Mom Update:  Mom has been having several complications recently.  She is having a congestive heart failure flare up and the cardiologist made some adjustments to a couple of medications that has caused decreased kidney function.  Her kidney function was already only about 30% and with this last medication adjustment, her kidney function has decreased to 20%.  In addition to the decreased kidney function, there has been fluid retention not only in her legs, but in her lungs and around her heart.  

It's frustrating when there are several different doctors involved and they aren't communicating with each other.  Each doctor gets a copy of all labs regardless of which doctor ordered them.  Now we're getting different, conflicting orders from each doctor and it's becoming more difficult to know which order to follow.  Certainly there has to be a better way.  If mom were in the hospital, the doctors and nurses would be having daily conferences on her status and what the treatment plan would be.  There should be a system in place for the same type of conferences to take place when a patient is not in a hospital.

We saw the oncologist today and mom has begun a new chemo treatment plan.  She will have a treatment every two months for the next two years.  The hope is that the lymphoma will be in remission at the end of the two years.  If, during the two year treatment period, the lymphoma worsens, then the treatment will have to be changed to another, stronger chemo medication.

The coming weeks will be filled with more tests, labwork and doctor appointments.  My calendar for June is already filled with just mom's medical stuff.  I was hoping my vacation time would be spent on vacation, not medical appointments.

Don't misunderstand, I'm thankful that I still have my mom here, but all this medical stuff has been going on for such a long time.  Even though I have three other siblings, I'm the only one carrying the full responsibility for my mom.

Thanks for listening and all your support and prayers.  They mean so much to me!   

I THINK I’VE FIGURED IT OUT!
Remember that post back on April 24?  You know the one -- it’s the one when I spoke about visualization and how I had heard that visualizing yourself working out actually provided the same benefits as if you’d actually done the workout.

Well, right after that post, I lost my stitching mojo.  Even though I didn’t actually sit down and stitch with a workout video playing, I think my brain connected stitching with working out and decided it didn’t want any part of that!

So, I told myself that the working out visualization thing is not something I’m going to try.  I also forced myself to pull out one of the ornaments I had ready to stitch.  With Hubby snoring in his chair and the TV program he was really interested in on in the background, I managed to stitch for about an hour.  Not much progress, I admit, but at least it’s a start.

I’ve also signed up for an exchange, so I’m looking for the perfect chart to stitch for my partner.  Sorry, no details to share so you’ll just have to keep watching for more to come.


NEW FLOWERS FOR MY GARDEN

Hubby went to a farmer’s market over the weekend and picked out these two flowering perennials for my garden.  He always tells me he could bring me fresh flowers, but he’d rather bring me ones that keep coming back so I’ll always remember him when I see them blooming again and again.  Awww..... isn’t that so sweet!

We didn’t get to do anything for our anniversary because I spent most of the weekend in bed with a bad migraine.  It’s starting to ease some, but I still definitely know it’s there.

Hope you all have a great week!

Happy Stitchin’

NO COMPUTER AND STILL NO STITCHING
I'm writing this from my phone because my laptop was in the shop being repaired, but after Hubby came home with it tonight, our power went out and is not expected to be restored until after 2 am.  I've never posted from my phone before, and I don't know how it will work, but this will be short due to the difficulty of typing on a mobile device.  Sorry about the photo quality.  I took these pics and posted them through my phone.

I still haven't done any stitching.  Instead, I did some STASH organization.  I have the 2011 LHN ornaments on my Ornament To-Do List, so I got all the fabric and threads pulled.  I also got a few other charts kitted up.  I put a piece of fabric inside the bag with each chart so all I have to do is grab a bag, the threads and my pouch with the needles, scissors and all the other stitching necessities and I can get started. 

HA, it's the getting started part that I'm having trouble with.

I WON A GIVE-AWAY

Alissa, from Starry Nights Studio  hosted a May Give-Away and I was the lucky winner of three friendship themed designs!  Thanks so much Alissa!

LILY PENCIL DRAWING

My youngest daughter drew this for my mom when my mom was in the hospital this last time.  In the hospital, it was tacked up to the bulletin board.  Now that my mom is home, we have framed it and hung it in my mom's bedroom.  I think it turned out really nice and my mom just loves it.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Hubby and I are celebrating our 23rd wedding anniversary on Sunday.  Not sure what we'll do other than relax, but that's ok with me.

Until next time...
Happy Stitchin'

OH WHERE, OH WHERE HAS MY STITCHING MOJO GONE?
My poor needle has not been picked up in so long.  Sure, I’ve been busy and I’ve been stressed, but that’s never stopped me from stitching before.   I don’t like what’s going on with this mojo thing, but I’ve discovered that the more I wonder where it went, the more disturbed and upset about it I get.   Maybe I’ll just keep fondling my STASH, reading blogs and browsing through magazines until the desire to pick up a needle returns.

GRADUATION

Over 550 students participated in the commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 12.

My daughter received her degree and received the Dean’s Commendation, an honor for maintaining a 3.5 or above grade point average for all semesters.

 The “Official” graduation portrait.

My beautiful girls sharing a sister moment.

SNICKERS

 It’s been a rough few months for little Snickers.  First she had the bulging disc in her neck and was on total rest for 6-8 weeks.  Then she developed a bronchial thing that had to be treated with a steroid for 4 weeks.  As soon as she was done with the steroid medication, she started having accidents in the house.  Called the vet and he said to collect a urine sample and bring her in.  Have you ever tried to collect a urine sample from a dog who doesn’t want you to collect a sample?  I’m sure my neighbors were laughing at me!  

