The Plot Thickens: Helping a Young Couple

I walk my dog, Ziggy, all over now since he doesn't have that Plant City backyard, I downsized and Ziggy and I live in my new apartment. In the morning and late afternoon walks we meet people and sometimes other dogs being walked in my new city of Huntsville, Alabama.

I had been hearing sermons on being there for my world. And so it was outside my apartment that I met "Billy and Kelly" (not their real names). They were intrigued by my dog and stopped to talk with me. Since they were obviously young, I rapped for them—my fun "Boredom Games" rap that is now on YouTube. It was Saturday and I invited them to my church here in Huntsville the next day. Only they weren't ready and took a rain check. 

In the meanwhile life happened and Kelly had to go to the hospital to have her kidney stones removed.  Billy’s mom had their baby born in June while she was hospitalized. When no one would come to the Huntsville hospital to pick her up so she could be with Billy and their baby, Kelly had a melt-down. She was sent to a psyche ward in Anniston. Billy's mother had their car because she was making payments on that car and helping Billy pay the rent and the car payment while he was looking for work. She lived about an hour away in Athens. Resourceful while Kelly was in the hospital, Billy walked and found a job in a restaurant; he has to walk 45 minutes to the job and back and still does.

I didn’t hear from them for a while. After about ten days Kelly was ready to be picked up and Billy texted me to tell me what had happened and why she was in an Anniston, Alabama hospital several hours away. Billy said he was looking for a way to get there to pick her up. His mother wouldn’t do that.

I could do that, I said. It was fall break here and I didn’t have substitute jobs all week. That next day Tuesday, Oct. 6^th, Billy got off work and we headed south for several hours to Anniston. Beautiful rolling hills and small towns kept me entertained and I got to know Billy and his family more. Billy and Kelly appeared to be Christians struggling to make ends meet and hoping to get married and raise their son together. I commend them for not getting an abortion and staying together.  See my rap lyrics from a year ago for “While You’re Still One” on this blog. (That rap is not on YouTube yet.  Alabama is a pro-life state and the high school students here like, but I was informed last year at one high school in Florida, to not say that rap.) 

I parked outside the hospital while Billy went into the Anniston hospital. I heard that Kelly jumped into his arms and also did the “happy dance”. She was free from the depressing psyche ward and rescued by her boyfriend and myself whom she decided to call “Mimi”, short for grandma. We ate at KFC on the way home. Kelly had me sneak some chicken in my large purse before we left and it occurred to me how really poor these seemingly happy young parents were.

Two days later the grandma, Billy’s mother, informed them that the DHR was involved and they wouldn’t be able to get their baby back.That next day, Friday, while Billy was working, Kelly and I went to the sheriff’s office near the grandma’s Athens home. It was the end of the day and they couldn’t verify the status of the child with DHR. Saturday I washed weeks of their laundry that I folded and brought them Sunday morning. The three of us went to my church; they each went to Sunday School and sat by me in church.

Monday after my morning class at church on spiritual warfare (little did I know how much spiritual warfare would be involved as this story unfolded), Billy, Kelly and I went back to the sheriff’s office. I knew many new friends at the church were praying for this couple, including people in that spiritual warfare class. Monday was Columbus Day. The DHR office was not open on Columbus Day and for the second time the officers took no action, even suggesting the couple get a lawyer. 

The next day, Tuesday October 13, while I substituted in public school and Billy worked, Kelly took a bus to the DHR office in Huntsville and found out that the case was open, no lawyer was needed and they could get their son. Meanwhile Kelly picked up a house cleaning job for a senior lady who said she could bring her baby to the job. At this time I felt this couple would make it and just needed not a handout, but a “hand up”.

Their immaturity crept into the conversation and yet I was hopeful. For example, twenty-five year old Billy wanted an iPhone and kept talking about cars, not about Kelly and the baby. When the iPhone came in the mail, he sent Kelly a text about getting an Otter Box for his precious new iPhone with his first week’s pay. Now there were more important things needed in my opinion and Kelly thought so also. The next day out of the blue Billy was given an Otter Box by someone who lived at their apartment house. Nineteen year old Kelly talked about Billy and the baby and was under a lot of stress, but seemed to be coping and to be more realistic than Billy. I wondered how sincere Billy was and kept trying to counsel both of them.

