Her soon-to-be high school has the best cheerleading program in our portion of the state and for more than half the years the school has been in existence (11 years) they’ve been state champions. They’ve won several national championships as well. Currently there is no other school in our state that has as many big wins. So this is very very exciting for her and a huge opportunity.

Here’s a little blast from the past video (to make up for the yucky bathroom pictures yesterday) of Melissa cheering after a one day camp her older sister’s high school did for the young girls (2008):

Congratulations, Sissa!

It was a gross, disgusting, stinky mess. To say the least.

The worst part was after getting all the water sopped up, the floor squished like a sponge UNDER the hardwood floor. I knew right away the day to finally get around to redecorating the “seizure room” had come, whether I wanted it to or not.

I call it the seizure room because the colors in that bathroom were seizure-inducing. The previous owners painted it dark pea soup green. Ceiling and all. It wouldn’t be so bad but the bathroom is on the small side and I thought everyone knew you don’t paint small rooms dark colors, especially the ceiling too! So it basically had a walls-are-closing-in-on-you effect. To make it worse, the vanity was bright turquoise. Bright turquoise and dark pea soup green do NOT mix! Especially in a small bathroom. What were they thinking??

So I’ve always wanted to paint it. And since we had to rip out the floor, and the toilet, and remove the vanity temporarily, now was the time.

Here you can kinda see what I’m talking about. The floor was hardwood. The tiles you see in the above picture is what was underneath the hardwood (you can see one section of hardwood left). At least the old flooring made the vanity make sense… they matched. But why are the walls dark pea soup green? WHY?? (The toilet in the bathtub makes me giggle. We are replacing the toilet by the way since it’s part of the problem…)

Jack came home and he and Cody promptly set about tearing up the floor.

The damage went all the way to the base floor. Fortunately it was OK but the subflooring, the layer of old vinyl, and the hardwood had to go. It was a stinky mess. On top of that, whoever built this house didn’t seal anything at all. There was NOTHING to stop any sort of water damage. As such, the flooding caused water damage to the ceiling in our office and lord knows where else in the void.

Friday night Jack’s brother and father came over and helped him put the new flooring in. They were at it till after midnight! Instead of cheap press board subfloor like what was there originally, Jack went with a thicker, stronger plywood. And fake “hardwood” over that. One large piece of vinyl that looks like hardwood but will be much more water resistant. Surprisingly, it’s very realistic looking. And everything is sealed properly against future water damage. It’s the kid’s bathroom so you know there’s going to be water on the floor!

The white area there is what’s behind the vanity… and yes there’s water damage there too from when Kevin flooded the sink.. At least that was just water. But it dripped down into the office then too. Our poor office!!!

Since we had the vanity and the toilet out and the new floor in, we (mostly I) set out to painting but only after a full day of applying primer. LOTS and LOTS of primer. I chose a light green to compliment the vanity since we can’t really afford to replace it and there’s nothing technically wrong with the vanity. It’s just got a turquoise counter-top. The bathroom will have an ocean theme. I have fishy wall hangings and Finding Nemo wall stickers (it IS the kids bathroom after all).

Unless you really hate fish and/or the ocean, it shouldn’t induce seizures anymore. I’ll post pictures when it’s done.

P.S. The title idea is from Friends.

Chrome’s speed lured me away.

What more can I say?

The weather couldn’t have been better. It was warm and near 60 degrees during the day and each night we were treated to beautiful sunsets.

Like this one:

And this one:

As always when the weather is nice on the Oregon Coast, the scenery was breathtaking.

What was different was having a puppy tagging along. She required a bit of work, but she was mostly a ton of fun to have with us.

We spent our first night relaxing in the hotel and getting rested up because the next day was spent walking around and shopping. Mia was with us the whole time and attracted a LOT of attention from the many people enjoying the coastal shopping opportunities that day. Seaside is pretty dog-friendly. Many shops allow the dogs inside and even put out bowls of water for the pups outside their doors. Many people stopped to pet her and she enjoyed every second of it.

For Mia’s first time out on the beach we kept her leashed and close to us. The second day we got brave and let her go off-leash to see what she’d do. To our delight she stayed close to us most of the time and came running every time we called her if she wandered too far.

She discovered the joys of digging.

Jack did too. We’ll probably pay for that this summer when we have no yard left.

We were thoroughly impressed with how well-behaved she was the entire weekend, especially being only 5.5 months old! She sure is a smart one!

Cute too!

You can view the rest of the photos I uploaded here.

Here’s a sample of some of the hilarity: Men in Tights I did not record this video. I did get pictures, though!

Like this one:

Yes, that’s my 18 year old son in tights.

