Ready for Move In

Well not really, but the construction is finished

...and what fun it was...thank you Sherri and Sinta for taking us on Another Year of Schnibbles.  I had a bit of time yesterday and was able to finish the construction...and what a wonderful time it was.  I've learned a big lesson this weekend...I will never again take my sewing time for granted.  I used to sew for hours and hours...and now I get bits of time and oh how I appreciate those bits.

I'll try to get back here later this week...no promises, but I'll try...have a wonderful week!

A Very Good Grey Day

The day started out drizzly and windy...very hard to walk 2 dogs that hate to get wet...have you ever heard anything so silly...2 labs that don't want any part of getting wet?  So after following them around the yard with the umbrella, they did what they needed to do and came back in the house.  We went for our regular walk later in the morning.

Called Mom this morning and she was doing great...sounded like her old self...it was wonderful...as we were chatting she said, "The roads are wet, there have already been accidents on the roads you use, I'm feeling really good today, so why don't you just stay home."  I argued with her, but when she said, "Please stay home"  what's a girl to do...I had to listen to my mother.  Andy and I will head over tomorrow morning for a visit.  So after a trip to the grocery store, and a couple of little errands I headed upstairs.  Boy oh Boy...did that ever feel good.  I got to sew for several hours today, and I'm telling you it felt great...I even got started catching up on my DVR'd (I'm not sure that's really a word) shows...2 episodes (one 2 hour one) of Private Practice from October or November.  I started construction on my tiny neighborhood

for Full House...I know I won't have it done by the end of the month for the parade of Schnibbles, but that's OK, I had a wonderful day and I love the houses...I'll finish this for sure and it will be hanging in my sewing room. Stay tuned...LOL!

I just have to share this treasure

I came across when I was cleaning out Mom's villa back in November...I was so excited when I found this.  My Dad used to cut roses from the bushes in our yard, he'd bring them in and give them to Mom...she'd put them in this glass vase that originally belonged to my grandmother...I knew this had to come home with me...and I didn't want to put it in a closet and only bring it out when I had flowers to put in it...I had to put it in my sewing room where I'd see it every time I sit at my machine, or just go in my sewing room to sit in my chair and stitch or just to sit.  So many memories in that one glass vase...Mom, Dad, and my grandmother...now it won't have flowers in it because I don't want water by my machine, but it will hold all my little dog ears from half square triangles and flying geese...makes me very happy.

That's it for my little corner of the world...hope you have a great weekend!

It's Been a Blur...

and I think I'm in a fog...most evenings as I reflect on the day, I'm not sure where the day went...it truly is a blur.  Josh, Katie and the kids came in a week ago Thursday for Mom to meet her new great grandson, Peyton Wells Crago, for the first time.  The doctor said they could travel by car with him at 2 weeks and bless his heart he turned 2 weeks that very day.  They were here over the weekend and headed back home on Monday.  It was truly the most wonderful 3 days...we just couldn't have asked for anything more.  Mom spent many hours holding Peyton, and when she wasn't holding him she was playing Matchbox cars on the coffee table with Hampton or coloring and reading with Camden...Hampton also tried to teach her how to play Angry Birds on dad's IPad...we laughed a lot and shed some tears...it was the BEST family time.  We took a few minutes to take a new Four Generations picture with the addition of Peyton. 

A picture that we will all treasure.

Not much sewing going on here...most of my time is spent with Mom, or taking care of stuff for her.  We had a hematologist appt on Tuesday and her blood count was down so he sent her for another transfusion.  So all day Wednesday was spent at the hospital...then on Thursday she decided that she would not have anymore transfusions.  She's decided to just let this play out...it's so hard on her and as she says "For what?"   When she first got the diagnosis back in October she said all she wanted to do was to be able to see her new great grandson...the kids made that happen, and for that I am forever grateful. She's content and has accomplished what she wanted.  She's not in any pain, is in good spirits and still sharp as a tack...what more can I ask for.  So, don't think she'll last too much longer, and she knows that, and is good with it all...so I'm OK with it too.
 
