I'm Home

It's been so long since I've posted. There have been different things going on, but the most recent was that on Thursday, evening I went to the emergency room experiencing heart palpitations that did not go away. I was diagnosed with aterial filibration. It's where you take spells where the top part of your heart quivers and the bottom part just beats however it wants to. These spells can last anywhere from a few seconds, to a few minutes, to a few hours. One of the major risks is risk of stroke because in the top part of your heart, if the blood pools and does not circulate, then you can form clots which can go to your brain and cause a stroke or they may go elsewhere in your body. The doctor's said I was a very low risk for stroke. They said being so young (bless them!) that my younger age was on my side. The risk for me is high blood pressure, but when I lose the weight they said bp would go down, cholesterol, glucose and all of it. They also said that losing weight will help this condition (aterial filabration) considerably.

So, once and for all, I'm losing weight. I have made up my mind and sweets and carbs just don't appeal to me anymore. Now after all this and the problems that Eddie's mom has had. This has been a real wakeup call for me. I'm just really aggravated that I haven't done it before now. I just kept thinking that I needed junk food because I was either bored, stressed, whatever. Now I know I don't need that junk. I'll just find another, healthier way to deal with boredom and stress because, believe me, nothing, and I mean nothing is more stressful than going to the emergency room with heart palpitations and not knowing what's going on.

I saw 3 different doctors while I was in there. Two of them (all of them work with my regular cardiologist) told me that I wasn't ready for cumidin (a blood thinner) yet, and my regular cardiologist said I was. The cumidin is to keep the blood flowing so that there is no risk of clots. Because I sometimes have nose bleeds because of dry nasal passage and sometime am a free bleeder anyway in that situation, I talked my regular cardiologist outof giving me cumidin at this time. He agreed to let me take a 325 mg aspirin a day and he raised the milligrams on by bp. My bp medication also helps lower my heartbeat, which will help. He said if I have another episode that I would have to go on the cumidin. I don't really want to go on cumidin unless I absolutely have to. The other doctors adopted a wait and see how it goes attitude. They advise not going on cumidin unless absolutely necessary. So, there you have it ... two different opinions. Now, I was getting depressed about this condition, sitting around, lying around listening to my heartbeat and wondering when the next episode is coming and what should I do if it does; wondering if I can return to my normal routine etc., walking, work, etc. I was beginning to be afraid of getting up and doing anything for fear of another one coming. The last doctor I talked to today, relieved some of my fears. He said that he could guarantee that I will have another one. He said there is no way to know when. It could be 5 days, 5 months, or 5 years. He said he has patients that come in for their regular checkup and tell him they had 2 a month and one lasted 3 hours and the other lasted 6 hours. He said you don't necessarily have to go the emergency room, when one comes along. He said you can wait it out and your heart will eventually return to it's normal rhythm, unless you have chest pains, shortness of breath and I had none of that. I had none of those symptoms. All of the doctors said my heart enzymes looked good, my heart channels and valves are fine and that I'm at low risk for stroke at this time. He said they don't like to put people on cumidin unless they are at high risk. So, I don't really understand why my regular cardiologist was adamant that I go on it. The first one who saw me said that it's powerful stuff and he also agreed that he didn't think I was ready for it yet. My regular cardiologist said we can try the aspirin a day for now, but if I have another episode he said I'll have to go on cumidin. I'm not sure how I feel about this "have to" stuff. I think I should have some choices about things. I'm hoping that with losing weight and all of my risk factors going down, that it will significantly reduce my risk of stroke with these things.

It's frustrating and depressing to get different opinions from 3 different doctors, all of whom supposedly work together. I guess they all have their own ideas of how to approach something, but it doesn't make things any easier for me.

Sad

Last Thursday Eddie's mom had a mild heart attack. She was admitted to the hospital and an arteriorgram was scheduled for the next day. The test showed that she has 4 blocked arteries. One is 100% blocked, one is 90%, one is 95% and the other one is 60%. The doctors said the only way to fix the blockages was to do open heart surgery. None of the doctor's could agree on how big a risk this is for a woman her age (86). They said it should be her decision, but there was concern that she might have a stroke while undergoing the operation. It is just a risk no matter what she decided to do.

She decided today to not have the surgery. Without it, she could pass on at any time if she has another heart attack or stroke. The doctors are not optimistic. They have arranged for Hospice to come to her house. She is being released from the hospital today and Eddie is taking her home.

Etsy: The Handmade's Tale

A Few of My Favorite Things

I was looking at my cousin's myspace page today and I noticed the song she put on her page is "A Few of My Favorite Things" sung by Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. I remember this movie from my childhood, along with Mary Poppins. I loved these movies. Fortunately, I have them both and can watch them any time I want to. Here is a video I found on Youtube.

