Sorry it's been so long but I've been VERY busy these past weeks!! You know, the MESS we are in right now, is so very complicated! The problems we have did not come about overnight, and are not solely the blame of one party or President or within the past few years. They have been mounting for many, many years and are far beyond what is being discussed these days. But, the problem, as I see it, and am guessing regarding the lack of doctors in any government-run health-care system is that without a promise of monetary reward for services provided, many of our young people will see no advantage of incuring serious debt, to be educated for a field that is and will be lacking the incentive of 'significant' income. It's the way it is! Real life, tells us that unless someone has a 'carrot' dangling to spur them on a very hard course, they will settle for medicority, since it's the easier course. Most physicians, enter the field in horrendous debt because the extended years of their required education. Not ALL doctors are living 'the dream' of financial wealth, at least not early on. If they 'seem' to be, it is most likely that they are living in increased debt to have the lifestyle they want to project indicating 'success' they hope to achieve, but like many in our culture today, are living WAY BEYOND THEIR MEANS. Those who are now in the system as doctors who have been in the saddle for awhile, are already scheduling stacked appts., where 4 or 5 persons are coming in at the same time. Most are seeing Physicians assistants when they do finally get in the examining rooms and will only see the physician if it is an extremely serious situation! It's how they are already preparing to handle the reduced income they will experience with a government plan, hoping to increase their profit by doubling and tripling and more their patient load on any given day. As far as some of the benefits or 'advantages' of our Advantage plan we will lose, there are a few of the comparisons that come to mind. But, we have a THICK book on our benefits as compared to regular Medicare, and unfortunately I just don't have the time to relay all of that to you on this forum. You can go to Anthem's Medicare Advantage site and read what they have to offer, if you're interested--we're very happy with our plan through them. Here are some of the comparisons of Medicare Advantage to government run Medicare: Better co-pays, i.e. $30 for specialist and $15 for primary care as compared to 20% of the billing under Medicare. With Medicare Plan D you pay extra for a drug plan, above the $97, and a deductible amount along with copays while with the Advantage plan it is included at no extra charge, (under the same $97 deducted from SS check) with a copay as well! With Medicare Plan D (drug plan) you have a deductible but not with Med. Ad. Medicare--Covers med. and hospital cost depending on which of the plans, A or B you choose. With Med-Ad you have all plans under one head, with lower over-all costs, not sourced out with separate entities you have to deal with and having add'tl paper work and costs involved. Free gym membership at the YMCA included with Med-Ad.!! Now, if hubby COULD only use it, it would be wonderful!!!

Luvs, so glad you enjoyed TJ and all the painting projects. Is this enough to get you back to painting? You always come up with the cutest projects to share and I miss seeing them. Now I sound like Jane.LOL Jeanne, the sleigh is now silver. I mentioned it to DH and he took it out and painted it.WOW I have to head to town to sign some paperwork. I will try to figure out how to display it for awhile and share pictures later this coming week. TJ loves her outfit you sent her and wears it every year when the snow starts to fly. I'm so glad you put that snowflake I painted for you out each year with your snowmen decor. As you can tell, I put alot more time into details on yours than these little snowies I painted this weekend. I will try to take more pictures of my winter decor and post next week too. Take care and stay warm. Punk

Thanks for the encouragement and suggestions. I talked to my friend and told him that I just couldn't take on the treasurer position. I also told him that I realized that he needed someone to get a few things set up initially and I'd help with that over the next week or so. He texted me this morning to say that there is no one else who wants to be treasurer. I told him again that I'm just unable to do anything beyond maybe the next couple of weeks. I've managed to make a few small but good steps. I organized my messy sweater drawers by weight so I can find what I need in the mornings. Our weather swings can be pretty big here - it can be in the 50's one day and the 70's the next. Having my wool sweaters separated from the thinner cotton ones is a help. I also organized my scarves and pashminas, by color. I wear my pashminas basically year-round, as scarves in fall/winter and as a shawl in spring/summer. Both of these have helped my mornings go more smoothly. I've mostly cleaned the car out and am planning to finish that and to take it in for service and to have it detailed in the next week or so. Although I've never been one who likes to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, I noticed that some of my recipes just take too long to prep and cook. Right now I'm focusing on using my crock pot and pressure cooker to streamline meals and also cooking enough so we have leftovers, freeing up more time in the evenings. I'm trying to make time for myself by picking out some craft projects I really want to get to and making sure I have supplies, etc. I managed one simple one of making some wine charms. It felt good, though, because I've had the supplies for a couple of years now and just hadn't gotten around to the project. I'm planning to start back with weight lifting and running this week because I've noticed that I've been neglecting myself to take care of everyone else. I'm taking time today to attend a cooking class at Williams Sonoma with a friend. I have a lot left to do. One of my goals is to get what is supposed to be my craft room cleaned out and actually set up to be a craft room. Unfortunately, during some very busy times, it became a catch-all room. DH and I are discussing the possibility of getting rid of our satellite tv, partly to save money and party because we realized that we may be watching tv more out of habit than anything else. He would prefer to read or play video games. I want to focus on my organizing and crafts. I need to give up something, and tv is much less important than the other things. We only watch a few shows anyway. It would be a win-win, saving time and money.

And... back to Ubatuba as a front runner again. After reading some of the comments here and another trip to see more installed countertops, I had to just make the call and told her to pick a dark counter. No one seemed to be worried about the darkness of the kitchen and we're coming up on a paperwork deadline from the lender. Having something as expensive as counter tops hanging out there as an unknown just wasn't an option. So she looked at the dark soapstones, granites, quartzes, and solid surfaces and Ubatuba won the prize. Based on my reading of the "personality" of soapstone, it would have been my preference, but she'll be using the kitchen far more than me anyway. Now to call the local Lowes and see if I can twist their arm enough to let me come pick out the slab as well. :) For better or worse, the 203(k) documentation process makes buying from the big box stores much simpler than buying from a local place. Thank you for all the comments and links.