Sylvia's Journal

5.) Finances We have already had a lot of help from Andrew & Katie Blair in setting up an account @ Manchester Savings Bank where people can donate money if they feel like it. Please understand that this is in no way being asked of you, but Andrew made a point that, for some people, this may be something they want to do. This has already been a big help, but I’m not sure how many people are aware of this, etc – so some communication about this might be nice. (Note – my parents are very open with their finances and are willing to talk about this, so don’t feel that you need to beat around the bush if you want to talk about finances with them – although I think at this point my father isn’t quite ready/doesn’t need to start thinking about this aspect yet). The main thing in this category is that we need to seek the advice of an accountant. (I have yet to get in touch with the one my family uses – this is on the to do list).
Better systems of bill paying – managing account balances, dealing with receipts etc…this is really a management job…
Fundraising (Joe’s logo idea comes into play here…) The account at Cape Ann Savings is really wonderful, but we thought there might be some more (fun) ways to get some cash flow into the house – like a nice dinner outside here at the house, or a raffle for a weekend/week (at a later date) staying here in the house and kayaking/enjoying the beach with homemade meals (kind of like a B&B idea)…haven’t really thought this one through, but there might be something fun that we can do, that everyone in this community can take part in if they want. These are ramblings at this point, and my fingers are tiring…
6. FUN! What you’ve all been waiting for…
we will need some monotony breaking!
This includes:
Movies
Game night
Spa/Massage treatment at home
etc…I’m sure you can think of more…

So – there is is. This is the result of some early brainstorming with Joe. Obviously, a lot of this is stuff Tess and Steve and Jim and I will take care of – there is no expectation that anyone is going to come and empty the commode every morning, or to pay our bills for us, but I wanted to share this list with all of you so you understand what’s going on here – in the interest of keeping this whole recovery process transparent – and because I am sure there is stuff on the list that I assume we have to do ourselves that someone may say ‘hey, I can do that!’ and then take a big load off our shoulders. One thing that is currently on the ‘Top of Mind’ board at the nursing station is to create a comprehensive list of names/numbers of people who are available to come stay for the day/night/bring food, etc. We are going to make a book that we can leave on the table, so it is easy to sort through and call people. It would be nice to have some sense as well what the best day to call would be (things like ‘sunday’s no good, Wednesday is best for me…etc’).
Ummm. I’m sick of writing – this was enough for today. I will make Tessa write an update about the folks and how they are doing. Check out the flickr site for some more folks – Annie is going to send me a nice photo of mum & dad at Shaugnessey today, and you should really check out the pirate photos from yesterday if you haven’t already. Tessa and I got him some props at the Pirate Museum in Salem.
Love,
Sita

sita@klompje.com
tessamagnuson@gmail.com