Wednesday, October 14, after her housekeeping job, while Billy worked, I drove Kelly back to that sheriff’s office. It took some time for the story to be confirmed by DHR, but the officer drove with us to the house in the country where the infant was. Kelly and I waited in my car in the country outside that grandmother's house. The SUV co-owned by Billy and his mother was in the driveway. Finally the sheriff’s deputy came out with the diaper bag.  That lady had produced no document that she was in fact to have custody of her grandson. After some time the deputy delivered the baby in the infant car seat. Kelly and baby were reunited in my back seat. The baby happily sucked on his mother’s finger when he wasn’t sleeping while we drove back to Huntsville. Billy had walked 45 minutes home from his job. 

Kelly is on Facebook and apparently the grandmother sent her a message that night: “What the [swear word] do you think you are doing!” Kelly blocked her then.

Thursday after my sub job I texted Billy who was on a bus with Kelly and the baby after his work. They were going to Social Security to have a benefit transferred to Billy’s address from his mother’s address. It was about 5 pm that I picked them up so they wouldn’t have to take a bus back to their apartment. I felt that this Social Security check that I understood to be from his late father was good news that there would be more income. This happened to be the last day I saw them recently. I let them know that I would be busy Friday with a morning sub job and entertaining my family that night, but looked forward to going to church with them on Sunday.

Kelly’s cell phone needed a new battery, and so I texted Billy to ask where they were on Saturday. No answer. I went by their apartment. No one was home. No one was home Sunday morning also when I was scheduled to take the three of them including the baby to church.

During my times driving them around this past two weeks I aggressively counseled this young couple. I shared Scripture about perseverance and bearing their own burdens; we talked about a wedding. They prayed with me at times and also said that they had been reading Scripture.  I had un-friended Billy because of his questionable posts on Facebook and told him that when he cleaned up his act I would be his Facebook friend again and also that I preferred his real name to a pseudonym. His explanation for the pseudonym is that at one point he sold prescription meds when he was younger and didn’t want people to contact him. I was glad that he didn’t sell drugs anymore, but still concerned about his maturity and character. 

Sunday night I got a clue as to what was happening when Kelly updated her Facebook photo. There is a conversation below that updated photo. Kelly writes, “[Billy] kicked me to the curb and is trying to take [the baby].”

Someone writes: “This is moma I will help u always and I will never leave u again.’

Kelly writes: “I know I love you momma.”

Further Facebook conversation indicates that someone else went to get Kelly (and the possibly the baby) so she wouldn’t be out on the street. It is cold now.

I have no idea where all three are now, but “Mimi’s” heart is broken and so is Kelly’s. Please pray for the baby who one day may want to know what happened to his real parents.

Holding On

Many times life doesn't give you many options but just to hold on and wait. This is the situation with the sale of my Plant City home. Everything was set to close until

THE INSPECTION

Which

Passed plumbing

Passed air conditioning

DIDN'T pass electrical

DIDN'T pass roof.

I had no idea.

"How are you doing, Carol?"

I guess I would say that I am disappointed but holding on. I am holding on to someone buying that house for cash--a fixer-upper. I really can't put money into the house. With the second mortgage, however, we had made improvements and thought the house was perfect for a sale. Worse case I guess the house will go into foreclosure. Pray about this, folks.

"How are you doing, Carol?"

I didn't want to be a widow again. I miss my husband, but am grateful that I was his wife and then caregiver. I DO NOT wish to marry again. I am 71 years old. Why would I want to risk being a caregiver again?! Or have a spouse who would have to care for me.

So what have I been doing in the past month while I thought there would be a closing on my Florida property? Getting used to the talk here in Huntsville, Alabama.

I have been learning new names and getting acquainted with Huntsville, AL I have been adjusting to details of resettling. Finances have been an issue because of resettlement costs and my family has loaned me money that I will pay back.

