Wednesday, April 1

No foolin'.........yep, it's a long post.........

That's right........no foolin', we got snow last night. It will probably have melted by the time I get up in the morning. Not the case further north where they got much more snow and blizzard conditions. All that on top of the flooding!! Yes, here in Minnesota, March definitely went out like a lion. Hopefully the waters will slowly go down and the danger of more flooding will soon pass.

So, have you been fooled yet today? I have no plans to fool anyone. I will be heading out to the post office in the morning so I will be watchful for those that might want to fool me. I am sometimes quite easy to fool which is not always a good thing. My son describes it as "mom is a little gullible". I guess that means I would have bought the Brooklyn Bridge. LOL!!

I am nearly finished with that penny rug I posted yesterday. I would be completely finished if I hadn't misplaced the thread I am using for the final border. I've looked up and down and it's just not showing up so I will try again in the morning. In my search for the thread, I did get my box of threads all organized so some good did come of misplacing it.
Speaking of misplacing things, I must now confess. I would have posted the April blocks but I have misplaced the snowlady I drew a month ago. I was going to be so organized and got the sketch finished so I could post on April 1st. Well, I have pulled so many files and papers in preparing for programs and such in recent weeks, that my sewing room is in a terrible state and I cannot find the stack that has the sketch in it. Yes, I am that messy that I have misplaced the sketch.
I think it's time for me to take a vacation. I haven't had one since a trip to San Diego in December of 2005. My trips to Iowa don't count as vacation. I'm talking about a spring getaway type trip. I imagine a warm climate. San Diego in fact, would be just right. There would be a trip to Rosie's Quilt Cupboard that would make me smile, then dinner at Casa de Pico or Casa Guadalajara in Bazaar del Mundo in Old Town San Diego. Then we could go to the beach and watch the sunset and delight in the fact that we didn't have to wear a winter coat. Sounds divine, but it's not gonna happen anytime soon.
I do need a break though, to get re-energized and bring some order to my sewing room so here's what I'm going to do............. I'm taking a break from blogging for the next five days. I'll be back on Monday. I'll have the blocks for April for you and will finally post the ornaments on my Christmas blog and will have news to add to the crazy quilting blog. Also, I mentioned earlier this week that I am going to be making some changes to my blogging and here are two............first one is that I'm going to take Sundays off from now on and not do any blogging at all. Several bloggers follow this path and I think it's a good idea. Second thing..........I had originally set the 1st Wednesday of the month for my Tea and Stitches post but last month and again this month, I want to do the tea just before the holiday in these months. So, from now on, the date will not be the first Wednesday of each month. Instead, I'll post the date for the next tea in the upper right corner of the Tea and Stitches blog. There are other changes coming, too, but that's enough for now.


Now before I take off for my Spring Break in Sewing Room, MN, I have to share the story behind the yo-yo cross you see in the picture. My mother, Mary, made it in September of 2007. My dad was in the Care Center and my mother was living in an apartment nearby. To cheer her up on her birthday, I asked as many of my quilting friends as I could think of to send her a card and include a fat quarter. Didn't have to be a new one, just one that she could use for hand-sewing blocks while she visited my dad. My friends came through big-time and sent cards and wrote notes and included multiple fat-quarters for her. She brought the cards to the Care Center to show to my dad and he thought it was so cool he was sure it should be written up in the local paper. There were all these cards from all over (some friends told their friends, etc. so some cards came from people I didn't even know) and it was a really neat thing. She decided she would make yo-yos from the fabrics but wasn't sure what she would do with the yo-yos once they were made. That was all in September. A little over one month later, my mother fell ill with complications from kidney stones and developed sepsis in her blood stream. The outlook was not good. My brother, sister and I spent long hours at the hospital while she was in intensive care. I brought my dad to visit her and it was so hard for him to see "Ma" so sick. I would stay the night at the hospital and my brother would come after he took his daughter to school and I would go to my mom's apartment to shower and then return to the hospital. I had Kaiser, our beagle, with me and my cousin, Faye, walked him when I was at the hospital.
On the fourth day that my mom was in intensive care, I was at her apartment and Kaiser was snooping around when he started chewing on something. I thought it was a bundle of fabric until I picked it up and saw that it was something made of yo-yos. Then I realized it was a cross. I took it with me to the hospital and I taped it to the wall at the foot of her bed where she could see it if she woke up. And after five long days, she began to respond with just the tiniest squeeze of her hand - hard to feel because she was retaining so much fluid - and eventually she got stronger she moved from ICU to a regular floor. She left the hospital after a couple of weeks and was transitioned for rehab to the Care Center where my dad was living. He was so glad to have her nearby. I learned that she had made the cross just shortly before she fell ill. It hangs now in her living room. There have been many ups and downs for her with her health in the last year and the passing of my dad last spring made it even a little harder. But this is a new spring and she's doing well and as you know, we get out and do some serious shopping and such when I visit her. :-) So where am I going with this.........well, I'm not sure, I just know I wanted to share the story. This is, for lack of a better word, a "tender time" for us because it was just a year ago about this time when my dad's health failed rapidly and he passed away. We all grieve in our own way but I think when this spring comes and we see the headstone and green grass and share more stories, it won't seem quite so sad. It's funny, though, because my mom said that sometimes she'll read something in the paper and think "oh, Melvin would like to read that" and then, of course, she stops herself and knows he's gone. I do the same thing, too. I thought I was crazy until someone on one of the Yahoo groups that I'm in said that they did the same thing. It takes time to heal. And so, I need some time right now, need to take a break. I'll see you on Monday and be fresh and ready to get back to blogging.
Thanks for listening.
Sandi

