Missing You Mom . . .

. . . well I’ve been absent from my blogging for a very long time . . . as you all know my Mom became very ill in the Fall of 2009 . . . she spent almost 2 years in a nursing facility . . . I visited her just about every single day . . . things were very hectic those 2 years . . . but I wouldn’t trade any of those days I spent with her . . . they were very precious hours . . .

my Mom passed away this past September . . . I miss her every single day . . . and would give anything to be able to visit her every day again . . . except that I wouldn’t want to watch her suffer as she did  . . . I know she is in a much better place now . . .

but it doesn’t stop me from missing her so very very much . . .

my life has settled down now . . . sort of . . . there is a lot going on but it’s good stuff and so I’ll take it . . . my plan is to begin blogging again . . . so you will see some new things soon . . .

Ben's Playing Football . . .

Here's a great photo of Ben in his football uniform . . . I can't believe the boys are growing up so fast . . . I have some photos to post of their December visit . . . we had a great time . . . will post those later today . . .

Dominoes !!

I taught Sienna how to play dominoes while they were here . . . she caught on sooooooooooo fast . . . we had a great time playing . . . I love playing games with my grandchildren . . . always have !!

It's Been a While !!

wow . . . it's been a while since I've posted here . . . things have been difficult and sad since Mom's surgery on Oct. 13 . . . as all of you know . . . but we did have some good times too . . .
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Adam, Isis, Sienna and Olivia visited over Thanksgiving . . . and all those hugs from "our girls" sure helped us get through . . .
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they spent an afternoon playing in the leaves at our house . . .
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Sienna loved it . . . had a wonderful time !!

Olivia was very hesitant at first . . . but she finally got the hang of it !!

YEAH . . . a Kindle !!

I finally ordered a Kindle !! . . . YEAH . . . I'm so excited . . . I should have it in the next couple of days . . .

everyone I know that has one . . . lovesssssssssssss it . . . I sure hope I do too . . .

I do think I will really like it when I travel to California . . . no more carrying a pile of books to read . . . just download what I want onto my Kindle !!

now I'm in the process of going through all my books . . . I'm either going to have a big book sale . . . or just donate them . . . but I do know I finally don't want to be collecting books anymore . . . I am only going to keep my signed 1st editions . . . everything else MUST GO !!

I SURE DO HOPE I LIKE MY NEW KINDLE !!

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Cultural Day at School . . .

at the end of the month Sienna and Olivia will be celebrating "cultural day" at school . . . Isis recently found out that she is a descendant of the Fulani people of Nigeria . . . so we did some research on the Fulani clothing colors and designs . . . and I went shopping in my stash for fabric to make them each a little outfit to wear . . .

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at first I chose the fabric in the 3rd photo . . . but Adam thought it looked more Indian than African . . . so then I went STORE shopping . . . and found the fabric that is in the 2nd photo . . . looks like we're going with that one . . .

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I'm going to make them each a little tunic with a wrap tie for around the waist . . . and possibly a kerchief to tie on their heads in the back . . . it depends if "Mommy & Daddy" decide to buy them the Fulani straw hats we found in the 1st photo . . . I'm voting for the hats !!

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Shelfari . . .

you HAVE to check out http://www.shelfari.com/ . . . it's so cool . . . it's all about books . . . for readers . . . let's you create a bookshelf with books you've already read . . . want to read . . . or are reading . . .

look at the sidebar on my blog . . . at the bottom . . . it let me put a bookshelf of the books I want to read on here . . .

there are so many good books out right now . . . !!

be sure to click on the next button to see all my shelves . . .
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Can You Guess?

sorry I have not been blogging for such a long time . . . things have been really hectic . . . with lots of doctor appointments for Mom . . . and physical therapy appointments for me . . .

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Mom will be having her surgery in a few short weeks now . . . and I am almost all recovered from my fall . . .

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I have been doing a lot of English paper piecing (EPP) . . . here are some photos . . . can you guess what I'm making? . . . I bet the last photo will give you a hint !!

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I'll post them again when they are all done . . . I'm on number 6 now !!

An Update . . .

First, let me say . . . that my friends have been terrific these last 2 weeks . . . this photo is from a card that came with a very nice gift from my friend, Nicole . . . something to help lift up my spirits . . . and lift them up she sure did . . .

