Cheap movies and expensive psychiatrists

Well, we can officially relax on the shrink front for a bit. Tim was due to see a woman on Friday for the "big appointment." But that's now canceled.


It seems that this lady would have wanted her money upfront, so that we would have had to bill insurance later. At $225 for the first session, that's an awful lot of money to be waiting around to get back.


Once I found that out, I asked Tim to call her and clear things up. While we waited for a callback, I asked if he had ever even checked if she was in-network. He thought he had, but checked just to be sure.


Yeah. So not only would we have had to pay $225 out of pocket, we'd only get 60% back. That's a $90 co-pay! Ouch. (And you hear horror stories about how long some insurance companies take for reimbursement.)


So, Tim called his insurance company and asked for female psychiatrists in the area, who would actually bill insurance themselves. We've had one or two calls, so that's promising. But it was pretty disheartening to find out we'd just waited over 3 weeks for absolutely nothing.


I lost it a bit yesterday and just started sobbing. We've both been tired and run-down. Oh and thanks to the depression and the nasty winter here, we've both packed on some extra pounds. That's not really helping our energy levels or our self-esteem.


Tim soothed me a bit. Mainly I think I was just overwrought and exhausted. The worry about unemployment benefits -- while now solved -- was eroding all of our energies. Meanwhile, Tim's in limbo about his diagnosis and the stress is exacerbating his skin. We're both just sort of stumbling through, it seems.


Again, we're focusing on being good to each other (and ourselves) and just trying to get the basics done. I think we're doing pretty well. After all, we've been married for almost 11 months now, and that entire time has been spent with both of us at home pretty much full time. And not once -- NOT ONCE -- have we even attempted to kill each other.


Not too shabby, eh?


I'm not completely sure how we'll celebrate our first anniversary. While I don't want to go completely overboard, it is an occasion I'm willing to spend something on. Probably a nice dinner or some such.


Speaking of festivities/getting out in the real world: I've been hermit-ing far too much lately. Essentially, home= warm, safe, easy and outside= scary, unknown (and rather windy!) So I need to start getting out in the sun and generally out of the house more. I'm unclear yet what route I'll take. Just pledging to go for a walk every day has not panned out... at all.


Tonight, however, we're winging our way down to UW campus to see a free preview of "Observe and Report." Seth Rogen is a guilty pleasure of mine. Yes, the movies he's in are filled with sophomoric, often-gross-out humor. But they're also friggin' hilarious. I guess I'm just not as much of a movie snob as I used to be. Also, I think, I'm just getting better at grabbing a laugh wherever possible. (Sorry, Mom, all those years of stuffing me full of alternative, artsy and/or foreign movies just didn't quite pay off.)


Plus, it has Anna Faris, who I have glommed onto for some reason I can't quite explain. I'm kind of rooting for her to rise as an actress. There's just something about her (and I don't generally root for blondes, horrible I know but there it is) and so her role in this movie makes it intriguing, as well.


So. We're going to go to the dermatologist where he will assure us that the esoteric skin disease that Tim's mom saw on Mystery Diagnosis is not applicable. (Since Tim, as a kid, would apparently swell up and turn bluish-purple on his arms/legs to the point he wasn't much allowed outside. But since then, he's lived in Arizona -- rollerblading everywhere.) Then come back here where I get to wash my hair (unless we want the movie theater all to ourselves, hmmmmm) and then to his therapy and on to the University District. I think we'll even treat ourselves to some cheap-o food on the main drag. It's one of the few areas left in town where you can get large portions of food for under $6 a plate.


Then on to a free, probably I-can't-believe-I'm-laughing-at-this movie -- having smuggled in some snacks, of course -- and generally having some fun.


On that happy note, it's time to get ready for said dermatologist appointment.