Summer...Bummer...Hibernation!

Yes. That's me. I'm going into hibernation again for as many months as summer lasts. In Texas, it is a lot longer than some places. Such as the Pacific N.W., where you all know I'd rather be. Oh scuse me, Y'All know I'd rather be. After 17 years living in the South, I've finally gotten the Y'All down. I would normally just hunker down in the A/C house and work on projects, but with the shoulder being out of commission, I am limited to what I can do. I've been sorting things and doing some re-organizing but can't really move many things around.

We did get our A/C replaced before the heat descended upon us, so that is a good feeling. Knowing that we can get through the long hot summer with no fear of a break down, is comforting. Also, our electric bill should go down this summer with a more efficient unit.

However, over Memorial Day w/e, the washing machine decided to kick up its heels and die. We had talked about that being the next thing we would replace, but we weren't ready just yet. Well, what do you know, early morning as hubby was getting ready to go golfing, I had started some laundry, and all of a sudden we heard a very loud screeching and a thumpety, thump thump...technical description here..ha ha. Of course it was full of water and would not spin out. This required baling the entire machine tub out and hand wringing heavy towels out and ferrying them into the bathtub for storage. Thankfully hubby was home to do that.....he wished he had already left the house, I'm sure. But, being the Superman he is, can fix all/most things. Even though he's never repaired a washer before. He said, I think I know what it is...got online and watched a video and confirmed his suspicions, and went to the store. Of course the part was not easy to find and he had to go across town to a specialty store, and got there just before they closed. But a small part, and 8 hours later, the machine was humming along like new. Here's the part: It's a motor coupler.


While he had everything moved out, he replaced the hoses on the machine and of course cleaned everything. I did suggest that perhaps while he had things torn apart, "we" might want to lay some tile down, and repaint the laundry/closet. He didn't fall for that one though. Do y'all have a "we" at your house? Around here we also have a Someone, and a Somebody. We take turns playing those parts. But mostly "we" is the hubster.

Well, Happy Summer. It's only 91 here right now at almost 7 p.m.

Sunday Clouds

I've really had to take it easy today because my shoulder and back are still killing me. So, no artwork today and very little computer time as it hurts to even move my arm. I did very little today but go for a drive with Hubby. It drives me crazy to do nothing, so I had to really concentrate on just sitting and watching the world go by. It was 93 degrees again today and very windy. But look at these gorgeous Sunday Texas clouds.

Map Your Day

It's been a long rough week around here. Work coupled with jury duty for Hub and a lot of pain issues for me with my shoulder. I haven't been able to do much physically, and have been crabby and whiney all week. It doesn't help that I haven't been able to get comfortable at night, so am sleep deprived. Hub decided this morning he was going to force me out of my doldrums....I really wasn't too interested in his plans, but knew it would do no good to protest. So, off we went and I decided to kind of keep a record of our adventures of the day. Downtown early...before 10 a.m. First stop, Whole Foods for olive oil and scones. We drank coffee with the scones, brought the olive oil home. Walked across the street to By George and Waterloo Records. I'm already melting by this time, as it is hot and humid. I'm really warm by the time we get back to the car. I REALLY dislike humidity and heat! So we drove to Anthropologie instead of walking. Then Hub heads out Lamar St. for a scenic drive and we go to Starbucks, Skandanavia, then full circle back towards home. Stop at Target for a few things and see all our retail pals from there. Mikey the sign guy saved me some stuff from the Liberty of London...yay! Then lunch at ChickFilA, then get a Frappucino and head home. I'm exhausted, it is 2:30 and 93 outside. My shoulder still hurts but at least I got out and about for awhile. I am so exhausted that I might even sleep tonight...except for the caffeine in the coffee beverage.




Targets' Liberty of London collection is all on clearance now, not much left at my store but got a couple more packs of file folders. The butterfly was one of the promo items the sign guy saved for me.

Old Age is NOT for Sissies!

