Veteran's Day

Veterans:  Thank you.

Up and Running? and Vee's Gifts

From dear Vee :

Tea cozy, hot pad, and beautiful card. (Missing from picture - tea bags.) Be sure to click on picture, so you can see the details.



Notice the buttons?



One side of pad.

Other side of pad.

Inside of pad. Vee, just had to show this fabric! It is beautiful, too. Since the pad opens on one side, it could be used to keep biscuits or buns warm.


Under the tea cozy was this tea pot from my mom's china closet. Not old, just pretty.

And steeping in the pot - Taylors of Harrowgate Yorkshire tea. YUM

Thank you, Vee. These are lovely. I will use the cozy and pad for years to come.


Several things to be thankful for:

Beautiful, tiny, spring flowers.

Madeline is home and doing better. Thank you for your prayers. She still needs them, though.

Jitterbug is feeling some better. Wishing you a speedy recovery! Miss Jitterbug could use a prayer or two, also.

Lots of babies - just born in the last several weeks (Jessica - a boy, Katie - a boy, Ashley - a girl) and several arriving in the next few weeks to months (Merrick, Janssen, Marie, and Lisa H). These are the moms I can think of off the top of my head. Did I forget anyone? If so, please let me know, so that I can add you to my prayer list.

Computer is working again. I have no idea what was wrong with it. No viruses or spy ware were found. The hard drive isn't making any more strange noises. The fan is quiet. You know that old law about an appliance or car not working properly, but when the mechanic/repair person shows up it works just fine? That would be my computer. (It is possible that an update messed things up.)

A small thing - my daughter just called and said that power is out on campus so all classes have been cancelled. The weather is gorgeous, so she is going to play out in her small yard.

Computer Issues

Sorry for not posting for a while. The computer in the house has a virus and/or the hard drive is crashing. I have been squeezing in a minute or two here and there over at the office.

As soon as the house computer is up and running, I'll post a picture of the gifts I received
from Vee. They are so pretty! Thank you, Vee.

Also, a blogging friend, Madeline, is very, very ill. Please, if you would, say a prayer and/or keep her in your thoughts. Thanks.

Remember

Today is Veterans Day, Remembrance Day, or Armistice Day. Whatever you choose to call it, please remember and pray for all those who have fought to keep us free.

Home for a couple of days Updated

Thank you, all, for your lovely comments, thoughts, and prayers. Mom has been doing fairly well, but she starts Thursday with another "procedure". So, it is off to another round of doctor appointments and back to Mom's to stay for at least a few days.

Pictures taken with crappy cell phone camera. Sorry. As always, click on the picture for a larger view. :)



On Highway 101 (Highway 1) before getting to Santa Barbara. It was getting dark, but it was so beautiful.


The Channel Islands were so clear and close. Sorry they don't show up well here. You can just barely see the fog starting to roll in.




Stole this from Carmen. Thanks, Dear. What a difference in camera quality. Channel Islands from Highway 1 Santa Barbara County, California.

Actually, we (my husband, daughter, and I) "snuck off" to beautiful Santa Barbara, California, for my mother-in-law's 80th birthday party and a mini family reunion.

Of my in-law's ten children, only one son couldn't make it. (He is self-employed, this is his busiest season, and his substitute workers came to the party.) My husband is the oldest child, and our son is the oldest grandson and the third grandchild. (I'm pretty sure Carmen is the 6th grandchild.) In-laws have eighteen grandchildren ranging in ages 34 to 3.

Carmen & Molly. Molly is the 2nd to the youngest great-grandchild. Molly belongs to one of our nieces.

Six grandchildren and two of the seven great-grands weren't able to come.

Grandma and Grandpa with a little over half of their grandchildren. Pictured here: grands aged 32 to 3. By the time this was taken, a couple of the grown grandsons had left the party. (The oldest grandchild had just had a baby, so her family wasn't at the party - too far to travel with a itty-bitty one.) The two next to Grandma are twins. The 3-year-old was so tired. Too bad he has his face covered. He is just a doll. Okay, they are all cute :D

So disappointing that everyone wasn't there; all of us would have loved to have seen them. All of Mom S's siblings were there along with all (her family side) of her nieces and nephews and some of their children! It was a rushed trip (two long days of driving one way) and a little stressful, but it was great visiting with those who were there.

Our son D & his better half K. lol Really, both are super "kids".

Our son and his family met us there, and then we traveled north to their house for a day a couple of days.

Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in the fog. It was a chilly 57 degrees.



The size of the supports on Golden Gate Bridge is amazing.





This is a view from D & K's driveway. Yes, that is a small, very old, private cemetery.


