YAY! Gotta love good news!

I was out all day yesterday so I missed the call I had gotten from the audiologist. I figured though that it was about whether or not I was approved for the hearing aid. I called this morning and it's VERY good news. I was approved for TWO new hearing aids from MA! YAY! This is VERY good timing too because the hearing aid I have is almost four years old and is starting to have some issues. Not to mention, in the ear hearing aids are really not that strong compared to the out of the ear hearing aids. So, I'm supposed to go over to the clinic today and pick out the colors I want for them! That just totally rocks. I should definitely get them back in time before leaving Beaver Dam. I'll admit, it's going to take some getting used to having two hearing aids (especially on the phone!) but I'm really hoping that it will help with my hearing.

Now though, I'm really kind of curious as to what kind I'm getting. My understanding originally was that MA only approved VERY basic hearing aids which did not include any kind that had colors. I know it's too much to hope but oh wouldn't it be awesome if they actually approved the Bluetooth ones? Hopefully, I'll know by this afternoon, I'll have to run over there after John gets done subbing for the day.

He has accepted the position.

Now, he just has to send everything over. This includes all of the documents including contract, passport size pictures, diploma, transcripts, etc. If all goes well, he should be getting a plane ticket to depart October 22nd. The pay day over there would be the 25th of the month so if we end up having to stay, it would not be until after Thanksgiving that we would be able to fly over there since he would get paid too close to the holiday travel time where tickets go up way too much. I just hope that they go down a little after that so that we can get tickets. But from what I figure, he should be able to stop working his one job as of October 9 and then if he wanted to sub, he could do that as the money would go right into my account a month later. Any little bit will help us get plane tickets at that point. If we don't go with him, I will be making sure that Natalie and I get NON-stop flights from Chicago to Korea. They are available. It is a 13 hour flight but considering it will be my FIRST plane ride EVER, I do not want to have to worry about dealing with a toddler during a layover, especially if I have a lot of stuff to deal with too. Not to mention, with delays and all of that, I would be SO afraid of missing my connecting flight. Non-stop would be much better.

So, in preparation for this, I purchased a few cloth diapers for Natalie for overnights. Since dryers are not overly popular over there (and I guess they don't really dry all that well), we'll be having to hang clothes up to dry and that will include Natalie's diapers so it was recommended that I get some pocket diapers. I got three so far that were on sale but by the time shipping and everything were added on, it did end up being a little more on the pricey side but oh well. I'm using the money from my PayPal account from what I have made making my nursing/sibling necklaces so I can't complain too much. Just need to get about three or four more though and then I'll be set. What I'm going to do if Natalie ends up regressing again, I'm not sure as I probably won't be able to take more than a package of diapers with me when I go over. I still will need to figure what to do about my own needs as I really do not want to get over there and find out that the only menstrual supplies that are available are scented. I am a little on the sensitive side when it comes to scented products, especially for that region.

I have a feeling the next month is just going to fly by. It usually does this time of year, especially from about three weeks to my birthday on. It's four weeks to my birthday/wedding anniversary now. But with everything that is going to have to be done, ESPECIALLY with the two computers I have that I still need to get stuff off of and put on THIS computer, it's going to go by fast, I think. Unfortunately, it's starting to look like I'm not going to get as much of my scrap booking done as I wanted to which is kind of a bummer. I'm still not even done with Natalie's first year. I have pictures to put in that I finally got developed, and the last five months of her first year to complete before I can even think of going on to the next year. SO much to get done! And this weekend, I really need to take some time to sit down and write to the warden of the prison my mom is at. I really want to be able to get visitation for her and the only way I'm going to have a chance of doing that is to get them to see that I'm not afraid of her victimizing me or anything like that. So that's got to get done so that I can get that off and maybe get it back before too long so that I can see her before I leave Beaver Dam. We'll just have to see how it all works out though.

Lots to do and very little time to do it in...

Keeping my fingers crossed!

