UPDATE ON JOHNS STAPH

After talking with our good friend Dr. W(he is out of town) Thursday night he convinced John that he needed to go get a second opinion and would recommend he go to the ER. So Friday morning he headed there thinking he would be home in a few hours. HA!
The ER doctor took one look at it and said, "we need to get you on some IV antibiotics, now"!! They put an IV drip of vancomycin that took 2 hours. An orthopedic doctor came to look at his finger and without hesitation said, "You need to go into surgery." So around 6pm last night he got wheeled into the OR to have the staph cleaned and scrapped out. All went well and thankfully it was just under the skin and not in the joints or bones!!! He has to have it cleaned by the rehab therapy nurse everyday. He will be in the hospital hooked up to a morphine pump and mega antibiotics for a few more days. It is an open wound (no stitches) very nasty....I almost passed out when I saw it. And he will need physical therapy on the finger. It can take up to 1 1/2 to 2 months before it is completely healed. Hopefully he will be released Tuesday and our lives can go back to being "normal" again! Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers you sent our way. They are much apperciated!!!

I got an award!!!

Merrie Melody
has given me my very 1st blog award!!!! I'm honored. I'm excited. I get to spread the award love to 7 others.

And these are the official blog award rules:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate up to 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you’ve nominated.


How do you choose just 7? I have found so many blogs I love. But to stick to the rules here are the blogs I have chosen:


Be Still Beth

"This is the day..." PS 118:24

The Fam Five

Baby and Tot Tales

mrsbear

I heart 2 girls

Buzzings of a Queen Bee

Crazy Week

It has been a crazy week in my empty nest. I took John to our family doc on Monday and found out that his infection is MRSA Staph!! He has been in SO much pain. His finger and hand down to his wrist have been swollen. His finger is terribly nasty....I'll spare you the photo (yes, we took pictures) gross, huh?! He is on double antibiotics orally and drives to see Doc everyday at 8am for a shot in the butt cheek of an antibiotic that is only given by injection. I think it starts with a G. He had his 3rd shot today and said his butt is already sore. Hang on baby...3 more to go! They thought they were going to have to admit him into the hospital but Doc feels like they are making progress. To me it looks like his hand is about to explode like a freaking volcano. Poor man, he will be off work for another 7-10 days. We just keep praying for a fast healing & no more pain.

On a lighter note...after his appointment we ran into a thrift/antique store to take a quick look around....we are looking for an old table. No table but I did find 2 things.







This candy dish....my MIL gave me one just like it without the handle. I got this for $1










and this lovely Fire King coffee cup. I collect fire king ware. I spotted this like 20 feet away and thought that looks like fire king...I was so happy when I got to it and realized I was right. I about peed my pants when I saw that it was only $2!!! Not bad for a quick stop in the store...we were in and out in 7 minutes.










Well, enough blogging for the night. Johnny wants some ice cream and I need to go clorox everything!

women over 40 or getting close

In case you missed it on 60 minutes, this is what Andy Rooney thinks of women over 40.


As I grow in age, I value women over 40 most of all. Here are just a few reasons why:

A woman over 40 will never wake you in the middle of the night and ask, 'What are you thinking?' She doesn't care what you think. If a woman over 40 doesn't want to watch the game, she doesn't sit around whining about it. She does something she wants to do, and it's usually more interesting.



Women over 40 are dignified. They seldom have a screaming mat ch with you at the opera or in the middle of an expensive restaurant. Of course, if you deserve it, they won't hesitate to shoot you if they think they can get away with it.



Older women are generous with praise, often undeserved. They know what it's like to be unappreciated. Women get psychic as they age. You never have to confess your sins to a woman over 40.



Once you get past a wrinkle or two, a woman over 40 is far sexier than her younger counterpart. Older women are forthright and honest. They'll tell you right off you are a jerk if you are acting like one. You don't ever have to wonder where you stand with her!



Yes! We praise women over 40 for a multitude of reasons. Unfortunately, it's not reciprocal. For every stunning, smart, well-coiffed, h ot woman over 40, there is a bald, paunchy relic in yellow pants making a fool of himself with some 22-year old waitress, Ladies, I apologize.



For all those men who say, 'Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?' here's an update for you. Nowadays 80% of women are against marriage. Why? Because women realize it's not worth buying an entire pig just to get a little sausage!