I found a bit of time yesterday and got my January project for Christmas Through the Year done...a flannel pillowcase for Camden. 

Thanks so much Darlene and Cheryl for doing this...I sure had fun!

I've sure missed all of my Blogland friends and I want you to know that I appreciate all of your notes, good thoughts, prayers and support more than I'll ever be able to express...Thank you my Friends!

My Word for 2012

I've given my word some very serious thought these past several weeks...trying to come up with just the right one for my life...and it hit me yesterday, even though I kept trying to push it away and come up with something else...this one just kept calling to me...Decluttering...now spell checker doesn't seem to like it, but that's OK, I like it...and so it goes...2012 is my year for Decluttering.

Now Andy can't quite figure out what I'm going to declutter...I've been through all the drawers and closets in this house...well, except for the sewing room...that will come later when I have more time to dedicate to that job...but I'm not just going to declutter stuff in my house and in the garage, but I'm going to declutter stuff that I've been carrying around in my heart and mind for way too many years...there are people who have wronged me or my family at various times of my life and I've said that I've forgiven, but unfortunately I haven't forgotten. I need to get rid of this old stuff...I know I won't ever be friends with these people again, and that's OK, I just have to get rid of the baggage...declutter.  There are things that people have told me over my 60 years, not smart enough, not pretty enough, not as good a friend as I should have been, not thin enough, hair not quite right, sure can't sing...I could go on and on...I started working on these things over this past summer, I've come many miles but I still have a ways to go...It's a journey and I'm ready to be rid of it...declutter.

I'm going to get rid of the guilt over UFO's...this is the year that I'm just going to sew what I want to sew.  My time is very limited now for sewing...so I'm not going to waste that time on stuff I really don't want to do...I'm going to do what I want to do...what makes me happy...as I unearth UFO's that I'm not going to work on anymore, I'll be looking for new homes for them...it's time to get rid of Stuff.

So that's my word...I can't tell you how liberating it was to get rid of the stuff I've gotten rid of so far...why should I hang on to this stuff when there are people that can really, really use it.

I really didn't set out to have this post be quite so long...sorry...if you're still with me, Thanks!  I am looking forward to 2012...a new year, a clean slate...but I will continue to look at it one day at a time...I can't worry about yesterday, it's past...no sense worrying about tomorrow...today is the gift I've been given and I plan on doing everything I can to make the best use out of it...no more could ofs or should haves...no regrets...no guilt...no more excess baggage...as my Hampton says..."I'm done with that!"

Here's to 2012!

Introducing...

Peyton (working on a middle name) Crago

Born at 4:26 a.m. CST...December 29th...7 pounds 8 ounces and 21 inches tall.  I can't wait to really get to meet him.  Everyone is doing great!

Hope everyone is having a Happy New Year's Eve day...I'm doing some decluttering...well I guess Andy would say a LOT of decluttering...he's afraid to set anything down for fear it's going to end up in the garbage bag.  I'll be back tomorrow with my word for the year.  On this last day of 2011 ENJOY (my word for this past year) whatever you're doing today! 

Where Do I Begin?

I guess the best place would be back at Thanksgiving when I wrote my last post...oh my!  We had the best 3 days with Mom, Josh, Katie, Camden and Hampton.  It truly was the best 3 days that Mom had seen in 2 months...what a blessing.  I took tons of pictures of  Thanksgiving on Thursday, Hampton's birthday on Friday, and Christmas on Saturday, but these 2 pictures say it all...

I will be forever grateful for these wonderful, wonderful days that we had has a family celebrating very special days.

