All I Want for Christmas Is.....

Well, I did want a digital camera, but I bought one of those. I want a new computer so I can get rid of the old big ugly one--but our "new" computer is new enough to do what I want done, so I'm not as excited about getting a new one as I am about getting rid of the old one--and my daughter recently said the school was giving them all laptops next semester, so there goes my need for the second working computer. Dh will get me a gift certificate and say "do you really want me buying your clothes???", and since the answer to that question is obvious, I'll take the gift certificate. The reason I'm pondering this question is that one of my bosses asked me for a list. Christmas is a big deal in my office and the attorneys usually get nice gifts for their staff. Most of my bosses are men, who are very practical about the process--they give me gift certs and I go have fun after Christmas. This boss is a woman and she wants to buy something. The trouble is that I'm not a "stuff" person. I don't collect anything. My spending weakness is books, but I like to pick my own. I dont' wear jewelry. Perfume gives me a headache. I don't like a lot of dust collectors in my house. I have plenty of kitchen toys. I'm not a music fan. What can I ask for? Maybe I'll go shop Amazon.com and see if anything strikes my fancy.

GO SAINTS!!!!

Who dey say gonna beat dem Saints? Who DAT!!!! For those of you not from New Orleans, that roughly translates into "Who do they say is going to beat those Saints? Who?" Last night the answer was most definitely not "The Cowboys". This town is going football crazy and it seems that everyone is in a good mood. We play the Redskins here next week and can clinch a playoff berth. It sure is nice for this town to have something to smile about.

Celebrate the Season?

My parish used to have several Nativity pageants each year. The preschoolers had one on Sunday morning, after the mass that took place at the same time as their classes. Now, due to lack of participation, the preschool classes are no more. The elementary religion program had one on their last class before Christmas, which was followed by a Christmas party. The program was a basic retelling of the story, accompanied by carols, with the addition of the Little Drummer Boy and, at the end, Santa entering and kneeling before the manger. There was one at the parish children's mass on Christmas Eve. Cookie Monster and Elmo puppets told the story while kids in costume came down the aisle to the sanctuary did the manger scene. I thought the puppets were a bit over the top, but the play itself was simple--the kids just walked down the aisle and took their places. Carols were sung. I'm sure the school kids did something, and finally, the teens did a Living Nativity on the front lawn of the church, right by a major street on either the Sunday before or Sunday after Christmas. This year, from what I understand, there will be only one--the teens are doing one on the Tuesday night after Christmas.

What has changed? In short, the pastor and the DRE. Our old DRE put a lot of work into those productions, as well as into similar productions at Easter. Our new DRE does not seem inclined to do so. However, the real reason is that our pastor has insisted that during Advent we celebrate Advent, not Christmas. I understand his point, but I'm afraid that what people are going to see is not that we celebrate Advent, but rather, that our parish doesn't celebrate Christmas--at least not with anything for the kids. By the time school and CCD resume after Christmas, the Christmas season will be over. The one Christmas party that most of these kids attended that focused on the reason for the season was cancelled because it happened during Advent.

Health Insurance Woes

What seems like not too many years ago, my firm had health insurance that would allow us to see any doctor any time. Then we moved to a PPO, but that was fine, since my doctors were on "the list" and as I sought new doctors, I used "the list" to pick them. A few years ago we switched insurance companies, and with that switch came a new list, which did not include the first doctor to get really good results with my son. Since he only sees the doctor a few times a year now, we just decided to go out of network. Today I discovered that we are changing, again--and the new list doesn't include the doctor that the kids and I see. What's more, it is an HMO where to get the best benefits, you not only have to see a doctor on the list, you have to have that doctor refer you to specialists. I'm not happy. I like our doctor--I like the way she deals with my kids, I like the fact that she doesn't keep us waiting, its very convenient that she is within walking distance and while there are other doctors in the office to cover for her if she is out, generally speaking when I call and want to see her that day, I can. Its not like my old ped.'s office where you ended up seeing someone different everytime you stepped in the door.

I really wish we could get health insurance out of the workplace. Because of the employer subsidy, there is nowhere I could get the health coverage the firm gives me for the price I pay there, but why should the mananging partners get to decide what kind of health insurance I have? Unfortunately, given the pre-existing conditions in my family, an individual policy would be prohibitively expensive, if I could get someone to cover the condition at all. I'n not a fan of big government, but the system we have now has way too many holes in it, and gives too much control to people other than those using the system.