Oh Well...

I'm off once again. Boyfriend & i are headed to Virginia this morning. My Pop-in-law is in a nursing home, and my Mom-in-law is sick so she's not going to see him. That presents a problem for her 'cause she goes there EVERY day, for MOST of the day, but she doesn't want to get him sick 'cause he has enough crap to deal with now.
My PIL has Parkinsonism (some docs say Parkinsons & some say Parkinsonism. I don't know what the difference is...), and he also has brain atrophy. It means his brain is shrinking. With the Parkinsons, his limbs are getting shaky and stiff, and with the atrophy, he's losing the ability to swallow, getting demensia, etc. He doesn't remember his son & daughters anymore. It's really sad...

Every time i go to that nursing home, though, i just wanna cry. And sometimes when i'm sitting there all day, i just wanna vomit.
I'm sorry to be dumping this on you, but i feel like i have to be "the strong one" for my husband, so i try not to tell him about it. I'm sure that if i'm feeling like this, HE'S feeling it WAAAAY more.

...and then i think how, since my Mom has Alzheimer's... one day she not remember who I am.
And now i may start crying.
It's just terrible that the people you hold so close and dear all your life may have to one day face all this horrible shit! I look at my daughters and tell them that if i ever forget them, i want them to know that IS NOT MY INTENTION!!!

Okay! Now that i've cheered everyone up!
I'm sorry.
I started this simply to let you know that i'll be out of town today, and possibly tomorrow.
Plus, i worked a WEE bit on the Blue WaveRunner yesterday.
AND i worked on the label for the 60s Song wall hanging, and i'm really *thrilled* with it. I'll have to "borrow" a camera to let you see it.
I also got a jelly roll to start on a new baby quilt.
No. Nobody i know is having a baby, but it's for the future. =-)

So that's what's up in my little world.
I hope everything is going Great for YOU! =-)

Moving Around and Organizing

Hello Everyone!

To those of you who've sent me well-wishes for my Father-in-law,

I thank you.

However, he is in the "end stages" of life, with no hope of "recovery". He has Parkisonism and brain atrophy (his brain is shrinking), so he will slowly fade away every day, or something like that. My Mother-in-law still cannot grasp that concept, and she hopes everyday that he'll "get better", and we cannot tell her differently. She gets too upset when we try to talk about it... And we cannot bare to see her cry... So we sort-of dance this dance, and come what will...

On to happier things! (Because Life goes on!)

I've moved most of my "stuff" around and think i'm finally ready to post about it. =-)

My sewing table & cutting table used to be in the dining room, and all the rest of my "stuff" was upstairs in the Art Room. Before i started reading all these blogs, ALL of my stuff was up in the Art Room, but Crazy Mom (indirectly) showed me the error of my ways. In one of her posts, she pointed out that by having your machine in a "prominent part" of the house, you would be more likely to sew in those "in-between moments" (a.k.a: down time). She was right, you know! =-)

Well... I haven't exactly been happy with having *some* of my stuff readily accessible and *some* of my stuff "all the way upstairs". (Sorry. I guess i have become another one of those spoiled Americans!)

Anyway, I've been slowly working on getting ALL of my stuff moved into Boyfriend's office (with permission, of course. He's good like that!)

WARNING:: I DID NOT clean up before i took these pix!!! I'm just not that way. I believe in living in my house, and i don't apologize for it. That's what it's FOR! =-)

Here are pictures of Before:

This was taken with the office at my back:

This next one was taken with the kitchen at my back and the office is just barely visible through the door on the left:

This next one was taken with the living room at my back, and you can see the office through the door ahead. That's where my sewing stuff is gonna go!

In this one, you can see both tables, sewing & cutting. It's a good set-up 'cause i have plenty of lighting, and everything is within reach. I usually have the ironing board where i'm standing, but i have NO idea where i'll put it once i move everything into the office... Still working on that...

These next photos are of the office, Before the moving/organizing:

In this one you can see the kitchen through the door (center-right of photo). Boyfriend's desk is to my left, & the back door is to my right. The bookshelf will be moved so i can put my cabinet there. I know there's not a lot of room, but Boyfriend says it'll work! =-)

In this next one, the door to the kitchen is on the left, and you can see the door that leads outside in the center-right. (Yes, we have 2 dining room sets. I haven't gotten rid of ANY furniture in a few YEARS because my daughters are of an age where they could move out at any time, and i don't want them to spend their first checks on furniture, like *I* had to!) Anyway, this is where my sewing & cutting tables will go.

Next is a shot with the dining room at my back. This is roughly the spot where my sewing table will go. I'll have a clear view of the back yard, and i should have sun streaming in my windows. Yay! (Is everybody ready for Spring? It's been one CRAZY Winter, hasn't it!)

In this shot, I'm standing between the office & the dining room, looking to the right so you get a good look at Boyfriend's desk. I feel like i'll be squeezing him in there, but he sort-of volunteered for this, so he can't back down now! =-)

So there you have it!

That's all the "Before" pictures. I'll be back with the "After" pix as soon as i get everything moved! =-)

Hopefully that'll be before next week!

And hopefully i won't have another week of "unplanned" family circumstances to hold me back. =-)

'Til next Monday!

=-)

I'm Tired But...

But I wanted to write something today.
We left Concord this morning after having breakfast with my Dad at a local diner (Punchy's). It's been what seems like forever since I last saw my Dad. In reality, I saw him about three & a half weeks ago... That is a long time to me. :-)

Anyway, the 'we' I was referring to is my husband, "Boyfriend", and me. We left for Danville, VA to spend the weekend with his Mom & Dad.

Boyfriend's Dad has what's called Parkinsonism.
It's like Parkinson's but has other symptoms with it... Or something like that. :-)
Anyway, his Dad has Dementia. He was always quiet, but now he's even more quiet. But he's not having any combativeness or contrariness or anything like that. He's still a sweet and easy to get along with man. He remembers his daughters & son. He's very slow to answer any question. I'm not sure he knows what we're talking about. It seems like it takes him a long time to process what we say. You can see him working on it in his mind...
He takes lots of meds, four times a day. Just a few years ago, he didn't take anything except a baby aspirin! He only feels like lying around all day, and my MIL won't make him get up and do his exercises or anything.
We know that's not good, but we can't make her make him.

Boyfriend's mom is basically taking it all in stride. She's doing well for the most part. Yesterday, Boyfriend, his two sisters and his mom talked to a lawyer, and most of what she had to say was basically depressing. But after some time and pondering, we feel a little more at ease with the legalities, I think.

All any of us can do is take it all in stride. Sit back and breathe deeply a number of times each day. Trust that all will end as it should, in its own time...

I keep reminding myself of this.


We've had a fairly full day and are going to bed now.
Thanks for stopping by. :-)

-W