Day 547

I never got into big purses. I figure if I have a big purse I'll wind up sticking all kinds of stuff in there, so instead I'm a small purse gal. I like it neat and tidy.

With all expenses covered on the cruise ship there was no need to use my purse. But when I went into town (buying that quilt fabric) I took it along. And there is where the problem started. I began shoving the receipts into my purse. Then on our way home from the cruise hubby gave me his wallet to hold on to. (He was having enough difficulty with himself that a wallet was the last thing he wanted.) Me holding that wallet came in handy when I had provide his ID and insurance information when he wound up in the hospital before we even made it to the house.

Then came the going back and forth to the hospital and the eating out once a day. Again, more receipts went into the purse. Ever so often stopping at the grocery store after a long day at the hospital produced even more receipts and coupons that printed out at the register.

Even after finally getting him settled in at home the shoving stuff in the purse didn't stop. Physical therapy appointment cards, doctor lab orders, and a whole bunch of crap has made my purse impossible.

So today I sat down and dumped it out. Here, for all the world to see, is the mess these last two months of my life has created. And it was all crammed into my small purse.

 

Most of it went in the trash and now I feel better.

Day 546

I finally found an interesting non-food picture. It's probably good enough to turn into one of those Mystery Monday pictures I used to do.

In fact, I used to do a lot of things. Mystery Monday, Tutorial Tuesday, Win It Wednesday. I used to visit other blogs and quilting websites and post comments and pictures and videos. I used to get lots of readers and visitors because of all that, but I've been ignoring all of those things for quite some time. I'm thinking I need to get back to the tutorials at some point. Maybe. Just not yet.

I just as soon stick with my charity sewing instead. I have some quilts to work on but right now I'm still sewing all those Christmas scraps into strips which will be turned into stockings for Stockings for Soldiers.

But today my picture is the best part of my day. Any ideas?

Day 545

I was able to get away from the food pictures for a total of one whole day.

Kiddo came home today and took over the dad-sitting duties. I finally, for the first time since he got home from the hospital, got to go to work. For a full day. 9 to 5. In my office, with my files and folders and binders and big screen computer. It was nice getting to see people again and getting back into the swing of things. But it was only temporary. Kiddo goes back to work tomorrow and works every day until next Tuesday.

Hubby had kiddo clean house while I was gone (guess he didn't appreciate the housecleaning I was trying to fit in between taking care of him and working from home). And coming home to a what's for dinner after a full busy day at work stopped me from even wanting to think about dinner. Alejandra's, where hubby could have a couple tacos and very few chips, was where we wound up.

I'm sure he would have loved to have this chip. I wouldn't let that happen - I think it probably would have counted for at least seven or eight.

Day 544

I don't know how I found time today to finally get in the sewing room, but I did. When both hubby and kitty were sleeping this afternoon I snuck in and got the machine humming.

On Day 518 when I cut all those stockings for Stockings for Soldiers I had lots of scraps left. Big, little, and everything in between. I'm attempting to use up all those scraps to make even more stockings. So all those scraps were cut down into strips, all those strips sewn together with another strip. Now the next step is figuring out where to go from here. Probably sew strips to strips and then...???

Day 543

When my daughter called last night she told me I was putting too much food on the blog. She's right, but I just can't get out of that rut. Can't get myself to the sewing room to start (or finish) any projects, can't even step foot into the rose garden to snap some blooms.

Right now life is about just getting by. Getting the proper meals cooked, getting the dude fed, cleaning up. Keeping up with the house, delivering every thing he needs, keeping on top of multiple medications and multiple blood pressure readings each day. Going to therapy, going to work for a few minutes while he's at therapy, getting work done from home. The merry-go-round just keeps going. But it's better than when he was in the hospital. At least my home base is my actual home.

So kiddo, I will work on finding some non-food pictures. But for today I have to go with this one. I was digging red potatoes and picking tomatoes for my mom and for folks at work (hubby can't have either so we might as well share) and came across this red tater who must have thought he had a different purpose in life. And yep, that's all one potato sitting next to the regular-sized potato.

Day 542

I get lots of questions about how hubby is doing, so here's the scoop.

Not much has changed. He's weak, he's tired, he's using a cane. His blood pressure is running very low and his heart rate is running high. He spends most of his day in bed, but does get out for physical therapy three times a week. I realized how weak he is when I bought him an ice cream cone yesterday. Just holding up his arm long enough to eat the cone made him shake. A lot. He had to prop his elbow to help support the arm (and the cone). He's got a long way to go.

His hunger gets away from him and I find him going over his restrictive diet in all three categories - potassium, protein, and sodium. He's probably going over in the sugar department, too. I made another batch of cookies today.

This time it was gingersnaps. And this time I bagged them up and put them in the freezer. Maybe out of sight, out of mind will keep him (and me) from dipping into them so much.

 

Day 541

Of the pictures I took today, I can't decide which is the most interesting.

It might be the one I took on our way back from physical therapy when the UPS truck was parked in front of the USPS.

 

It could be the picture I took of the friendly carrots I found while cleaning out my vegetable drawer.

Or it could be the one I took after having shut myself in the den for a couple hours doing school work. When I left the den, the house was as quiet as could be. And guess who was taking a nap on the edge the couch? (Hint: It wasn't hubby - he was sleeping in the bedroom.)