As time keeps Marching on.....

It certainly has been a busy time in our household. This month just seems to be flying by.

Hubby seems to be healing well from his surgeries. He is still on heavy duty doses of antibiotics for another two weeks and then he will see the surgeon.

Two days after his discharge from the hospital my niece and entourage arrived for the weekend....they had no sooner and left and I had to get the linens washed and rooms cleaned for my girls arriving on the Monday. They stayed until Wednesday and we had a wonderful visit. But of course their visit led to more laundry and well....you know. I love having company and I always say my door is open.....but it's a lot of work.

The rest of the week was spent try to speak with some in Service Canada regarding my Employment Insurance for Sick Benefits. Seems like they cut me off 7 weeks to early, and without any explanation. Have you ever tried to get through to a government agency? I am sure you have. They have these automated messages press this if you want to speak in English, this if you want to change your address..blah blah blah.....heaven forbid you miss the number you were suppose to hit....cause they either cut you off or you have to go right back to the beginning and listen to all the prompts all over again. I finally got smart and just pressed "0" and was put on the list for calls waiting for a customer representative......that's when I put the phone on speaker and go about doing my chores....if I didn't I would be sitting there for a very long time watching my nails grow.

My quest to find out what was wrong with my claim started on Tuesday....after my lengthy wait I spoke with a representative....she told me that they didn't have my doctor's certificate on file. I asked how that could be because I mailed it in with the other documents that they got and had on file.....I got the local fax number for the office closest to me and faxed it in right away.....this didn't resolve matters....I needed to speak to someone who could actually make the change to my records. The representative said that she would mark my file for someone to call me ....but they had 2 full business days to return my call which meant they had until the end of the business day on Thursday to call. I waited around fearful of missing their call, but something also told me that they would want an updated form from my GP so I had made an appointment for late Thursday afternoon. The way my luck has been running these days I figured they would call once I had left the house so I gave instructions to my hubby asking him if he could find out from them what they wanted from me in order to get my claim up and running again....I worried for nothing...they never called.

Friday morning bright and early I was on the phone yet again trying to resolve this situation. I went through the prompts pushed "0" put the phone on speaker and went about with my chores. Finally a friendly voice came on the phone....I explained my situation once again....she said that my file would be marked as urgent...but as protocol they had 2 business days to return my call. Well Friday ended with no follow up call. this now meant that I would have to wait until Monday to hear from someone.

Yesterday was a glorious sunny day, a little breezy but wonderful all the same. Hubby and I decided that we were going to go out and take Bert for a nice walk. Whilst we were getting ready, the phone rang....."Hello........." the voice on the other end said......"Ms. C this is Kate from Service Canada" my chin almost hit the floor. Since when do government agencies work on the weekend? Anyhow, we chatted, and as I figured they wanted something updated from my GP.....yippee for me that I had been proactive and got the updated doctors certificate...I told her I had it...I she was a little surprised by that, I said I could fax it to her right away, again she seemed surprised....she said she would stand by the fax and wait for it to come through. I got off the phone and faxed it STAT.....she called me right back told me she got it and that my claim had been re approved and that I was to file my next report. WOW I was impressed.....I couldn't believe it. Jokingly I shouted down to my husband " Hey honey we don't have to eat dog food for the next two weeks"

I desperately need to get back to work. I am so thankful for the EI sick benefits but in no way does it come near to what I was making nor covers our household expenses, and hence the credit cards are on fire. I know I am not alone here. With the economic times being what they are I know that there are many many people in the same boat.

I have my appointment with the specialist at the beginning of April and I am optimistic that I will be given the go ahead to start what we call a gradual return to work. I really am looking forward to getting back to work...not only from a financial aspect but I love what I do and I really do miss it.

Well, that pretty much sums up what's going on in my small world......how's life in yours?