Flight Day!

Well, today is the day!!! I'm all packed and ready to go on my adventure!!! I have things to read, eat and listen to! God knows I'll have stuff to look at! Get ready, Miss Mina!!! Nana's on her way!!!!! We're gonna have fun!!!

Leaving on a jet plane........

Well, tomorrow is our big day! Oh, how I HATE to fly!!! But, I'll be fine! I have everything I need for my trip. Not absolutely sure I've packed the right clothes, as I hear you've had a lot of rain out there. When I was there in September, it was chilly. Well, I'll be sure to pack sneakers along with my awesome flip-flops!!!
Besides, I'm looking forward to spending comfy time on the couch with little miss Mina!!! Oh, I know what I almost forgot!!! I need to look at a couple of my favorite cookbooks tonight, just in case I'm expected to contribute some food to the Super Bowl party on Sunday! GO PATS!!!

Almost flytime!

Three more "sleeps" and I fly to California to visit Kate, Mark and the Marvelous Mina girl!!! I can't wait! (Even though we all know how much I hate to fly......it will be easier this time, as I have my new iPod Nano all filled with awesome music to keep my mind off the sound of the engines!)

It's a Miracle!

Update on Nana's wrist: This morning I took her into Providence, to the Orthopedic doctor's office for a last check-up. They took an xray, and then the Doctor announced that her wrist is completely healed! Nana threw up both hands into the air, and yelled "IT'S A MIRACLE!!!" I thought the doctor was going to fall on the floor laughing, and then he threw up his hands and in the same tone of voice said, "YES! IT'S A MIRACLE" To which we all had a good chuckle, especially Nana.
She enjoyed her outing, although because she's lost her short term memory, she asked me 40 times...."Where are we going?" That's O.K., I have endless amounts of patience for her! Now, it's 12:30p.m. and in exactly 30 minutes, Grampa and I will leave the house to go visit Nana for two hours. She'll be tired today, that's for sure......and will be cat-naping the entire time we are there.
We all really love the new place she's in, and kinda wish we could have moved her there earlier......but that's water over the damn, as they used to say. I promise to take pictures soon....maybe even today!

Wonderful day off!

Well, as I expected, I had a wonderful day off. If there's one thing I do REALLY WELL, it's PLAY!!!! I won't write all the details, as I'm tired from my adventure. I left the house just before noon, and headed down to Charlestown, RI. Getting there took one hour from here. I found a great quilt shop that I had been reading about. The fabrics were beautiful, well priced and they had a nice staff. I bought four different fabrics that I had never seen before, including one with beautiful Dragonflies on it!
After leaving there, I crossed over route one, and went to Moonstone beach. Years ago, it used to be a nudist beach, so I've never been there. Today, I figured it was a pretty safe bet that at 20 degrees, I would not run into too many, fat, ugly, nude people.....and I was right, I didn't. I found some fantastic rocks! (Hense the name of the beach) The rocks are round, smooth, and beautiful. I filled all of my pockets, and hauled away as many as I could carry. I can't believe I forgot my camera when I left the house. (In too much of a hurry to get out to play, I guess!)
I stopped to walk abound Wickford village for a while. Then I went to see th movie Cloverfield. Cool movie.
Around 5p.m. I managed to find the new Whole Foods Market in Cranston. Nice Place!!! I bought some treats for myself for supper. I also bought some fancy tea, a music CD (Latin Lounge to put on my iPod) and some Rhode Island Soapworks hand and body lotion (Lavender Citrus). If you're reading this, and have never seen the RI Soapworks products, you should check out their website. At least I'm sure they have a website? Doesn't everyone??
My outing was over by 6:30p.m. however, my "day off" continues until late afternoon, tomorrow.......so I'll have to think of something else exciting to do tomorrow! God, this is very close to what normal people think of as a WEEKEND! I can't believe I haven't had a day OFF since December 19th, 2007.

Who knew it would be so hard.

Who knew it would be so hard to clean out a desk. Hum. I just finished sorting through all of the things in my Mother's long beloved desk. Some of the things, I swear, have been there since I was a kid. Events in my childhood were discussed at this desk. Letters were shared, jewelry was repaired, lectures were given....the desk has always been in my life. Years ago, my Mother insisted that my Father paint the desk. Up until then, it was a warm and beautiful brown wood. She claimed it looked "old", and the new paint would make it look new again. Basically, what it looked like was an old painted desk, but "no matter", as the old timers used to say.