Here’s a sample of him and Dany emceeing the concert. (I did shoot this video.) One of the mics was having unexpected issues (it was cutting out, likely due to a short) so instead of allowing it to throw them or annoy them, they found as much humor in it as they could and it only added to their performances as emcees. I was proud!

They also did a Star Wars parody that cracked us up. A little factoid: all the props used in this performance came from our family. From the storm trooper helmet to the blasters, all ours. Even the Chewbacca on the one boy’s back… came from Kayla.

It was a great night!

Now, Jack and I are off to celebrate my birthday at the coast. A weekend away, just the two of us. We only get to do this twice a year. And it’s always a much needed break!

Last week I posted that East Padden happened to have the notes I needed from St. Francis. Unfortunately it turned out they did not. They had notes from the Humane Society instead. I know they told me they requested the notes from St. Francis, but surprisingly (haha) they never received them.

So that meant I was back to square one with St. Francis. I called them on Friday to follow up to see where we stood. I got a very helpful receptionist who this time actually listened to the issue. She agreed I was treated horribly was very apologetic about it and promised she’d pass along a message to management. So I thought we were getting somewhere. It turns out she’s the only one working at St. Francis with a decent bone in her body.

She called me on Monday to say that the chart notes I requested were ready but management had closed my account after what transpired the prior week. Since the account was now closed, my request was converted to a “inactive records request” or something and they don’t copy notes/medical history from closed accounts for free. She said there would be a fee if I wanted the chart notes. When I asked how much she said she didn’t know but I needed to agree to it before they’d release the notes.

Um… I’m not sure that’s even legal?? I told her that. I also burst into tears… I felt like an idiot but seriously.. the whole thing was just so beyond stupid that it broke me. I just really don’t understand how the three other vets involved in this could be so helpful… ALL OF THEM. But St. Francis was dangling me over a barrel and now extorting money out of me over ONE page of handwritten chart notes. Chart notes they KNEW I had to have in order to get my insurance claim approved. And while I’ve experienced crappy customer service before, NEVER at THIS level. Never THIS bad!

When I asked why they closed my account, she said “they” (her managers) said it was because I was “abusive”. … … … *I* was abusive? I asked her if I sounded at all unreasonable to her or if I was even slightly abusive to her. She said “no, not at all”. There was an awkward silence after that and she said it was probably due to the multiple phone calls from me and my insurance company. I explained to her that NONE of that would have been necessary had they taken the time to listen to the issue, listen to the fact that this was technically a SECOND request for records, and that their delays were costing me almost $1000.00!

I told her I agreed to the ‘unknown charge’ as long as it was reasonable and I made it clear I was agreeing to it under duress. She called back later and said the charge was going to be $20.88.. NOT reasonable at all! But… I drove down there and I paid it. What choice did I have? I walked out of there in tears saying I’d probably dispute the charge when I got home.

I then updated my BBB claim (yes I filed a complaint with the BBB. Have never done that before) to say that they closed my account AFTER I requested the chart notes (when the account was still open) only so they could charge me and I wanted to be reimbursed to resolve the complaint. No I’m not disputing the charge. I’ve had many tell me I should but they’d likely send it to collections, tack on a fee, and add interest or something.. and it’s really not worth it. THEY aren’t worth it. (My insurance claim was approved for the full amount two days after submitting those damn notes!!!)

The main doctor at St. Francis (the owner) replied to my BBB complaint that night and ADMITTED they closed my account AFTER I requested the notes. He also rambled about my one and only vet visit with them (which had nothing to do with my complaint.. my dog was never treated there.. only seen for 20 minutes then I refused their treatment and left!). He also stated he did nothing to hinder me in getting the notes for my insurance claim.

That made me LOL.

Making me wait beyond the LEGAL time period for a records request, then closing my account (how does one close a veterinary account anyway? what does that mean??), then charging me almost $21.00 for a one page photocopy is hindering. It was akin to extortion and was immoral and unethical.

I filed a complaint with the state department of health veterinary board as well. Fee disputes fall under their threshold of things to investigate but they were in violation of not providing me the records within 15 days as the law states they are supposed to. The catch is whether my verbal request when I asked them to fill out the insurance claim was going to count as a “written request” (the claim form asked for the medical history and notes.) They (the dept of health) were also very familiar with them even though the physical location of their office is a few hundred miles from St. Francis. They get a lot of complaints about St. Francis. A LOT. Had I taken the 2 minutes to look them up on Google, I wouldn’t have made the horrible mistake of going anywhere near that place.

They tried to get me to pay them a thousand dollars claiming my dog had parvo. (She didn’t). They apparently don’t even know that a modified live parvo vaccine can cause a false positive and that there are varying degrees of “testing positive” for parvo. A weak positive, which Mia’s was can just be the vaccine.

