Carl and doings

Good Evening all,

Carl continues to improve each day and the docs are happy with his progress. Today we visited the hospital so he could tell all of the people that helped him while he was there, "Thanks". He wasn't able to see everyone that took care of him, but he did get to see a few. He didn't even know where he was going because the last time he went from room to room and floor to floor he was looking at the ceiling as they wheeled him around in his bed. The floors were quiet because the snow birds have flown home and there are less of them to take care of. This happens every year during the summer. They close down different floors because there isn't enough people there to take care of.

Not much quilting going on just yet. I am in the process of making a couple wallhangings, but I have not pushed myself with it yet. I have also signed up for a couple more blocks to swap in 3 Sisters. They are a bunch of neat quilters. Not a lot of personal stuff going on that site, just swaps. I was going to post the pics I have of the blocks I have already swapped, but I haven't downloaded them from my camera yet. I need some time to do that 'cause I make sure that I put them in the correct folders and label them when I download. That is the only way I am able to keep them organized.

It won't be long now before I am in NY state at my daughters wedding. The days just seem to fly right on by. I received her invite today so I know the date & time LOL....... I did manage to find an outfit to wear, but now I need to get a pair of shoes to match and I want to get my nails done before I fly back. I guess I had better get my buns in gear as I only have a month left to get this stuff done. I sure hope it isn't wet and nasty while I am back there.

Happy Quilting,
Sharon

Slowing down

Good evening all, The excitement of the past month has calmed some. Carl's appointments with the doctors have gone well & they are amazed at his progress. All are surprised that he doesn't have pain in the chest area from the surgery. He notices when he is doing something he should not do because his ribs and sternum let him know. A couple nights ago I went out & was trimming a bush next to the driveway and he just raked the debris out into the driveway & it really tired him out. The next morning he felt every pull of the rake in his legs and arms. That is the most work he has done in a month!! He is able to walk longer without running out of air and is feeling much better. Yahoo!!!

I have finally returned to my sewing/quilting room the past 2 days. It has been hard to get back into my routine with Carl home. I enjoy spending time with him and find it hard to quilt. I do have an incentive though, I am in a couple swaps that I must get done and in the mail. At Quilt in a Day, I am hosting a 5 inch fabric swap (they are called 'Nickles') and packages are arriving everyday, waiting for a 'White Elephant' box to arrive, and at the beginning of next month I am going to be doing a 'Sew Along' swap and finally my next birthday block is due at the end of next month. I have that block done & I think I'll send it out early so I don't have to worry about it while I am in New York at my daughters wedding. I am also involved in 3 Sisters Cyber Quilting block swaps. I have one left to get out before the end of the month and I started working on that this morning. If nothing else the deadlines encourage me to get back into the swing of things. Can you believe that I haven't bought any fabric is the past 2 weeks??? Neither can I. I may go into withdrawl. I am trying to be very good while Carl is out of work. I am very thankful he got Aflac a few years ago because it sure has been a blessing for us twice. The first time was when he tried to cut his thumb off with a hole saw. He was out of work for 6 weeks that time.

Here is the block I am making from the 'Nickle' swap. I am going to make a king sized quilt for our bed. I thought I had enough, but most of my stash was repeats & I wanted lots of 'scraps'. So I called on my quilting buddies to help me out.



Happy Quilting,
Sharon

Bad News/Good News

Morning all!!! It sure has been a busy couple weeks since I posted last time.

First, I managed to get a quilt top done and get all of my block swap obligations done. Then the world almost fell out from underneath me.

My husband, Carl, needed to go to the MD for a heart catherization on the 21st of April. We didn't expect anything big to go on with this test. We sure found out that we thought wrong!!! After he had the test done the doc told him, 'we're going to cut you open' and he told me he needs heart bypass surgery, 'in the next couple of days'. He had 4 arteries that were 90% blocked!!Talk about a surprise!!! So, off we go to Boswell Hospital to have Carl admitted for surgery. So, on Wednesday morning off he goes to surgery for the next 4 hours with me sitting reading and praying. I saw him for a couple minutes after he was settled in his room after surgery then I came home for awhile to let the staff do what needed to be done without me under foot. I returned that night after the vent was removed and he was sitting up in a chair. I don't think he remembered much about that night, but he was doing real well. Each day he was in the hospital we saw improvements and there was another heart patient that decided that Carl was his inspiration. Carl spent 4 nights in ICU and 2 nights on the regular floor. The last couple nights he had heartburn real bad and really didn't want to eat much, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to come home if he didn't. So, finally on the 27th of April we came home. I'm not sure if he slept any better in his own bed last night or not. I do know he was sound asleep when I went to bed & I woke up about midnight and he was out and about. He is taking it easy and following all of the doctors instructions. Neither one of us want him to have to go back into the hospital because he pushed to far to fast. Now we are on to the next step of the 'bump' in our road. Getting all the appointments set up & making arrangements to get him there. 2 down 1 to go.....

Thanks to all for all the prayers, well wishes and answered calls for help given to us through this time. It has been amazing to me the blessings Heavenly Father has given us through all of this. He has been giving us inspirations over the past 3 or 4 years in preparation for this 'bump' so that we could keep our heads afloat. I am so glad we were able to hear the whisperings of the Spirit and acted on them.

On to our next 'bump',
Sharon

Good afternoon all!!! I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted anything. It doesn't surprise me though, 'cause I have been busy, busy, busy. I have finished 2 'Star' sampler quilts, made and mailed off 2 different blocks for my swaps, made 8 blocks for another swap, readied them for mailing, and started blocks for a quilt for our king sized bed and attended another class with Kaye Wood. She is so much fun and I can't wait for her to come back to the valley so I can take another class from her. This class certified me to teach quilting with her Starmaker 8 ruler.

