AZDonna

Back in the 1940s and 50s, Mom belonged to a book club and got a new book in the mail once a month. Those were some good stories; the kind you curled up with on a gloomy day and sipped tea or hot chocolate while reading. I can remember those books lining the shelves top to bottom in our living room on Kilburn Road. They were mixed in with the Book of Knowledge, the Time Life series and a few older keepsake editions.

I somehow ended up with them when Mom and Dad moved out of that house, and they have been on the bookshelves in my living room for as long as I have had that shelf unit — at least 25 years. I’ve read most of them, some more than once. But lately, they have just collected dust.

I’ve been doing some cleaning and organizing in my house the past couple of weekends, and I decided it’s time to box up those books. I set a few aside that have either sentimental or real value (like the Elsie Dinsmore series, a second edition Jane Eyre, and two primers from the early 1900s), but the majority are going to charity or a used bookstore. I also got rid of a 1983 PDR (Physician’s Desk Reference) and a New York Library Desk Reference (who needs those when you have the internet?) I suspect some of these, even a used bookstore won’t take. I wonder if they’re recyclable?

I also packed up my bells. I have nearly 200 but I’m tiring of them and thought I might appreciate them if I put them away for a few years. I placed a few new books, some framed photos and a couple of candles and knick knacks on the shelves. And the toy baskets are still there. The shelf unit looks unusually empty, but rather fresh.

Gee, what will I clean and organize next? This is fun!

I got some clarification from Carrie today about the carousel. It seems I misunderstood Make-A-Wish’s search for the carousel. They did get Lauren a brand new one. The delay and approval process was regarding placing it at the school, and insurance concerns. As soon as that was completed satisfactorily, they delivered this adorable merry-go-round. Carrie said it has sure gotten a workout since it was installed. The kids are all very excited.

It’s in one of the activity rooms where they do therapy, and it has already become a great incentive. The kids know if they do their work (therapy), they get rewarded with a ride on the carousel. I took a little video of the kids riding on it. I’m going to try to post it. The calliope music is really cute and the horses go up and down.

This story really should be posted on Lauren’s website, but the Reeds are extremely busy and who knows when they will get around to writing a blog entry. I thought it was so sweet, I wanted to write about it myself.

The story really began about a year ago when Lauren’s music therapist told Carrie that Lauren has perfect pitch. She wants every song to be sung in the key of C. If you sing one of the dozens of songs in her repertoire in any key other than C, Lauren won’t sing with you; she’ll just watch and listen. Then when you stop, she’ll pick that song up in C. She loves to sing and does so for hours on end every day. Her therapists feel that music is the very best tool for developing Lauren’s communication skills.

About the same time, the Make-A-Wish Foundation contacted Carrie and Brian about granting a wish for Lauren. They gave thought to the typical ideas — a trip to Disney World, a bedroom makeover — but none seemed like a good option for Lauren. Then Carrie got the idea of a small carousel; the kind you see in front of grocery stores. Lauren loves to ride a merry-go-round. So Carrie asked Make-A-Wish if that would be possible. They had never had a request like it, but were very excited to pursue it. The cost of a new one was out of the budget range, but a used one might be possible. After several months of looking and seeking approval from the board, they called Brian and Carrie to tell them they would be able to grant Lauren’s Wish. Carrie decided immediately that she wanted it placed at L.I.F.E.

The carousel was delivered yesterday. As they were bringing it in and setting it up, Lauren saw it for the first time. Now here’s the incredible part: she started singing! But not just anything. She sang “Round and round, round and round,” and then “if you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands”. She was communicating that she knew the carousel went round and round, and she was happy!

She’s going to have many hours of fun on it, and so are lots of other children.

I bought a new laptop yesterday. This is the first new computer I have ever bought for myself. When Roland left, I had some old system that had been upgraded from spare parts, and in 2000, Intel gave me a desktop system through their HomePC program.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been talking with Ken and a couple of guys at work who were all adamant that I should not consider anything but a Mac. They all used to be PC owners, and after using a Mac, said they wouldn’t consider any other system again. After much research, comparing Windows systems and Macs, changing my mind several times, and reading the latest ratings from Consumer Reports, I decided to “bite the apple”. I bought a MacBook. I wavered between the 13.3″ and 15.4″. Consumer Reports rated the 15.4″ MacBook Pro as the best laptop out, but they didn’t rate smaller screen systems. In the end, it was my budget that was the deciding factor, and I got the upgraded 13.3″. I do love the small size, especially after Richard bragged about his little Vaio and how much he loved it when he was here last month.