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so the update . . . Mom came home a week ago last Tues. . . . with a special diet . . . and instructions to take things very easy . . . we met with the surgeon in Boston this past Monday . . . and need to see him again the end of August after he has totally reviewed everything and decided exactly what will be done . . . she will be having surgery sometime in September . . . we do know that it will be a tough surgery . . . with a pretty long recovery . . . but she has such a strong spirit . . . and such a great attitude . . .

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now . . . to make matters worse . . . in as short a story as I can tell . . . 2 days after Mom came home . . . I went to a local chain pharmacy to get some things for Mom . . . and pick up her Rx's . . . didn't see a huge puddle on the floor . . . and fell . . .

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I won't go into all the details . . . except to say I did a kick like I haven't done since I was 14 . . . and then landed in a split . . . and immediately passed out . . . I've torn all the muscles, tendons, and ligaments from the bottom of my butt to my ankle . . . the pain has been incredible . . . I wasn't able to sit at all for the first 5 days . . .

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this couldn't have come at a worse time . . . but then again . . . is there ever a good time for something like this . . . Mom says it was so I would slow down . . .

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but thanks to my doctor giving me some prednisone to help with the inflammation . . . and the best physical therapist a person could have who has been using ultrasound and electronic stimulation on it all . . . I am getting better every day . . . at least I am finally sitting . . . not pain free . . . but sitting . . . for short periods of time . . .

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the deep down pain is pretty good now . . . and has mostly turned into a real soreness . . . my sciatic is still bothering me . . . but I'm hoping by Monday I will be good enough to drive . . . and try to get back to normal activities . . .

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sooooooooo . . . hopefully this is the END of bad news . . . now that I can sit for a short time I am going to try to get some sewing in this weekend . . . that will pick up my spirits . . . and maybe I will finally have something good to post . . .

Thank You ! !

Thank you to all of you who have written to me saying you are praying for my Mom . . . it means so very much to me . . .
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I've tried to reply to all of you . . . but could not find some of your email addressees . . . so if you didn't get an email from me . . . just know I tried . . . and I am very grateful to you . . .
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I will be writing an update on Mom's condition as soon as I have a few minutes to get it done . . . things are still a little crazy here . . . but decisions have been made . . .
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Thanks again . . . and know that I am offering a prayer for each of you . . . for whatever might be happening in your life too . . . I know we all have our own crosses to bear in life . . ..

What a TERRIBLE Weekend !!

Hydrangeas are my favorite flower . . . so delicate looking . . . but so able to stand up to bad weather etc . . . and such a sign to me that God is watching over us . . . and right now I really need to know that HE is . . . and I DO !!
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I had the day off on Friday . . . and it was my birthday . . . I had planned to sleep in . . . then sew the entire day . . . that's how I wanted to spend my day !!

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well I did sleep in . . . got up at 10:00 . . . put on the coffee and was going to sew right after that . . . decided to call to check on my 81 year old Mom . . . she sounded terrible . . . she said she was having one of her colitis attacks but that this one was worse than any she had ever had before . . .

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I prepared to get dressed and get myself to her house . . . things just got worse over the next 30 minutes . . . long long story . . . just let me say . . . that we took her by ambulance to the local hospital . . .

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we stayed there all day while they ran test after test . . . trying to figure this out . . . again long story . . . finally I called her gastroenterologist who happens to be at another hospital about 20 miles away . . . he said . . . "have her transferred over here . . . I am on duty all weekend" . . .

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so at 4:30 p.m. that's what we did . . . put her into another ambulance and transferred her . . . then drove ourselves to that hospital . . . where they did more tests . . . and more tests . . .

I got home at 9:30 p.m. . . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!

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actually . . . I really don't care about the birthday . . . hopefully I will get to celebrate another one next year . . . right now I just want my mother to get well . . .

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it's been a really trying weekend . . . more tests . . . lots of procedures . . . and now it looks like she is going to need some major surgery . . . which needs to be done at a hospital in Boston . . . so she is looking at another ambulance ride . . . poor thing !!

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we should know in the next hour or so just what she is going to be facing . . . so I'm praying like crazy . . . and just hoping it will all turn out good . . .

