Thursday
It was rainy, almost stormy, all day and what a relief it was to have my new windshield wiper blades, which Randy at Covert Buick ordered for me and which Kevin in Service there installed for me--no waiting and no charge! I LOVE Covert!!!! I drove to the hospital, leaving home at 7:42, but because it was raining, traffic was crazy and I hit every single red light. I got to the hospital at 7:22, had breakfast in the cafeteria, signed in at the office and then opened the Gift Shop and began my shift. Jim and Kim had taken down Valentine's Day merchandise and totally redecorated and restocked, with Easter themes everywhere--gorgeous! They must have finished late in the evening, because there were huge empty cardboard packing boxes everywhere and flotsam and jetsam all over the place. I called for box removal and while I waited, I got Swoosh, the hand vac I bought and donated to the Gift Shop two years ago, and swept up all the flotsam and jetsam. The men arrived, removed the empty boxes and by that time I had the money tallied, in the registers and had started on the census. Fellow volunteers and hospital staff were coming in and out, wishing me a belated Happy Birthday, as I had not been at SMC-W last Thursday on my actual birthday. The time flew because I was so busy, even after Debbie arrived at 9AM to work the shift with me. Claire was in meetings all day, as she had told me the night before, and I had intended to go straight home after my shift ended, instead of eating lunch in the cafeteria, but at noon I changed my mind and went to the cafeteria and ate lunch by myself, while I waited for a reply to an email I had sent my sister earlier that morning. That is a story! Right after Layla Beatrice was born, I sent the gifts we had for her--a beautiful quilt, a set of Bunnykins china, and ordered a Delft china birth plate for her from The Netherlands, in pink instead of the blue I had sent for Sean and Connor. a month and a half went by and I was then informed that the vendor could not obtain the plate in pink, even though their website showed it as available! Oh well, I found a second vendor and placed a second order. Another month or so went by with no delivery and I inquired about my order by email. After some to-and-fro, the second vendor admitted that they could not obtain the plate in pink. AGAIN?!?! After a lengthy search, I found a third vendor and placed a third order and about two weeks ago, I was informed that the third vendor could not obtain the plate in pink. GRRRRRR!!! Totally irritated, the larger issue was--what could I find as a substitute? Then, at the Gift Shop, I found an orval pink and white china display plate with a baby buggy and hearts on it, with places to display the name, weight and birth date of the baby girl. It was not an authentic Delft birth plate, of course, but it was a good substitute. I took a photo of it with my iPhone and emailed it to my sister with an explanation of what had happened. After I finished lunch in the cafeteria yesterday, I was walking down the corridor towards the exit doors, watching rain fall outside, when my phone beeped and it was a return email from Mary Louise! She liked the replacement plate and was sure Erica would like it, too. I turned around, went to the Gift Shop and purchased the plate, which Kim was kindly holding for me. Now I need to gift wrap it and mail it and hope Erica likes it!
Last night, Larry made cabbage soup for dinner and it was absolutely delicious! I posted about it on Facebook and four of my friends (Tony Zurbrugg, Mary Sears, Meikle and Ruthie Wallace Dorr) posted, asking for the recipe. So, this morning I sent them the recipe by email. Today, the temps plummeted and we have low 40s here but more lovely, wet, very welcome RAIN!!!! Larry is at the gym and I am doing things around the house.