Emergency Medical Information Sheet

Here's something you can to do for each member of your family and for your elderly parents, or for that matter anyone whose care you would become responsible for in time of an emergency. You can create a Emergency Medical Information Sheet. When my father was in and out of the hospital this made things so much easier. Keep this in a labeled envelope on the refrigerator.
Do this on your computer and it will be easy to update. Post the date on it, and the envelope, and check it over every six months. Be sure to include the following:

Name, address, phone number of the person (place of work and numbers)

Persons to contact in case of emergency and their relationship to the person

Date of Birth - Height, Weight, Medical History - Any Current Medical Conditions

Current Medications - Name, strength, dosage

Primary Care Doctor and any specialty Doctors with their name, addresses, phone numbers and Fax numbers

Photocopies of Medical Insurance Cards - front and back, and Driver's license

Any advanced medical directives - DNR/Living Will

Notary letter of other persons other than yourself that can make medical decisions in your absence say for instance for your children

Preferred hospital if there is more than one in your area

If there is a pet that would need to be cared for any information that is needed about the pet, including the Vet, and who would care for it

CBS News - Sunday Morning

Did you know that for some 20 years that while you may be at church there is a wonderful program on CBS called CBS News Sunday Morning? (9-10:30am or check your local listings) It is an eclectic mix of news, stories on music and the arts, people, Americana, and things you won't see on other programs. It always ends with a beautiful scene from nature. So set your TiVo, Replay TV or VCR and give it a try.

A-Pass-Along ( Angels in Action)

"The maker of Angel Soft® toilet paper believes that kids who have dedicated themselves to acts of kindness should be rewarded for their efforts. That's why they created the Angel Soft® Angels in Action® Program. Children and teens, ages 8-18, are recognized and rewarded for exemplary acts of service that benefit their community, a charity or cause."
To learn more about this program go to:

http://www.angelsoft.com/angelsinaction/

For famlies there is the Angel Soft® Million Family Service Pledge™ Sweepstakes. What you do is pledge to volunteer one hour of your time each month for a year for the good of your community. When you fill out the form you'll be automatically entered for your chance to WIN $5,000 from the maker of Angel Soft toilet paper. You can spend it, share it, or donate it. The winner will also have $5,000 contributed to a nonprofit charity or service organization of their choice by the makers of Angel Soft.
To enter go to:

http://www.angelsoft.com/angelsinaction/familypledgesweeps.asp

A Lesson in Giving

When my youngest son was in first grade I did a presentation of the Shel Silverstein book, The Giving Tree. So that the students could better see the progression of the story I photocopied all the pages, and as I read a page, I put it up on the blackboard in order. When I was done reading we talked about the story, how we could give to others, and what one thing they could do to help someone. They then drew a picture of it and as they completed it they brought it up to the teacher and myself and we helped them to write a sentence describing what their picture showed. They took the pictures home and I donated the book to the class library.

Copyright © 2005 Deborah Sharp Loeb

Good Crumbs!

I used a tablespoon or two of this Bookbinder’s Bread Crumbs Seasoned with Lemon mixed with some melted butter and tossed it with some freshly steamed asparagus. It was a big hit. I would think it would complement Brussels sprouts as well.
(It got David to eat asparagus!)

Eva Cassidy

Some years ago I caught a report on Nightline about a musical artist named Eva Cassidy. Her voice was like nothing I had ever heard before. I was immediately hooked.
Her style – a little folk, a little blues, and a little jazz. Sadly she is no longer with us but there are her recordings. To learn more about her you can read a bio at: http://www.oaksite.co.uk/bioblue.html

To hear her music go to: www.amazon.com

Some of my favorites from various CD’s:
Songbird – Songbird, Fields of Gold, Over the Rainbow
Live at Blues Alley – People Get Ready, What a Wonderful World
Time After Time – Time After Time, At Last, I Wandered By a Brookside
American Tune – The Water is Wide, True Colors, You Take My Breath Away

Something else you might find of interest is at this website: http://www.evacassidy.org/eva/intervie.shtml
It gives accounts of how some of the songs on her CD's came to be recorded.

A-Pass-Along (Extra Hands for ALS)

"Extra Hands for ALS is a national voluntary service movement devoted to the fight against ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease. Launched in 2002, Extra Hands is expanding nationally and now operates in many cities in the United States." For more information go to: www.extrahands.org

This could be a good service program for young people from a church, scout, or youth organization.
As it says at the site: “Students who volunteer to assist families battling ALS become adults better capable of addressing challenges in their own lives and communities.” Also “By helping ALS families with household chores, students provide a valuable service in their communities, and they learn about courage and determination from people facing one of life's most daunting challenges.”

