MONKEY MUSINGS DAILY OPEN DISCUSSION #53 11/24/09 - 1/21/10

[QuietMonkey]

Hi Monkeys. I just wanted to say I took a little time to do some reading back, even way back (it does take alot of time). I am sure I still didn't read the half of it, but I did read back and see some things that I had no idea about. I'm not going to discuss or bring any of it up here now. I just wanted to say that I look at this board in a whole new light, or atleast very differently then I did before. Again I apologize to Klaas, as I meant no disrespect to her. I have no reason to believe that Klaas ever unfairly banned anyone, and I wanted to set that straight.
I am going to log out after this post and take a break for a few days atleast. I did start the thread about the missing 4yr old in Newburgh, and will post there if there is any new news.
Take care and thanks Monkeys! I'll be back soon!

[klaasend]

Charlie
Chaos
Biscuit

I'll add them to the list    So far we keep going back to Petey though.  I think we may pick him up Monday late afternoon 

[klaasend]

Thanks QM! 

[SunnyinTX]

Hey, Everyone!! 
I'm just checking in; I didn't know CBB was sick either, Please get well soon!!

Klaas, my niece has a jack russell named "Biscuit", thought I'd throw that in with the rest! 

I have new cakes to post, i finished a 3 tier zebra striped one today; very time consuming but I love it! I'll post the pics in my cake thread, k!

I have Christmas candy to make so I'll BBl, LOVE YOU ALL!!          

Hi Monken!! I can't wait to see the new cakes.

Hurry back!!

[no rose colored glasses]

Charlie
Chaos
Biscuit

I'll add them to the list    So far we keep going back to Petey though.  I think we may pick him up Monday late afternoon 

I like Petey, he looks like a Petey 

[SunnyinTX]

Charlie
Chaos
Biscuit

I'll add them to the list    So far we keep going back to Petey though.  I think we may pick him up Monday late afternoon 

I like Petey!!  Can't wait to see a picture when you get him home on Monday!!

[SunnyinTX]

CBB hurry and get well. You are missed!!

[no rose colored glasses]

CBB hurry and get well. You are missed!!

  From me also, hope you feel better very soon.

[MuffyBee]

Charlie
Chaos
Biscuit

I'll add them to the list    So far we keep going back to Petey though.  I think we may pick him up Monday late afternoon 

I like the name Petey for your new pup.   

[BooMonkey]

Charlie
Chaos
Biscuit

I'll add them to the list    So far we keep going back to Petey though.  I think we may pick him up Monday late afternoon 

I like the name Petey for your new pup.   

So he needs a manly name? How about Gunner or Rutger?

[Green Eyes]

Hi Monkeys,

While I was out yesterday I picked up Susan Boyles CD.  If you want to treat yourself to something wonderful you need to get it. I loved every song what a joy it was listening to her sing. 

[bananas]

Hi Monkeys,

While I was out yesterday I picked up Susan Boyles CD.  If you want to treat yourself to something wonderful you need to get it. I loved every song what a joy it was listening to her sing. 

Hi Green Eyes,

What type of songs does she sing on her CD?  Just curious.

[Nut44x4]

Just an uplifting story from my local news....thought peeps would like to see something good for a change, in a world that is often cruel.

12/19/09 | 20 comments
Miracle on Mars Hill: Donors help build girl’s ears



MARS HILL, Maine — Next Christmas, Bobbi Guerrette will be able to hear — with brand-new ears of her own — the crinkle of wrapping paper as she opens her toys.

It’s something she can’t do this year because she was born without ears. But thanks to what her family is calling “a Christmas miracle,” the 3-year-old has the sounds of carols and bells in her future.

An anonymous donor has offered to pay the entire cost of surgery to create new ears for the little girl.

The daughter of Ryan and Jamie Guerrette, Bobbi was born with bilateral microtia with atresia. The condition is evident at birth and essentially means she was born without ears. In Bobbi’s case, one of her ears isn’t open and the other is a skin tag that doesn’t function.

At this point, she can hear as long as she is wearing her bone-anchored hearing aid, worn on a band strapped around her head.

But without ears, Bobbi can’t wear glasses, swim, stand on her head or tumble without damaging the hearing aid. And she can’t accomplish her goal of having her ears pierced and wearing butterfly earrings like her 5-year-old sister, Carly.

The Guerrettes discovered soon after her diagnosis that surgery to correct the difficulties is available at the California Ear Institute. During the operation, physicians create ears, ear canals and eardrums. With the surgery priced at $45,000 for each ear, plus travel and aftercare expenses, the Guerrettes are facing a cost of close to $100,000 for the whole project.