Substitute teaching in a new city has been a joy. Six of the seven schools I signed up to substitute teach at have been calling me. Students love my rapping at the end of the class period in middle and high school. I am getting more views and subscriptions to MC AC The Rap Lady on You Tube. I can only teach 3 and 1/2 days a week because there is some law that the schools would have to pay medical insurance for me. But I even am getting requests for my substituting into January!

Extra time during the days I can't teach means that I can attend certain a ladies Bible study and a book study at the church I am attending here.

I participated in the Alzheimer's Association's annual walk at Huntsville's Botanical Gardens with small dog Ziggy eagerly walking the two miles. Ziggy even got a purple scarf to wear around his neck. I joined a Toastmaster's club. I go to Weight Watchers and have maintained my forty plus pound weight loss.

But the biggest delight is getting in on family events here.

Today I went with my sister-in-law to a movie with her grandkids. Next month I have the privilege of planning her birthday party at my apartment.

I am just holding on because of the One who holds on to me. I read this morning in Psalm 139:

"You comprehend my path. . . 

You have hedged me behind and before. . . 

Your right hand shall hold me. "

15 Ways I Am Very Much at Home After My Move

 .

There are a few prayer requests sprinkled in this list of 15, but I am glad I moved here. I almost feel like I am on vacation, as for 30 years I have gone back to visit Huntsville at least once a year. 

1. Apartment management

My apartment dishwasher overflowed. Dog Ziggy and I walked to up tell the apartment office. By the time we had walked home, the issue was solved. 

2. New friends

Yesterday I got invited after the worship service to go to lunch. I met a few new people, but knew many of the seniors at the table. 

3. Old friends

I am enjoying daily contact with Word With Friends on my iPhone. Most of us chat. Pray for Pharis and Kenny and their medical conditions. Pharis had a stroke. Kenny will be having a liver transplant at some point. 

4. Slow weight loss

My weight has been slowly coming off since 2012. For two years during the end of my husband's life, I didn't go to Weight Watchers, because I needed to have time with him and to work part-time. During that time I gained 10 pounds back. Now in total I have lost over 40 pounds. 

5. Toastmasters

I have rejoined Mason Dixon Toastmasters after a 30-year absence. My first husband and I were members of this club when we lived in Huntsville. Yes, I buried two husbands in Florida in the last 30 years.

6. Family

The whole reason I moved back to Huntsville was to live my family who have been there for me over these 30 years. I had the privilege of taking care of two of my niece's children for several days recently, while both of their parents were out of town. 

7. New doctor

My brother told his doctor who doesn't take new patients that I was moving into town. This doctor made an exception and I now have new Medicare insurance for Alabama and will see that doctor later in the month. My new plan here includes dental cleaning twice a year and vision. 

8. Closeness of places I drive to and the gas savings

I live closer to Weight Watchers, Toastmasters and the church I attend than I did in Florida. I also live close to these stores, although I can mainly window shop now and am SO OVER buying stuff except groceries: major mall, GNC, Bed Bath and Beyond, Ross, Dress Barn, movie theatre, Barnes and Noble, Marshals, Hobby Lobby, Kirkland's, Panera Bread, Michaels, Stein Mart, T J MAX, Firestone, Applebees, Talbots, Cracker Barrel, and Hancock Fabrics. I do not live close to Sam's and second hand stores, but maybe that is a good thing. 

9. Downsizing

I am pleased that I have storage for stuff and continue to find things to give away. I have borrowed a family shredder and need to work slowly on paper shredding. I have too many clothes and it is fun to decide what I am taking in to fit me better and what I am donating to the Salvation Army. 

10. Lawn being mowed back home

My late husband's Plant City daughter posted the above picture on Facebook. I am very concerned about all the rain in Florida. The sale of the house will soon be completed. I got chewed out by Plant City neighbors there several weeks ago about the height of my lawn. Pharis had a stroke and he couldn't mow it; pray for his medical condition. Pharis' landlord and Pharis did come out, however, and mowed the lawn recently. But yesterday there was 8 inches of rain in Plant City and although they wanted to come out to mow the lawn, they couldn't. Pray that the sale of the house (which is still in the process going through) in the midst of all that rain.  