John had a phone interview this afternoon for a position in Suwon, South Korea (which was one of the cities we were hoping to go to). So far, so good, they emailed him a contract that they want him to look over. It's for one of the public schools which is VERY good because they tend to be a little better about paying and stuff. So really hoping that this will be it and that we can finally start to get ready to GO! And not a moment too soon, the darn catalytic converter fell off of the car this morning while John was driving home from work. We have to replace that and that's going to cost us around $165. Ugh, I HATE owning a car! That, I do have to admit, will be the nice thing about going over there, NO CARS! Suwon is only 20 minutes away from Seoul by subway. Unfortunately, the way things are going, I still am probably going to have to stay with someone for at least a month or so until John can afford to get us plane tickets. *sigh* But, we'll deal, it will be nice to be able to see everyone before we go and leave for two years. Just hopefully Natalie will be okay with it all.

I HATE my husband's job...

This is going to be one of those rant type posts so be warned...

I cannot stand my husband's job. It's not even that difficult of a job, just a job as night auditor for a hotel so we're not talking overly difficult. He works overnight usually and works about 40 minutes away. He's been working there since January same hours, same days and was doing fine for MONTHS until our stupid no good piece of crud car died. We replaced the starter which seemed to be the reason why it died (and I will not even go into that, I'm still ticked at how much we had to pay for that) and the car worked fine for ONE day and then it died...again...on Father's Day, FORTUNATELY after we had a nice day and got to go around and do things, mainly go to the park and pick up an ice cream cake from the DQ. Well, when it died that time, we more or less figured that it was the head gasket for the THIRD time. And that was about all we were going to take of that. Third time on a second engine and each time seems to be between a year and 18 months before going, forget it. We were NOT dropping another $1000 on it. We didn't HAVE the thousand to drop! SO, for two weeks, we got stranded here until my younger sister's father-in-law from her first marriage got us a car (under his name though which makes sense). That took two weeks. Meanwhile, he missed those two weeks of work except for one day that the manager actually came and got him. Now fortunately, he wasn't fired but he did get dropped down to two days a week. We were able to get by though with the part time job he had over the summer with the school district as a teacher's assistant. So that helped.

Now, here comes the problem. While he was only scheduled for two days a week, he was getting called in quite a bit more than that (up to the full-time hours) because the other people at work were not getting to work. And this had been pretty consistent for I would at least say the last month and a half. And most of the workers wouldn't even bother to call in! Or they would call him in at the last minute or something. It was basically getting to where he was THE only reliable worker there, the one who actually did get there and not ONLY get there but got there ON TIME too!

Now to me, this does not seem fair at all because he got punished for the two weeks he honest to goodness could not get to work but those who had full times hours (including the house he USED to have) who were screwing off, usually not even bothering to come in, were not only NOT losing their jobs, they were still getting the full time hours! Um...ok... It just isn't making any sense as to why they just cannot give him back his hours! So now, he has a couple of more hours scheduled per week but they are from 3-11! This totally messes up trying to get ANYTHING accomplished here, especially scheduling appointments, getting to my meetings which are at 5:30 on Thursdays, etc. And they were just randomly throwing him in wherever without even talking to him! Which was frustrating when I had things scheduled in weeks in advanced and they only do the schedule a few days before the new weeks starts!

So THIS week, he worked Saturday and Sunday 11PM to 7AM the next day. So, he got done with work 7AM Monday and then had to go back to work 3PM on MONDAY and work until 11PM. Then he came home, slept (when I finally got his skinny little behind in bed!) and was SUPPOSED to work 3-11 tonight and then come home. It is almost 2 in the morning and he is STILL at work. The person who was supposed to come in at 11 did not. Nor did she call. So, he will be there until 7AM and THEN he will be home. But, there really isn't time for him to sleep when I have a 12PM appointment which I cannot miss because it is with my therapist and I missed last week's appointment by mistake thinking it was the 4th when it was actually the 3rd! Then, he has a phone interview for a job in Korea at 3PM and a meeting at his current job at 6PM. So, more than likely other than a couple of cat naps (which he is at least able to take so long as Natalie doesn't harass him) he will not get any sleep until tomorrow night. And somehow, he also has to fit some time in for Natalie and take her to the park before she completely wigs out. And the manager over there is no help because I guess she doesn't even know how to do the night audit job. She's a new hire.

