Not for no good reason, though.
Sadly, just before my birthday, my father decided on his own to stop going to dialysis after his birthday on St. Patrick's Day. And so was rushed to the hospital when my sister found him on the floor, hallucinating and dehydrated. We had been trying to get him into assisted living, but he fought us on the issue. Obviously, he had done serious damage by missing an entire week of treatment (that's 4 treatments altogether).
To shorten the story, he was transferred to a rehabilitation center, but also put into hospice care. His life expectancy, in the time between his birthday and the beginning of April, went from 'possibly 6 months' to 'we just don't know...it could be any time'.
So, my sister and I, from that point had the unfortunate task of visiting my father, who knew he was dying, and getting his affairs in order. And then, on the morning of April 12, I got the call that he had passed. And I was relieved that it was over for him.
And so that was April...
May and June have just been busy with work, mostly. I left my kennel job the beginning of April, mostly to spend more time with Dad, but also because the whole experience made me realized that I didn't want to be working all the time. I have things I am ambitious about, and I would like to live my life more freely. But, to make up for lost wages, I am working full time at my Trader Joe's job. And I'm enjoying that!
A friend of mine had a birthday this month (actually, last month!). She is also a facebook friend, and had seen my jewelry on my fan page. At work, she commented on how much she liked it, so I made a custom piece for her birthday.
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| (I just can't get this picture to flip!! but you get the idea, right?) |
She has become my number 1 promoter!!
Another co-worker saw it, and I just finished a custom piece for her sister's birthday.
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| She gave me some pictures of Mandalas...I am so happy with how it turned out!) |
The first friend has now commissioned me to make a set of 3 necklaces for her nieces (triplets!) graduation. And another friend wants me to make one for her to bring on her Caribbean cruise in November!
I am also trying to build up my stock for my etsy shop and the craft fair I am planning to attend in November. I have managed to get out a couple times to socialize, too.
One of our 'couple friends' invited us out for dinner at one of our favorite nearby restaurants, Summer Stock. I like it because it has an adjoining lounge where they have live music some nights. Very 'cocktail hour' kind of feel...just what I like.
And then of course the birthday lunch for my friend...it was a beautiful day, I wore my yellow dress (which everyone commented on, as I had to change at work...'thanks! $5 at the goodwill!'). The minute I got into my car and started to drive home...we had a crazy downpour of rain!! Perfect timing!
Other than that, it's been a quiet summer so far. Work, workout, work on jewelry. Not much time for anything else it seems, but I'm such a home-body that it suits me fine.
However, my 'major promoters' are really pushing me to sell my stuff locally. But before i can do that...more work,work,work! You gotta have stuff to sell if you want someone to sell it!
Steph and I have finally finished taking care of MOST of dad's stuff. There are a few more things to get out of the house, then we have another major project:
Dad agreed to leave us the 1967 Plymouth Barracuda. It is something we tried restoring with dad while he was alive. We had a bumpy road, with dad's mood swings, so it just sat there. Now we want to do it in his memory. I'm hoping to document/blog the whole experience. You can read about it here, if you're interested.
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