Andrea seems to be improving on a daily basis. She was able to return home last Friday. A bit rocky at first - one spell on Saturday when life in general with its changes got to her. I'm extremely proud of her progress and stated dedication to getting better. She's a tough cookie. This week, she's in out patient care at the hospital, which she says is boring. Of course, she'd rather be home, but I'm stickin' to my "guns" on this one and not allowing her to stay home until the staff at the hospital tell me she can. Her attitude is apparently rubbing off on her best friend also - she has promised her mother to make a real effort in tackling her challenges. A promise that brought the mom to tears. (oh, how I can relate to that one!)
Andrea's dad is apparently taking my advice to heart - he spent time with her again on Sunday. I cornered him before he left and told him in no uncertain terms that if he wants back into her life he needs to be consistent - don't just pop up every five months. He agreed. Let's see how long it lasts. If need be, I'll badger the man. Andrea's worth it. And I'm extremely good at being a pest.
The main question of the day is this: Is there a more stubborn man on the face of this planet than my husband, Michael? (Hint: The answer is NO!) Hospice phoned him a few days ago and said they wanted to send a volunteer to our home to be with Michael. Michael dearly wants to catalogue, photograph and put a value on each item in his model railroad collection. It's a daunting task and one that Michael could not handle on his own. What a terrific project to ask the volunteer to help with, I thought. Michael, however, is far from agreeing to it. What if I don't like the volunteer, he whined. What if they don't like trains? I'm lonely, but I don't want to be with anybody other than you and Andrea, etc., etc., etc. Grrrrrrrrrrrr! He turned down the offer, but I'm not through with this yet.........
Sorry, no sewing. I did pick up some fabric at Hobby Lobby last night to add to my collection. Loads of fabric, no sewing. Now, that's odd!
Love ya,
Cathy
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Too Long Between Posts
July 8! Holy cow, have I ever been remiss about keeping up with the blogosphere! But, to be perfectly honest, there have been little to no activities in the sewing room. I figured y'all didn't particularly like to read every nitty, gritty detail about life in our household. Events, however, have kept me from blogging, phoning, quilting - just about everything.
My DD's anxiety issues appeared to be getting worse, so with her counselor's blessing, I readmitted her to a mental health facility near our house. She's already feeling better since Tuesday and should be able to return home either today or tomorrow morning. She will have to return for outpatient care, but at least she will be home.
I need to share that our decision to re-admit her was tough on both me and her. A lot of tears were shed. In many ways, she is my closest friend in addition to being my daughter. We share so many things and lean on each other a lot.
The issues with her biological father appear to be at the apex of her concerns. I tried numerous times to contact the man earlier this week without any success until last night. He phoned the house to ask if Andrea could accompany him to Columbus this weekend to visit his parents. I advised him what was going on. For a man for goes months with no contact, he was surprisingly shattered. Andrea's perception is her father doesn't love her and has rejected her on more than one occasion. The lack of love is not true, but her perception is her reality. Her father is just a lazy, lazy man. Andrea requested that she have no contact with him until she is home. Hopefully, her father will not forget.
Michael is not believing any of the issues with Andrea are real. He thinks she is doing all this for attention. And he actually had the nerve to tell me he's jealous of all the attention Andrea is receiving from me right now.
My trials are temporary - I know that. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without my faith to keep me lifted up and positive. I phoned my mother to let her know about Andrea -a tough call to make. Mom said she'll pray for Andrea and you know, I feel those prayers. Andrea does too.
I will be glad to have her back home and plan on loving her. And maybe get a bit of quilting done this weekend.
Love ya,
Cathy
My DD's anxiety issues appeared to be getting worse, so with her counselor's blessing, I readmitted her to a mental health facility near our house. She's already feeling better since Tuesday and should be able to return home either today or tomorrow morning. She will have to return for outpatient care, but at least she will be home.
I need to share that our decision to re-admit her was tough on both me and her. A lot of tears were shed. In many ways, she is my closest friend in addition to being my daughter. We share so many things and lean on each other a lot.
The issues with her biological father appear to be at the apex of her concerns. I tried numerous times to contact the man earlier this week without any success until last night. He phoned the house to ask if Andrea could accompany him to Columbus this weekend to visit his parents. I advised him what was going on. For a man for goes months with no contact, he was surprisingly shattered. Andrea's perception is her father doesn't love her and has rejected her on more than one occasion. The lack of love is not true, but her perception is her reality. Her father is just a lazy, lazy man. Andrea requested that she have no contact with him until she is home. Hopefully, her father will not forget.
Michael is not believing any of the issues with Andrea are real. He thinks she is doing all this for attention. And he actually had the nerve to tell me he's jealous of all the attention Andrea is receiving from me right now.
My trials are temporary - I know that. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without my faith to keep me lifted up and positive. I phoned my mother to let her know about Andrea -a tough call to make. Mom said she'll pray for Andrea and you know, I feel those prayers. Andrea does too.
I will be glad to have her back home and plan on loving her. And maybe get a bit of quilting done this weekend.
Love ya,
Cathy
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Good news!
My brother's nephew, Sam, is home from the hospital. Sam was in a horrific motorcycle accident in May. God's hands surely healed this young man since he had a liver laceration, intestinal tears, nine vertebrae fractured, a dislocated knee and a facial fracture. He still has a long way to go, but he's home with his parents and siblings.
