Changes bring....

Life has taken many unexpected turns for us over the past couple of years and change is always a challenge as well as a stimulus.  Both of our sons lost their apartments last summer and moved in with us.  One has just moved out again and we are trying to regroup.  Our autistic son is still with us.  He lost his housing assistance and we have been fighting to get it back, to no avail, thus far.  
    My desire to create is ever present but has been shelved for too long.  I am evaluating exactly what I want to begin doing again and what I need to let go of.  The old adage, "You can't do everything", is catching up with me, much to my dismay!    I love working with light and I have plenty of supplies to create lighted items but I'm not sure I will.  I also love mixing potpourri and essential oils, but that too must be evaluated as to whether I should pick it up again or not.   I may just try to "use up" what I have on hand and then let it go.   This is hard for me to do because I have always preferred to create several types of ways rather than doing the same thing all of the time.
   I received a wonderful gift from my hubby for our anniversary last December, a Babylock Destiny embroidery machine.  Because our sons have been living with us, space has been cramped, so I have not even taken it out of the box yet!  But one of them has moved out so it is time to initiate my new venture!  I have no training with it so I will be learning as I go.  I will continue creating in the primitive style for certain and my goal is to create and digitize my own designs.  There are a few primitive designs out there, but not a great deal, so the possibilities are wide open.  I will not be doing this as a business.  I will sell online and maybe do some shows, but that is about all.  I am heavily invested in my music: teaching, and performing, and that will remain my primary activity.  But it is hard to choose between the two, music and crafting!  
   We hope to have our son moved into the guest room next week and I will have my sewing room back, which also is my living room!  The main thing is that it will be "mine", to sew, sit, read, or whatever!  I need my own space!

Gilda's Club Saturdays.....

    We are members of the Louisville Dulcimer Society and we go every Saturday morning to teach anyone who wants to learn at Gilda's Club Louisville, which is an education and support organization for persons and families that are dealing with cancers of any kind.  We got connected with the club when we played an evening concert and then broke up into small groups and taught those who wanted to play Boil Them Cabbage on that night.  Nearly everyone is able to play at least one song on the first lesson and then they blossom from there!  It is a wonderful way to use music to enrich our lives, with or without a cancer diagnosis!  Anyone can participate in the class; the patient, friend, or family member.  Larry and I are in the process of becoming members ourselves!

 

 

    The emotional blast of a cancer diagnosis is very difficult to deal with and having a community of support like this is priceless.  If you are someone who has been diagnosed or you have someone you love who is fighting the battle, Gilda's is a great  place to begin the conversations that no one wants to have about the "c" word.  Isn't it time we brought it out into the open?  I think so!!!

   This is Tom Wilson who also teaches dulcimer at Gilda's!  He was ready to participate in an antique  bicycle ride this afternoon.

 

 

How Time flies..........

   Wow, how time flies!

I just came here to  check my blog and saw that it has been over a year since I posted here.  I guess with the use of Facebook I fell behind.  But much water has "rushed" under the bridge since I last lingered here; so many events and happenings that my head is still spinning.  In the spring of last year, I started on some projects and got super busy with my music and was lost in that world for a while.  Then August came along with a diagnosis of breast cancer, followed by a congenital AVM in my small bowel that began to bleed and kept me hospitalized for almost 3 weeks, with surgery to correct it, then surgery 5 weeks later for the breast cancer.  So, I spent the winter recuperating from all of the physical things that had taken over my life.  Then spring of this year brought me another surgery to take care of a mass they discovered on my ovary when I was hospitalized for the AVM last fall.  It was put off because of all that I had already been through and it was growing, so it had to come out.   Thankfully, it was not malignant. If you follow me on Facebook, you've heard all about it so I won't go into it any further here.  If you didn't, my facebook postings are public, so you can go there and read more about it if you want to.  I am working hard right now to normalize my life into what has become my "new" normal!  Hopefully, the physical battles are over for a good, long while!

   I am a musician as well as an artisan and I am glad to say that in spite of all the struggles we've faced over the past year and 1/2, the Lord has been my Stronghold and music has been my source of therapy through the ordeals.  I continued to play, not only for myself, but for other people, and with the Louisville Dulcimer Society as well.  It has helped to bring me peace and it has also been a source of release for all of the emotions that these kinds of life events evoke.  I have written songs and laughed and I have written songs through my tears.

   My crafting has fallen by the wayside and I am beginning to pick it back up again.  I have a room full of boxes to sort through and a zillion things that I want to start working on, but it will not be a speedy process.  I am just happy and grateful that I am alive, NED (no evidence of disease) with cancer, and beginning again! 

Just keep strumming!