long update

It's been a while since I've written here. It hasn't been an easy week. As you all know, we lost our cat, Loki, one week ago. It was a shock to us, as he was only 5 and a half years old. We miss him terribly. In addition, I threw out my back and haven't been able to leave the house in a week, aside from getting a new MRI on Thursday. I am guessing my herniated discs herniated more, but I won't find out until Wednesday when I go to the doctor with my MRI films. The pain is mainly in my leg, but it goes all the way to my toes and consists of pain, numbness and tingling. It's finally getting a little bit better, after a few days of crying myself to sleep from pain.

Before we lost Loki and I hurt my back, we had a great few days. We went to Orlando to celebrate our anniversary. We went to Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Sea World, Blue Man Group and Cirque De Solei. We stayed in a beautiful 1,200 square foot villa on a golf course, with a private balcony, and a jacuzzi and fireplace in our villa. The whole trip (hotel, theme parks, show tickets, etc.) was all free for us, in trade for me writing press reviews of the hotel and all the events. It will be a lot of work, but worth it as we need to spend as little money as possible right now, with the ongoing adoption. Again, something else that we know will be more than worth the expense.

Steven got let go from his job last week, but he had a feeling it was coming and had been already looking for another job, and actually already had an offer waiting at the time his employer let him go. He starts on Tuesday. The only issue is that we have to go on Cobra for insurance for 90 days, as his new job waits 90 days before giving us health insurance. It takes about two weeks for us to be on Cobra, and then it's retroactive from the time they let him go, so any medical expenses that come up between now and then we will have to pay upfront and then be reimbursed. Luckily I had the MRI the day before all of this happened, or I would have to postpone it. It does mean we have to put off our physicals (which we need for the adoption process) for another couple of weeks.

As for Elizabeth, we lost some money recently. She finally moved to a new place, to rent a room from a friend of hers whose mother passed away. Her friend told Elizabeth he was left the house in the will, and rented her a room for a great price. Elizabeth was very happy because she felt comfortable with her friend Ross, a gay RN she has known for years. He gave her a price of $600 per month including all utilities and no security deposit. Her previous apartment was $675 per month, and we were just happy she was finally moving away from her crazy neighbors. Well three days after she moved into the new place, our attorney received a call from Ross' sister, explaining that the house was actually left to her and not Ross, and he had no right to rent her the room, and he knew it. She kicked Elizabeth out, and Ross already spent the money. Our attorney filed a police report against Ross, but he is now long-gone, so we lost $600 in a matter of three days. She has since moved again to a new apartment for just $575 a month, but it had a $400 security deposit. In addition, the new apartment was unfurnished, so we had to get her a bed, and a table and chair, in addition to a TV. The lawyer took her to a thrift store and got some great deals, but it was still a big unexpected expense for us. In addition, she lost her cell phone, so she got a new phone with a new phone number: again, another expense, but at least now her previous neighbors have no way of reaching her.

So that's what's been going on the past few weeks. This Labor Day weekend will most likely consist of us relaxing at home, and working from home, which I've been doing since I came back from the trip with my back in agony and can barely stand or walk right now. I'm still working hard, just doing it laying down with lots of ice. Thank goodness for my laptop. Steven has been working hard this week, too, doing some contract work from his previous employer, until his new job starts on Tuesday.

This week also brings Rosh Hashana and I am hoping I will be able to sit through services. Sitting up is painful, but each day is getting a little better now, so I'm hoping for the best. It's a hard time of year for my family, as my father's birthday is next Saturday, and the Jewish holidays were always so important to him. We all miss him every day, but holidays are always more difficult.

In good news, Elizabeth is doing well, and so is Baby S. At her last ultrasound before we went on vacation, the doctor only had good news to share with Elizabeth and me. The baby has grown a lot, and is now in the 40th percentile for her size, which was a relief after being told how small she was the previous month. I speak to Elizabeth a couple of times a week, and she always tells me that Baby S is extremely active, always moving around and always kicking. Elizabeth tells me to get all of my sleep now because she thinks we have an active baby coming. We just want Baby S to be happy and healthy.