Tolentreasures

It has been hard to find humor in the past few weeks, and I can usually find humor in anything. I am sure at the end of this situation, there will be humor in the retrospect, however I have this little vignette of hilarity to share about last Saturday. Disclaimer: Some of the names and places have been changed to protect the not so innocent, but mainly to prevent me from the lawsuits that could ensue. Last Friday, we were informed that my MIL, Marilyn (real name) was to be released from Allegheny General Hospital (also real name), Fredricka , the social worker (not real name) called us on Friday morning at 7 AM to let us know and to tell us that we needed to take her to a step down unit and that we had to find one that day if we wanted one. Fredricka dropped the ball in my opinion and I have a complaint lodged against her with the higher ups at AGH , although they are not returning my calls. Fredricka says that she was not able to contact us for three days, and through gritted teeth ...

What a difference a week makes. One week ago, I made a post at work before I left for the local hospital where my MIL had been admitted for dehydration. She had been sick for a week or so and after going to the doctor, they wanted to admit her, give her some fluids and send her home. She had been admitted the Friday previous and by Wednesday was doing no better. Wednesday evening she was worse and we made the decision to have her moved to a hospital in Pittsburgh. Very early Thursday morning, she was transferred to Allegheny General Hospital and that is where my husband and I have lived since then, holing up for the nights on waiting room chairs and love seats , showering in the handicapped shower early in the AM, and living on hospital cafeteria food. Our daughters have come to visit and brought clean clothes and more yarn. Knitting makes people pause and ask what you are making and allows you to hear, "My mom always made those" Grandma made those all the time,...

http://www.heartsforthehungry.com/ I am glued to the TV and have no words for what I am seeing in Haiti right now. Having been there and having seen the conditions that the people live in, I cannot imagine how they will survive this catastrophe. They are going to desperately need help. I can personnally vouch for this organization, our pastor is on the board and all the money donated goes to feed Haitians. There are no paid board members, offices to maintain, etc. All of the money goes to food and the delivery of food. Please consider a donation. The need is so great!

My Dad carved these and brought them here for me to paint for him. They actually fit me. So much detail and so much work in carving all this. And the hummingbirds? Not my favorite bird, but they are graceful looking. And my wool quilt that I started. My Mom got this pattern for me for Christmas and it was shown on a medium color background, but I could just see it on black, so I am trying one block on the black to see if I like it before going on. A group of us went to see Menopause, the Musical yesterday. What fun! I have not laughed that hard in quite awhile. If you get the chance, go see it. No matter what age, it is funny, we have women from their 20's to 80 and everyone found it just as funny.

They are not pretty, They are not girlie, They are not sexy, They are not new, They are not trendy, They are not fashionable, They are not even flattering, But what they are....... is WARM and DRY!!! I bought these close to ten years ago. My feet were always cold, I always bought girlie boots and I bought cheap boots. These were a huge splurge for a single mom with two kids in college. I fought the justification of paying that price for shoes that were so ugly. They are 800 thinsulate, the highest that I could find in a woman's boot at the time and they are Gore-tex to stay dry and I have worn them and worn them and worn them. They required a huge search to even find warm women's boots, but they were and they still are the best shoe purchase I have ever made. We are going to a show in Pittsburgh today and I want to wear them there....but vanity will make me leave them at home today and my feet will freeze!

The other day, my husband sat me down and asked me to record some numbers and add them up. Here is what he had: Dick's Sporting Goods - New Running Shoes $ 89.99 Misc. Workout Clothing 175.49 Tractor Supply - New Winter Carharts 245.99 Cabela's - Hunting Clothes 312.99 M & M Leather - New Leather Bike Coat 249.99 Macy's - Various Church and Dress Clothing 935.67 Gym Membership 360.00 New Steeler Jersey 59.99 5K Registrations 45.00 Doctor Appt - to reduce medicines 180.00 Misc work clothing at Discount Store 200.00 _____ Total $2,855.11 As I gasped in horror at what this little health kick had cost us over the past year, My dear, much thinner and healthier husband looked at me and said, "So what do you think the copay would have been on cardiac bypass surgery?" Got me.....it's only money, right!

After the last bout of cold and throat issue, or should I say DURING the last bout, I bought multivitamins, vitamin d and c and started taking them everyday. After the antibiotics, I thought I was on the right track and surely I would not get sick the rest of the winter...wrong! I am down with the second cold, or maybe the first one never really got better and now I have another sore throat....or maybe the first one never really got better. Anyway, I am trying to rest as much as possible (thanks to nightly doses of Nyquil , gotta love that stuff) and still taking the vitamins (maybe they take awhile to kick in) and hopefully this round will not require another trip to the doctor and more antibiotics. Also hoping to get all healed up BEFORE I leave on our annual mission trip at the end of this month. Nothing worse than a cold when you are flying. This is what the backyard of our shop looks like right now. For those of you that have never seen this, it is a drilling rig and they ar...

...from the last post, is the scarf finished! You see, yesterday, my dear husband thought, should be a day of rest AFTER the girls and I decided not to go to Ohio to see my parents because of road conditions. He gave me this whole speech about how he thought I was somewhat of a social outcast, blah, blah blah as I was trying to look through him to watch this tv program I had been waiting to see. In my defense, I don't mind going places and being social most of the time, however my internal clock does not allow me to be on top of things from 10 at night until 4 in the morning. Breakfast outing? I am so there! Lunch? Great! Early supper? Perfect! Late evening dinner? Yawner. New Year's Eve? Comatose. Normally that causes me to cringe when it is time to think about what to do on New Year's Eve. I am perfectly happy to sleep the New Year in. He, on the other hand thought that I should do my best to stay up until....ONE! His thoughts? Rest all day, nap and you can...