Take Care

(Reminder! Don't forget to leave a comment on yesterdays post to get your chance to win my altered refridgerator magnates! Drawing is Friday evening!)

I've decided to dedicate today's card to a blogger friend of mine who recently found out that her mom is seriously ill. I was planning on posting it this morning anyways, then I read her blog, and then it just seemed appropriate to dedicate it. I don't even "personally" know this blogger friend, but my heart still feels heavy for her this morning regardless. It makes me so sad when parents become ill. And it makes me even sadder that another person has to go through the pain and heartache I've gone through this summer because of my MIL Muriel's illness, and more recently, my own mother's illness.

It's never easy to hear your mom or dad is sick. Thinking of life without them near you is heartwrenching. It's all become so much more apparent to me this summer that someday, God forbid, I will have to say goodbye to my Mom. I cry right now thinking about it. I am my mom's only daughter. I have no sisters. I have no daughters. I have girlfriends, but they are no replacement for my mom. My mom loves me unconditionally, she's the ONLY one on this earth that thinks I'm perfect in every way, still. Because of this, I will make SURE that every time I see or speak with my mom, I will let her know, verbally, how much I love her and value her presence in my life. I can't let her slip from this earth wondering if that is true. I hope all of you will do the same. We can show our love by being there for them during tough trials, but there is no replacement for those precious words, spoken OUT LOUD, "I love you".

Now that all of you are a sniveling mess like me right now, I think it's time to move on to brighter things! Today's card was inspired by this weeks card sketch at Sketch This. I've never participated in one of their challenges before, but I really loved this sketch and thought I'd give it a try. It started with a Cuttlebugged piece of Always Artichoke cardstock that I've had sitting around for quite a while. This color just does not inspire me, so that's probably why it's been sittin' around! But, I had a scrap piece of my new Cosmo Cricket paper (Autumn) that I wanted to use up, and AA looked the best with it. I used my handy dandy Janome sewing machine to whip some stitches up on this baby. I am really starting to like this little machine. It's alot slower than my big machine, but I'm ok with that. I don't need everything to move at the speed of sound to be happy! It's a little loud for my liking, and a tish slow, but other than that, it stitches great! I would definitely recommend it if you're thinking about purchasing one!

The horizontal strip across the CC paper is the back of the CC Autumn paper, so everything here is "matchy-matchy" folks! The stamped image is from the SU Garden Silouettes set, which I will be having to buy for myself. I hiested my friend Lu's set when I was at her house last week cuz she was going out of town! Sorry Lue! I love it! I stamped the image first with Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan (I used this color all the time, you need to buy it for yourself. It's the best brown in the WORLD!). Then I stamped the same image again with Memories Ink in Sand. I aged it all with Ranger Ink in Tea Stain (I am never without this ink either, you need to buy it too!). The sentiment is from the Paper Tray set by PTI. The main image is adhered to the front of the card using dimensional tape.

I totally love how this card turned out. The sketch is fabulous and I see myself using it over and over again! I hope you like it too.

Finally, some of you have been asking for an update on Muriel and my Mom. First of all, Muriel was moved yesterday to a rehabilitation hospital now that she is not "critically ill" (their words, not mine). She still has the trache, she's lost 40 pounds (she weighs only 102 right now), and she's still critically ill in my opinion. I pray she gets good care at this new hospital, but I worry because it's not the top notch facility she has been in for the last 10 weeks. We hope she will continue to get strong. Her kidney's are functioning well again (woo-hoo!), and she's doing a better job being able to communicate with people. They are hoping to give her a device soon that will enable her to get a "voice".

My mom is doing fairly well. I worry about her because she is still very tired, and still has funny pains in her chest. She sees the dr. on Tuesday, so hopefully we'll know more then. She's sleeping well, so I'm happy about that! Once I hear more from the dr., I'll feel better. I will be sure and update you next week once I hear.

And I think that brings us to the end of today's post. Eldest son failed his permit test yesterday, so we'll go back today to take it again, I think. I told him I'd pay for two tests, if he fails this next one, he'll pay for any tests after that point. Such a mean Mom. He just needs to study and be better prepared. I told him driving is a priviledge, not a right. You have to know the rules of the road before you are "rewarded" with a permit or liscense. Jeez. Mom's always the fall guy, isn't she?