There's No Place Like Home!

I've heard from a few people wondering where I was.  Thank you so much for thinking of me!!  My husband and I always joke about New Year's Resolutions.  He never makes them because he always breaks them...I was so good up until the 3rd of January, then everything got thrown out the window with a single phone call.

My Mom is 76 years old.  She has had some health issues, but recently she had a back x-ray and they discovered an aneurysm.  It was too small to operate, or so they said, so they said they would watch and see.  Less than a month later, it ruptured.  Normally she would not have survived.  Rarely do you see someone recover from a ruptured aneurysm, and I had a cousin who died within moments from one.  I have always been afraid of them, and learned through this experience that they tend to be genetic within the female line.  She just happens to live within sight of the volunteer rescue squad headquarters, 2 miles from the nearest hospital where she was a nurse for 25 years and is still friends with a lot of folks who work there, and 3 miles from a helipad.  She made it to the hospital in a matter of minutes and within a short period of time, flown to a renown hospital in Burlington, Vermont.  She just happened to fall into the hands of their best vascular surgeon who had to do some creative thinking and surgery, and saved her life.  I am so very thankful.  Here she is with me a couple of years ago.

When I heard the news, my immediate thought was to get to Burlington as quickly as possible.  BUT...there was an ice storm happening there at the same time.  So I took Amtrak...it was a 12 1/2 hour ride.  And I stayed in a hotel near the hospital for a week while I waited for them to discharge her.  It was a very long week!!  Then I traveled back to norther New York with her and stayed for a month until I felt she was ready to stay by  herself.  It was good to spend time with her, but my oh my it was demanding physically and emotionally.  It was a very long month!!  I came home yesterday, on the train...another 12 1/2 hour journey.  I am so very tired at this moment.

I really liked the hotel that I stayed in...but I could see this sign from my hotel room window...I couldn't help noticing the irony....Warning, no life guard on duty...swim at your own risk.  LOL!!

 

Needless to say, I didn't get much stitching done.  I took a few different projects because I was hoping to get a lot done.  I did ALMOST finish Birds of a Feather that I started the first of January, and today stitched the last few leaves of the tree.  Here it is!!  Thanks again, Alice, for the pattern, it was truly a joy to stitch!!

I was able to keep up with my goal of stitching two Christmas ornaments a month.  These are so fun to stitch, and quick too!!  Here are my two for January!

Just after my last blog post in January I finished the Positive Thinking SAL I was stitching.  Here is a picture of it.  I loved stitching this, love the saying, and hope to get it framed soon.  Wish me luck!!

 

I took some crocheting to do on the train which was easier than trying to stitch (I did try but we were swaying so much it was futile!!) and lighter to carry when heading out each day to the hospital.  I worked on a scarf and a shawl alternately, but didn't finish either of them.  Believe it or not, I was busy at the hospital (except when Mom was sleeping) as I gave her most of her care, trying to give the nurses a break.  They liked coming into Mom's room periodically to laugh and kid around with us.  I have to say we were both giddy considering that she was still with us, we were happy she had made it through!  I haven't taken pictures, but will when they are both done.

I'm sure you've had snow wherever you were during the past five weeks...but I thought I would go crazy as the snow continued to fall day after day while I was there.  Here are a few pictures taken on different days while I watched it pile up...so glad to be where you can see the ground in some places and the weather has turned warmer.  It hit -24 degrees with a wind chill of -40 one morning...brrrrr!!

 

I missed my boys so much while I was gone, but they took good care of each other.  It was a very happy reunion yesterday!!  They decorated the house with streamers and balloons throughout the main floor.  I had to laugh, as they both had to keep ducking to keep from running into the streamers.  It's nice to feel so loved and missed.

And that is that.  Hopefully I'll be back to stitching, meeting up with my friends, and working at keeping some of my goals that got thrown out the window in the first week of January.  LOL  Such is life, it's always one big adventure.  I'm learning to be flexible as I get older, but it isn't easy teaching an old dog new tricks.  Till next time...happy stitching!