Hello again…..

Yes, I am back… I have no idea how often I will be posting though. I do know that I truly missed connecting with all of you. Those of you that love to decorate in Primitive/Colonial style as I do. And lets face it, it is a pretty taste specific style that doesn’t appeal to everyone. I know, I don’t get it either. Truthfully, I believe we have all lived previous lives in the 1800’s. Why else would we be so drawn to that era? It’s either that, or we all just crave simplicity in our lives.

I have still been following all of your blogs while on my little hiatus…The Christmas eye candy was wonderful! Thank you all for sharing! I however, only did the necessities.

I also have not had much simplicity in my life. Back in September, when I decided to close my blog, I knew I was in for an upcoming bumpy ride. We had just found out that my husband Richard was going to need open heart surgery. At 55 years old no less, to say we were in shock… was an understatement. So…on October 8th, I paced the waiting room floor, waiting for news from the operating room.

They tried to do a less evasive procedure just under his right breast, to avoid the fully evasive procedure down the center of his sternum, but according to his surgeon…he must have had Pleurisy or Pneumonia as a child and his lung was adhered to his rib cage. So…after trying to get through that for an hour, his surgeon ended up doing the more evasive procedure anyway. So, in trying to avoid the more evasive procedure, he ended up basically having two.

I am so happy to say that he is doing wonderful now. He has been going to Cardiac rehab 3 days a week, and finally returned to work on Jan 3rd.

Then there is my daughter Emma’s recent surgery. Here she is in one of her Senior pictures with our tiniest Yorkie “Petey”. All 2.5lbs of her…(Petey…not Emma…although Emma doesn’t weigh much more!) Her name is actually Peyton, but somehow we ended up call her Petey. So stinkin’ cute.

 

Now back to Emma’s story…

This kid has been suffering with stomach problems for the last two years…She would have these severe attacks…Mainly at night, where she would literally be forced into a fetal position, in agonizing pain. Not wanting to even breathe…Swore she was dying…saying my name…”Mom, Mom, Mom”…over and over and over again…all I could do was sit there, and try to keep her calm and doing my best to comfort her…telling her it would be over soon. (These attacks would last anywhere for 1/2 hr to an hour.)

So, after numerous visits with various specialists, countless tests, and calls to 911, we ended up in the ER again on December 19th. They finally did an ultrasound and found that her Gall Bladder was completely filled with stones and sludge. Finally… a positive diagnosis! She was then scheduled for surgery the next day and spent a total of three days in the hospital, being released on December 22nd.

Here are a few more Senior pictures of our beautiful daughter Emma.

Now this left me with two days to finish all of my Christmas shopping…which was only half done, do all of the wrapping, baking, etc…all while still caring for her. Then, lucky me…I became sick on Christmas day…I was fine in the morning, while the kids opened their gifts, we went to my parents for dinner, then I started feeling lousy nauseous . Excused myself from our holiday dinner, apologized to my Mom for having to leave her with all the clean up and headed home…a 45 minute drive. I was home about an hour when, Blech…let the vomiting begin! Now I have not thrown up in 27 years…The last time was when Richard and I were dating and I think I ate some bad chicken wings…I’m pretty sure there was alcohol involved too…I have not eaten a chicken wing since. I spent the next two days in bed…those two days are a complete blur.

Now I am back to helping to care for my 87 year old Father-in-law. Also, so stinkin’ cute. He has Alzheimer's disease. This man was once so intelligent, he scored one of the highest scores ever on the entrance exam into Penn State…Now, he does not remember anything short term, and what he does remember, he repeats over and over and over….Very sad! A truly ugly disease…one I hope they eventually find a cure for.

I haven’t done any new decorating…I did buy a new JB couch recently…I will have to show you that another time though as I am unable to find the cord that connects my camera to my computer. I hardly ever make it into a prim store anymore either. I am hoping that all changes soon though…as I am starting to have withdrawal symptoms.

Well, that’s it for this post…I have the day off today and am thinking of painting my dining room hutch from burgundy to black…Oh, I did finish the harvest table that I got off Craigslist and I have to say, it turned out awesome…Something I will also show you after I find my computer cord.

Other than that, I’m just going to try to stay warm today and in my jammies…it’s freezing here in Upstate NY!

Have a great day…and a better tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Debra