I would say the biggest benefit to living upstairs is stronger legs, besides the extra privacy and awesome view. Our utilities are lower than they were in Greenville. We have Alliance Energy from Fond du Lac, more affordable than WE energies.
I had my first doctor appointment with my new doctor. She is a short pleasant Polish lady. Nobody can pronounce her last name so she goes by Dr. Ewa. The clinic is upstairs in our very nice hospital that is literally 3 minutes away. She ordered labs, and since I was fasting, I was able to do them that day. Everyone is pleasant and efficient. I had my results online that evening. I had my refill ready the next day. No more calling the clinic in Greenville because they forgot to put the order in.
Hubby and I feel very much at home in this area. Hubby is happy with his job and enjoys the people he works with. He is still in training and doing well. He is in the Union now.
We have found ourselves to be fairly equidistant from all the places we enjoy and visited when we lived in Hartford. We are much more comfortable with hills. The Fox Valley bummed me out from the first time I saw it. It's ---Flat--- Appleton does have a nice area of parks and older homes near the college. I didn't like Grand Chute, it's all parking lots and congested roads. Kimberly and Kaukauna had their charm in spite of the stinky paper mills. We drove up to Green Bay a few times. Shopping is good there. The town is literally Green . Bay . Packers....everywhere. We drove up to Door county 2 or 3 times. It's neat but to really enjoy it you need to pick a town and stay there a couple days. My friend told me we can see the Niagara Escarpment next to Fish Harbor, so that will be a destination at some point.
I have rearranged my plants several times (and again since taking these pictures.) I also unpacked my turtle collection and placed them around my plants. I added some rocks and other random stuff. I don't have a fireplace mantle so I placed some stuff on the shelves under the TV
Gift from my daughter!
I love this plant. Common name "Lavender Steps"
The blue one in the middle is one of my favorites. It's so blue!
Lithops have been blooming
My health insurance is ending the plan I am currently on, so I have been shopping for a new one. I have not had any issues with Medicare Advantage plans. I started out with traditional Medicare with medigap plus a drug plan in 2015. At first it was doable, but as the years passed, it became more and more expensive. I was paying hundreds of dollars per month and only seeing my doctor 3 or 4 times per year. Eventually the yearly deductible with an advantage plan was less than my premiums, so I decided to switch. Everyone is different, so if you are shopping or switching, I hope you find the plan that works best for you.
I eventually chose a Wisconsin program, Network Health. The plan I chose has a $24 part B reduction, which means my part B will be $178.90 instead of $202.90. That's important because my medications are higher this year. I checked all the plans available to me and I'm confident this plan will work well.
I noticed all Wisconsin Medicare plans (at least the ones I looked at) have ground and air ambulance coverage. My deductible for both is $300. ER $130, worldwide emergency $130, max $100,000 (on the worldwide ER). It's a PPO with in and out of area coverage. Monthly premium $0, primary doc $0, specialist $50, drug deductible $300, basic vision and dental, telehealth, bunch of other stuff. Hubby added me to his dental plan because Silver Creek Dental is awesome but not accepting Medicare next year. I'm seeing them again this year because I have a loose, broken tooth that needs to come out, and my current plan pays 100%, so better to do it while I still have it.
In other news, I've been baking bread for my hubby quite often. Here is my latest loaf:
Speaking of bread, I finally bought a Keto bread. It's ok, toasts up nicely, and doesn't spike my blood sugar, as long as I remember to eat eggs in the morning. Yes, the bag is half empty lol
And lastly, my ONE blooming orchid is blooming again. The other four...nothing.
I've been writing this post for a few weeks now, so I think it's time I finish it.
Happy Thanksgiving!
