Long Haul…

Since Easter I have not posted as I promised myself when beginning this blog.  I think my ideal was a bit lofty and yet the goal was there to blog about life… my life. 

M is still in the hospital being cared for and meds tweaked.  We are not sure at this time when he will be able to come home.  Some of the extracurricular things he smoked, drank… etc. may have done more damage to a fast recovery than dreamed of.  It is part of the illness.  When he feels good he wants to “party” and that doesn’t mix with meds.

Mom started out by leaving an upper window open just enough for the cat to be able to get “in & out”  via the roof of the house.  This stopped quite abruptly when I went over to take in the mail on a dark rainy evening when Mom couldn’t.  I noticed something amiss but couldn’t quite put a name to it.  So I grabbed the cat while I double checked all of the doors.  (Don’t know if I was planning to throw the cat at anyone.)  When I got back to the kitchen to refill the food bowl we came face to face with the intruder.  Through his masked he glared at us and then it was a brief second before the last of his ringed tail was outside the window.  Yes, Rocky Raccoon had gained entry from the roof through the open window and was scavenging cat food.  I slammed that window shut and locked it then called Mom to let her know we have to go over daily.

Now Mom goes during the day, lets the cat out and brings in the mail if it is there.  I go after work to let in the cat (mail if necessary).   I’ve been spending extra time playing and being company for him. 

Yesterday was a particularly bad day for M.  His ex-wife and kids live in the NE corner of Oklahoma and she works in a hospital in Joplin.  We are fortunate that when we finally got a return call from her (6 pm Monday), she reported all of the family was alright and the power was back on at home.  She works in “the other” hospital in Joplin but they were busy tending to transferring a large number of patients from the hospital that was hit by the tornado plus any other ER & Trauma patients. 

Please add the people affected by the tornado to your prayers.  The Red Cross, as well as other organizations can really use donations of blood, manpower and funds.  Please do what you can.

Life is Good (right now)

I will be working my last shift at the retail store tomorrow.  Easter was my breaking point.  I got to Mom's to pick her up for Easter brunch buffet with the whole family (M was in full mania).  Knowing the stress of trying to work 2 jobs to be able to maintain my Quilt Patis business coupled with family responsibilities/crisises, I was in tears.  I told her "I just can't do it all any longer."

After brunch M decided to make the move to go to the hospital for his "tune up" and I decided I needed to assess my life too.

• Retail job:  promises no advancement and highly stressful (IMHO due to constant understaffing and severe lack of communication).
• Temp job:  staff and management wonderful, respectful, communicates well… I feel valued.  Promises opportunity of turning permanent. 
• Quilt Patis:  my passion and has promise as long as I can otherwise support myself in the lean seasons.
• Family:  I love them even though I don’t like the stresses involved… but we are never promised life would be easy… I won’t divorce them.

When it comes right down to it the decision was easy.  I wrote my resignation that evening.  From that moment on I felt relax.   I actually wrote two resignations.  One gave an ending date and the other substituted the date with the word "immediately".  I had plans to switch out letters if there was any trouble with the manager accepting my resignation. There was a little resistance but not to the point I needed to do the switch.

In the two weeks since, I received an e-mail telling me that one of the trade magazines will be doing an article about me and my Butterfly Pincushion Pin Kits.  They also are giving me a Saturday to demo my technique at the Creative Festival in Cincinnati the 3rd weekend in June.  Then today I got 11 of the signed original (finished) butterflies in a local art gallery on consignment.  She priced them at $34.00 each. If you are in Columbus and would like to purchase one and see all of the other wonderful things she is showcasing this is the gallery... Galleria Evangelia, 4269 N. High St., Columbus, Ohio,  614-354-6557, www.galleria-evangelia.com .

So, with the help of prayer and faith the journey continues.