your doing what you can now and the NOW is what matters. He knows you love him. Love is what means the most.
As for the rest.. You can only do so much. you have you home with your children which comes FIRST. You have taken care of your dad as best as you could. No one is going to fault you. You are a great daughter he knows that!!
What you see in yourself is different from what your dad and everyone sees. stop blaming yourself for things you cannot manage. NO ONE sees you that way but yourself. And well... YOUR WRONG about yourself..
Love and hugs!!!
I know, I know... I keep telling myself that. And slowly, I am believing it. Especially as I am still getting countless calls about getting all of his services set up, I know that I am his biggest advocate - and he needs one. And as long as I am "there" every step of the way - they know that he is not a "forgotten" person. I hope. As this WAS an issue earlier in the year - he was screened for these exact services then (I didn't know about it) - and the home health nurse talked him out of them (insert a few choice words here) - I am not sure of her reasons, but I assume she was trying to save tax payer $$ and didn't think that anyone was watching over my Dad. I gave her a piece of my mind at the hospital when my Dad & I had a meeting with her (also, my brother's social worker stepped in and told her that our family is not to be messed with - since we are a unique family situation) - and she has been the nicest lady since then - trying to get as many services as my Dad needs. So, I think it makes the biggest difference that these people know my Dad has someone backing his corner.
Just wanted to post really quickly to say that you have been in my thoughts all weekend. I haven't had much DIS time the last few days but I was reading along on my phone. I am so thankful that you got your Dad mostly settled!
Thank you Ariana! I really appreciate it.
Oh D~, you're post really made me sad for you. I'm sure by now you've realized that you are definitely NOT a bad daughter by anyones' standards. You are so caring about people you have never even met, so that's not someone who would knowingly fail to help their own family when needed. Sometimes as they age, parents don't want their family members to know how they're feeling or become (in their own mind) a burden to them. So, part of that was probably your Dad not willing to indicate in any way how he was feeling or getting along.
Thank you Lois... I am not sure I will ever forgive myself for not seeing what was going on, but I am trying my best to make up for it. I know my Dad doesn't blame me, and never has. I think you are right on for his line of thinking - he didn't want to burden me. But at the end there - I think he was having some SERIOUS health issues due to his (later) diagnosis, and he was very scared. I am so sad that he was so scared and tried to hide it from all of us... But then I look at him now - and HOW FAR he has come this last month, and it makes me so happy to know that he is happy again.
Now, though, you've got him in a wonderful situation and it sounds like he's already making new friends. What a wonderful final outcome to something that took you so by surprise just a short time ago. You've gotten soooo much accomplished in such a short amount of time. Kudos to you and Josh! And bless your heart!
Yes, according to all of the reports, he is doing fantastic! Which makes me so happy. One of the nurses called me yesterday, and told me that she was going to talk to him during his lunch meal - but he was chatting and laughing with one of his table mates, she decided not to disturb him.
This makes my heart so happy - as this is one of the many reasons we chose this place... Over the last several years, my Dad had become very isolated... We wanted to give him a "community", so he could forge some friendships - and hopefully not be so lonely. I love hearing that he is putting himself "out there" and making friends. This will be so good for him and his self image.
I can't wait for you to get back to your planning so I can live vicariously again. I have a feeling Josh will come around. I think he knows as long as he lets his girls go, he won't have to. Hopefully one day he will want to accompany you to the happiest place on earth again. Maybe you should wait until he's asleep and begin whispering "Disney World is the best place to vacation" in his ear. Do this every chance you get and by the time the girls are away at college, HE'LL be asking YOU to go! Is that so wrong???
Hahaha.... I would love that! I doubt it will happen, but a girl can dream, right? You have a trip that is fast approaching too... I cannot wait to hear all about yours!
ETA: Loved the pics and the towel you made your Dad looked great hanging there!
Thank you! I wasn't sure I would get them done, but so happy I did.
Yes I have been stalking your thread all day just to see this bag!
I absolutely adore it! I cannot wait to give it to my Cousin for her wedding present. Of course I'm going to have to give it up first. Just kidding!
I will definitely get some pictures of the two of us with our bags when we are in Disney next month!
Sorry it took me so long to post... I sure hope she loves it! I am very glad you like it though - I was pretty sure you would. And YES - I would LOVE a photo of both of you with your bags... You should loan one of your extras to your Mom, so the 3 of you can have a photo with one... That would be SUPER COOL.
Your dad's new place is looking great!! Glad it's the perfect size for him.
Happy your back home and hopefully getting back to normal (well as normal as you can). Great new bag!! Love the inside print!
Thank you Sandra! Yes, it feels great to truly be back to work again. I am so much less stressed now.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Mickey bag, D. Awesome job.
Thank you Kathy! I am very happy with it.
Love the
Mnsshp picture and really really love the Mickey bag! Your dad's new place looks very cozy!
Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards
Thanks Ann... Yah - I was super happy to find that picture, I had forgotten all about it. And I am very happy with how his apartment turned out, we still need to hang his pictures, but I think he really likes it - or I hope so, anyways.
LOL... I have that same sofa in my husband's basement office!
Nini
Hahaha... That's too funny!
What a beautiful bag!! Your Dad looks very happy in the picture. The apartment looks great!! I'm sorry that you had such a tough time last weekend. I hope things will get easier for you!!
Thanks! I am just so happy to see him so happy - there is no better gift to me! I am just happy that the hardest part is over. We will have a lot to do with emptying his garage - but thankfully it was empty to start with, so everything in there is stuff we put there, and it's organized. It shouldn't take us too long to take care of it.
I love the classic look to your newest bag! You can't ever go wrong with Mickey!