Extra Hands For ALS
10420 Old Olive Street Road, Suite 105
St. Louis, MO 63141
(314) 997-2311

Super Nanny 911

Super Nanny and Nanny 911 Give me a break. What ever happened to common sense and having a backbone?
Many years ago when my youngest, Brian, was 3 or 4 years old I picked him up from nursery school and we went to the local Pizza Hut for lunch. We had placed our order with the waitress and as we were waiting for our food, two boys that were maybe a year or so older than him were running around the salad bar, out of sight of their moms. As if that wasn’t enough, one of them took the large serving spoon and took a mouthful of something and put the spoon back! Brian’s eyes said it all. He looked at them like they were crazy. I said to him, “What would happen if you acted like that?”
He said, “We’d leave.” (I thought to myself, you bet you’re a$$ we’d leave.) I said, “Yup, that’s what we’d do.” I then went over to the manager to tell him what had transpired. He removed the tray of food and spoke to the moms. I would have been mortified. It didn’t seem to really bother them. Shame on them. They lost their teachable moment, but then I don’t think they’d known one if they saw it.

Another time, maybe one or both of the boys were with me, anyway we were at the small local food market. We had only gone down a couple of aisles and I only had a few items when one of them started to act up. (They weren’t ones to have temper tantrums.) I don’t remember what it was about but they weren’t calming down. I steered my basket to the checkout by the door, told the checkout girl, I’m sorry but I have to leave, and we were out of there. I think my silence all the way home said it all. You only have to do that once. Yeah, I didn’t get the shopping done, and I scrounged something together for dinner, but you can bet it never happened again.

When Brian was in nursery school he’d often have play dates with classmates. I always emphasized when he went to someone’s house that it was important that he be well behaved and thank the mom for having him over. When I would pick him up, invariably, the mom would tell me it was so nice to have Brian over and that he was welcomed to come back anytime. An incident that really drove the point home was when Brain had a classmate come over to our house. As the kid was jumping up and down on the sofa, I calmly, yet firmly said to him, “In this house we don’t jump on sofas.” He “got” it.

The point to all this is, is….kids will live up to (or down to) your expectations of them. Be firm. Stick to your guns. If you do this in the beginning, it will be much easier in the end.
(...and no, my boys weren't perfect when they were little, but for the most part they were well-behaved because they knew what was expected of them in any given situation. Also, just because David is Special Needs that is not an excuse for him to misbehave.)

Copyright © 2005 Deborah Sharp Loeb

A Pass-Along (Happiness Bank Account)

(The following is one of those stories that is circulating the Internet, whereas I don't want to start doing that on a regular basis, as I know you all get enough of those, I thought this was a nice one to pass it on.) Thanks Anne

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably, coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window.
"I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
"Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room just wait."
"That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied.
"Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged... it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away … just for this time in my life."

Old age is like a bank account: you withdraw from what you've put in.
So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories.
Thank you for your part in filling my memory bank. I am still depositing.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

It’s All Greek to Me!

Cavender’s Greek Seasoning is good on all kinds of meats but I especially like to use it on flank and skirt steak with Adolph’s Natural Tenderized before grilling. You may like it on some vegetables as well.

David and Donny - 4 (Third Concert)

