As it turned out, it was pretty easy for a lot of you to figure out the object in the mystery photo. It seems that far more of you actually have experience with this than I thought!
If you guessed that it was a 24-hour urine collection container, give yourself a pat on the back.
Oh, and before I go any further, I feel the need to clarify: NO, I AM NOT PREGNANT AGAIN. That’s how rumors get started, y’all. Sheesh. ;)
With all of that said, let’s get back to the pee container and why I have one. The truth is: You haven’t lived until you’ve collected 24 hours worth of pee in a jug. I’m just sayin’.
In all seriousness, this is related to life insurance. I posted a few weeks ago about my beef with life insurance. That was when I was fairly certain that life was all hunky-dory and I knew only that I was a perfectly healthy 29-year-old woman who was bound to be granted the “preferred” status with lower premiums. And I’ll have you know that the hesitation I expressed in that post about paying for life insurance was actually based on those preferred, lower premiums.
I was so cute back then. In all of my freaking out over $25/month. Ha. Hahaha. Bwahahahahaha.
Imagine my shock when, yesterday morning, I talked to our insurance agent, who informed me that I had been approved for life insurance, but–and this was a big BUT–there was a problem with my lab work. The underwriters had awarded me a status of sub-standard.
Not “super preferred” (they probably only hand that out to robots).
Not “preferred” (like my healthy husband).
Not “standard” (you know, like maybe you have a couple of health issues).
SUB-STANDARD. Just one step above being rejected for life insurance altogether. That classification comes with a $55/month price tag. And the kicker? He couldn’t tell me why.
COMMENCE FREAK-OUT BECAUSE SURELY THERE IS SOMETHING TERRIBLY WRONG WITH ME, AND YOU WANT ME TO PAY HOW MUCH??
Understandably, my insurance agent was not privy to my lab results/medical history/records (thank goodness!), but he was telling me about how I’d have to wait until the (sealed) records came in the mail for him, and then he’d have to put them in the mail for me. Come on, what are we talking about there, a week? NOT ACCEPTABLE.
Instead, I insisted on getting the number for the underwriter so I could call and speak to her directly. Which I did. And she informed me that my urinalysis results came back showing that I had elevated levels of protein in my urine. And went on to say (in a perfectly chipper voice, I might add) that elevated protein in urine is indicative of kidney failure, diabetes, hypertension, and connective tissue disorders. Because I wasn’t freaking out enough already.
I hung up the phone and immediately called my doctor’s office to get in for an appointment to see them. I had the insurance company fax me the complete lab results, and took them with me. After taking one look at the numbers, she said to me, “Well, your kidney function is beautiful. And you’re not a diabetic.” (And, let me also note that the stupid life insurance exam requires a blood pressure reading, which was 108/68, so I most certainly DO NOT HAVE HYPERTENSION, either.) She went on to explain that life insurance companies are going to do everything they can to knock you down into paying their higher premiums–which makes perfect sense, of course, but is still ridiculous to me. She suspects that my elevated protein level was just an anomaly, caused by something innocuous, but to be safe and help dispel the beliefs of the insurance company, she ordered a 24-hour collection, since it’s the most accurate way to measure protein levels in urine.
Aren’t you happy you stopped over to my blog today? You can’t say I’m not educational. :)
The good news is that the doctor is optimistic that I’m fine, and said that if the results come back normal, she will send a nasty note to the insurance company telling them their results are crap and to request that they reconsider my classification in light of the more accurate test and normal results.
In the meantime, we have another insurance company sending a nurse over to do exams on Saturday morning–I have my fingers crossed that this one will prove to be less eventful and that I’ll get the classification that (I’m pretty sure) I deserve from the get-go. There are lots of reasons for random protein in urine, so hopefully whatever caused mine in the first place has come to pass, and I’ll check out OK this time.
Please excuse me while I go pee in a jug jump through hoops for life insurance.
Before I go all out and tell the whole story behind this photo, I thought perhaps we could have a little fun with it. Anyone want to venture a guess at what this is, and what it’s for?
It’s possible that this is too easy. But eh, let’s see what you’ve got. :)
Oh, and if I’ve already talked to you about this, you’re not allowed to guess! For the rest of you… give it your best shot. :)
When we moved, I knew that more than doubling our living space was going to be mostly a positive experience. However, there are a few negatives that have come to light in the two months we’ve been living here.
Like toilets. I have three of them to clean now. Gross.
And floors. Something always needs to be vacuumed or swiffered or mopped.
That damn lawn will not.stop.growing.
We’re trying to get into a groove with keeping up with everything, but it’s just HARD. Things might be a little extra challenging right now since we’re still trying to get on top of all of the home improvement projects on our list, but I know that it’s tough, even while living normal, everyday life.
I’ve seen a number of “cleaning schedules” pop up on Pinterest, and have pinned a bunch, but some of them are ludicrous. Who has AN HOUR every day to clean? Come on, now. There is enough going on with daily chores (dishes, laundry, cooking, dinner clean-up, baby baths and bedtime, etc.) without adding an hour of cleaning to the mix.
So, for those of you who are successful at keeping a clean home… how do you do it? Did you set a schedule for yourself? Do you set aside time every day (I hope it’s not an HOUR?) to help keep up? Do you tackle a room at a time, or a task at a time (i.e. one full bathroom at a time, or all toilets, then all floors, etc.)?
I have never been the best homemaker in terms of the cleaning part, but I hope to set some good habits while I can, so this doesn’t get out of hand!
Got home from work tonight, had “hodge podge” (a little of everything–various leftovers) for dinner, put Nora to bed, spray-painted an air register cover, painted window trim in the living room, and now… I’m sitting with a glass of wine and looking through pictures. Some old, some new. And it.is.crazy.
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| October 21, 2010 |
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| October 21, 2011 |
Yep. Crazy.
Well, now. Look who is able to pretend that they have time for their actual hobbies this week.
[It’s ME!]
We finally completed the family room renovations this past weekend (well, MOSTLY completed), so we are taking a little break on house projects. I’m sure we’ll be back to painting or something this weekend, so it won’t be much of a break, but I’m glad to have a little time off.
Last night, I was suddenly inspired to tackle a little blog makeover. It’s nothing fabulous, but at least the header photos aren’t nearly a year old anymore. I still have dreams of having a professional redesign the blog for me someday, and I still contemplate making a move to WordPress on a regular basis, but for now, this little update satisfies my need for change.
One thing that I’ve been considering doing for a while is creating a Facebook page for the blog. I was holding out for a profession redesign and planned to add Facebook at the same time, but since that’s not happening, now’s as good a time as any. I’ve been using Twitter to supplement my blog posts for a few years now, but I know that not everybody is on the Twitter bandwagon, and that far more people prefer Facebook. I’m hoping it’ll give me an opportunity to share more (things that might not be worthy of a whole blog post), and interact with you on a more regular basis. So, why not give it a try? Throw me a bone and go ahead and click “like” in that box over there in the sidebar :) —–>
Lastly, I finally updated the recipe index. Holy moly, it had been a really long time. I don’t know if anyone finds the recipe index useful, but I use it for meal planning all of the time. When I was going through to update it, I realized how many recipes I’d completely forgotten about–I can’t wait to add some of them back into our rotation!
As always, if there are suggestions or comments about anything blog related–be it design, content, etc.–be sure to let me know.
Happy Wednesday.
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