Who knew it would be so hard to sort through old letters and cards from long lost cousins, Aunts and Uncles. Who knew finding prayer cards from my brother Don's funeral in every drawer would be so hard. Paper clips, religious cards, favorite rulers, address books, note papers, saved stamps.....all normal stuff for a desk.

Who knew it would be so hard to read my Mother's very last hand written words, scribbled on a piece of scrap paper, in shaky writing totally unlike my Mother's always beautiful penmanship. She wrote my father's name twice....then attempted to write down his home phone number, but got it wrong. Underneath that, she wrote "Message to be relayed. Arthur, pick me up tomorrow and bring money. $5000.00 is good."

This was the last thing my Mother was ever able to write. When she first moved to Epoch, she was constantly writing down my father's name and phone number and desperately trying to get staff members to call him, and have him come and get her. All she ever wanted, was to be with him. Who knew this would be so hard.

Well, my Mother can't write anymore. The best I can do, is drive my Father over to visit her every afternoon, and so for two hours out of every day, they are both happy and content, holding hands and kissing like young lovers. They have been in love for a little over 70 years, and it doesn't show any signs of letting up!

Who knew it would be so hard.....

Nervewracking two days

Well, things have settle down here a little bit. On Thursday we moved my Mother from an Assisted Living environment into a Nursing Home. It made her quite anxious, and confused for the day. Thursday night, I realized it had really upset me also, as I felt very nervous, anxious and worried for my Mom. Here she was, so small and frail now, in a building she didn't know, with a lot of strangers. It just kills me to drive away, and leave her there. Yesterday, when we went to visit, we were happy to see she had already started to settle in. I suppose, when you're "legally blind", you don't perceive the world the same way we do. For all she knows, she just moved down the hallway!
She's such an amazing patient. She smiles a lot, never complains and is tough. In some ways that's good, as the staff always immediately falls in love with her, but in other ways it's not good. If she needed something, I don't think she would ask for it. Hum.....I'll have to alert the staff about that. Anyway, she was in a good mood when Dad and I got there yesterday, which immediately made us feel better. The place is beautiful, and she has a wonderful room. Her room mate is a 98 yr. old woman with exactly the same medical problems as Mom...... Macular degeneration and hearing loss. Both are sadly isolating, and restricts their activity. Yesterday, when we got there, Mom was in the Activities room where they were all playing Bingo. Only problem was, Mom coudln't see any of the letters or numbers on her card. They also had special cards that didn't require chips, and Mom couldn't figure that out. (Little hidden, red, slidy things.......cool idea.)
The ride over and back isn't bad. It's 15 miles....mostly through the country side....a brief visit to RT 295, and then back onto woodsy roads. It could be bad if it was snowing badly, as it looks like places not too many snow plows travel.....but I'm not going to worry about that until I have to. If they predict snow, we'll take my Honda CRV, which can get through ANYTHING!
Well, that's the update for today. Congratulations Mike on your new promotion! Liz, hope all is going well in school.
Maureen, are you getting lonesome down there in Florida without your father?
Kate, you and Mina will be busy all week!
Time to go.

It's snowing!

Well, it's beautiful!!! It's the kind of heavy snow that sticks to everything. Don't you know, today is the day my batteries in my camera decided to go dead on me. I'm charging them and hope to get some pictures up on my Flickr site before it all melts. Our yard faces the woods. In the woods are some huge, old oak trees. I expect, any minute, to hear some crashing....as the brances are drooping at an alarming angle with the weight of it all! I can't wait for the excitement! Things do, afterall, get quite boring around here. I've set up my cam to face out the window, so all of you people in warmer climates can watch the snow "storm".
Maybe I really should go outside again, this time with my Minalta, and see what I can capture.

Fabrics arrive!

Yesterday, a box arrived from my daughter Kate, in CA. In it was some delicious fabrics to make sheets and a blanket for my granddaughter, Mina. I now have a problem! My daughter, Maureen, down in FL is patiently waiting for her new quilt....which I have hanging (in pieces) on a design wall. Hum....what to do....what to do! I know!!! I'll give equal sewing time to each project and see what happens! Although, making crib sheets is a quick deal compared to a real quilt. Sewing time, I can make a crib sheet in an hour. Sewing time for a quilt? That would be measured in weeks, not hours! Either way, sewing helps me to keep sane in prison! Sewing and my computer and iPod....better than drugs!

