Category: Uncategorized

Cataract Problems

fredamac

Following cataract surgery, I still have vision issues. Just different ones. I can see pretty well with no glasses. Enough to get around. As long as I’m not reading anything. But I have a MUCH decreased eyeglasses prescription to crisp things up a bit. I do prefer to use them for driving. Those are my “real glasses”. And then I have a ridiculous amount of readers from 1.25 to 5. (And oddly you can’t order 5 on Amazon. It always says “can’t be shipped to your area. 🙄 However the crafting store WILL send them to me. So take that, Amazon.)

When I cross stitch, I use a 4. Which is still an improvement because I use to use a 4 PLUS very strong contacts. Laying in bed at night to read, I need a different strength. And to use the computer…well that’s a whole other issue, which I’ve yet to figure out. First of all, I rarely use my computer. I do most everything on my phone, including this blog. But I’m working on a project that has to be done on the computer and figure it was as good of a time as any, while hanging out at the hospital, to do it. Problem is, the strength set on my trifocals doesn’t really work for me (the top is one strength for distance….the bottom is a different strength for close up vision. And the middle is the computer and it’s just an average of the two.) To see out of my glasses I have to hold my head up high and look down through the glasses and that’s just dumb. AND depending on how tired I am, I think my eye needs change.

All that to say, in packing for my night at the hospital tonight I grabbed several glasses of different strengths. And then probably grabbed a few more. And now, not counting my real glasses, I have EIGHT pairs of readers up here. 😂😂😂

And really, now I’m just too wiped out to even work on the project.

I have no idea why people think that I tend to overpack. 😂

CARDS

fredamac

My hobby for the last 30+ years has been scrapbooking. Yes, I have pretty much scrapbooked every.single.detail of my children’s lives. As an example, when Brett was a preschooler he was briefly lost in a store for about 10 seconds. As I was headed toward the front of the store a call came over the PA for “the scrapbook lady”. Yes, that is what my child responded when asked “what is your mommy’s name?”  Little dude didn’t know my name, but knew what I did. 🙄 There is probably a lesson to be learned there. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Anyway, once my kids grew up, became surly teens and stopped doing cute things that matched my cute stickers, I scrapbooked less. And discovered card making. I love making cards. Sometimes I even send them. LOL I’m not so good at keeping up with those things on a timely basis and by the time I get around to sending a get well card, the person is well. Clearly, I have focusing issues. Birthday cards are so frequently late that I actually bought a stamp for the back of the envelope that says something along the lines of “sorry this is late. I suck at mailing things.” 😂

I have so many cards that I’ve made that I actually have a small display rack in my craft room.

For the past several years I have been involved with a ministry at church for our widow ladies. We have a large number of widows in our congregation and I make about 90 Christmas and birthday cards for them each year. Other than making around 120 Christmas cards to send from our family, it’s my biggest project each year. And I’m already behind on that (was planning to work on those at an upcoming 10 Day Retreat that I had to back out of. 😢). But ya know what….its okay. It’s okay if I don’t get to them this year, though I might. It’s a good “stuck at home” project. The good thing for me about making cards for the widow ladies is that all I do is make them. Somebody else is in charge of mailing them. That’s works really well for me and my ADD brain. 

Anyway…..often, I don’t send a card that I made because I think it doesn’t look “good enough” or because I think people will think I made a pitiful little “homemade” card. (Ok, some self esteem issues here, too. I see how in the course of this blog we are going to analyze me. LOL) 

These past 2 weeks while Kevin has been in the hospital I see things differently. He LOVES getting cards (at home, under normal circumstances, most of the “good mail” is mine.  So he loves getting mail.) And he loves ALL THE CARDS. All of them. We have hung them on the walls of his hospital room, as they come in. When we were packing up to head to rehab on Monday he asked me to make sure I got his cards. I assured him that I did, and today I hung them on his wall here. 

What it has taught me is that everybody loves mail and it doesn’t matter in the least if it is perfect or has an ink splotch on it (sooooo many of mine have inks splotch oopsiees) or if it is handmade, or store bought or colored by a child. They are all fabulous and loved. And go on the wall. 💖 Everybody loves mail!

And once we get past this hiccup, I’m going to be a lot better about sending cards. Even the messy imperfect ones. Especially the messy imperfect ones. 

God is in the details

fredamac

For a week these thoughts have been spinning around in my head. I’ve been wanting to write them down and just haven’t had/taken the time to do so. Right now, I’m sitting in the chair, watching Kevin sleep. I am waiting to see the oncologist who will be by this afternoon with the results of the biopsy. I’ve already seen the pathology report, so I know what’s coming. Not the details, but the fact that it is cancer. So I just want to write some things down before our world implodes. 