11. Two churches

I do miss my Florida church where I am keeping membership. Going to mail a gift card there today for a baby shower there. My Florida church is connected with a seminary where I am getting my counseling dissertation on caregiving. I enjoy hearing my outstanding Florida pastor by podcast. 

I am however getting acquainted in the church I am attending here, including teaching Vacation Bible School which helped me meet people of more ages than just the seniors. 

12. Substitute teaching

School is scheduled to start tomorrow here--August 4th. They haven't gotten the form for my fingerprinting yet, so don't know when I will actually start substituting. 

13. New bank

I selected a new "personal banker" at Redstone Federal Credit Union and she has been very helpful. I am starting to bank on line again. There was some delay getting my Florida teacher's retirement, but that has been solved as of July 31. 

14. New vet

Ziggy and I like the new vet. He went for his yearly shots while I went to Weight Watchers on Saturday, August 1st. He was under the weather the rest of Saturday and on Sunday his vet called to check on him and explained that the shot for the rabies could have caused that. She said to give it another day and sure enough Ziggy is back to his old self, going on a long walk this morning. 

15. My faith

I am very grateful for my Christian faith and daily time in God's Word. Of course a Christian is not always politically correct in today's society, but my faith does sustain this widow. 

Moving Reflections: Finding a Church

Thirty years ago I was a member of a Huntsville church for part of the 15 months I lived here. I have a wonderful church family in Florida, but needed a church to worship with locally here while maintaining my Florida church ties. My plan had been to visit different churches in the Huntsville area and to take my time finding a church here while maintaining contact with my Florida church through social media including listening to my pastor's podcasts of his sermons. After all I am working on a counseling dissertation on dementia caregiving at the seminary connected with my Florida church.

The first time I lived in Huntsville I got married at age 40 and it wasn't long before in 1985 we moved to North Miami, Florida, where we were very active in a church. My first husband's funeral some eight years later was in that North Miami church and his daughter would buy our home in 2000 when I moved to the Plant City area to marry a certain Mr. Johnson whom I also had the sad task of burying last summer as I recorded on this blog.

My dad and I in
a certain church corridor
I would return to. 

Some thirty years have now gone by and I started my church search with that church I had been a member of with my first husband. My first Sunday there was Father's Day, June 21, 2015. After the senior Sunday School class,  I came to a corridor where I had been with my late father, ready for him to walk me down the aisle. I got teary-eyed. He had been 70 and I was 40. He was such an OLD 70--refusing at first to get on the plane to come to Alabama from California to see his only daughter finally get married. That Sunday I was still 70! I do not feel as old as my father seemed at 70 in 1985. I learned a lesson from his being a widower--get on with your life and do not get stuck in grief as Dad had.

I enjoy corporate worship and instruction through preaching and again felt at home with this church. Worship could not include visiting every church in Huntsville, I reasoned--scrap that plan.  Sunday, June 21, 2015, I knew that this would again be my Huntsville church family. The second Sunday, June 28th, I went with the seniors to a play in Guntersville on the church van in the afternoon. In July I volunteered for Vacation Bible School and met many younger women, youth and children.  In October I am starting a book study during the week at this church. 

When you move to a new state you have to get new automobile plates, new driver's license (took three days in three cities), new car insurance (half of what it was in Florida), new doctor, new bank, and the list goes on. But at least I have a church family locally. 

A Place for Everything--ALMOST!

I only took one small old TV from Plant City and it is now in my bedroom for watching old video cassettes (which have been downsized considerably after my husband died). I moved in on Wednesday and by Friday I had purchased a 32 inch  "smart" TV and enlisted Comcast to be my cable/internet provider.

The wall unit you see was from a church rummage sale years ago and is only now being used as it was once used by the original owner who built it. I had Pharis drill holes in the back so the chords would not be seen. In addition to the TV, this wall unit has my boombox and DVD player. The bottom cabinets contain movies, and music and other items. The top has lamps that used to be on the fireplace mantel in Plant City. In Plant City the cabinets flanked the walls going from the living room into the family room.

Plant City After Sectional Sold

You see one of those cabinets and barely you can make out the couch that has moved all over the country. It cost $30 from the Salvation Army in California and both of my late husbands have teased me about the $600 I paid to have it reupholstered. Every time it is moved a leg comes off, but not if you leave it alone.

