The good, the bad and the ugly

An update is more than in order. The good - I went to a terrific holiday party last night and had a wonderful time with 29 other stitchers. We had good food, good friendship and celebrated the joy of being together with an ornament exchange and a fun Chinese auction. The bad - the ornament that I had stitched, but not finished for my secret exchange partner was destroyed in a fire on November 16th. The good - neither of us was hurt. The bad - the house was severely damaged by fire, water and smoke. It will take upwards of 6 months for us to get back into our home. It was not completely destroyed (brick walls and roof still intact) but it's ugly. Ugly includes the destruction of all of my stitching stash and finished pieces except for one bag I grabbed from the living room and a bellpull I stitched in 2004 that I was particularly fond of. There may be some soot damage at the top - but I'll keep it anyway. The good - we found a terrific rental right next door, so are parking our cars in our own driveway and the mail can continue to come to our mailbox and we can keep an eye on the work at the house. Some days it seems surreal, other days.....it is what it is. More good - our son and his wife will be able to spend Christmas with us and that's really important. And now for the final ugly - it's a sad ugly. You all know that I do taxes for a living and also do estate settlement and help my older clients who can't take care of their financial matters. One of my sweet widowers, who is 88 and just 8 years a widower has fallen gravely ill. Today I am making arrangements for hospice care for him. I am sad that he is alone and ill and I am praying that I can find a good place for him to spend his last days in dignity and peace. If you are so inclined, please say a prayer for Lambert. Everything else is just stuff. Linda