I have always relied on the kindness of strangers

Let’s hear it for the generosity of friends and strangers. Remember I mentioned that my mother was beside herself? (There’s an interesting mental image. I think I can only handle one of them. But I digress.) Mom has already sent me emails with early childhood educational information, day care ratings, etc. Now apparently she’s shopping for baby stuff. Mind you, I haven’t started doing any of that yet. Then again, Mom is retired and I’m stuck in a cubicle for nine hours every weekday. It cuts into one’s recreational shopping time. This morning she called to tell me that she’d been browsing and was completely horrified by how much things cost – and she’s talking about Target and Wal-Mart, not the pricey places where my co-workers insist on shopping. A lady at one of the stores suggested tag sales – most of the stuff is barely used, you take it home, scrub it thoroughly, and you’re good to go. That makes good sense to me.

So she decided to go across the street and talk to her neighbor Laurie, who has two little boys. Her theory is that she’d rather give the money to someone she knows. Laurie’s response was some variation on "Thank God – I’ve been trying to figure out how to get rid of this stuff." Their house is on the market, and she understandably doesn’t want to have to move it all if they ever get an offer (there’s a whole sub-text here on the state of the housing market, but that’s a conversation for another day.)

So apparently Laurie is going to be hauling stuff down from the attic and bringing it over to Mom’s, who will then bring it up to me. That is going to include a wooden CRIB. Now, I’ve started looking at the required furniture, because I want to have all that stuff in place well before it’s needed, and I want to spread the expense out over several months. It won’t cost any less, but it won’t hurt as badly. I don’t know yet if there’s a changing table included in this deal. That would be nice, but I won’t cry if it’s not. I’ve been more than a little appalled at how much the furniture items cost. Let’s face it – the only furniture I generally buy are bookcases, so I’m a little out of touch with such things. This is hundreds of dollars I won’t have to spend. That’s huge, says the woman paying for the air conditioning. I’ve gotten a couple of offers of car seats also, but I’m more hesitant about that. Those change (and so do the safety standards associated with them) every five years or less, so I’m really inclined to buy new. The last thing I need is for the hospital to refuse to let us go home.

I’m beginning to think that if I’m just patient with things, my mother will have this all worked out for me. Gotta admit, it’s tempting. :-)

I know I’ve said this before, but I have got to start making lists. Crib, changing table/dresser, baby gates (3), car seats (2), diaper service...

I also had what can either be characterized as a brilliant flash of the obvious, or just a moment of brilliance. I can go out to mycigna.com and look at the current state of all my insurance claims. (It’s scary that so far the largest single charge has been for the initial bloodwork by Qwest. But I digress again.) They list how much the doctor/hospital/lab charged, how much they’re actually going to pay, and how much the patient is responsible for. So I have created a new worksheet on my budget spreadsheet, and I’ll track the "patient responsibility" column to know how the "global bill" is progressing. So while I probably won’t be able to project how much the horror show delivery is going to cost, at least I’ll have a handle on everything leading up to it. I’m fairly pleased with myself.

I’m thinking that I had better get down to Brookfield to visit pretty soon. Before Mom’s head explodes.