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Sunday, November 11, 2007

Girls Weekend Away

It was a difficult week taking care of my mother-in-law, who was discharged from hospital with no support services and no plan, other than to see her family doctor. The hospital staff told us they "waitlisted" her with home care and we would be called when they could assess her. So, we privately hired some staff from ParaMed, and we managed to cobble together a care plan that got her safely through the week. We also got her a Lifeline so hopefully she won't lie on the floor for more than 12 hours again if she has another stroke. Although my mother-in-law insists that staying in her own home is better for her (as opposed to moving to an assisted living facility), it sure is more nerve wracking for us. My husband and I remind ourselves constantly that "we can only do the best we can do".
On friday I taught a mini quilt class on working with fusible interfacing as a foundation. These are the finished minis that the students brought back from the last class (which was on paper piecing mini quilts). To give you an idea of size, each goose measures 1 1/2" x 3/4"! They did a great job!
After teaching, I "ran away from home" to enjoy a delightful visit with my sisters and my mom. We have had "girls weekend away" for several years, (click here for the blog about last year's trip) and this year we went to St. Jacobs, Ontario and stayed at the Jakobstettel Inn. The town was beautifully decorated for Christmas, and this quartet was singing Christmas Carols as we arrived at the inn. It was a little shocking to realize that it is already the middle of November and I had not yet given the Christmas season one minute of thought! It was a wonderful and relaxing time together...just what I needed.
I have been hand stitching block #5 of my "Journey of a Quilter". Earlier in the week I stitched the word "burdens" and was surely feeling the weight of that word. As I was stitching tonight, I came to the word "laughed" and was very thankful for all the laughter we had this weekend which will help me to survive the burdens of the weeks to come.

7 comments:

  1. Either you have been very busy or I have been away too long from your blog. Best of luck with your mother in law. My mother in law has had cancer twice and refused to have any help from me or my DH. LOL. You are so correct you can only do so much. I like the mystery quilt top and the vase is a cool idea.

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  2. Kathy - glad you were able to get away - it is important to keep up your own energy, both physical and spiritual when you are caring for others.

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  3. Glad to hear you had a nice weekend away - you deserve it.

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  4. Prayers for strength while taking care of your MIL. Happy thoughts for spending time with your sisters and Mom.

    Is Christmas that close? Ouch!

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  5. My mom's been home for a week now -it's finally beginning to feel like normal life - Oops! Hope I didn't just jinx it!

    Glad that you're taking some time "off". You deserve it!

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  6. Those mini quilts are gorgeous! But why did the first maker chop one row in half? Bizarre!!

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  7. FYI...in response to Helen's question...some of the students had difficult with trimming the rows, and cut off the seam allowance when trimming the blocks...yikes!
    One quilter left off an entire row that she cut on the stitching line, and another quilter added some sashing strips.

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