Apparently this is common knowledge. Don’t take my word for it, though. Google it. The links above all describe it.. and I’ll quote another website:

False negative results can be obtained because parvovirus is shed for a few days only. Test results are most accurate if taken the first few days after infection, or within 5 days after clinical signs appear. False positive results are often a result of recent vaccination with a modified live vaccine (within 5-12 days of vaccination).

St. Francis forgot to bill me for the parvo test so they called and asked that I come down right away to pay for it. I told them I would but then as you know, Mia got sicker and it was a crazy week, so I didn’t get to it right away. Not even a week later they sent me a letter stating I better pay them for it or they would send it to collections. They used a yellow highlighter to highlight the part about it going to collections. I thought this was rude, and tactless, but hey, I did say I’d come down there and didn’t… and sure it’s only been a few days.. but sheesh.

I called them to let them know I’d be paying it soon and explained how Mia got sicker. While on the phone, I mentioned to them the ‘false positive’ and was happy to report Mia did not have parvo and was doing much better. I didn’t tell it to them to be rude or rub it in their face. My tone and attitude was “hey guess what?! She’s better and doing great and didn’t have Parvo.. isn’t that awesome?”… Their reply was, and I quote:

A positive result is a positive result. There is no such thing as weak or false parvo test.

I replied that the other vets told me about the weak positive / not parvo thing, and that she never actually had true parvo symptoms so it probably wasn’t parvo.

Their reply:

A positive result is a positive result. There is no such thing as weak or false parvo test.

Yes, they just repeated themselves. They didn’t even comment on the fact that I just told them Mia was all better. They were just right, everyone else was wrong… where’s their money?

I paid them on Monday as promised but guess what? I got another letter, the same one, yellow highlighter and all on Tuesday. So they were sending me letters weekly apparently to be sure they got their $36 bucks.

A couple weeks later I had to go back there to have them fill out the pet insurance claim for the visit. East Padden Animal Hospital filled out the forms while I waited. Columbia River Veterinary Services tried to fill out the claim forms while I waited and were also very friendly about it, but they had an emergency come in and didn’t know when they could get to it and hated to keep me waiting. So they offered to fax over all the claims (even the ones not pertaining to them) if I left the docs with them. I said sure. They faxed them in that night as promised and called me to let me know it was done. Very nicely done.

St. Francis on the other hand took the forms and told me they’d get to it whenever. Maybe Sunday. This was mid-week that I was there. When I inquired about the wait, they said only their administrative office handled those forms. They acted like it was a major inconvenience and practically shooed me out the door. I was dumbfounded but I thanked them and left without so much as another mumble.

I thought I was done ever having deal with them until the pet insurance needed more info ….The NON-PROFIT humane society got me the information within minutes and had it waiting at the front desk for me. They offered to fax it too but I have no way to receive a fax. East Padden emailed me the information within an hour. CRVS emailed it to me within 5 minutes of my phone call. All easy right?

St. Francis told me they’d call me when they had the information I requested. When I asked when, they said they didn’t know and couldn’t give me a time frame. I explained the situation ($1000 claim, kinda hinging on their information the most because they were the first to see Mia for the issue) and that it would be helpful if I knew when I could expect the information. They said it could take up to two weeks. I was thinking a couple hours. Or maybe a day. But TWO WEEKS?

All the insurance company wants is the chart notes they took for the visit. That’s IT. So it’s not like we’re asking for major stuff here. Just the notes… Like I said, the three other vets managed to have that to me within minutes, or hours. Apparently St. Francis 24 Hour Animal Hospital has to go through their administrators to provide their clients with information. I kinda jokingly asked “well what if Mia was dying and I needed those notes to take to a vet so they’d know her history?” She replied “this is hospital policy”. I asked if THEY had access to their own notes if a patient comes in during an emergency. They said “This is hospital policy”.

So I asked if there’s any way to speed up the process, if there was someone I could call and I again explained why.. They replied it was hospital policy. I asked if I could have their admin office’s number. They said they weren’t available. So I told them in a “ya know…” type of voice that I’d probably not ever come back there and this is why. They said “whatever” and hung up on me.

…
….
…..

I called back and got someone different. I figured SHE wasn’t the rude one so I wouldn’t bother her with the issue. I simply asked for a supervisor. . She said without even a moment’s hesitation that the supervisor wasn’t available. So I tried to explain the whole story, nicely, calmly, but she kept cutting me off saying “it’s hospital policy and you were told that”. I kept trying to say “I TOTALLY WITHOUT A DOUBT GET that it’s HOSPITAL POLICY … but the issue has turned into horrible customer service” but she wouldn’t let me talk .. AT ALL. She just kept repeating that I was already told about HOSPITAL POLICY .. and I kept TRYING to say “I KNOW, I GET IT” but she repeated herself so many times I finally said “Look, just let me talk to your supervisor”. She HUNG UP ON ME.

