Thank you!

I spent most of yesterday and a good part of this morning trying to track down a low cost clinic in my area. I found out they’re not called clinics anymore, but Community Health Centers – wahoo! Thank you to Lisa, Lizzy, Beth, Larry, Alison, Ann, and everyone else who urged me to visit a doc.

Based on our income (income?) the fee for service for us is $30. Yes, $30 (lab fees are additional, but a fraction of the $200+ I spent on ONE TEST last summer.) The doctor made a comment about the gov’t picking up the lion’s share of the test costs and I replied – “Yes, government BY the people – I’m one of those people. I contribute by paying $10,000/year in property taxes in South Orange…” The excessively high property taxes that are unfairly loaded onto Essex county non-urban areas is common knowledge. The doctor just nodded.

I went this morning and saw a doctor, got a blood test for Thyroid, found out my blood pressure is HIGH (yikes) and was given some samples of meds to take to reduce it. I’ll be going back on Thurs to see the nutritionist, on Fri so the nurse can check my TB test and take my BP again, and on Mon to see the eye doctor so I can finally get a new pair (my old pair broke months ago and are pretty pathetic.)

I’m pretty psyched – the experience was overall very good, but there was an odd feeling of ‘not belonging’ that I think wasn’t entirely in my head. Apparently my sinuses are also out of whack, which might explain why I haven’t smelled anything in months. So off I go on my adventure in Community Heath.

Knitting wise I finished two GREAT sweaters this weekend – one for Interweave and one for Cast On – and need to spend some time polishing up the “socks from the toe up” booklet that I’ll be printing for everyone who’s coming to the Seaside Retreat. I’ll include a basic toe-up sock pattern, plus add extras like putting lace in the socks and maybe some funky bind offs and cast ons. Socks are a perfect weekend class because I can work individually with everyone on an ongoing basis – I’m very excited!