Addendum/Correction: Extreme Makeover Home Edition

Extreme Makeover Home Edition taping prep-work in the hospital:

The hospital did not move in fake patients, what someone on the floor had said to me. They actually cleared out that side in a "musical patients" afternoon and left the emptied rooms with curtains drawn and doors closed for the taping. This was so us patients and our families were as undisturbed as possible--except for the musical patients bit. The hospital did a fabulous job cleaning and preparing for the crew under short notice. And at the end of the last visit the next day, co-host Paige signed Jaeli's signature-filled CHaD bag.

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Tech Tags: CHaD Children's Hospital at Dartmouth Extreme Makeover Home Edition family home house construction

Irony: Extreme Makeover Home Edition

As I sit in Jaeli’s hospital room at Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth (CHaD) in Lebanon, New Hampshire, admittance for what turned out to be a urinary tract infection, listening to housekeeping paint scraped walls and clean the carpet in my pod, a strange mixture of emotions swirls inside. Not from the cleaning—I wish they’d come clean my home—but from their reason for the extensive and sudden spring cleaning: Extreme Makeover Home Edition is coming to tape a family in my pod tomorrow.

Of course Jaeli will be moved to another section of the CHaD pedi floor away from the taping so fake patients can move in to fill the other rooms in our pod for show, and perhaps so Jaeli’s cries won’t disturb the taping, but I sit here astonished.

We’ve now spent four to five difficult, cramped years in our 800 square feet, now 900 since Jaeli’s been born and Jim added a room in literally four days to accommodate her special needs. During those times, we’ve flirted with applying for the home makeover show, but after reading the contract, could not in good conscience sign it. (A former The Building Brows post details why.) Then our friend asked permission to nominate us, and I struggled to answer yes because of that contract, but I finally did because she had it so much in her heart to help my family. Yet it slid away into silence, for which, at the time, I was glad even though my family needs our house completed and we still can’t do it.

I made that decision with peace in my heart. It was right. But what are the odds that this show would come to the CHaD, and then, when we were here with Jaeli admitted? This aside from the odds of birthing beautiful Jaeli with a rare chromosome disorder to add to our family already living in a unique situation.

I’m really happy for the family here who is being tended by the show. It is a great, wonderful thing. On the flip side, this is very hard for me, knowing that contract stands in the way from receiving like help when my husband is doing all he can to care for our six other children while I care for Jaeli, and run a business that just three years ago didn’t exist, so we can get through the winter in our tiny home. This couldn’t be more in my face.

Why? What purpose does God have for this?

This is surely a test of some kind, but I’m not sure what subject I’m trying to pass and how I’ll make it through. Either way, today, tomorrow, and days after, I’m sure, will prove to be difficult emotionally for me as I face Jaeli being discharged at the end of the week to return home to our now 900 square feet in the woods for our family of nine.

One thing I know today lives strong and well: Irony.

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Tech Tags: CHaD Children's Hospital at Dartmouth Extreme Makeover Home Edition boiler plate contract rights application applicant family home house construction

Major Life Changes

It's been a long while since I've posted, but with good reason. We've been building something else these past several months with great difficulty. The Building Brows is now a family of nine.

Our little girl was born two weeks ago by C-section. I'm recovering well, but we haven't yet welcomed baby JR into our home because she's in the hospital with serious complications and is looking at heart surgery, probably sooner than later. If you pray, please pray for our little girl. If you'd like to learn more, please check out my Brandy Brow twitter page (updated far more often than our Building Brows twitter page.

In the meantime, while Jim and I have been at the hospital with JR, Jim's worker has been working on the house. I came home last week to find the outside papered. Shocked me! Jim's ordered vinyl siding and we're ever grateful for the excellent deal a local company gave us on the order. We're not sure where all the money will come from, but Jim's guy needed a paycheck so that was the way to give it to him.

I don't know what the days or weeks ahead will bring, but I am confident God is in control.

I hope you'll take some time today to stop and count your blessings. The next time your kids run up and down the hall, about to drive you over the edge, thank God they have stamina and breath to run and that you can hug and hold them. So many moms and dads right now in neonatal intensive care nurseries everywhere don't have that luxury. Some can't even hold their babies because their health is too fragile. We all have great things to be thankful for; let's hope we can see and be thankful for them while we can.

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Tech Tags: baby, babies, heart, heart surgery, surgery, hospital, newborn, house, blessings, God, Twitter

Refrigerator RECALL: Maytag, Jenn-Air, Amana, Admiral, Magic Chef, Performa, Crosley

On March 10, 2009, in release #09-145, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a refrigerator recall by Maytag due to fire hazard, for Maytag, Jenn-Air, Amana, Admiral, Magic Chef, Performa by Maytag, and Crosley brand side-by-side and top-freezer refrigerators. Those with freezers on the bottom are not included in the recall.

When the refrigerator's compressor turns on, an electrical component in the relay, which starts the compressor, can overheat and threaten safety. Forty-one reports of smoke and kitchen damage from this electrical failure have been reported so far.

The CPSC says,

The affected refrigerators were manufactured in black, bisque, white and stainless steel. They have model and serial numbers printed on a label located on the top middle or left upper side of the refrigerator liner and have the following model and serial number combinations:

Type: Serial Numbers ENDING with (AND Model Numbers BEGINNING with)

Side by Side Refrigerators:

AA, AC, AE, AG, AJ, AL, AN, AP, AR, AT, AV, AX,
CA, CC, CE, CG, CJ, CL,
ZB, ZD, ZF, ZH, ZK, ZM, ZQ, ZS, ZU, ZW, ZY, ZZ
(ARS, CS, JC, JS, MS, MZ, PS)

Top Freezer Refrigerators:

AA, AC, AE, AG, AJ, AL, AN, AP, AR, AT, AV, AX,
ZK, ZM, ZQ, ZS, ZU, ZW, ZY, ZZ
(AT, CT, MT, PT)

This recall applies to about 1.6 million units sold in the United States from January 2001 through January 2004.

The CPSC is urging consumers to check their refrigerators and contact Maytag at (866) 533-9817 for in-home repair.

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Tech Tags: recall, refrigerator, refrigerator recall, Maytag, Amana, Magic Chef, Performa, Jenn-Air, Admiral, Crosley, fire hazard, CPSC, Consumer Product Safety Commission, safety

Pouring the Workshop Foundation

Pictures of Jim's roofing workshop foundation are here. In this slide show below, friends and family gathered to help spread and smooth the cement as it poured.

I learned that the mixing truck's chute had to be put together and then cleaned and dismantled afterward. Jim learned that if he doesn't take all the cement in the mixer, the company takes back what Jim already paid for and makes concrete blocks from it that they then sell--without Jim getting money back on the returned mixture. Jim decided to dump the rest of it in front of the workshop door to begin a ramp. I would have done the same.

So, a word of wisdom for all you do-it-yourselfers planning to order concrete: Prepare a second place to put any extra cement you ordered, maybe a second or subsequent project, because what comes in the truck is yours. Once you fill the space for which you ordered it, the company will haul it away and make money off it at your expense unless you tell them to put it somewhere else.

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Tech Tags: cement pouring, foundation, DIY, photos, slide show