Saturday, October 18, 2014

Monday, September 22

This evening we invite my two brothers and sisters over for dinner.  My niece and two nephews come too.  It is fun to have everyone coming over.  My brother Howard and Cherelle have never been to my house.  The last time they were in Rhode Island, my family was living in a tiny apartment.

I don't even know the last time until this weekend that we spoke to each other.  I remember being on the phone with him in this house, but it was so long ago.  So many things have changed in that time.  If you were to ask me why I haven't spoken with him in so long, I wouldn't have a good answer.  We never call each other.  There was a time when he would tell me that he was praying for my soul, but that never bothered me too much, I would just think whatever, and say thank you.

I have been to visit my brother three times since he has been in Michigan.  Once when he was getting married, when Cherelle was born, and when his wife Margo passed away.  These events all happened when my mother was still alive.

It is good to sit down and talk with him, to catch up on his life.  His story is not an easy one, but he seems to be doing okay in spite of some health setbacks.  He has a good attitude, which is half the battle.

The life of the party is Cherelle though.  She is so excited to see everyone, and thrilled to get the photos we have found for her in our collections.  These are photos she has never seen before, some are with her mother which she is so grateful to have.

My brother Tim lives only thirty minutes from my house, but we also seldom see each other.  It is all a matter of bad timing, I guess.  At holidays he often has other plans, and for birthday celebrations, he is often not available.  It is hard having a young family.  It takes so much time.

Even though Jill lives in Ohio, I see her more often than either of my brothers.  She would come to visit Sara and our dad at least twice a year, staying for a few weeks each visit.  She has just moved into a new house recently, and I am hoping to go visit her there sometime.  I guess it is just different with sisters than brothers.

We eat and talk, but it is time to part too soon.  Cherelle and Howard have an early flight tomorrow.
Everyone gives hugs and says goodbye.  It has been a short but sweet evening.

September 23

I get up early and decide to focus on getting the house straightened out.  I am not feeling like I have the energy for both a bike ride childcare and today.  Is it the chemo?  Is it from having such a busy weekend?  Is it from my dad?  I am not sure, but feel it is best to go with this feeling of not wanting to push myself.

At knitting this evening someone asks if the knitters can fit all of our yarn into one cabinet.  I am not sure what this is all about, since I believe we are only using one, but I agree to check it out.  To my surprise our collection has grown, and I can see why this request was made.  We opened our cupboard to find it full to the brim, and then started checking other cupboards and it was as if we had tribbles from the original Star Trek series on our hands.  There was so much more yarn than I remembered!  We did what we could to get it in as few cupboards as possible, and promise to try and resolve the problem.

September 24

I have been sleeping and dreaming so deeply lately.  I wonder if this is because I haven't done this for so long.  Sleep has seemed long and dreamless, and I have been waking at earlier than normal hours.  Now I am sleeping later and remembering that I have had dreams.

At daycare today we make so many chocolate cookies, we supply many of our friends in the neighborhood with them.  We leave bags on doorsteps for people to find when they return home from their day.

In the afternoon, after putting the nappers down to sleep, I feel very tired.  When I am playing with one of the girls on the floor, she tells me to lay down and take a nap.  While I am pretending, I fall asleep.  I don't sleep long, but it is a little funny.  I have been tricked into napping by one of my trickiest nappers!

Steven takes Alex out to look at used cars, and he comes home the owner of a car!  He has found a Chevy Cavalier that he could afford, and it seemed like a good deal.  He is so nervous about driving now, afraid he will make a mistake.  I am so proud of him for saving his money and getting something he really wanted.
Alex and his new car!

I go to bed early tonight, hoping that extra sleep will get me through stained glass tomorrow.

September 25

I finally make it to stained glass this evening!  Kaileigh has decided to come to class with me so we can work on a project together.  She is the reason that I do stained glass.  When she was in middle school she wanted to learn how to make windows.  Not wanting to do it herself, I told her I would go with her, and we learned together.  We continued on until she graduated high school and went to collage.  I continued to go on Thursdays, pretty regularly until last spring.

I am very happy to be working on a project with Kaileigh, even though I still have my big church window waiting to be finished.  We have decided on a pattern we would like to use and select some glass.  We can't really start to cut our glass this evening, we need to enlarge the pattern, so Kaileigh helps me take paint off of my big window to leave details on the glass.

We leave a little early so I can get ready for chemo tomorrow.





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