Andy Rooney is a really smart guy!

VOTE FOR ME

I AM A SEMI-FINALIST IN THE RECIPE CONTEST!!!!!! GO VOTE FOR ME!!! WOOT!!!








GO TO SITS SITE ABOVE AND IN THE RIGHT HAND CORNER VOTE FOR MY CAULIFLOWER CASSEROLE. HOW EXCITING! THANKS EVERYBODY!!!

Sunday

I woke up today to my darling hubby coming out of the bathroom with his hand raised in the air. Babe, you got a question for me?
Haha, my hand hurts bad and it looks uglier today. (it feels better when it is elevated)
Whoa, he wasn't kidding....gag me with a spoon...nasty! He had called into work to let them know he had Staph and would not be coming in. I stayed home from church because I didn't want him contaminating my house and so I could baby him of course! He took a pain pill and has been in bed most of the day. Bless his heart.

I checked my blog and found out that
I was very excited that I had been selected as a Saucy Blogger over at The Secrets in the Sauce.

I sewed a tote today for work I love my little lunch bag I made last week....but I needed something to go over my shoulder. Why? Because I am stopped by a million gazillion 6th graders the moment I walk into school asking for help opening their lockers. Ok...more like 2 or 3 but it's everyday! I couldn't juggle my lunch, purse and everything else anymore. So I made this tote.


It's reversible! Who doesn't like ladybugs?!

This is going to be perfect!!

I'm off to go cook up a breakfast dinner for John. I hope everyone has a wonderful week.
If you have come by my blog through

I thank you for taking the time to visit. Come on back anytime!

Family Dinner

Tori spent the night last night. It was nice to wake up and see her face first thing in the morning. She went with me to Kroger to buy groceries for our family dinner. When we got home Meg was there. I made a very healthy meal. Taco Salad....and crazy as it might sound, it was only 356 calories per plate!

I used all fresh ingredients. Lots of garlic!! The red bell pepper added a nice bite.


I served it on Romaine lettuce instead of a shell of some sort.


Lean Turkey and kidney beans gave us our protein.

and here is mr. reeses on my shoulder trying so hard to charm me into giving him a bite.

I made a Banana Coconut Cream Cake.....and yes it was (almost) fat free. I made this with Whole Wheat Pastry Flour and threw in some flax seed powder for fiber (you can't taste it)


The frosting is one of my favorites to make....12 oz. fat free cream cheese, 1/2 cup confectioners sugar, 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract and 1/3 cup coconut flakes roasted. Whip it up and there you go. Easy and delicious!!!

It was nice to have a "Family Dinner" tonight. I look forward to many more!


Thursday John's pointer finger started hurting, he noticed a blister on it, like when an ant bites you. Today he woke up and it was red and swollen. He went to work....he called me around 11 and said it was really hurting and was swelling up. When he got off work he went to the ER only to hear that the wait was 6-8 hours. So he called our friend, Dr. W....thank God we have a friend who is a Doctor!!!He told John to come on over....Dr.W looked at it and told John that it was indeed Staph Infection! I had a feeling thats what it was by the way John explained it. He is being a baby (like men are when they are hurting)but I totally understand because Staph is very painful!!! I'll baby him if he needs to be babied. He is on an antibiotic and we will watch it closely.

These are a few of my favorite things

I'm feeling a bit melancholy tonight. School started for the girls today...Meg is in her 3rd year and this is Tori's 1st....her 1st day of college. Wow. I talked with them both and got the rundown of their day. They both had wonderful first days! I'm proud of them! I miss them. It got me thinking, deeply, so I decided to come to this blog and just write.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.......

