I almost wrote that today had been a no-spend day. After all, due to The Husband’s sweet generosity, I didn’t leave the house all day. I cleaned and organized and unpacked and washed, dried, and put away laundry all day while he took care of getting The Daughter to and from school and The Son to and from his classes.

So, since I never even left the house, I almost forgot that I managed to spend a boat-load of money today.

But thanks to the those instruments of technology — the telephone and the credit card — I managed to spend over $200.00 on medical supplies from Apria.

My CPAP mask desperately needs to be replaced. I mean desperately. I’d been waiting to hear from Apria (the medical equipment company) yesterday but I was away when they called and didn’t get home until after office hours. So I called back first thing this morning.

I learned a lot of bad news. First, none of the local stores/centers had the mask in stock so it had to be shipped. They offered to ship it overnight (they pay shipping, not me) and apparently there is reason to hope that I’ll receive the shipment tomorrow (Saturday) and not have to wait until Monday. The other piece of bad news was that I haven’t met my $500 deductible yet so I had to pay 100% out of pocket for this order. How can a stupid little piece of plastic cost $200!? Man, I want a piece of that racket!

Anyway, I don’t remember the exact charge to my credit card but it was somewhere over $200 but less than $225. That covers a new Classic Comfort mask, new tubing, and new filters. And it represents over $200 applied toward this year’s deductible.

With any luck, I’ll be looking and sounding like Frankenstein again when I got to bed tomorrow night. As much as I hate the thought of spending that much money on a stupid piece of plastic, I have to admit I’m completely lost without my CPAP machine. When things are working as they should, it’s easy to forget how much my health and well-being depend on the proper functioning of that box that sits on my bedside table. The events of this past week have once again reminded me of sleep-deprivation hell that my pre-Apnea diagnosis and my pre-CPAP life had decended into.

~ ~ ~ o o o O O O o o o ~ ~ ~

As much as I’ve learned to never let my CPAP supplies situation get this critical again, I think I need to invest some time and energy into looking at alternative sources for those supplies. In looking on the Internet tonight, I’m beginning to fear that I really got hosed on the price of my supplies. Now that the machine is mine, I believe that I’m free to purchase supplies from any source I choose and I don’t have to stick with the outfit that my old insurance company referred me to. This subject warrants some further research and investigation.

Supplements – $30.12

Doctor — $25.00
Co-pay to my doctor — they fit me in last minute because my poor lungs are so stressed and my body is so worn out with this wracking cough.  She gave me three prescriptions but I didn’t have any time today so I didn’t get any of them filled.

Speech Therapist — $120.00
Two session payments — today’s and last week’s.

Cash — $3.00
Given to The Daughter so she could buy herself a Starbucks drink after school today.

Vitamin Cottage — $23.36

• Spectrum organic canola oil — $7.65
• 2 dish brushes — $2.99/ea.
• Horizon 2% milk — $4.40 (saved $0.55)
• Horizon salted butter — $4.44 (saved $0.55)

Not to sound like a broken record, but it’s been a long day.  And did I mention, I’ve been sick?  No, not just sick.  I mean sick. Really sick.  Ill.

We all got up at 6am to celebrate The Daughter’s 16th birthday.  It was so fun to give her gifts she hadn’t expected.  It was really a lovely day and both of my children made me so proud today.  I hope to share the events of the day and some of the reasoning behind The Daughter’s gifts — but not tonight.

Costco — $25.31
We went hoping to find a copy of The Audacity of Hope which is what The Son wanted to give his sister for her birthday.  Of course, we already have a copy but The Daughter really wants a copy of her own so she can feel free to highlight and makes notes in the margins, etc.  Naturally, they didn’t have a copy.  So we simply picked up a case of Capri Sun 100% Juice ($7.55) and a mega pack of Bounty paper towels ($16.49).

Costco Gas — $42.48
Filled up The Tank with 14.455 gallons @ $2.939 per gallon; the odometer read 120,991.

