They changed his meds again...

We went in for J's pre-op tests and physical on Thursday afternoon. He was hurting really bad that day. He could barely walk more than 10 feet or so. Could barely stand up straight at all. It was a nightmare, to be honest. I was completely frazzled. They literally did his physical with him kneeling on the floor with his head down on a chair. (one of the only tolerable positions that he could find) I was wondering if I was even going to be able to get him home or not. I have never seen someone in so much pain. He talked to the nurse practicioner there and they changed his meds again. Now he is on morphine. That, so far, is working really well, thank God! I didn't know how we were going to make it before. The pain is a lot less with this stuff, but it does make him nauseous if he tries to get up and move around much. Kind of lightheaded and stuff.

Meanwhile I got the crud this weekend. Woke up Friday morning at 3:30 with a sore throat. I went to work Friday anyway. Where I work if you miss the day before or the day after a holiday, you don't get paid for the holiday. That means in order to get paid for Monday, I coulnd't miss Friday or this coming Tuesday. I felt absolutely rotten. Came home and pretty much went straight to bed. Spent most of yesterday in bed, too. I feel a lot better today, so far. Trying to keep things disinfected so that J doesn't get it and they have to postpone surgery or something. That would be bad! So he is sort of living in his "man cave" in the basement and I am staying upstairs mostly. It's a good thing that these new meds are working for him and he is at least a little bit able to fend for himself.

I knitted about two rows yesterday and that was about all I felt like doing. So much crafting going on here! LOL

I don't know how much more he can take....

Jason can barely even stand up, much less walk without severe pain right now. He told his boss that he doesn't think he is going to be able to go to work until after the surgery. I feel so bad for him, and there is very little I can do to help him other than take care of errands and that sort of thing for him, prescriptions, etc. Our kitchen counter looks like a freaking pharmacy. He is taking Oxycontin every 12 hours, 2 Percoset every 4 hours, and a Flexaril every 6 hours. He can't take any anti-inflammatories because they thin your blood, as well as they can keep you from healing as fast as you would without them, so they don't want any in his system before the surgery so that he will heal up ok. His mom made us sloppy joes tonight, which was awesome because I wound up having to run errands for a while after work, then run a bath for J, and then massage his muscles for him for a while. I just got done eating. J is nauseous from the pain and didn't feel like eating. My house is the biggest mess that it has ever been and I have tons of phone calls that I need to make. I am sooo ready for it to be a month from now!

Like the new look?

These are a couple of backgrounds from the background tile cd that I have been working on (or was working on until J got sick). I am doing all shabby chic type sets. Hopefully I will get that done one of these days. So far I have about 17 complete sets, with 6-10 background choices for each set. Sort of like scrapbook "papers" for the web. People will be able to use them for ebay auctions, blogs, websites, that sort of thing.

A couple of recipes...

Amanda asked me for one of these recipes, so I thought I would share them both.

Candied Almonds

2 1/2 cup whole almonds
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
splash of vanilla

Toast almonds on a baking sheet at 350* for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally.
Combine water, sugars, salt and spices and cook in a heavy saucepan over med-high heat WITHOUT stirring for about 10 minutes until soft ball stage. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and almonds. Remove from saucepan into a large mixing bowl with about 2 cups of white sugar already in the bottom of the bowl. Stir gently to coat. Add sugar as needed to coat almonds. Turn out on foil, parchment or cookie pan to separate and let cool. Makes approximately 6 cups when finished.


Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

1/4 pound butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/8 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 cup quick cook oats
1 6oz package of dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 375* Cream together the butter and both sugars until fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine all dry ingredients including the oatmeal and blend together well. Add to the first mixture a little at a time until everything is blended together well. Add cranberries and stir together well. Dough is pretty stiff. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes approximately 2 1/2 dozen.
(if you are a cookie dough eater, you gotta try this one! LOL)

Introducing the art of James Joyner

Otherwise known as my Dad!

I am completely amazed as I never knew he had this in him!