After three visits from Comcast, I finally am able to use my computer A WEEK AND A HALF LATER and make this blog post with pictures. Here is the second bedroom I call my den. The bathroom off of it is used for storage of fabric and craft supplies and sometimes Ziggy likes the tiled floor while I am on my computer at the left.

My late husband knew how to do things in the carpentry field. Now there were items that needed to be secured to the wall by the white thing you put into the wall and the screw to put in that white thing. It turns out, according to Home Depot, that these are called "Anchor Screws".  This could have been a huge grief issue for me, remembering all my late husband could do. My sister-in-law knew how to do it and also to set up my DVD player in the living room and my VCR with the old small TV in the bedroom, not for cable but for viewing videos. Here is a high shelf she put on my kitchen wall by the back door; that shelf used to be in the guest bedroom in Plant City.

Note that I was able to bring my upright freezer from my Plant City utility room and my tall pub table from the Plant City den. My sister-in-law  also helped me as a senior citizen (I turned 71 last week), hang curtains as I didn't want to do this alone and fall and break a hip. I did not have to buy any curtains. The curtains over the kitchen sink used to hang in two small windows on both sides of the fireplace in our Plant City home.

 I know it looks crowded, folks.

So love to look outside
from the kitchen sink

I asked my family what they one day wanted to inherit of my things. They said Swedish things. So with the exception of the  my bedroom and the bathrooms, the rest of this apartment has Swedish items.

In Swedish--"Small words of love spoken every day
spread over your life sunshine and happiness."

This Swedish display in the living room will change at Christmas.

Two Scandinavian Items
in Dining Room

The dining room is spacious and I can have the leaf of the table in it. I look forward to entertaining.

One day Ziggy and I walked up to the apartment office to report a minor plumbing problem. On our way back we met a dog and her owner and chatted. By the time Ziggy and I were back at the apartment, the plumbing problem was solved and with a note that someone had been in the apartment. The repairman had entered the front door and Ziggy and I were on the trail in the back and didn't see someone come.

My bedroom is cozy and I now use a double bed for Ziggy and me. The single bed I left in Plant City for Pharis. Pharis is also getting several other items that he can use. Pharis and others are maintaining the yard until the sale of the house is final.

Ziggy on "our" bed

The bathroom I and guests use is off of this bedroom and both that bathroom floor and the kitchen floor are wooden. Books need to be put away on the shelves in the picture. Alas! I have too many clothes which are on a rack out of the closet. Clothes need to be downsized, and I have two extra lamps.

The apartment complex has 500 units over several acres and I am so happy I got a downstairs apartment. I share a foyer in front and a foyer by the kitchen with three other apartments, two of which are upstairs. Our mail is delivered to the front foyer.  I did buy this wicker chair for my front porch at a yard sale on Saturday as I had gotten rid of all outside furniture in Plant City.  Have a camping chair to bring out if someone comes by to chat.

Hope you will chat by leaving a comment and by "liking" my blog on Facebook at the top right. I am always putting tidbits on that Facebook LIKE page from my iPhone. In July I will start working on the caregiving dissertation.

See my poem/rap "Longing to Chat on the Front Porch With You" that was first published in my book HERE. Chat by leaving a comment below. 

Carol

Getting Settled in the New Apartment

 

Printer's Drawer for Small Items

I carefully put these small items in envelopes by rows. This had been in the large den in Plant City.  

Now it will go in a corner of the new second bedroom I call my den.

Meanwhile I can post easier from this iPhone 6 than from my computer with my new Internet/cable provider Comcast / Xfinity and it is harder to get pictures on this post. 

What is it like as a 70 year old widow to move? 

* Exhausting! Exhilarating! 

*  In contrast to my church Deacons and members who loaded the van in Plant City, my retired rocket scientist brother hired three young men to unload the van. My new Huntsville friend, L. J., directed these young men where to put the numbered furniture. 

*  My wonderful brother and sister-in-law have helped me unpack. My brother carried many boxes out to the apartment dumpster. This prompted a sign at the back foyer that out of courtesy to others those boxes should be flattened and I wrote OK on that sign. I am slowly unpacking those boxes. 

