It's been a while, and I

thanks those of you who contacted me privately to say I was missed. The last few months have been hectic, to say the least. My son contracted that MRSA that you may have read about in the papers. It started with what we thought was a bad toothache, maybe an abces. He went to a dentist, it was the dentist realized that it wasn't a dental matter and whatever the problem was, it needed immediate attention. She contacted our family doctor and then upon his recomendation a specialist and insisted he see our son within the hour. The specialist then sent him to begin immediate intravenous antibiotics for the next several days. He emphasized that this infection was very near the brain, and had to be contained and controlled quickly. Months later it has improved greatly despite several frightening relapses and we are now trying to schedule some surgery to clean out the last of the infection. Bless that dentist! The specialist said if we had delayed even 24 hours we would probably be burying him!

Meanwhile, my mom took a fall and took her first ambulance ride. Fortunately, she was bruised but not broken and they released her. Two days later she took another ambulance ride, this time with a stroke. She went from hospital to a nursing and rehab center where they said she would need long term care from now on. I have spent a lot of time trying to find and then move her into a facility, now I am dealing with the piles of paperwork that goes along with all of this. I must say, every single person that I have dealt with has been both helpful and very, very nice. Blessing in the midst of turmoil.

Those are just the two most serious things from the past few months, but there have been smaller excitements, too. You know.......life! Anyway, all of this has kept me either to busy, or too exhausted to do any blogging or sewing. This weekend is the first time I have gotten into the sewing room since the last time I posted. Need I say that my plans to give everyone a quilt for Christmas have gone out the window. (to put a positive spin on it, I have a great start on NEXT year's gifts!!) This weekend I caught up on my BOM swap obligations. Once these babies hit the mail, I'm finished! I must say that I will be glad to see the end of this. I try too hard and wind up doing not as well as normal, it takes the joy out of things. These are the blocks for October, November and December. They are not as crooked as they may appear in the photos, I put them on the back of the sofa to take the pictures, instead of laying them flat. OOOPS!