Winter Wonderland/Christmas SWAP - GOOD NEWS - Packages have been received - Do you have yours??

[AprilShowers]

Tina,

I agree totally with Izzy. This is just for fun. Family always comes first. Please take care of yourself as well. As for he future, I would be delighted to be with you in a swap anytime.

Teresa, I agree with Izzy that we should send Tina our blocks. I hope that she gets some comfort from them.

Izzy, thanks for your post. I wish I could be as eloquent.

April

[shelly322002]

Hugs to you Tina, you have been such a lovely person to sew with, I wish you well...
What a darling DH you have, so supportive, you're very lucky!!!!

We are a group of ladies who love sewing, individually or in a group, (even better!!!)
As the ladies before me have already said, this is just fun and families and personal situations must always come first!!!
My quilt will wait to be put together as long as you need, I will wait for your block no problem and will love having it included in my quilt, which is where it should be

I agree,You must have your blocks coming home to you also, and would love to sew with you again in future swaps, I remember how exited you were about this swap in the beginning

Hugs to you all, I wish you the best in whatever life is throwing at you right now. Life has a knack of jumping up and biting you in the 'behouchie' every now and then!!!

Love and hugs, Jacquie xxx

[nur5e]

life throws curve balls on a regular basis...i have experienced this personally. everyone has good intentions in the beginning but i dont mind the delays which occur....i join in because i find these swaps are fun and uplifting to my creative spirit. take care tina! marcia

[SoozG]

No worries... Am willing to wait as long as needed. Family issues always take precedence. Always. No reason at all to have to skip the next swap. Blessings during this difficult time.

Sooz

[CindyB]

OK - I have not been able to find my blocks... here is the story and the background...

I *thought* I brought them to Maine with me to mail, but when I checked the package, it was the used baggies from previous swaps NOT my blocks... there were three of us packing (DH, DD, and myself) and apparently, DH or DD thought they got the correct package, I just asked if the package was in the car, and the reply was yes. I didn't think (which was my problem, I guess) that I had to double check that it was the *correct* package. I still thought that I had time to mail them, because I had asked DH to put all of the extra sewing things in DD's bedroom, and I would put them away when I got back.... well, come to find out nothing was put there. Nothing was put in my quilting room either. Not in the garage... He had made some trips to storage, so I spent a day down there, looking for the package (along with looking in the house, EVERYWHERE). DH does not remember where he put the package, and when I pressed him, he got very upset and doesn't understand the importance or the consequences to me of not fulfilling the promises I made in this swap.

You may or may not know that this year has been a tough one for me...but it has been building up for a long time and there is more going on than I have been letting people know, because I don't like pity parties, and a lot of what I'm going to say is more my DH's issues than mine, but affect me.

DH is a disabled veteran, and has several disabilities that are not visible, most from the effects of Agent Orange, but they are ever changing and we have to keep an eye on his health because we never know what is going to go wrong next. He's had things from his swallowing reflex stopping to lumps on his liver and kidney....but I had to stop working fulltime in 2008 to care for him (even though I do not get paid for this, which is another issue entirely).

Due to various medications/illnesses/chronic pain, DH gets extremely forgetful. The frustration and insecurity (?) from not remembering things comes out as anger.

With my health issues and Mom's passing in February, it hasn't been the best year for me. In the last year I've had a uterine cancer scare, found out I have Barrett's esophagus, hiatal hernia, severe acid reflux, diabetes, kidney stones, bronchitis, sinusitis, allergies, sleep apnea and severe back pain.

I'm still getting shots in my back and that's getting better, very slowly...loosing weight has helped that. All of the above health issues have been attributed to my weight....so if you are not overweight, don't gain weight, and if you are overweight, LOOSE IT AS SOON AS YOU CAN!!

I still don't have all of my health back... I'm working on it. I have my own memory problems, and forget the names of things, but at least now I can sit long enough to sew. For a long time I could not even do that. I was really depressed when I thought I would not be able to sew or quilt again....I was in so much pain this last winter I was not even cooking or cleaning or doing laundry. I don't think I drove for at least three months.

DD had been driving the same very used car since before she started college (5 years) and last summer when I was in New England for my Mom's Memorial service (for want of a better word), it was very obvious that she needed a new car...she's working full time plus in her field, but since she has been out of college less than two years, she doesn't have much of a credit history, only a mountain of debt, so she had asked DH (her step-dad) to co-sign with her. She couldn't buy a car in Maine, she tried - they wanted him up there to prove he existed, I guess. So, DH went on his own to the dealership down here, and made the preliminary inquiries before even asking me or checking with DD on what her finances were or her schedule for being able to come down and buy a car, much less how to get it from Florida to Maine! This is the type of thing I deal with, start things without thinking them through, and then leaves me (or someone else) to figure out how to finish them....sometimes more of a mess than others. He did it with love, but also being so worried about his upcoming surgery this week. I had no intention of going to Maine, and didn't have the finances to come back until after the first, and had to pick the date that gave me the cheapest ticket price, so that is why I was up there the length of time I was.