Mom and the doctor made the decision right after Thanksgiving weekend that she wouldn't be going back to her Villa and that she'd be staying in the Health Center permanently.  She made such a wise decision 15 years ago when she moved to the Mayflower where they provided independent living, which she's enjoyed for all these years, assisted living and the Health Center .  She was in a semi-private room and had several different room mates...she was fine with it, but knowing that she would be there for always I felt like we needed to get her into a private room.  We had a "Care Plan" meeting on Monday December 5th, let them know that we really wanted a private room...as it turned out the largest private room have become available that weekend...Oh my...I nearly jumped out of my chair.  It's a beautiful room, probably the size of a small efficiency apartment.  They got it all painted for her and by the Saturday she was all moved in.  That really stepped up the schedule for cleaning out her Villa...I had promised her that we'd have it done by Christmas...we got it all done that week....worked a lot of 10-12 hour days to get it all done...bless Andy's heart, I never would have made it without him.     Don't think we'll ever move out of this house, but it did make me realize that I'm not saving anything anymore, well excluding my sewing room.  No more papers that I might look at another time, clothes that I don't wear for a while are going to someone who can wear them.  Mom had so much "stuff"...we got a 15 cubic yard dumpster and almost filled it.  Gave tons of clothes and furniture to charity...she didn't want to have any kind of sale...just wanted people who needed it to have it...we were able to move a few pieces of her furniture and she has all of her pictures of the kids on a library table that we brought over.  She's very content and very comfortable...and for that I am more than grateful.

So, to make a long post a bit less long I'll say, we've kind of gotten into a "routine" and I pretty much know where I'm going to be when, but I also know that I'm not going to get too attached to it because it's likely to change...and I'm OK with that.  I continue to focus on TODAY, I don't look past that and I don't look back....Thank you my dear friend for that advice...I hear her on my shoulder many days saying "Focus, Focus...Today!" and that snaps me right back where I need to be.  Thank you all so much for notes and e-mails checking in on us...I'm hoping to be around blogland a bit more after the first of the year...we'll see how it goes.  Right now Mom is doing pretty well, her bloodwork was actually up from last week, and no one has an explanation for it, the doctor has never seen that happen with anyone her age and with this  advanced leukemia...I'm calling it our Christmas miracle.

So from our house to yours...We wish you the Merriest Christmas ever...ENJOY! 

I saw this quote this morning and just loved it...I think it says it all in looking to the coming year...

“This year, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and the speak it again.”   -Howard W. Hunter

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

We have so very much  to be thankful for this year...although it's been a difficult year for so many, we still have much for which to be thankful.  Where do I begin?  My mom of 89, despite the fact that she is very ill is soooooooooooo excited that the kids will be here for the holiday.  A pretty good doctor's report yesterday, no transfusion this week...and that's exactly what mom wanted them to say.  My sweet husband, I know for sure I wouldn't have made it through these last months without him.  He's there to do whatever needs to be done, always has words of reassurance, and sometimes just the fact that he's sitting with me is all I need to make it through.  My wonderful Josh and Katie, who completely changed their plans for Thanksgiving, we were all going there.  Josh and the children will be here this evening, he's driving down with them and Katie will be here in the morning, she's flying in at 9...the doctor wouldn't let her sit in the car for that long since our "Buster" is due the beginning of Jan and she always goes at least a week early.  My amazing friends, the calls, the e-mails, the notes of support have done more for me than any of you will ever know...I am so thankful.  Good health, despite the fact that I turn the big 60 tomorrow I am in wonderful health, a little twitch or twinge occasionally but for the most part in great shape for an old girl.

I could go on and on I know...but it feels really good to make a list of things to be thankful for...this is exactly what I need to do each and every day...stop and think of the things I have to be thankful for and not dwell on the other stuff...as a very dear friend of mine told me the other day..."We can't do a thing about yesterday, we are not able to control what tomorrow will bring, we have today, we need to take care of today."  I love it!  Really put everything in perspective for me...yesterday's done, I can't fix anything that happened then...tomorrow is going to come and I need to just wait and take care of it when it gets here...TODAY, that is the gift I have. 

Wishing all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving...ENJOY every moment...I know I will!