How It Worked Out with Netflix, and Other Matters

Well, I did write to Mr. Hastings. But I also put Season 5, Disk 4 on the top of my queue and carefully examined the disk when it arrived. If it was scratched, I reported it and got another. I did this until my next payday, a fortnight (that's how we budget) in which we'd pay for our Netflix subscription (and get $9.99 off), and sent back 4 disks, reporting all as scratched. Then I bought one on eBay for $15. It arrived today and my husband reports no scratches, just some lint. I also got a letter back from Mr. Hastings and Rob reports they are refunding us 3 months worth of fees so that I can replace my disk. So in the end, it worked out. Netflix is still the best deal out there for a service like this, and Blockbuster is going backrupt apparently, so I wouldn't discount them, but make sure you double-check the DVD you're sending back.

In other news, our adoption is moving forward. We were able to get out CIS documents for the I-800A. We got an appointment for the fingerprinting set for 9am on the 23rd. But two Thursdays ago we got that done early, so we are hoping that this week, we can get our I797C approval letter.

I did manage to write two short scenes of Philippe's Alien Us the other day. I've got a lot dragging me down (besides the good stuff above), so it's hard to find my muse, so to speak. My student loan payment jumped up $140/month which was not a pleasant surprise. Money was already tight as Rob is off from H&R Block and will only start out slowly until tax season starts again. Add to that that we had to renew our memberships for our home insurance (the memberships to the Missouri Farm Bureau gives us the lowest cost out there for insuring our home) and Melaleuca (not much but not welcome this present budget) and renew licenses for the truck and Rob. His birthday is Wednesday and this year, his driver's license expires. And I need at least an extra $10 for the doctor this week as I have to go in and see about all my spasming. I don't shake as much as I used to but I spasm at the drop of a hat. I think that's worse. I want to see if there's anything I can do about it. I'll go Tuesday. Add to that, I got in a fight (on IM, no less) with my sister the other day. I say I've read a good adoption parenting book. She says "I'm afraid you're overanalyzing...." and it goes downhill from there. Tried to end it with a truce, but she wouldn't admit the latter was criticizing my parenting. Well, I just had to drop it, it was late, and we still had at least an hour before I could go to sleep, leaving me roughly 4 hours of sleep before getting up for church. So, not the best weekend. Makes it hard to write.

Status of Stories

• Philippe de la Matraque's, Alien Us: Wrote 2 scenes of Chapter 19.
  
• The Honored: Back burnered for years now. Fondly thought of.
  
• Purgatory: No longer in Purgatory but I do have a writer's block and it's my turn.