good news/bad news

So, which do you want to hear first?

bad news: Another hospital bill. Somehow, my insurer finally managed to straighten things out and I got a statement that $349 had been paid for medical services for "Baby S." I have no idea where that initial came from -- it doesn't correspond to any possible first or last name. But I started crying and couldn't tear the bill up fast enough. Maybe I should have burnt it, like the rich, yet eccentric victim in an Agatha Christie novel, leaving a single enigmatic fragment, enabling Hercule Poirot to unravel the case and unmask the murderer. But I probably would have only burnt my fingers.

good news: One of my friends (really more like a friendly acquaintance) just got a positive pregnancy test. She's had a very difficult time getting to this point and, for various reasons, this will automatically be a high risk pregnancy. But the really good thing (from my own selfish point of view) is that I am -- amazingly enough -- able to be happy for her and feel only a tiny twinge of jealousy (or, actually, envy, if you want to be pedantic).