"I'm so glad"

a great song by Cream. If you don't know who Cream was, then either you didn't pay attention to rock-n-roll, or your parents didn't raise you right.....

What I am glad for tonight is that though it's REALLY cold here in Maryland, we do not have snow like my father-in-law is getting hammered with in Ohio.

I am glad that my daughters are home and can show me how to deal with the Mac. I'm not a computer savvy person to begin with, and I was really comfortable with the pc, but the next-in-line hand-me-down computer was the mac. If we get Sarah a new mac for her next set of classes, then maybe I can get her Lenovo which I can definitely deal with better than this mac. An example: I have no trouble downloading the pictures from the camera to the computer; I just can't find them on the computer after I download them. Then when I find them, I can't always figure out how to post them to my blog. So, the girls to the rescue. Hopefully, tomorrow I will be able to download the quilt I made for Peg with the Scrap Bee shapes everyone sent me.

I am glad there are still people in blogland who think of me. I treasure your friendships and support as my life takes all these weird twists and turns as we age.

I am glad I work with young people who are excited about what they do, and treat me not as an equal but an honorary mom. I get to be a part of their lives and offer advice whether they want it or not, and isn't that one of a mom's prime jobs?

I was going to write a last lofty thought for the day to end this, but then I said to myself, "whoa, you were an English and Phys. Ed. major. You have a tendency to take yourself too seriously, so lighten up!" So, instead, I'll leave you with this thought: "For every action , there is a reaction." This means if you are eating cake or chocolate, you need to take an equal number of bites so that each hip gets the same amount of stored energy (ha! I bet you thought I was going to write fat...).

Happy New Year

This is definitely not an original title to a post, but I'm not concerned about it. I have not been in blogland for many months, the last few months of 2011 were not particularly healthy for us and blogland was just one more thing I had to think about.

So, to briefly summarize, the eldercare issues in Ohio continue; my father-in-law's wife was moved to a care center in September, and though she knows it is not "home" it is a much better environment for her. She receives much more stimulation on a daily basis, and is allowed to manage as much on her own as she can. This is tremendously difficult for my father-in-law, but he is coping. We have not been in Cleveland as often as previous months as Lou's health took a couple of hits in September and October with three trips to Emergency resulting in two hospitalizations. I was set to go to London to help Sarah start packing to come home, and to visit as I had never been there before. Lillian came in from AZ to stay with her father when he was released from the hospital, otherwise I wouldn't have gone.

England was amazing. I still can't easily talk about the impression the country made on me. All the years of studying England and literature bound up in places I thought I would never see. Seeing an original First Folio and Canterbury Tales were only the starting points! Seeing Stonehenge, Windsor Castle, Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, London--we packed a lot of walking into two weeks.

The new year brings the usual thoughts about "what should I do differently?" This year I'm not making resolutions because they get broken so easily. I am making goals which gives me the opportunity to work on meeting them. Some of the goals I am setting have a lot to do with myself and finding "me time'-time to read, sew, crochet. I need to rededicate myself to self-improvement; like losing a few pounds and starting an exercise program. The kids got me a Fitbit and it's been a fabulous tool to watch the downloads track everything from steps to stairs to activity periods. It's definitely helped me move a little more-not enough, but more. I'm setting a goal to stay in better contact with my online friends. You don't know how much your support has meant to me over these last few years through my surgery, Lou's health concerns, the eldercare issues.... I wish I could gather you all in for a huge hug.

So, as I sit and smell wonderful aromas from the kitchen as Sarah and Lou prepare dinner, I can think again how lucky I am to have a family who likes to cook!

I'll try and post more often to remind myself that there are people "out there" who are interested in what I'm doing and thinking about!

I wish you all a happy new year, and may you enjoy good health and happiness.

San-Dee

Habits

I am a creature of habit- those who know me well will agree. I don't mind change, and I think I adapt fairly well to it- "going with the flow" so to speak- but one of things I am having difficulty with is adjusting to the MacBook. It is my latest hand-me-down laptop from the kids, the Toshiba finally needed to rest in peace. I've been using it since at least June, and only today did I find out how to access the bookmarked sites that don't show up automatically when you hit the bookmarks arrow. No comments about slow learners... I am not the type to push buttons randomly to see what happens, and sometimes I don't ask because I don't want to look stupid. I just figured that the bookmarks had been "lost in the switchover". I should never have doubted Lillian and Jack, all my stuff is here and it's just a matter of finding it. What fun on the rainy rainy day we are having. Weather channel says up to 4 inches, we've had 1 already.......

Yuck, need sun soon!

We have had four days of cloudy weather, with some rain thrown in for grief and I need some sun! I have a "natural" lamp at work which helps, but getting into the car to drive home in the blah is really unpleasant. We are supposed to have heat and humidity again on Thursday and Friday, so hopefully we will have some sun.

I have set aside Thursday to start organizing my sewing space so I can get in to my machine. I have really missed sewing, especially since the only stuff done in June was awful! I hate the fact that I can no longer pick up a pattern, cut it, sew it, and look like a million bucks. Getting older is NOT fun in that respect! i have three dresses that all need minor to major renovation if I'm to salvage the material that went into them. But, that is not going to be Thursday's project. Thursday's project is organizing the blocks I need to sew to catch up with all of you, my dear online quilting buddies who have been so patient!! You just need to be a little more patient, then things will come to you!