No More Free Vogart Embroidery Patterns

I have some information about why some of the free embroidery patterns did not show up in Flickr from my previous entry about free pillowcase patterns. See Floresita's blog post here. I just realized that the finished pillowcase that I posted a picture of in my blog is one of the patterns that has been withdrawn. I really hate that she had to do pull the patterns, but I also understand why.

I've been working on some more tote bags. See my new listings here. I've really had alot of fun making these tote bags and I hope to make some more soon.

New Tote Bag and Embroidery

I just added a new tote bag to my Etsy shop. You can find it here.

I also want to show you what I've been working on the past couple of weeks. I have been looking at lots of free embroidery patterns for pillowcases on the Internet and I found this wonderful blog. Well, shoot, I just went to the site and realized that some of the photos of the patterns are not available in Flickr. So, hopefully, this is just a Flickr problem and not that the blog owner decided not to offer them for free anymore. Yikes! I'll keep a check on that and let you know later.

Anyway,I found a pretty pattern from that blog that I wanted to try and I wanted to show you the results. First, I found a pair of king size lavender pillowcases at Big Lots that were Wamsutta and 100% combed cotton for $3.00 a pair. Now, you know I couldn't pass that up, so I bought them to embroider for my mother-in-law for Christmas. This is the result:


The picture really doesn't do the pillowcase color justice. It's a really pretty soft lavender color. The embroidery shows up much better in person.

After I made these for my mother-in-law, I loved them so much that I decided to make a pair for me and Eddie. I've finished one of them and I'm working on the other one. I think the embroidery shows up much better on the white.


It was really busy at work last week. Our classes started at the college where I work and I have been busy, busy training new student help to work in our library. The first couple of weeks are always hectic, so I hope that within the next couple of weeks things settle down some.

I've also been practicing my piano. So far, I can play Frere Jacques and Merrily We Roll Along with both hands. ha ha It's not much at this point, but it's fun and I think I'm making progress.

Musical Dad

I mentioned last week sometime that I had ordered a keyboard to learn to play the piano. I have a couple of books and I've been teaching myself. I've learned alot. I'm beginning to learn how to play with both hands and some coordination techniques.

In thinking about this endeavor, I can't help but think about my dad, who was a very talented, musical person. He could play the banjo, guitar, piano, mandolin, harmonica and probably any musical instrument he could get his hands on ... all by ear. It's a gift. A cousin of mine has the gift too, but I don't know yet if I have it. Time will tell. I just thought I would share this picture of my dad playing the piano. It's a really old picture, probably from the 40's or early 50's. I speak of him in the past tense because he passed away 15 years ago in 1993. I sure do miss him.

New Projects

I have a few flapper hats that I just finished and have added to my Etsy shop.




I was looking through my quilting and sewing patterns the other day and came across a pattern for a Yo-Yo Santa. I've been meaning to make this for a couple of years, so I decided to make it and here it is.


I really had alot of fun making this and I think it turned out really cute. I'm not sure I want to make another one, though. All those yo-yo's. Whew! But they are cute on his beard.

Another thing I've been wanting to do for a really long time is learn to play a musical instrument. Last year I really wanted to get a hammered dulcimer and learn to play it, but unfortunately, our budget wouldn't allow it. We had several things come up throughout the year this year that prevented me from spending the money for it. Well, when you have bills and unexpected necessary expenses, you have to put your priorities in order, and buying a dulcimer just wasn't on that list. It was more of a luxury item. So, this year I decided to learn the play the piano. I have gone back and forth about whether to buy a regular size piano or a good, economical keyboard. Since we really didn't want to deal with the hassle of a regular size piano, I decided to start out with a digital keyboard. I've been researching keyboards for a week or more and finally decided on a Yamaha PSR E313. This is what it looks like.


It's only 61 keys compared to 88 keys on a regular piano, but this will be sufficient for me to start out with learning. Later on, if I decide to, I can always get a piano, but for now, I think this will work. I had to order it, and its been shipped, so I hope to get it some time this week.

Free Vintage Embroidery Transfers

I found a wonderful blog that has free vintage embroidery transfers. You can find it here. Lots and lots of free vintage embroidery patterns.

Kitty Embroidery Pillow

There is a very sweet lady that I work with who is our cleaning lady. She likes to embroider pillowcases, table scarves and things like that. Yesterday she brought in a cute kitty embroidery pattern to show me that someone had given her. The pattern is already stamped on some fabric for her. Well, you know how I love kitties, so I asked her if I could borrow it and trace a pattern off for myself and she graciously let me borrow it. I traced it last night onto some tracing paper and here it is.


