February 14, 2022 Monday--11:15am

Good Morning!

 If anyone missed the extra blog on Friday--the tumors are shrinking--"substantially"!  Best news I've had since last June--LOL!

Monday

I did make it over to visit with McFamily.  Dagan came over to pick me up and he brought with a new modem so that I don't have to pay $8 a month to rent one from Midco for my internet anymore.  Nice!  He hooked that up and also got me a deal to get faster internet for a couple bucks less for two years.  Nice!  Was on the lowest speed and kept getting bumped off Acorn and BritBox.  Now I haven't been bumped all week and was able to finish watching Inspector Morse without interruption.

Then he brought me over to their house for a 3-hour visit and a delicious lasagna dinner.  Blink was around, as usual.  She is totally unbothered by the chaos of two boys--and will walk right into the middle of it.  Can't believe what a perfect cat they got to replace Annie (who is terrified of kids--well, anybody really).

Blink would be bored to death living with me...but Annie is the most content and happy she has ever been--LOL!

It had been too cold most days for the boys to work on the igloo.  

This past week we had some days above freezing and Leah said they lost a row or so with the melting.

Liam building...

...next to Daddy.

Mama with the boys.

Leah brought me home as she had an appointment and I didn't want to overdo it like I did at Christmas.

Tuesday

Needed a recovery day of R&R, of course.

Wednesday

Annie wasn't eating for half the day.  Was crying and barfing occasionally.  Then it seemed to pass and she's been acting alright since then.  Whew!  She's not a young'un anymore. 

Thursday

CT scan day.  They want you there an hour and a half ahead of time but it turned out all needed was an IV for the dye so this nice young man asked Leah to wait in the waiting room and said we'd be done in like 10-15 minutes.  

Well, we have spent enough time at hospitals and clinics to know that would be best case scenario, right?  It took 45 minutes--but it wasn't because of me.  I was all set up with my IV and just waiting and waiting.  Come to find out this poor lady...they were trying to get an IV in her and had even called for the ultrasound people to come help.  It was taking so long that they finally pulled her out and put me ahead of her.  They must have discovered the IV wasn't working after she was in the scan room...because they put in the IV before you even go in there.  Who knows what she went through to get the IV in the first place and then it failed that quickly!  I felt so badly for her.  

But I was glad to get away from whoever was coughing and wheezing close by me as I sat in the IV corner with a portable folding screen around me.  They were loud enough that you could tell there was no closed door between us and only a short distance down the hallway.  I felt really bad for them, too.  They were having such trouble breathing.  Each cough sounded so raw and dry.  Makes you extra grateful for every single IV stick, good port poke, and easy breath.  (Was saying extra prayers for you, Gene--hugs.)

A blanket warmer machine was in the corner with me and I found out they heat them to 128 F.  Was a warm corner to wait in...but those bloodwork chairs with the little folding arm holder thingie are not comfortable to sit and dangle your legs from.  I was getting off and walking about in tiny circles several times to keep my legs from acting up too much.  

When the nice young man came back to get me--apologizing and explaining...zoom!  I was in and out in a few minutes.  I came prepared with no metal parts on any of my clothes so I don't have to even get undressed.  I know the drill.  :)

Leah came home with me after the scan.  She did the things I still have trouble with--like vacuuming, taking out trash, and watering my plants high up on the bookcases & desk.  I don't trust my legs enough on stairs let alone on a stool.  So she also emptied out the bedroom closet top shelf for me.  (Yes, I still do plan to continue sorting and purging in there on days when my body is in a more cooperative mood--LOL!)

Anyways, I had a couple of packages arrive that very morning but I saved the opening of them until Leah was there with me.  (Needed something really happy and exciting to keep my mind off of the potential scan results.)

This is the beautiful, colorful, hand-woven kitchen towel I picked as a gift prize from Hilary at Crazy As A Loom!  I just love it!!!  Thanks Hilary.  And just plain thanks for being you.  :)

Then...

drum roll...

my Simon Says Stamp order came faster than I expected!  I'm not kidding you--I almost swoon and drool and squeal over these paper pads!

They are so deliciously gorgeous!

I flipped one open so you can see they are double-sided gorgeous!

Perfect for cover beauty on the outside and beauty again on the inside when you open the bookcard!

There are five paper pads but one was out of stock so I figured I would have to wait a long time to be able to order that one (called Vivid) since they went out of stock as fast as they had come in.  And then after only one day of being back in stock I missed out on the Vivid pad because it was already sold out.  I had been checking on their website every day to get my order in (and been checking every day since then for my missing pad).  They hadn't been in stock long enough for me to even get their email to tell me they were back in stock when I ordered these--LOL!  I am not the only one who loves this paper, I guess.

I suppose that looks like a lot of paper--30 sheets in each pad--but I will go through it faster than you think.  And will show you, of course.  :)

Friday

Got the online test results!

What a relief--OMG!  

Tumors shrinking!!

"substantially"!  

So very happy to read that.

I let Dagan and Leah know right away and then I posted a blog to share the news.

And...like icing on the cake...

the Vivid paper pack was back in stock!

I'll show you when it gets here--brightest one, of course.

[Note: Just finally got the restocked email yesterday, as a matter of fact--LOL!  Like when Alexa tells me a package has arrived and I already brought it inside, opened it, and put it away--LOL!]

I needed my recovery day from being out and about and company on Thursday.  Rested up watching Inspector Morse and wrote letters.

Saturday

 I picked a quieter, sedentary project.  Worked all day sorting and folding signatures for the bookcards.

This is how I will go through a whole lot of pretty paper for covers.  

I did a quick count and I will need about 165 covers in basically three different sizes.

There are ten different brands of fountain pen friendly paper.  (Imagine me jumping up and down giggling with delight.)

The next step in the assembly-line is cutting the covers.  I do also have other 12" X 12" paper pads that will be drug out of the studio for that.  Not all of these bookcards will have covers from the new ink drop paper pads.  You know I do love variety more than that--LOL!  I'll take pictures as I go, of course.

The cover cutting may wait until Leah is over after my infusion on Friday.  She said she could help me with the cutting.  So I can set up the cover choices but focus on the bedroom and/or the studio maybe this coming week.  I do think by the third week I do have a little more energy...so I need to get the more physical things done this week before my next infusion--LOL!

The next bookcard step will be folding the covers and putting the signatures inside.  Then it is punching holes in the spines of each bookcard--using my new cradle punch board I bought last year that I showed you!!  

Next I pick out the thread or yarn for each bookcard and cut a piece.

  

Finally I will be hand sewing each bookcard together--probably in my comfy chair while watching something on BritBox or Acorn.  Really excited to eventually have a stock pile available for letters again!  I've never put this many bookcards together at once.  I think about half this number or possibly about 100 of them.  Such fun!

Normally Leah and I did Craft Nites on Thursday nights but since life had changed so drastically Craft Nite went by the wayside, of course.  Since things have settled down lately (hallelujah!!) Leah comes once a week on Thursday nights again--and doesn't have to spend almost every day stopping over to my place to help me out. (Dagan came, too--sometimes both of them in one day.)  Now she helps me out once a week--LOL!  But as I am able to do more we will finally soon have some actual craft time!!  Since she takes me to my infusions--we switch over to her coming in with me after the infusion on (usually) Fridays.  Or like after the scan last week.  Winters are too cold to mess around coming and going when you don't have to, you know?  

I am hoping to see more of all of them in the future.  Visits over to their place or them coming over for a bit to my place.  "Normal" is gradually coming back...little by little...week by week.

Life is good.

Stay positive.

Be grateful.

Till next week, dear ones.  :) :)