I am really, REALLY hoping that he will actually go into this meeting tomorrow, asks for his night audit schedule back, and gets it because if he doesn't, I am going to go MAD! This whole thing is totally messing Natalie up too. This is why we can't even remotely have a schedule for her. As often as his schedule changes, there is no way to do so, we would be having to change it constantly! As it is, we will ALL probably be going down to Madison tomorrow and doing a few things around town, maybe even picking up another set of piggy pajamas for Natalie so that she has a set in the next size since she loves them so much, I don't know but ugh, I am just getting SO fed up with his job and the garbage they are pulling on him! He's the one who has been reliable (when the car is) and at least always calls when he's not going to be there or when he's going to be late (that happened when a tire blew out) so why can't they just give him his stupid hours back? ARGH! The only thing I can think of is that they won't do it because it would take away from the flexibility of them being able to call him when someone else doesn't show up which I think is just STUPID. He's not always able to either. He can't go on Friday nights (and YES, they did call him on a Friday night and it was AFTER the shift had started too!) and a lot of Thursdays he hasn't been able to go either. At least they would have five shifts covered they KNOW would be covered. Ugh, just don't get it.

Some updates on my sister...

Baby is still cooking but she is considered VERY high risk right now due to the three losses she had within a year. She lost Emmah July 13 last year, then had two miscarriages after that before getting pregnant with this one in early July of this year. So, her OB has her taking baby aspirin, she's on full pelvic rest (willing to bet her husband regrets getting her pregnant now), she's on medical leave from work (actually, that's from the chiropractor who put her on a 10 lb weight restriction), and once she reaches 24 weeks, she's to have monthly ultrasounds. Not only that but her OB is actually having a doctor from Mayo Clinic checking her out. Part of the concern is that the reason for all of these pregnancy losses was never determined and so far all, all of the tests they have run on my sister have come back normal. It's a big mystery. So, just have to keep hoping for the best but she's also prepared for the fact that the OB may go in at anytime she feels that the baby may be in danger which may mean an early arrival and a cesarean to boot. Therefore, she'll also be getting steroids at some point. As for the cesarean, she's not too worried about it because this will be her last child. If it is a cesarean, she wants her tubes tied at the same time. Can't say I blame her, she's incredibly fertile (just not able to hang onto babies that well) and not able to take ANY form of birth control.

Is it any wonder that I don't even really think too much of having another one? With the fertility issues that have struck the women in my family, Natalie very well could have been a one shot deal. If it is, I can live with that though sometimes I think about having another one. Just not something I'm ready for right now...

Hearing appointment yesterday...

One of the things I am trying to do is get a hearing aid through the medical assistance before we go to South Korea. John really wants me to have one since he thinks it will help out a lot. I have had a hearing aid for my left ear since I was six years old after being diagnosed with hearing loss when I was four and a half. It took a couple of years for the audiologist to determine the degree of loss I had in order to choose the right hearing aid for me. Last year, I switched audiologists because I had moved out of the area. This was not easy to do as I had had the same audiologist since my initial diagnosis back in 1985. Yes, that is correct, over 20 years. After my full evaluation back in October (on my birthday, no less), she determined that I needed a hearing aid in the right ear as well. In February, after she had finally gotten my records she did determine that my hearing had slightly worsened and therefore concluded that a hearing aid for the right ear would help. It has not been an easy thing to accept and now, almost a year later, I'm STILL trying to get that hearing aid for the right ear. Medical assistance is causing all kinds of delays and all that good stuff so it will be a miracle if this gets approved at all but I just have to be as patient as possible, I guess. The good news is that my hearing at least has not worsened since then but it has somehow worsened within the last four years (last time I had seen the audiologist which was right after I got my current hearing aid). There is some speculation that the reason the hearing worsened in that ear could have been due to pregnancy. Pregnancy not only can worsen sight, but I guess it can also worsen hearing. Interesting to know.

Hearing aids are not cheap. In fact, they are very expensive. I think the cheapest I got was around $700 and there are hearing aids that actually go up to as much as almost $3000 each. I kind of wish I had $6000 to burn, I would get two of these hearing aids:
http://www.oticonusa.com/Oticon/Consumers/Products/Epoq.html
They have Bluetooth technology and you can actually use them to listen to your MP3 player or talk on your cellphone without even having to use any headphones! Plus, they work together so that you can hear even better. That would be SO nice! As it is, it can be really hard right now with just having the one hearing aid having ears that hear the same and I have no idea how it will feel to have two, especially since they will be SO different! The one for my right ear will be an outer ear hearing aid while for the left ear, I have an in the canal aid. I just hope that MA comes through on time so that I have it before we leave the country. Otherwise, I'm stuck for a good two years with only the four year old hearing aid I have (they only last about 4-7 years).

