Jan exchange from Mary - Public Service Announcement

This lovely nest with eggs came from Mary. The feather border thing and bird stamp coordinate nicely. The feathers must be some kind of press on something. They are too perfect to be hand drawn. The nest is definitely hand drawn. I forgot to photograph the back of the envelope - there was a nice feather - under a big piece of packing tape.

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Here is the PSA for anyone who has kids or anyone who may be called upon to stay with grandkids while the parents leave town for some R&R. I've done that several times. The most recent time, one of the kids woke up with a very sore throat and bad stomach ache on a Sunday. We did home remedies and hoped it was a minor 24-bug. Nope - on Monday it was still bad. My daughter (while out of town - but still phone-connected) was able to schedule an appointment at a CVS walk-in clinic one block from their home. 

When we arrived, the very kind PA said she was very sorry, but that Illinois state law requires *legal authorization* from parents to treat a child. A text or email from the parent was not *legal authorization.* It was disappointing to not get into the appointment - but I was glad to have the information. Plan B - my daughter called the pediatrician - and luckily we were able to get in and - she did have strep throat - so it all worked out. I was already listed as an authorized person at the doctor's office - which was good. 

I researched this a bit - because I realized that when the grandkids come to Iowa for a week in the summer - we probably need some legal authorization if they get sick here. What I found out is that you need to find out what's required in your state. As I said, I'm glad I found out about this and figured other grandparents might want to know. It's always better to be prepared for these types of things.

I also asked about more serious injuries, etc - and I was assured that people in ERs will not hesitate to treat a child who needs emergency care. I wonder if they have a specific list of things that are urgent as opposed to emergency. 

Well - I might as well tell the rest of the story - there is currently a shortage of amoxycillin so they are prescribing penicillin. And they are even running short on penicillin. We had to drive to a different CVS to fill our prescription. The good news is - penicillin is cheap. Less than $2.