A GIVEAWAY AND A BLOG PARTY!

Hi, y'all! I am way behind in taking part in 

Vicki's amazing blog party and I apologize. 

Life has been full.

But, I'm here now, with my giveaway and ready to tell you about me and blogging.

Jan Vermillion Thomason of

the Polka Dot Barn

and the blog, polkadotbarn.blogspot.com.

I started blogging several years ago thinking that I would use it as my personal diary. 

And, I have used it that way.

I don't get every event covered

(I've been known to go weeks.......   without hittin' the blog)

but when something funny, fabulous or rusty passes by me

I have to blog about it.

I let you see me at my worst,

I will entertain you with humorous stories,

I will show you amazing junk and antiques

(some I buy, some I simply photograph).

All the while hoping that you accept me,

and that you come to love me as I share my life with you.

I love Jesus Christ.

I adore my husband and three grown boys;

hoping that my sweet boys will always need

their mom.

I adore my brothers and sister.

Nieces, nephews, sister in laws, cousins, 

my dad and Ursula, 

all very important to me.

I try to find joy in every situation,

sometimes after I throw a fit or cry in despair.

I love spending time in my studio, The Crack House.

(I'll be doing a blog post about it in the near future.

If you want to make sure you don't miss it, 

sign up to receive my posts via email at the top of 

the right hand column)

Creating and spending time with 

my friends that create,

reading every single page of my art zines,

and being an mixed media hoarder

make me who I am.

Okay, that's enough, let's talk about THE GIVEAWAY!!

I am parting with two of my favorite vintage hats that I've been saving,

waiting for those perfect projects that will show off those beautiful 

flowers and leaves!

THERE WILL BE TWO WINNERS!

To enter, simply leave a comment.

And if you want to have a second entry,

let me know if you're following me on Pinterest,

Twitter or my blog emails.

I'm supposed to close out my contest and draw for

winners on February 1st, but I'm extending my giveaway

to February 2nd and I'll draw for the winners

that following week.

I'm right in the middle of getting my house in order

and planning supper for fifty

as I get ready for my mom's memorial that will be held here.

After that I'll be able to get back to my blog. *happy feet*

I sincerely thank you for reading this post

and for entering the giveaway.

I hope that you come back often to see what I'm up to.

And, if you do, remember that leaving a comment

makes me do the happy dance!

Warmly,

        Jan

If, for whatever reason, you don't know how to get to the other (over 400) blogs participating

in the Grow Your Blog party, leave me a note in your comment and I'll get you there. :)

I TOLD FRANK I HAD FINALLY FIGURED IT OUT

The Tank and I were laying in bed the other night talking

about this and that.

One of the things I shared with him was that I had

 finally figured out Oprah's question that hadn't been

  weighing on my mind though I know

 she'd be so proud to know that I had finally figured it out.

I'm a stress eater.

But, I get ahead of myself...

Y'all know that mom moved to the ranch in the middle

of January this year for me to take care of her.

She moved here from a memory center

in Portage, Michigan, where she was residing because

she had onset vascular dementia.

So, we make it to the ranch a couple of weeks before

this............

drove up.

Oh, heavens, that was one big moving van. 

Before I became concerned as to how much room mom's

things were taking up inside the van, I derived a great

sense of satisfaction knowing that whomever was

driving by the ranch as this monster drove up the lane,

would be wondering why we were moving, where we

were moving, had we run out of money? goats?

Center Point is like so many other small towns in that respect.

The sight of this van driving up the lane would give

the old men that drink coffee at the local mini mart

great fodder. Still makes me smile when I think about it.

Here are some shots of mom's things.

Not all of them be any stretch, but, enough that you can

get an idea of what those men pulled out of that moving van.

Oh, the boxes.

The entire mess was supposed to fit into mom's

room - a really decent sized bedroom with a 

sitting area and attached bath. Lots of storage.

But, please! A whole house into a suite?

And, of course, she wanted to start going through

the boxes one...at...a...time, handling, touching,

caressing every...single...item...in...each...box.

This picture is of mom shortly after she arrived.

I remember when I looked at this photo that it struck

me as so odd -- my mom was "old", you know, 

a senior. I had never seen it in her before and 

maybe that's because she was never "sick" before, 

I don't know. But, though she looks different to me here, 

she's still beautiful and 85 this summer.

Mom has to use a walker to get around.

She is a bit frail and her sense of balance is

somewhat off. This is the safest way for her

to get around -- even when re-introducing herself

to the goats. 

So, mom has dementia, she's moved everything

she's ever owned to the ranch and

on top of that, after she had been here for a few 

weeks, she fell and sustained three hairline fractures

in these two bones that attach to the bottom of your

hips. Yeah.

Pain, such pain sitting, standing, sitting.

Nothing that can be done (in the way of surgery) 

and thank goodness she is almost healed and the

pain is lessening weekly because she has really been hurting.

However, even in the middle of hurting she manages to

dig out her sense of humor...the picture above is mom in

a sweat suit, hood up, topped by her heavy robe 

(and an asked for pathetic look) because she 

was/is/is always cold. Someone needs to tell her she's 

in south Texas now, not Michigan.

This picture was taken this Easter, just a couple of weeks ago.

We had just been to church to witness Blake, Clay and

their daddy's baptism (it was so cool).

Blake and Clay wanted a picture taken with Grammy once

we got home. Oh, and Sophie, too.

These are the moments I like to remember.

The ones I must remember to get through the

other moments that fill my days.

I remember growing up, into my adult years, always

fearful that one of my parents would get cancer and die.

The word "cancer" had always scared me and I could

picture having to live through one of my parents getting

sick with "the C word".

