I found a tiny bit of time to create a layout yesterday


Just wanted to let you all know that my mom is doing pretty good. We had an awesome day yesterday, it was almost like old times. She still thinks I am the nurse sometimes and not her daughter, but i can see why, i am always there to take care of her. We played Yahtzee, it was funny i had to let her cheat alot.

I was so moved by this yesterday from Ali's post:

Every day – together with the sun – God gives us a moment in which it is possible to change everything that makes us unhappy. Every day we try to pretend that we don’t realize that moment, that it doesn’t exist, that today is just the same as yesterday and will be the same as tomorrow. But if you pay attention, you can discover the magic instant. It may be hiding at the moment when we put the key in the door in the morning, in the silence right after dinner, in the thousand and one things that all seem the same to us. This moment exists – a moment when all the strength of the stars passes through us and lets us work miracles.

By Paulo Coelho

and this too by the same author:

Love

There is always someone in the world waiting for someone else, whether in the middle of the desert or in the heart of some big city. And when these two people’s paths cross and their eyes meet, the whole of the past and the whole of the future lose all importance, and there only exists that moment and that incredible certainty that everything under the Sun was written by the very same Hand. The Hand that awakens Love and creates a sister soul for everyone who works, rests and seeks treasures under the Sun. Were it not for this, the dreams of the human race would make no sense.

so incredibly beautiful! And did you all see the video over on OLW? Amazing!!! So Cosmo Cricket is have a dt call, I am not entering but i love seeing all the fabulous layouts on all the blogs !! Here are just a few of my faves:

Leena

Rachel

Kimmi

Emily

I am on the lookout for more!!

I'm still here

I haven't had a whole lot of time to myself lately, my days are filled with kids and visits to my mom. I will be able to relax a bit more when she is placed in my city and only a 5 minute drive me instead of a 20 minute drive through lots of traffic. Hopefully that will happen soon, but its a waiting game. She is doing good, still has some bad days of course but she is improving very slowly, tiny increments each day. She is getting used to the idea of needing a wheelchair now, which in itself is a bit sad because she opposed it so vehemently before. We are all adjusting to this new normal.

The kids are finally finished school and I am so happy about that! I love having them home with me. In a month we will be heading to British Columbia for our annual 2 week vacation, I can't believe its that time again already.

I read Ali's post this morning and was thinking about my word that i chose for the year - Change - boy, be careful what you wish for!

I did a couple of layouts last night, I find myself needing to scrap and tell this story of my mom's journey, its very healing so you may see a lot of layouts about it. ( you can click on the pic to read the journaling)




Have a beautiful week!

Hugs,
Heather

Hi Mom

A little over a month ago my mom was admitted to the hospital with advanced Chronic Obstructed Pulmonary Disease from smoking. She was seriously lacking oxygen and going into heart failure. She managed to recover the same day with oxygen therapy and we were all set to have her admitted to the hospital for a few days. The next morning everything went terribly wrong. My mom aspirated phlegm or something into her lungs and had to be intubated and placed in ICU. She was not expected to survive (she had a DNR that stated no tubes or ICU but they did not read it before hand, so the fact she is even here is amazing), but she has. It has been a very long month and she has suffered a lot of indignities that no one should have to endure at our lovely state of the art University of Alberta Hospital. Yesterday she was discharged to a temporary long term care facility and is doing well. The main difference is her short term memory loss when she is tired, its a doozy sometimes and is one of the main reasons for LTC. It still throws me for a loop that she can't remember the morning, etc and makes me sad and long for her old vital self. The other issue is her weakness with walking now, that has also been made worse by lack of eating resulting in a 30lb weightloss. She hated the hospital food so much she wouldn't eat more than 2 or 3 bites per meal, so we are hoping now she will eat again. So she has to use a wheelchair more now and she is on a "fall watch" - meaning she is assisted everywhere she goes. The staff at the temp. place is awesome. They treat her with great respect and bring her juice and coffee, etc. They listen to her complaints and deal with them immediately. I can finally relax and know that she is being cared for.
I am so thankful to have been given more time with this amazing loving woman. I have learned so much from her. Can you believe she is 81 and doesn't dye her hair?!!!
Thank you so much to all of you, your well wishes and good thoughts have been so very comforting at the end of my long days.
Slowly we will all readjust to a more normal life and not round the clock care, it will be good. Give your loved ones a big hug today, no day is ever promised.

hugs to all of you!