I was intrigued by the OS and software, and thought it might be just plain fun to try something different. I didn’t want to wait until October when Leopard comes out, so I’ll have to pay $129 for the upgrade if I decide to buy it.

I brought my new system home yesterday afternoon, went through the setup, installed the iLife08 software that came with it, and connected to the internet. I downloaded Firefox (I’ve heard it beats Safari, and it’s familiar) and discovered an extension that synchronizes my bookmarks on different systems. That was really helpful, so I didn’t have to set up all the feeds for all the blogs I read. I just synchronized them with my desktop PC.

Today, I picked up the laptop to take it into the other room, and when I did, I lost my internet connection. After struggling all afternoon trying to reconnect, I was ready to toss it! I finally called Daryl. I figure he’s going to have to learn Apple systems pretty quick so he can bail me out of the jams I get in to, and he might as well start today! He was ready to drive over when I discovered one problem was a typo in the WEP password. That still didn’t fix it, but he realized I needed to set up my router to allow the new system to connect. Apparently, when I connected to the web last night, it must have been through some neighbor’s wireless signal. Daryl used LogMeIn to set it for me. We’ll be looking for a software that he can use to remotely connect to my Mac through either his Windows or Linux system.

I know I have a lot to learn. I’m sure there will be many frustrating moments, but I want to try to figure out as much as I can by myself. I guess if Mom can get herself set up to order her prescriptions online all by herself (yay, Mom!!), I should be able to figure out a system that is advertised as the most user friendly on the market.

Any and all suggestions are welcome, but please don’t anyone tell me I made a mistake. There’s no going back now. I bit the apple and it’s on its way down.

The Diamondbacks are in first place in the Western Division of the National League. (This theme is in their honor.)

Go Dbacks!!!

We got quite a storm last night. Queen Creek got over 2 inches of rain in just a little over two hours. Unfortunately, a lot of it ended up in Brian and Carrie’s house. It seems there was a natural wash that came through the development and should have gone west and behind their house. The developer had blocked it with a wall behind the lot next door to Brian’s house. So water flowed down the mountain, through the development, hit that wall, and turned toward Brian’s property. It overflowed the berm Brian had built up last year after getting water through his property. Because of the amount of rain last night, and the runoff from the mountain and area above them, it flooded them.

About 9:30, Brian had checked his garage because it was raining so hard, and he noticed there were a few inches of water in there. He and Carrie pulled every towel, blanket and rug out of their linen closet and stuffed it at the door from the garage into the house. Within a short time, water had soaked their three foot high pile and was creeping into the house. All their efforts did manage to keep it partially contained to about half the house. It soaked the family room, living room, dining room and part of the playroom.

Outside, there was deep water over the entire property. The pool was totally underwater, and water was rising against the wall on the north side. There was so much flooding, they couldn’t get their cars out, and some of their neighbors were in the same predicament. They called the fire department, who came and evacuated them.

This morning, the water had nearly all subsided. If only it had taken the mess with it! Yuck! Mud everywhere. I have to admit, it looked a lot better in the daylight, and we got to work. Several friends and family were there, neighbors came to help, and by about 10:30, there were at least 15 people pushing mops, shoveling mud, pulling up carpeting and taking loads of laundry to their own homes to wash. Some of Brian’s co-workers brought a Bobcat to scrape the driveway and one neighbor had a power washer he brought over. It’s good to have friends and family!

Surveying the damage, it appears they will need to replace some drywall, baseboards and carpet. No furniture was damaged, and thankfully, they have lots of tiled area that was unscathed (once we got the mud washed off!) The water made it down the hall and into one bathroom, but stopped short of all the carpeted bedrooms.

We don’t know whether there is any structural damage to the house or pool, but hopefully not. It drained off pretty quickly, so that helped. Channel 12 news was on the scene last night just as Brian and Carrie and the kids were leaving. The film crew showed up again this afternoon and shot some footage of the cleanup. It aired at 5:30 this evening, and is also posted online at this site. Click on “Queen Creek residents clean up after storm”. A little explanation: Carrie and Brian’s home was not “ruined” as the reporter says. And Carrie’s quote was taken out of context. She was giving a hypothetical example of their fears last night. They have not lost their home. It’s just some damage, and all fixable. They are thankful it wasn’t worse, and that they had moved several thousand dollars worth of therapy equipment, furniture and supplies from the garage to the school just last week.

I took some pictures today, and posted several on my gallery. I’m exhausted tonight. It’s hard work cleaning up like that. Hopefully, everyone else is getting some rest tonight.

Brian and Carrie were overwhelmed with emotion over the help from family, friends and neighbors today. They both cried as they remembered three years ago when people poured out their hearts and help to make Lauren’s transplant possible.