Dusting This Old Blog Off!

Well, let's see if I can remember how to blog.  So much has happened since my last post several years ago.  My beloved Princess left me, my mom passed away, I lost my job and was out of work for 2 1/2 years...and other things...but those are the major ones.

Lots of changes have happened, but I am still fostering dogs and the occasional kitty.  I bought a 24' camper with the money mom left me...and then a truck to pull it with!  I got tired of feeling trapped at home and needed a way to take the canine crew with me so a camper was the perfect solution.

I am knee deep in quilting and fiber art, along with gardening.  After 14 months of enjoying semi-retirement, I am back to working 40 hours/week again and will continue as long as corporate America will allow.

I have continued to visit so many blogs every day but stopped commenting.  Some of my old favorites have disappeared and if I can figure out how to clean up my side bar, I will.  I have become a real fan of several You Tube people - mostly quilters and campers.

That's enough for tonight.  Let's see if I can publish this.

June 15, 1998 - April 15 2013

Beautiful, beloved Princess.  I will love and miss you forever.  My heart has a huge hole in it without you and I cry every day.

My New Hero

I listen to National Public Radio (NPR) every day during my commute to work and back home again.  Sometimes when I run errands at lunch time, I get to hear part of the Diane Rehm show.  The first time I heard her, I thought - what the heck is that woman doing on the radio with a shaky voice like that?!?  Well, since I have listened to her many times now, I've gotten to know that Diane is a very compassionate woman and I like her point of view.

Yesterday I caught the tail end of her interview with Carol King.  I have a very strong connection to Carol's song - So Far Away - from when I was a young girl fiercely in love with a guy that was in the Navy.  But I digress...

Carol has written her memoir and it's available in paperback.  I can't wait to buy a copy and read it.  I bet it will be full of stories from the 60's.  Well because I only heard the tail end of the interview, Diane mentioned that there were links on her show's site with more information.  When I had a few minutes, I took a look and boy did I learn something fantastic about Carol.  She is an animal advocate - more specifically, an advocate for wild horses out west!  Her organization is called Return To Freedom and it's all about preserving rare breeds of wild horses and keeping them with their family units.  

Way back in the early 70's I learned a lot about the BLM and the wild horse and burrow round-ups.  It's a very ugly business that involves a lot of cruelty.  I am so happy to learn that a power house celebrity is behind yet another group to help the animals that we humans are destroying.  BTW - the justification for the wild horse and burrow round ups is that there are too many of them for the land to support.  The truth of the matter is that the wild  horses and burrows are in direct competition of the food source of cattle ranchers (in other words $$$).

The plight of wild horses is so incredibly upsetting to me and the information is really difficult to read without getting emotional about it, but people need to know what's going on.  I'm so thankful that Carol King is taking action to help them.  I've always liked Carol King's music, but she is my new hero now.

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.

I Missed The Party

Vicki, of Two Bags Full, was kind enough to let me sign up for her Grow Your Blog Party and I missed my turn.  I am so sorry to have missed the wonderful opportunity.   I've been quite preoccupied with a seriously ill mother and am on the train this minute to go for what very well might be my last visit with her.

A Very Neat Organization Idea!

I gave our director of marketing a pretty little scarf as a small Christmas gift.  Yesterday she stopped by my office to thank me again (she's so sweet) and gave me the best tip for storing scarves, so I tried it.

I went to the Dollar Store and purchased a set of shower curtain rings and clipped them all onto a heavy plastic coat hanger.  Then I just slipped a scarf through each ring and presto - all my scarves are neatly hung and each are visible.  Because I was storing them all in a drawer in a heap, I even discovered two that I had forgotten all about!

And, since I spent the Sunday after Christmas ruthlessly removing clothes I no longer wear, I have room to hang this in my closet now!

I took three boxes and a huge shopping bag full of clothes that I haven't worn in ages to a thrift shop.  What a great feeling.  I want "stuff" out of this house and I've gotten a very good start.

If you are organizing your household like so many folks do in January, try this tick for storing scarves and let me know how you like it.