mother's day

 Every day is mother's day. I'm still trying to do my best to be kind and helpful regarding my mother's needs. Today was a real test. Well, every day is, really, but I thought the stars were aligned today.

The background info is that my mom is fixated on her hair. This isn't new, but she is losing her vision due to Glaucoma and Macular degeneration and can't see how she looks. She is always asking me how she looks and I tell her that she looks fine. Her hair is amazing. She has really good hair and, as long as it doesn't get wet, it holds very well. She's been wanting and trying to go to Pat's Place hair salon for some time now and has made many appointments, then been unable to keep.

After much discussion last week, we decided to try again. Mom said she wanted to try, and I thought it would work. I made the appointment with her stylist of many years, Darlene. The timing was perfect regarding her schedule. I reminded mom the day before. I called in the morning to confirm. I got there early to pick her up without pressure. She wasn't confident that she could do it. She asked if she could try walking to the car. We got to the elevator and she felt able to make it, so we went back to her condo and got ready. When the time came, she said she couldn't make it after all. She was afraid that she might fall. I told her that I would help her and that the weather was perfect. She didn't feel able to go and decided to cancle her appointment. She was diasppointed, but it was her choice. Then she started asking me how she looks. I told her that her hair always looks nice, which it does. She said she was sorry she couldn't go.

We chatted for a while about other things. Then she said, "I need to have my hair done. When is my hair appointment."

I have to stop doing this to myself. I want to please her and not upset her. I need help.

This is a memoir. My mom passed away over a year ago, but some of these situations keep going around in my head, so I decided to write them down.

 i just experiened a miracle and there's no one around to share it with!

I'm in my 85th year, my memory is problematic, and I use Adobe Suite for most of my 'creations'. I set up my Etsy store and created most of my patterns in the last century ...

My church and church 'family' are a big part of my life and I still do many creative things for them. 

My problem is that I don't do any of the things that I used to do, very often these days and - when I try, I can't remember how. I get nervous when thinking about doing something and I think that contributes to the problem. (Passwords are the bane of my existence, but that's another story.}

Today, I was trying to make a small correction to a pattern I printed in 2007. Sounds simple, doesn't it?

Well ... when I tried to open the pdf in Photoshop I got this message. "PDFL Initialization failed". I've seen this message before, but don't remember it being a big problem. Today it was. 

Photoshop wouldn't budge. InDesign opened it, but it wasn't editable and, the typed instructions looked like hieroglyphics. 

Googling it didn't help. While I was pondering where I should go next, it occurred to me that I also have Illustrator. I never learned to use it, but I've tried everything else, so why not? I launched Adobe Illustrator, opened the pattern file and 'Voila', it popped up!

It is clear and editable, and I didn't even have to erase and retype the error. I used 'find and replace', not expecting it to work, as it wasn't in the large text block, but on a pattern piece. It found the words I needed and fixed the error! 

I was in shock for a few minutes, then went to find someone to tell. I can't begin to tell you how exciting this is for me. It opens my ability to fix many typos and errors simply. I'm ecstatic!

I just hope I remember.

 As I was leaving Aldis, two women started to 'chat me up'. They were smiley and friendly, kidding around with each other and me. I walked a short distance to my car and put my groceries inside. They remained my the shopping carts. While I returned to park my shopping cart and retrieve my quarter they wandered out to the parking lot. When I approached my car, the two women were standing beside the front doors, one on each side attempting to enter. I said loudly, "This is my car!". They laughed and said "Sorry, wrong car" and walked away. I don't remember if they had groceries.

I always lock my car while returning the cart. This time, fortunately, was no exception. I have thought about this and wonder if I was 'set up', or it was an honest mistake. Your opinion?

I missed the boat on hashtags

 I missed the boat on hashtags. Oh, I know what # is. I just don't think I understand how it/they work. I'm going to fix that. It's on my to-do list for very soon. (I found this draft 12-12-21)

I have made 0 progress on this. Life got in the way. 

Recently, my dear fried and bookkeeper/CPA, Gayle, was diagnosed with Alsheimers disease. I picked up on a few 'clues' during the past year or so, but ... She's always been a little loosy-goosy, but got the job done. Eerything seemed normal and she was very sincere in assuring me that everything was being done. WRONG!

I should have paid better attention to the clues. Now I'm in a situation where the State and Feds are aggressively reminding me that report anre past-due and I don't know anything about them.

I was finally able to get together with Gayle, and to have copies of past reports she has filed. I can copy them and file before the end of the year (very close) and hold my breath. So, that's the plan. 

So far I've dealt with IL-941 and 2 related forms. I think these are Fed. Next step is to try to find out 'what I don't know'. This is scary ...

 

I copied ths from my Facebook Memories. I guess I was egotistical enough to post it in 2015. Now, I just want to save it because it please me. Why not? I have a pillow that says "It's good to be Queen."

Carolee Alt-Luppino

DeSicmgember 75, s2o01h6i5ed80  · 

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I don't usually post this kind of stuff, but this cracks me up! I took a test to see who I was in a former life... This is the result. Do you believe it?

You were a queen! Your memories reveal that you were a powerful and enchanting queen in your past life! You were seductive, romantic, strong, determined, and a true lover of the arts. You were admired by your kingdom and relentlessly pursued by the all the men (and even the ladies!) of your realm. Your beauty still shines through in this life and it's clear to all who know you that you're royalty at heart. You are irresistible and draw all of your lovers like moths to a flame. What do you think about having been a queen? Let us know, your highness!

Thoughts on my name

 I started thinking about my name today because I hired a young friend from my church to paint my kitchen. I pulled off the old wallpaper a while ago and the thought of painting it myself isn't fun anymore.

So, William is from Puerto Rico and the name Carolee isn't familiar to him. I told him to call me Carol. That brought back memories of when I was Carol Luppino because my husband shortened my name. Even my brothers started calling me Carol.

So, for the first 20 years of my life I was Carolee Alt. Then, for the next 25 or so, I was Carol Luppino, except when I was Mrs. Joseph Luppino. In the 60's married women didn't have first names. In the church membership records we were listed as Mr. Joseph Luppino and Mrs. Joseph Luppino. One of our male members was married and divorced 3 times, in the church and his wife's name naver changed.

When I was widowed, I decided to use my maiden name, so I was and am still using the name Carolee Alt Luppino. I hyphenate it when I want to be at the beginning of the alphabet. 

edit. My on-line persona is Cara, it's easier, and my phone identity, when I don't want customers to know it's me, is Charlie. My IM id, my 'inner emoticon', is a smiley face with sunglasses and one of my dear friends calls me 'Hollywood' (because of the sunglasses).

So, my friends call me Carolee, except those that I met in my married years and my brothers and SILs, who call me Carol, . My dauther calls me Mom and my sons call me Ma. I answer to all of them, but most of all, I love being called gramma.

 Another stroke of genius I didn't think of that's too good not to share. This has been one of the hottest summers on record and I find myself keeping a small bottle of water in my car. I never found this necessary before, thinking that I could make it from place to place without food and drink. Most of my stops are less than half an hour apart. However ... here's the genius part ... fill your water bottle half full and keep it in your freezer. Fill it the rest of the way when you are ready to go. You'll have cold water for much longer. No extra charge. You're welcome!