I Am So Glad It's The Weekend!

So on my way home this afternoon, I had my window open, enjoying the fresh air and the sunshine. I am waiting at a red light , and I am thinking "Wow, listen to those robins chirping". I was so excited. Robins are my favourite harbinger of spring don't-cha know. Then I started laughing and silently called myself an idiot. It was the crossing signal chirping I had been listening to. Dhuh!!!!!! I am so glad it is the weekend. SIGH!!!

Much More Interesting.

The bad thing about Pinterest is that you can go on it and loose hours if not days without meaning to.  The good thing about Pinterest is the awesome finds you can make.  I came across this blog, quite by accident and have added it to  my "Blogs That Make Me Go Ohhhh...." .  Heirlooms By Ashton House has a lot of things that I like so I will be back to visit it.  A big thank you for making a boring day much more interesting.

HE IS.

Hubby John and I had Monster Boy Ronan and The Wee Fiend Kian stay over Friday night.  There were lots of giggles, a few tears, lots of cuddles and of course kisses.   After teasing Ronan and telling him he couldn't sleep in my bed because he is stinky and he snores, he looked at me  with the wisdom that only a three year old has, and said, "I don't snore   I don't know how to do that yet!" What could I say except "Well you're still stinky!"  He just laughed and told me that he's still a handsome boy. Sigh...he's right.  He is.

This Lemon Lover is Smacking Her Lips

Kids Napping I'm Scrapping by Jessica, is on of my "Blogs That Make Me Go Ohhhhh!".
She just posted  a  yummy sounding recipe for a lemon loaf.   

SIGH! 

I love lemon anything,  so now I just HAVE to try this recipe. 

Mind you if I make it then I'll have to eat  it.  

Soooo...it's a win, win lemon thing. 

Thank you Karla for your yummy sounding lemon post. 

I can't wait!  This lemon lover is smacking her lips!

Clares Newest Endeavor.

This is just a quick post to say Congratulations to Clare on her new blog Confetti Life.  I look forward to reading and enjoying her new blog home. Best of luck to you Clare's newest endeavor

God Bless.

The Globe and Mail printed a very good article about Syrian families waiting to find out if they are approved for resettlement in Canada.  http://trib.al/DgCvjcK   As I said it is a very good article.  I hope you take time to read it. With that being said I have a few things I want to say. 
As angry as some of us may be at the thought of a lot of Syrian refugees coming into the country, if you have any compassion in your heart and mind, you will honestly have to admit how hard it must be for these people to leave everything they have ever known, to start over again. Am I worried about what will happen across Canada? Of course I am! Still, I have a very good life and don't really need anything, so how can I, as a Christian and a good person (at least I think I'm a good person) bemoan the fact that refugees are coming?   If I am being totally honest, I can't.  I wish every refugee, regardless of where they are from, a happy and exciting new life in Canada or in whatever country they settle in.   To all refugees I hope that you find new friends and that your life is better for you. I pray to my God that He watches over you and your family. I pray that you find peace, happiness and eventually a love for your new home and country.   May the God you believe in protect and guard you through your journey as well. Through all your trials and adventures to come GOD BLESS.

Just Let Her Be.

Well I lasted until today, approximately 6 weeks, before I contacted my mom again.  Six weeks ago she was rushed to hospital after a blood sugar drop  She was aware of what was going on but could not do anything about it.  She could not even reach up t hit her medic alert necklace.  A pot on the stove burned dry and set off the fire alarm, which alerted her neighbours, after one hour of constant ringing, that something was wrong.  Both of moms doors had been left unlocked because she had forgotten to lock them.  This was a good thing so no doors needed to be battered down and later replaced.  They whisked mom off to the hospital and three days later released her.  She's fine, they said. No problem.  She is very capable of living by herself.  There is no medical or lawful reason to have her go  into assisted living. We, the kids, have NO leg to stand on.  She is, she told us not leaving her apartment.  We can't make her.  She could sue us if she wanted to.  This is, unfortunately true.  The law is on her side.  While all of this was happening I spoke to one of her doctors and while doing so I started crying.  I told him that I could not go through another bout of this arguing with my mother. His response was" Back Away.  Tell your mother what you are doing and why you are doing it then walk away AND DO NOT HAVE ANY CONTACT with her.  Stay firm.  If not you will drive yourself into a mental hospital."  I did it.  No contact of any kind for six weeks.  I miss my mom.  I like her.  I do love her very much.  I made myself sick at Thanksgiving (beginning of October for us Canadians) because I didn't have her in.  That was the fist time in seven years. I was making myself so sad not speaking to her.   Today I broke down and called her.  She is doing OK.  There is still a bug problem in the apartment and she  still is to see that as a problem.  I actually lasted for almost ten  minutes before I told her that I loved her and rang off. God, this is so hard to do.  She's my mom and I want her safe and clean without living with bugs in a dump. The doctor and one of her case workers told me that it is her choice to live like that and only she can make the choice or not, to change her situation. So, I will speak to her on occasion make sure she is OK and will run errands or whatever if need be for her.  But I will keep my own mental health sane and will not fall back to the spot I was last year, taking extra happy pills (anti depressants) and crying in the shower and car because I felt so helpless concerning moms living situation.  I have got to stand firm in my resolve that she chooses to live like this and I have to learn to just let her be.

