Mom and RHS

Thanks for the kind and thoughtful comments regarding my mom and RHS!  They are so very appreciated!!

Things are going well with my mom right now.  We have moved her to a place where she can get 24 hour care.  She's been there for one week now.  My siblings and I decided that 24 hour care is the only option.  Ideally we'd love to find someone who could move in with them but that is easier said than done.  There are so many issues with that, finding the right person will be very difficult.  Our solution for now is a private home in which the owner is a caregiver and keeps up to 4 residents at a time.  I relate it to childcare....do you choose a private home setting or a day care center?  The woman who does this comes highly recommended by someone we trust.  My mom is doing well there although she is confused about why she is there, how she got there, who the lady is, etc.  but hopefully she will adjust soon and fall into a good routine.  It's hard on my dad too.  Just like when she was in the nursing care center after her stay in the hospital, he sees her improving, thinks she's better, and should come home. 

Wowza!!  My little blog has 13 followers now!  Yay!  I see so many blogs that have 50 plus followers.  I don't think 13 is too bad considering I do not belong to any groups or message boards.  I did long ago before blogs became the thing but eventually I left them all due to lack of time to properly participate.  I am very grateful for all 13 of you and to all of you who take the time to visit here.

Here's a pic of my RHS progress.  I haven't worked on it since Thursday.  I had a very busy, on the go weekend.

Big @$$ projects can become boring.  Do you agree?  I've never been diagnosed but I am so sure I have ADD.  I can't stay focused on one task for very long.  The great thing about RHS (and many other samplers) is that you can change it up simply but jumping over to another part of the chart.  Of course that requires very careful counting, but it helps to break up the monotony.  I am really enjoying working on this project but I am always looking forward to the next one.  One thing is for sure.....my next several projects will be much smaller!


Thanks for visiting!  'Til next time......happy stitching, quilting, blogging, etc.!

I knew it wouldn't be long before I'd be saying "when's it going to cool off?" but I sure didn't think I'd be saying it this soon!  It was 89 degrees today!  It's supposed to go back to normal by the weekend.  I'm not ready for 89 degrees yet!  And.......by the way....I'm over the yellow dust!
Stitching Progress - I have devoted every spare second to Red House Sampler.  It's such a large project.  I sure hope I can meet my goal of finishing it this year.  I could have stitched two small projects by now and be working on a third, lol.  RHS had to come off the scrolls last night to be repositioned so I took a progress pic.

The fabric is a bit wonky.  It wanted to roll back up since it has been on stretcher bars so I had to use nearby objects to hold down the corners.  The poor red house looks like it has settled a bit.  This sampler is definitely a fun stitch, but a big @$$ project.....for me anyway!



Update on my Mom - She has recovered from the pneumonia. After 5 days in the hospital, she spent 20 days in a nursing care center then they abruptly sent her home. I realize the 100% medicare coverage was up, but we were willing to pay the 20% out of pocket for her to stay there a little longer. They sent an 84 yo woman with dementia home to be taken care of by an 87 yo man. I think they're on crack! Since she has been home everything has gone back to the way it was before.  She refuses to do anything for herself.  She's going downhill fast.  We've interviewed a couple of in home care providers but we're also having to consider other options.  If anyone is going through a similar experience, I'd love to form a support group blog.  Seriously.......dealing with aging, ill parents is tough.
Finally, here's a pic of me and my hubby taken recently on the first warm spring day we had.  It was a great day for a picnic by the river.

Gradually.....then Suddenly

a large dose of reality arrived on March 2nd.  My wonderful, sweet, generous, caring mother has dementia and mild Alzheimers.  On that day, my brother called me at work to tell me that Mom had an accident during the night but that everything was under control.  He and my sister had taken care of everything and settled Mom on the couch before leaving her house.  When I got off work, I called and my Dad said she asleep and had been sleeping on the couch all day.  He couldn't wake her to talk to me.  So I called my DH and said hurry home, we are heading to Portsmouth.  One hour later I find my Mom semi-conscious on the couch where she had been all day.  I called an ambulance and get her to the ER where she was admitted for dehydration and pneumonia.  She was in bad shape and was even experiencing some kidney dysfunction.  She's a fighter though and after two days of antibiotics, she had improved greatly.
Mom has been released from the hospital and is now at a nursing care center for rehabilitation therapy for at least 21 days.  On day two of all this my siblings and I, along with our father, decided that Mom will not be able to go back home.  Dad is 87 and cannot properly take care of Mom (although he thinks he can).  Now that Mom is getting proper care and her daily meds regularly, she is looking better than she has in a long time.  That said...now my brother and Dad are back stepping thinking that Mom may go back home and it was the pneumonia that was keeping her from being herself!  I have left out tons of details for various reasons.  I am completely and totally stressed out.  My life is consumed right now with visiting my Mom as often as possible (one hour drive each way) and worrying about her future.  I'm trying to take one day a time.