Category Archives: Family Therapy

Ring My Bell

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

While I have been busy making sure you know what blocks we are doing for the 2011 BOMquilts.com, “Purely Nine”, my children have continued on with their daily lives.  DD#1 is in the school’s one act play, and last year’s took state so there’s a lot of pressure to follow in their footsteps.  DD#2 sold Girl Scout cookies, spent a night with a friend and continued on her quest to be the blondest brunette I’ve ever seen.  Our son is going to bridge to Boy Scouts at the end of March and is (hopefully) remembering to behave in school.   DD#3 is busy brown-nosing and being loved by her teachers … until she gets home and melts down until bedtime.

One of the special things our two younger kids did was to play the bells in a performance at church.  I cannot say how much we treasure their church music classes.   This is also the last year for our son as he has reached the age/grade limit for the Sacred Arts class, which makes each month’s performance that much more precious.

Life and Love Goes On

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

This past week has been enlightening, to say the least.  My third foster mother came to visit us for the week.  I lived with her family from May 1977 until August 1979.  A lot happened while I lived there, the most notable being that my mother killed herself and then their daughter (a year younger than me) was diagnosed and died of Hodgkin’s disease within a year.  Life would never be the same in their home, and I chose to move on.  For me, it was the best decision…but, it did cause some hurt feelings along the way.  For that, I’m truly sorry.  But, I have no regrets about my decision to move – I wouldn’t be the person I am today had I not moved in with my aunt and uncle!

I have not seen my foster mother since my husband and I had our wedding reception 18+ years ago.  Wow.  She’s had a few health issues, but her mind is still sharp and I think our week together was good for both of us – reminder that there is still love there, that we can continue to love and that whatever happened was God’s will and we accept it and move forward.  I will never be their daughter, nor will they ever be my parents.  But, I can be friends with them – which sets great with me!

Here’s some pix I took while she was here:

We Interupt the Quilt Market Posts to Play Tourist!

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

We had friends from Utah come to spend last weekend with us.  It was fabulous, and a much-needed reminder that we rarely go out without our children (February was the last time), we do not have many “true” friends and when folks come to town, I get a chance to eat out at some of my favorite restaurants!

This was the couple that my husband and I had our “date nights” with when we lived in Utah.  The four of us would go out to dinner and then end up on their deck, contemplating life and the universe - listening to my husband and friend Cathy discuss the pros and cons of education while Cathy’s husband and I would just laugh at their seriousness and talk about the weather.

We picked Val up at the airport in San Antonio, then drove downtown to get Cathy from a conference she was attending.  Within 30 minutes, we were seated at THE best TexMex restaurant on the Riverwalk, and no more than five minutes after we ordered had John and Cathy slipped into their educational discussions while Val and I just grunted and groaned at the food we were shoveling into our mouths.  Those are friends – when you can not see each other for 4+ years and fall right into “normalcy” as if we hadn’t been apart at all.

We went out to a honky tonk closer to home after we had toured the Alamo and saw what we could see before the sun went down.  That was when I realized my husband and I had not tested out a dance floor in THREE years!  And Cathy, who has known me almost 10 years, didn’t even KNOW I knew how to dance (as if there’s a lot of honky tonks in Utah).

On Sunday, we took our friends to church with us, which just happened to be the first ever cowboy service.  Believe it or not, those staunch Lutherans actually had us a’singin’ “Happy Trails” – do you know how hard that is to sing without Roy Rogers and Trigger riding off into the sunset???  Sunday evening, we had our pastor and his wife, a friend from church and my MIL down to the house for a cozy (and delish) dinner, drinks and more discussions.  My one friend even brought a video out for the kids so they had something to do!

Monday, we snuck off to Fredericksburg, Texas, for a day of touring, shopping and eating (again). 

Then Monday evening I took Cathy with me to our quilt group meeting – not sure she got anything out of it, but it was a chance to get out of the house with creative people doing what we love doing!

Tuesday I came back to my work while hubby took our guests back to the airport for their trip home.  Sad to see them go but what a wonderful opportunity for me to remember how important friends have been in our lives.

Nothing Beats Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Quilt Therapy Posted on by

We had a number of blemished tomatoes in our garden for the second growing season, from a bit too much rain.  I taught my husband how to clean them, blanche them and then purify them in the blender.

The next part of the job was mine – homemade spaghetti sauce to be canned!

I engaged my son to help me on Saturday.  He needed something to do and I needed to keep his brain entertained.

The best part (besides individual attention from the Mom)?  The popping of the lids as they sealed!  He had a BLAST waiting, counting and watching the lids seal.