Urban Scrapbook

I did this layout for my LSS - The Urban Scrapbook. The kit was full of SEI travel paper and a few extras. The challenge was to create a layout about a memorable moment from a trip...


I am off to work the crop tonight. Mom is doing good we are awaiting placement still in long term care.


these are waaaay cool!!


Have a fabulous weekend.

Scrappiness!!

I have been scrapping a tiny bit the last few days, its been tough, but i wanted to create something anyway. Sometimes at the end of the long day at the hospital i like to just look through my new stash, enjoying all the lovely patterns and colors.

An ode to Dr. Seuss: (Alexa snapped this awesome photo) OLW - GOOD


A double layout:



and another double layout:



and this one cracks me up:


I will get to the journaling on these sometime this weekend. I wrote it out already but didn't feel like rewriting it.

I can't believe its only Wednesday, I am counting down til the weekend! Both my older kids are writing exams this week and next then summer can begin, I can't wait!! I wish i could add another month to the holidays, I love having all my kids at home! Today we are going to the park and maybe the splash park later in the day. Tomorrow Rob is going to see ColdPlay so i won't be at the hospital tomorrow, that will be strange.

Have a super day!

Heather x 2!!

Well this was the perfect ending to my week:

I got to meet Heather Derbecker! We met a couple of years ago on the Studio Calico mb and we've always stayed in touch with emails, etc. Well, she had to come to Edmonton for work and Friday night she was able to come crop at my LSS while I worked!! She is every bit as sweet as she looks, I was just thrilled to spend a bit of time with her and chat!!

The week with my mom was good. She was able to sit in a wheelchair twice this week for about 15 minutes each time. I took her outside to feel the breeze and get a few minutes of fresh air, she loved it. I found this "sweet spot" at one of the hospital entrances that gushes a cool breeze every time the door opens. i park the chair in the door and we just stand there and enjoy the wind blowing through our hair. It's our little secret spot, lol. Then she naps for two hours afterward, lol.

This week we find out when and where she will be placed for long term care. I am crossing my fingers its St. Albert and not too far into Edmonton.

I actually took a tiny bit of time to scrap a layout this weekend and maybe i can do another one tonight. I am so exhausted though, ever since my mom went into the hospital I haven't slept at night, I have millions of tiny nightmares and just cannot rest. I am operating in full alpha state - you know when you drive/go somewhere and you can't remember how you got there, if you even stopped at redlights, etc? Well that's how i am all the time, going through the motions of my day, but not really here. Surprisingly, I am eating well, i just need more rest. I can't get sick right now because i need to be there for my mom. I can imagine the whopper of a flu I will probably get when i allow myself to relax, lol.

Have a fabulous week!!

Stronger Than Yesterday....

I know, now you are going to have Britney Spears stuck in your head all day, sorry about that. My mom is indeed stronger, the last couple of days she has done very well, it is just amazing to all of us. We are now looking at long term care facilities for her. We have a new normal routine here now which means I am never home for supper or Chloe's bedtime, but that is life right now. It is very surreal to me at times when I change Chloe's diaper in the morning and my mom's at night, lol. My sister and I wash her hair, and give her a bed bath, change her when needed and anything else she needs, she is our mom and it is so little to give back in return. Today she is able to use the portable commode and even be wheeled to a shower for a short time, so that is fantastic. She has lost alot of muscle tone and is quite weak still, but physio is working with her and we are hopeful. We are working very very hard to keep her positive, it is very easy for seniors to get depressed and give up the fight, so we are constantly reassuring her and reminding her of how well she is doing.

I am so very thankful to each one of you for your prayers, they have been so amazing!!! I appreciate so much all the kind words you have been leaving here on my blog and for the many many emails I have received, it is truly overwhelming, thank you!!