What's that about "You can plan all you want but here's a curveball for you"?

Wow.

It's almost the end of May and here I am sitting on my front porch at almost 10pm at night relaxing before bed after a busy day.

Lots has happened since that blog post I wrote in January.  At the end of January, the 28th to be exact, my elderly parents' house flooded due to the excess rain we've had...their entire first floor which housed every room they "lived" in....it was awful. 

At the same time we were moving them to a local hotel and searching for a new place for them to live, I was rushing to do things and moved a box 12 inches to the floor from where it was sitting and hurt my back in the process....that was a Thursday.  Friday morning I woke up barely able to stand. By Sunday, my husband was taking me to the ER and during a 12 hour stint of extreme pain having to move from bed to table to bed, I had an MRI and CAT scan that showed I was dealing with 3 bulging discs...L3-L5.  The surgeon said that while I don't need surgery, I do have pronounced arthritis in my L5 so my lower back needed some lifestyle readjustments. Yeah, right.  Like I'm going to have the ability to just sit back and put my feet up.  How can I do that when I have my parents and my granddaughter depending on me?  Besides, anyone that knows me knows that that is a very rare occurrence on a regular basis but for an extended period.  I don't have time for that!  I took the meds they prescribed and found a back brace that I could wear while driving and also doing limited tasks and that helped.  The surgeon said I could expect flare-ups and if so and it got bad, I could call him for a consultation or a prescription for prednisone....you know the one that makes you feel better but you eat non-stop and gain weight....or at least I do....anyway, that's a big no thank you unless I'm really hurting or am headed on a long trip where sitting for hours on end is the only option.  When the small of your back says "yeah, I prefer to stand", sitting for hours is something I do now have to think about and prep for be it on a car or in a plane.  Won't keep me from going though. :)

Back to my elderly parents having to move....we found them a first floor condo just across the river from where we live so we moved them in there in February.  Now we have had the task of sorting through all of their things at the old house and trying to ensure they received from their 30 year stash all of the things they wanted.  But wait, life took another dramatic turn when just prior to Mother's Day, my Dad had a fall due to swelling in his feet and legs and he was rushed to the ER with congestive heart failure and aspirated pneumonia.  He is 83 and in rehab now but it is doubtful he will ever return to the new condo and this is heartbreaking as they were surrounded by people who were older like them....neighbors, new friends...and now that's been changed.  So I take my stepmother almost every day to and from the rehab facility where my Dad is (*my Aunt has been a Godsend as has my middle daughter as both have helped with this multiple times as well so as to give me a break).  For those of you that have known all of this and kept my Dad, Stepmother, and myself in your prayers, I am grateful and I request that you pray for guidance as to what the next steps will be as I know "easy" will not be the key descriptive where they're concerned.

So, what's the saying "plan all you want, but sometimes there's a curveball" that is thrown and that's exactly what we've been dealing with. 

So, onward and upward and the new for summer items I've had sitting in the closet here at my house in the "boutique" room that was my oldest daughter's bedroom many years ago, those items are just now getting described and released.  Yes, a few have just come in but some things have been waiting weeks for me to catch my breath and become available on the website. 

My apologies for taking so long but I do hope you'll love these new items.  I love my little boutique as it's truly "me" when so much of my life is consumed by so many other things that take precedent.  I appreciate each and every one of you who make a purchase from me and I pray I can continue to bring you new items that you'll love for a long time to come.

Stay Sassy and All My Best to each of you!

-Janet