Sept 19/09

I have been stitching on some ornaments all week and they will be posted when I have finished stitching all six! They are not that big and take on average one evening to stitch each one. The other night as I was dropping threads into my ort jar, I realized that the jar is starting to overflow so I decided to photograph it for posterity before I throw out its contents. How does everyone else deal with their threads? Do you pile them up beside you while you stitch and then promptly throw them out when you stitching session is over? Do you have a little container that you keep like I do and empty when full? Just curious.

My friend Janet stopped by the pharmacy yesterday to thank me for the breast cancer card I sent her this week. She said that it was nice to get something in the mail that was not a bill! She starts her chemo regimen in just over a week and is going through 8 cycles in two months time. Her mother and her 2 sisters are glued to her side so she has strong family support and I told her that I will do whatever I can to make things easier for her at the drugstore. I felt so bad that I had to tell her that her copayment for one of her drugs will total around $4 000 for this chemo cycle. Yup, that is her COPAYMENT. Even in the land of Medicare, becoming sick can be very expensive. Anyhow, the main point of this paragraph is that we should all make an effort to reach out to those around us. Even the small effort of mailing a card to let someone know that we are thinking about them in good times and in bad can mean so much.

Here is a little miracle for you all. I announced the other day that Hayes the kitty was gone. The other cats had gone into mourning and Hayes was gone longer than she had ever been before. Last night, I had gone into the city to do some shopping. When I came home, I was greeted by one of the other cats. Then, I heard Hayes' meow behind me. I was in shock for hours because I really had thought that she was dead. She is two pounds lighter (and probably ate her weight last night!) and her eyes are a terrible mess, but she claimed her spot on my pillow last night and has not left my side since she came home. She is terribly thin and has no fat on her whatsoever. Stroking her back makes me shiver because her spine is so prominent now. She was gone for 19 days this time.