September 29, 2008

Bye Dad

About 3 weeks ago the doctors told my father that there was nothing more they could do. He signed the paperwork to go into the hospice program and they were assigned a wonderful case worker named Ginni. I can't say enough about hospice or the caring and consideration they've given to my family through a difficult time. I don't know how they can deal with death on a daily basis and still be upbeat and caring.

Last night my brothers and I watched as Ginni pronounced our father and assisted my mother by making a couple calls. While it's not easy to say good bye to someone who has shaped you into the person you've become, I'm glad that he's no longer in pain.

Good bye, Dad. Thanks for everything.

September 21, 2008

Out of the mouths of babes

My oldest daughter lives a little over an hour away and since my dad is sick she's been coming down every week so the kids can play at papa's and great grams to cheer them up. Friday they all came down for a visit. After playing at the great grandparent's house for a while they ended up at my house.

I live right by a town park so D1, D2 and I took the kids over for a walk and to play on the playset before dinner. It was a nice day and we basically had the playset to ourselves. There was a guy with an older woman and 3 girls who looked to be ages 2, 4, and 6 on the beach area. After a while they moved off the beach and the older two girls came to play on the playset too.

The boys were at the top of an enclosed slide and the girls were climbing up some netting so W said something like, "Look there are spiders on the spider web." The 6 yr old was offended and told him "We're not spiders we're girls." Meanwhile Missy A walked up the stairs and was hanging around watching everyone.

I was watching what was going on and saw the 6 yr old look around to see if anyone was watching her. Then she took 2 steps sideways and threw her hip against Missy A which knocked the little 2 yr old right down the steps on her back. By the time I ran around to get to the steps D2 was there picking her up and trying to calm her. "What happened?" D2 asked. "That girl knocked against her and pushed her down the stairs." I answered.

All of a sudden the little girl stammers "It was an accident. I didn't do it on purpose." I answered, "I saw you do it and it wasn't an accident."Of course the adults are across the park leaving the 6 yr old in charge of her 4 yr old sister so there’s no other adult to jump in. We decided it was time to walk back to my house anyways so I said, “I bet you cause a lot of accidents. The bad part is that you also tell lies when you do bad things.”

As we were walking down the stairs to leave the playset my 3 yr old grandson N said in a very serious tone to the girl “God saw that.” Then his 5 yr old brother chimes in with “And Santa saw it too.” It was all we could do not to burst out laughing.

Hopefully the Easter Bunny and The Tooth Fairey weren't watching or that little girl is just screwed.

September 14, 2008

Finally off my lazy butt ...

to do a little update. Moe was adopted by a wonderful young woman and is happy in his new home. She's a non knitter so it's a perfect pair. It was a good thing because I already had taken in these guys and they were all sick so Moe couldn't play with them. These two are Coal and Dusty. They are both males and extremely friendly.
Coal and Dusty litter #3
This is Ashley. She was so scared when I first picked her up but now she's the first one to come running and sit in my lap to be pet.
Ashley litter #3

There's been some knitting going on. I bought some yarn off ebay a while back. It was cheap because it was poorly koolaid dyed. So I ended up using both balls working two rows from each ball in order to get it to blend better. So far so good.
hat in progress
Working on a green hat in the same design just in the round.
green hat in progress
And finished a pink hat from the same pattern.
finished pink hat
Worked on some dishcloths for my neice who just bought her first home with her hubby.
assorted dishcloths
And I'm using the left overs to do a blanket for the kittens to snuggle in. I wanted something totally washable.
left over cotton kitten blanket
Finished another pair of socks for W
grandson #1 socks
Just a little more to go on Missy A's jumper
pink jumper in progress
And plugging along on a shawl for a work friend who is out recovering from breast cancer. Usually I'd use a nice wool but since she's by herself I decided to use Herrschners 2 ply afghan yarn because it's washable.
Work pal's shawl
And since one can never have enought sock yarn I bought these from Ray. I couldn't decide on a color so I ordered 3 skeins with the instructions of do anything you want as long as the colors include blues and greens. I think he did a wonderful job and I was so please when I opened the package. These will all be socks for me, me, me.
Ray's special sock yarn

All the kids are back in college. D2 started a 2 yr radiology program at Naugatuck Valley Community College. S1 is there too finishing his 2 yr engineering degree. D3 is at Eastern Connecticut State University working on her 4 yr degree in social work.

W started kindergarden and is having a wonderful time. N started preschool and he's having a blast. A is home with mommy asking where everyone is when they are at school.

My dad was getting small dosages of chemo trying to shrink the tumers in his liver to give him some comfort. Unfortunately the chemo was doing more harm than good so last Tuesday they decided to stop all treatment. He signed the paperwork needed to go into the hospice program on Wednesday. Mom's freaking out, dad's resigned to the fact that it'll all be over sooner rather than later, and as usual I'm not dealing with anything other than supporting both of them and pitching in as much as I can. Since stopping the chemo he's been eatting better and has more strength so it's in God's hands now.