Hi Everybody,

I have lots of Kitchen modification pics to share today, but first:
Here is the picture I couldn't find yesterday. This is the table Sarah's PaPa made for her to use with her standing frame and braces. He cut PVC pipe insulation and added it to the inside of the table and it acted as a cushion to made it more comfy!! (Now that's using your noggin!!)

Some of these were scanned from old Polaroids, so the quality is not that great, and they were before we finished the woodwork, so I apologize. The first picture is of the sink that was installed. It moves up and down with two buttons on the right that (oops) hadn't been installed yet in the pictures, and neither had the wood panel that covers the pipes below!!
This picture is of the cook-top that was lowered, and open underneath for Sarah to get close enough to cook. Unfortunately, I think that was the ONLY time she ever attempted to cook. She was scared to death of the stove!! So.... When the Cooktop cracked and had to be replaced, I decided to get a full size stove with oven to replace it. Since I have to do all of the cooking, and we have all Holiday Parties at my house because of accessibility issues, I really needed the extra oven anyway!! All of the cabinets have pull out drawers on the bottom, so Sarah can reach everything she needs to cook (I mean microwave, haha). These pictures show the other Wall Oven. There is a glass lined flat surface that pulls out to put the hot dishes on when they come out of the oven. Sarah does use this surface all the time to prepare her food. She keeps her plates, cups, and favorite foods (Peanut Butter, Deviled Ham and Vineeny Sausages and Ranch Dressing, lol) in the the drawers beside this "table". The oven opens to the side to be able to get closer. This area started out as a place for Sarah to prepare the meals, and she has used it to make cookies and the such, but now we have a shelf under there and use the bottom more for storage, but she can still use it when she needs to. This is the COOLEST thing we added. A pull-down shelf for snacks (well, that's what we use it for!) There is a handle that you pull out and down and voila.......... It comes down so Sarah can pick her own goodies!!!

We had a local Cabinet Maker do the cabinets with the equipment we bought from AD-AS. Here's the link to their website:
Accessible Designs, Adjustable Systems, Inc.


Just an interesting note (to me anyway!):


Bobby had Rascal Flatt's trailer truck in his shop today! Not sure if something was wrong with it or just needed inspection, but he snapped this pic (at my request of course!) and sent it to me. They are in Charlottesville for a concert.

Since Gary, Jay and Jo Don were just sitting around waiting at the COLD shop, I invited them to my house for dinner. We ate Lasagne and Salad, and they told me I was an EXCELLENT cook (despite what my kids say). I showed them pictures of the time me and "The Girls" went to see them in concert at the State Fair, and told them that between me and Bobby we have every CD they've made, and they were so appreciative they sang a few songs for us right their in my living room !! It was incredible!!!!

Ok, that's enough fantasizing for one day, I've got laundry to do.

P.S. I REALLY DID consider for one quick nanosecond about hiding in the back of that trailer and rolling on to Charlottesville to to try to meet those Flat Rascals!!

Long Term Care Waiver Update

I finally made it to my Aunt Claudine's house yesterday to fill out the application for Medicaid so she can receive the waiver. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. In her case anyway, because she doesn't have much in the way of income or assets.

The first three pages look overwhelming because you have to list every little detail about every person living in your home, but when you get to reading it, it's pretty simple stuff like name, DOB, SS#, school info, etc .

The next section was on resources. This was the only tricky part for me. Here you have to list Checking Acct info, Stocks or bonds, Questions about personal property, vehicles owned, health insurance, and life insurance. I didn't understand the stock section, but hubby helped me with the one part I couldn't figure out.

The third section is on income. This is where you have to list ALL sources of money coming into the home, that was easy since all she has is Social Security and Retirement.

All in all it was fairly simple. It took us about 1 hour to complete, mostly because she had to keep getting up to find information, and she's not moving so fast these days. Of course, she's the only one in her household, and she doesn't own much, so anyone with a family could expect to take a little more time since you have to list every family member.

I will mail the form back today, and we'll see how it goes from there. I'll let ya know!!

eBay News:

Wow, I sold 5 things yesterday, and got up this morning and had sold 2 more things overnight! Praise the Lord! I think I'll keep at this a little longer!

I was sooo disappointed that we didn't get snow the other day, but no worries, one of my customers from CT told me she would mail me some cause they had a blizzard there!! Now there's an idea for some of you eBayers. Mail order snow. I bet you could make a killing!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great day :)

Good Morning,

I have a few pictures of Sarah's first pieces of Equipment.


Ok, so these first two pics aren't technically MEDICAL equipment, but they worked great for stability! She felt safe and secure in a laundry basket, and she loved them, as you can tell.


