The next couple of days

Things have been kinda stressful around here & I think we're both internalizing (sp?) it. Shawn's stomach's been upset off & on for days (no vomiting or other symptoms) and I haven't been sleeping well.

I've got a pinched nerve in my back that hurts my left leg. It started in January. We finally got insurance in March but have reached the point where we've passed the $500 initial credit. Now we have to pay any additional expenses for another $1500. until they'll start paying again. At least, that's my understanding. I'm getting better but it still hurts & my foot tingles.

Shawn, Chris & I are going to St. Louis tomorrow for a doctor's appointment for Chris. The lawyers are paying for it but the expense will come out of Chris' winnings. No big deal, really, for that. I'm nervous about the trip because, if something goes wrong, there's no way that Shawn & I can afford to fix it & then get re-imbursed or whatever.

We're taking an American Eagle flight to DFW & then catching an American Airlines to St. Louis. We'll only have 45 minutes between flights. AE only lands in one terminal but AA lands at 4 of DFW's 5 terminals. What if something happens & we miss the flight? What if *I* make us miss the flight because of my leg?

There's a 99% chance that this won't happen because DFW has this thing called a Skyline. It's this light rail-type system that links all of the terminals. The average wait time is 2 mins & the avg trip time is 5 mins. The max trip time from the farthest point to farthest point is 9 mins.

I pored over maps of DFW & Lambert airports yesterday & printed out maps. I can tell you where the bathrooms are & what restaurants are in which terminal, including Starbucks. lol.

I think conquering DFW is my biggest fear of the trip.

Once we land in St. Louis, we have to call the hotel for the shuttle. I've found the courtesy phones & hotel pick up location. Once we get to the hotel, a driver is going to meet us & take us to Chris' 3p appointment. The appointment itself shouldn't be too stressful. No bloodwork or anything like that, thankfully. Afterwards, the driver's going to take us back to the hotel where Shawn is, most likely going to die.

I say that because he has to work the night before & will only be able to sleep on the planes.

Y'know, I looked up the hotel info & it says that there's a family restaurant adjacent to the hotel. Thankfully, they had a site too, including their menu. OMFG!! $16.95 for a plate of fettucini alfredo & another $6 if you want a chicken breast! I only have two words about that.

"Hello, Domino's?"

Seriously!

We fly home the next day on a direct flight on Southwest. Shawn has that night off as well & everything goes back to normal on Friday.

Then, on Tuesday, June 2nd, we have a mediation in Little Rock. We're worried about this because Lorna is a loose cannon. And an idiot. Thankfully, though, she has her own vehicle, unlike the last time, & if she wants to storm out, she can.

Hopefully the mediation will go well because, if it doesn't, we'll go to trial at the end of the month. That'll take about 10 days or so.

After that, I have no idea what's going to happen.

Oh, we also found a house that we both REALLY liked but got turned down on the financing until I take care of a judgement against me from an apartment complex in Phoenix. We decided not to do business with the mortgage company we were looking at. Shawn was getting frustrated because he wasn't getting the answers he wanted & the guy was getting all defensive & offended by his frustration. We left there & went to the bank I cash my paychecks at & got more answers out of a 5 minute talk with the loan officer than we did in the whole month of dealings with the other guy. Either way, nothing can be done until that judgement is taken care of & we can't afford that right now.

Speaking of moving, my parents have finally decided to move. Well, they decided to move a few years ago. I should say that they're finally doing it. They've sold their house & bought one in north central Kansas, of all places. A small town called Beloit that only has about 6,000 people. Can you say culture shock? I knew you could! They've sold their house for about $270,000. I don't know how much the new house costs but I imagine they'll still have about $150,000 or so in profit. Mom will be able to keep her job as an administrative nurse liason-type person with the company she's with by tele-commuting & will be keeping her Scottsdale-wages-based salary. Nice! Dad's going to work on the house for a while. He's not all that concerned with getting a job yet. He did talk to the realtor about an office position that's opening up so he might be able to slide into it, he said. The house in Phoenix will close on the 8th so he said they'll probably be moving around my birthday.

It'll be nice to have them closer. It's supposed to only be about an 8 hour drive, according to a couple of maps sites I went to. On the other hand, I worry about them & the extreme weather changes. They've lived in Arizona all of their lives. Tornados are only on the Weather Channel & a blizzard is something you get at Dairy Queen. I don't think either of them have ever driven on snow or experienced black ice.

Anyway, I need to get going. My MIL is going to be staying & I need to do some serious cleaning. However, I do need to leave just a *bit* of a mess so she'll feel like she has something to do & has helped out. lol! We'll have to remember to get her something from one of the airports, if we can, as a thank you.