So, since it had been over six months since my last major evaluation, MA wanted me to get another one. This is a roughly hour long appointment where the doctor goes and plays lots of sounds in my ears and does different tests to determine where my hearing is at. All kinds of different sounds are played in both ears and at different volumes and then at some point, sound is introduced to my right ear and beeps are played in the left and I'm supposed to identify the beeps. It's not easy for me because I tend to hear phantom ear noises (especially during the tests). I do get ringing in my right ear at times and even on occasion my left ear, so they do make noises of their own which makes hearing beeps difficult at times since they're not played very loudly.

To really give you an idea of how bad my hearing is though, one of the tests that is done is the audiologist has a tape play where a man speaks ten words. I have to be able to hear and repeat those ten words back. Each ear is played separately and different words are used for each ear. They are ONE syllable words. Right ear, out of ten words, I got three wrong (though one of them, if I had just heard the darn S at the end, I would have gotten it right). But still, 7-8 right, not bad. Left ear...ZERO correct. I got none of them right. Not ONE. I usually would get the vowel sound, but miss the consonants. If anyone were to speak into my left ear, I would not be able to understand that person at all. That is why I have never been able to use the phone with my left ear, only my right because it would never work, the loss is too severe in that ear. My left ear will only be a helper ear, never a primary ear. And that's even WITH the hearing aid.

In all the years growing up, I don't think my hearing loss had ever really been spelled out to me. I had likened it to having to wear glasses. At 27 years old, I'm finally really starting to face reality when it comes to my hearing loss. It's not like wearing glasses. As far as my left ear goes, it's probably more like being legally blind in one eye. That makes a HUGE difference and at the same time, I have tried so hard to do what I have needed to do regardless that I have more or less shot myself in the foot as far as getting help, especially from the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. Maybe it would be different now considering my hearing has actually worsened and thus, maybe when I come back to the states, I could try to see them again and see what can be done. Something to think about as I don't think I could do another phone type job again and it has seemed to have worsened AFTER I left that job. It's one of the reasons why I'm kind of afraid to look for work, I don't know how I would deal with the hearing problems I have. So many jobs are people oriented and do seem to require a level of decent hearing and I don't know if I have the hearing for it. Thus, my self confidence is a little on the low side when it comes to that.

Done with dinner, Natalie's in bed...

Not much else going on so I'll probably play my game a little bit and go to bed. I really should write to my mom and do a few other things (like about a year's worth of scrap booking, eh) but I could use some down time. Still have to pick up and make the bed before going to bed but that shouldn't take too long.

Still waiting for John to find a job. Both of the ones he was considering fell through. It's not so easy this time around for him to find something, mainly because he has me and Natalie both to consider and I want to be in a fairly good sized city. At the very least, it has to be on the sub line to Seoul, but it doesn't have to be in Seoul. I didn't even know this until recently but one of the first recruiters he checked out told him that trying to take us wouldn't even be a good idea! They wouldn't recruit for him! We have told management we're not staying another year so he had BETTER pull something off SOON! I don't like the fact that we may be in October and STILL not know where we are going. Unfortunately, it's entirely possible because that is how these people operate over there. Great. Just absolutely bloody GREAT! It's frustrating because EVERYTHING is on hold right now. I don't know what to do and I can't even really plan ahead! I have to WAIT. This is starting to feel like two years ago when we were looking for a place to live and hoping we can pull something off before the end of October. Ugh, the end of October again, what is UP with my birthday month?! At least the moving part shouldn't be quite as difficult, we're not supposed to be moving with anything! *sigh* I don't know, something I wonder if this is even going to work out. Somehow, I'll just have to hope it does. It did last time...barely...but I really didn't want to cut it so close again. All we can do though is hope it all works out for the best but at the same time, you better believe I'm going to be preparing for the worst!