This picture is of Sarah's first "Rolling Chair". It was made by the father of a girl I worked with at the time. He was a welder, or sheet metal worker, or whatever, and he designed it to be low to the floor so she would feel safe, but also had wheels she could roll herself. (This was before her latex allergy became known).

I know you can't in most circumstances get one of these made, but I wanted to include it to show you how people who don't even know you will step up and help out. (He met Sarah once.) There are some AMAZING people in this world. Don't be shy about accepting help wherever you can get it. Trust me, it can come few and far between.

This is Sarah's first standing frame. She really hated it, but her grandpa made her a round table with a hole in the middle, and we would put her in there and she would turn and play all around that table. It really was neat, and I know I have a picture somewhere, but I can't find it right now. (I'm sure she's telling me in this picture: You put that camera down and come get me out of here RIGHT NOW!!)
Here is her first set of braces. If she hated the standing frame, she hated the braces ten times worse!! She would throw a fit when she had to wear them. She never really was able to walk with them, and we eventually gave up on the idea. (But Sarah was really into "Reading" the Bible!!)
Here is her second standing frame. She liked this one a little better because she could lean forward or stand straight, and she could play on the table. It was also all one piece which made her feel more secure. The school bought her an even nicer one to use there. I'll show that one in her school photos.

Next time I will post pictures of our Kitchen Modifications, then school pics and Bathroom modifications.

Meanwhile.......

Previously in the the Jeffreys Household:

Bobby’s Home!

Bobby comes home from work.

Bobby: Mom, what’s for dinner?
Me: Chicken & Rice
Bobby: Eeewwwww

Next Day:
Bobby: Mom, what’s for dinner?
Me: Pork Chops
Bobby: Grosssss

Next Day:
Bobby, Mom, what’s for dinner?
Me: Shrimp
Bobby: COME ON MOM, why don’t you ever make anything I like?

Me: Uh, cause you don’t like anything but Pizza Rolls and Hot Pockets!

Fine, from now on I’ll only make things Bobby likes so he’ll eat at home instead of at Sonic!

Next Day:

Bobby comes home from work.

Bobby: Mom, what’s for dinner?
Me: Hot dogs and Homemade Chili
Bobby: Ooooooooh, okay!!

Robert comes home from work.

Robert: What’s for dinner?
Me: Hotdogs
Robert: Gross, nasty, heartburn, are ya trying to kill me?
Me: Urgh…..

Next Day:

Bobby: Mom, what’s for dinner?
Me: Fish Stick Sandwiches
Bobby: Aiiight!!!

Robert: What’s for dinner?
Me: Fish Stick Sandwiches
Robert: Who in their right mind would eat a Fish Stick sandwich?
Me: I’m gonna lose it here real soon!

Wait, I think I have the answer. Something I KNOW they both like!!

Next Day:

Bobby: What’s for dinner?
Me: Rosa’s Pizza
Bobby: Oh yea, I been wanten me some Rosa’s Pizza!!
Robert: What’s for dinner?
Me: Rosa’s Pizza
Robert: Okay (he’s excited, trust me)
Me: I’m good, I’m good I’m really really good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sarah comes in

Sarah: Mom, what’s for dinner:
Me: Rosa’s Pizza
Sarah: I just don’t like Rosa’s Pizza anymore.

I take a Valium and thank the Lord that I haven’t lost my everloven mind!

Yet……..

eBay:

I finally finished listing the last 15 girls bathing suits last night. I said I wasn't going to do eBay at night anymore, but Rob went to bed early, and Biggest Loser was on, and I couldn't just sit in front of the TV and do nothing. So I got it done, and I'm soooo glad it's finally over! 5 more boys suits and i'll be done with bathing suits for good. I can move on the the HUGE bucket of shorts that have to list next :(

Was That You, God?

I’m not sure if it was a divine message from God, or a subtle message from my son, but I GOT THE MESSAGE!!

Yes I admit it’s been a while since I’ve cleaned my toilet. The main bathroom stays clean cause Mom cleans it after she gets Sarah out of the shower several times a week, but the little porcelain throne in my room sometimes gets a wee bit neglected. When I was following FlyLady, my pooper got swooshed every morning, but Robert made fun of my relationship with THA FLY, so I gave her and all of her routines up!!

Mind you, it doesn’t have black things growing in it or around it, or that little orange ring that’s visited me in the past, it’s just a bit stanky.

So, imagine my surprise when I go to take my shower this morning, and there, on my little porcelain pot lid, is a SCRATCH & SNIFF sticker!!!!!!!

