just sweat it off in about 3.2 minutes. And seriously...lets not even talk about trying to fit my giant swollen ankles into a cute pair of heels!

4. I feel like I’m in a totally different universe when I'm with military families vs civilian families.  
I have a lot of military friends and I have a lot of civilian friends. I absolutely adore all of them for their own reasons. The military world is just so different than the civilian world. A milspouse friend of mine posted this on Facebook yesterday and it kind of explains the difference:

Civilian wives will get angry and snotty if your child is misbehaving, military wives will come outside yell at your kid and then let you know they did it

Civilian wives will tell a neighbor child to go home when dinner is ready, military wives expect that all children in their home will be eating with them

Civilian wives get angry if their husband is late and doesn’t call, military wives are ...grateful if they get a call this week
...
Civilian wives expect their casserole dish to be returned, military wives aren’t exactly sure who owns what

Civilian wives think men look good in uniforms, military wives think one man looks good in a uniform

Civilian wives get excited when the doorbell rings, military wives don’t

Civilian wives ask their friends if they can help, military wives don’t give their friends the option

Civilian wives get annoyed when plans change, military wives are surprised when they don’t

Civilian wives ask if their child can come play, military wives call and say “Hey is my kid over there?”

Civilian wives get angry when they trip over their husbands shoes, military wives would do anything to have to pick up their husbands boots

Civilian Wives hate their husbands’ stinky shirts, military wives snuggle up to them at night.

 I don't agree with all the statements, but some of them are so true. And, for the record, I truly love all my friends the same. I don't value military friends over civilian friends or vice versa. I value my friends for who they are and the different relationships that we have!!

5. In honor of this being MFF #60… 60 months ago  (exactly 5 years ago, so September 30, 2006) I lived in a duplex in San Diego, CA with a roommate and my life was totally different because of SO many reasons.
It was my freshman year of college and I was living with a milspouse. I was not married, but I was engaged to my husband. My fiance and the roommates husband were deployed to Japan. I was a full time student, working 40hrs a week and partying like it was my job. I was living off of $20 a week for food and struggling to make the bills, but I was too proud to ask for help. It was a time in my life where I learned so much about myself and what I was capable of and I learned so much about life and the world. I would never trade that time of my life for anything! Plus, I truly feel like that deployment helped my relationship with my husband (fiance at the time) grow! 

Military Spouse Friday Fill-in

 Every Friday Wifey of a Sailor does a Military Spouse fill-in. It is a fun way to get to know other military spouses. Head on over to her blog and check it out!  

Do you eat raw cookie dough?  
Why yes, yes I do! That's the whole reason to make cookies isn't it? I don't eat a whole batch, but a few bites here and there. :) My aunt used to tell us that we would get worms if we ate cookie dough...

When you get online for the first time of the day… what site do you immediately head to? 
I usually check Twitter and Facebook first. Gotta keep up with the social networking lol

What was your favorite pet as a child and why? 
As a kid I had fish and bunny rabbits. I loved my bunnies! I could pet them and hold them. I would let them out in the back yard and they would just hang out near where we were hanging out. They never left. My family has a plethora of pet allergies so we could only have rabbits because they lived outside.
I had chickens too, but they were mean. They liked me and would follow me around, but you couldn't really pet them of play with them, so the rabbits were cooler. Though I was quite a sight to see with 7 chickens following me in a line!


If you had a snail that could magically grant wishes, what would you name it?  
I would name it dead. I hate snails! I think they are gross and slimy. I think I would leave it nameless and once it had granted my wishes I would give it a shower of salt or a swim in a beer pool!

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?
I have tried to count...I really have, but I get bored after about 100 licks and lose count. I do have to say that Tootsie Pops are one of my favorite candies! :) 

 

Military Insurance in a Civilian World

The last two weeks I have been on an insurance crusade.

We have military insurance and it is a joke! In the civilian world doctors don't take our insurance because the insurance company is notorious for not paying. This makes the list of doctors who participate rather short.

In January when I was pregnant I found out that there is only one OB in Evansville that is in our network. I made an appt with them. From the start I had nothing but trouble with his office. I called a few weeks before my appt because I was spotting and they blew me off. It took 2 more phone calls that day before they agreed to do an ultrasound. It took me 2 days and 5 phone calls to get my u/s results. They didn't want to do bloodwork. They insisted I was fine.

I was sitting in Dr. Asshole's office while he was telling me that I could be miscarrying or it could be an ectopic pregnancy and he said, "it is not my job to save babies. I know a lot of people think it is, but that's not my job. I don't save babies for a living."

Really?! It's not his job to save babies? Then what is his job?

Now, I am rational person and I know that in many/most cases an early miscarriage like mine can't be "fixed". Many times there isn't anything a doctor can do, but to tell me his job isn't to save babies? Out of line if you ask me! What if I hadn't miscarried and something happened when I was further along in my pregnancy?

So, this week I have been trying to get a new OB approved from my insurance. I had my primary doc put in a referral and I submitted all the appropriate paperwork.

Yesterday I got a letter from my insurance company saying that they are denying my request and they are "redirecting" me to Dr. Asshole. Needless to say...I was pissed!

I called them up and I was informed that part of my insurance agreement is that I will drive up to an hour to see a specialist and there 2 other doc's within an hour of me. They think it is ok to have to drive an hour to deliver a baby (when the time comes of course). Not to mention, these docs are in a completely different state!

I explained to the man on the phone what happened with the last OB and he said that requesting an out of network provider will not be approved simply because I thought the network doc had bad bedside manner.

