The result

 Just got back to the hotel.  We packed and will be going home shortly.  The ambulance will be picking up carole for return to the facility.  To say we are extremely upset, is an understatement.  And out $453.00 for a two night stay.  I don't want to explain, I'm exhausted.  It has nothing to do with her condition, just failure for them to get their shit together.  Apology not accepted, I've done that too many times.

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Not a good start

 We're in Pittsburgh at the hotel.  Didn't need to be because the surgery time was changed to afternoon, and staying Friday and Saturday would have been better.  This and two nearby hotels are booked for Saturday night, but she may do well so we'll take it as it comes.  Quite disappointed in the change, and that she won't be in a room until late day.

Oh my, what dinosaurs we are.  Check in through the app.  Nu-uh.  No phone to do that.  Door lock is a card that works by tap.  Where?  Which end?  Try the other side!  Middle?  Mark went back to the car to get my McD's large sweet tea that is NOT.  Unless this city uses a different set of measures, this is my town's small.

So we unpack and turn up the heat because it's freezing.  Mark comes out of the shower and asks me to smell around the commode.  ???  We've been married 51 years but I draw the line at some requests.  In fact, that list increases annually.  Well, there was a familiar odor starting to seep out, smoke.  Except for Cleveland Clinic visits, I haven't been in a hotel for decades, before mom & dad needed help.  And there's a fire in the next room.  The man next door forgot about the microwave and after 10 minutes of alarm, guests congregated in the hall wondering what to do.  We saw no hotel staff.  Finally the room's door flies open and a smuggled dog with his owner bolts.  The stench was tremendous from the room.  Fireman, hoses, pounding, yeah, it's been fun.  The alarm stopped after an hour.  I would have offered this guy and his buddy the sofa since the hotel is filled and he can't go back to the room, but I think he was putting the dog in his car and I did not see him again.  

Little annoyance, no big deal.

Except for two snack bag chips and two candy bars costing $20.

Have a good Friday.

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Thankful for errors

 Well... some of them.  I ordered this chart and was told it was out of stock before the rest shipped.  I then found it at Sassy Jacks (first order for me) and shortly after was told it WAS in the shipment.  So I emailed SJ and asked if they could cancel that chart order, I didn't need two.  Never heard back and I received the duplicate yesterday.  Hoping to relax, I took a few minutes to enjoy our last warm day on my swing to study the new sampler.  As soon as I sat, the phone rang once again and I needed to go inside to get info for the caller.  Unfortunately, the chart didn't come with me.  First time in quite a few days, no warning, downpour.  So the error of receiving two was a good thing.  I still have one dry readable chart.

Will I ever stitch it?  Who cares?  I have it.  After watching a few videos of the last retreat, I desperately searched for Bonanomi's Book of Days.  No luck except for a delusion seller on Amazon at $300.  But I did get a deal at Nancy's Notions and ordered her Pure & Simple book for $9.99!

Nervous anxiety is fueling a spending spree at a really bad time.  It's only Tuesday and I'm running out of Tums and Pepto.  Carole lost a dear friend who along with our cousin who passed a week ago, were very close since early school years.  Some of our family always talked about how deaths come in threes.  I know this is adding to her extreme anxiety and fear, I hope it doesn't trigger panic or delusion.

Hope your week goes well.

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A tree break

 I'm not a stitcher that enjoys motifs, frequent color changes, or scattered stitches to count.  I am lazy and prefer letters and uncomplicated patterns.  The trees are only three colors and can't possibly reveal errors in their leaves.  But still a royal pain in the wide ass.  I don't know if I have the ambition to complete the crosses and fill the other stitches now, a foliage break sounds nice while I stitch a few letters.  Somewhat of a scare when I looked at the first two, so very similar and I thought another huge error, but wasn't the case.  I've decided to keep either the 36 or the 40 of that gorgeous linen and will exchange the other for another color.