*  I will remain a member of my FL church for quite some time as my pastor there will be overseeing my seminary counseling dissertation on dementia caregiving from a biblical perspective.   I will listen to his sermons on podcasts. But Sunday at the church I visited I did arrange to have lunch with two other widows later in the month. Also I took note of prayer requests and called J. E. who has Hospice at her home for her husband. Next Sunday I will worship at a different church.

*  Downsizing is such a great idea for a widow. Now my closest family will not have to go to Plant City to put me in a nursing home and sell my house. And I was able to let my late husband live there all his days which was his wish thanks to Hospice.

*  On Saturday at Weight Watchers here in Huntsville I weighed 40 lbs. less than I did at the beginning of 2012. That year I had lost 25 pounds. Then I basically took a caregiving break and gained 10 of those pounds back. However, since my husband's death last June 23, 2014, I have slowly lost 25 pounds. So the total is now 40 lbs. It is great to be able to fit in clothes I couldn't wear for a while. However I still have to unpack my clothes.

*  How is my dog Ziggy doing? He is adjusting fairly well. He is meeting new dogs and noticing rabbits on his walks. Last night in the cool of the evening Ziggy on a leash, my sister-in-law and I took a lovely walk in the neighborhood outside of the apartment complex. 

*  Saturday my sister-in-law,  her three grandkids and I went to the complex pool after I served them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. I discovered that one of them likes only jelly sandwiches, one likes only peanut butter sandwiches, and the third one likes actual peanut butter AND jelly sandwiches. 

So long from Rocket City! 

Carol

P. S. This was edited later in the day on my computer when the Internet worked better.

Downsizing to a U-Haul

Roberto at Lakeland's U-Haul

Roberto thought I was a spry senior citizen and not an old fogie because I used an iPhone and had a blog. Little did he know. The U-Haul office was not busy and so I showed him just how spry this senior citizen is--I rapped for him while I reserved a U-Haul.

Now Roberto promised that I would receive a confirmation earlier in the week--found out later it was supposed to be on Wednesday.

Lots on my plate--downsizing and moving to live by family. Months before I cling to Romans 12:12:

• Hope
• Patience and endurance with downsizing
• Constant prayer

Two weeks before I realize I have to focus on one day at a time (and not everything I had to do) and Matthew 6:34 from New Living Translation helps:

So don’t worry about tomorrow, 

for tomorrow will bring its own worries.

Today’s trouble is enough for today.

The house is sold and not longer do I have to maintain it to show. The boxes multiply as I use many days to substitute teach and free time at home to pack.

June 1, my last day substituting, is very special at Tomlin Middle and of course I rap at the end of every class and tell the students who didn't know all about my YouTube legacy of raps. See HERE.

Tuesday through Friday at least four hours per day my friends Sally and Jake come over and help me pack.  Sally would call Jake over to help her seal each box and he would bring those heavy boxes to the proper place. Sally packs breakables with newspapers into my recycled boxes. Sectioned liquor boxes from Walmart and The Winery in Plant City are so helpful with those breakable items. Gradually clothes get packed into large tubs for "seasonal clothes". Summer clothes go in huge boxes to make wrinkles I will deal with at the other end of the move. My winter coats, two mirrors and other items are already in Huntsville at my brother's house.

Friday Panic.  Friday is the day before the volunteers are coming to pack the van. I call Kerry from my church and tell her of my panic and also health news on Kenny. She puts out an email prayer request for the church. She also mentions the virtues of a 24 foot U-Haul instead of a 20 foot one I am supposed to get. I asked "Surrey" on my iPhone to call U-Haul on Florida Avenue in Lakeland, thinking I would get Roberto. I have not received a confirmation call! Where in Plant City do I pick up the U-Haul?