What up with that? I know I’ve been praying for God to show me what he wants me to do, but I meant like real, important, life-changing things. Surely he wouldn’t tell me to clean the toilet?

But I’m trying to be a good little Bible reading, always praying, do what I’m called to do Christian, so I’m gonna get down on my knees, with a song in my heart, and SCRUB that little sucker till she shines!!!!

But what I’m really hoping is that Bobby just removed the sticker from his new bottle of soap and tossed it over the shower door, and it ACCIDENTLY landed on the toilet, cause surely God’s not called me to be a JANITOR?

Right?

Congrats to Everybody!

God is Good! I'm sitting here snug as a bug in a rug. Well okay, I'm freezing, but you know what I mean. I'm all tucked in at home, having canceled my appointment with my Aunt due to the impending blizzard (well we might get some flurries) and my sick van (it had the runs all over the driveway) so I don't want to drive to Hopewell and risk getting stuck somewhere on a back road.

So here I sit, in my Gown and Robe, and Slippers that haven't warmed my icy toes YET. I've already put Cabbage Rolls in the Crock Pot and my first of two batches of Homemade Bread in the Bread Machine.

Here's the bad news. In about 3 hours, my house will be smelling sooo good, and my stomach will be growling sooo loud, and it won't even be lunch time yet, and I'll be dying by the time I get to eat this yummy dinner!! These kinds of obsessions are what keep my butt so big.

I want to say Congratulations to two of my cousins who got married recently.

Jeff & Kelly, what a cute couple!!

Jeff's Kids, Tyler and Hannah

And PJ and Sophie
Awe, Best Wishes you Guys!!

PJ is just 4 days older than Sarah. Here's a pic of them when they were babies
See Sophie, he's always been a cute poot!!

While I'm at it, Congrats to our new babies too!!!

~~Welcome baby Alexandra~~
I can't believe my BABY brother has three babies of his own
The Perfect Family
Bridget and Robert Lee
Mahala, Keri & Alex
(Hey Rob, what's those weird things sticken out of your ears?)

~~Welcome Baby Abigail~~

My cousin Donnie, Colleen, and Abby

Worth every minute of that wicked labor!!

Children are a heritage of the Lord,
the fruit of the womb is His reward.
Psalm 127:3

eBay News:

I've checked my e-mails and and learned one very valuable lesson for today. NEVER ship anything without Delivery Confirmation!! My Paypal shipping link was not working, and I don't for the life of me understand why you can't print first class shipping on the USPS site, but anyway, here I was, forced to go to the Post Office to ship for several days. The first two days, I paid for the shipping confirmation, even though they charge 75 cents at the PO, and only 18 cents if you print it online. The third day I wisely thought: Hmm, I've never lost a package yet, it's been 11 months, I'm not paying that rip-off price for confirmation. WRONG WRONG WRONG move.
Of course, someone e-mails me that they have not received their package, and could i please send the tracking #. Now, I'm not accusing anyone of anything, but why would they ask for the tracking number first thing? Why wouldn't they ask if their package has been shipped? I know there are people who take advantage of situations like that, I'm just hoping that's not the case here because I like to think that my customers are as honest as I am. I'm glad it was something small, has to be for first class mail and I'm not out much money, as I now have to refund the customer, urgh!!!!! Anyway, they'll get their 8 bucks back, and everyone will be happy, and I'll never ship without confirmation again. See, now I can say I learned something new today, and we should all strive to learn something new EVERY day, right?

Check out this entry on the eBay message board:
Wow! I can hardly believe my good fortune. Since i have almost no sales on eBay now is the time for me to add product without the inconvenience of always shipping items.

I want to list 140 more items to reach a total of 500.
Since i only use store listings and 30 day fixed with auto relist, then I can just set back and wait for sales.

Since I have few sales now, think of all the time I will be saving. The only problem is that they may forget who I am at the post office.

That sounded like me before Christmas. Sales were dead! I worried about how I could keep up and get ready for Christmas and guess what? I did all that worrying for nothing. See, I try to tell Robert that it doesn't pay to get your panties all in a bunch. What will be will be!! I'm convinced that you have to keep auctions going at all times, that's what brings business into your store. So, what's the agenda for today? LIST LIST LIST to auction. I'll transfer about 10 items in every size I can find to auction and see if I can generate some more business like I did last week. It really works people, I'm tellen ya!!! Business has picked up, not where it was, but I'm moving forward, getten there!