I've been ordering used books online for a few years and recently switched to Better World Books.  I always find a discount code, order "very good" condition, and have been very pleased.  Very nice, clean, and more hard covers than I found elsewhere.  They also donate books to areas in need.  I have her set up with an eleven book series but that will be down to four by Friday.  We have a hotel room and are all very anxious and unsettled, but nowhere near what she is experiencing.  A spinal and light sedation will hopefully get her through without heart or blood pressure crises.  It's what the cardio docs recommended.  Bad enough dealing with losing a leg without worrying if you'll make it through the surgery.

My brother will come in for cat care and I plan to lock them in the garage, much to their dismay.  Too bad.  Petey will stay outside of course, and although that's where the other two would like to be, it won't work.  As soon as they catch a glimpse of Ron they will bolt and their food will need to be left outside, raccoons will join them for dinner.  There won't be a referee for tussles, workers will be here (fingers crossed), so they will just have to howl safely inside for a few days. 

 Mark is not working on their camp as planned, he is still pretty weak.

I hope your weekend was good.

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Time to flip it

 Flip it good.  I stitch in hand and use the rubber spoolies to hold excess linen (after trimming the pointed edge to rounded).  Holding the left side consistently as it grows in size becomes a little clumsy in addition to hand oils touching that same area every day.  So I flip it along with the chart and the excess is no longer an issue.  It's like starting fresh for me.  The stitch pattern doesn't change, the cross is still in the same position as working upright.  I was told a few years that is impossible, so I don't know what to tell you!  I use my same sewing method or full cross and .... no different.

So with the lighter and white floss on the left, even though rolled, I am switching to upside down so I don't handle it as much.

Mark will be gone first of the week for two to three days repairing a camp if he is up to it.  The landscapers never showed as promised, now it will be those same days.  So my quiet alone time of enjoying the weather and relaxing on the swing before stored for winter, won't happen.  The large equipment, dust, and dirt in the air, will certainly prevent and stitching and I don't need to listen to the noise.  So disappointed, but after months waiting, it will be done.  The township will be installing eighty feet of culvert pipe and gravel in the front those same days.  So back and front should be done at the same time and over when we leave for her surgery Thursday.

The hotel is over $60 higher than it was last year for the same room.  I can't believe how quickly prices are rising not to mention the amount.  My coffee?  Not twenty cent increase for the pound bag, over a dollar within a few months.  I will be taking Rachel to work on in the hotel but need a smaller piece while sitting in her room. 

I'm going outside to enjoy the warmth now for a short time, the phone never stops.  

Have a good day, right side up!

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We made it!!

 Carole had no problems and this wonderful doctor opened two vessels in her leg that everyone else wanted to amputate.  I am so grateful to UPMC for looking past the routine standards and going above and beyond.  We know it won't last forever but neither will she, and losing two legs at one time was not something she could handle emotionally.  I'm home, since I was not allowed in the surgical ward at all and came home after speaking with her doctor.  Once I found that out, Mark and Chris waited several hours for me, otherwise would have gone home, sat for thirty minutes, and driven back. 

They are scheduling amputation of the left leg above the knee and toes on the right for next Friday.  She kept saying she acccepted that outcome months ago, but we knew differently.  If she had, it would have been over, healed, and back home early summer.  I cannot imagine how traumatic this is for anyone especially our vital young veterans dealing with life altering injuries.  Even comparing life with that diseased leg to benefits of life without it, most importantly mobility and better health, isn't making a difference.  I just wish they were able to do a below knee rather than mid thigh.  

 My husband's fever for days that was saturating enough to just about melt the memory foam mattress, is unexplained.  Cultures and Covid are negative, and although I suspected Lyme, doctor said without joint issues it is ruled out.  OK.  The Keflex has been great in getting him back on his feet.  Another mystery.

And I gotta say, I don't think I will use that linen but it is GORGEOUS.

Have a great weekend.

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