Where Have I Been?

I've been here there and everywhere.

Well, seriously, stuff happened, life caught up to me and time slipped away once again.   The big thing was my Dad fell ill.   At first we though he had caught my sister's cold.   No biggie, right?   But he was having trouble walking (gout in his feet and arthritis in his knee).  He was in massive pain.   He had also been have problems with his blood sugar levels, enough so that paramedics had been called.  Yep, Dad had gone into a kind of sleep/coma thing.   A bit of glucose set that right., it seemed.   I had gone for a visit with him and my sister.   But once I got there for my visit, Dad pretty much took to his bed.   Not a good sign. 

See, my Dad is a fairly active guy for his age, 89.   He goes to the gym to workout three times a week (he just cut back from four times a week last year).  He still drives,goes to church does his own grocery shopping and cooking.   Okay, maybe not the most active but at his age I figure he's doing fairly well.  At least he was until this cold or whatever caught up to him.  Anyway, to make a long story shorter, he wound up in the hospital for a blood transfusion and they kept him there for two weeks, trying to figure out what had caused his blood loss and trying to get his pain under control.  Then he was moved to a nursing home for another two weeks.  These were scary times for my sister and I.   My sister shouldered the brunt of the responsibility and care of Dad as she lives with him.  I can't thank her enough for all she did.   Anyway, Dad came back home on a day I was able to visit with them and spend a day or two.

I had just finished a three day teaching stint at the Newport Paper Arts Festival in Newport, OR.  I love this festival as I love the area and it is a smaller venue with a charm of it's own.   What can I say, doing these things are the only way I get to see a lot of folks that I just adore.   Cheri Aldrich for one.  She is one of the founding mothers of the event and it's been going on for a few years.  I'd say how many but I'm not sure, I think it might be ten.   Anyhow, I love the folks involved and I love the coast with it's many moods.

At Festival I taught: Unleashing Creative ATC's, Double Secret Belgium Binding and Wonderful Woven Fiber Journals.  But on my last day of teaching

my allergies kicked in with a vengence.   That night I couldn't breath through my nose and I got very little sleep.  I got some med at the grocery store and drove to Dad's.  Which is when he did his taking to bed thing.  But he is back home now, doing much better.

My allergy thing turned into a sinus infection.....if you've never had one you don't know how they just sap you of energy and vitality.   I know what it was and got to the doctor.   Antibiotics wer helping and I though all was well.  We celbrated my youngest's 23 rd birthday early in May, followed by Mother's Day and then my birthday.  All good so far and then the sinus/allergy thing cam back and hit me hard again.  I wasn't sleeping at night because I could breath and I had no energy.   But I didn't really want to do another round of antibiotics if I could help it.   I worry about building up a resistance and then waht will I do.  Anyhow, my husband, the Mailman, found an OTC med that did the trick and I could finally breathe again as long as I took the meds right on time.   Halleujah!

So now the Mailman was on vacation.  Another wuick trip down to my Dad's to fix a few things around his place that he just couldn't, to his everlasting frustration, do on his own anymore.   Five hour round trip turned into al longer one due to Memorial Day traffic.   Ah well, we knew it would happen but it was the only good day we had.

Then we went out to our property for a couple nights.   Five hours one way there.  It was hot and dusty but I was breathing fine.   Really dusty and dirty though.  But the best part was that we finally got to take out dog, Atlas with us.  He slept with us in the tent and loved every minute of it.  Once he got used to the idea of being in the car for a long trip, he was a good traveler. 

So, that's where I've been.  Now I'm working on new workshop ideas and hoping they pan out like I think they will.  Sometimes they don't and they burn up time, energy and materials before you just have to face up to the face that they won't work like you'd hoped.  It's all part of the gamble.

I'll leave you here with a picture of a new book I have up on my etsy shop.

Take care, be good and I'll be back soon.