Jamie Guerrette estimated that health insurance the family carries would pay for up to 70 percent of the cost, but the California Ear Institute does not bill insurance, and the family must pay for the procedures upfront and be reimbursed by insurance later. The Guerrettes still must cover about 30 percent of the cost of the surgeries, plus travel and lodging expenses for the journey to California.

They began a fundraising campaign to acquire the needed money. Efforts by family and friends, including the sale of T-shirts, generated more than $6,000. After an article about the girl’s plight appeared in the Bangor Daily News on Dec. 9, readers began sending cards with donations, Jamie Guerrette said.

Then she got a phone call.

“It just came on Monday,” Jamie Guerrette said Friday. “We were told that these people wanted to make a substantial donation to our cause. We began working with their accountant, and it took a few days to get everything straightened out. We then learned that they wanted to pay the entire cost of the surgeries. We were just completely floored.”

Guerrette said her family has “no idea” who the donors are.

“All we know is that they read the article in the Bangor Daily News, and they loved the story and thought that Bobbi was cute and everything,” she said. “And they wanted to do this for her.”

The donors stipulated two conditions for contributing the money. The first was that, when the family is reimbursed by the insurance companies for the partial cost of the surgery, they use 50 percent of that money to create college accounts for their two children. Twenty-five percent of it will create a college fund for Bobbi, and 25 percent for Carly.

The second condition was that the remaining money will go to help other Maine children who need medical assistance.

“We loved the conditions,” Jamie Guerrette said. “It is like paying it forward and forward and forward.”

The Guerrettes already have scheduled the appointments to have Bobbi’s ears built. The first surgery will take place April 26. The final surgery will take place on Sept. 13.

The family will use the more than $6,000 raised in previous fundraisers to pay for travel expenses and aftercare.

Guerrette admitted that the whole thing has been “like a dream.”

“My husband and I have been laughing, crying, and just not believing it,” she said. “We just never expected this. We’ve told Bobbi that she is going to California, and she is all excited.

“We have no details about who is doing this for us,” she continued. “We have done everything through their accountant. We can’t thank them enough. They told us that just seeing an article in the Bangor Daily News telling others about our miracle would be thanks enough.”

That doesn’t mean the Guerrettes aren’t trying to guess who the donors might be.

“I am doing better than my husband,” Jamie Guerrette admitted. “He is just trying to guess who it might be. I am just so happy this is happening, I can’t even believe it.”

Jamie Guerrette pointed out that by next Christmas, her daughter will have her ears — and the butterfly earrings to put in them.
http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/133074.html

[Gizzie]

Hi Monkeys,

While I was out yesterday I picked up Susan Boyles CD.  If you want to treat yourself to something wonderful you need to get it. I loved every song what a joy it was listening to her sing. 

Hi Green Eyes,

What type of songs does she sing on her CD?  Just curious.

Not Green Eyes, but I think this is one of them. Beautiful! It starts at the 2 minute mark I believe.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ldw9xoHziuo&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/Ldw9xoHziuo&amp;hl=en_US&amp;fs=1&amp;</a>

[SunnyinTX]

This is of course for everyone to enjoy........but especially for Klaas...I hope the link works!!

http://tinyurl.com/yjxnhqc

[Monken]

Hey Again!! Cake pics are up!! 
I have buttermilk pralines, haystacks, sugar cookies & an orange slice cake on my agenda for this weekend! I have to get with it, company's a comin'    All of these are super great & along with Martha Washington candy I make them every year! My girls will be decorating cookies tonight(Help me!) and this will be the 2nd orange slice cake; my husband & I ate the 1st one! It's unbelievably good!!!  BBL   

[SunnyinTX]

Hi Monkeys,

While I was out yesterday I picked up Susan Boyles CD.  If you want to treat yourself to something wonderful you need to get it. I loved every song what a joy it was listening to her sing. 

GE, I hae the CD on my Christmas list!!

[SunnyinTX]

We got our first accumulation of snow last night.  And the weatherman is predicting we might have a white Christmas   This Texas (now Missouri) gal is sooooooooo excited!!

[SunnyinTX]

Hey Again!! Cake pics are up!! 
I have buttermilk pralines, haystacks, sugar cookies & an orange slice cake on my agenda for this weekend! I have to get with it, company's a comin'    All of these are super great & along with Martha Washington candy I make them every year! My girls will be decorating cookies tonight(Help me!) and this will be the 2nd orange slice cake; my husband & I ate the 1st one! It's unbelievably good!!!  BBL   

Hi Monken!! I looked yesterday after you posted you were going to put them up....but alas I was there too quickly! Orange slice cake.....sounds yummy!  I will have a slice please!!

