Now What?

Well, today is the last day of my forties. It's been an interesting decade to say the least. The boys have all moved into adulthood and Hollis and I are still ridiculously crazy about each other. We are healthy, have great family and friends, jobs at which we feel successful and a church we adore. Nothing is perfect but I don't believe it's supposed to be so that doesn't really stress me out. I guess I am ambivalent about my fifties. I always say that you never know when you wake up in the morning what God has in store for you. Trite, maybe but so true. I love the surprises - mostly. I hope to see the boys grow into their potential and find what they want out of life. They sure are great guys (I won't pretend to be the least bit objective on the topic).

Shelley and I took our Coastal Shop Hop trip on Friday and Saturday.  We hit 6 quilt shops we'd never been to in 5 cities and found some pretty scenery and delicious food along the way.  It turns out 5 of the shops have an organized Shop Hop in February.  We are planning our return now. . .

I had a lovely birthday party Sunday evening. Lots of friends from life, church and work took the time to come eat with us and enjoy some time together. Morgan and Desiree put together a great Candy Bar and my mom lovingly baked 70 cupcakes and brought goodies for us to all top our own. It was great. Curtis worked his butt off in the South Texas heat and his life-long buddy Jordan ran burgers back and forth to all our guests. My sweet niece Katelyn came from Baton Rouge to celebrate with me and there were a couple of surprise guests at the party that really made my day. I felt very loved! That collection of people is what my life is about. Connections! It's all about the connections!

The rough patch of the weekend was pretty darned rough. We had to make the decision to put down a sweet, smart dog we have had since 1998 on Monday morning (she's the one on the step in the photo). She was injured beyond hope and it nearly broke my heart to tell the vet to do what had to be done. She died in my arms without any pain and Clayton (my rock for this event) carried her back to the Suburban and buried her up by the tank where she loved to play, when we got home. I miss her terribly. Her daughter, Cricket looks all over for her every time we come home. I was so blessed to have had her in my life. There will never be another one like her. No original thoughts here but my heart sure has been heavy over my Rhea pup. We all must value the time we have with those we love. It can end at any time!

So on to my fifties! I'm not scared! I'll keep on loving and believing in those around me and they will keep on loving me back. It'll be great - you'll see. . .

Anticipation - too much of a good thing?

June seems to have me in a constant state of anticipation.  First there is my birthday on the 30th.  I'm turning 50 this year so I decided to party hardy to celebrate.  I can't wait for the party this weekend.  It is going to be a great time with friends and family.  But getting back to the beginning of the month.  Harris got hurt June 2nd.  We spent a week in anticipation of surgery.  It went well other than the first few rough days and then we anticipated the removing of the stitches.  That happened today.  The doctors were very pleased with the look of things and they did indeed remove the stitches.  I started the quilt for our bed and it's going to take a while to finish.  Quilts usually get finished pretty quickly in my studio but my anticipation is dragging out a bit on this one.  I also have 2 show quilts that will be ready any day now and those will have to be bound and finished for the Quilt Show in late July.  Back in March or April, my sister decided that we needed to spend the 18th of June, which would have been our Dad's 70th birthday, together and somewhere fun.  She got us great seats to see Wicked last Friday night in Dallas.  Anticipation for that began when she ordered the tickets.  We had lunch on Friday at the American Girl Store (don't even get me started on what I'd buy, if I could, in that place), swam with the kids at the hotel, went to give Mr. Jobs some money for the coolest toy ever, Mom and I had a great dinner at a deli in Dallas before the show and then the wonderful music of Wicked.  It was all I anticipated and more.  Saturday morning I took the long way home so that I could visit some quilt shops.  Very fun for me!  I even conducted a mini-class at one of the shops on a cool way to make any striped fabric into a quilt - didn't anticipate that but sure enjoyed it.  This week Shelley and I are leaving early Friday morning to drive to the Texas coast by way of 3 towns with quilt shops we want to see and then we will drive home Saturday via a different route to take in a few more.  Serious anticipation there!  Sunday is my birthday party - I know, it's the anticipation theme again.  I am taking Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off and I have something planned for each day. I'm pretty much on anticipation overload.  I love having something new and unusual to look forward to but right now, I'd like to look forward to not much.  I'm just wondering if others have ever felt this way. Leave me a comment or two to describe. . . 

A General Malaise

So here's the state of things. Harris' first 24 hours at home has been pretty good. His pain is under control. He slept well last night and deep into the morning and he has been eating most of the stuff I throw his way. He is bored and dreads being bored for 2 more months and I don't blame him. Hopefully at his 2 week check-up he can get permission to drive. Unfortunately, his car is a standard and he only has one driving foot. We can work around that though. If he has some freedom, recovery will be much easier - for everyone! While he was in the hospital, I finished binding 3 (yes, three) quilts.

