Seriously Sheila

- Can I briefly mention to you that my head feels like it is slowly sucking itself inward and will implode, I’d say, in roughly 10 hours.  I don’t know why I chose 10 hours.  If my head were going to implode, I’d prefer it sooner than later.  I’m not one for long drawn out pain or misery.  Truly.

- I did not hear anything from the financing people today.  Which does not shock me.  Because, really, that would just be convenient.  Or, logical.  Or something like that.

- I text messaged a friend of mine that lives in St. Croix (Yes, that would be the Virgin Islands).  She said there was no way in hell that she’d consider moving back to Missouri.  Especially in the winter.  I don’t suppose I’d blame her really.

- I nearly ran out of Diet Coke tonight, and definitely didn’t feel like leaving my house would be a great idea.  Paul willingly went to the store and bought me some pop and chocolate.  He knows not to bite the hand that feeds him… or something like that.

- I feel feverish.  I’ve taken my temperature, and its not gone above 100.  Which, for me, basically means that I don’t reaaaaally have a fever.  Now, if Tom’s temperature was at 100, we’d both be unhappy.  (He runs a low temp on average.  I run higher than most normal people.)

- Can you feel when you have a fever in your eyes?  Like, I dunno, your eyelids are warmer than normal sitting on your eyeballs?  I can totally judge how much of a fever I have by my eyeballs.

- I blabber a lot more about nothing in particular when I’m sick also.  Have you noticed?  You’ve made it this far into this post?  Wow.  I’m super impressed.  I mean, I really don’t feel that I’ve given you anything worth reading… but here you are… still reading.  Crazy.

- My cats have been on a regular feeding schedule for years now.  Yet, they still whine and wait by their food bowl hours before its time to be fed.  Why is this?

- The number 3 has fallen off my house.  The ’siding’ that the previous owners used must be brick mortar or something.  Its near impossible to drive a nail through that crap.  The rest of the numbers are still hanging in there, though.

- I love twitter.  Lots.  And lotsandlotsandlots.  If you don’t have a twitter account, you should totally jump on the bandwagon and get one.  Now.

Its okay.  I’ll wait for you to start your twitter account before I continue.

Really.  Go ahead.  Its super simple to sign up.  Then, you can follow me.   Cuz, I find 140 characters to be more than enough to express myself throughout the day.

- I think I’m getting tired.

- I think the Alieve is kicking in and beating down my ‘fever’.

- I think I need a zinger.

- I think I want to color my hair.  Or cut it, or both.  Or neither.

- Maybe I’ll get a pedicure instead.

- (I got a gift card for Christmas, btw.  I’m not made out of money here.)

- Are you still reading?

- Seriously?

- If you are, tell me why I just noticed that Tom’s and my hair color is exactly the same.  Like, exactly.  Like, should of both come from a bottle to make it that exact.

- Well, his has some grey hairs scattered throughout there. I would never say something like that!  Rude.

- I’m outtie.  I’ll look for you on twitter.

I’ve been looking at vans online for a while now.  You know, just to see what was out there in the world… and dream of winning the million dollar lottery, which would be amazing considering I don’t play the lottery.

Anyhow.  One of the largest concerns about the purchase of a new van is the overall clearance of the vehicle, in regards to the door we’d use to get Tom inside and the interior head room.  If these two things are not available in the options we can afford, it is pointless to invest money in it.

So, while cruising through the world wide web of wheelchair accessible vans, I find one that looks promising.  Yet, a lot of these dealers do not list the measurements of the accessible area.  I find this quite frustrating, really.  I can’t look at a photo and know for certain that Tom’s big ol’ head chair will fit through the door.

I emailed one company, asking for measurements. You know, like, weeeeeeks ago.  To the point that I had written off the possibility of this van still being on the market, let alone actually being contacted by the company.

Today, though, for some reason, I suddenly get 3 emails from this company, and a phone call.  All within an hours time, mind you.

Hm.

Did the dude just get back from vacation?  Did his boss just tell him that he has to sell his quota of vehicles this month or he gets the boot?  I dunno.

The phone call is kinda weird.  You can tell this man is working on several things at once, trying to get caught up from the holidays.  Poor guy.  He’s a little scattered.  Its late… after dinner… before he even calls anyhow.

He starts chatting me up about this great 2008 minivan on the lot that he’s sure that Tom’s chair will be able to fit into… blah blah blah.  I interrupt the guy, “Unless its at least under $20,000, you might as well save your breath.”

Of course, he immediately changes gears, “Well, I’ve got this ‘95 on the lot, raised roof, dropped floor, new lift… ”

I’m kind of tuning him out.  I mean, I’m interested… but, uhm… Yeah, I gots no monies.

