Catching up and start of new free kit

Last couple of weeks have been busy and emotional. My brother and his wife finally arrived. They had just cleared up the problems relating to getting Thom's pump refilled and were preparing to fly back to Ashville, N.C. where they would pick up their car then head up to Virginia. Roberta woke to excruciating pain. Turned out she had a dental abcess so bad it required surgery and a bone graft. Naturally, it was some days before she was able to fly. We had much to deal with regarding Dad's finances and possessions. Going through the house to decide what items should go to which family members was very emotional.

Dad was, of course, very pleased to have Thom and Roberta visit him multiple times while here. We noticed some odd things with Dad during recent visits but Roberta remembered similar instances with her mother before she died and I've since read articles detailing the same things. The worst was during Thom's first visit when Dad told them June had died and he'd been a pallbearer. They were silent, not knowing what to say, then Dad continued, "But I know that's not true. She's here." In his nursing home, he meant, but she isn't. We are seeing some of the skin mottling the articles talked about - mostly its been his lips having a bluish tint, social withdrawal, and selective hearing.

A few days before Thom and Roberta were to head home, my husband and I drove down to Columbia, S.C. to see grandson, Tyler, at University of South Carolina. Using my Nonna intuition, I filled a doubled brown paper bag with some fruit, stape goods like spaghetti, sauce, boxed mac n' cheese, cocoa packets, microwave popcron, and a gallon bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies (his favorite). The day we went down was cloudy and it took forever due to construction and then, when we got on I-95 2 accidents held us up for hours. Next day temps were up and it was humid. Too humid to want to walk around campus. Tyler and his friend, Alec, introduced us to Old Chicago Pizza. For lunch (our treat) Tyler had something called a Hangover Burger which included bacon, a sunny side up egg, and hashbrowns! Alec and John split a deep dish pizza with almost everything on it. And I got delicious manicotti. USC had a football game (away) that afternoon so the guys invited us over to Tyler's apartment to watch the game on TV with them and other friends. We declined and went back to hotel to rest and watch a movie on Showtime. Once the game was over, Tyler called and we picked up him, Alec and Alec's girlfriend, Katie, and went to dinner at California Dreaming. Very nice. It's in an old railway station where trains still go by on tracks behind the building (hubby loved that) and turned out to be right behind the quad where Tyler lives. I could have made a meal out of the fresh croissants with honey they serve with meals. But the loaded potato soup wasn't to be missed. We enjoyed and refused to think about what our credit card bill is going to look like with all the meals, hotel, and other travel expnses. It was worth it. Next time maybe I can at least visit the library and bookstore on campus. Those are not to miss for an academic lol.

Thought I'd be up to posting again by Tuesday but needed more time to recooperate and take care of a few things here at home. Also, I'd had a hard time deciding what to do about a November kit. Yes, it's autumn now and sure, Thanksgiving is this month, but it all seemed so ho hum, you know? Too many years digiscrapping I guess. One of you commented that you like how I "twist" things a little. I like that you appreciate that. I want to give you something nice to play with but I don't want to be bored by doing the same old stuff so I try to entertain myself too. Thinking about that, I think I may have found an acceptable theme for this month and hope you like it.


Today we start "Fall in Love" an autumn themed romance. Here is the beginning of our illustrated story.

* They met at a mutual friend's Goodbye to Summer party. Both quiet, introspective people, they quickly discovered they had much in common: preferred small gatherings of close friends rather than large noisy parties, loved sunsets, books (the real, old fashioned kind), long walks on the beach, visits to the mountains in autumn, and much more. They sat on the beach in front of their friend's house, gazing at the sunset, talking as if they had known each other forever. Driving home, she thought about the man she'd met and wondered if sunsets might be proof that endings can be beautiful too, signaling the beginning of something even more beautiful.

Link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pxe9nqc2nfxa0v3/ws_FallInLove_1.zip?dl=0