Hobby Lobby — $1.80
In my effort to teach The Son the finer points of gift-giving, I suggested that in addition to the book he planned to give his sister he also come up with some sort of little bauble or sweet.  The book was an excellent idea because it was an item she specifically wanted although it hadn’t occurred to her (or even me) that it would be a good gift idea.  So I applauded The Son for choosing it.  But I’m trying to teach him some of the more subtle gift-giving techniques of adding a little unexpected something.  Those little “accessory” gifts can be the icing on the gift-giving cake especially when the main gift is something as non-personal as a book by a presidential hopeful.

So The Son decided to find some type of inexpensive container or receptacle and fill it with chocolate or candy.  After a quick perusal of everything Hobby Lobby had to offer, he chose a cute little red glass vase.

Barnes & Noble — $12.57
A copy of The Audacity of Hope.  Now we have two copies.  I’ve finished reading my copy and the son is reading it now.  The Daughter will have to wait a few days before digging in because she has to finish The Grapes of Wrath for school first.

Target — $2.01
A bag of plain chocolate M&M’s to finish off The Son’s second birthday gift.  It was a much larger bag than was nececessary but they don’t seem to carry the small bags.  Besides, I seriously doubt that either The Husband or the kids really objects to having a couple extra M&M’s around the house.  The knowledge of what they’d do to me (due to food allergies) makes it very easy for me to not be in the least bit tempted.

Cello Teacher — $131.25
This check covers 5 lessons.  I need to look through my records to figure out exactly what dates this check will cover but I believe it takes us through March.

Wendy’s — $3.00?
I’m unsure of the actual amount because I can’t find the receipt.  It must have been left in the bag.  It’s not the same amount as usual because the order wasn’t The Son’s usual Wednesday Wendy’s order.  In celebration of The Daughter’s birthday, the plan was to meet somewhere for dinner after orchestra rehearsal.  The Daughter chose Red Lobster — probably less because that’s where she wants to eat and more because it is the only restaurant (literally) where I can actually eat something off the menu.  [I can eat the steamed crab legs as long as nothing else touches the plate; I can’t even have their clarified butter.]

Anyway, in light of the fact that we’d been dining out a mere 2 hours after his lesson, I figured The Son would forego his usual Wendesday Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers and save his appetite for crab legs and/or lobster.  I underestimated, once again, the appetites and logic of a 13-yo boy.  Yes, he did still want to stop at Wendy’s but rather than order his typical meal of 2 Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers and a medium soda, today he ordered The Baconator and a medium soda.  Naturally, he snarfed that thing down like it was a mere morsel and went on to do his dad proud with crab legs and shrimp scampi at Red Lobster.

Target –$32.41

Different trip, different Target, much later in the day.  I bought a new room humidifier to replace one that was old and no longer functioning properly.  We desperately need to keep a few small humidifiers running in our house — if for nothing else than to help protect the cello — but I’m not willing to put my wood floors in danger of water damage for the sake of eeking a few more months out of a well-used machine.

I’m still miserably sick and should have spent the whole day in bed.  Instead, I woke up at 4:30 am (from my hacking, wheezing cough) and have been busy all day — despite a fever this morning.  The Husband took The Daughter to school this morning then came back later in the morning and took The Son to his classes for me.  But he couldn’t give me the afternoon off because today is the one day of the week that both kids have to be picked up at exactly the same time in completely opposite parts of the city.  So I fetched her and he fetched him.  The Daughter had to make a stop at the library and then we stopped for some very, very necessary groceries — the cupboards were bare!  We couldn’t do a full stock-up shopping because one, I felt way to sick to think straight and, two, The Tank was still so completely stuffed full of stuff from my mom’s that any groceries we bought would have to ride up front with us — and The Daughter’s school bag, and her dozen library books, and my purse, and our trash from yesterday’s all-day drive.

