I wish my insurance policy covered cold, icy treats.

Here I am again, to inform you all (if you didn't happen to know) that shopping for insurance is not a fun pastime. Jessie put me in charge of researching insurance options for Madeline and I, since we won't be covered through Jessie's work. Long story. So, dutiful researcher that I am, I've spent time on the phone with insurance agents, looked up individual plans on the internet, and created a comparative spreadsheet. Jessie will be so proud (he's an extreme Excel fan. He loves spreadsheets.) Pretty much, looking at all these different plans makes my head hurt. Every company has about a zillion different options with different deductibles, coinsurance, copays, prescription coverage, doctors in the network, out-of-pocket maximums, lifetime maximums, maternity benefits, vision discounts, dental options, and on and on and on. I want to shoot whoever came up with so many plans. We're moving somewhere with a socialistic outlook on medicine. Like Scandinavia. Sure, it's cold, but at least I don't have to do the thinking. I feel like I've been assigned a term project on the state of the nation's health insurance. Woohoo.

On a brighter note, Jessie and I have once again been experimenting with smoothies. We discovered that using other juices in an Orange Julius recipe makes for yummy drinks. (Brilliant, I know. We should get paid for this.) We had mango orange julius the other night. Mmm, mmm mmm. I think I enjoy it so much because it feeds my ice fetish. For some reason, I'm addicted to crunching on ice (and I mean really addicted-Jessie worries.) As far as addictions go, this one isn't so bad. Water is good for you, right? I blame pregnancy, when I had about three or four cups of ice at work daily. That's the great thing about bearing children. Once you've given birth, you can continue to blame everything on pregnancy and child-raising for the rest of your life. Any lack of intelligent thought is due to Madeline stealing brain cells. My pudgy stomach is "baby weight". Failing to write my missionary brother is a result of Madeline keeping me so busy. Any other mistakes can be blamed on sleep deprivation. Yay for motherhood!