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Ohhhhhhh friends... WE are having a TIME at my house! I'm not even sure if I can gather my thoughts well enough to TELL you all that's going on. The main thing to know is that Mom has taken a very sudden and DRASTIC decline mentally. Dennis and I BOTH think it was stimulated by a new medication she was given for her diabetes --- but the Dr. and pharmacist say NO. We just find it reallllllllly coincidental that the changes began on the 4th day of her new medication and keep getting worse day by day! But regardless - she needs the new medication, so be it! She has been up wandering in the middle of the night -- but we had run out of her Ambien - so we were using over the counter sleeping pills -- they worked FINE the last time this happened - not so this time. But the Ambien arrived in the mail yesterday - and she did sleep through the night last night -- so that part is solved. (and that is huge!) But her mind is just completely shot at this time. She doesn't recognize anything or anybody. I mean Dennis has been "my kid" since she came to live here -- she has never been able to remember his name ... but now she doesn't even recognize that he is hers! She sorta knows that we are safe people - but she's getting suspicious of us. And sometimes she doesn't even recognize that we are IN THE ROOM with her! Two mornings in row she has left the house -- yesterday to go put mail back out that "doesn't belong here"... and today she left wearing NO shirt, and just my sweatshirt -- which she doesn't know how to zip. Actually I surprised she got it ON because putting a coat or jacket on has confused the heck out of her ever since the weather changed and she needed one. But anyway - today she left to "go back up to the house and get dinner for 'em." Both times it's been EARLY while Dennis and I were still sleeping. Yesterday he woke up and saw her going down the neighbors driveway and ran out to get her. This morning I woke up to "Okay! See y'all later then." ... and the sound of the front door opening and closing! I will say this -- God has been good about waking us up in time. I was DEAD asleep - I had taken a muscle relaxer last night for my back. Anyway... she is halucinating like crazy now. Talks to dust particles floating through the air. And sometimes she just speaks jibberish! OH! And this morning when I gave her her pills, she couldn't swallow them and chewed them all up! So of course all the medicine went into her system REALLLLY fast - most of it is time released and is definitely NOT supposed to be chewed! So, I've been watching her because I'm afraid she may OD on me just because she chewed the required meds! I'm going to have to see how that goes tonight... if she can't take her pills properly then we have SERIOUS problems! Soooooooo.... I'm not looking for "solutions" from you because I know I haven't put everything out here (it would be impossible) but I just want you to know that things are BAD right now... we've had BAD spots before and it usually just takes some medicinal changes and some creative new devices to keep life do-able.... and we'll get there. But I might be a little out of it myself for awhile. You can PRAY for Mom - that perhaps this is just a fluke -- but it's been a week now... and you can CERTAINLY pray for me and my sanity! I do tend to get a little bit depressed when it starts looking like my own mobility may be sacrificed further! But I pray that we get things worked out so that doesn't happen. Thanks!

Oh! And thanks for all the votes and comments on my poll yesterday!!! :)

Well... it was a fun day anyway! I'm sO sorry that Luz backed out on her "performance". When we got there she announced that she would be putting on a verrrrrrry special performance... which I understand she has been doing a lot lately for Amanda & Hector. But apparently she chickened out and "announced" that she would NOT be able to perform for us after all. I demanded my money back -- and she obliged - so I guess I can't really complain! But I would have RATHER had the perfromance! Of course, with a 5 year old it's really hard to tell what's NOT a performance! She is verrrrry dramatic! LOL!

Today is a jammy day! I didn't get up until after 9:00. I have absolutely NO INTENTION of going out my front door today! Black Friday? Ungh-unh! I don't play THAT game! Sometimes I put up my Christmas decorations on this day... but I'm not ready to do THAT yet either. Instead I have sat around and drank coffee and played computer games! YEP! That's why I haven't been around to your blog yet today! Every now and then, it's just got to be done! WHAT a lazy day!!!

I hope you're all having a delightful Day After! And IF you braved those crowds... I sure hope you at LEAST came home with some AWESOME deals to make it worth what you went through! (I haven't even shopped online today!)

It looks like we might be having Freedom Pie for Thanksgiving! (yes - that's her name!) I had other plans ... but you know... cat's must have THEIR way...

Actually, we all have to be a little patient about plan changes. Sometimes we have ONE idea about what we should do with our day... but God has OTHER ideas! My Amanda is super stressed out right now... she called me last night in tears from the grocery store. She was doing her last minute Thanksgiving shopping, she had a bad day at work, she had homework that needed to be done, and Luz doesn't have school today. She had planned for her to go to a super fun gymnastics day in Annapolis while Amanda was at work nearby -- but at the last minute she was being sent to the OTHER office an hour away... and she thought Luz might be getting sick! It was one of those terrible horrible no good very bad days! So she called Mom. (me) Cuz that's what ya do! And so I listened. I offered up some help... but no that really wasn't what she wanted. I offered another type of help, but that really wasn't what she wanted either. I said "Well, Babe, what DO you want?" She didn't know! I do know. She wanted her boss to call and out of the blue say "Amanda, why don't you take the day off today - with pay!" We all have dreams! But this was just one of those times when she just needed to sort and talk and didn't really need any of my suggestions. But ... in the end... she did decided to leave Luz with ME today! So at 7:30 I guess I'll find out if I'm keeping a Mexican Jumping Bean today... or if I'm keeping a rather flu-ish little punkin head... either way, it's not going to be the day I thought it was going to be! But that's okay! God put that baby girl in my life ... and He has plans for my day! I pray He has somethin' good in mind for Amanda today too!

Neither she nor I are really crazy about the way it's displayed - but for now I haven't come up with a better plan - so it stays. When I do decide on something else, I'll probably post it!
Because of the many colors in the lace, it is hard to come up with a different color background that wouldn't detract from the lace. I'll think on it awhile.

I also had a little hostess gift for Jientje. I wanted to get her something special that would remind her of our time together. Before she came she often spoke of wanting to "cook together". So, also not wanting to weigh down her luggage with something heavy or bulky, I found a cute little set of pewter measuring spoons. They had hearts on them and on the back of each one it said "Live, Love, Laugh..." ... a perfect little gift for Jientje! The only problem with it was -- we never did cook together! LOL! Jientje likes the kitchen to herself!

So betty let me know it does not have to be refrigerated... I figured - but I just wanted to be certain! It is very yummy! I think the closest flavor I could compare it to would be a pear. But it would have to be a really REALLY sweet pear! It is a very sweet jam! Mom and I both liked it! Of course - we BOTH have sweet tooths! I'm betting Dennis will like it too!

Again, Thank you sO much Betty! This was really FUN to be able to taste something from another culture! I've only done this once before and that was with vegamite -- which did NOT go over well on my tongue!!! LOL! Guayaba jam is EVER sooooooooo much better!

Oh! And the WOOD of the napkin holder DOES smell lovely!!! WOW! I don't know how to describe it... it's sort of spicy... sort of incensey... sort of CHURCHY almost! I LOVE it!