So good to spend a little time with our "kids"! Our (step) granddaughter will be a senior in high school! Where does the time go? I didn't get a decent picture of her with this camera. "Kirs" was being her normal silly self, and yes, her hair is purple.


"Kirs"

"Kirs" and her Aunt Carmen


Our grandson will be in the 8th grade. He is still on the little side. Although you can't tell it here, he's only about an inch shorter than his Aunt Carmen. (He's always hungry, so I expect he'll shoot up tall this school year.)


J with his Aunt Carmen
Rough housing in the house. Both old enough to know better. LOL

Long Overdue Thank You and Explanation

Thank you to everyone who has been praying and thinking of my mom and me. The prayers worked! Mom just sort of "snapped out of it". She was sick and then suddenly this past Wednesday evening was feeling good. So good, in fact, that we went on to Moscow on Thursday to go grocery shopping and have lunch with my daughter. Mom rested some on Friday and then she and my daughter left yesterday to go camping with my brother and SIL!

This business of my mom not feeling well is really hard to deal with. When I was growing up, she was "never sick" as in she refused to give in to anything. Only the occasional "sick" migraine would stop her.

Mom was and has been a small dynamo. (She was and is little. She's less than 5 feet tall and weighs about 90 pounds. She never weighed above 100 pounds until she was in her fifties.) She worked full time, kept a spotless house (with help from us kids), sewed, read, painted, crocheted, and cooked beautiful meals along with being a mom and wife. Now, she works part time, keeps her house picked up, takes care of her pets, and gardens. She says, "I can sit in my chair and feel bad and sorry for myself, or I can get some work done and keep my mind off of it."

*Only* this time she was so sick she couldn't work - or even walk to the bathroom by herself.

Mom didn't allow and still doesn't do "feel sorry for me". I think that is why I have never posted about this, but since I've been asking for prayers I thought I should explain why.

***

Five years ago this month, my mother was diagnosed with an unknown type of cancer. She had a huge malignant tumor in her lung, and by the time it was found, the cancer had spread to the surrounding lymph nodes. (My mother has never smoked. The doctors said that this is "not a type of cancer one gets from second-hand smoke or asbestos".) Mom had surgery and then chemo. But, the abnormal cells never went away.

The cancer has now spread to the other lung. (She did really well for about 3 years, but then started reacting to the chemo she'd been on. She has reacted to most types they've tried, but seems to handle this last type pretty well.) She also has been experiencing the side effects of prolonged chemo therapy - inability to smell or taste very many things, shortness of breath, decaying teeth and infection, fluid around the heart, extreme weight loss, and the inability to eat very much at a time. She has recently had fluid removed from around her heart and had oral surgery to try to save her teeth and face bones.

Add stress to the cancer.

My step-father had COPD which caused some bouts of crankiness, paranoia, and unreasonableness.

Three years ago, Mom tripped over the cat, fell, and broke her hip. She had to have a hip replacement, but she came through that really well. Within two weeks, she was up and walking to the office every day!

A year ago February, my mom's mother suddenly became ill and passed away while we were experiencing a series of major storms causing road closures and while Mom was in the middle of a major reaction to a treatment.

My step-father didn't handle Grandma's passing. (His illness caused that.)

A year ago June, my once wonderful step-father and my mom's husband of almost 40 years was diagnosed with lung cancer. Hello, COPD and they didn't find the cancer???

Last July, my mom and step-dad were in a wreck caused by a brake malfunction. They weren't hurt, but it wrecked their Suburban and totalled their travel trailer. (This just about did in my step-father. We were so glad it was a malfunction and not something caused by my step-father.)

My step-father went through chemo and radiation treatments, but passed away from pneumonia rather suddenly just after Thanksgiving. (The funeral was extremely stressful - again blizzards and road closures and add my step-dad's hostile daughter. )

Mom is still fighting to get the probate done. There have been my step-father's children to deal with and my (real) nephew's wife. Everyone thinks they are entitled to something.

There's more, but that is enough for here.

***
My brother has stepped in to take care of the mowing, watering, and trimming. He was already doing most of the "handy man" stuff around the house. (Here he is off camping and this morning an underground water line broke to one of the sprinklers. How dare he leave! JK and LOL)

I have been going with Mom to all of her appointments and staying with her when she doesn't feel good. (Mom lives 125 miles from the medical center. In the summer it takes two and a half hours to drive one way.)

My other brother lives on the other side of the country, but he comes "home" when he can. (He was here for 10 days in June and worked his skinny little hind end even skinnier.) He and his wife had been busy with her folks. Her father passed away in January, but her mom is still alive.

Random, but my generation is soon to be the old generation. Scary thought.

This was probably more than you wanted to know. Thank you again for your prayers.