It listed at a little less than $19,000.  My ears perk up a little.  Not that I have any money saved (minus the lovely donations that have acumulated that I am greatly thankful for, mind you).

$19,000 is a number that I can understand and respect.  Its still high, don’t get me wrong.  But, the monthly payment would be less than my mortgage payment.  So, its a step in the right direction.

I went ahead and applied for their financing.  I doubt I’ll qualify for the amount of the van.  We’re not rolling in the dough over here… at all.

But, I’m making steps.

Maybe someone will make an effort to meet me half way… or 2/3 of the way… or you know, at least take a step in our direction!

I’ve decided, after a lot of thought, to start a ChipIn page so others are able to help us raise money to buy a better van for Tom.  If you’d like to donate, please check the link in the sidebar, over there —->

If you’d like to help spread the word, I think you can create your own widget for our ChipIn cause by clicking on this link.

I am super duper new to ChipIn.  Like, uh… a whole 5 minutes ago I created the account.  So, if you have any questions about the actual ChipIn site, you might be better off with their help file.

Thanks in advance for any help you are able to give!!  Tom and I appreciate it tremendously!

I think my main goal for 2009 is to have a solid plan in purchasing a new van.

Not that there is anything wrong with our current van… well, anymore than normal, that is.

If we were to get a van that suited our needs better, traveling would be a lot easier.

Currently the van we own works alright for short trips, or necessary doctors visits.

But, its a super bouncy ride, which jostles Tom and makes him very sore, very quickly.  The side doors that houses the wheelchair lift haven’t been made taller, either.  In order to get Tom’s tall chair into the van, he must tilt back far… which (as a safety function) makes him unable to drive his chair.  Therefore, we have to manually move the chair into the correct spot in the van.  Its all a well orchestrated ordeal with Paul, Tom and myself each playing a vital role.

Its not impossible for one person to get Tom into the van by themselves.  But, its not a lot of fun.  And, lets face it, no one is getting younger over here.  Therefore, it’s just going to get more difficult.

So, a van is on my list of To-Do’s for 2009.

Cost?  Uhm… looking around a little online has me guessing at least $20,000 for one that will suite Tom’s needs.

If his chair weren’t so darned tall, I’m sure we could possibly find something cheaper.  I’d say that Tom sits up about about 5 feet tall in that electric throne of his.  Geez.

Anyhow, financing isn’t out of the question.  But, we cannot afford a typical 5 year note at this juncture in our lives.  Some Lots offer 10 year financing, which sounds great… except if the van goes kaput before we get the thing paid off.

I checked Ebay, too.  There are some possibilities there.  Although, money upfront is not an option.  And, we’d then have to find a way to get the vehicle to Missouri.

Point being… I’m just in the beginning stages of trying to figure this out.

But, its definitely something I’d like to see accomplished in 2009, if at all possible.

Hope yours are as precious as this:

I’ve exhausted my usual sites on the Internet.

I’ve got nothing to do.

Well, I’m sure there’s something I could be doing.  But, eh, whatever.

Instead, I’m doing another Christmas meme.

Wanna do it, too?  Leave me a comment, and I’ll stop by and check out your answers.

Because, honestly, I’m not doing anything else.

Read the rest of this entry »

Someone mentioned Peter Paul and Mary the other night in a post.

Which quickly led down a slippery slope when I decided to check out some of their older performances online.

We started with Peter Paul and Mary singing Puff the Magic Dragon, promptly followed by Right Field, then … as I scroll down, I see Peter Paul and Mary with Donavan and The Smother’s Brothers?

Of course, I’m intrigued.

(I promise, though, its not nearly as intriguing as it looked.)

Then, the trip down memory lane made me check out some more of The Smother’s Brothers videos, because… well, gosh, they’re just down right entertaining, in my opinion.  I made Tom watch several of the clips with me.

Somewhere, down the line of The Smother’s Brothers videos comes The Who performing on the brother’s comedy hour.  What a rowdy bunch of kids they are, you know?  And, as they’re finishing up My Generation, I ask Tom… “Is this that one show that the one thing happens to the drummer?“  At that moment, the ‘thing’ I’m talking about happens, and Tom says (without missing a beat), “It would appear so.”

Yeah.

Well, after The Who, where do you go?  I mean… that was some excitement there.

So, we decide to bring it down a notch and settle in for some good old fashion Simon and Garfunkel.  I loooooove their music.

Let me say it again:

LOVE!

I could listen to Simon and Garfunkel all day long with no problems.  The harmonies?  Amazing.

I’m fairly certain that Tom and I watched an hour or so of their random videos.

Good stuff.

A wonderful musical night!

What do you enjoy listening to on a mellow evening?