Hugs & kisses from my soul mate, John
Talking with my girls, hearing them tell me they love and miss me.
Just hearing about their day...what they ate.
Working with my mom...having the close relationship that we do!
Missing my Dad...how he called me Boop
Fresh fruit and fresh veggies
Hot cup of coffee
Clean sheets
Sushi
Lazy days in the sun listening to the waves crash on the beach
New York City
Shooting Stars
Christmas...Jesus
Girls Night Out
Rainy Days at Home
Rainbows
Cereal at night
Flowers....especially Gladiolas and Tulips
Lemon Meringue Pie
Snuggling with John
The smell of Eucalyptus
Going on walks
My moms desserts
My dads cooking...he was an awesome cook!
Being HOME
Date night
Family Dinner
Autumn
Spring
Greetings from Reeses with small sloppy kisses

When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

Let me be a dork

Let me be a dork for a moment. I was talking with Tori on the phone this afternoon; I told her I was wearing the dress she gave me. Actually, she came in my room a few weeks ago and told me she no longer fits in the dress and would I want it for the material. It's a soft linen. I said, Uh, no I'll wear it! Duh! I received so many compliments on the dress today that I had to share it with her. She asked me to take a picture so she can see it. So I did. In the mirror in the foyer. Then I thought, hey betty, blog about it. So here I am blogging about what I wore at work today.





I'm such a dork!!

Long Day

Oh Mondays, first day of school year, new students, autism. Long Day. Feet hurt. Headache. Tired. Going to bed early.

Time to slow down

Time to slow down on my sewing/craft projects. I'll still be doing them just not as fast. School starts tomorrow and I'll be extremely tired the first week or two. After that I'm sure I'll get back in the swing of things. My craft binder has plenty of tutorials and ideas to keep me busy since I have no children at home anymore.

One last project I wanted to get done before the school year began. I wanted my girls to have a place to hang their car keys like they did here at home. Their house is so big and I know that if they put them down somewhere they could lose them. So I found this unfinished plaque at Wal-Mart for $4 and knew exactly what I wanted to do to finish it.

I first painted it blue but it was too blue grey for my liking...so I went over it with white and immediately wiped it off with a paper towel. I liked that color better and the look was nice. I found a picture of sparrows and printed it out. Then I decoupaged it onto the plaque.
Voila!! It came out so cute! It matches my girls perfectly.


Here is a close up. I can see this hanging on Meg's side of the room by the back door.

Speaking of Meg, she and her roomie Bri (bri is a supervisor at the camp) came by today to pick her dog up that I was watching for the weekend. They stayed for dinner...I made steak and potatoes. I also made Carmel Swirl Brownies for them to take back to their house.

First week of being empty nester's and both our girls have visited us. I love that!!!

Tori came home today to swap cars. Her car came out of the shop Thursday. So I made her a big dinner. I made manicotti and served it with bread and a salad. It was good...I'll have left overs for lunch tomorrow. :) yum yum
She also took several pictures of their clean room to show her daddy & I.
Wow...total transformation since Wednesday.

Tori's bed. She collects old cameras well any camera actually. She is an amazing photographer. Can you see her fish eye camera on her bed?! Love the Polaroids on the wall. She is very sad that they soon will be extinct.

Meg's bed. She took 2 pillows to camp (she is a counselor at a camp for children with disabilities) so her bed looks bare. Daddy has to put her bed on the frame still.Love the swallows poster and the elephant mirror. Aww...and she has her college scrap afghan I made her on her bed as well.

The room is very dark! Tori said she misses her room at home and all the sunlight that came in her bedroom. But at least they have a back door she can open and curtains to pull apart to bring in some of those rays.

I took about 30 minutes today and made this tote out of a vintage pillow case. I just cut and sewed...no pattern...just went with how I felt. It came out cute. I gave it to Tori for her and Meg to use.



I thought about turning the fabric so the butterfly was up right...but I kinda like it like this.

lunchbag

After a long day of cleaning my house...I felt like creating something. I had been wanting to cover my ugly craft binder....so I decoupaged it.
I used my scrapbook paper and went with a blue theme.

I then thought about school starting on Monday and how I wanted to make that lunch bag for myself. So I made it!!!The colors are much brighter in person. I don't have one of those fancy cameras that capture the true color and my photographer moved off to college this week with her Nikon D80...but she did leave me with her cute little Fuji to use until I get a new one.

I just love these fabrics. The outer fabric is called "Pumpkins Gone Wild" by Sandy Gervais for Moda. My Tupperware fits perfect in it. I'll carry my lunch in it everyday instead of a plastic bag....so thats one less plastic bag not used so we can save our planet!

