Monday, Monday

So far this Monday morning is going well and I hope it doesn't become a 'downer' like the song "Monday, Monday".  Yeah, I'm from that era...it seems like only Yesterday at times.  Oh wait, that was another song from back then.  Moving right along.  And time has moved right along...all too quickly.

Yesterday did not start out great for me, I was in a terrible funk, missing my Mom among other things, but my daughter called around mid-morning and I could hear baby Evelyn making baby noises in the background, such a delight.

For dinner Nick & Marty and I went to a restaurant called Islands.  We've only eaten there a few times.  It's kind of a sports bar with a tropical island theme, hence the name.  Television monitors are everywhere and the one I could see alternated between surfing and extreme snow skiing (I'm sure they have the latter on the islands, hehe).  Awhile back when my friend Panda and I went to a quilt show, we ate lunch at Islands and she'd ordered the onion rings, and I love good onion rings and that describes theirs!  We had onion rings, and I had a Kaanapali Kobb salad to go with them.  Nick had a burger and fries, bottomless fries I might add so he had more than what came with his burger, and Marty had a wrap with a coleslaw side, which I tasted the latter and it was yummy.  It had cilantro and jicama in it and he said it had a spicy bite, but my taste wasn't big enough to detect that.   We brought home leftovers.

Later in the evening the doorbell rang followed by a loud knock and I ran down to find a delivery of flowers sitting on my doorstep.  That delivery guy was in a hurry!  But he shouted "Happy Mother's Day" as he got into his car.

I brought them upstairs, setting them on a plate on my ironing board (the only empty surface); the bottom of the container was wet.  They are lovely and smell wonderful.  I was noticing the flower photos my friends were posting on Facebook, and noticed that almost all were purple/lavender colors, and mine are no exception.  That must be the color for this year.  And I like that color, by the way.  I find as I get older, it's more appealing to me than it was when I was young.

 
Raven gave her approval too.  In fact, she wanted to nibble on the basket, and has tried to nibble on a blossom or two as well.  She's still hanging out with me, napping on the ironing board, while I type my post.

I've not received much of an update as to my brother's condition other than he told another brother it is lung cancer and that one of the tumors has wrapped itself around the major artery to the heart.  I don't know if that makes surgery possible or not.  Also, my sister said that a biopsy of the tumor(s) was going to be done and they could then give him treatment options, but he is likely of a mindset that he won't choose to do anything. 

On with my day's activities.  Chores are always plentiful.

Trials and Tribulations

We have been told in Scripture we will have them, and have them we do.

Before I get to the latest bit of trouble, I'd like to wish all the Mom's out there a great big

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

*****          *****          *****

Anyone wanting to stop reading here, may....it's just a little family drama that follows.

I received a call yesterday from my sister saying my dad had to take my brother to the ER.  Brother Dean had been at my dad's but said he didn't feel well and left for his home.  Some while later Dean called my dad saying he woke up on the floor and asked if he could take him to the ER so my dad did, just dropping him off - actions like this are normal in this family.

This was around 12:30 yesterday.  I'd heard no update so called my sister, she was at my dad's, around 3:30 and they hadn't heard, so they set out for the hospital to see what they could find out.  Hospital said they didn't show him ever being there.  My sister went to his apartment, he was there but had a hospital band on his wrist so HAD been at the hospital.  I don't know how he got back to his place.  I don't know all the interim details but they took him back to the hospital where, when my sister called hours later, they apparently did more testing.  He was quite upset that my family had even told me.  This is the brother who hasn't talked to me since my mother was released to home under hospice care all because he chose to believe something untrue even though everyone who was at the site at the time didn't take what was said the way he did.  Such is life with an individual who is bipolar and has had a chip, or more, on his shoulder since birth.

When my sister did call back with the clear picture, or reasonably so, it was that my brother has three cancerous tumors in his chest and throat.  He is a smoker.  At least one of the tumors was blocking adequate blood flow to his heart and brain, which apparently caused his initial feeling of unwellness and passing out.  I also learned that he had been having TIAs since even before my mother had gone to the hospital in January of 2014.  I don't recall anyone telling me that, but my sister recalls him talking about it while in my mom's hospital room.  I may not have been there at the time.

It was decided that he should be transported to the University hospital in a larger city but he refused to go by ambulance transport and was waiting for his son to come and take him, which happened in the late evening.  There was the possibility that he would be having surgery last night.  I've had no updates yet this morning.

I don't know the prognosis or what his treatment will be if anything.  He is not employed but my sister thinks he has mimimal (poor) insurance through the temp agency he works through.

Regardless of the 'ill feelings' I still will be praying for him.  He may not want me to know, or to see me, but I can still pray.

The Day Before Mother's Day

...and I am so Blessed! 

My son, with a little help from Marty, ordered these for me.

Shari's Berries chocolate covered strawberries.

The company recommends they be eaten within 48 hours, uh, they've been lucky to have lasted 48 minutes.  I offered both Nick and Marty one but they said "No, they're all yours."  But when I chose the first one, I offered them each a bite and they didn't refuse :)  Notice the size of these babies!  Yes, that's my cutting mat showing 1" squares and yes, these strawberries are easily 3" long!  And oh yum, do they ever taste good.

I was working on this quilt project, #039, all week and finished putting the borders on today.

Patriotic Stars, #039 (a duplication of #029) and I like this one as much if not better than #029!

After getting the borders done, I decided to come upstairs to my she-cave to play on the computer with some golf on the TV in the background, and suddenly Marty and Nick were both at my back with this beautiful bouquet of flowers.  I thought, what, more? and asked who these were from and Marty said "don't know, check the card" and they had been sent to me by my sweet 'baby' girl who lives 1200 miles from me.  Earlier I had also received a package from her that held a bag of homemade dry-mix roux for when I make gumbo along with a large home-made card made by her and my grandson.  Here are the beautiful, and wonderfully fragrant, flowers:

Raven likes my flowers too!

Hmmm, what's that on my design wall in the background....a future post, lol.

And tomorrow after church, we are going to go see a movie (probably Iron Man unless I can find something more to my liking, hehe) and have either a late lunch or very early dinner at a 50's-style diner where they serve the best onion rings in the world, which I'll order along with a salad and that'll be plenty. 

Yes indeed, I am Blessed.

I pray ALL the mom's and grandma's have a wonderful day tomorrow. 

Happy Mother's Day!