Praise Him in the Storm!

I mentioned in the last post.... Bill, his Dad, Merritt and Mr. Lincoln were going away this weekend for their annual hunting trip to Canton. This is always a highlight for Bill, he enjoys being on the St. Lawrence so much and it is usually a "productive" weekend for me. So, yes they did get some birds, but Bill always wants to "clean up". Not this year, but there is always 2009!

It has been months since I've been to Oneonta, so my Mom and I planned a fun filled weekend at her house with Miss Madelyn. Friday afternoon, Maddy, Kato, Oscar and I piled in the car and jumped on I-88 for the short 55 minute trip home. I thought I would kick up the tunes, and put in the Baby Noah DVD for Maddy so she could get her fill of vid-di-do (as she puts it) before arriving at Hamma's. Well my relaxing drive home turned out to not be so relaxing. Some of you may know, that Bill and I have had some MAJOR issues with our billing at the office. It's a long story and not anything I will bore you with, but I will just say this Medicare owes us lots and lots of money. We have not received a payment for any patient visits since mid August.... Yikes!!!! is an understatement. Part our fault, mostly their fault. Anyway, Bill, myself and all our new office staff have been working tirelessly to resolve these electronic billing issues with Medicare now for a month straight. It has been exhausting and overwhelming... many late nights and early mornings at the office. Anyway, we find out on my .... so called..... relaxing drive to Oneonta that the issues were still not resolved and the claims that we sent were still lost in cyber space. I couldn't believe it, I have to admit I have stayed pretty calm during all of this, but I finally had enough and felt so defeated. So, now I am sobbing as I'm driving to Oneonta and I am completely unable to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Bill and I have spent so much time in prayer about these billing issues and it just didn't seem that the Lord was going to help us on this one. I'm wondering what is HE trying to teach us, Why is this happening and When are we going to figure this out? After a few minutes of my own personal pity party, I realize Oh poor Maddy she must be wondering why Momma is so upset??? Ummm, no not really, she was completely enthralled in her video, munching on her popcorn and sipping her apple cider, that she had no idea Momma was so upset. I was so relieved so I took the time to cry a little longer :) I caught a glimpse of myself in my rear view mirror and realized how horrendous I looked with my black mascara streaming down my face and decided Ok, enough.... you know what to do PRAY!!! So, I shut off Maddy's video (that did not go over well) and we prayed for the remainder of the ride to Hamma's. Over and over again.... Then we cranked up the Worship songs on my Ipod and we handed all of this over to Him.... I finally decided I cannot do anymore... I will be patient and wait.

So, I compose myself and we arrive at Hamma's. Everyone is always so excited as we head up her long driveway. The dogs know, so they go crazy and Maddy starts yelling Hamma's House, Hamma's House! It's like clock work, as soon as I pull in the driveway, Hamma opens the garage door and here she comes out on to the deck. The dogs run to the pond, and Maddy is fully ready to be spoiled for 48 hours. My mom takes Maddy out of her car seat and we decide to spend some time at the pond. Maddy feeds the fish and does a little fishing with her Nemo pole. Good times, truly Good times!!!

Saturday morning, we took a trip with Aunt Kelly, Baby Carter and Hamma to my most favorite place in the world.... The Fly Creek Cider Mill. For some reason, I just love that place, it just feels like home. Despite the rainy weather, we had a great time! I enjoyed a Cider Float, Maddy fed the Chickens and we saw them make the cider. Usually, we eat there but we decided to head into Cooperstown for lunch at the Doubleday cafe. It was a great afternoon but it was time to head home for some well needed naps.

