She of the beautiful curls

I made Ellie lay down and take a nap this afternoon. She was tired from playing with friends this morning. After about "the right amount" of time, I started to hear shouts from her bedroom, "Dad! Dad!"

When I went to get her, I thought she looked sort of different. Before I could puzzle it out, she said, "Isn't my hair beautiful? I cut it with my scissors." And just this morning, Linda and I were saying that we should have her portrait taken.

It was so funny that I couldn't even be upset. I just smiled and said, "Let's go show Mom your hair." For about 10 minutes, Linda kept breaking out in the giggles. I thought today should be remembered, so I grabbed my digital camera to record the moment. Ellie was really good about posing each side so I could really get it on film. One side toward the back looks sort of like a cat after it's had surgery.

"See! It's not in my eyes any more!"

Minor miracle

The insurance paid for Linda's September therapy on the first try. No fuss, no foot dragging. I don't know what to think. It makes me suspicious. I didn't even have time to get a bill from the hospital. In fact, except for a $100 penalty (seemingly spurious for failing to pre-auth something) they have squared up all of her bills (with the hospital) to date.

It makes me feel a bit more at ease. Even when you know a bill isn't your responsibility, there's a kind of stress from getting repeated demands for thousands of dollars.