Crafty Again

At long last, after what seems like a very long time, I've actually gotten to sit down and craft something besides meals. It feels good. I enjoy working with my hands, and when I don't get to play I feel a little frustrated. Here is my latest project. The wood letter blocks are from "Cut It Out", paper is from "Sweetwater" and "Making Memories". Ribbon is something out of the ribbon jar, and was a gift wrapper in a previous life. The jingle bells are from "The Bead Hive".

I'm SOOO ready for tomorrow. I love putting out the December decor.

Bring It On

The kids all left yesterday for their respective homes, and it got mighty quiet around here yesterday afternoon. It was the perfect opportunity to look ahead to the Christmas season, and start making a few plans. I was able to unlock most of the Christmas music on the computer and synch my IPod with Christmas music, so it's been playing most of today, and I started another craft project. It's another wood letter project from "Cut It Out", and I did the staining of the letters this afternoon. It's my goal to trace, cut out and adhere the papers to the letters tomorrow, then I can take a picture of the finished product. I wanted to work on this while I was recuperating,  but Thanksgiving came right in the middle of my recovery. I've been pretty busy the last two weeks, and it's worn me out. Luckily I had a follow-up doctor appointment this morning and my doctor assured me that I'm doing well in my recuperation. She also reminded me that I had major surgery and I still need to rest and not work too hard.

While Jessie and Todd were here, we found a few things we want to make for the baby, so I have a few future projects to work on after the first of the year. I also have some maternity sewing to do for Jessie, if I can swing it. It'll be hard to sew for her long distance, but I'll try a couple of things. It's not the sewing that is the problem, but not having her here to try things on.

I bought a couple more tiny nativity sets this afternoon, and I can't wait to put them out. I love planning for the holidays, and I'm very ready to finish November tomorrow and get started with December.

Whew!

I'm not sure when Thanksgiving Day ceased to be a holiday in its own right, and became just a milestone to be reached, but while I did enjoy the day yesterday, I'm glad it's over. Maybe it's because there is so much food involved, and I don't enjoy cooking. Maybe because yesterday was one of the very few times that we've hosted and I knew that the bulk of the responsibility for EVERYTHING rested on me. Maybe because I'm still recuperating, and while I'm feeling really well, I still do too much and tire very easily. Maybe because of what looms ahead. Whatever the reason, I love Thanksgiving but I'm glad it's over.

We did have a wonderful day. All of the kids are home, and it's been fun to have them here. Mom and dad came to have dinner with us, and we very much enjoyed having them here. Everyone did help with the dinner, and it came off without a hitch, and right on schedule. It was also delicious. Of course, I forgot to take any pictures of us or the food, so there are no pictures in a  post AGAIN. Maybe I can catch some of us eating leftovers. Or pie for breakfast, or gathered playing games.

There is much for which I'm thankful, and we are very blessed.

Let us eat pie!

And the List Goes On...

I keep thinking of more things for which I am thankful. Today is a good day. I'm feeling well, and that is good. I take good health for granted, and when I'm feeling low, I try to remember to be thankful for a strong, healthy body. It's been reassuring to have undergone a whole slew of medical tests within the last two weeks and find out that the results have been overwhelmingly in the positive. Even a minor, temporary blip on a scan turned out to be nothing, which made my knees go weak with gratitude. I have realized that when our knees go weak and watery, it is to give us the opportunity to thank our loving Father for blessings small and large. So, high on my thankful list is strong healthy bodies for myself and my family members, large, medium, small and smallest.

I'm thankful for a home which houses and shelters my family. It's a small house, not at all pretentious, but it is ours (and the bank's, but they are so willing to share with us) and as our first, especially precious to me. It provides a place for those I love to gather and spend time and create memories.

I'm thankful for my husband's job. It gives him something to do everyday so that he can come home to me in the evenings. It provides us with our home, food, beds and clothing. It is a big blessing, especially in these uncertain times, and I'm glad for it.

My list is longer than this blog posting, and grows more every day, and I am thankful to have a long list of blessings. Grazie a Dio.

"There's So Much to Be Thankful For"

I just looked at the calendar and realized it's only been two weeks since my medical hullaballoo began. What a busy two weeks! I met with my new doctor on the 1st of November, and she was able to answer so many of the questions about my health that have plagued me for years. Some of the answers involved new medication, which I'm more than happy to have, and other answers involved surgery, which was scheduled for the next week, on the 9th of November. It's been a week since the surgery, and as with most major surgeries, it's going to be a long, slow recovery, but I'm feeling very good and am confident that my recuperation will be a successful one. I just need to remember to take things very slowly, not push myself to do too much, too soon and keep taking the meds.

We are coming up on the home stretch before Thanksgiving, and I'm so looking forward to having my whole family home for the holiday. Kids will start trickling in this Friday, and everyone will be here by next Tuesday night. We even get to have our niece, Laura Jean, spend the holiday with us, so we're just going to rope her into the mix. (The big advantage to having 6 other able-bodied people in the house will be that they'll all be a help and won't need to be waited upon hand and foot--they can wait on me!) We've also invited Mom and Dad to have dinner with us, so we'll have a whole pile of people around the dinner table.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I begin my list of things for which I am thankful--A beautiful, loving and supportive family; having the priesthood in my home; modern medical technology and doctors who know how to use it; ibuprofen; the opportunity to be a grandma--soon! There are, of course, many more things, but these head the list. I'll mention more in the posts to come.

Catch You on the Flip Side

I've had some health issues come up recently that I've been dealing with this last week, and it has literally consumed my time and attention. Everything is going to be fine, but I'm lying low for the next week or so, and probably won't be posting for a few days. All is well, all is well.

Third Time's the Charm

This is the complete repair of our closet. About a week after we did the first repair of our closet, Tad noticed the bolts were pulling out of the wall, but nothing had fallen down--yet. Based on our previous experience, it would probably have been in the middle of the night again. Drastic measures were called for, and Tad cut 4 wood braces,

used butterfly toggle bolts to bolt them into the closet wall, and then used more big bolts to support the actual closet rod brackets. Those closet rods are NOT coming down now.

Thanks, again, honey.

So Nice

We replaced our living room window a couple of years ago with a new, better, more insulative model, and have loved it--on the inside. The outside wasn't finished around the edges. The insulation was hanging out, there were gaps, it just didn't look pretty.

(The bottom of the window is complete, the side is not yet.)

Well, my sweet Tad has again worked his magic around the house and now we have this.

Very nice. A tiny bit of caulk will seal those joins and keep out the weather. Now we know how to finish the bedroom windows, too.