Slowly I am regaining my optimism, polishing up my rose colored glasses and hoping I can find new things to get excited about. One of the concerns I had for my father-in-law is that over the course of caring for his wife, his world has shrunken considerably. Funny, but with all our support of him, my world has done the same thing. So, on to new adventures and experiments. Any ideas out there?

Outdoor Day

Today Lou and I spent almost all day outside dealing with the yard. The tree limbs have been in the yard for two months at least and I really wanted to have one segment of my life/house/area in a "maintenance rather than needs work" mode. We finally cut all the limbs into fire place size and pitched them over the fence into the side yard-tomorrow's job will be stacking them for winter. After the limbs were cut, we weed-whacked the flowerbeds to cut down the dead stuff. i finished cutting the grass, which was about 10 inches long. It was so long the mulching mower couldn't mulch it all, but at least it is cut and we move forward from here. I brought one of the trellises out and set the gourd vines up. I'm hoping the 6 little ones will grow as we are now definitely into fall. I think we'll plant pumpkins next year-Lou suggested it and it sounds fun to me, Halloween is probably my favorite non-religious holiday.

And this year, since I don't leave for London until November 2nd, I will be home for Halloween. Thoughts are already swirling-who/what will I be? I'm still leaning toward Abby from NCIS, but I'm not sure I want to buy Goth boots when I'm leaving for London two days later and will want money to spend on souvenirs. I love Halloween-the costumes, the candy, the silliness we have at work. Every year I could kick myself for letting Lou talk me into getting rid of the Donald Duck costume-maybe I need to look in my pattern piles and see if I still have it...

DD2 will be home in about a month-she has another meeting in the Midwest and will come home since she's so close. I'm ready-we need to get her ready for Halloween, and do a little work on a more professional look for her meetings.

So, now I'll take some tylenol against later possible pain, and go enjoy the dinner Lou has cooked for us tonight.

Regaining my home

It is good to be home again. Now that my father-in-law's wife has transitioned to the facility, it will not be necessary for us to drive to Cleveland every other weekend. We can space out our visits to allow him to adjust to a life alone in the house. He will find his rhythm and routine.

Now I will be able to start spring cleaning here at the house. Or maybe I should just call it fall cleaning, whatever. It will be started this week. Hopefully it will not rain Thursday and I can get the last of the small branches bundled for garden recycling. Then we can cut the lawn and not have the shabbiest one on the block. Once the front yard is reasonable, I can start working on my sewing area. I have to get to it to be able to sew....

And do I have spectacular projects!! Not only do I have quilt blocks to catch up on, but I have a few daughter projects. It all started because DD2 asked if I would be willing to bring some patterns over the pond in November. YES-I will be going to London to visit her! She has two friends who are seamstresses and very into retro patterns. They love the Vogues, but to order online and then pay shipping to the UK is a lot of money, and they are graduate students. So, KS asked if I would be willing to bring them if they ordered them and had the patterns shipped to our house. Being a mom, and happy to know that the next generation is sewing, I said of course! Well, what happens but two days later I get a mailer from JoAnne's Fabrics that for the Labor Day sale all Vogue patterns are $3.99, limited to in stock, in store. I told KS to have the girls send me the numbers they wanted and sizes. Got an email the next day. I wanted to check out a location I'd never been so I schlepped to the JoAnne's in Gaithersburg-great fabric, so-so pattern selection. But, I got a great dress pattern for KS and red dupioni silk (washable!!) to make it, and a gorgeous blazer pattern for both-hip length for Roseola, waist for KS. But the best part, as always, was the fabric! I got a beautiful pale gray suit weight wool for the hip blazer, a red-with-embroidery fake suede for the waist length. The Rose wants to look more professional at her meetings, and at this point in her career she should. She'll be visiting in October and I hope to get a basic pant pattern fitted to her-then I can make her some dress slacks for her meetings.

Then I went to "my" JoAnne's in Langley Park and got the rest of the patterns the girls wanted. From online prices, I saved them about $60. I can't wait to see what they come up with for fabrics.

Another project will be to use up all the fleece that never made it into jackets or hoodies. I was going to donate it, but I can make lap blankets for the facility Peg is in. Most of the residents tend to get cold, most are in wheelchairs, and the fleece can be done in those no-sew rectangles. So, I have projects, lots of projects......

Father's Day

It always amazes me how the little everyday things become important landmarks of our growing up.

When our children were very young, we used to play this game of placing our hand, with fingers outspread, over their face and saying "alien your fa-ace..." similar to the way the baby alien in Alien would jump out and attach itself to someone's face. In full disclosure, we never thought about any traumatic effect this might have, it was more to teach them to be careful of their eyes, but not fear something close to their faces. It was years before they finally saw the movie and realized their parents are a little off the normal chart.... Well, about a month ago Lou received a package from daughter #2. She had ordered him an alien plush toy, complete with pose-able front appendages. It was the perfect gift.

This year he received multiple cards from them, not an unusual thing. What is memorable is that they both made reference to strawberries. Daughter #1, Lillian, has always allowed her father to cut up her strawberries as she enjoys the princess treatment. Daughter #2, Sarah, once trying to establish her own capabilities, informed us she could cut her own strawberries.

So, it's not surprising that both sent cards with personal notes about #1-letting him continue to cut her strawberries and #2-even though she could do it herself, he was welcome to cut them anytime.

It's all about giving them the opportunities to become the best people they can become, but it always pleases me when they do something that shows we "did good", as my cousin would say.

And to see their father's face, hear his laughter, as he reads their cards- as Mastercard says, "It's priceless".