Waiting.......

It has been an eventful week here.  More than we asked for, but it is what it is!  DH had arthroscopic knee surgery a few weeks ago.  After he recovered he felt he could start walking again, so we started with about a mile a day in our (hilly) neighborhood.  He was slightly out of breath going up the hills from the beginning, but the last time we walked (about 10 days ago) he was so out of breath he could hardly make it up the last hill and we had to stop a couple of times.  This shortness of breath continued the next couple of days and was accompanied by some chest pain, so last Monday after I went to work he drove himself to the doctor.  His EKG and heart enzymes were not normal, so they transported him by ambulance to the ER. 

The doctor felt he had already had a mild heart attack, so they started him on nitroglycerine, heparin, and plavix.  He was admitted into CCU and a heart catherization was scheduled for Wednesday.  We were hopeful that they could put in a stent, he would stay 24 hours and then go home - but, we are still here!

Unfortunately, he had too many blockages for the angioplasty and stent to work so he is waiting for open heart surgery tomorrow (Monday) morning.  They will do at least 3 bypasses, maybe 4.  We were hoping for Friday, but because he had so many blood thinners they had to wait.  He is not having any pain and they moved him to a regular room and took off the IV's so he can move around, but he is really bored and tired of being here!  Not a patient person to begin with, this is trying for him to say the least, but he is doing his best to stay cheerful.  I wish I had thought to bring my camera cable, I would give you a picture!

Tomorrow however it will get much for exciting and I don't think bored will be his condition!  Today we had the cardiac education film about the surgery and tonight they will start getting him ready.  He dreads it, but will be glad for it to be over. 

Right now he is watching the Nascar race which will help the day go faster.  Oh yeah - he would really like a hamburger or bacon and eggs - I'm afraid those days are pretty much over!

Keep him in your prayers!

Estate Sale Finds

I've never been a fan of "modern" furniture or decorating. By that I mean the old modern, which I thought of as chrome, glass, leather, etc. I always preferred a cozier look. However, I watch a lot of decorating shows and really like the new streamlined look. Dark straight line furniture, simple, decluttered, and calming. I keep telling myself that is my goal and I am going to start the decluttering - tomorrow. Apparently, I need an intervention. I love sales and yesterday I saw two estate sales advertised. DH and I went and I couldn't resist a few small finds. Now I have to find something else to get rid of.   Here are my purchases......

An English mug.

A Chinese flower pot/vase.

A Japanese teacup.

A wooden Japanese tray.

 

A white and blue small crock - I'm sure I have a use for it somewhere!

And these two deer carvings, which I haven't even cleaned up yet.  I thought I could surely use these in something for Christmas.

 

I found so many other things I would have loved - but did restrain myself.  One of the sales was the home of a local artist.  Everything in the house was for sale and she had many treasures.  Lots of them were very elegant and not my style at all, but I did find the teacup and tray and mug there.  There were whole sets of dishes, silver, glassware, paintings, furniture, clothes, art supplies and her collections.   

The other sale is going to be done in sections.  The family is pricing and filling up the garage a little at a time and plan other sales in the coming months.  I'll be going back! 

It's That Time Again...

Fall is by far my favorite time of the year. I love the weather, the turning leaves, all of the festivals and food and the decorations. Yesterday I thought it was time to get out the fall decorations and add a little color. I can now leave all this out till after Thanksgiving, when it will be time for Christmas - can you believe it?





Next weekend I hope to get some mums for the outside. The weather has just been beautiful the last week - I love it!

I TIVO Ophrah - sometimes watch it later and sometimes just delete, but yesterday I decided to watch the kickoff for her 24th year which she held on Michigan avenue in Chicago. The Black Eyed Peas were guests and this video is amazing. Oprah apparently didn't know this was planned.




They advertised for people who like to dance, got 800 applicants, and taught them the dance, then situated them throughout the crowd to teach everyone else.

Labor Day Weekend

Hope everyone will have a safe and relaxing weekend. We have the grandchildren here so ours isn't exactly relaxing, but the little one is 2 1/2 so that should explain that. Yesterday she was the perfect child, but this morning had a full-out meltdown so we are just trying to go with it. The other grandparents have them for the day, so we get a little break, but I actually miss them!

