Family matters

Hug

On our way to my dad’s house last summer, we stopped for a picnic lunch at a rest area. The space was perfect for Poppy to run around and stretch her little legs. This was just before we got back in the car. Pi had run to Rockford at full speed, and he swept her up into a big hug.


Prayer

Unimaginable

I read about Brian and Katie and their little girl, Emily while Poppy and Pete were napping. And it took a good deal of self-restraint not to go wake them up and squeeze them both. It’s easy to forget some days what a blessing it is to have healthy children.

Emily has a cancerous tumor growing at the base of her brain. Despite her doctors’ expectations, she survived an initial surgery. Since they’re temporarily relocating for Emily’s care, the family is facing extra living costs on top of the medical expenses.

I can’t imagine going through what that family is facing.

If you’d like to help them out financially, you can do so here through PayPal. The family has also set up a trust fund at Bank of America. According to their friend’s site, “This means that you can walk into any Bank of America location and make an anonymous donation into the account for Emily Mandell.”

Domestic Blitz

Works for Me: Greatest hit!

Works for Me Wednesday

Shannon has declared today “Greatest Hits” day at Works for Me Wednesday. My most popular “Works for Me” post was The Center for Sock Reunification:

Our sad, single socks used to live out the remainder of their days piled one on top of the other in a basket in the laundry room. They stayed there, lonely and orphaned and never again paired up with their mates. Because I never dug through the basket to find out whether or not their pals were already in there waiting for them.

After years of this, I had an epiphany: I needed a new system.

I thought I might reunite more socks if I could actually see them all at one time. So I hit the wall. I asked Rockford to put two eye hooks in the wall in the laundry room. Then he strung a piece of wire between them. A handful of clothespins later, and The Center for Sock Reunification was born.

Not only has the system helped me reunify several pairs of socks, but it always makes me giggle to see the ever-changing “art installation” on the laundry room wall. And who can’t use a laugh when they’re facing with Mount Washmore?

Lots of people apparently liked the idea. Soon after I posted it, though, I nearly killed my Web site and I lost all of those nice folks’ comments.