When I look back over the past few months I now take notice of many things. First of all Kevin’s health has been declining for several months. I’ve mentioned it to a few close friends, commenting that “I’m married to an old man.”  I said it jokingly, though really it’s true. For the past 6 months or so he has been so tired. He would frequently go to bed at 8 or 9 o’clock. He’s always been a night owl, like me. He might get back up, but not always. He was having a lot of pain with his back and had recently started seeing a chiropractor. His legs have been especially achey. But he has always had achey legs. And a backache wasn’t rare. We had even talked about him going to the doctor when we returned from our cruise in early October. Figured he might be anemic or something. Never in a million years would we have thought this. But if we had gone to the doctor saying he was “tired and achey” they would have done some bloodwork and given him some vitamins. NO ONE would have said “let’s check for cancer.” So really, it is just lucky (a blessing) that we found the mass. It all started with those blood clots the end of August. Those were from the cancer, but we didn’t know. It wasn’t until further testing in the ER that a doctor saw a mass on the CT scan while assessing the blood clots that were in his lungs. Purely accidental. Or a God thing. You decide. I already know. God is in the details. 

One of the first things I am grateful for is that this didn’t happen while we were on our cruise. Can you imagine if we were in the middle of the ocean when all of this happened. It could have been so much worse. 

I’m grateful we bought the cruise insurance and air fare insurances. Still working that all out — or rather Jake is, for me. There was a time that really mattered to me. But now I don’t care. 

I’m grateful that I have a new van. That may sound frivolous, but it’s not. We had been talking about getting a new one for quite some time because I had PTSD from an experience a year or two ago where it let me down. It was 16 years old. I would have been very anxious driving back and forth at night with my old van. The new one gives me a feeling of  security. Not to mention that I can listen to and respond to my texts while driving (maybe my old one could have done that. But if it did, I didn’t know.)

I’m grateful that I recently had cataract surgery. While I haven’t loved the final results, they are the results I needed. I can now  see to drive at night. That’s big. And I don’t need to put on glasses in order to take care of any needs that Kevin might have in the middle of the night. That is a huge blessing. 

I’m glad that just a little over a month ago my mom moved into a care facility that will work much better, logistically. She is barely a half mile from my house. I pretty much drive right past her house every time I leave my neighborhood. That makes it easier for me to help her out. And she just “needs” me less because the facilities there provide services for her when I’m not available. And Jake lives just another 1/2 mile down the same road and is willing to help out. Church members have offered her help and to take her to places she needs to go. I know she has a few appts that she has had or has scheduled that church members are handling. 

Our church family. I don’t even know how people do this without a church family. They are there for us. We’ve had so many offers of help it boggles my mind. Just a few minutes ago a friend texted me that she lives 5 minutes from the rehab place we are hoping to get him into. She has opened her home to me. Blessed by my church family. 

Our kids. Oh my goodness. Jake has been an absolute rock. He is doing things like applying for Short Term Disability for his dad and handling the details of the cruise reimbursement. I just can’t deal with doing those kinds of things right now. And he is probably more capable than I am. He’s also doing laundry, running errands, making food runs, checking the mail and giving Ella a little extra love. All the things. There is absolutely nothing that I can’t trust him to handle. He is clearheaded and we both process things similarly. Except he is better at adulting than I am. A LOT better. 

I am grateful that all this started during a bye/buy/by week for Alabama. Because of that Brett was able to be home. He would have still come in but this is better. And Fran was able to come down for the weekend, which I know was a comfort for him. He stayed with his Dad for 3 nights, allowing me to get some rest at home. I’m thankful that next week is an away game and he can be home then, too. I’m thankful for his bosses being so generous with time off and even calling to check on Kevin. 

I’m thankful for technology and social media where I can share our situation and ask for prayers. It’s also cathartic for me to just write. 

I’m thankful for FaceTime and Blink Cameras. Even if we are just using that technology to communicate with our cat. LOL

Another HUGE fact is that as a diabetic, I started taking Mounjaro a little over 2 years ago. My blood sugar has done phenomenally. It is perfect. During that time I’ve also lost a little over 70 lbs. Losing the weight has made it easier for me to do all the things. I can’t imagine doing all of this with an extra 70 pounds strapped to me. 

There are just so many things that have been set in our path to prepare us for this. There are more. I just can’t remember them right now. I should have made notes as they flew through my brain earlier. 

Through all of this, we KNOW that God is in the details. Please continue to pray for our family.  

So, watch this space. Hit the “Subscribe” button and it will just automatically come to your email and you won’t have to try to remember to check. And I’ll try to get better about posting.

100 THINGS (this is NOT Day 1)

fredamac

Last weekend I had a nice long chat with my friend Allison and she told me about a “100 Days of Being Positive & Grateful” challenge that she was doing and sharing it on her Facebook page. I LOVE the idea. While I definitely have a hundred thousand things to be grateful for, I knew my writing skills would be limited and I’d give it up way before 100 days. But the 100 days of blogging sounded like a great idea and a way to get my blog started back up. After all, my newly re-started blog has been sitting here since June 1, with only two entries. That’s allll about to change. Knowing me, 100 Days of blogging would just end up being “100 Days of Amazon Links”😂 (there are going to be a lot of those, though. LOL) I’m going to start in a few days, and I’ve already got several ideas mulling around in my head. The only reason I’m not starting today — other than the fact that I’m currently at a Scrapbook Retreat — is that everyone who is starting now, to write for 100 days, is doing it to end up at Thanksgiving. Since my blog posts will be considerably more shallow than that, I didn’t want to end up on Thanksgiving. It just didn’t seem right. LOLOL.  So I’m seriously considering just doing a “100 Things” challenge. The goal is 100 days of blogging about whatever random thing swirls into my brain that day. That works for me. I think. LOL

So, watch this space. Hit the “Subscribe” button and it will just automatically come to your email and you won’t have to try to remember to check.