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needless to say . . . no sewing this past weekend . . .

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if you read this . . . please say a little prayer for her . . . thanks friends . . .

Wow It's Been A While . . .

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I can't believe that 4 months have passed since I last wrote on here . . . guess we've been busy . . .

I had surgery on my rotator cuff the end of February . . . so was out of commission with the computer for 3 weeks . . . and then it was slow and limited for a while longer . . . it's healing nicely now . . . although I guess 2 weeks ago I over did the sewing . . . because I ended up with tendonitis . . . but that seems to be almost gone now . . . so I'm grateful . . .

my PT told me the other day that I now have full rotation back . . . and now it's just a matter of gaining back the strength . . . so I'm almost there . . . but I bet it will be a few more months of PT . . . of course ! ! !

I'll be posting more soon . . .
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"A New Beginning" . . .

"Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."

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Happy New Year . . .

wow . . . here we are at the beginning of another new year . . .

I began reading "The Shack" just before Christmas . . . and I have just finished it . . . it is such a fabulous book . . . that I am going to begin re-reading it immediately . . . this time with a highlighter in my hand ! !

it is one of the most meaningful books I have read in a really long time . . . in fact . . . because of this book I have chosen the word "Papa" for my word for 2009 . . .

I can't tell you why . . . because if you haven't read the book yet it would ruin it for you . . . and if you have read it . . . well then . . . you totally understand . . .

the idea of choosing a word for the year came from my daughter-in-law, Isis . . . and it's a fabulous idea . . .

Isis explains it on her blog like this . . . "this idea of choosing a word for the year. a word that not sums up the year you've just had, but on the contrary, helps shape and define the year ahead, a word that focuses your attention and sets your intention throughout the year" . . .

I love the idea . . . and when I read about it on her blog . . . the first word that popped into my head was "Papa" . . . you just have to read the book ! ! !

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Mosaic No. 2 . . .

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I tried the mosaic again today . . . it's so interesting how it comes out differently each time . . . depending on your mood at the time I guess . . .

I love the tugboat photo of the "Cheryl Ann" . . . my father actually chose my name from a program he loved and watched every evening after the news . . . about a tugboat called the "Cheryl Ann" . . . I would sit with him and we would watch it together when I was a little girl . . .

I loved finding that photo . . . it reminded me of him . . .

Obama Wins ! ! !

our little campaigners are happy ! ! ! . . . and so are we . . . Sienna called last night and convinced her "Papa" to vote the right way . . .

this is a great day in America . . . and our future looks much better now that we will finally have a president that is intelligent and compassionate . . .

we can now return our country to the great place we have always wanted for our children and grandchildren . . .
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Happy Halloween ! ! !

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here are our "little ghostie" and "sweet flower" . . . they so so cute . . . they will be arriving for a visit in 12 more days . . . I can't wait to see them . . . and Adam and Isis too . . .

I wish Rick, Tracy, Ben, and Peter were coming too . . . it would be wonderful ! ! !

Happy Anniversary ! !

Rick and Tracy celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary today . . .

I can't believe it has been 13 years since that wonderful day in Connecticut . . .

They have built a beautiful life together . . . with two really handsome sons, Ben & Peter ! ! !
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A Young Girl's Poem

I just read this poem written by a co-worker's daughter, Maxine Melnick . . . she is 12 years old now but wrote this poem when she was only 10 !! . . . it's beautiful . . .

“My Silver Seagull”

Silver seagull, Gliding like a Little motorboat,
In his lonely, sparkling Lake.

Watching, staring at his Reflection, two of him
I can see, but he Can see only me.

No one with him Except for me,
His reflection too, But that is all. Empty.

One small thing, in Such a big, big world.
Him and me in perfect Harmony.

Now me, just Watching, staring, as quiet
As can be, at silver seagull, My silver seagull.
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My Mosaic

Trying this mosaic idea was suggested by Isis several weeks ago on her blog . . . so I decided today I would give it a try . . . she said it was a nice way to unwind . . .

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I found myself thinking of a lot of different things from my life as I chose the photos . . . it was really interesting . . .

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Here's my mosaic . . . I have a feeling it would turn out differently if I did it again another day . . . somehow I think it tunes in to your mood as you do it . . .

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