Today you’re in for another David and Donny story. So if this isn’t your cup of tea bail out now. For the rest, buckle-up, it’s going to be a long ride.
To begin with the day before the concert I get in the mail this sample card from Guideposts Magazine. On the outside is a cartoon drawing and it says “Joseph and his goat of many colors” inside it says, “Life's never gray when you're around!” David just has to give this card to Donny. Too perfect or what? He signs it, “Davie”. It took him awhile because handwriting is very hard for him.
The next day I have in mind this thing I just have to get for Donny, so it’s off to the mall for the two of us. I spot the item in the first store I go into but I think I’ll just try another store just in case I see something I like better. Then I run into our friend Eric, who just happens to have an embroidery business there in the mall, and I tell him what I’m up to and would he be able to embroider on the item I have in mind? He says he’ll give it a shot, as he had never done it on this item before. Success! It worked.
On to the concert. We were in the front row of regular seats, on the aisle, David first seat of course, me, and then my brother. There were two rows of chairs in front of us but David had a perfect view of the stage. Right off in the beginning Donny looked right at David, smiled, David waved to him and he waved back. When he started to sing Any Dream Will Do from “Joseph” David was literally on the edge of his seat and remained so from that point on. David thinks he sang that song just for him especially since he was wearing his “Joseph” shirt from that very theater where he’s seen the production for the past 10 years. Meanwhile, David is pointing to his gift bag for Donny and wanting to give it to him. With urging from the audience, he sings another, Close Every Door. Right after this I think David has his opportunity and I tell him to go up to the stage but he isn’t fast enough and by the time he reaches the stage Donny's turned and moved farther away. A security guard goes up to him and I rush over. I don’t know if it was the whole audience but I know that from everyone in our area I heard this collective sigh. Then everyone asks me what did he say to you. He said that he thought that sometime during the show Donny was going to let people come up and to wait until then.
There was an intermission and Donny’s assistant, Tina, was up on the stage and people were giving her things for Donny. So Johnny and I took David up to the stage and David handed her the bag. I showed her what was inside and she said that he’d remember that! She said that this was his 5th concert in a row and that he was very tired that’s why he wasn’t opening the show up to that. I could understand, besides this was a, let’s just say, very exuberant audience, to say the least! Donny’s fans really love him and he is most gracious at letting them take photos, shake hands and such.
Some point later in the concert David is able to get to the stage and he reaches up to Donny. Donny goes to shake his hand and David kisses the back of his hand! Donny smiles and pats him on the head. I swear I heard a collective sigh. I see everyone in the area where we our seated is beaming. I gave them the “thumbs-up”. I took a picture but I only got it of Donny as he was leaning into David. It all just happened so quickly. There were some other fans there that were taking pictures by me and we exchanged info so there could be a chance I get it.
Near the end of the show, the same security guard from before motioned to my brother to bring David right up to the stage, where he remained until the end.
After the concert, Donny’s musical director, Paul Peterson, who plays a lot of instruments, was right by us. I asked David if he wanted his picture with him as he was taking pictures with others. David went over to him and gave him one of his very hard David hugs and gave him a big kiss on the neck! Oh…David! He was so pleased with himself, I saw he was teary-eyed and this kind gentleman gave him one of his guitar picks. Which I know David will cherish.
On the way out I wanted to buy him a shirt but he wanted a button but they didn’t have any. He picked out a picture and he also got a souvenir booklet.
The first thing he did when he got home was play his new Donny CD. Sweet dreams David. He slept very late.
(Oh, by the way, the item in the bag….a pair of Purple Socks with “DONNY” stitched on each one and a “Princess Chain” * with story, for his wife.)

Now I’m going to let you in on a little secret that only parents and those that work with those that have Special Needs know.
The “lows” can be very low, but the "highs", you soar!
Thank you Donny for making David soar!

Copyright © 2005 Deborah Sharp Loeb
* For "Princess Chains" see the last page of the Bookstore
Pictured above - Donny as he is going to shake David's hand
Pictured below - David standing by the stage

A-Pass-Along - for Mother's Day

This was sent to me and I wanted to pass it along to all the Mothers for Mother's Day... (Turn your sound on). Click on "Back" when you are done viewing.

         ODE TO MUM

Note: You must have Microsoft PowerPoint or at least the PowerPoint Viewer to play it. If you do not have PowerPoint, you can download the PowerPoint Viewer here.

Do You Have Control Issues in Your Home?

The TV remote control that is! I bet you can never find it. For this one of ours I put sticky backed Velcro on it and stuck it to the side of the TV. Now as long as it gets returned to its spot, we'll be able to find it!

Oh,one other thing - Stay Tuned - There's another David and Donny story coming your way soon!

Wrap- Around Apron

This Simplicity pattern #5201 is very simple to make. All it is, is the front, 2 of the exact same pieces that make the back, which just have shoulder and side seams to sew, and the 2 pockets. That's all there is to it! I've made at least a half dozen of these as gifts. If you want to trim it you'll need 3 packages of Extra Wide Double Fold Bias Tape.The pattern has a longer version too. The green one is a fun retro print with salt & pepper shakers and a boomerang design. The blue one is a garden print.
The pattern is $13.95 but some stores like, Rag Shops, discount patterns.
You could even make this in time for Mother's Day!

Could You "Pass-Along" the Geranium Farm?

Speaking on behalf of my fellow farmers here at the Geranium Farm may I ask you to help spread the word of the "Farm" perhaps by having a notice added to your Sunday Church Bulletin and/or if you have an announcements portion during your service to bring it to people's attention. Any way that you pass along the website would be much appreciated by us. Thanks! www.geraniumfarm.org

Window Treatment

This is a little different type of window treatment I did for one of our bathrooms. The shelf is from a craft store and I had my husband drill 2 holes through it and a wooden dowel serves as the rod to hold the tab curtain I made and decorated with buttons.

