Mixed Bag

Well, rats. The great job didn't pan out, which has its good and bad points, and now things are getting tight. I've actually been doing freelance work lately-- which means I'm making even less than usual with this unemployment thing. This is how it works, apparently. One job I got paid for up front and spent the money before Christmas, and the other one I won't get paid for until February, but I report it all to the Unemployment people when I do the work, and they take out the amount of money I would be paid for that amount of work. I know it all evens out in the end, but this month is slim anyway because we're not getting the money for The Man going to school. So I can pay my mortgage, car, insurance, credit, health, and all other payments on, what, $600? Sure I can. And don't talk to me about the utility companies! Our gas bill alone more than doubled in December. Bother.

And just as a little aside, I finally went to the doctor this week. I had to stop using those nifty little patches because they were giving me welts (and besides, they cost like $10 apiece). I had to stop the anti-inflammatories because they made my stomach sick, so all I had left was the Percocet. This is lovely stuff of course, unless you have to do grownup, responsible things like, say, drive or hold down a job. It was OK for the month that The Man was out of school, but now he's going back and I need something else. 'Cause it turns out that under all that lovely painkilling stuff, there's still a lot of pain. Hmm. So I went to the doc and explained my situation. He gave me another prescription to try, but I think we're scraping the bottom of the barrel. This pill might give me a fatal seizure, but it's safer for driving than the codeine-based stuff? While I was there, he asked what else he could do for me, and I mentioned the numbness and swelling in my hands and feet, respectively. In about a minute, he had diagnosed carpal tunnel (yes, I really have it) and (worse) probable insulin resistance. He says when I get health insurance again (if ever), I should have myself tested for sleep apnea. Oh joy. Well, that would explain a lot. I didn't even mention the tendonitis in my right arm. At this point, it's a minor irritation in all its inflamation. Besides, I know I've got a brace around here somewhere...

Good thing this all makes for interesting story fodder. And so far, we're surviving.