When it rains, it pours.

The last two weeks have been really stressful, so bear with me. I'm mostly just writing this blog entry to rant about the events and get it off my chest which hopefully will make me feel a little better. Maybe.

On April 13th (about a week and a half ago) I got some surprise medical bills in the mail. Deductibles from mine and PJ's last doctors appointments in Virginia on my Anthem Insurance plan. And a surprise they surely were. But not a warm, fuzzy, happy surprise. A surprise in which you are wanting to pull your hair out after seeing what the damage from the bills did to your bank account! Slightly depressing, but I coped and moved on.

Then, this week started off with a huge headache. (Warning; sort of long story)

PJ developed a rash about three or four days ago. My roommate and I checked it out and just figured it is really bad diaper rash, so I've just been dousing him with butt cream. Well, Monday while I was picking PJ up after work, his day care said he couldn't come back without a doctors note because the rash is getting worse and could potentially be contagious (understandable). I knew I wouldn't be able to get PJ in to a doctors office the next day (I JUST got PJ's medical card in the mail and haven't found a doctors office out here for him yet) but luckily I have a wonderful back up babysitter who watches PJ for me in situations like this so that I don't have to take off work.

So Tuesday I went to work, PJ went to his other babysitter, and I went to town on trying to get PJ in for a doctors appointment somewhere ASAP.

For two solid hours on Tuesday morning I called EVERY pediatrician's office in the area who accepts Medicaid (i got a list from the state) and was willing to take PJ in as a new patient. Finally, at the end of the second hour, I found one who would. I was starting to seriously stress out and got worried that I wouldn't be able to find one, but (again) I lucked out and found one in St Matthews (5 minutes from my home) and they seem like a decent place. The only catch is that they need to wait to receive paperwork from Medicaid before an appointment could be scheduled for PJ, so the earliest they can get him in is Thursday (tomorrow) and it may possibly be pushed back to Friday.

So, I call the day care provider and tell them that the back up babysitter is watching PJ and will be until I get him into the docs, then explain to them why I'm not sure exactly when he'll be able to be seen. I also explain that I can't pay them for the days that he's not there because i'm paying the back up babysitter and it'd be ridiculous for me to have to pay double childcare.

She pauses and says "well, you already paid for this week". I said "well yeah, but can't you just credit me and i'll pay less next week?" ....pause.... "just bring him in tomorrow, i mean, he was already here yesterday with it and if it's contagious the kids already probably have it." I said "are you sure? I mean, the back up babysitter has no problem watching him and if it is contagious I'd feel bad if the other kids got it" ...she said "well, i need the money and i know you can't afford double childcare". I just said "ok" and then we got off the phone.

WTF. So I have to pay double childcare for Tuesday because Monday they said I couldn't bring him, but now that I can't pay them for the days HE'S NOT EVEN THERE I can go ahead and take him in. Bologna!

Let's take a look at yesterday (Tuesday).

My Droid (cell phone) broke on Easter weekend (April 3rd?). Luckily I have Best Buy insurance so I took it in and they sent it out to get fixed. In the mean time they issued me a loaner phone (an old samsung flip phone). Well, the loaner stopped working about three days ago. It wouldn't turn on, even when I tried charging it. I didn't drop it, there is no water damage, it was not my fault. It just stopped working.

So yesterday I got a call saying that they're going to replace my Droid with a new one because the cost of repairing the broken one is too high. I get to Best Buy, give them the loaner and they get my Droid ready. They check the loaner to see if it's working and I told them what happened to it three days ago. So, what did they do? Charged me $160.50 for it since I didn't return it in the condition in which it was issued. TOTAL BS!

It's a loaner phone that was probably given out 100 times prior to me. I was tearing up at the store because that is a lot of money (especially since I was just drained from paying medical bills) for a USED, DINKY, OLD, CRAPPY LOANER phone!! Plus, it really wasn't my fault! But they wouldn't give me my Droid until I paid the fee, so I went ahead and paid ( HUGE MISTAKE! ).

I called my friend who is a Best Buy manager in Virginia and asked him what I should do. He agreed with me that I should not have been charged that ridiculous amount and that I should go back and speak with the General Manager (not just the supervisor I spoke with) to get my money back. This should be interesting.

Now, lets talk about today shall we?

Before I moved to Kentucky I filed for divorce in Virginia. I told them that I was moving, I asked them what I needed to do in order to have everything go smoothly. Their response? "Pay half the attorney charges now, you will pay the rest at the time of your court hearing. Fill out these documents, get them back to us. And understand that you will have to come back to Virginia for court in 8-12 weeks". I am ecstatic about this news, do all that I have to do to get the ball rolling, and let them do their thing.

April 16th was the last day my ex had to contest the divorce (which he didn't) which basically means we can go ahead and pick a date for my court hearing. I get an email from the attorney's office today giving me a list of things I need to do so we can move forward in the process:

1.  make your final payment to expedite your hearing, please make your payment by credit card, money order or cash.
2.  send us a copy of the parenting seminar certificate.
3. Please call us and have your witness contact our office to review the hearing questions. Our telephone number is 703-807-5800 the office is open Monday-Friday 9am-5:30pm
4. inform us with your social security number and your spouse's social security number- by phone, mail or email.

What the hell! I was NEVER told that I need to attend a parenting seminar. Suposedly it's law in the state of Virginia that I need to have that certificate to have a legal divorce if there are children under the age of 18 involved. If they had told me that I needed to do it, I would have certainly taken care of it before I moved from VA.

So now I'm waiting to hear back from the Attorney's office about what I can do since I'm in Kentucky. Having to make the other half of my payment now is TERRIBLE timing for me (med bills, stupid phone charge, etc) and stressing me out a bit also, but I've had to wait 1 year to file for this divorce and I'll do anything to be able to keep it moving.

Moral of the story.....Don't go to the doctors (no med bills). Don't have kids (no day care worries). Don’t break your phone (wouldn't be possible to be charged for a dead loaner). Don't get a divorce (or get married, that way it's impossible to have to get a divorce).

Just kidding. Sort of