Tuesdays with Elders - Jumping Through Medicaid Hoops, Part 2

With Dad in the nursing home, I had another go around with the Medicaid application. Bank accounts, insurance policies, and the value of the house were now taken into account.

I was advised to cash in his insurance policy and prepay funeral expenses. Sitting in the funeral director's office, I kept hearing the line from Monty Python and The Holy Grail. A man is wheeling a wagon of plague victims and he's calling, "Bring out your dead".

 Another man comes out of a house with a body over his shoulder. "Here's another one."

And the body replies, "But I'm not dead, yet."

"But you will be soon."

"No, I'm not. I'm getting better."

It just felt very odd sitting with the funeral director and making arrangements while my parents were still alive.

 And then I had to sell the house, and I had 9 months to do it.

Only I couldn't sell. Not because I didn't want to, but because I only had legal authority to sell half the house. As Attorney in Fact for Dad, I could buy and sell in his name. Under the temporary conservatorship for my mother, I had no legal authority to buy or sell in her name. I would have to petition the Court for permission to sell the house. And that couldn't be done until a permanent conservator was named.

With so much red tape to dispense, I needed to hire an attorney to help me with the paperwork. The wheels had already been put in motion for this when I had Dad sign over Power of Attorney and Healthcare Proxy to me and to have his will made. The attorney who handled that also agreed she would deal with Medicaid, and take care of the permission to sell the house and the contracts to sell the house. The lawyer would also wait and take all her fees when the house was sold. That was one headache out of the way.

I was told I was not responsible for  my parents' debt. Bank accounts had to be spent down to the magic $2,000 limit. The house had to be sold, but selling a house doesn't happen quickly. There are still real estate bills, home owner's insurance, utility bills all needing to be paid, along with repairs and maintenance to the house in order to sell it. And no money from Dad's account to do this with because Medicaid takes the money up front. So even though I wasn't responsible for my parents' debt, I was in the position of paying expenses out of my own pocket to keep the house afloat. I had been assured I would be reimbursed from the sale of my parents' house. Small comfort when trying to pay expenses for two households. We sometimes joked maybe we should go clean out my parents' house with a match and some lighter fluid. So we rolled along on brick wheels. We were rolling, but it wasn't pretty.

Next week: Legal Eagles

In The Galleries

I had a wonderful time as the Artist in Residence du Jour of the Worcester Art Museum. yesterday. I had hoped the museum would have done some advertising about the event, though truthfully, the weather was so gorgeous there were very few visitors to the museum all day. Next time, I'll arrange for a rainy day. A big thank you to friends and a family who braved a trip to the wilds of Central Massachusetts. I really appreciated your support.

Since I only had the one day and was expected to have a finished or nearly finished piece at the end of the day, I had planned on using Tim Rollins and K.O.S. The Scarlet Letter VI as my inspiration. Instead of doing an illuminated initial, I wanted to do some sort of an altered book sculpture. I put out a call to family and friends to see if anyone had an old copy of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter and came up with nothing. At the last minute, I was searching for a used copy and found a 1970 copy of a Penguin Classic. Big deal, right? Except the cover was a portrait painting of Mrs. Elizabeth Freake and her daughter, Baby Mary. The portrait just happens to hang in the American Gallery of, you guessed it, the Worcester Art Museum. Was that fate or what?

I have to say I really liked having the museum all to myself. Sitting and sketching was very relaxing. I can see the advantage of having a studio outside of one's home. No distractions to take your mind off your work. No one asking about lost items, and no guilt about ignoring the siren call of dirty dishes in the sink.

 First stop was to the 20th. c. gallery where I played with the letter A

Then I paid a visit to the Freakes. 

And then on the balcony of The Renaissance Court, I sketched a really cool, bas relief coat of arms with a dragon for a crest. 

Next stop, the studio, but I'll bore tell you about the rest of the process on Thursday.

Artist in Residence du Jour

In the other versions of this image, I forgot to put on my glasses.
There. That's better

One Performance Only!

Don't Miss It!

Today, 5. May 2013

Worcester Art Museum

11 AM - 5 PM

Saturday Sayings

Ziller Glossy Black, Comic Z, Pigma, Watercolor pencils

The Friday Five

This is a picture of The Young One when she was a dollbaby.

1. Tuesday, was her last day of class for the year. (The more you pay, the less they go.)

2. Which means, she's a Senior! She'll be graduating at this time next year. (God willin', the crick don't rise, she completes her MQP,Capstone, and PE requirements.) Her college years have happened in less than a blink of an eye. I don't remember The Eldest's college years flying by so quickly.

3. In January 2014, she will spend 7 weeks as an intern with a company in Silicon Valley, California as her MQP requirement. (MQP = Major Qualifying Project) Details are still a little sketchy at this point in time. Her group met with the MQP advisor. They will be working for Disney or a Disney owned company. The advisor told them to play Disney games all summer.

4. With the end in sight, Himself will no longer have to fill out forms for FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).  or

5. Tuition Management to figure out the monthly tuition payment.

Though I'm excited for her and the opportunities that lay ahead (She's going to be an Imagineer!), I still wish she was my dollbaby.

The Incredible Shrinking Man

Last weekend, TCM ran the 1957 sci-fi classic, The Incredible Shrinking Man. I recorded it and finally got around to watching it.

I was 7 or maybe 8 years old when I first saw this movie.I was amazed and terrorized me all at the same time. It's also where my abject fear of spiders came from.

The story begins with young couple, Louise and Scott on a boat enjoying their vacation. While Louise goes to the galley to get beers, a strange cloud passes over the boat and covers Scott with a sparkly mist. No, he's not a new age vampire! Some time passes and Scott discovers his clothes don't fit him anymore. Louise tells him he's losing a little weight. Not only is Scott losing weight, but height as well. A trip to the doctor, and more doctors, and endless series of tests, doesn't provide any answers. Scott is still shrinking. For his safety, he lives inside a dollhouse until the family pet turns from cuddly kitty into a vicious monster. Scott races for the cellar door for safety and then is plunged into the depths of a box in the basement. In the basement world, Scott fights for survival as he faces dun, dun, dun, the spider. (I can't look but I cheer Scott on). All the while Scott is still shrinking as he tries to come to terms with his life.

There are just some films that stay with you no matter how many times you've seen them. This is one of them. Though the special effects may seem a little dated, the story holds up well for entertainment and as a beautiful allegory.  If you haven't seen this movie, you need to get yourself edumucated. Sadly, it's not available on Netflix streaming, but c'mon over as the movie is still on the DVR. We can watch together. Just don't mind me as I scream during the spider scenes.

Are you terrified of spiders?

Wordless Wednesday