They are going on an outing today and after a little struggle with her hair (long, fine and with growing out bangs - ane I'm totally out of practice) she looked really cute this morning so I got out the camera and that is when the tantrum started. She wanted to hold the camera, didn't want her picture taken, and ended up doing what my son calls her cockroach imitation - which is on the floor, arms and legs going in all directions, screaming and crying. We just ignored her and eventually she calmed down! I know this isn't uncommon for 2 year olds, but I don't remember it much with my kids (maybe that's selective memory?) or the older granddaughter. This one definitely has a strong personality and hopefully that will be to her advantage later!

Just before they got here Thursday night, I actually finished the Waltz Scarf. Rather than lace yarn, I knitted it with Malabrigo sock yarn, so it is a little thicker, but very soft and cushy and one skein actually worked. I used all but about 6 inches, so none was wasted! I would do this again.

Before soaking or blocking.

And after........

I've started an afghan for B, the older granddaughter, at her request, but I'm still working out the pattern, so I'll have pictures later.

I think I am going to take a nap now - regroup before the gang gets back this afternoon!

Welcome Home LaiCie

This sweet little angel has only been with her new mom and dad 2 weeks and only back in the US 30 hours or so, but she has captured a lot of hearts! Her mom brought her by work yesterday and we started out being very careful, because she has been through a lot and still bonding, so we didn't want to upset her or touch or hold her if it wasn't the right thing to do. It quickly became evident that she is already very attached to her mommy, very comfortable with everyone and going to be a live wire! She blew bubbles, threw kisses, squeeled and laughed, showing her dimples (which I couldn't capture).
She is beautiful and very smart! She definitely likes her Cheerios and had great fine motor skills! At ten months she is sitting alone and often that's not the case for babies who have been in orphanages and cribs most of their lives. I just know that soon she will be crawling and pulling up and right on track.

We all fell in love! She is the cutest, happiest baby girl you could ever want. None of us got much work done and we just stood and watched and loved her. She is such a blessing! Her mom and dad know how blessed they are - even after a long 4 year wait. They had a great (but long) trip to China to get her and are thanking God for her! She is also very blessed and she will now have a great home!

Let's hope China will speed up the process and get more of these children out of orphanages and into homes where they can be loved! (Especially my granddaughter!)

Thank Goodness for Saturday

Is it just me, or does anyone else wish their life away waiting for the weekend? I have been very tired this week. Last weekend the children and grandchildren were here (B had been here for the past 3 weeks and her mom, dad, and little sister came to get her), so even though I love having them, it takes me a few days to recover. Also, for some reason I am having trouble falling asleep. This happens for awhile, then gets better, but while it is happening, it is miserable. Often I lie there for 2 hours or more tossing and turning with my mind going crazy. Makes for long nights and days!

Thank goodness for the weekend - I slept a little later this morning, did just a little housework then met daughter at the movies to see Julie & Julia. SO GOOD! I highly recommend it. It is laugh-out-loud funny and Meryl Streep is fabulous as Julia Child. Also it is about food and blogging - how could I not like it? Near the beginning of the movie Julie cooks a bruschetta-looking thing, where she cooks the bread in butter and then puts tomatoes, etc. on it and it looks delicious. Anybody have a similar recipe?

Just have to post a picture of N from the weekend. She is the most nurturing little girl. She babies everything! She loves to carry, rock, comfort, and cover with blankets, all her dolls and stuffed animals. She is very inventive too. Boxes become beds, dish towels can be blankets. Here she took a little basket I got at the dollar store and it became Elmo's carrier. She took very good care of him.

Notice her Dora dress!

And now a special prayer request. I've been reading about this family since Jonah was born with a rare genetic skin disorder, EB. He is the sweetest little thing, but has so much to go through. Please keep him in your prayers.

In China Now!

After a LONG 4 year wait, a co-worker (and friend) and her husband are now in China picking up their beautiful baby girl, LaiCie. Last week we gave her a shower at work, which was lots of fun. They got some great gifts.


This is their beautiful little girl.


Part of the food table with cherry blossom decorations. We had some great food.

Some of the other table decorations.

Everyone got fortune cookies for favors.

Look at this cute panda cake that Linda made. Brenda and L.C. decided not to cut it yet, but freeze it and bring it out in October for LaiCie's 1st birthday. We ate the sheet cake!

Even though I begged, Brenda isn't doing a blog while she is in China so we can't follow along, but they have promised to email us updates. They should have arrived in China sometime early this morning so I'm assuming they are very tired today. The next couple of days will be sightseeing in Bejing, then sometime this weekend they will fly to Nanching and their lives will change forever. Keep them in your prayers. We hope they are having a wonderful time!