Ronald McDonald House and THE HARLIE CREW

I was so sleepy the other night, that I didn't finish telling you everything I wanted to.

Some potentially exciting news!  A while back Tom contacted the local Ronald McDonald House about donating some older work computers.  Of course they spoke about how we stay at the RMH in DC.  And that he was a kitchen designer.  She mentioned that they wanted to renovate the kitchen there.  Well, they contacted him this past week and asked him to bid on the project!  Of course, because they have a committee, they sent out 15 letters total.  As of Friday, only three (including Tom) had responded showing an interest.

I am sure there will be cheaper bids from other contractors.  But, I really hope that they look at the fact that Tom has stayed at a RMH off and on for four years now and he understands their needs better than most.  Because they house numerous families (the Richmond RMH has nine rooms) they need to have lots of storage that can be sectioned off for each family.  And then there is storage for food that is donated for all families.  Plus, there are washing issues - I'm thinking more smaller dishwashers vs. one large one.  Anyway, you get the point.

So, keep your fingers crossed that he can do the project!  It would be so awesome to do it since the RMH holds such a special place in our hearts!

And speaking of RMH, the one in DC built a new house and it opened in December!  It doubled in size and how has 26 rooms with private baths for each one!  YAY!  So, when we go in March (ugh) we will get to stay there.  Since they just opened, they registered at a few place for donations - like Bed, Bath and Beyond, Target and Amazon.com.  So, if you are ever looking for a charity (other than The Harlie Fund, of course) that's a great one.  And if you don't want to do money donations - you can always make food for the families staying there.  I can't tell you how awesome it is to come "home" after a long day at the hospital to home cooked food!   And brownies.  Especially brownies.

And speaking of The Harlie Fund... more exciting news I've been meaning to share with you...

You might have noticed the new section in the left column of the blog called THE HARLIE CREW.  Bill Jeffries of Kane, Jeffries, Cooper and Carollo, LLP (my sister's boss, and my boss when I can work - that's my part-time job I've been at for over a year now) started it a couple of months ago.  It is a group of "Harlie Fans" that have committed to make a monthly contribution to The Harlie Fund.  Isn't that the coolest???  And if a crew member wants me to, I can put a link from their name to their website.  So, maybe that could help you out, too!  So, contact Bill Jeffries if you are interested!

And I forgot to tell you that after feeding therapy on Thursday, as we were leaving, Harlie turned around to give the prizes that she earned for self-feeding, back to Allison.  It was so sweet!  Allison told her that she earned them, so she gets to keep them.  That girl asks for nothing material.

And, one last thing for this post (I'm going to make a new one for Friday's events)... I just want to thank our very special Santa Claus for the beautiful gift!!!!  I can't tell you how much I love it.  I actually got two things!  Anyway, I hope you know how incredibly thankful we are!  And how lucky we feel!  And I would love to thank you in person if you ever want to tell me who you are!  We are so incredibly blessed to have such wonderful support in so many ways!  And we are just so blessed to have Harlie.  And there isn't a second that goes by that I don't think about that.

Thank you all!
~Christy