I am not going to add all the housework I did NOT do...... I know my floors need attention, but they will just get dirty again... I at least found out what was wrong with my steam cleaner. I had a new switch put in when we moved in up here, but it wouldn't steam. Well, the switch that was put in wasn't high enough when the button was pushed to actually turn the foolish thing on. Now I just need enough ambition to put it to work. It will make cleaning these tile floors much easier. My darling husband has been doing the mopping for the last few months for me because it was such a chore.

We have finally settled with the insurance company about the auto accident. It was a fight to get them to understand that the van we were in was not just a conversion van, but had A LOT of extra work done on it. After we found out the magic words to tell them it went much better. Can you imagine the words 'dropped floor' with wheel chair ramp worked much better than 'handicapped van'. We would have gotten this taken care of a long time ago if we had known the 'magic' works!!

We have our tickets for Julie's wedding. We got a smoking deal on ticket into Ithaca, (which for those that don't know where that is) is about 20 miles from where we need to be. Usually we fly into Buffalo which is about 150 miles from where we need to be. I am starting to get excited about seeing the 'girls'. I received a flyer from Jo-Anns Etc today and found lots of things to do with them while Mom & Dad are out having fun. I am going to wait to pick up any of my ideas until we get there because we have to pay extra for our baggage. I sure don't want to have to pay the second bag fee just because I have lots of 'stuff' I want to do with them. I have a few other things I want to do while I am there, but I'll have to wait to see if I have time to do everything. At least it is just visiting family because we don't need to visit sights because we lived there for so long.

We had a quiet weekend this past weekend. The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 179th annual conference was aired on TV. Some great messages and warnings were given. Concerns about the state of finances and readiness for other disasters were talked about with good counsel for all to take to heart. Then yesterday Carl and I were set apart for our calling. We are 'Baptism Clothing Coordinators for the Peoria North Stake'. We will be opening the Chapel for the monthly Stake Baptisms, making sure that everyone that is getting baptised has the right outfit and then wash it afterwards.

Tomorrow is Ella's birthday!!! Happy Birthday Ella!!!! I hope you have a great day. I can't believe the number of years that have gone by since she was born....... It just seems like yesterday! Well, it seems only yesterday that Julie was born, so I guess I AM getting OLD!!!

Talk about old---Coby's birthday is TODAY!!!! He is a young, 36!!! Yes, I had to do the math for that one. I am lucky I can remember the year he was born to DO the math~~~~

Well, I am off to fix supper. Yes, you read right, me cooking----NOT, just salad for Judy & me. I think I can handle that.

Happy Quilting,
Sharon

Happy St. Pat's Day!!

I hope everyone is having a great day today!!! Nothing special going on here, but the weather is beautiful!! We have had the bedroom door open every night the past few nights & it is great. Carl put on a regular screen door so we don't have the bugs coming in and then he put a cat door in so the cat isn't bugging us to go out all night. I sure have been sleeping much better since the cat can go out when she wants!!

I also want to wish Isaac a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! He's one of the cute guys in the family that lives in California. I hope you have a great day, Isaac!!

I suppose I need to get busy, Judy has company coming and we thought they'd be here later, but I just received a phone call saying they are close. Yikes!!! I am glad I don't have to entertain them after I let them in the door. I can finish with the beginning of my day.

Happy Quilting,
Sharon

Good Morning All!

This morning is quiet. No running to be done, no kids around and husband at work. I am cleaning up the e-mail and getting a couple loads of wash done then I am hitting the sewing machine.
I have one quilt loaded ('Fall Trees with Ease') on the frame
and one on the design wall ('Pink A-Maze-Ing'). Both of these are going to be demo quilts for shops to hang to find out about interest in classes. I recently signed up on a 'find a teacher' site. Boy, was that a trial in patience and computer glitches. It sure is a slow process to get things up and running. I just hope that when I start teaching that it just keep going and going.

The quilt with Pooh on it is a friends quilt that I made 8 years ago. I did all of the embroidery then made the quilt and quilted it. This is the first picture I have of it. Not bad for one of my first quilts.

Since the accident I have been having headaches and my neck hurts anytime I spend a any time on the computer. I think that I will be going to the doctor to have everything checked out later. I sure didn't want to have to go, but it has been almost 2 weeks and things should have calmed down by now. I just kept thinking that the only thing they would tell me was to 'give it time'. I just hope there isn't much else going on. I don't want to stop doing things because I have a headache. It tends to slow progress down around here and I don't have time for that.

Happy Quilting,
Sharon

Beautiful Day

This weekend is our Stake Conference. We have the privilege to have a General Authority speaking to us. It is interesting the message we were given last night. We discussed the 'The Family: A Proclamation to the World" For those that don't know about it, the First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has proclaimed what a marriage and family should be and how to conduct ourselves in this life to be able to live in the Celestial Kingdom after our death with our families.

I often wonder what prompts different talks or discussions. With this talk last night I think, Are there a lot of marital problems in our Stake? Is the Lord trying to stop marital problems in our Stake? Or is it just to strengthen strong marriages? I do know that it was a reminder to ME what I need to do keep harmony in MY house. That is not as easy as it seems!! Each morning I ask for help from the Holy Ghost for guidance through the day. I know if not for him I would not accomplish even half as much as I do. I am very thankful to be a member of this church. It helps to guide and direct me when I need it the most and that is everyday.

Sharon