AND he gets to enjoy his comfort quilt.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Post Holiday and A Give-A-Way
First, check out:
http://www.jillquilts.blogspot.com/
Jill has some fantastic give-a-way items to celebrate her 1,000th post
Cannot begin to tell you how much I needed a three-day weekend to re-charge my "batteries". Andrea and I did a lot of shopping, got our hair cut, (Her new "pixie" style is really, really cute!), watched fireworks in Mason and talked about our plans for next year's trip to Florida.
Andrea went with me to Joann's on Saturday - batting half off, folks! Best Friends Quilt Shop also had a sale this weekend - I got 13.5 yards of really nice fabric at an average of $4 a yard - not bad at all!
Finished Jessica's quilt just in the nick of time on Saturday night so I could give it to my delivery person at church on Sunday morning. Sure hope she likes it.
Andrea, Michael and I went to see "The Last Airbender" last night. Interesting film. Not sure if it's something I'd want to see again though. The 3-D did little to enhance it.
Michael had a really rough time leaving the theatre last night and refused our offer to fetch the wheelchair out of the car. Honestly, the man is so freaking stubborn at times, it's bound to do him in! We managed to get him out shopping on Friday night to the international market (Jungle Jim's in Fairfield) but he stayed parked in the wheelchair the entire time. That store is humongous. A trip outside the home is rare for Michael these days and I'm afraid he's developing some anxiety about leaving the house. His appetite is also being affected - not sure if it's the pulmonary fibrosis/lack of oxygen. I made BBQ ribs, corn on the cob and fried squash last night for dinner - a meal which would have required second and third helpings a year ago. He wouldn't eat the ribs or the squash last night. Nor would he try the strawberry smoothies for dessert. If he won't touch the meatloaf and twice-baked potatoes tonight, it's straight to the ER for him or the loony bin for me.
Lest I forget, I made another purchase this weekend. I bought a GO fabric cutter with assorted dies and cutting mats on line. I've researched and pondered this purchase for weeks. I'm all for saving time and I think this tool is going to help with that and improve my accuracy in piecing. Obviously, it's not going to totally replace my rotary cutter. The thought of being able to reduce my cutting time by 90 percent as they claim is fantastic. Most of my quilting is accomplished through 2 and 1/2 inch strips and five inch squares - both of which have dies. It was this or purchase a laptop. And those of you who know me can attest that outside the office I try to spend as little time as possible on-line. Michael puts up a mild protest each time I ask to read my e-mails. (He doesn't share well.) I will let you know how I end up liking the GO cutter - it's coming through UPS. Parcels, we love parcels at our house......
Less enamoured with the weekend activities: Smudge and Daisy. Smudge's arthritis is really giving him fits - enough that he has trouble finding his litter box. I may have a tough decision to make about him soon. Daisy's still shaking from all the firecrackers the neighbors set off each night. She's also dealing with a visit from the grand-dog Luka today. She doesn't share well either.
Love ya,
Cathy
http://www.jillquilts.blogspot.com/
Jill has some fantastic give-a-way items to celebrate her 1,000th post
Cannot begin to tell you how much I needed a three-day weekend to re-charge my "batteries". Andrea and I did a lot of shopping, got our hair cut, (Her new "pixie" style is really, really cute!), watched fireworks in Mason and talked about our plans for next year's trip to Florida.
Andrea went with me to Joann's on Saturday - batting half off, folks! Best Friends Quilt Shop also had a sale this weekend - I got 13.5 yards of really nice fabric at an average of $4 a yard - not bad at all!
Finished Jessica's quilt just in the nick of time on Saturday night so I could give it to my delivery person at church on Sunday morning. Sure hope she likes it.
Andrea, Michael and I went to see "The Last Airbender" last night. Interesting film. Not sure if it's something I'd want to see again though. The 3-D did little to enhance it.
Michael had a really rough time leaving the theatre last night and refused our offer to fetch the wheelchair out of the car. Honestly, the man is so freaking stubborn at times, it's bound to do him in! We managed to get him out shopping on Friday night to the international market (Jungle Jim's in Fairfield) but he stayed parked in the wheelchair the entire time. That store is humongous. A trip outside the home is rare for Michael these days and I'm afraid he's developing some anxiety about leaving the house. His appetite is also being affected - not sure if it's the pulmonary fibrosis/lack of oxygen. I made BBQ ribs, corn on the cob and fried squash last night for dinner - a meal which would have required second and third helpings a year ago. He wouldn't eat the ribs or the squash last night. Nor would he try the strawberry smoothies for dessert. If he won't touch the meatloaf and twice-baked potatoes tonight, it's straight to the ER for him or the loony bin for me.
Lest I forget, I made another purchase this weekend. I bought a GO fabric cutter with assorted dies and cutting mats on line. I've researched and pondered this purchase for weeks. I'm all for saving time and I think this tool is going to help with that and improve my accuracy in piecing. Obviously, it's not going to totally replace my rotary cutter. The thought of being able to reduce my cutting time by 90 percent as they claim is fantastic. Most of my quilting is accomplished through 2 and 1/2 inch strips and five inch squares - both of which have dies. It was this or purchase a laptop. And those of you who know me can attest that outside the office I try to spend as little time as possible on-line. Michael puts up a mild protest each time I ask to read my e-mails. (He doesn't share well.) I will let you know how I end up liking the GO cutter - it's coming through UPS. Parcels, we love parcels at our house......
Less enamoured with the weekend activities: Smudge and Daisy. Smudge's arthritis is really giving him fits - enough that he has trouble finding his litter box. I may have a tough decision to make about him soon. Daisy's still shaking from all the firecrackers the neighbors set off each night. She's also dealing with a visit from the grand-dog Luka today. She doesn't share well either.
Love ya,
Cathy
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