Hello Strangers!

It’s been a while but I’m still around.   My mom is still in the rehab facility with no release date yet.   Some days she’s a little better than others but we have a long way to go…thank you for all your prayers.

On the home front, my garbage disposal died and while replacing it we found out the H&C pipes need to be replaced as well.    Thankfully we have some good friends who are coming to our rescue and it won’t cost an arm and a leg to get this done.    Also, our renter at my mom’s house skipped out this weekend!   I have bent over backwards to accommodate this person….I let her move in without a deposit, gave her 2 weeks free rent, and have worked with her the past 4 months since she got fired from her job.   Both my sister and myself have given her job leads and other assistance in getting her help during this time but some people you just can’t help….they have got to want to help themselves.   We went by the house today and it’s not too bad….mostly just needs a good cleaning and I will have a cleaning company go in and I’ll also change the locks as I doubt she’ll return my keys.

Other than that…things are great !

I’ve been making myself eat better to try and get to a healthier weight.   I have been drinking a Special K Protein Shake every day for lunch and it really has helped to curb my appetite.   I’m not even “starved” at night.   I’m also trying to cut out Cokes…my weakness!    I’ve been substituting with fruit instead of eating chocolate and fattening desserts.    I must say that I feel much, much better!    I have an outdoor wedding to go to this summer and hope to look a little more fit and trim for that.  

I’ll try and post more often, depending on how my mom does.   I would appreciate your continued prayers for her.

A Little This, A Little That, and the IRS!

Hello party people!   I’m slacking on my blog as my mom is still in her rehab facility and won’t be discharged next week as originally planned.   The OT and PT folks say she still has a ways to go and want her to be as back to “normal” as possible before being discharged.    However, at 92, that takes some hard work.    The worse thing for me is seeing how this is affecting her mental state vs. her physical state.    If you follow me on Facebook, I give a daily report on her….please continue to pray for her recovery so she can go back to her assisted living home.

Of course, all of this influences my daily life…not complaining but it’s a job being a caregiver.    It’s hard seeing her depressed about the situation…I believe getting back to her regular routine will help tremendously.

In my “free time” I got one small project done last week in the kitchen.    I got this idea from another blogger a few years ago and since she no longer has this up in her kitchen, I thought it would be okay to copy borrow her idea.   

 

I used paper mache letters I got at Hobby Lobby and spray painted them with Rustolem’s “Granite” (satin finish).   I L-O-V-E this color and how they turned out.    To attach them to the wall I used Velcro Removable Poster Hangers I got at Home Depot.    They are 1 1/4” squares and 7/8” circles.    I got 2 packs and had some left over.    

 

I also plan on making a sink skirt as I’ve admired those for a long time and have wanted one for my kitchen.   I found this fabulous chevron fabric at Hobby Lobby when I got the paper mache letters and can’t wait to make the skirt.

 

These might fall into the “tacky homemade” look but I can’t find any numbered mugs around here so I bought some plain white ones at Walmart and got some adhesive numbers in the hardware section…they will have to do until I can find the “real deal”

 

A few weekends ago my son and his family were visiting from Birmingham and my little grandson wanted to wear his pirate patch.    He refused to let it cover his eye…guess he wanted to be able to see EVERYTHING!

 

And I can’t forget to brag on my granddaughter Taylor….she is the pitcher on her softball team and loves to play!   

She also made all 100’s on some recent math tests in her class and is the only one in her 3rd grade to be moved up to division.    She and my Birmingham granddaughter McKinley are very good at math…they sure didn’t get it from their Mimi!

 

And last but certainly not least, today we got a notice from the lovely people at the IRS saying we owed taxes on our 2011 tax return from some investments….hubby is meeting with our financial advisor this afternoon to put our 2012 IRA money in before the 15th so this was not welcome news….we’ll be talking to our tax guy cause he’s supposed to make sure nothing like this happens!

We’re under a severe weather alert until 10:00 p.m. tonight….it’s starting to get scary so I better sign off.