I love the interior fabric! Its so different than anything I've seen.
Thanks Tess... I love that fabric too... It's definately different - I have not seen it before or since.
Hi! Just came over from another trip report and I'm hooked!
Welcome!
Very happy to have you here!
You have a beautiful family with two lovely girls. Its nice to see young ones interested in crafts.
Thank you! I am very lucky to have such great kids!
Your bags are fantastic. The colors and patterns are wonderful. Have you ever done a Goofy one?
Thank you! Yes, I have done two Goofy bags... The first one was a messenger for my youngest dd - this was one of my very first bags:
And then, this was an auction bag I did last year (or maybe it was the year before now - I can't remember...)
Your dad looks happy in his new place, he has such a great smile. I have the same feelings about nursing homes, they for the most part are just smelly, and sad. Mom had to have a short stay in one for rehab from knee surgery. The staff was happy to see me leave, I tend to be a little over protective and have a big mouth when I think she might be mistreated
. At the time I lived in Louisiana and she is in Indiana. Thankfully she is a social butterfly and made friends with the staff and headed home quickly.
Thank you... I agree completely - that is one thing I loved about the nursing home my Dad was in - it was not smelly or sad at all - it was very homey and smelled very good.
LOL - I was ready to be the same way about my Dad's care, but thankfully, I didn't have to be. Many of the nurses and staff were very sad to see my Dad go... I am sure he will be down at the nursing home to give them crap as often as he can. Since the buildings are connected - it's very easy for him to do.
Just throwing it out there.... if you happen to get bored when you come to Orlando (we moved here in April) you can stop by and use my machine! I have a new Brother sewing/embroidery machine with lots of unfinished projects!
Looking forward to what is next to come!
Hahaha... If I am bored in Orlando... Hehehe... I am not sure that will ever happen. But you are certainly welcome to meet me in the parks for a Dismeet some day.
And LOL about the unfinished projects... I try super hard not to ever leave anything unfinished - which isn't an easy thing to do... Sometimes I get so excited about the next project - I cannot move forward with a current project until I get it off my mind. I think it has something to do with my creative process? I am odd - I know.
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Yesterday was just a fantastic day for me. After weeks of worry, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of me. It's about time - as you can tell, I don't do well with stress. It was such an emotional rollercoaster for me, and I am really ready to be done with that part of it.
As I wrote above, I didn't get a chance to talk to my Dad yesterday (even though I tried to call him) - but I did talk to one of the nurses, and he is doing fantastic! I love that they are always updating me about how he is doing.
I was also able to get back to my heavy lifting... I had a good lift yesterday, and it felt good to be back at it.
I was also back to my good eating habits. Not that my eating habits have been bad, I just wasn't eating enough over the weekend, and I could feel it. I am really starting to see some great changes in my body now that my eating is where it needs to be. I am very thankful for that - since I have been working so hard and not seeing progress for so long now.
I made some AWESOME progess in my sewing room yesterday too - I could not be happier with that. Not only was I able to get my next custom order cut out and quilted, but I was able to get the HUGE applique cut out and I was able to start the stitching! With any luck - I will finish this applique today - that is my goal.
I will still be 1 day behind, which will put me 1 day behind for the remainder of this block of orders, but there isn't much I can do about it. I know you are probably thinking that 1 day behind isn't a huge deal, but to me, it's a very huge deal. I take my schedule so seriously - I treat it like a contract between my customers and I - they depend on me to have their bags on time for their trips. So, it's just super important to me that I keep my schedule accurate.
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Our ADRs are due next month... and I think we are ready to go with them. I hope to look over our tentative schedule over my lunch break today, just to make sure the crowd predictions are still accurate.
I have not touched my Mini-planner yet... I did start it a little bit quite a few months back, but the crowd predictions were jumping all over the place, so I just let it be for a while.
I am a bit nervous that we don't have any days off planned. I'd really like to - if possible, stay an extra day so we can have a day of rest in the middle. I am not sure about this, as it would cut into Brian, Myrthe and Thomas' time with us. As it is, they fly in the day before we come home. I feel fairly safe in saying that they probably won't have the energy to have visitors that first full day - as they will be recovering from a 12 hour flight with a toddler...
So, I am OK coming home that day... but to stay one more day, just so we can have a day of rest in there - I am not so sure about that?
I keep telling myself that it's August - and it's HOT - we will NEED a day off... We will see. We are still booked for the longest vacation we can get - so we can cut it off at any point until the 45 day mark, so we will continue to mull it over and see what we want to do.
What would you do? So, let's just say, B/M/T fly in on a Monday. Right now, the girls and I are planning to fly home on Tuesday. So, we really aren't missing any time with them, since they will be resting on Tuesday (I assume) from their flight. I'd really like to fly home on Wednesday - that would give us a day of "rest" on our trip. Now, when we fly home, it will be a morning/early afternoon flight... Theoretically - the girls and I will be tired from traveling, but I KNOW they would want to see Thomas... So, I am sure they wouldn't be opposed to flying home that morning, taking a break at home to clean up, then meet B/M/T for dinner somewhere... We've traveled before, so it's not as if it's a new experience for us. Or should we just not take that day off and power through? B/M/T are only here for 3 weeks... 2 of which, the girls will be in school... So, I just HATE to miss any time with them that first week they are here.
Sorry for the lengthly post today... Lots of things swirling around the back of my mind on the Disney planning front.
Thanks for sticking with me as I went through all of this transition with my Dad, I know it meant I was not 100% on Disney topics, and my sincere apologies.
Many hugs and prayers for all who need them.
D~
Just kidding! 