Instead I get Greg at another U-Haul at another Florida Avenue U-Haul location. Greg who sees my reservation on line, is able to switch my reservation to a 24 foot U-Haul. It wouldn't be delivered to Plant City as Roberto had promised, but I could get it that very night for the same price instead of the Saturday morning 20 foot U-Haul. I call Kerry with the good news and she enlists her husband Dave to go with me to get the van at 6:30 pm. Their son, Sam, always my buddy, comes along for the ride. Dave skillfully puts the van by my garage.  I am so glad he figures out where to put that van. I wasn't sure if it should be by the front door or not.

Back to earlier on Friday.  After those important phone calls Friday morning, I go to Bank of America to see Lisa, "my personal banker" I wrote about HERE. I had arranged my 10 am appointment on line and we close my checking account. (Huntsville doesn't have a Bank of America.) Then I go to my dentist for a gum treatment to save me from false teeth. The hygienist reminds me about water picks and flossing--two items I had neglected during the last two hectic caregiving years. On my way home I stop at Staples to turn in printer and copier cartridges to recycle. I happen to see seven small plastic containers on sale for $7 and I purchase them to replace my wicker baskets in the bathroom. See HERE. Those containers are efficient for first aid, etc., and can easily go into a box ready for my new bathroom and take less space than my baskets take were I to pack them.

Sure enough, when I start to pack up the bathroom, I find that water pick and plan to use it in Huntsville. Friday afternoon Sally picks up Jake at the senior center. Then Sally helps me sort through my fabric,  while Jake helps box things up again. I can donate maybe 40% of the fabric for the quilting group at Sally's church where I also went to Grief & Share.  See HERE.

Saturday morning. Kenny gets out of the hospital Friday night and Saturday morning he stops by to see his friends from church. He is too weak to help. He has lost blood and will undergo tests to discover why next week. See HERE. Newly installed Deacons JP and Kevin pray very special prayers for him. Pray for Kenny, folks. 

From 10:30 to 3:00 pm four strong men (Jason, Dave, JP, Kevin), resourceful Amanda, and six energetic youth packed the van. They start with the upright freezer, take a utility room door off, and move it with  a rented U-Haul appliance dolly; this freezer will fit in my eat-in-kitchen in my Huntsville apartment. Next comes my antique couch, reupholstered in the late '70s with the leg that keeps coming off when you move it. In the van they put pillows between four machines on the seats of that couch: small TV, microwave, printer, and copier. Boxes of books are interspersed among numbered furniture items. Those numbers will help placement of furniture at the other end. China and other items marked FRAGILE were put on top of boxes and furniture. All boxes have the name of the room where they should land in the new apartment.

Dog Ziggy. Yes, that is dog Ziggy on my lap in the picture above. You wonder what the canine has been thinking, but he has been staying by my side. Saturday night and Sunday night we get to sleep together in that single bed I got to sleep by the hospital bed. Pharis will get that bed and other items left behind.

Tomorrow morning (Monday) I will pick up my Huntsville brother in Orlando and bring him to that van. We will take Monday and Tuesday to drive to Huntsville with Ziggy and I following in my car. Ziggy has already seen his bed and cage in the back seat of the car. The third seat area and trunk area has miscellaneous items.

Follow trip to Huntsville on my 

Facebook LIKE page 

by clicking on the above link at the right. 

The Making of a DOCTOR WHO Quilt

I had made quilts for all of my late husband's grandchildren except the youngest one. I have to admit when the last grandchild of my late husband said to make a "Doctor Who" quilt, it wasn't so easy to design it. In my grief, I was hardly being creative anymore. 

A phone booth? I hadn't been watching that long-running "Doctor Who" series, but I found out the phone booth is where the characters go to call the police. Then I read about the little space figures that are in this long-running TV series from the UK, and I wondered how I could use that in the quilt. I had a pocket from one of my late husband's shirt. Not so sure how it would be possible. 

How do you turn a phone booth 

into a quilt?!

Her father made this cardboard phone booth for her.

I started with the phone booth and used jeans fabric for the structure of the phone booth. Jeans fabric is easy to piece you just sew on top. Then the jeans seemed a little harsh, or masculine, so I added some lace. 

My deadline was to give it to this wonderful young lady before I moved from Plant City where she lives. I found some flannel material with those "space figures" in them for the back on the quilt. 

One Thanksgiving

Granddaughter as an infant stole her grandpa's heart. 

