Scatter-brained

I have a lot of things swimming around in my head and I work best if I can just write them all down. Instead of worrying about forgetting these thoughts, which is keeping them constantly floating around my head, I can just go back to my list and see the organized bulleted items and think, "That's right! That one important thing, I still want/need to do/make happen!" Writing things down also helps to express the thoughts that have been festering... in complying with my New Years resolution, I am doing everything I can to let things go that I can't control.


Thus my list of things that I have been thinking about lately...

• Healthcare. I got my second notice in 4 months that my rates are going to increase. I have barely had the insurance for a year, and I've had 2 increases. Besides the fact that I pay per month for this coverage, it really isn't that great of coverage. I still have high deductibles, co-pays, prescription costs, etc. Yes, it is better than having no coverage. But why are we so limited? How did these insurance companies get the power to decide whether or not we get to be healthy or whether we live or die? Because sometimes it really comes down to that. Insurance companies deny care ALL the time. And if it is denied, chances are you cannot afford it. (It's even tough to afford the things that are covered!) If my doctor is concerned about my health and wants me to come in for a test, let's say.... the insurance company can deny that test with a snap of their fingers. 'Experimental', they might claim. OK. Well, how about I welcome 'experimental', if nothing else is working!! Luckily I don't have any life-threatening illnesses, but I have people who are very close to me and mean the world to me who DO have these illnesses. It really makes me sick to think that this greed in the insurance world has overpowered their human ability to CARE. I watched Michael Moore's Sicko this weekend. I thought it would be interesting to watch, given my recent qualms with my health insurance. I had my mouth open in shock and dismay the entire time. All sorts of emotions washed over me; anger, sadness, amazement, grief, confusion, and above all, betrayal. I have great pride in my country. I know that as a whole, this nation cares about people. But how can this nation also lead such a huge hypocritical program? I am just overcome with helplessness.

• Alright. Got that off my chest. On to item 2.. Fun things!! My friend Michelle will be visiting me from WA sometime in March. It's so fun when she comes. We can talk for HOURS on end, which sometimes isn't good if I have work the next morning. :) This time around, we are going to plan a trip to Niagara Falls! Yippee!! I've wanted to go there for the longest time. I had plans to go there last year for my birthday, but it never happened. So I am very excited to make it happen now! Another stamp on my passport, please.

• Another fun thing tentatively planned for March is the Sisters' Weekend. My sisters and I have gotten together the last few years for a weekend away with just us and fun things! Since we all live within 4 hours of eachother, we can plan this without too much disruption to our lives or advance planning. I know that we are lucky to have such ready access to eachother! I think this year we will be staying at my place (to save on hotel costs) and become DC tourists. I'm so excited for this! Since I live by myself now, we don't have to worry about encroaching on anybody else's space (roommates) and we can stay up however late we want, doing whatever we want. We will have access to whatever in the house we want, whenever we want it. And what a great excuse to do some things in the city! I am in the city every day for work, so I find it hard to make myself go BACK in to the city on the weekends, but I really LOVE the free museums, monuments and memorials. I am excited for this Sisters' Weekend. It will be the last in a long while (hopefully not the last forever!) since Tami is moving to Germany in April. Sad for us, but exciting for her and Jer!

• I almost dare not mention this, but I just can't resist exclaiming, 'PANAMA!' That's right. I may be going there for Memorial Day weekend. Still working out the details, but I am super pumped to make this happen. Another stamp on the passport - CHECK! In the mean time, I'm appropriately listening to Van Halen's Panama. On repeat. That Diamond Dave can really wail.

• Next up -- GERMANY! I am planning on visiting both households of Tasha & Rob and Tami & Jer this year in Germany. How wonderful for them to both move to Germany at the same time so I have places to stay! I want to of course tour all around Germany, but also hopefully visit France, Switzerland and Austria. What an awesome adventure. I am totally overly excited for this one. Europe has been #1 on my travel list. Another passport stamp!.

• Matthew will be heading out on a church mission sometime this year. I am so excited for him and sad for myself. Haha. I am selfish. I will miss him! He's got so much to give. I'm happy that I can truly call him one of my best friends. Him leaving on a mission means that I will make a trip home sometime in the next several months to attend his farewell. I love going home. I am always happy to breathe the clean air, drink the fresh water, see the green trees, Olympic mountains, Pacific ocean, and starry night skies. And I love my family. Any excuse to go home and see them all is welcome.

• All these vacations! It makes me realize how lucky I am. With the doom of taxes upon me (last year really screwed me!) and the negative feelings about our healthcare system, I still do realize what a lucky gal I am. I have commented and thought many times how lucky it was that my old company's demise was LAST year and not this year. I would definitely be in a different boat, and would be very scared and stressed about the future. I am so grateful for a good job and a great boss and the ability I have to be on my own, supporting myself and still being able to take advantage of the opportunity to travel.

• And one last thing... I've been thinking that I really need to make it a goal to purchase a home by the time I am 30. Have I mentioned this already? I don't remember. But now I'm putting it down in writing. This gives me a little less than 3 years to make it happen. I'm sort of feeling the pressure now, while the buying market is so great. Not a lot of potentials came up around Arlington -- too little for too much money. I tortured myself and started looking online in Charlotte, NC for homes that I could afford. A 2006 4 bedroom, 3 bath, 2-story home -- with a yard and a porch -- could be mine for a monthly mortgage price of less than what I pay now in rent for my little 1-bedroom condo (stomp on my heart some more..). Which means that I will need to move out of this area in the next couple of years. I feel like I need to have something to show for myself by the time the ripe age of 30 rolls around, especially if I am still single (which will be likely, but I am OK with that) -- you know -- something to show other than a Corolla.