There’s More to School than the 3 R's

Some years ago when my youngest was still in Junior High our school district got a new superintendent. He called for committees to be formed of teachers and parents to examine the curriculum and see what, if any, changes needed to be made. I was a part of this. We went over all different aspects; not only subjects taught, but also content, scheduling and various other things were just part of what was covered. One thing that kept popping up was whether Home Economics and Shop classes should be kept. From what I remember it was a pretty well divided camp, with the parents of the more gifted students thinking these class were unnecessary and needed to go, and I was on the other side and believed they should stay. (Actually what I felt like saying, but didn't, was your kids probably need these classes even more. You can be "book smart" but "common sense dumb".)
Granted these classes were not taught anything like they were back in my day, you know, the olden days, but I think they are necessary to make a well rounded person. I’ve used the knowledge gained in those classes so much, alot from the Home Ec classes, from making kid’s costumes to many curtains, drapes, and all kinds of things over the years.
When the school my husband teaches in needed to expand and the voters kept vetoing a new school budget to add onto the school, the first rooms to be gutted and turned into additional classrooms were the shop and home economics rooms. What a shame. Now finally, push has come to shove and the school is being expanded. Have these classes been added back? Not as of yet.

If your child, grandchild, niece, nephew, whomever, didn’t have any classes of this type or even if they did, and if you can cook, build, or can pass on any of the needle arts, then give them the gift of your knowledge. Share a cookie recipe and bake it with them, build a bird house, knit or crochet a scarf together, teach them what was taught to you. Can’t do these things? Then learn together. Many craft stores give free lessons.

This also goes for music and art as well, as these are the first to go in many cases when there are budget cuts. Many schools have "Art on a Cart" where the teacher has to travel because there is no art room and the same thing happens to the music programs.

So … in the end, my thanks to all the "arts" teachers, for all those lessons that not only served to make you a well rounded person, but for having given me a better foundation to creatively enjoy my free time over the years, enriching my life in many ways.

Copyright © 2005 Deborah Sharp Loeb

David and Donny 3 - (The Meeting)

Time passes and I see an ad in the paper that Donny is going to be at a Costco near us to do a signing for a new CD and a DVD he did a song on. Naturally I have to take David. Before we can even get out the door he’s starting to gather up his Donny things.
David and I join the line with all the ladies there to see Donny. Of course while we’re waiting I get to talking to everyone standing by us in line and I tell them about David giving Donny the card at the concert and how everyone was so thrilled for him.
Later my dad and brother get there so he can take pictures for me. When it’s finally our turn I say to Donny, “This isn’t for me. This is for David. It’s all about David.” I tell him that David has watched the “Joseph” DVD so many times that we had to buy another one. I said, “I don’t know whether you remember or not but David handed you a card on stage during a concert at _______.” He said, “I remember. I remember him.” He autographs his things (Now I had managed to hide away some of the stuff David had grabbed up as you were understandably, were only supposed to get the CD and DVD autographed.) and I explain someone got us the “Joseph” photo and sent it to us. David has some character watch on and he shows it to him and he says he likes that one too. His assistant tells me to stand to the other side for a picture and after a couple of pictures Donny goes to shake David’s hand and give him a hug and I’m pretty sure David gave him a very hard hug, ‘cause that’s how David will hug you. Then just as they break away David gives Donny a kiss on the cheek…twice! The picture was taken just a second afterwards. I just love the expression on Donny’s face. It’s just priceless! It’s as if to say, “Oh you kid!” Just as we are about to leave I say to Donny, “Thanks so much, you make this kid so happy!” It was all that I could do to get the words out. With that tears well up in my eyes. I look at my brother and dad; they’ve got tears in their eyes, as do a number of other people who have been watching this whole exchange.

Some time passes and I compose myself. I take the Donny and Marie Thermos we got for David off eBay out to show my brother. David sees me and he points back to Donny. Someone sees what’s going on and they tell me to give them. It gets passed back to Donny and he autographs it to David. He is just the nicest guy!

Copyright © 2005 Deborah Sharp Loeb

Do You Love Movies?

If you love movies or just want see all kinds of lists about them, then visit:
www.filmsite.org
Here you will find "Greatest" lists for Films, Directors, Stars, Quotes, Scenes, Songs and more. There is information on the Academy Awards and also all the AFI (American Film Institutes) 100 Years Series Lists.
Rainy afternoon, need an ice-breaker for a party, want to stump your co-workers or amaze your friends; you're sure to find something here!