What I don't understand is how another girl that lives 6 blocks from me and has the same insurance as me got a non-network doc approved. She never even had to endure Dr. Asshole, she requested a different doc based on my experience.

After 2 phone calls and 2 supervisors they resubmitted my request to a "tier 2" manager.

Maybe I am out of line, but I do NOT want to drive an hour to see a doctor and I ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT GO BACK TO DR. ASSHOLE!!!!!

I will call everyday, like I have been for 2 weeks until I get what I want! It should not be this difficult to get decent health care.

Military Spouse Friday Fill-in

It's Friday, so I decided to do another Milspouse Friday Fill-in. The Friday Fill-in is from Wife of a Sailor.

If you were given $1,000 right now, how would you spend it?
I would buy furniture for our new house. This house is much bigger than our last house and we don't have closets so I need a place to put everything.

If you had to choose a movie title (a real one that already exists) for your life story, what would it be?
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest...enough said.


If you were a teacher, what subject would you like to teach?
I was a preschool teacher for a while and that is such a great age to teach. I wouldn't want to teach just one subject. The younger kids are more fun. :)
Has being a MilSpouse changed how you view holidays or how your holidays are celebrated? If so, how? If not, what hasn’t changed?
The holidays have always been about family for me. When the husband isn't around for the holidays it is heart breaking, but I always surround myself with family, be it my blood relatives or my friends who are like my family. I always make sure to have a holiday package for my husband too. A few years ago I got plastic food and glued it to a plate and then put pictures of our whole family together so he could have his Thanksgiving meal with his family. I want him to feel as connected as possible when he is away.

What is your favorite Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate) memory?
I don't have just one favorite memory. I love looking back at remembering all of the magic of Christmas though. My family always made sure that everyone felt special. I love that I was brought up in a home where getting gifts was not the most important thing. We always "adopted" a family who couldn't afford gifts. We would collect the gifts from our church and then our family would deliver Christmas to a family. I have always loved to give gifts. I love to make someone else feel special and I never expect anything in return. I also love the times that I spent days baking with my mom and grandma. The house always smelled so good and we had such a great time in the kitchen, dancing, singing and baking up a storm. That's what I love about Christmas...it's not one specific memory and it didn't happen one time, but it's what I think of when I think of Christmas.

Military Spouse Friday Fill-in

Since yesterday was Veteran's Day I thought it would be fitting to do a Friday fill-in from Wife of a Sailors blog.

1. Were you named after anyone?
I was! my first name is my maternal grandmothers name an my middle name is my aunt's and one of my mom's dear friends middle name.
2. What color, if any, are your toenails usually painted?
They are usually a dark red. Well, they usually have some seriously chipped red polish on them. I get a pedicure once every 3 months or so and i hardly ever take the time to paint them in between. Maybe I should start painting my toes and pampering myself once in a while!
3. How do you flush a public toilet? Hands? Feet? Something else?
I actually avoid using public toilets t all costs! I will hold all day if I have to. In September The Hubs and I drove across the country and I had no option, but to use public toilets! I swear we found the grossest ones in the country!! if I have to use a public toilet I just flush with my hand, because I immediately wash my hands.
4. When you were a little kid, which TV character did you have a crush on?
Where to start! I had a huge crush on Fred Savage's character, Kevin Arnold, in The Wonder Years. He was so cute and I loved the character that he played. I also had a crush on Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Zachery Ty Bryan's characters in Home Improvement. They were SO cute!
5. Let’s say you had to lose one of your five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell). Which one would you choose? Why?
I would have to say hearing. I love to cook and I love food! Losing my sense of taste or smell would be hard. Without smell, you can't really taste much and I like to taste my food. Without touch, well...you know. Plus, when my husband hugs me, it can completely turn my day around. Without sight, there would be so many things I would be missing, though one of the brightest and most determined people I know is blind. He is 13 and I look up to him! Without hearing I could do almost anything that I enjoy. I would miss the sound of my husbands voice and I would like to hear my children's voices someday, but I would rather see their smiling faces.

Since yesterday was Veteran's Day I just want to say Thank you to my husband and to all those who have served, are serving and who will continue to serve our country! I am thankful for all you have done and continue to do. We, as a nation are lucky to have the brave men and women to protect us and our freedoms. My husband is the love of my life and my hero. Thank you babe, for your bravery and strength!

I dislike being called a military wife or a Marine wife because I am more than just a service members wife. There are so many parts that make me a whole and when people say military/Marine wife, I feel like the rest of me is being lost in what he does. This does not mean that I don't support his career, because it is just the opposite. I am so incredibly proud of him and what he does and will always support him 110%. What he does is amazing and he is amazing, but I am pretty amazing too.

Military Spouse Friday Fill-in

I have never done one of these before, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'll share my feelings on being called a Marine wife another time...

Military Spouse Friday fill-in:

1. What’s the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?
I don't know that a stranger has ever done anything for me other than hold a door open. I don't think SD was the best place to find nice strangers...maybe it will be different no that we are in the midwest.

2. If you are having a hard time going to sleep, what do you do to help yourself?
I count. Nothing in particular, I just count. I think that makes me weird, but it helps.

3. Name something that makes you wish you were a kid again.
Drama and paying bills

4. What is something you never believed until you experienced it?

Love. It's cheesy I know. I have always loved my family and my friends, but I didn't think loving my husband would be any different. I was wrong! I never knew I could feel this way about anyone. (Like I said...cheesy.)

5. What can’t you say “no” to?
My family (which is why I hate drama). I will do anything for my family. Oh, and my husband can bat his eye lashes and smile and I will do anything. :)

If you’re a Military Spouse, please join the fun and visit WifeOfaSailor at her blog space