I haven't had a chance to trace the pattern onto fabric yet, but I can't wait to get it on some fabric so I can start working on it. I just love it! I'm sure this is going to be my next embroidery project.

Stitched (or Embroidered) Greeting Cards

I've been working on some stitched greeting cards using some patterns that I found at Stitching Cards. They have some wonderful free patterns as well as some you can buy either individually or in sets. I first thought that I might make some to sell in my Etsy shop, but then I decided that maybe I would just make a few to have on hand in case of baby showers, weddings, and things like that. Here are a few of the cards I've made. I think my favorites are the baby carriages.

Spring Creek Retreat

Hi everyone! We got back from Spring Creek Retreat late Sunday afternoon. I've been so busy since then that I haven't had the time to post any pictures or anything. I have 2 videos to show you and some photos that I took.

First, I want to show you the room that we slept in. It had a king size bed, which was wonderful. Now I want a king size bed.


Then I couldn't resist showing you this lovely wall hanging that the owner of Spring Creek Retreat made.


Next, I have to share one of my favorite things about Spring Creek and it's the lovely, awesome shaped tree that stretches out over the deck at the creek house.





I love just lying back in the deck chair and gently rocking while gazing up through the tree's leaves.



The following pictures are of my family and friends frolicking in the creek.




This next picture is of my cousin, Cheyenne, with her Magic Stone that she found in the creek.


Next, are the pictures I took of the creek.




I couldn't resist taking this photo of this little weeping willow tree.


I love, love, love weeping willow trees. In fact, as I was leaving work last Wednesday afternoon before we went to Spring Creek, we were having a thundershower. As I was driving away from campus, I took this short video of a weeping willow tree we have on campus here. There is a small waterfall right behind the tree and you can't see it, but I hope you can hear it. You will be able to tell that I have a distinctive southern accent.



The other video that I want to share with you is one I took when I went down by myself to the creek. I love to just sit and listen to the creek. It's so relaxing. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I hope the video is not too blurry. Loading it into Youtube blurred it somewhat.

My Little Chickadee

We are going to Spring Creek Retreat this weekend and I should have been packing, but instead I was playing! I was playing around with painting this little chickadee.


He didn't come out as well as I wanted, but this was sort of a practice one. I used watercolor pencils and then lightly watered them down. The yellow on the chickadee's chest didn't come out as rich as I wanted it to. But, I drew another one and I plan to paint him while we are at Spring Creek this weekend.

I have been working with watercolors more and more and I'm beginning to get a better feel for them and how they respond. I hope to be able to make some more paintings using watercolors. I've used oils and acrylics and even played around with colored pencils, but for some reason I keep coming back to watercolors.

When I get back, I plan to put prints of one of my little chickadees in my shop as well as these prints.




I also hope to have a video to share, if I can figure out how to get it into Youtube and then on my blog.

Playing in the Rain

One of my favorite blogs is A Fanciful Twist. Vanessa has made a wonderful video that makes me want to go out and play in the rain. I love her ability to find joy in the simple things and be able to go outside and discover things with a childlike innocence. It reminds me that I need to just have fun. Pretend I'm a child again. Play and dance in the rain and reconnect with my soul.



We are going to Spring Creek Retreat this weekend for the first time in almost 2 years. I am so looking forward to it. I have missed it so much. I would love to make a video of me just lying on the deck of the Creek House and looking through the trees and of the water flowing over the creek rocks. It is the most peaceful relaxing place ever. My problem is that we have one of those old VHS recorders with a BIG camera. I'm not sure it's even working anymore. I would love to have a new one. I doubt if this one could be loaded into Youtube, darn it. I want so much for you to see how wonderful this place is.

Maybe I can figure something out before we leave.

Antiques Roadshow in Chattanooga, TN

This past weekend we were blessed with the opportunity to attend the Antiques Roadshow during it's stop in Chattanooga, TN. It was so much fun! Lots of standing and waiting, though.

I went with my sister-in-law and we each were allowed to take 2 items. She took her step-dad's 1952 Martin guitar. She also took a Japanese doll that her brother (my husband Eddie) sent to her when he was in the Navy in Vietnam. He was in Hong Kong on R&R and bought this doll and sent it to her. The appraiser said that alot of servicemen brought these dolls back after the conflict, so they are not very collectible. So, it turns out that it's really only as sentimental value to us. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of it, but I plan to take one soon, since I'm going to scrapbook this adventure.

I took a porcelain teapot that was Eddie's aunt's wedding pattern when she was married in the 1940's. Alot of those were made after WWII, so they are not very collectible either and only worth sentimental value. The other thing that I took is an antique folk art walking stick/cane that my maternal great-grandmother carved in the late 1800's. It's over 100 years old. I was pleasantly surprised at it's value.