So I went to the mall...

this morning at 7am. I was at Menard's before that. I had to finish J's shopping for him. He tried, but he just couldn't handle it last night and had to come home. I was up at 3:30 anyway, so I figured "why not?" They were predicting freezing rain and snow and they were right, so I am glad that I went in the morning before work instead of after work at 4. It's a mess out there right now. I'm glad I don't have far to drive when it's like this.

I'm sorry I have been deviating away from my crafting endeavors in my blog lately. I really just haven't had a lot of time for crafts the last couple of weeks. My life is sort of this way in general, but even more so lately. I need to dig through and find some projects to take to Minneapolis with me for J's surgery. I have some half finished embroidery projects and an almost finished crochet project, and a barely started crochet project and one that is about a quarter of the way finished. I suppose those ought to keep me busy for a while. I really want to get this little dress knocked out before we head out of town. My buyer is very sweet and patient, but I don't want to keep her waiting too long, either. I think that will be my major project for this weekend and we'll see how much I get done. Hopefully a good portion of it. I need to get the fabric washed, though. Maybe I'll throw that in tonight. My goal for tonight, after dinner and cleaning the kitchen up, is to get my floors swept and vaccuumed. Then maybe clean up the junk mail all over my counter. You can't even see my kitchen counter right now. :P I sitll have a couple of gifts to wrap and I think I'll call it a night after that.

Have a good evening every one!

My daddy is sooo sweet....

Look at this painting he did for us to use on cards for fundraising for our adoption.


I'm sure that he doesn't intend for it to have that kitchy child art quality, but I couldn't help but smile when I saw it. My daddy is 81 years old and just really wanted to help. His health is declining and he isn't able to do as much these days, but has always had sort of a hidden creative side. He loves to do paint by numbers. :) Now it seems he has taken up acrylics and is doing his own thing. I often wonder what he might have come up with had he been given the chance when he was a lot younger. Instead, he worked in a factory to support my mom and all 5 of us kids, took care of the house and the car and in general made a good life for us. I often worry that he may never even see our child, and I am sure that our child will never remember much about him. A lot of people think my daddy is kind of weird, (including my husband, LOL), but he's my dad and I love him bunches, and will miss him when he is gone.


Jason is sleeping right now! HOORAY!!! The doctor gave him some muscle relaxers. Hopefully that will do the trick. When I took them a few years back, I slept for a solid 12 hours. I don't think I even moved! LOL. I hope he gets some good rest tonight. I wound up staying home with him today and running him around to where he needed to go. For those of you who don't know, he manages a sandwich shop. So I took him to the shop this morning so he could get the deposit ready to take to the bank. Then I took him to his mom and dad's house so that he could try and see if thier whirlpool tub would help. He slept a little in the recliner there, while I ran the deposit to the bank. (Of course, I had to stop by JoAnn's, LOL, he was sleeping anyway, and I only stayed for like 15 minutes. Had to look for quilt fabric! And besides, it was right on the way!) So he slept there in the chair for a while, then he woke up and we went to McDonald's for lunch and then to his appointment. Then I took him back to his mom and dad's house so he could use the tub. Then I went to Target to get his prescription filled for him. By then it was nearly 4 and I had ordered my groceries on line at 4:30 this morning and they were due to be delivered between 4 and 6 this evening, so I headed home to get the groceries. Those came pretty quick so then I headed back over to his mom and dad's and brought him home. Then he took some pills and another bath and fell asleep. I think he took 5 warm baths today! LOL. I'm having frozen pizza for dinner, then I think I'll call it a night. I have been up and down Highway 15 more times than I care to remember today!

Rough night...

J has been in excruciating pain for most of the night tonight (this morning, whatever...). I have been up with him since 3am. Aeris is drinking water out of the dirty dishes in the kitchen sink, and I could not care less. I am trying to decide what to do, whether to call in sick to work so that I can drive him around to where he needs to go today. Or if I should go in and save the sick hours for later in case I need them then. I really think I could afford to take them off as sick hours, I think I have plenty. He is going to call the doctor when they open at 8 and see if he can get in, he's hoping they will give him some muscle relaxers. If this keeps up it is going to be a very long 2 1/2 weeks until his surgery. He has some things that absolutely have to be done at work today, so he has to go in for a little while, but he is in no shape to be driving, so I really don't want him behind the wheel.

