Monday, June 1, 2015

Girding My Loins

Edwardian woman boxer found on the internets


I've got to gird my loins and get to The Latest Insurance Snafu. You might remember that Sophie had some routine bloodwork done a few months ago, not for the hell of it but per doctor's orders, and the insurance company only paid an infinitesimal amount despite it being an in-network provider. When I inquired, The Poor Person Who Has to Work the Phone at an Insurance Company did her clicking around and told me that the labwork was covered but venipuncture is not covered. I already wrote about this, I believe, so I won't belabor the point. I put it aside because, if you remember another post I wrote, my coping mechanism is to Do Only One Thing At A Time. Mulling or mewling or moping (not musing) about why poking Sophie's vein with a needle is not covered, although the actual blood analysis is covered was just too much that day for my tiny little mother mind,™ not to mention actually addressing the problem full-on which means calling the provider, telling her to correct the wrong diagnosis code or ask for a more specific diagnosis, use the numbers V72.6 instead of 82036, etc. etc. etc.  It's time to gird my loins and do it.

I've got some figurative or mental loin-girding going on as well these days as the end of the year at Sophie's public school wraps up. This is the third year that Sophie is considered a senior, I think, or someone has neglected to remove her from the school's graduating class rolls, so I'm subject to a daily and sometimes thrice-daily robo call letting me in on all the fun goings-on for graduates. To be fair, because of the public education laws, Sophie is allowed to stay in school until she's 22 years old, and my gratitude is nothing short of  all holds barred. What comes next will call for more than just the girding of the loins, but that's a story for -- well -- another day. In these parts, we take living in the present to the extreme.

Anyhoo.

Last night, the phone rang, and Oliver picked it up and put it directly on speaker so we could laugh ruefully about the message. This one gave a stern warning that all seniors were to clean out their lockers by no later than 10:00 this morning and that fun festivities were in order later in the day to honor the outgoing class. So far, Sophie should have picked up her cap and gown, cleaned out her locker, gathered with her classmates for a celebration and even checked out the ROTC recruiters in the parking lot with all their cheerful guidance toward a life of bravery, courage and sacrifice. Tonight, I told Oliver to please hang up the phone I don't want to hear it anymore. Oliver asked me whether it made me sad, and I said, yes sometimes it makes me really sad. We both agreed that it's weird to think of Sophie being almost the same age I was when I graduated from college this exact time of year.



Who knew that space cadet grad with thoughts of medieval French literature, modern poetry and a summer ahead of perhaps teaching English to Chinese students in Taiwan or staying with the love of her life in Chapel Hill was going to have to gird her proverbial loins to just make and listen to telephone calls in about thirty years?


21 comments:

  1. May the phone calls be swift and sure this morning. I am so impressed by your ability to do just one thing. I tend to start three or four at a time and then it takes me weeks to tie up all the loose ends, but there is nothing more satisfying to me than having something, even just one thing, completely done. Happy Monday!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oy. I didn't get to it today! I will do so tomorrow, though.

      Delete
  2. After almost 19 years, my loins are almost girded out. I'm tired... It takes more and more for me to muster up the strength for paperwork, phone calls, etc. I've always called it, "putting on my big girl panties..." It was hard for me not to be angry at the frequent mailings for "sign up for Minnetonka Football, soccer, baseball", etc. through the years. Didn't they know my daily heartache from afar!!!? We graduated Scott at age 18 to move to California. Now we're back in MN and not in school, not in adult day centers, not doing a darn thing. Often people ask me, "what does he do?" I answer "Nothing, we hang out and we always manage to stay busy." They look at me like I'm committing a crime. Today the process for signing up for MN medical cannabis starts-- I had to get my big girl panties out again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As my sisters and I say to one another, "I hear you barking, big dog!" Thanks for your comment, Shelly. My big girl panties are so stretched out at this point and the loins are aching, too!

      Delete
  3. tiny little mother mind,TLMM
    darn... i can't the TLMM in superscript.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You use a special ALT code to do the trademark!

      Delete
    2. Yeah, I know, what I meant is you might invent a new trademark - your tiny little mother mind deserves a special trademark.

      Delete
  4. Oliver has a rich emotional language. He's such a great kid.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the idea of a rich emotional language -- so interesting given his difficulty deciphering letters and words --

      Delete
  5. My tiny little mother mind has taken to tearing up whenever those little rites of passage are spoken about - proms, yadda, yadda. The irony is my special needs child WILL have those experience, it's my so-called typical child who won't.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Would you like me to call that school and tell them to get you off this stupid robo call thing?
    Because you know I will !!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, liv, but I could never ask anyone to penetrate the almighty LAUSD!

      Delete
  7. And PS: Does anyone know why my picture went away and got replaced with this charming dull gray circle with a verboten slash? And how do I get it back? Not that my picture is any better than the circle/slash...but still

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have no idea why your beautiful face has been reduced to a grey circle and white slash! When I read your comment on my phone, it was still YOU! Must be a blogger thing.

      Delete
  8. Is there any other profession in the entire world that blends such difficulty with such absurdity?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think we're hard put to find one, for sure!

      Delete
  9. Your tiny little mother mind is as tiny as your heart, your strength, your capacity to tolerate with dark, good humor the absurdity of life.
    Which is to say- VAST.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a tiny mind but perhaps its reach is vast?

      Delete
  10. There's a saying: We plan.......God laughs.

    ReplyDelete