Major Life Changes No One Asked For

Three and a half years ago we moved to the Cleveland area to provide care for Tony's elderly mom. In our endeavor to provide the best care for her health and well being we learned the system in the county she lived in woefully and legitimately terrible. One Thanksgiving we packed her off to Tony's sister's place in Florida for the holiday season, and she stayed. This has proven to be a boon for their mother, for she's getting the best healthcare she's ever had access to in her life.

Tony and I have had a couple of years to ourselves, enjoying our time together as much as possible, pandemic aside. We live in a house we mostly like, in a city we mostly like, and were making plans to move closer to friends in Pittsburgh.

And then... my stepdad had a massive stroke and I was called to action, I was with my mom by his side in Phoenix AZ a mere 12 hours later. It was there that I leaned my mother is living with an advanced illness and is not capable of making big decisions. I got my brother on the phone and we made the big decision to cease life support, Bob passed within a few minutes. When I got our mom home I got a call from her doctor explaining the extent of mom's illness and what kind of care she requires. We've been together ever since.

An aspect of adult life neither of us have had to deal with before

My brother and family were with us for a week, together he and I tried our best to hash out plans, and determine next steps, as this is an aspect of adult life neither of us have had to deal with before. It's taken a little bit of time for us to decide as a family what's best for her extended care and well being, and we've concluded that Tony and I will live with her forevermore.

We pitched the idea of moving her to Pittsburgh with us, (we were contingent on an amazingly cool place, surprise!), but she firmly declared she doesn't want to be so far from my brother, grandkids, and other family in the West, and we agree PGH is too far away from her loved ones. That said, mom would like us to move into her big beautiful house in AZ for the foreseeable future.

There has been a lot of discussion with my brother about moving mom, (Tony and I) back to the PNW to be closer to the kids, we all want this for the sake of the whole family, however, right now mom wants to be here in her house for calm reflection and time to get through the next steps, however long that needs, and we're here for her. Things seem to be a bit soft around the edges right now and we may be shifting accordingly.

Why none of us thought to fly back escapes all of us

Mom and I drove back to Cleveland so that Tony and I can pack up our house - why none of us thought to fly back escapes all of us, it would have been so much easier. Regardless, here we are.

Productive Procrastination

I'm trying to get work done while packing, and it's all going slow. I'm half procrastinating, half sinking into my safe retreat, sewing things we don't really need to help me clear my mind. This week I've finished a doll (and sold it), tried several different methods of making scrunchies, cat toys, (planned scrap busters that will utilize a ton of fabric I just acquired), and now I'm making place mats and napkins because apparently the table isn't set without them.

I do however, need to actually be productive in packing, rather than procrastinating. I swear every box I've packed I've had to unpack because I need something out of it to fill and order. So that's going well.

And the for the scrunchies, these are available in my shop, there are actually three listings for different options.

Right now I don't think I can responsibly go back to sewing, I must actually make progress on packing. I'm going to start in a room not my sewing room so that I can feel like I'm achieving something. Goal, six boxes, just six, and then I can get back to sewing.