Today I....

Sat and knitted with my sweet little Sasha on my lap from about 10 until 2. I laid down on the couch then and took a nap from about 2 until about 3 and stayed there on the couch until 4. Woke up with both cats cuddled up with me. It was nice. Jason finally got some sleep last night. He needed it soooo bad. I'm glad.
Here is my sweet kitty, she has taught me the value of a good afternoon nap in the sun. :)




Now, Amanda, you got me looking at patterns at that site. I now want to make this. LOL, I'm never gonna get things done at this rate! LOL! My brother's step-daughter and her husband are having their third child in May. They just found out that it is a boy. They have a little boy who is going to be 6 in March, and last year (August 2005), sadly, their little baby girl, Abbey Grace, was born with a severe heart defect and only lived two weeks. I never even had a chance to make anything for her before she was gone. :( I'd like to make this quilt for their new little boy. It is something a little different than I have done before setting the strips at an angle, but it still looks simple enough. I think it will be fun, providing I can find boyish enough fabrics that all go together.

Guess I'd better....

Search my list for portable projects. J is having surgery in Minneapolis on the 5th of January. It looks like I will be cooped up at the hospital with him an hour from home for a solid week. Anyone want to come feed my cats? Gotta find someone to do that yet. J's mom usually does it when we aren't home, only she is going to be in Texas when he has surgery. I'm not looking forward to sitting there for 5 hours all by myself while he is having surgery, that's for sure, so I need to find something to keep my mind off of it. I hate that I have NO ONE here. Sorry, I'll quit my moaning now.

Oh what a week...

I haven't been posting much this week. I have been busy trying to get things for Christmas in order. My parents and siblings all live in other states, so that means mailing stuff to them. I have made 8 tins of baked goodies this week. Whew! Today we are having a potluck at work, so I made brownies for that. Also today my husband has his appointment with the neurosurgeon in the cities to see if he needs surgery or not. I feel bad that I am not going with him. He told me it wasn't necessary and that he didn't think I really needed to be there, so I didn't take the day off of work. Now his Mom and Dad are going with him. His Mom made a huge deal about him needing someone there with him. So now I feel like crap that I'm not going. I am so exhausted right now that I just feel like the last few days have just been a fog. I think I'll not do a whole lot. I promised one of my cats that I'd just sit in the chair and pet her for a while Saturday. I think I'll do just that.

Got an order...

I got an order from a lady that I know at ARF (Angelic Reborns Forums). She is a very sweet lady and has purchased a couple of things from me over the last few months. She bought a crocheted blanket, and also the little Christmas dress I did a couple of weeks ago. So the 33 (well, now 34) project list will go on hold while I work on her dress. Fortunately it is a pattern that goes together quickly and shouldn't take long to complete. It will look like this when it is done, except that it will be a small blue print instead of pink.

Not much going on around here....

I have just been working on my little knitting trial. I ripped it out twice. The first time I just decided it was wider than I wanted it to be, The second time I just really screwed it up. Wound up with extra stitches some how? Now I am doing ok, so far. My little scarf is about the size of a washcloth. I am doing it in stockinette stitch. I do pretty good at the knit rows, but the purls, well they are harder for me for whatever reason. They feel all backwards to me. At least my stitches look pretty even. I guess that's something anyway! LOL

I am thinking of doing some holiday baking this weekend. Maybe some spiced almonds, some cookies, maybe some candy of some sort. I have to work this morning, so my Saturday is cut in half. J wants to go to Toys R Us and get some things for Toys for Tots this afternoon and try out a new restaurant at the mall called "The Salad Bowl" for dinner. That should be fun, too. I know it will be busy out shopping, but that is just how it is this time of year, I don't mind it so much, just the traffic is bad.