I’ve got to say, it’s so nice to be home.  Not only did I miss The Husband and The Son, not to mention my comfortable bed, but I’m so glad to be back in the land of reasonable grocery prices again!

Kroger — $36.74

• 2 cartons Horizon chocolate milk — $3.19/ea. (saved $0.50/ea.)
• Quaker granola bits — $2.51
• Kroger pretzels — $1.49
• Tostito chips — $2.75
• Lay’s BBQ chips — $2.50 (saved $0.18)
• Mariani dried Mango slices — $2.59
• Kellogg’s Cracklin’ Oat Bran cereal — $4.34
• Dole Orange/Peach/Mango juice — $3.34 (saved $0.35)
• Orowheat 7-grain bread — $2.50 (saved $1.69)
• Hillshire Farm sliced turkey — $3.99
• Sunsilk shampoo — $3.29

Vitamin Cottage — $13.02

• Applegate sliced Roasted Turkey breast — $4.15
• Santa Cruz applesauce — $3.85
• 2 tins of Crown Prince smoked oysters — $2.35/ea.

Tomorrow I become the mother of a 16-yo!  It’s a little weird.  I tucked in my 15-yo tonight and then went back into her room with a photo album of all the 8×10’s we’ve had taken over the years — sometimes of all four of us, sometimes of just our two kids, and sometimes including Nephew #1.

It was fun to sit and look at the photos and laugh together and gush over how adorable she was as a baby.  How in the world could it possibly have been 16 years ago tonight that I was in absolute agony, about 1/2-way through a protracted and miserable induced labor?  I remember that rush of emotion as she finally crowned and then slipped into this world.  I remember thinking, “okay, that’s done — perfection has been achieved.”  I couldn’t imagine why anyone would continue to have children since I’d just given birth to the most amazing and most perfect little baby girl.

I can’t wait to see her face tomorrow when her brother and I get up at 6:30 am so she can open her gifts before she goes to school.  She’s assuming that she won’t see either of us tomorrow until about 8pm when we all meet up for a late dinner after the son’s orchestra practice.  It’s a shame that we won’t have any at-home time to really celebrate her birthday tomorrow but she’s in school all day and just as she’s getting home, The Son and I are leaving for our Wednesday afternoon/evening marathon of cello lesson, rush-hour commute, and orchestra rehearsal.  At least basketball season is finally over so there aren’t any games or practices to further complicate our schedule.

She never reads this blog — maybe because she doesn’t know I keep it  ;-)  — but Happy Birthday, Sweet Potato Sugar Pie!

dear readers — please forgive me for missing a few daily listings.  I’ve been suffering from a terrible flu bug and have been unable to do anything at all.  This post is dated according to the purchase date but was actually posted on 02.26.08.

Health Food Store — $46.69 — The Daughter is still sick and needs a little TLC and chicken soup 

Of course, I’m starting to feel under the weather myself but now is not the time or place to slow down or get sick — too much work to do.

• Alta Dena cheddar cheese — $6.59
• Barbara’s Rite Lite Rounds crackers — $3.79
• 6-pk BluSky Raspberry soda — $2.79
• 2 cans Wolfgang Puck Chicken Noodle soup — $2.69/ea.
• Wolfgang Puck Chicken & Rice soup — $2.69
• Organic Valley half & half — $3.49
• 2 Odwalla Strawberry C Monster — $2.50/ea.
• organic white tortillas — $1.99
• Applegate organic roast beef slices — $5.99
• Crown Prince smoked oysters — $2.99
• Hagen Dazs vanilla ice cream — $5.99

Lowe’s — $8.72

Supplies — 8 wingnuts and 8 lock washers – needed to reattach legs to a kitchen table we’re preparing to sell in the garage sale.  Did you know that metric nuts are about 4 times more expensive than standard-sized nuts?  How nuts is that?