David and Donny - 2 (Second Concert)

Some months pass and Donny is appearing at a smaller venue not far from us. I, of course, have to take David to see him again. This time David makes a card for him on his computer and he sits through the whole first half of the show holding his card and pointing to Donny, like when can I give this to him. By the time the intermission rolls around, everyone sitting around us knows what’s going on. When the lights go up for intermission, everyone says you get him up there so he can give that card to Donny! I walk David up to the front and there is an extremely nice and understanding security guard by the stage and I explain the situation to him. I have my camera and I explain to him that I’d like to try to get a picture of David as he’s handing his card to Donny, but that David has seizures and has to be closely watched. He says no problem. When the show starts back up he walks David over to the stage and holds him by the waist. At first, Donny is on the other side of the stage. As he comes to our side he sees David with his outstretched hand and reaches down and takes the card, mind you he’s doing a song during this, only David doesn’t take his hand away, so Donny looks puzzled for a second and then he figures he wants a hand shake and does so. Thankfully, David took his hand back and we walk up the aisle to our seats. Now for the best part, people are smiling, applauding, and giving us thumbs up! They all “got” it! They knew how much it meant to this kid. After the show people came up to me and said how cool the whole thing was and several had tears in their eyes. I just tear up every time I think about it!

The part I didn’t tell you yet, was that while we were waiting for David to give his card to Donny, a young lady comes up to me and gives me her card and tells me to email her when I get home. It turns out that her name is Tracey and she is a part of astarfordonny.com and she wants to send me something for David. She sent David a Donny sweatshirt and an autographed book. Another time she got a picture of Donny dressed as Joseph, and she also had another fan send me some pictures she had of Donny for David. Donny has really nice people as fans!

Copyright © 2005 Deborah Sharp Loeb

David shaking hands with Donny

Attention Teachers & School Administrators

I found this on the HP (Hewlett-Packard) website

www.hp.com

At the website click on: Offers and Rebates, Go to the bottom Right Corner,You will see Government, Health, and Education. Click on: Celebrate you Success Teachers

Contest registration ends May 6, 2005
Essays must be submitted by May 27, 2005

HP and Riverdeep have joined together to offer a unique opportunity for K-12 customers and resellers. Just use Destination Success software for 30 days, then write and submit an essay that describes how the Destination Success software impacted the teaching and learning in your classroom to qualify for a chance to win...

Grand Prize - an HP Tablet PC Mobile Classroom, and a Destination Success Network version, 1 course of your choice, and 3 consecutive days of on-site professional development
2nd Place Prize - Free Destination Success Network version
3rd Place Prize - a Destination Success Lab Pack

Peachy Keen!

A new favorite tea – Ginger Peach Decaf
by The Republic of Tea. It comes in regular too.
Sweetening it to taste brings out the peachy flavor.
It would make a good iced tea as well.
The Panera Bread Bakery-Cafe's carry The Republic of Tea
if you'd like to try it out there first.
To find one near you go to: www.panera.com

David and Donny - 1 (First Concert)

Well. to begin with, if you have to ask, “Donny who?” then you’re probably below a certain age. I’m talking about Donny Osmond. Now why, Donny? David has been going to a local production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat for the past 10 years. He loves it! When the Donny Osmond version came out on DVD my brother, John gave it to David. David has watched it gazillion times, so much so, that he got scratches on it and it kept playing certain sections over and over, so now we have our second one. All of this is all going back several years ago.
Now I see this ad that Donny is going to be appearing in the area and I say to my husband that we just have to take David to see him. He rolls his eyes a bit and agrees to go along.
We explain to David that this will be a concert and not a show of “Joseph” but he might do a song from it. During the whole show David’s eyes are transfixed on the stage. After a brief intermission, he has a Q & A segment and comes up the aisle right past us. This is so cool for David and when he does the “Joseph” number, coat and all, David is on Cloud 9 and was so for weeks afterwards.
Oh, and by the way, my husband had to admit that Donny was excellent and that he really enjoyed the show.

Copyright © 2005 Deborah Sharp Loeb

A-Pass-Along (Warm Up America)

An anonymous reader sent this to Hodgepodge. After I went to the site I had remembered seeing flyers for it in various craft stores. Thanks for the Pass-Along!

www.warmupamerica.com has some great projects for knitting/crocheting blankets for the homeless as well as projects for kids to tackle - good community service ideas!