Tuesday, June 23, 2009

More masks and other oddities

from Dad's house...



Monday, June 22, 2009

Dad's collections

My father is not only an artist, but a collector of art and other fun things. It's always so much fun to visit his house in Utah. Here are a few photos I took while visiting with him last month.
He is an avid mask collector.


Tin motorcycles.

Spurs.

Skulls.

And tin cans.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Short, sweet overview of BH at SEOM

Sunday was wonderful. Even though it rained cats and dogs in the morning, and sprinkled in the afternoon, I am so happy that I didn't cancel. I thought of it.

I was positioned between a stranger selling flowering cacti bouquets and Linda Branch Dunn. Check out Linda's etsy store and blog. Linda was a pleasure to keep company with. I am so happy to have had this time with her, and I hope that we can be neighbors at a show again sometime.

Perhaps my recent lack of interaction with people who do not work in a hospital setting, or who are not patients may add to my conclusion that Linda is awesome, but Linda is awesome! At one point after the rain stopped and we opened up the wall that separated us from the torrential drips, I noticed that there was a fabric collage facing in my direction. The placement of this artwork was such that the general public walking by could not see it...at all. It was facing me, at the back of my booth.

This quote by Emily Dickinson really spoke to me. Sounds corny, but in my situation, it was undeniably appropriate.

Later in the day, I looked over and saw this fabric collage along side the first one.
I only got the closeup of this one sadly, it's equally as beautiful as the first in it's entirety.


When we started breaking down for the day, Linda asked me if I would be up for a trade. I was. I opted for a handbag that I had been eyeing all day. She wanted some earrings for gifts. Even though I love the bag I traded for, I wish I had traded for the collage with the Emily Dickinson quote on it so I could hang it in Dolly's room.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

SOWA Sunday

Another Boston Handmade group show!
June 14th, 10am - 4pm. Free parking!
Come out on Sunday for some great shopping, I'll be there.



You can also visit The South End Open Market website for more information.

I hope to see you there!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Progress...?

I find myself getting angry with mom the last few days. She has been showing signs of surrender, which will seriously seal her fate if she doesn't watch out. I worry about her level of commitment to heal. I worry about her ability to do so.

Specifically, the lack of movement on her strong side (left side) is particularly shocking to me. Even a week ago, she had been squirming to get comfortable. Now, she sits scrunched down with her feet awkwardly positioned until she can get some 'boosting' help (which she won't even ask for unually). I fear that she is becoming comfortable with the success of her first hurdle (the swallowing/eating) and that she thinks that this is enough for now. It's totally not enough! She also will try to get you to feed her with the spoon, or put the cup to her mouth to drink, or change the channel on the tv, even though she can do these actions herself (and has multiple times). She seems to be settling into the comfort zone of a 2 year old.

It's not enough.

Her care coordinator called me yesterday to make an appointment about what her care will be after leaving Spaulding. We had that appointment in Dolly's room today, with Dolly present. I'm not sure that she fully understood the conversation. I was shocked that this conversation would take place so soon after her arrival, but it was based on her progress, and these prognosis will be a biweekly discussion until the end of June at best. We will have to decide on a sub-acute rehab to which she will be transferred after her discharge from Spaulding. This can be postponed, if she makes some good progress. I hate to have to make this decision since I am not ready for her to leave Spaulding, but this is the way of recovery...you either make progress and they keep you going, or you don't and they put you in a nursing home. The latter is not what mom wants, we have talked about it.

I need her to make some more progress.

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Changes

It's really amazing how your life can change in a split second, for better or worse.

Since my mother's stroke, I have been beside her taking care of her moral, her needs and rooting her on to recovery. Each day brings new challenges and sometimes we take steps backward in the hopes of moving forward. It's been physically and emotionally draining.

I have finally realized that my own needs have not been being met. Scott and my cell phones got shut off last week... thankfully since mine is attached to my hand these days, I caught it right away and they were working again in less than 10 minutes, but seriously, things like this are not acceptable at all. I haven't been to a supermarket since before I left for vacation on May 14th. I am out of moisturizing lotion (among at least a dozen other creature comforts) and there is no food in this house. Things around here need to change.

I am going back to work tomorrow morning. I need to resume my schedule back to where it was before the stroke. I hate to leave my mother for such lengths of time during the day, but she is in one of the best rehab hospitals in the country and I just have to keep reminding myself of that.