Turns out, she had a urinary tract infection and was treated with antibiotics for 2 weeks.  Now my poor little sweetheart is having a congestive heart failure flare up and has to be on a diuretic for a few weeks.

ROSES FOR MOTHER’S DAY

 My girls gave me 2 dozen roses, candy and a sterling silver necklace.


Mom Update:  My mom has been on a two month break from cancer treatments and will be seeing the oncologist again at the end of the month.  At that time, he will discuss with us the new treatment plan and it’s risks.  During this two month break, my mom has been gaining weight and having difficulty breathing.  The type of blood cancer my mom has causes kidney and heart failure as well as a multitude of other systemic problems.  The next two weeks will be filled with tests, blood work and more doctor appointments.

Have a great weekend!

Happy Stitchin’     

TOTALLY NON-STITCHY POST

Still not finding that stitchy feeling.  I haven’t picked up a needle in, well, I can’t remember how long it’s been.  I had wanted to make a pincushion for my MIL, but here it is a few days before Mother’s Day and I haven’t started it.  Heck, I haven’t even picked a design yet.  The longer it takes me to get going on this, the more stress it’s going to cause me and that probably means I’ll make more mistakes.  Not a good way to anticipate starting a project.

SPRING ALL AROUND
Thought I’d share a collage of the signs of spring around our home.  Everything is so green, but some of the flowers don’t seem as spectacular as they did last year.  I think our really early warm weather in February jump started everything, but then the frosty, frozen March nights  damaged the blooms and buds.

WHERE’S THE ROBIN?
This was taken from the really dirty third floor window looking down on the tree in our front yard.   This tree had been damaged in a storm last fall and had to be severely trimmed.  My daughters called it the cactus tree all winter long, lol.  

As you can see, there are new leaves and branches growing.  I love the color of the new leaves and I think they are more colorful than in the fall when it’s just a yellow-gold color.  I haven’t been able to view the nest without the adult robin so I have no idea how many eggs there are.  As fast as the leaves and branches are growing, I might not ever be able to see the eggs or babies.


A STORY


From this...

My how young they are!
Homecoming ~~ High School Freshmen

to...

                     Goofy High School Graduates




to...

                                 Happy College Graduates




to this...

ENGAGED!!!!

Congratulations to my 

beautiful daughter and son-in-law-to-be!

 

Have a great rest of the week and weekend!

Alissa is having her first give-away!  Check it out, it's a great one!

Starry Nights Studio May Give-Away

Stitching Blahs Still in Progress

Ironically, I posted about my stitching blahs and Loretta over at Stitching the Night Away is having a blog hop where stitching bloggers can post a response on their own blog.  Her first topic is Stitching Blahs.

Well, I'm still in the blahs and you can read about it down below the Blog Hop info... 

Maybe I'll get some good ideas and get my mojo back.

Visit all the blogs in this round of the Stitching the Night Away Stitching Blogger Blog Hop:
Find the instructions on how to participate in this round by clicking here. 

ONE OF THOSE WEEKENDS...

Ever choose a new design to stitch, kit it up, sit down and begin stitching only to decide after you've been stitching for a short time that you can't really get into stitching the design?

That's what my weekend was like.  I have three small designs that I kitted up to carry with me when I'm out and about or just want something quick to work on.  I started one design and just couldn't get into it.  I don't know if it's the fabric I chose, the fact that I'm stitching it over one or just me, but I had to put it down after 30 minutes.

Even walking away for a bit and coming back to it didn't work.  So I pulled out another small design I've been wanting to stitch for quite a while now.  Had everything ready to go, just had to stitch it.  Nada! Nothing. Not happenin'.  Couldn't get into stitching that one either.

Decided to get a snack and take a catnap instead.  I think it was only 5 or 10 minutes later, Dottie was barking up a storm.  Taco, the brown squirrel, decided to get into the bird feeder again.  So much for my nap!

Picked up the stitching again.  I just sat there staring at the fabric and few stitches I had put in.  Still couldn't get into stitching.

I looked through my other designs in waiting, but just couldn't find anything that I really wanted to stitch.  I gave up.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

 I decided on the floral design for the Box Finishing Class.  I was able to find the perfect coordinating fabric in my STASH and pulled out a bag of miscellaneous trims I bought at a garage sale last year.  I'm all ready for the next assignment!

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Mother's intuition told me that when my youngest asked to have a family dinner last Friday night, she was going to make some big announcement.  Of course, mother's intuition also had me thinking of all the possibilities...quitting school, moving away, changing majors...and something other really disturbing possibilities I won't mention.  We had a really nice dinner and just as we were finishing dessert, she had a funny smile/scared look on her face when she announced that she had a secret to tell us.

She didn't even look at us when she said this was the longest she'd ever kept a secret from us.  Mother's intuition had my heart pounding.  She finally informed us that she has signed on to join the Army ROTC.  Whew! I can finally breathe again.  She was very well informed and answered all our questions in a calm, adult manner.

I'm actually ok with her decision to join the Army ROTC, in fact, I can even say I'm proud of her for making such a decision.  She's talked about becoming an officer in a military branch since she was in junior high.  Since she's going to be in her second year of college next year, she will have to attend a training camp at Fort Knox later this summer.  She will take military classes in addition to her college classes and I guess nothing really changes with the college requirements for her major and graduation.

Hoping for a week with some stitching!  Have a great week!

Until next time,
Happy Stitchin;