Last night I went through EVERY picture album up in Sarah's closet (about 15), and pulled out a bunch of pictures of her using her equipment over the years. Then Robert sat and looked at them and had a little moment. She was such a character when she was little. Coulda easily been an actress!! BUT, she told me yesterday after reading my blog, "You know, my middle name is NOT Spina Bifida, so don't just talk about that when you talk about me!" So, just to make her happy, I will tell you that she is just like any other young lady. Any other MOODY, GROUCHY, PMSing, MAN OBSESSING young lady. How's that Sarah, did I do good? Uh Oh, now's not the time to be messen with her head. She's in that I HATE EVERYBODY, LEAVE ME ALONE state, and she's really gonna make me pay when she reads this.

Anyhoo, I will scan and add more pics soon, I promise. I just HAVE to work on eBay first. It brings in the money (occasionally).

But first I think I'll go throw on an extra pair of socks....

Yikes, I really can't post to this blog EVERY day, it's taking more time than eBay, haha!!

BUT, I did take a a few pics of our latest home modification project, so I wanted to share it with you.
This pic shows how the front of our house used to be. A small step up to the stoop, then a BIG step up into the door. Not good for wheelchair access!!!!!!!!! (Sarah loves this pic of her daddy, she says he looks goofy.)



These pics show how we fixed that problem. My poor picture window looks all lopsided since we had to remove one side of it for this project. It's gonna get worse when we take the other side out, and only have the middle left. But hopefully it'll look okay once we get the new siding up!!
Yeah, I know my old van is leaking something out the front, but hubby knows what it is and is going fix that soon. Add it to the list!!!!!!


We're adding on to Bobby's room while we're at it, and we'll eventually have a little front porch, all in due time.

And, since we talked about it on Spina Bifida Central, here's the pic of Sarah and the Optimist Clubs of Hopewell and Colonial Heights who bought and had her wheelchair lift installed for us. You can't tell what it is, but she made them a Thank You Poster. God Bless Them!!!! By the way, my Daddy is a Proud member of the Hopewell Optimist Club, and has been since I was a little girl. (And no, we didn't get this lift because of his influence. I wrote to the Colonial Heights Optimist Club and they offered to help. When they found out about my dad, they contacted Hopewell and asked them to help also.) I can tell you they do WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL things for Kids!!

That little fella on the left is now my 6'4" baby boy Bobby!

Yay, I finally figured out my scanner, so after I work on eBay some today, I'll scan pics and post more.

~Bye for now~

~Scroll down to see Pics of Sarah, my daughter with Spina Bifida~

I Promised I would keep you up to date on how the whole Screening process goes for the Long Term Care Waiver for my Aunt, so here's what's happened so far.

By the way, if you didn't read the post about waivers, there is a waiver that disabled children and adults can get that pays someone of your choice to take care of your child. In my daughter Sarah's case, it pays up to 30 hours a week, plus 720 hours a year in respite care. Both of her grandmothers are paid to take care of her. You can use the respite care to supplement the 30 hours if you need someone longer than 6 hours a day, 5 days a week. You can email me at crystalcooks63@aim.com if you want more info.

On Thursday I called our local Social Services Department to request a screening for the EDCD Waiver for Long Term Care. The first person on the phone had no idea what I was talking about but she finally connected me with someone who did. If you get the same response, insist on talking to a Supervisor or someone who knows about Medicaid Waivers.

Once I got the correct person, she knew exactly what I needed. She said she would mail out an application for Medicaid the next day, and I should apply for that before they do they screening for the Long Term Care. She did write on the application "Long Term Care" so it would not automatically be denied because of income.


On Saturday, the application came in the mail. That was incredibly fast I thought, so I was impressed!! Here's another look at the application, there are 13 pages, but we only have to fill out about 8 of them. They mark out what you don't need to fill out. That helps, because any paperwork like this is quite confusing to me.

This is just a typical Medicaid application. If you've ever applied for Medicaid, then you know what type of questions they ask. If not, there is a section for General Information, for Resources (like Checking Acct, etc.), for Income. I admit I had to have my husband help me fill out Sarah's, and even then we weren't sure about some of it. You can always go to Social Services and have them help you if need be. If you already receive Medicaid, you don't need to do this step. They will just schedule a screening for you. The lady told me the screening should be able to be done by January 30, she would call me with a date soon, so that's not a long wait.

So now I will take this application to my Aunts house on Tuesday (weather permitting) and I'll let you know how it goes as far as getting it completed!!

One thing I would like to tell you is that here in Virginia, there will be a waiting list for this waiver starting in July, so they encourage anybody who wants to apply to do it as soon as possible. That may be the case in all states, but I'm not sure.

