I'm glad to see that this forum and my quilty friends are still here and active.  It's been almost a year since I sat down to write.  I don't know how many times I sat down, turned the computer on, logged into the site, and walked away.  Just too much in life going on.  It happens.



My mom made it to the beach again.  It was only once, and may be the last time she gets to walk unassisted to the edge of the continent.  She had her heart surgery last November and was doing well for a short time.  She is currently in the hospital again.  I know she won't live forever.  I hope she knows how much I looked to her as inspiration for being tough, strong, and independent.  At times she made me mad because I thought she was giving up, but as I look and understand, that really is her prerogative to say "I'm done for now."

Through all this I have had some time to think about my own life.  I've set my priorities for now.  I think that's why I chose to live in the present instead of stopping to write.  But writing is part of me.  I can't neglect that.  It's one of the only ways to leave an impression once you leave this place.  Somewhere, someone, someday, will read what you write.  It may make no sense to them.  But it may hit a spot for someone.  And once is all it takes to live forever.

As for my personal existence, a lot has gone on.  I've changed career paths again.  I am currently working with people with disabilities.  It's an intense job.  It's also fantabulous.  I don't spend my day bent over a bench worrying if my numbers are going to measure up to a made up expectation that I can never satisfy.  I do spend my day assisting people make their personal life goals.  You just can't measure that.  It's a good thing.

In my personal time, I have been exploring Oregon with passion.  Harvest season has come and gone...and our pantry shows all the hard work we put into gathering the fruits of the Great Northwest.

I think I have been working on this post since strawberry season started.  I've been faced with the choice of writing or living the moment.  So much happened when the camera wasn't ready, but I said to "Hell" with it and kept going.  I don't regret anything.

I will stop and say thank you to my Husband for picking up where I had to leave off.  He lost his job early in the season.  I picked up full time work, and he picked up the canning.  And housekeeping.

 

It's been an eventful year.  We've had Halloween, and closed up shop in the kitchen for now.  There is still a freezer full of tomatoes to be processed.  And an ocean full of seafood to be harvested in the Winter months.  But for now, we can stop.