Life Continues

Mom comes from strong mountain stock and her body isn't quite ready to quit yet.  So, my sisters are keeping vigil.  It is stressful for everybody, especially mom.  So, we are all still waiting and I have no choice but to continue my daily routine of going to work and tending to all the animals who depend on me.

There has been another reorganization at work and I have a new manager, which means more stress.  It will be a huge learning curve for me but I'm determined to learn.  Learning new things is always good, and anything that makes me more valuable and marketable is definitely good in these economically challenging times.

My special dog, Princess, is doing so well these days.She's as frisky as a 14 1/2 year old girl can be and is eating well and is happy.  This is a 180 degree turn around from where she was just a couple of months ago when she developed vertigo.  I'm so thankful to still have her with me.

Pete, my foster dog, has found a wonderful forever home.  He went on trial 2 1/2 weeks ago.  I dropped him off on my way to the train station when I went up to see mom and the woman fell in love with him.  She sent me an email a couple of days ago telling me how wonderful he is and thanking me for saving him.  It made me cry.  He gets to go on at least two long walks a day around a lake in Raleigh.  And he has made a new friend at a dog park.  He sleeps in her bedroom with her at night.  I know Pete is in dog heaven getting all the love and attention he so deserves.  This is a dog who's owner threw him away like garbage to be killed in a gas chamber.

 I'm still not used to him being gone.  He was with me for 14 months and I still find myself doing a headcount and starting to call him in.  I told his new mom that I'd like to stay in touch so I can visit Pete.  Princess had a major crush on him and misses him.  He couldn't care less about her though.  He was interested in a younger girl...my daughter's dog, Tulip!

I've been doing a little blog lurking at night and came across a very nice blog Plays With Needles.  Susan lives near my sister, Susan, in Maryland and has a beautiful blog.  After discovering her, I scrolled through a ton of older posts and found some beautiful bracelets she made.  They are called ladder bracelets and evidently they've been all the rage for two years now.  I know...I am so slow to catch on to the new trends.  Well, I got all excited and am going to buy the supplies to make myself one. If it turns out ok, my plan is to make a couple for some friends.  We'll see how that goes.  I still haven't even finished my little granddaughter's birthday present and her birthday was last week.

These are pictures from the internet; the bracelets Susan made are so much prettier though, but you get the idea.





Well, this has taken me a long time to get posted.  My little netbook shut down right in the middle of everything...so aggravating.  I want a new laptop so bad but can't justify spending that much money on one when there are so many other things I need more.   But then....I do need to get my taxes done and I don't know if this little thing can get me through all that....hmmmm....

Waiting

Hi,

Thank you to those of you who expressed concern about my last post - I really appreciated the support.

I spent last Saturday in the hospital with my mom and one of my sisters.  Mom had been in the hospital for about three weeks and that makes a person go downhill even faster than being sick at home.  She was admitted with the flu and because she had just had major surgery a week prior, the doctors thought it was best to admit her.  Well, it really wasn't the best thing for mom.

After being in the hospital for more than three weeks, she was transported back to her own home last Wednesday and Hospice care had begun.  They have mom set up with everything she needs and now she is surrounded by all the things she loves.  She's lived in that little old house for 51 years and for the last four months has been living with my youngest sister out of necessity.  The doctors have taken mom off all her medications but two, and have lifted all dietary restrictions.  I wish they had done this a long time ago.  There comes a point when throwing pills at an issue just causes more problems.  All the drug interactions and side affects sometimes outweigh the good they are supposed to be doing.

Because her friends are about her age and have their own health problems, it wasn't easy for them to visit mom in the hospital.  Since coming home, they've been able to visit, which has made her very happy.   Mom is quite popular and until she got really sick a few weeks ago, was always on the phone with this friend or that.

Mom said she is ready to go and being home is the way to do it.  She is comfortable and my two sisters are taking care of her, along with the Hospice people - who are amazing, by the way!  Laura and Alissa went up this weekend for a visit.  I haven't called mom yet today, but will  in a while to see how the visit went.  I know she was very happy to see her oldest great granddaughter, who she doesn't get to see nearly enough.

It's a tough thing to watch somebody die - especially somebody you love as much as you do your mother.

Tend those relationships that are important to you while you can.