Update form Corbid - Summer Grats and Dilemmas Edition

Hey, mamas. Once again I have been lurking for weeks but not finding the time to write. Need to make myself find time for this. Once again, summer has descended, unsympathetic to my lack of preparedness for it. May and June have been a patchwork quilt of obstacles and opportunities:

* S-Corbid and the dentist - In early May, took S-Corbid to the dentist for what we thought was one cavity and learned her teeth were a $3000 disaster. Still waiting for appointment number one as well as a way to pay for it. Just went through the various hoops for applying for AHCCCS (the state low income heathcare system) and was oddly approved for myself but denied for both kids.

*CPS - still don't know what that was about. Got an ominous envelope with my name on it, marked "confidential" and containing a packet about "your rights under CPS" and instructions to call a case worker, the day after S-Corbid's dental appointment. Left about 5 voicemails for the caseworker over the next two weeks and never heard back. Not certain that the matter is resolved, as I don't know their reason for contacting me in the first place. I am a good parent and my kids are clothed, fed and happy. While they don't currently have medical/dental coverage, it is certainly not for lack of trying (see above.)

*AHCCCS - Wrestled with the impossible bureaucracy that is DES from the beginning of May onward, faxed a small forest worth of paperwork to them, documented the weird variability of my income (I make a low hourly wage, with sales bonuses when sales are good, which they currently are not) and schlepped Downtown to their all but hidden office to get fingerprinted and prove my citizenship. After all of this, got an initial denial notice stating I "failed to complete an interview." After repeated phone calls, faxes and online contact forms, I finally got a human being on the line and discovered my caseworker forgot to check the "interview completed" box. This cost me an additional 6 days in getting my application approved. Then they approve me but deny my children, adding insult to injury with a letter stating that they qualify for KidsCare, but that KidsCare has been capped due to state budget cuts.

*Summer Daycare - S-Corbid is very happy at YMCA camp. It is not too too expensive but they are always tacking on little add on fees for field trips and mini-classes, so it adds up. M-Corbid is now old enough to stay by herself for the couple of hours a day that L-Corbid can't be home, but autistic enough still that she needs a lot of micromanagement by email and IM from me at work. She enjoys the quiet and I've got projects lined up for her all summer to keep her mind excercised. I think this was a good decision overall.

*City Red Light Traffic Cam Nightmare Theater - I got a red light ticket over 18 months ago for turning left on a trailing yellow arrow. Was signed up for Defensive Driving school, but forgot about it in the midst of my Dad dying and other life drama. Never heard another thing about it until April when I got pulled over on a routine traffic stop and discovered I had been unknowingly driving on a suspended license for almost 6 months and owed $500 in fines. Apparently they had my name completely wrong in the system and none of the mail was ever delivered to me. I was blessed from above with my one good sales bonus of the year, which was enough to pay my fine, but also presumably caused me to make too much money for my kids to qualify for AHCCCS.

*Work - It is always either feast or famine at my work lately. It went from slow to a thousand projects happening at once, all potential sales but none 100% sure things, so I am working my ass off but not guaranteed a payoff. We have a new intern, who is helping, but who I have to train. I have people management issues I must attend to. It is mentally draining, but we soldier on.

* Politics - Have joined my local MoveOn council and am planning on helping/apprenticing with media outreach and PR type things. Don't at all have extra time or energy for this, but think somehow it will all come together in a good way for me. Have a good gut feeling about it. Stay tuned.

* School -realized I only need one science class to finish my original associate's degree. Planning on applying for ASU in the spring and finally getting my bachelor's degree in Technical Communications. Praying I have the fortitude to finish this time around. Wondering why so many people with bachelor's degrees are so damned ignorant. Hoping I do not follow suit.

*Money - I am not lower middle class anymore, now that I am mostly just making my hourly wage and L-Corbid is booking less work as a contractor. I am finding myself limping by with less than $20 to my name at the end of the week, more often than not. Am finding myself doing things such as reinflating a low tire every two days instead of going to get it fixed and buying 24oz convenience store "coffees" but filling them with just half and half (it's about $1 cheaper than buying 24oz of half and half.) In the awkward middle ground where I make too much for the public "safety net" and not enough not to need a safety net.

*Life- Once again no time to plan or organize my life. but more willpower and determination in me than in a long time. Think I can make it through this summer with some grace and a moderate level of ensuing happiness. Remains to be seen.

Anyway, that is the state of Corbidness for the time being. Wishing you all well this sweltering June!