Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Flickr Favorites - Donate Life



I've been quiet on here lately, and for a good reason. On Christmas Eve at 2:00pm my 27 year old husband Lee was wheeled back to receive a new kidney.

Yep. You heard me; N.E.W. K.I.D.N.E.Y.

I'll give you a little run down of how it all went:

11:30pm December 23rd:
The phone rings. We get a call telling us that a 28year old has died of a stroke and Lee is 3rd in line to receive one of the two kidneys. We are on hold for the time being.

5:00am December 24th:
We begin driving back to our hometown as we were in my parents hometown 3hours away. We left behind our two dogs making both of us shed a little tear.

1:00am December 24th:
Feel deflated we decide to go to bed assuming the kidney went to someone else. No sooner does our head hit the pillows, we hear the phone ring. "Come in as soon as you can" says the calm voice on the other end of the phone. We change, grab my little brother, the only family member down here with us, and head into Philadelhpia to get a new kidney.

2:48pm December 24th:
Lee gives me a high five as he is wheeled into surgery (we aren't the most romantic couple you've ever met). My mom, who came into town earlier that afternoon, brother and I try to get some lunch while we begin the 3-4hr wait to see Lee again.

6:00pm:
I'm told Lee is out of surgery and everything went well.

9:00pm:
I see Lee for the first time. I won't write too much about this part other than it was the hardest thing in the world to see him and not cry. Thankfully the morphine kicked in not too long after he was in his room and he managed to get some sleep.

9:00am Chrismas Day:
My Mom, Dad, Grandma (who both came into town the night before) brother, and I go in to see Lee. He is talking and in pain. But he is positive.

12:00 Christmas Day:
Lee stands for the first time. Not even 24hrs post surgery he manages to take two steps and sit in a chair.



And from there he forced himself to walk laps around the nurses station, eat food again, and do whatever it would take to get his butt home.

December 26th:
Lee comes home.


And now I need to get off the computer and go pick him up from dialysis! Even though the kidney is working, it is still waking up and he will need dialysis a few more times before he can be done with it completely.


You hear people say, "This coming year is a new beginning," and for us those words have never. ever. rang more true. He is off of work getting better until the end of February, and when he goes back it is to a new promotion. Oh, and he'll go back and not have to worry about dialysis either. I for one can not wait for 2010.

Happy Holidays everyone!







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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Flickr Favorites - Happy Holidays




First off, Oops! . . .I'm a day late on my favorites.

Second, Happy Holidays everyone!

I was in my hometown with my family until 5:00am this morning. For medical reasons (specifically, he may get his kidney transplant!) Lee and I had to truck it back down to our home and may or may not miss Christmas with the family (we'll know for sure by this afternoon). It happens, and it sucks, but the main thing is that everyone is happy and healthy.

I hope the rest of you have a wonderful Holiday and are staying toasty in this chilly weather! (should you have chilly weather)


(I'm writing in parentheses a lot)
(sorry about that!)




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And speaking of Miss Mitsy:




ps.
Mitsy I LOVED the buttons :)





Saturday, December 19, 2009

When it Snows



And I mean SNOWS, (as in feet of snow) why not learn something new?
That's exactly what I am doing while the snow slowly buries me inside of my home. Why oh why did I not go get some milk and eggs like the rest of South Eastern PA?

Hey, at least this wool is entertaining me, right? And awful pretty too if I don't say so myself. I picked up the roving from Barrister Lane Fiber on etsy. And I've ordered some more from Sheepish Creations because I am really enjoying this whole spinning thing!

One last picture before I get back to work:





Stay warm everyone!


Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Flickr Favorites - Buttons


I love making themed flickr favorites. I don't know why, but I always want there to be a theme when I'm putting pictures together. And this week's favorites was no exception!

I've been thinking a lot about how I just killed my button collection to make my button tree. I'm really happy I did, but I miss seeing my buttons in their clear glass jars. There's only one thing to do of course. 

Get more buttons!

So while I'm on the hunt for some new buttons I thought I'd look at what people are doing with their own collections. I particularly love the button tree pouch, and may need to make one of my own with the help of my seamstress mom. (I'm just no good with sewing machines.)

Until I have a full button collection I'll just continue to admire the buttons of others!



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Monday, December 14, 2009

Buttons




Normally I don't get too into holiday decorating. 

I put up our little tree, all of my nutcrackers, and call it a day. However, after seeing this button tree on flickr I wanted to try my hand at one too!

900 million buttons later (my stash of pretty green buttons is now entirely gone) I made my own button tree! 

It's not perfect.
Rarely are any of my crafty projects.

But I love it. It looks so pretty next to my nutcrackers, and I'm so happy I spent hours and hours gluing my button collection to that cone. Here is a full size shot:



Now let's see yours!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Save the Date

I have finally added some Save the Date cards to my Olive and Ruby shop! Right now there are only these three:


Hydrangea Save the Dates

Iris Save the Dates


Dogwood Save the Dates



But in time I hope to have a lot more in there! You can find them here. 
I am taking a small break from working on them, to finish a new type of card I want to put up in the shop. I won't give away any details until it's completed (and I know it will work), but I am super super excited about it, and look forward to seeing what people think!


Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Flickr Favorites - Christmas Time is Here



The time has come to decorate for the holidays! I'm not really a huge Christmas decorator, but I enjoy putting up our tree and my collection of Nutcrackers.

This year I plan to tackle this as well. Pictures of our holiday decorations coming just as soon as I make my snowflake curtain! (That is, IF I can make it!) Wish me luck!

Oh, and I am totally making a button tree like picture number two! I love it!




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Sunday, December 6, 2009

Eating and Eating Up Wool




As I said earlier, I wanted to make a Wool Eater blanket after seeing the beautiful blanket made by Sarah London. So I ran off to by some yarn in the brightest, happiest colors I could find, and began crocheting.

I decided I liked the look of the squares as well, squares. So I am seaming these together the same way you might join granny squares together. You can also just crochet around and around until you have a giant Wool Eater square.

I love the way it is coming together, but it will definitely need a good blocking so that all the squares lay flat!

Oh, and sorry for the picture. It certainly isn't the best I could have taken! I normally take pictures of my knitting/crocheting outside on our deck, but at the moment our deck is wet with melting snow. I promise the next wool eater picture will be much better! 

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Flickr Favorites -.C.R.O.C.H.E.T.



I am in love with the work of Sarah London. When I stumbled upon her blog I was mesmerized at all of the happy colors and patterns. 

Excitedly I downloaded the pattern instructions to create the Wool Eater. (As seen in Picture 2) True to its name the 1,314yds of wool that I bought will probably not be enough as this blanket literally EATS the wool up!

This is my first Sarah London project, but certainly not the last. I want to fill my house up to the brim in bright happy knit/crochet items! Speaking of which, that blanket isn't going to crochet itself. . . off to make another square!





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