I’m beyond exhaused.  But I managed to keep my credit cards and my cash in my wallet and got through the whole day without spending any money.

I can go only so many days and work only so hard on a diet of nothing but tortillas and lunch meat 

After a full day of work followed by a run to pick up moving boxes, we stopped at the local grocery store (health food type, not a big chain) for some veggies — and other essentials.

Groceries — $55.59

• Papadums — $2.99 (some kind of chip)
• Newman’s microwave popcorn — $2.99
• 1/2 dozen eggs — $1.89
• 2 bags tortillas — $1.99/ea.
• coffee beans — $5.35 (for my mom)
• coffee filters — $2.99
• fingerling potatoes — $1.75
• carrots — $0.87
• green onions — $1.99
• bag of navel oranges — $5.99 (so good!)
• herrings in sour cream — $3.29 (for my mom)
• jar of maple butter — $9.99 (yikes! but it’s so darned good)
• 1 stick butter — $1.59
• dish brush — $3.49

Moving house is a stressful and busy endeavor — even when it’s someone else who is moving.  My mom is moving across the country.  She’s moving from her own fairly small 5-room house into my sister’s much larger house — but mom will only have one room of her own.

Going through all of mom’s possessions has been an interesting exercise.  For the most part, it has been an exercise we’ve all enjoyed.  After all, most families do this after a loved one has died.  In our case, my mom is still alive and is taking part in the process.

Of course, we’ve all assured each other that this property division is not final — a good number of the who is taking what decisions have been based on purely practical matters such as who can most easily transport an item and who currently has space for it.  Although the process is stressful and we’ve had a few hurt feelings and minor skirmishes, none of those have been started or have been about who gets what.

My sister, my mom, and I are all gearing up for a big garage sale this weekend.  Every single waking hour has been spent sorting, organizing, dusting, and deciding — with a few side trips down memory-lane 

All of this really does have something to do with money.  Spending money, that is.  I think you’d be hard-pressed to find an individual or family in the process of moving who doesn’t experience an increase in the frequency of their dining-out.  Moving is hard work and time consuming and it’s just too tempting to decide to grab a quick, hot meal at the local take-out establishment.  Tonight was such a night for our motley crew.  My sister picked up a bunch of mexican food and my mom and I stopped at the Teriyaki Chicken Bowl ($7.75) for those who wanted something different — that ended up be The Daughter and my mom.  Naturally, I had to provide my own nourishment since restaurant fare isn’t an option given my extensive food allergies.

The Daughter has a cold or some other crud.  Unfortunately, I fear I’m going to come down with something too.  Today I’m feeling just a little off kilter.  My thoat’s a little tight; my body aches — not terribly but enough that I know I’m either getting sick or suffering from a fibro flare; and my thinking is just a little fuzzy.  What an absolutely awful time to get sick.  I came down here to help my mom, not to be sick and certainly not to give her the crud!

Walgreens — $4.50
A case of Aqua Fina water.  At home I have a built in RO (reverse osmosis) water filtration system hooked up to my kitchen sink.  That’s what I drink at home — thus avoiding the expense and waste of bottled water.  But when I’m away from home, sink I only drink water and I don’t drink tap water and I’m admittedly very picky about the water I will drink, I stick pretty strictly to Aqua Fina.

Grocery Store — $111.04

• Odwalla Strawberry C Monster — $3.29 (for me)
• Odwalla Superfood — $3.29 (for my mom)
• Kashi Cinnamon Harvest cereal — $3.69
• Santa Cruz cinnamon applesauce — $3.85
• Barbara’s Lite crackers — $3.15
• block of Cheddar cheese — $3.94
• Newman’s microwave popcorn — $2.49
• 6-pack Knudsen Raspberry Spritzers — $5.15
• bag of chocolate chip cookies — $2.55
• Love Buffs chewable vitamin C — $15.69
• Oscilloccocum — $9.75
• Yogi Lemon-Ginger tea bags — $3.59 (for my mom)
• box of Emergen-C packets — $11.99 (mom)
• supplement or vitamin – $15.99 (mom)
• supplement or vitamin — $13.59 (mom)
• Ecover delicates laundry detergent — $4.15 (mom)