I've heard this saying for many years, but it has begun to ring more true with every passing year of my life. When your parents age, it can be a heartbreaking thing to watch. It creeps gradually, then all of a sudden, you look at them closely and it has arrived. Then you look in the mirror, and it is apparent that it is creeping upon you as well. It is inevitable of course, for all of us. I've mentioned how fortunate I have been to still have my parents, who are 95 and 87. I have been absent from here for some time because I have been spending time with them and with my sister, who has been trying to help them for the past couple of years. The past two weeks have been a blur, from the time I arrived to see my Dad installed in an assisted living center after his rehab for a broken hip and hip replacent surgery. The second day I was there, we spent 4 hours with our Mother in the emergency room and she was subsequently admitted to hospital with severe pancreaitis and kidney infection. She spent 3 days there, and we were told it was pretty serious. She will most likely have to have gallbladder surgery. My sister and I spent this time driving...driving from her house to the assisted living place, to the hospital, back and forth 2 and 3 times a day. Moment by moment, day by day, we operated on auto-pilot. Both of my parents are hilariously funny and a hoot to be around. Everyone at both places were cracking up at them and fell in love with them. They are both also very strong willed, stubborn, and focused on what they want, which is one of the reasons I guess they have lived so long. It can be very frustrating trying to protect them from themselves. They are both determined to keep living at home, on their own, even though several incidents have proven that they need help. My Dad is a fall risk, and has fallen many times in recent years, breaking his arm,his shoulder, his ribs, and so on, up until this last one which broke his hip. In spite of my sister and I finding a wonderful service for at home care, my Dad was angry, and after a week, they have let them go. We do not know what the immediate future will bring for them. We have had to step back and allow them to do as they please, and live their lives on their own terms. That's what we all want for ourselves, isn't it? It was never about us taking control, we just wanted them to be safe, and we don't feel that they are. It has been difficult for me, but even more so for my sister who lives close by and has put her life on hold to be there for them each time they have had an emergency. They keep insisting they don't need help, yet every day they expect her to be there. Already I've been told that the washing machine shorted out and caused an electical fire the other day. The physical therapist happened to be there at the time and was able to take care of things for them. I have to wonder what they would have done if they'd been there alone. I feel like we will constantly be waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it will be something else next time. I'm having to focus on getting back to normal life and taking care of my own health for now, and my sister has to do the same. In twenty years I will be almost the same age my Mom is now. I have to start thinking about how I will want to live at that time, and hope I can make sound decisions.

It's Raining in My Heart

I've been walking a fine line lately, the one between sadness and chaos. Alternating between feeling I should post here, but also being so private that I only want to post happy thoughts. Things aren't always happy, and the struggle to maintain wears us down, does it not? Sometimes the struggle for life just doesn't seem fair.

Because of life choices I have made, I have for many years lived far away from family members. I've been removed from their lives and they from mine. I have missed a lot, seeing nieces and nephews, and subsequently their offspring, grow up. I've found as I've gotten older, this matters more to me than it once did. Oh sure we see them several times a year, but the day to day stuff is what I miss. I feel like I am always on the outside, looking in. Hub has the same situation with his family.

I know how fortunate I am, at my age, that my parents are still living. However their quality of life has deteriorated the past few years and the reality of their ages has struck me. My father is 95, but has always had the vitality of someone 30 years younger. He has outlived all his brothers, and most of his friends. In my heart, I thought he would live forever, but in my mind I can see that he is not going to. Due to a fall three weeks ago, he has had a hip replacement, a week in hospital, two weeks in rehab, and now has been moved to an "assisted living" facility. My mother, who is 87, is not physically able to care for him on her own, but feels she can, so she wants him out of there and back at home. He is a fall risk, so this entails having 24/7 home care. There are so many decisions to be made, and my sister has had the burden of handling them because she lives nearby. We talk every day, but I need to get there as soon as I can, to be able to help out.
Since I have a bad shoulder, I cannot lift things, so what can I do in that regard? Just being there should make us both feel better, I hope so. The stress of other things in my life right now has caused my shoulder and back pains to get worse. Yikes.... One thing just leads to another, always. I've done very little artwork of late, and that is another thing that makes me cranky. So I am going to try to find a window of time to do a few artsy things today. My journal pages of late have been pretty dark and NOT artsy!

