Cold and Snow

I think the average high temperature here the past two weeks have been about 20*. I could be wrong, but I don't think so this time. We *have* had a couple of sunny days, which has facilitated melting of ice and snow, but as soon as the sun goes down everything freezes up again. I have had a terrible time keeping my house warm, too. I rent this beautiful townhouse and the heat is included with the rent. Since I like my house warm, this was a big selling point for me. It uses steam heat, with baseboard radiators that don't get too hot to touch, but they do send wonderful heat all throughout the house. I have two thermostats, one on each level of the house. Of course, heat rises so the upstairs is usually quite a bit warmer than the downstairs. However, it is been so cold recently that even though both thermostats are at 85 or 90 degrees, the air temperature sits at 65*. It is cold!! So I have been trying to seal all the cracks in the sliding windows with rags, and I've been praying for warmer weather.

I've been knitting more socks, long ones this time, because my ankles and legs are cold too. It's slow going, because I realized that I am making too many counting errors while knitting at work. So I am switching my work knitting to plain cotton dishcloths. I've got about a dozen done, and I want to do a lovely photo shoot to show them off. However, I'd also like to show off my finished socks and I've still got halfway to go on my second sock so I may wait, or you may get a photo of a half-finished sock! I know other blogs show off half-finished work, but I don't really like to do that. Just a Weird Thing about me!

I've been teaching a friend LB how to knit, and she has graduated from dishcloths to a hat for her son, to the Booga Bag! She does lovely work, and her son absolutely LOVES his hat. She told me he slept in it! I love sharing my knitty-love with other people and watching them grow to enjoy it as much as I do.

Here Commences the Whine:
I hate going to the doctor. And not just the OB-GYN. I hate going to the GP, to the DC, to the DDS, to any doctor. I totally relate to Warren Zevon on this regard, not like MCM or RP. I have more to do with my time than call eight thousand doctors about each little ache and pain and weird growth. I have a high pain threshold (well maybe "theshold" isn't the right word, maybe "tolerance" is a better word) so I have a high pain tolerance simply because I HATE going to the doctor. But if you will remember a couple/three posts ago I mentioned I was having some funky ovarial pain . . . . . well it hasn't gone away. It hasn't gotten worse, but it hasn't lessened, either. I spoke with my friend who is a midwife, and she said it sounded like ovarian cysts. The treatment for that is kick-@$$ anti-inflammatories, and birth-control hormones. Oh yay, I cannot contain my excitement. Whatever.
So . . . . . at the insistence of RP a few months ago, I signed up for insurance through work. Not the most expensive plan, but actually more than I can really afford. I didn't receive any info in the mail about it, but finally a couple of weeks ago at work my boss handed me an envelope that had been supposedly mailed to me, but returned for insufficient address. I promise, HR has my apartment number! Anyway, inside were my insurance cards and info on finding a doctor who will take my insurance. There was a phone number to call if you have questions. Well, I have tons of questions, so I called it. Can I tell you the guy was Extremely Unhelpful?! All he would do is refer me to the website. I have been on the website, it is un-navigable. You get absolutely nowhere. So I hung up on him, crying because I was so upset. I am fairly certain all I have is ovarian cysts and not something more serious. But now that I've made the decision to actually be seen by a doctor, I just want to get it over with. I hate waiting for bureaucracy.
Here Ends the Whine (got some cheese and crackers?)

~~Later that same day~~
So after work (and a seventy-minute call) I went to an OB-GYN office, to see if they would take my insurance. They do not. They referred me to another office. I went there, the girl at the desk was very efficient at doing her job, but I asked her to please slow down and just give me some compassion because I don't want to be there in the first place and I am thisclose to just running out the door and PLEASE will you find out if your office takes my insurance before I make an appointment? Yes, they do take it, but as for how much we do not yet know. My appointment is at 9:45 am tomorrow. And then since I'll already be up, I guess I'll go to work for a few hours. It's Knitters/Spinners Night at the LYS and I need to go.

The DD will be going to Nana's for part of the weekend. I will go down Saturday after work to fetch her and to take part in a birthday party for a couple of Nana's grrls.

(I am freaked out about this whole doctor visit thing. And I really miss MCM right now. A lot.)