We also went to Office Depot, Costco, the pet store, Starbucks, Target, and two book stores but I didn’t make any direct purchases at any of them.  I did find two paperbacks for The Son — one new, one used — that my mom paid for with store credit she earned when selling some of her books in anticipation of the move.  We’ve decided to exchange the books she bought for me with the groceries I paid for and call it even. 

The Daughter and I made the drive to my mom’s today.  In case you missed the first part of this saga, my mom is moving.  She sold her little house where she lives alone with her dogs and is moving across the country to live with my youngest sister, her husband, and their three children.  About 2-1/2 weeks ago, I flew in for a week-long visit that overlapped with my sister.  We got quite a bit of work done but there’s still plenty left to do.  Now The Daughter and I are here for a week to help with more sorting, sign a contract with the moving company, get started with the boxing and packing, and holding large garage/moving/estate sale.

The Daughter and I did not make the trip empty-handed.  The Tank (my trusty SUV) was filled to capacity with boxes and furniture and stuff that will be added to the garage sale fare.  I’ve been wanting to hold my own garage sale for the past 4 or 5 years and still have never gotten around to it.  I figured this was the perfect time to try to sell some of this stuff.  And whatever doesn’t sell will be donated to the DAV or the ARC.

Kroger — $8.65

Before hitting the road we stopped for some travel basics — and not so basic — necessities.

• Johnson & Johnson medical tape — $3.29 (so The Daughter can buddy-tape her sports-injured fingers)
• Nabisco Teddy Grahams — $2.00 (saved $0.99) [snacks for The Daughter]
• 2 large bottles of Aqua Fina water — $1.49/ea.

Cash — $3.25
On the way out of the grocery store we were nabbed by the Girl Scout troop selling cookies.  Naturally, The Daughter wanted a box of Samoas.  For years The Husband’s granddaughter was our Girl Scout cookie supplier but she didn’t re-enlist this year.  We’ll have to locate a new source since The Daughter and The Husband do like their Samoas.  I was very partial to the chocolate mint cookies back before the food allergies hit.

Costco Gas — $20.12
The Tank’s tank was just below the half-full mark so I figured we may as well leave town with a full tank of cheaper gas than get out of town and immediately have to fill up with more expensive highway service station gas.  I pumped 7.111 gallons at $2.829/gallon.  My odometer read 120,001.

Subway — $5.05
The Daughter was ready for lunch so we stopped for a 6″ sub sandwich and a bag of chips somewhere along the way.  I don’t know what kind of sandwich she ordered but it sure smelled good.  These darned food allergies of mine are so not fun when I have to sit in a small enclosed space (like a car) and smell other people’s food.

Cash — $0.89
We stopped at a filling station for a restroom break and to switch drivers.  The Daughter bought a Snicker’s bar to snack on.

Shell Gas — $38.89
I can remember way back in the day when I’d make this drive in my ‘84 Toyota Corolla that got somewhere close to 40 miles to the gallon on the highway.  Boy, those were the days.  I could make the whole one-way trip on a single tank of gas — if I felt like pushing my luck just a little bit.  The Tank doesn’t even pretend to have such aspirations.  And I was right about those Costco gas prices.  I pumped 12.007 gallons at $3.239 per gallon.  My odometer read 120,249.

Arby’s — $5.36
Dinner for The Daughter — one of their Market Fresh sandwiches.  It, too, smelled delicious.  By this time I was starved.  I’d grabbed the packages of roast beef and smoked turkey I bought the other day and put them in my cool car refrigerator.  My dinner consisted of a few slices of roast beef.  Not terribly filling or satisfying.