Never, however, did I or have I thought that one of my parents 

would develop dementia.

It's a condition that does no apparent 'physical' harm to the person

suffering from it because they don't know that there's

anything wrong. It's the children and all of those who love

my mom that have been the greatest affected.

She has moments with me where she will question "why"

in reference to her confusion and memory loss,

but, except for those moments, 

it's those of us that love her that are feeling

the most pain. And, I'm sure there are many of you

that can relate to that.

And to those of you that are the care givers or have been

the care giver, I know what you're feeling.

I know your frustration, your feelings of inadequacy,

your fear, your exhaustion, the pounds you've added

or the pounds you've lost, those moments of delight that

you share with your parent. I know all of it

and I pray for you as I hope you are praying for me

and all of the caregivers.

AN ALZHEIMER'S POEM

Do not ask me to remember

Don't try to make me understand

Let me rest and know you're with me

Kiss my cheek and hold my hand.

I'm confused beyond your concept

I am sad and sick and lost

All I know is that I need you

To be with me at all cost.

Do not lose your patience with me

Do not scold or curse or cry

I can't help the way I'm acting

Can't be different though I try.

Just remember that I need you

That the best of me is gone

Please don't fail to stand beside me

Love me until my life is done.

Amen.

IS IT ANY WONDER THAT I COUNT Y'ALL AS FRIENDS??

Is it any wonder that I count y'all as friends?

Is it any wonder that some of my closest friends are women that I've never met face to face?

Is it any wonder that I count several of my blog friends as "BFF's"?

No, it's no wonder.

A lot of you have been with me for several years as I've blogged about everything from my art, the things that I think are funny, and my medical adventures *though I admit that I haven't been as open with those as I have with other things* because. . . . .

I have always felt that if I was too open with y'all that I would be setting myself up for your distain, that you may feel like my blog isn't the place for me to tell the world (yeah, the whole world reads my blog - I have a lot of lurkers) about my boo-boo's;  you all have your own problems, you don't want to read about mine.

And, worst of all, I was a bit concerned that you might think I was complaining. I try so hard not to complain that it would kill me to have someone think *or worse, "comment"* that I was complaining. But, slowly I have started sharing my many medical adventures, though I will admit that I don't share them all, and so far no one has said anything negative.

And, the pictures you're looking at are representative *to me* of the friendships that I have made with other like minded artists through my blogging.

I happened to receive all of these treasures from my good friend, Deb Christensen of Dye-ing to be Yours, and when she read that I was having pretty serious surgery last week, she put together a box of well wishes to make me smile! She is someone that I met through blogging and I simply adore her. See what I mean??

I had foot surgery last week and spent three delight (Vicadin) filled days in the hospital, coming home on Friday afternoon; and I understand the fun is just beginning.

Deb's gift represents all of the kind words, cards, phone calls (my precious friend, Julie of Kitchen Floor Creations actually called me from New York. Shut up!) and one of my closest friends, Anne of Fiona and Twig, has called several times and has posted updates on my condition on her own blog.

And the one thing that touches my heart more than anything else?
All of the prayers that have been lifted up on my behalf by many of you. (And don't stop praying, heck, don't stop sending presents, just because the surgery is over - there's lots more to this medical adventure.)

(If you don't know exactly what I'm referring to, scroll back a couple of posts and read IT SUCKS TO BE ME.)

All of you are so very precious to me. I hope I've been able to convey that; my words seem inadequate to me somehow. 

Anyway, I love you and I cherish the friendships that I have made through blogging. (And lurkers, I love you, too.....pssst...Julie used to lurk...)

xoxo, Jan

.....love the Lord with all your heart.....

SO MUCH TO TELL YOU, SO MUCH TO SHOW YOU, TOO LITTLE TIME!

Okay, I gotta be honest with you - I am so sick of being on the computer that it is only my love for you that keeps me on it. I've been taking pictures of finished pieces, fixing the pieces with my software, uploading the pictures to my lollishop and describing, pricing, proofreading...it's enough to make one want to set themself on fire.

So, this post is going to cover a multitude of pieces that I've finished and are now for sale (I am nothing if I'm not subtle) in my lollishop and I can't help but throw in a couple of pictures of another one of my boys (Blake was in the last post).

This picture is of my oldest son, Craig, ummmm, let's see, he's 24, and his girlfriend, Janna. He's a policeman - he loves it; I don't talk about it - and his squeeze is a doll!

No, it's not a model - it's Craig.

I know, I know, it's confusing, but it's true. . . . . .

Is it a crime to describe your son as "a hunk"?

The rest of these pictures are of pieces I told you I've just listed in my lollishop.

They're self explanatory so I'll just let you browse through them and I'll go to bed.

Sounds like a plan!

Who doesn't love Marie Antoinette???

A set of almost funny tags:

A set of summertime tags:

A set perfect for that special friend:

The tag slides into this sleeve...

Oh, I have to tell you - the brown spot on the envelope below is a shadow from the fabric it's laying on - it looks like I laid my cigar too close to it, but really it's just a shadow.

This is a cute little tag (it has an envelope, but blogger just ate the picture of it. Stupid blogger):

Ahhhh, another delightful set:

Next precious (LOL) set:

Okay, that's it. I don't know how blogger is going to interrupt my spacing of pictures and font sizing, but you know what?? Tonight I'm too tired to care and I really need to get this posted.

.......Don't let their spill on my posting ruin the eye candy you've just enjoyed. ROTFPIMP!

Love my readers,

all the time!

XOXO, Jan Oh, good grief. Look what I just found way down at the bottom of this screen.

Well, here it stays. Like I said, I WANNA GO TO BED!