13 comments:

Peggy said...

That is a lovely story about the cross and not at all out of place. Both of my parents have now passed away and for the first few months I also thought of things to tell them and then remembered they were no longer there to share it with them.I am glad your Mom is doing ok now but I agree this will be a vulnerable time as the anniversary approaches. Best wishes to you and your Mom and enjoy the time off blogging.

Nihal said...

Yo-Yo Cross is so lovely, dear Sandi. Give my all of best wishes to your kind-hearted Mom, and hopefully beautiful Tulips will be growing there in your real world before too long.
In Istanbul, very earlier they started in showing us their magic beauties.
Happy Tulip Days~

Pat said...

Very nice story about the yo-yo cross and I"m so glad you rescued it before Kaiser could destroy it. My mom died in 1989 and I would find myself thinking the same thing as you mentioned. Then...gradually, it go to where I'd just be asking myself, "I wonder what mom would think about this?" Now it's turned into, "I wish mom could see this" but it's done without as much hurt. Time does make it easier, but it never goes away totally (at least in my experience). Enjoy your blogging break.

Carlotta said...

You take all the time you need. It's not easy getting over the loss of a loved one. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful story.
~Tootles for now!

knitwit said...

Sandi, thanks for sharing the beautiful story of your Mother's birthday cards, and her yoyo cross.You bring tears to my eyes.
Time does heal after the loss of a loved one, but there's always an empty place in your heart. Its good to slow the pace, and take time to reflect on fmaily and fond memories. Best wishes to you and your family at this time.
Will miss your blog but will look forward to Monday.
Ruth
Enjoy your vacation!

Latane Barton said...

What a sad/sweet story. I sure hope your Mom is doing well now. My thoughts are with you as you remember your Dad at this time.

Crispy said...

Hugs to you {{Sandi}}, thank you for sharing your loving thoughts of your dad and mom. It's good to take a break for some "me" time, enjoy your spring break!!

Crispy

xashee's corner said...

i LOVE the story of the yoyo cross!
i live about 3 hours from San Diego and have YET to venture down there! hehe Have a FANTASTIC few days off! :)

ranette said...

What a nice story about the cross and your Mom. My Dad passed away just over a year ago as well and I really do understand how you are feeling. You need time to heal and sometimes taking a break helps that process.

Quilter Going Bananas said...

What a wonderful story Sandi and thanks for sharing it with us. You are a wonderful giving person and I want you to enjoy your break this week! Hugs to you. K

Needled Mom said...

What a beautiful story. Those hospital stays can be so long when medical outcomes are questionable.

Enjoy your time away from the blogging world. I hope you are planning something fun.

Linda ★ Parker's General said...

Such a beautiful story....I think it does all of us good to talk about our stories and to hear similar stories of others. My own parents are elderly and I worry for them all the time. I don't know how I will bear up when they pass.....Thanks for sharing. It does provide comfort.

Jeri is said...

I lost my Mom last June. I miss her terribly. She was my best friend and biggest cheerleader and had the most beautiful spirit. I'm coming up on the first anniversary of our loss, and Im dreading it. I don't want to feel those feelings again. It hurts too much. I know how you feel and I'm sorry for your loss.

"Peace can be found in the piecing of a quilt."
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