Have a great weekend!

Thought I'd dress the place up a bit....

Do ya like it?

So I bought some knitting needles.....

Seriously, I'm diseased.
I went to Joann's yesterday to buy some batting for a quilt that I have in the works, and I walk out with knitting needles, too. How does that happen? I have been wanting to try my hand at it again for a while. I tried it years ago with little success. I dug into my yarn stash and came out with some bright, multicolored variegated yarn that I bought maybe 8-9 years ago. I only needed just a little bit for a project that I did then, so I have most of the skein left, still. I sat down with a tutorial last night and practiced a little bit. I think I am getting the hang of the knit stitch anyway. I think I'll just keep knitting and see if I can make a scarf. I'd love to be able to knit some pretty scarves with all the neat yarns that are out there these days. I still enjoy crochet, but it is just fun to do something different. So I suppose I'd better add this to my to do list, lol.

I did work on my crochet afghan quit a bit over the weekend. I crocheted almost 3 whole skeins of yarn into it. I have one and a half skeins left. I made up the design myself, so I wasn't sure how much yarn to buy. I don't think I bought enough, I also don't know if I can buy this stuff anymore, either. Dye lots won't match that's for sure, even if they do carry the same yarn. It may just wind up being littler than I planned. LOL. Oh well. I love the yarn and how it works up, even though it is a little hard to work with. I am using the Red Heart Light and Lofty yarn. It is incredibly soft and works up really bulky and soft. I am using a Q size hook with it, so it feels a little like when you are a kid and you have the BIG crayons! LOL

I had the last two days off from work. Yesterday I cashed in a gift certificate that my dear hubby gave me for Christmas last year. I got a 30 minute massage and a pedicure. I have dark red toenails! LOL It's been years since I last painted my toenails! I have a chiro appointment at 8 this morning for an adjustment. Then it's back to reality. I have to work from 9-5:30 today. I am looking forward to seeing the Christmas decorations at work all put up. I got to go shopping for all the stuff on Friday, but I didn't get to help put up the tree and stuff. We weren't able to get that done on Friday. So I am looking forward to seeing that all finished.

I actually came up with some other ideas for things to try during the last weekend, but I promise I will at least get a few more things checked off the list before I start in on those things. ;)

Picture time.

The way my camera works, it's easier to do a bunch of pictures at once, rather than a few at a time. Sorry, this may take a while to load.
First is the bonnet and blanket I made for Melissa at work.







Next are some of the Christmas decorations.

The bathroom





The kitchen





The tree





Here is my little doll, "Surf's Up" by Monika Levenig. She is waiting for Santa, doesn't she look pretty in her new dress?


Someone else is waiting for Santa, too.


And finally the gift bags I made yesterday (along with my ever present helper...)

Saw the cutest thing today!

Today was a great day at work! I got to go shopping for Christmas decorations for the bank with an $800.00 budget!!! I about fell over when the girl I was going shopping with told me that! We came in wayyyy under that and will have a really nice tree and decorations in the bank this year. We bought an awesome 9 foot tall tree and decorations in shades of purple, gold and silver. I can't wait to see it all finished. We didn't buy a tree skirt because we couldn't find one that we liked to go with it, so we went to Mill End Textiles to find some fabric to wrap around the bottom of the tree. The girl working there was wearing the cutest jacket. It had all sorts of fabric scraps sewn to it in sort of a hap-hazard patchwork style. It was really cute! It looked like she made the fabric by sewing all sorts of rectangles and squares of different sizes to a solid color base fabric. The edges were left raw so that they could fray with washing. I SOOO want to try this! I think it would be adorable for a kid's garment of some sort.

All the shopping today really got me in the mood for Christmas decorating, so I put up the tree toninght. I will clean the house and do the rest tomorrow! I love my tree and my Christmas decorations. I have lots of red and gold and velvet ribbon and poinsettias. It is a shame no one usually ever sees them but J and I. I will have to post some pictures when I get everything done.
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