Now, on to other things. I have been looking at pics of Sarah when she was little, and want to share some of her pics with equipment that she's used, etc. As soon as I figure out how to use my new scanner, I'll get right to that!!! For now, I'll share a recent pic of her. She'll always be my baby girl, even though she's 22 now!
Sarah has a best friend one year older than her that also has Spina Bifida. They've been best buds since 6th grade.
That's all the Spina Bifida talk today, I've got to read a scanner manual!!!!!!!!

But, here's the ooey, gooey dessert I made last night. It was really good, but soooo sweet. I only ate a bite, been doing great on the diet and lost 5 pounds this week, so I divided it up and took some to Church for the Hospitality Room and the rest to my Mother in laws for dinner!! One diet disaster averted, we'll see how the rest of the week goes.

Ebay has picked up a little bit. It's been very, very slow since Christmas, but I have sold a few things this weekend, so I'm not complaining. It probably helps that I have more things going to auction right now, so it drives more traffic to the store. I still have a whole giant bucket of brand new shorts to list, but I can't seem to find the time.

This is the HATE part of my Love/Hate relationship with eBay. That used to be my fireplace, now it's just temporary storage for my summer stock. Can't wait to finish listing, and get that stuff put away. But honestly, it never really goes away. As soon as I finish that, there will be more. There always is :(

You should see the other side of the room. Not gonna show that yet, I haven't got that brave!!!!!!!

God Bless everyone today with a great, relaxing Sunday!
Crystal :)

Okay, I think I've found my purpose! I've been praying that God would show me what he wants me to do, and I have found a great way to give back. I've been talking with people on the Yahoo Group "Spina Bifida Central", and I realize that everybody has so much to offer and everyone should offer the advice or knowledge that has helped them along this road of Spina Bifidaism (my own little made up word)!!

It has been so interesting to see other people's struggles and successes, what helps and what doesn't, and express the frustration that you often feel trying to do what's best for yourself or your child.

So, I think I will concentrate on Spina Bifida here, but everybody has soooo many more facets of their life besides their disability, so I won't be JUST talking about that. Life goes on, and we all have everyday challenges to deal with, so I'll still talk about that danged weight issue, Prayer, and all the other things that just happen to cross my mind at the time.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you find something here you can use!

What am I doing here?

Ok, I started this blog a couple of weeks ago with the intention of blogging for the very first time in my life. It has taken me TWO weeks to get back to it. It's now the middle of January!! I have so much I want to write about, and so little time. I really am the LAST person to jump on the blogging bandwagon!!

I was hoping that blogging would give me an extra push to keep my New Year's Resolutions, which I have more of this year than any year before!!! Obviously, that didn't happen yet :) Also, I wanted to chronicle my struggles with Ebay, Prayer, and Weight Loss, all of which seem to give me big greatest challenges!

I have a Love Hate relationship with Ebay. I absolutely love selling on Ebay, but it has taken over my life and my house. Anybody who sells a lot (or TRYS to sell a lot) knows that merchandise spills out of every nook and cranny in your house, garage, shed, everywhere. I'm surprised I haven't started storing stuff in my vehicles!! Hey, that's a great idea, no ,no, no you can't do that. I'm okay now, but I struggle with those conflicting kinds of thoughts daily!!

Now, if I could get my Prayer Life in order, I would be soooo happy. I've started reading through the Bible in a year, like I do every year, the only difference this time is I've actually kept it up almost a month now. I'm so happy!! But this year I'm doing it on the computer, and since I spend my whole life in front of the computer, it's been easy this time. It is the first (most of the time) thing I do in the morning, after I make the coffee and fix Robert & Bobby's lunch for the day! Prayer, on the other hand, is so much harder for me. Almost every time I start to Pray, morning or night, I get sidetracked so easily. Am I the only one who thinks about everything I have to get accomplished when I try to spend some quiet time with the Lord? I don't think so, but I'm working on that too!

Now, about the weight. I've gained all but 7 of the 30 pounds I lost 4 years ago. It took 4 years, but I managed to gain it all back. Now I have a goal: to lose 20 pounds by the time we start going back to the River for the summer, so I'm not sooooooo miserable in my clothes, and I won't break my husband and dad's back when they have to pull me back in the boat again! Long story, lots of bruises, not doen that again~!!!

I think I've covered everything for my first blog! Except, I'm working on a Medical Journal to sell on Ebay, and I want to update my progress as I go!! I've used this Medical Journal for Sarah (who has Spina Bifida) for many, many years and I've had so many Doctors and Nurses, Therapists and others tell me they wish everybody would use one, that I thought it was time to share. I'm excited about this book, and just made one for my Aunt who has MS and lots of other medical problems.

I should go for now, I've got sooooo much to do, but this was fun, and I just might give this blogging thing a real chance!!!!!!