Boo, Hiss!

It feels like there have been a lot of boo, hiss moments in the midst of all the good things--that's life, right? Our trip to the tax man (for the first time I can remember) didn't go the way we hoped. We discovered that we owe what we normally get as a return, and that is a double bummer. Those child tax credits of the Crew's younger years, were solid helps! Maybe we should have more kids? I joke, I joke . . . but we do need to make some paycheck deduction adjustments, pronto!

Another boo, hiss was the phone switch--I never like switching phones, but phone companies is a whole 'nother headache! Buck was on the phone for three hours, four? Calling back and forth between the two companies before he got a solution to the FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS our previous service company planned to charge us over the next two weeks. Turns out, the new company didn't lie, and we just needed to complete a few more secret steps (because they don't tell you upfront how it all works) in order to claim our rebates or whatever. Good gravy, Marie!

Third boo, hiss coming in hot . . . I did some research and convinced the new medical team that I do qualify for an MRI whenever (no 6 week PT or "conservative care" hoops to jump through first). MRIs aren't fun, really. It's noisy and squeezy in the tube, but it's not awful. I got headphones to listen to music and the MRI lady was super nice. A couple of days later, I read through the report and did a bunch of online understanding. It turns out, they were right about what they thought was wrong--only instead of rotator cuff tendinitis, it is biceps tendinitis with a frozen shoulder. What I didn't expect was the phone call a day later telling me I needed to get a steroid shot a.s.a.p. in said shoulder. We leave for that in 15 minutes, so I should probably go get ready. I'm blogging to distract myself from thinking about it. I'm fine with needles, doctors, all that . . . but putting the medicine all the way into the joint . . . blech. Pass! Buck is driving me; thankfully his super messed up schedule made a free morning to join me possible :)

So, as with many things, when being scheduled for three weeks of straight vacation--even while you're actively working at the building where the clerical error took place--means they kind of make up a schedule for you when you correct the (big) mistake, and it's late shifts til almost midnight, God can use these frustrating things for good. Buck drove me to and from the appointment. The injection was gross, but didn't hurt too much. He said the PA put a shocking amount of syringe fluid through the needle in a very short amount of time, but she checked and there were some immediate benefits to the movement ability (which she said will wear off in a few hours, but will gradually return over the next couple weeks). I guess it doesn't matter that Olive ate my exercises, because I don't have to do them for awhile. Gotta get that inflammation calmed down, first. I'm thankful for prayer support and for friends that can talk me through it when I'm feeling a little iffy. I'm glad Buck was there, too.

Another interesting way God worked things out . . . Brennen bumped a guy with the truck, while he was waiting for the paperwork for the $1k car he bought with the $1.5k he got for his engine-broken last car. That repair cost is hovering around $2.5k, unless the guy's brother-in-law can do it sooner and cheaper than the two quotes he got from two body shops. Buck told Brennen he could keep driving the truck and sell the $1k car to get some of the funds to pay for the bump. G$ heard about this and decided to sell his Honda for $1.3k to buy Brennen's for sale car for $1.5k. All of this came to us, so we can pay the bump guy when he decides how to get his grill restored. Really, all of that to say . . . Brennen registered the car to himself, then sold it to his brother the next day; G$ didn't even get the plates on his last car before he sold it to someone else! So when Brennen gives Graysen the paperwork, Brennen will be back to no cars, G$ will be back to three cars, but now he doesn't have to turbo his daily driver, he can turbo the blue car . . . also a Honda, I think? Win, win! :)

I paid the dentist their $1.2k (thankfully our HSA dropped that in the bank account before it was due), and we're feeling better, overall, about the astonishing amount of money required from us in a very short amount of time. That tax situation is still a bummer, but we'll figure it out. God always provides, He's proven that over and over again. I do still get stressed about these moneycrunch times, but not at the level I used to. And it's almost always in coordination with a vacation or a purchase that we've already got locked down, that we never would have pursued if all this had happened with different timing. It's like God says, "Don't cancel your plans. Let me show you Mine in the midst of the unexpected." I'm glad He's on our side :)