Spring Fever

Blossoms are blooming,the trees are leafing, the wildflowers are rampant, and along with that come the Spring allergies as well. My favorite Sunday afternoon activity is to take a nap, being lulled to sleep by the sound of lawnmowers in the neighborhood, through the open windows, and a cross breeze blowing through the house. It was 80 degrees. You see, all too soon for me, it will be hot and humid again and the windows closed and the sounds of A/C throughout the neighborhood. Every spring I have these mixed feelings about another impending summer in Texas. I long for the Pacific N.W., the Forsythia, the Azaleas and Lilacs. I'm trying to enjoy as much outdoors as I can before I begin my summer hibernation. You know, where I go out of the A/C house to the A/C car, to drive to somewhere else that is A/C. Yes I am a real grumble puss about heat and humidity. The only good thing about humidity,IMHO, it makes your skin feel nice. LOL

Have you seen the new Spring stuff at Target? Everyone is talking about the Liberty of London promotion, so had to go there to see it myself. I am not a real girly-girly, flowery type, but I loved their bright colors, so took a few shots of the displays, and even bought a couple small things.
Like this set of bowls, because of the color, they match a bright fuschia tray that I have. Because I love paper, I also got a couple gift bags and some file folders.



Sorry about lights in the ceiling. I couldn't find anything to climb up on to get a straight on shot. HaHa



These cute little fellows are a combo of Liberty of London and Easter. ( I guess) Don't know why folks always look at me so strangely when I am taking photos of things like this.



Oh and then there was this one.. I had to wait quite awhile while people stopped going in and out the sliding door, and to get him with no peeps in the photo. My friend was cracking up laughing. We are both very easily amused. I like how he looks like he is sitting on the sidewalk. This is my Easter card!

SouthXSouthWest-ing

I haven't had much time to work with my new computer, because the Big One..the SXSW conference has started, and been going on all week. It's big, really big, folks. Like Texas Big. International Big. I do like to avoid the crowds of 20,000 or more, but feel comfortable in rooms that hold 100 to 500 peeps. Have been to a few of the broadcasts in person, watched a lot of it on the internet, and some on T.V. It's definitely the place to see folks and hear amazingly good music and see new film. I won't even mention all the famous peeps that strolled through the lobby of the Four Seasons the few times I was there this week. Musicians, actors,writers, etc. That is just the ones I saw personally. I heard mention of a few I didn't see, but might not have recognized anyhow. But I will tell you this,I came eye to eye, face to face, up close and personal with John Hiatt, as he made his way through the crowd to get into the filled to capacity Music Lounge. I was standing right by the door, helping the manager try to keep folks from sneaking into the crowded room if they hadn't already been granted a seat or a standing spot. He said Hello and I think I grinned and mumbled Hello back. Some guy behind me said, Wow, do you know who that was? Yup..I sure did.

Things are winding down tonight and tomorrow and the city can get back to normal. These festivals are a double edged sword. They bring tons of money into the local economy, but for awhile the traffic is almost unbearable.

It's a lot of fun to live in such a city, where we are exposed to so many performers on a regular basis. There is always a movie or two being filmed around here so there are many stars who are in town on any given day. You never know who you will run into. I am always pleased to find out that the majority of them are just as nice as we think they are. However there are some who are just as nasty as we've heard they are too. That's amusing as well.

Early on before the crowds get so packed, you can see some fine costumes. I got a few shots of some great boots and outfits. These floral ones were my favorite boots. After it gets so crowded you'll only see heads if you are standing or behinds if you are sitting.


Boots everywhere.

Cute cowgirl jacket.


T-Bird and The Breaks. Good local band.