(Be forewarned that when you type in “fredamac” it might take you to an old old blog of mine that I haven’t yet deleted. I need to, but haven’t yet. You might not want to go down that rabbit hole, though I have to say there is some funny funny stuff there. I re-read some entries a while back and I have to confess that “I crack myself up.” 😂😂😂 So stick with this new one, with the crafty otter on it and not the old one. Unless you are just wanting to read about my struggle with laundry and raising two unruly boys. I REALLY need to delete some of that stuff. 😂🙄)

What is a Scrapbook Retreat?

fredamac

I’ve been going on scrapbook retreats several times a year for probably 15 or more years. Pretty much from the time we moved to Alabama, I’ve been making new friends at retreats. 

A few days ago a friend asked me “what do you do there? Do y’all just sit around and talk about crafts?” 

Good question.

What do we do? Most of us started as scrapbookers, but have gradually transitioned to cardmaking. Everyone brings their own projects to work on. And we all bring a LOT of stuff. Wagon loads. (I can’t give up my Honda Odyssey because I need it for my retreat weekends. LOL.) None of us travel light. We bring our own pillows, weighted blankets, lamps, fans, and carts and carts of crafting supplies. My chair is a necessity and comes to every retreat with me, even though comfortable chairs are always provided. 

Our ages vary. It’s a good cross section of people. Most work outside the home, some are retired. Few are like me “stay at home moms of adult children.” (Should I call myself a “retired mom”?) But I’ve been doing this since my guys were in elementary school. Days when I eagerly checked the clock waiting for Dad to get home so I could escape for the weekend. I’ve paid babysitters to watch the hooligans so I could leave the house before Dad got home. Long gone are the days that I had to prepare meals for the weekend before I left the house and make sure Dad had clear instructions on who needed to be where and when. 

We talk. We talk a lot. We are usually set up in groups of anywhere from 2-8. There really isn’t a subject we don’t cover. Except politics. That is taboo. Sometimes a football game may be playing in the background. It’s usually on mute, but it’s there. There are even a few girls who exercise by going for a daily walk….and some even walk up and down the big scary hill. For fun. I am not one of those girls. 😂

We eat. There are usually lots of snacks, and depending on  the retreat venue, meals are prepared for us (my favorite!) or we take turns cooking a meal. Not much makes me happier than hearing the dinner bell ring and knowing I didn’t have any responsibilities in the preparation or cleanup. 💖

We nap, read, stay up late, sleep in. At one retreat one of the girls spent her time studying for the bar exam. Not everyone papercrafts. There are also knitters/crocheters and more recently some of us have rediscovered cross stitching. Anything goes. Sometimes we even have a masseuse who will come for the day. 

We dress extra casual. Messy hair, no makeup. Bras optional. Pajamas til noon. Or later. Leggings and t-shirts are the general attire (I should admit here that at a recent retreat I discovered I had been wearing my leggings inside out all day. I don’t even care.)

We share new techniques we have learned in the crafting world. We are BIG enablers. Most of us go home with Amazon orders already on their way to our homes. 

And we laugh. Oh how we laugh. We lift each other up and just bask in the warmth of friendship. New groups form and reform regularly. On one of my recent retreat weekends I met a half dozen girls I had never met before. I love it when groups mesh together. 

Oh…and we also craft. 

A new place to call home

fredamac

I’ve always wanted to be a writer. About a decade ago I had a regular blog, writing mostly about my rambunctious elementary aged boys. Well, that and about dirty laundry. Yes, actual dirty laundry. My life was — and still is — a thrill a minute. But you write about what you know.  A few weeks ago I stumbled across one of my old blog posts and it literally made me laugh out loud. Many friends have encouraged me to write again. About 6 or 7 years  ago I purchased the domain name (is that the right term?) of fredamac.com with the intent of starting a weight-loss blog. And, additionally, start a weight-loss journey.  But, in my usual fashion I got sidetracked and didn’t blog. Or diet.

After making my annual payment year after year I decided maybe it’s time to start.

Those elementary aged boys that I use to write about have now grown and flown and are not so fond of having things written about them. Plus, they just aren’t as funny as they use to be. LOL. So I’ll have to find other things to write about.

I may still write about weight loss. But also (mostly) about crafty things or whatever random thought enters my head. I’ve had sooooo many ideas for things that I want to share. Fun things….funny things.  Things that inspire me….things that I hope will inspire you. I will probably go back and share a few older stories along the way, as I restart this part of my life. But for now I just wanted to say hello and hope that you will follow me and encourage me on this journey.