I would totally understand if I was being irrational or rude, but I wasn’t. And now I’m not even sure they are going to “forward my request to the administrators per hospital policy” because both had hung up on me!

So I waited a while… then I called back and simply asked for the administrator’s office. She said they were unavailable but could take a message. I asked if I could leave a message myself (why would I trust them to leave a message at his point?) and she asked my name. I told her and she WENT OFF on me saying that if I kept calling she’d make my request take longer to process. What the? I told her I didn’t appreciate the threat, I just wanted to talk to the admins myself, leave a voicemail, anything to ensure my request was even processed. She hung up on me!!!

At this point I was pretty ticked off. Instead of calling them back I called the insurance company and explained what just transpired. I explained that I wasn’t confident they would even put my request through. No one ever said at that point they would, they just kept hanging up on me.

The insurance girl was baffled and said she’s NEVER heard of a vet taking weeks to provide chart notes, or having to go through weird administrative red tape for something so simple. I asked if it was absolutely necessary I have the info from St. Francis. By then I had all the other vet’s notes, it was only St Francis holding things up. She said they must have it but offered to call St. Francis herself and see if she could get anywhere. I told her go for it and wished her luck.

She called me back only a few minutes later and guess what? St. Francis gave her the proverbial finger too.

I really don’t think these people should have named themselves SAINT anything.

To sum it up, St. France 24 Hour Animal Hospital:

1. Doesn’t know much about parvo tests or the vaccines and how they work — “a positive is a positive”. They need to learn how to use Google.
2. HARRASSED and THREATENEND ME for payment not even a week after THEY forgot to charge me.
3. Didn’t care about my dog. Just wanted my money NOW.
4. Gave me nothing but horrible, rude, and unprofessional customer service
5. Have weird policies no other vet I’ve dealt with has that make it impossible to get information in a timely manner.

The whole thing was like an episode out of the Twilight Zone.

Just as I was about to hit publish on this post, East Padden Animal Hospital called me. Not only did they already send me their chart notes, they also happened to have the chart notes from St. Francis because they requested them for THEIR records when Mia was first admitted to them (I told them the story about St. Francis and their weird policies). So they are sending me the ST. FRANCIS notes now via email. They didn’t have to do that… but they did.

THAT is good customer service. And St Francis will never get another dime from me again.

Update: LOL the BBB gives St Francis Hospital an F rating… 27 complaints. For a little city Vet who hasn’t been around all that long, that’s pretty bad!

We don’t post as much as we used to, mostly due to lack of time. But I enjoyed being able to update our friends and family when I could with the highlights and the pictures we took of our beautiful children.

Well those pictures have been violated. Violated by not some random stranger or creep on the internet. But by someone we called a friend for many years. The need to protect my children is strong. So strong that I have the intense urge to pull it all down and just forget the internet. It’s one thing to worry about your children being gawked at (in the wrong way) by strangers, but your own FRIENDS? It’s too much.

I may make this site private again. I don’t know. I’m just not sure about the world, or the web, or anything at all right now.

Today I counted. I counted how many lives Jack and I are responsible for and I damn near had a panic attack.

We have eight kids. EIGHT KIDS. The mere thought of us having eight kids is enough to give unsuspecting people a massive heart attack.

But it doesn’t stop there.

We have three dogs, two cats, 6 fish, and a hamster.

When you add it all up:

8 – kids
3 – dogs
2 – cats
6 – fish
1 – hamster

… that’s 20 living creatures we’re responsible for. Except… wait. I forgot to count ourselves. We need to take care of ourselves too! So that is…. 22. TWENTY-TWO!

Some might think the fish don’t count… since they just swim around all day in a tank. But that’s not true! You have to clean the tank regularly, check and maintain the ph, the nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia levels and treat accordingly, feed them, etc. It’s more work than you think! And the hamster? Technically that’s Sissa’s job to care for but ultimately we’re still responsible.

I’ve never really stopped and counted just how many we’re responsible for. And when I did it today (I have no idea why….) I instantly understood why I get overwhelmed sometimes. TWENTY TWO.

I have zero regrets. NONE. Don’t get me wrong. It’s just such a large number and I couldn’t help wonder just what the hell we were thinking?! I don’t think I’m going to be so hard on myself the next time I feel bad about getting overwhelmed.

I love each all 22 of us and wouldn’t trade any of it for the world. But still.

TWENTY TWO!!!