One was a gift for Desiree. Her birthday was yesterday and I took her quilt to her as her gift. I think it is safe to say she very loved it. It was bright pink and purple and yellow and green. Her boys will be quite envious! I have plans for them though - just give me some time. The second one is one of my show quilts - no peeking until July. The third is a king sized one for Alexis. It's only the second king sized quilt I've ever made but it really turned out well. Wonder Wilma (my magical quilter) used a multi-colored thread on the quilt and the backing and it shows up so beautifully on the back that the quilt is just about reversible. I'm thinking about letting Kathy take it to her next month. I like for someone to tell me about the reaction if I can't see it for myself. Anyhow, after 4 days of handwork and 3 finished projects to show for it, I was able to finish another craft project that is a surprise for another group of friends. Photos of that after the reveal in July. Now I have some decisions to make. Shall I begin the quilt for our new bed or shall I work on a birthday gift for Hollis' mom? I have all I need for either thing; I just can't decide which one to make. Oh and I have a wall hanging I want to make too. I've been busy most of the day but I just feel this general malaise. I hope tomorrow finds me inspired. . .

Unfun things - continued

Well, the fact is, you can make all the plans you like. God and the US Army will do as they like. We planned for Harris to have a pre-op appointment on Tuesday afternoon and be admitted early Wednesday morning for surgery on his heel. At the pre-op appointment, the doctors decided to admit him then so he would be first in line Wednesday morning. Harris had nothing with him for hospital admission. He doesn't need much so I just took a few items to him the next day. He was indeed the first case on Wednesday morning. Surgery took about 2 hours and we were on our way back to his room by just after lunch time. We then planned to have all the tubes - drainage coming out, meds going in and a couple of others - removed on Thursday morning and for him to be released. The epidural tube they used to numb him from the waist down came out easily first. Within an hour, the pain was getting pretty rough. He took oral meds and eventually got an IV dose of something but in the meantime, he was one miserable puppy. The ortho doc told us that this was one of the most painful breaks a person can have. By 1:00 this afternoon, Harris had sure moved it to near the top of his list. When the injection alone did not make a big enough dent in the pain, plans changed again. They hooked him back up to a pump that allows him to push the button every 6 minutes until he feels better. Thankfully by about 4:30, he was able to finish sentences and was not sending me to the nurses station every few minutes to ask when something was going to happen. His care has been excellent - this is a bad break and surgery. There's just no way to go through it without pain. Hollis brought us dinner about 5:30 and we both ate. I stayed until nearly 8 as I've done all 3 evenings and then headed home. I cannot imagine being there alone or I guess I should say, I cannot imagine leaving him there alone - he handles it just fine. This afternoon for distraction we both downloaded an app on our iPhones for Hangman. We put our phones in 2 player mode and gave each other words to figure out. We laughed - it was way better than those hours when he was hurting so badly. We are planning again to bring him home tomorrow. I just can't wait to see if God and the US Army have a similar plan!

Unfun things

If we want to share our lives on a blog, occasionally we have to share the unfun things. If you have issues with the word "unfun," please see my post about words. Today's unfun thing is Harris' new injury. Last night, right before dinner time, he jumped off the top of Curtis' car and now his left heel bone is in several pieces. His dad and I took him to BAMC (Brooke Army Medical Center) where he was x-rayed repeatedly and then given the news. The orthopaedic doctor on duty was on top of things and splinted the leg and foot in what the doctors today said was the best position for it. We got home right before 4:00 this morning and after 2 hours of sleep, Hollis got up and went to work and Harris awaited the phone call from the doc in ER about what his next move would be. The doc called about 8:00 and told us to be at the Ortho part of BAMC at 9:30. We did. They took all that casting off, looked carefully at Harris heel skin (risk of rupture is a great concern and big time complication - hopefully it won't happen) and then declared that he will need surgery on it next week. Pre-op meeting will be Tuesday, surgery on Wednesday and then a night or two in the hospital and back home. He will be in a cast for the first 2 weeks to allow incision healing and then in a removable one for 8 weeks or so without walking on it. Hopefully, by the time he starts school in the fall, he will be out of the cast. After 4 summers away, Harris was really looking forward to spending this one on the river. Oh well! He and I were both having flashbacks today as we moved around BAMC. They take very good care of him there but we didn't want to have to be taken care of again - if you know what I mean. Stay tuned. . .