Weather today

For those of you who do not live in New England and are feeling sorry for US because it's WINTER.......worry no more. Yesterday the temperatures hit the mid 60's breaking all records! Today, at mid day, it's already 54 degrees, windy and overcast. Well, we'll take it.....even if the sun is not shining. Each day gets us one day closer to Spring. Don't get me wrong, I do happen to like snow! It's just that after a day like yesterday, I find myself yearning for May-type of weather we have here. Oh well, I have a wonderful idea! It's about time for me to visit someone in a warmer part of the country! Hum.....I'm thinking California!!! In 22 more days (but who's counting!!!).

First day blogging

Well, incase anyone is interrested.....the world turned just enough, and the sun set.....and my windows look perfectly clean now, even though I never did get out the Windex and cloth! That worked rather well. I have to remind myself, now, to not open the blinds all the way tomorrow!

My trip to the doctor's office was pleasant and uneventful.....just enough for him to re-write my prescription for my anti-depressants....which by the way, for you non-believers.....I really do need being locked up every day, seven days a week here at "my job". My brother has been so busy all month, that he's not been able, to cover for me, so I could have a day off. I think my last day off was when I visited Amy in CT, and we went to the casino and the spa. When was that, AMy? November? The beginning of December? Time gets all screwed up when you happen to work where you live. There's no real way to tell what day it is! Wednesdays are easy because it's trash day, and I can see my neighbors' trash cans lined up along the street! Too bad there can't be clues as to the other six days a week......maybe a series of colored flags. On second though, that might get way too confusing. I'll have to work on this one.

Lesson #2

Well, I've learned how to adjust the time, to my zone. I've also found all of the necessary settings area. I'm whipping right along, I'd say! Watch out, you kids, I'm catching up at an alarming rate!!! Once I get the technical parts arranged the way I want, I suppose it will be time to get down to the nitty-gritty of it all, and actually write something profound!.....or not.....Hopefully, in my thirty eight years of being a parent, I've taught my kids pretty much all they need to know from me, and all I'm capable of teaching them. That doesn't mean I won't have NEW things and opinions to share with them. It's interresting, now that my daughter and son-in-law have a new baby, that it's reminding me of all sorts of things that I experienced during those years, that I may not have shared with my kids. For the most part, they will experience their own set of joys, trials and traumas....which may or may not be similar to mine. In that case, they will learn all sorts of things that I never learned. These days, I think for the most part, parents are smarter and more educated than my generation of baby boomers. For example.....in the 1970's it was believed that babies weren't very smart.....they were "just babies, and didn't understand too much". Now, of course, we know that's not true and it amazes me at how much babies understand and observe about their world! Hum......
Well, while sitting here the world has rotated enough for the sunlight to shine on some incredibly dirty windows and I feel compelled (oh God, I wish it would pass!!!) to clean them! Eeeeks......so off I go to clean windows. Don't YOU have something better to do also?????

Still adjusting

I'm still adjusting colors. That first blog was an almost invisible blog! What a concept!
FOR MY NEXT TRICK.......I will attempt to inform my kids of this new adventure! I'm sure they will all laugh, and roll their eyes. BRING IT ON! I can take it!

Lesson #1

Lesson #1. DO NOT MAKE THE TEXT THE SAME COLOR AS THE BACKGROUND! DUH!

My first blog......EVER!

Well, here I am......alone with my computer and this mystery. How to Blog. Hum...maybe I should turn my music down, so I can concentrate!!....there, that's better.
This all started with my daughter's 365 project....she and ten friends posting photographs every day for, you got it, 365 days. I feel jealous, as when I read it, I realize that it's a great way for friends to keep in daily touch, even if life and mileage is between them all. I've lost all of my friends to my most recent few moves. That saddens me. (That and the fact that I've run out of my anti-depressants, but I hope to rectify that this afternoon, with the mandatory trip to my Doctor's office.)
Anyway, eventually, I hope to put some of my pictures into this blog. As soon as I figure out how. Afterall, how hard could this be, right???
I really don't care if anyone reads this, that's not why I'm doing it. In "the old days" we used to actually pick up a pen, and write in diaries......now called journals. Many times, I got into trouble for the heated stuff I put in my diary, that's for sure! Even though my family was not supposed to read my private diary, and I did.....most of the time, hide it! Oh well......
Time to push some buttons here, and see what happens!