A quilt with a little of her late grandfather in it--a pocket from one of his shirts sewn to the back for the use of a cell phone! Her cousins had those grandpa shirt pockets in their quilts. Gradually I got some of my creativity back. I bought flannel with space figures for the back of the quilt and blue and white poke-a-dot fleece for texture and a little warmth for the top and for the side binding. The phone booth sign came from
http://www.spoonflower.com/tags/doctorwho; however, I am not sure they still have it. 

I set out to design it with great tools.

Near the end I had to rush to Lakeland's Fabric Warehouse for help.

Becky and Brandon to the rescue. I hadn't been sewing much since my husband, her Grandfather, passed away last June. This helpful staff came to my rescue and refreshed me on how to use this great Swedish quilt-making machine, a Husqvarna Viking.

I had slept by my husband's hospital bed in a single bed. After the hospital bed left the house, the master bedroom became a sewing room, with a single bed in it. Didn't do much sewing however, until I made up my mind to finish this project before I moved next month. 

I used the stool from the pub table from the den to sit on as this height helped me not have trouble with my carpal tunnel syndrome in my wrist. Yes, I missed that pool table for quilt assembly, but it came together on that single bed. The top of the phone booth even has a place for a pen and a tablet.

Tonight  I heard that this granddaughter is pleased with it! 

Guest Post: Finding Wandering Jake

My friend Sally (not her real name) had quite an adventure with Jake (not his real name) last week. Here is her story.

Our dog needed her toenails trimmed at the dog groomer. That was a quick fix. 

Now on to the jewelers to take Jake's watch in. Jake had left it on the shower ledge and it had moisture on its face. The jeweler was the answer to avoid the watch stopping and rusting.

I parked directly in front of the jewelry store, rolled down the car windows and told Jake to stay in the car with our dog. I would be returning momentarily. 

However, when I returned to the car, there was no Jake and our dog was barking. Panic set in! Where did my husband go? I hadn't been gone but a moment.  

I carried the dog and the two of us set off to find him. Not in a Dollar Store. Not in a laundry. Was he searching for me or for a men's room?  

Finally the barber shop. Jake was contently sitting in a barber chair getting his hair cut. I pretended that this was planned and waited until he finished getting handsome. He did need the hair cut after all. I had the money to pay for it--he didn't. 

I next dropped him off at the Senior Center and shared this episode with the 2 pm Alzheimer's Association Support group. 

Lesson learned: Don't leave my husband in the car alone ever! Do not trust the care of our dog to Jake. And, I am going to start searching for a GPS system to track Jake. He no longer uses a cell phone, although he does have an Alzheimer's bracelet. 

 Sally, Carol's Friend

Moving to an Apartment in Rocket City

Last week I asked Alison, my realtor,

Can I just move this summer

 (with the for sale sign up)?

She said yes.

I spent a few days in Huntsville earlier this month.  While there I applied to substitute teach for the fall and scouted out apartments. 

I chose one which is not far from my family.  It is a 1402 square feet apartment with two bedrooms and two bathrooms and an eat-in kitchen. 

So when you come into the foyer of the four apartments in this building, two are upstairs and mine is at the right on the ground floor. I signed the lease for two years electronically. 

Huntsville is colder than I have been used to in Florida, and so having the front door and the back door open to a foyer before you go outside is great. Also the front foyer has mail boxes! 

I will like an eat-in kitchen where I can also put my upright freezer.

The complex has an exercise room, pool, and walking track for dogs. Maintenance is provided. Really more plusses than minuses.

Last week my water heater went out. Today I had a new water heater installed in my house. It might have waited until the house sold, but it didn't. When I move to an apartment, the landlord will take care of things like water heaters. 

So what needs to happen for me to move to Huntsville? I have to do more packing and some downsizing especially of clothes. I have different sizes of clothing and need to settle on what to take. Also, I want to finish a quilt for the last grandchild of my husband before I move. I want to see people before I move. 

I do not know how it will all happen--moving--but better to move at age 70 rather than be moved to a nursing home later with someone having to sell my house and sort through my junk. I am taking care of it myself. 

Thanks for your prayers, folks.