March Madness - of the non-NCAA kind

I typically don't mind March all that month - Daylight savings time resumes (which I love, after the first week of prying my eyelids open at an hour the week before would seem unearthly). The snow continues to fall, but it typically melts quickly - and to be honest, I prefer the sogginess of March to the bitter chill of January. The tulips start sprouting and the whole world waits on the bring of spring. And it means NCAA basketball playoffs - which means spending 3 weeks hoping Duke gets knocked off in the first couple of rounds.

Speaking of spring, Woodstock overheard that last Sunday was the first day of Spring. She was overjoyed - I had told her the flip flops and her new spring Dora pjs could not come out until Spring. She raced in to tell me. Of course, that morning we had woken up to snow. I made her look out the window. "See that?" I asked. "That is snow." Woodstock looked at me as if I'd lost my mind. "That," I said, "means that someone forgot to inform Mother Nature that the calendar says it is spring. Until Mother Nature knows it is spring, no flip flops and no Dora spring pjs." Woodstock sighed and remarked, "then why did they say it was spring already?"

Good observation.

This year? The Irish can keep their month o' luck (disclaimer - I'm 1/8 Irish). It has been one of those months where Murphy and his Law keep things hopping.

Let's put it this way: On March 1, we had used $0 of our $1,000 family medical deductible. As of March 25, we have now used (ie paid for) the entire thing. Plus another $500+ in co-insurance.

Pebbles was diagnosed with chronic fluid on her ears after 2 months of back-to-back ear infections (following a 3-month stint in 2010 with back-to-back ear infections) and needed tubes yesterday. It was a blessedly simple, fast ordeal - unlike anything that involves me and anesthesia.

I needed two very expensive tests that failed to result in any diagnosis for my 3 months of stomach pain other than "functional dyspepsia" which is a fancy word for saying upset stomach. Which is another way of saying, "Sure your stomach hurts, but short of throwing every drug on the market at you, we can't help." And no, it isn't ulcers, celiac, pancreatitis, fatty liver flare up, etc. And I don't have a gallbladder or an appendix, so those are out too. It's also not stomach, pancreatic or liver cancer - all of which weighed heavily for awhile.

The washing machine needed a new part, with labor that cost as much as the part. The car needs (still needs, reference the money shelled out for the deductible above) new tires. The Corporation made huge profits, touted them on the quarterly call, then dished out a pittance in compensation for 2011 because while I'm doing two people's jobs I wasn't eligible for a formal bonus since I hadn't been employed a full year.

The list goes on, but I don't want to list it anymore than anyone wants to read it. Suffice it to say - I'm ready to be in a new month.

The good thing is that we're all healthy - or mostly. On paper I am healthy. In reality, I don't feel healthy, but I'm tired of shelling out a ton of money for nothing. We have a home and food and vehicles that run. We have jobs and medical insurance and a washing machine. We have family and friends and have a better standard of living than 90% of the global population. We have faith and hope and a knowledge that it really only does get better.

I can't complain. I can, however, celebrate that April is right around the corner.