AN EARLY GRAVE

My mother is 86 years young and she is a hoarder, or as she say's, a collector. Not a true hoarder in the sense that her life is in danger because you cannot get around in the apartment, but there is stuff / junk / garbage EVERYWHERE!  There is not one surface in her apartment that is not piled with stuff. We, my hubby John, my brother Conrad and his wife Sue  and my sister Alison, otherwise known as 'the kids", would like her to move into a nice retirement home.  Not a nursing home.  Mom does well on her own and does not need that level of care yet.  But in a retirement home, she would have lots of company (she is very social), her room and living areas would be clean, she would not have to cook and there would be people around to keep an eye on her.  She uses a walker, is going deaf and is legally blind. Mom has diabetes which has been giving her real problems over the last few years, and she has heart problems and major problems with her legs.   We worry, constantly, about her falling or having a low sugar drop or having a heart problem when nobody is around.  We all work. I am a half hour drive away from mom's apartment..  Allie is about fifteen minutes away, and Conrad and Sue are five minutes away. I thank God for those two, especially Sue.  She is the one who takes mom grocery shopping, for haircuts and to the pharmacy. She has mom over for supper at least once a week.  I try to be the one to get mom to her doctor's appointments and will go to wherever I am needed as often as I can.  Allie will do whatever she is asked to do but she works really long early (starts at 4AM) hours.  We all try to be good kids. Mom is oblivious to what we, especially what Sue, does for her. It's as if Mom expects us to do whatever for her without question.  She rarely says thanks and doesn't buy a well deserved gift card (for Sue) once in a while.  She does not offer gas money ever.   Grrrrr....she is a very frustrating woman.  She will not clean her apartment.  She lives in a bug infested dump because she refuses to move because she will not spend any more money on rent.  She has the money but she would rather spend it on more junk that she really does not need.  Don't get me wrong.  I don't care what mom buys.  It's her money and she can spend it however she wants.  But we, would like to get her out of the dump and into somewhere nice. All without upsetting her.  We were all at her place last night to try to clean and move stuff as the corporation that owns the building is having a bug company come in to spray.  We threw out massive amounts of  stuff , aka garbage, and did not make much of a dent. Although now you can see the kitchen counter.  I don't know how long that will last.  I give it till Sunday the latest before it is piled with junk again.Mom refused to let us move out the table or clean the 3 cupboards that surround the tale. I will go back Sunday to try to get more done.  The amount of bugs was disgusting.  It didn't seem to matter how many we killed they just kept coming.  I wish the owners would give mom an eviction notice and force her to move.  I think that is the only way out of this situation. We all , love mom very much but there is only so much we can do.  She is very much of sound mind. She is not confused.  She is not dimmed minded.   She is an intelligent woman. She keeps herself clean and well dresses. With all that being said she is also a very stubborn person. She absolutely refuses to see there is a problem living the way she does.  We have had the powers that be come in assess, interview  and work with her.  They say she is a normal senior who is very capable of choosing where and how she lives and how she keeps her living space, hoarding and all. We have no legal recourse.  Our hands are legally tied. All we can do is try to keep her safe  long as we can. We all love her but  our mother will drive us to an early grave.

MAYBE NEXT SUMMER

Gosh, I cannot believe how fast summer is flying by.  It seems it was just spring and here we are almost at the end of a hot July.  Not that I am complaining. I can always find a spot of shade somewhere in the great outdoors.  The grandbabies have been enjoying the pool with Hubby John.  Neve, who is ten already, is such a big help with Kian who is five and Ronan who is two and a half.   Kian tends to be a bit shy of anything, including the pool.  Ronan is like a bull in a china shop. Plows right in and beware of anything or anyone in his way.  Neve takes both of the boys in hand and works her magic and charm on the two of them.  Hubby John, says he is more of a lifeguard when Neve is around because both boys ignored him and swarm around Neve.  Poor HJ!  LOL!  Between swims HJ and myself ( I watch I rarely swim) have been puttering around the yard doing one project or another but somehow the  "TO DO " list just keeps growing rather than shrinking.  I haven't figured it out yet but I am thinking our brains are coming up with ideas faster than these old bodies can come up with the energy needed to complete the projects.  Ahhh, not to worry though, everything will get done eventually.  If not now than maybe next summer.

Lost inCyber Space

I must admit that I have been negligent in posting on a regular basis for some time now.  With everything going on in my little cyber world I find my computer time being pulled this way and that.  Facebook, emails and shared on-line games are all distractions for me and I must admit that I embraced them with my usual exuberance I have for all things new.  I tend to get distracted very easy when I find shiny new things.   I was told two different times,  once by a ceramics teacher and also by a  former  teacher (who retired after teaching art for over 45 years), that people who go from project to project and who get bored easily tend to be very artistic and crafty.  Not craft as in sly but crafty as in creative.  I don't know about that but I do know that I love to do crafts and artsy things.  I may not be good at them but I do enjoy them   So anyways, a few months ago, well maybe more than a few, I discovered Pinterest.  Boy, was that a mistake!  Not really!  The problem is that what should be a five minute glance seems to turn into a five hour marathon.  SIGH.  Well today while on my Pinterest  marathon I came across the neatest craft blog site.  I was totally thrilled with what Ann from  Make The Best Of Things had pinned on Pinterest. A tutorial on how to make plastic pieces look like rusted tin.  So of course, I had to follow the pin which took me to her blog where I spent a bit of time, I mean a lot of time,  going through her posts. I was so glad that happened because it reminded me how much I love to read blogs and how much I really have missed blogging.  So I am going to try to be faithful to my blog and all of my "Blogs That Make Me Go OH!" and will get back on the blogging train.  I will be  trying to  keep my feet on the ground, my fingers on the keys and will also try to keep from getting lost in cyber space.