I've posted here the pictures of us as well as the cane and the doll that my SIL took. I'm sad because I thought she was holding the doll up and she is not holding it up in the picture, so you can't really see what it looks like.

By the way, I'm the one holding the cane. You can also see the wagon that we used to hold all of our items. And I'm really sore today, that wagon was heavy, but I'm so glad we had it because we never would have made it through the day without it.

Summer Daisies

This morning I stopped at the grocery store on the way to work and I saw these pretty daisies. They were on sale for $2.79 a bunch. I really liked these and I bought them for my desk at work.

I had a coworker once who would buy a bouquet of flowers every week when she went to the grocery store to put on her desk at work. She said it was just something that she did for herself and it made her happy. I think that's an excellent idea. My problem is that I can never remember to do it. Besides, I don't do the grocery shoppping, Eddie does. Sometimes I go to the grocery store on the way to work to buy something special for lunch that I'd like to have. That's what happened this morning when I saw these.

The picture is not as clear as it could be because I took it with my camera phone, but I still think it came out pretty well.

I've been longing for a bouquet of sunflowers. I need to find some of those soon.

Little Book of Everyday Wishes

I was in the grocery store this morning and they had a bargain bin of books. I found this cute little book for only $3.00 and I bought it. The title is Little Book of Everyday Wishes.


It just looked like a charming little book with wonderful little illustrations. It begins in January and has a little wish for every day of the year.

I love books like this that help us remember to do the little things in life and to play. It sort of reminds me of another book that I bought awhile back called Permission to Nap.


I love this book. I'm a firm believer in taking naps. I think we need it to refresh ourselves and take care of ourselves. I wish we could all go back to kindergarten days when we all took an afternoon nap after lunch. It's too bad that our lives are so busy with jobs and other things that we can't take time for ourselves anymore. I can't take naps during the week while I'm at work, but nine times out of ten, as soon as I get home from work I crawl in my bed and take at least a 30 minute nap, sometimes more depending how tired I am. Never mind that I should be exercising instead of taking a nap. Phooey. Who wants to exercise when you can take a nap instead? I've decided to exercise on my lunch break, then I can go home and take that nap and not feel guilty.

Meet Me in St. Louis

Last night on Turner Classic Movies, Meet Me in St. Louis was on. I absolutely love this movie because of the storyline, the singing, the vivid, rich colors and the outfits or costumes, the cars, all of it. Here is a video clip from the party scene. It's one of my favorite parts of the movie.

The Rainbow

This morning I was reading one of my favorite blogs, A Fanciful Twist, and she was writing about a rainbow she saw when she was out for a drive. It was a beautiful rainbow and her post was all about listening to messages and taking time to stop and have adventures. Taking detours from our original plan to enjoy nature and just have fun.

It reminded me of a short little thing I wrote a couple of years ago when I was on my way to the grocery store and saw a beautiful rainbow. After I saw the rainbow that day, I was inspired to write about it.


One afternoon I was running some errands after work. It had been raining earlier that day and had stopped for awhile. I was sitting in my car at a red light and looked up and noticed a beautiful rainbow in the sky. I thought to myself, “I have to park someplace so I can look at this rainbow.” I had to stop at the grocery store, so I drove into the parking lot, parked and got out of my car. I just stood there with my car door open and looked up at the rainbow. I counted about seven different colors. I wished so badly that I had a camera so I could take a picture of it so I could go back and look at the beautiful colors later after the rainbow had faded.

While I was standing beside my car looking at the rainbow, I thought it was so rare and wonderful that I wondered if anyone else was looking at it too. I looked around me and, to my surprise, people seemed to be going about their business and no one seemed to notice the rainbow. I wondered how they could miss such a beautiful, rare occurrence. I wanted to shout to everyone, “Look! Look at that beautiful rainbow!” It made me wonder how people have gotten so busy with their lives that they don’t take the time to stop and smell the flowers, and notice the beautiful things that God has created for us. I stood looking at the rainbow until it had almost completely faded away, then I went into the grocery store to do my shopping.

I’m sure there are some who could explain the rainbow scientifically, but to me seeing a rainbow just proves without a shadow of a doubt in my mind that God does indeed exist in our lives and loves us. I have always believed in God as long as I can remember, but every time I see a beautiful rainbow it’s just like God is reminding me that he is indeed in my life and cares for me and takes care of me. My prayer is that other people will know and feel the same and that they will take the time to stop and notice the beautiful things around them that God has created.

Shop Update!

I've had so much fun! I've felt so much better this weekend and I decided to make some new things for the shop. I've made some shopper tote bags and I decided to put my whole cloth quilted wall hanging up for sale.

Here are all the things I've created and put in the shop and you can find it all right here.