I'm back - finally!

Whew, it seems like I've been gone for a month.  Oh wait, it has been a month since I typed all of those blog posts that posted while I was in North Dakota.  Vacation was great and I do intend to do a post with some vacation pictures, but I haven't gotten to that yet.  As I mentioned in my last post, the day after I got home, I got hit with some kind of a bug that plagued me for the next week.  My personal opinion is that it was a mild sinus infection, but I'm a CPA, not an MD, so who really knows.  All I care about at this point is that I am finally feeling good again. 

So, I thought I'd do a quick little summary of what I've been up to for the last month, with more detailed posts to follow soon, I hope, for the items of interest, like project finishes, stash enhancement, vacation, etc. 

Here goes:

• Spent two weeks visiting family and friends in Minnesota & North Dakota where the weather was MUCH nicer than it is in Phoenix this time of year.  I left ND at 8 p.m. in 80 degree temperatures and landed at 10 p.m. in Phoenix where it was 105 degrees.  Thank goodness for working air conditioning.
• I got approved for health insurance through BCBS; however, DH was denied after spending 30 days on the application process with them, including paying to have medical records sent to them.  Their process was a huge pain compared to the other carriers, and apparently you have to pretty much have a squeaky clean health record to be accepted.  Hindsight is 20/20 and now we know for future reference.  The reason we originally applied with BCBS is because they have been DH's existing group insurance carrier for the last 9 1/2 years, so we thought it would be a piece of cake with them.  Not so much.  Anyway, we found out he was denied on July 8th, the day before I flew home.  So, we scrambled for another week getting DH through the application process for a policy with Aetna sponsored by AARP and applying for portability coverage through BCBS to the tune of $1,217/month as a backup plan if we couldn't get anything else by August 1st.  COBRA ends on July 31st so the portability policy was better than nothing.  Most of this was happening the week I was sick which truly added insult to injury. Thankfully, Aetna came through on 7/23 and while we don't yet know how much they've raised the premium from the base quote of $244, I'm certain it won't be more than $1,217 and DH will have insurance effective August 1st. 
• Finished 9 cat mats for the shelter
• Finished one cross stitch UFO and am almost done with the new project I started while on vacation
• Quilted and trimmed a quick and dirty baby quilt for our nephew's baby that was born on July 10th, although I think this is now going to be a Christmas gift instead after finding a beautiful baby afghan at the thrift store in new condition for $1.50!!!  The quilt is flannel as I wanted to use up some kids' flannel I had in my stash, so this will work out better to give the summer afghan now and the flannel quilt for Christmas.
• Rescued a number of other afghans from the thrift store as well and I have been recycling the yarn to use for cat mats and other projects.
• Have been on a massive decluttering kick since I've been feeling better.  I've actually been working on decluttering and paring down for the last couple of years (obviously not in the fabric department LOL), but now that we are focused on moving to Texas sooner versus later, DH is also on board and we are going to town.  We have thrown out, recycled, and donated and will continue to do so.  I've got stuff on Ebay with much more to list and have gotten set up for Freecycle as well. 
• Purchased a new printer/scanner/fax/copier, finally, that will talk to the new computer I got in January.  Of course, this also happened the week I was sick because it became a rush purchase after DH managed to infect the laptop with the worst virus I've ever seen.  The laptop was the only remaining computer in the house that would talk to the existing printer and scanner, so that put me in quite a pickle for work in particular, with payroll filings due on July 31st, but also for home as we had items needing scanning, faxing or printing with regard to the health insurance applications.  The laptop is still inoperable and will remain so until I have time to reinstall the operating system.   The virus has disabled all programs, including System Restore and Internet Explorer, but the files still seem to be accessable, which is strange.
• Watched a number of hours of Tour de France coverage.  I'm an addict, and between the vacation and illness, I didn't see nearly as much of the Tour as I have in years past.
• Picked up two framed cross stitch pieces from Joann ETC.  They did a great job.

And for those needing a kitty fix, here's a couple of pictures of our furry family members.  Sassy is still as sassy as ever and Echo is as lovey dovey as ever.  Tyrone has been pretty happy since I've been back since he's always been my boy and only sucks up to DH for his morning treat of stinky wet cat food.  That stuff is so disgusting smelling that I'm glad I don't have to give it to them.

Do you think Sassy finds one of the afghans that I am recycling comfortable?

Sassy must have known I was leaving because the night before I left for vacation, she climbed up on my lap and then went to sleep on my stomach.  The second picture I took myself after she went to sleep on me.  Doesn't she look content?

And here's Echo in his latest sleeping spot.  Typical Echo.  He doesn't quite fit, so he just lets body parts hang off the edge.

And here's Tyrone.  He hasn't made the blog in awhile so I thought he needed a picture posted as well.