Tori off to College

Tori is settled, somewhat, in her home away from home. She isn't staying in a dorm like other freshmen because she got a wavier to live off campus since her sister lives in that town. The two of them and 3 other girls share the cutest, quaint, artistic old home in the area. Its actually a very big house. Meg and Tori share a bedroom, which I assume was intended to be the master...it has a bathroom and a back door entrance. The back door has an old bell you turn as the door bell.



We went up to the girls house on Tuesday to hang the curtains and so John can put some shelves in their closet. Here are the photos from that day.
Bathroom curtain.

Here it is tied back if they wish to do it that way. It looks so good with the shower curtain and the blue walls. They went with a burnt orange, brown and light blue theme.
John hanging the rods and me ironing the curtains.


These curtains are adorable...this is Meg's side of the room. That's clothes on the bed waiting to be put in the dresser that we were bringing up.



This is Tori's curtain on her side...the photo is a little dark. These curtain have a delicate pattern. I had so much fun making their curtains.



Wednesday....move in day. Yesterday was such an emotional day!!! Tori must have gone up to her bedroom 10 times to look at it 'one last time' and to make sure she didn't forget anything. John & I stood in the room with her several times and we all cried. Don't get me wrong....she isn't a baby...she is a strong intellectual woman...she is just very attached to her sanctuary(that's what she calls it) and very close to her daddy & I...that it was just hard for her to let go of it all. Does that make sense? Cause, you guessed it I'm crying again!! We got on the road for what seemed like the longest emotional drive ever. Tori wanted John & I to ride together....she drove behind us. I knew as we drove off and she shut the garage that she was just an emotional wreck and I then turned to worry momma!! But, I watched her in the mirror and her driving was fine. So John & I reminisced about the younger days and we were emotional on and off. We arrived at the house and it was time to start unloading!


Yay, the bed is up! Tori loves her soft cozy bed. Just noticed John in the back...he has a picture in his hand, he must have been asking Meg where they were going to hang it.

Here is the photo John had in his hand. This was taken by Christy Hollingshead photograpy. It is the sweetest picture of my girls.

Tori & her bowb bowb....she has been attached to this what use to be a baby quilt for 18 years!! Can you believe it use to be bright primary colors?!! I honestly always thought to myself....she will bring that to college someday...and here she is.


Work daddy work.


We took a break and went to dinner at The Smokehouse. This is a pretty picture of my baby girl.

Both my pretty girls.

The sad but proud parents. See that necklace around my neck. Tori made that for me and gave it to me Tuesday. I'll cherish it forever.
It's a momma bird and baby bird. Made with love

Tori's side of the room. Look at the orb...they were in so many of the photos.

Tori's bed. It looks really pretty. She always has loads of pillows on her bed. Awww and there is the college afghan all neatly folded on the edge of the bed. I prayed over that afghan to keep her safe....may hours of prayer...God keep my baby girl safe!!

Meg's side and yes her bed is under there somewhere. Actually, she texted me a photo last night and it was all cleared off and made neatly. They had finished their room.



This is a good picture that shows how big this room is. They both have queen size beds and tons of furniture in this room. They still have plenty of walking space.




I know this is so cliche but "where did the time go"? Both my girls...in college....grown women!!! John & I arrived home to our empty nest around 8 pm. I went upstairs to wash my make up off or what was left of it and saw a letter propped up against the pillows on my bed. I started crying immediately...I picked it up and it read...
"to the two beautiful humans who created me"
"with all the love in my heart"
crying the entire time I went outside to read the letter with John. We both were bawling like babies. It was a very touching letter. She talked about this being the most difficult transition period of her life. How she is ecstatic about her future but not stoked about leaving home...leaving us. She said, being sad about leaving proves to her how wonderful we have parented her and been her friends as well. She ended the letter with a quote from Fleetwood Mac Landslide....

"I've been afraid of changing "cause I've built my life around you.
Time makes you bolder, even children get older, & I'm getting older, too."

Tori you will always be our "little bit". We are extremely proud of the woman you have become. You are an amazing daughter and a wonderful friend. Your daddy & I love you and are so very proud of you. I look forward to hearing all about your classes and just about life in general. Remember your sanctuary is always open to you.

John & I are proud of both of our daughters. We are also very thankful to have such a close relationship with them. We thank God for allowing us to be the parents of two very precious girls...and thank him for helping us mold them into the women they are.