DH will be having his second back surgery this coming week. The night before Thanksgiving last year, he tried to stand getting out of bed and lost feeling from the waist down. Since he had an appointment with his PCP the Friday after Thanksgiving, and the feeling came back after an hour, he waited to tell his doctor rather than make a trip to the ER on a holiday for something that was not happening at the time. The doctor refused to give him a referral for his back, so DH changed PCP...and it still took almost a year to get this taken care of. We have had to make THREE calls to the Patient Advocate because his case kept getting dropped and then suddenly in July, we got a call saying "we need to get you into surgery ASAP before you loose the ability to walk permanently", which has freaked DH out. He will be having two discs removed and a third shaved down. There is still a 40% chance of loosing his ability to walk, even with this operation, so he is rather worried. He will be in the hospital for at least a week and will have a six month recovery period....this is if all goes well. I will be doing ALL caregiving for him during this time, and ALL driving for him...guess I know where my exercise is going to come from.

I wish I had time to make more blocks, but the Judy Martin pattern I used took a lot of time, and almost all the fabric I had to make. (http://www.judymartin.com/free-bom-2.cfm) Although I did figure out ways to make them more the QIAD way (especially the flying geese!) that made them quicker, these blocks still took a long time to make....

All I can do is ask for your forgiveness. I don't like putting all this out there. I'm not asking for pity. I just want you all to know that I'm under a lot of stress here, and had the blocks done, but can't for the life of me figure out where they are...I'm sure they will turn up at some point.

As for other swaps, I'm pulling myself from any swaps for a while, at least 6 months, but more like next June. I'm just really disappointed in myself right now. I take full responsibility for not knowing where that package was at all times, and I should have consequences for that.

Hugs to all...

[Xochitl]

Dear Randy and Tina, I really pray you all get a huge blessing soon. You've been through so much. The swap is important, but Never should it come first. I joined because it would be fun and not considered a burden. Life goes on and it gets in the way sometimes, but it should be fun to be a part of this group. I will encourage communication and patients towards one another as to not take advantage of others. I love the blocks all the ladies have done and admire the detail and effort that is put into them. The Lord loves it when we do our best in ALL we do. Randy and Tina, take care of your health and love each other...the rest will fall into place.
Ysabel

[TeresaK]

I always knew we were Ladies who had a lot of class and you have proved it once again. This Annual Christmas Swap has met with many Life Curve Balls that could not be ignored. I hold you all in my heart and I pray the Lord gives you strength as you continue your journeys back to health and your loved ones equally so. Being a caretaker is a very difficult and heart-wrenching task as no one wants to see anyone else hurting.

THANK YOU for all the wonderful messages lifting their hearts up, hearing that we all care sew very much and only want the best of health for them.

THANK YOU also for the messages of encouragement many have sent me during these past few months. I very much appreciated them, hold them in my heart. A group of women together who have so much wisdom and love for each other is treasured and valued in their strength.

So this is where we are - BOING, BOING, BOING TIME!!!!
Ysabel come over tonight and we had a FAAAAAAABulous time Ooooooing and aaaahhhhhhing over the blocks. They are organized and now in piles waiting for the other blocks to arrive. They will be in the mail heading back to you Wednesday or Thursday - YEA!!!!

I will email Cindy and Tina your addresses for them to mail when healthy and ready and the blocks come out of hiding.

HUGE HUGE HUGE Hugs to you ALL.
P.S. I have taken pictures of the quilt and will email them to Denise after she receives it. I believe she knows how to post pics but if not I will post them Anticipation !!!!

[billizzy]

Cindyb I feel your agony and dispair; I too have DH with disk issues and truly understand what your going through. I feel like I run everyone else to drs and wonder why I was so sick last month. We get drained caring for our loved ones. But they are just that LOVED ones and they must come first.

Like I told Tina put me at the bottom of your list I am in no hurry:) Just keep your family together and well.

God bless:)

Teresa you too get well:)) I know you have also gone through a lot these past few months.

So many of us are suffering with family issues and Just know you all are in my prayers for comfort, healing and a quick recovery to normalcy:))

Izzy

[DouceFleur1]

Randy, thank you for giving us news of Tina.

Tina & Cindy, you both take care. Sending prayers your ways!

Theresa, you too take care of yourself.

Love & hugs

Denise

[CindyB]

I so appreciate your graciousness, ladies....thank you, Theresa, I would love the addresses so I can send those pesky blocks on!