Saturday night Maddy and I were my Mom's guest at her annual Sorority Turkey Dinner. The food was so good and of course Maddy was sociable to say the least. Sunday we went to Aunt Kelly's and Uncle Ty's so Maddy could see her cousin Carter again and we went to visit some great friends of ours... The Himes. It was a really nice weekend, but I have to tell you, when we were driving back to Rotterdam, all I could think about were those billing issues we were having with Medicare. I just didn't want to face them Monday morning. We arrived home to Daddy in the driveway, we were so happy to see him after a weekend away. Bill and I didn't talk much about the billing issues, but we both knew it was on our minds. I went to bed with it on my mind and woke up with it first thing. Monday morning, Maddy and I were heading out the door to Story time and I get a call on my cell phone from Medicare. The woman said, Maam.... I just wanted to let you know that all of your claims have been accepted and you should see payment within 14 days... I could not believe it, I kept asking what had changed since Friday and was she sure they were going to be processed correctly? She said, I'm not sure what happened but everything looks fine.

All I have to say is He is always faithful, but it His own time! Praise God!

Halloween Weekend 2008

We had a wonderful Halloween weekend. Friday during the day we went to a friends house for a party for all of Maddy's friends. It was a great time and so fun to see them play together, these are children that Maddy has spent the last three Halloweens with and they have such an amazing bond. We ate snacks, I chatted with the other Mom's and the girls played and played and played. On Friday night we visited our neighbors for some special treats. We love our neighborhood, everyone is so friendly and really gets into the spirit of ANY holiday. We were disappointed that Bill wasn't able to join us.... he had a few last minute patients that needed to see him for emergency adjustments. He is always so accommodating and is truly a Dr. that cares for his patients, but unfortunately that may mean he gets home very late. We then went to a fall festival at Sonrise Bible Church in Rotterdam. They have tons of indoor games, activities and a bouncy bounce outside for the children to play on. Daddy was able to meet up with us at the Church enjoy some family time for Halloween. Maddy was dressed up this year as a China Doll. I ordered her Asian dress from China and she was lucky to already have the umbrella, that was given to her by her Gram in TN. She loved her costume and had a blast at the festival. We decided to go out for a bite to eat and then head home. Saturday and Sunday were sure to be busy.

Saturday morning Bill was up early and off to Church for his monthly "David's Mighty Men" meeting. This is a wonderful men's ministry where men can connect... they eat breakfast and Pastor Stan leads an informal study. This year they are studying Bill's favorite new book. What's So Great About Christianity by Dinesh D'Souza. He has read it at least 3 times, inside and out and is passionate about this book. He hopes everyone will take the time to read it. It is truly life changing! After his meeting he went back to the office to see a few patients that needed emergency Saturday adjustments and then was able to come home. He loves his patients but Georgia was playing at 3:30 so nothing was standing in the way of watching that game :) Around 4pm, Mom and Merritt came up to spend the night at the house and watch Maddy. For Bill's birthday coming up on the Nov. 5th, I purchased tickets to see Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman. We were so looking forward to a night out together to enjoy some great music. We went out to this wonderful French restaurant in downtown Albany. It is so quaint and just perfect for a date night out. After dinner, we went to the Palace Theatre and enjoyed an amazing concert. It was sold out and you cannot imagine the energy in that building. It was definitely a night to remember!

Sunday was relaxing, Bill and I went to early service. Maddy stayed home with Hamma and Grandpa Mernon since she is fighting a nasty cold. After service, we came home and celebrated Bill's Birthday. Hamma and Maddy decorated the house, made a cake and we ate homemade Chili and Mummy dogs. Of course, my mother found some new recipe for her and Maddy to put together. Mummy dogs, full size Nathan's cheese hot dogs, with breadsticks wrapped around them. They really did look like Mummy's .... they were so cute and appropriate for the weekend... They were awesome by the way!!!! After all of the activity, Bill and Grandpa Mernon took an afternoon ride to scout out a few hunting places in the area, I cleaned up around the house and Maddy and Hamma took a walk around the neighborhood. It was a great day! Next weekend Maddy and I are going to spend a weekend in Oneonta, going to Fly Creek Cider Mill with Hamma, Aunt Kelly and cousin Carter. Going to a Thanksgiving Dinner for my Mom's sorority and will visit some friends, I haven't seen a while. Daddy is going North, to a small town near Canton for his annual waterfowl hunting trip on the St. Lawrence river... with his Dad, Merritt and a friend. Let's pray they get lots of birds!!!