[SunnyinTX]

Just an uplifting story from my local news....thought peeps would like to see something good for a change, in a world that is often cruel.

12/19/09 | 20 comments
Miracle on Mars Hill: Donors help build girl’s ears



MARS HILL, Maine — Next Christmas, Bobbi Guerrette will be able to hear — with brand-new ears of her own — the crinkle of wrapping paper as she opens her toys.

It’s something she can’t do this year because she was born without ears. But thanks to what her family is calling “a Christmas miracle,” the 3-year-old has the sounds of carols and bells in her future.

An anonymous donor has offered to pay the entire cost of surgery to create new ears for the little girl.

The daughter of Ryan and Jamie Guerrette, Bobbi was born with bilateral microtia with atresia. The condition is evident at birth and essentially means she was born without ears. In Bobbi’s case, one of her ears isn’t open and the other is a skin tag that doesn’t function.

At this point, she can hear as long as she is wearing her bone-anchored hearing aid, worn on a band strapped around her head.

But without ears, Bobbi can’t wear glasses, swim, stand on her head or tumble without damaging the hearing aid. And she can’t accomplish her goal of having her ears pierced and wearing butterfly earrings like her 5-year-old sister, Carly.

The Guerrettes discovered soon after her diagnosis that surgery to correct the difficulties is available at the California Ear Institute. During the operation, physicians create ears, ear canals and eardrums. With the surgery priced at $45,000 for each ear, plus travel and aftercare expenses, the Guerrettes are facing a cost of close to $100,000 for the whole project.

Jamie Guerrette estimated that health insurance the family carries would pay for up to 70 percent of the cost, but the California Ear Institute does not bill insurance, and the family must pay for the procedures upfront and be reimbursed by insurance later. The Guerrettes still must cover about 30 percent of the cost of the surgeries, plus travel and lodging expenses for the journey to California.

They began a fundraising campaign to acquire the needed money. Efforts by family and friends, including the sale of T-shirts, generated more than $6,000. After an article about the girl’s plight appeared in the Bangor Daily News on Dec. 9, readers began sending cards with donations, Jamie Guerrette said.

Then she got a phone call.

“It just came on Monday,” Jamie Guerrette said Friday. “We were told that these people wanted to make a substantial donation to our cause. We began working with their accountant, and it took a few days to get everything straightened out. We then learned that they wanted to pay the entire cost of the surgeries. We were just completely floored.”

Guerrette said her family has “no idea” who the donors are.

“All we know is that they read the article in the Bangor Daily News, and they loved the story and thought that Bobbi was cute and everything,” she said. “And they wanted to do this for her.”

The donors stipulated two conditions for contributing the money. The first was that, when the family is reimbursed by the insurance companies for the partial cost of the surgery, they use 50 percent of that money to create college accounts for their two children. Twenty-five percent of it will create a college fund for Bobbi, and 25 percent for Carly.

The second condition was that the remaining money will go to help other Maine children who need medical assistance.

“We loved the conditions,” Jamie Guerrette said. “It is like paying it forward and forward and forward.”

The Guerrettes already have scheduled the appointments to have Bobbi’s ears built. The first surgery will take place April 26. The final surgery will take place on Sept. 13.

The family will use the more than $6,000 raised in previous fundraisers to pay for travel expenses and aftercare.

Guerrette admitted that the whole thing has been “like a dream.”

“My husband and I have been laughing, crying, and just not believing it,” she said. “We just never expected this. We’ve told Bobbi that she is going to California, and she is all excited.

“We have no details about who is doing this for us,” she continued. “We have done everything through their accountant. We can’t thank them enough. They told us that just seeing an article in the Bangor Daily News telling others about our miracle would be thanks enough.”

That doesn’t mean the Guerrettes aren’t trying to guess who the donors might be.

“I am doing better than my husband,” Jamie Guerrette admitted. “He is just trying to guess who it might be. I am just so happy this is happening, I can’t even believe it.”

Jamie Guerrette pointed out that by next Christmas, her daughter will have her ears — and the butterfly earrings to put in them.
http://www.bangordailynews.com/detail/133074.html

Hi Nut!  What a wonderful story anytime....but especially at Christmas...the time of miracles!  Thank you