Homeward Bound Adventure from Colorado

While we were in Colorado (from Wednesday night to Sunday morning) it snowed Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Saturday afternoon we checked the weather out on Hannah's phone to make sure that we weren't going to get bad weather on Sunday, when we were planning to leave. It said a 30% chance of less than 1" accumulation. We checked it a couple of times throughout the afternoon and it said the same thing - so, we figured we were good to go.

Boy, were we ever wrong!! We got up at 3:30am on Sunday morning and left my mom's around 4 am. When we left there was already about 4" of snow on the ground at my mom's. We got about 10 miles or so outside town (we take Hwy 24 from Colorado Springs to Limon and then get on I-70) and it was still very dark out and snowing very hard. We could hardly see the road so we decided that it was stupid for us to try to do this in the dark. So, we decided to turn around and go back to my mom's and leave when it got light out.

We left again around 7 am and we got to the last road off Hwy 24 that leads into Colorado Springs and they had closed the Hwy. We called the highway patrol to see if Hwy 94 was closed and they said that it wasn't but that it was under the same conditions as Hwy 24 and if we chose to go that way we were traveling at our own risk. We decided that we probably shouldn't do that so we went back to my mom's.

We called the highway patrol around 10 am to see if they had opened Hwy 24 back up and they had so we left AGAIN!! The roads were very icy and the wind was blowing very hard and the further we got the worse it got. We were in white out conditions at times and the wind was blowing us all over the icy road. There were times when Mark almost couldn't keep the car on the road. We got to Calhan, which is about 1/2 way between Colo Spgs and Limon and I told Mark that there was a hotel there in town and that we were stopping. We were being stupid to continue in the white out conditions. He agreed. So, we pulled into the hotel parking lot (you have to go down a hill from the highway) and due to the whiteout conditions he couldn't see that there was a 1 1/2 foot drift where you would pull in under the awning and drove straight into it and got the car stuck. It took us an hour to get the car unstuck and then we had to hike through a few more snow drifts to get to our room because we couldn't get the car to where our room was.

Poor Mark, he was soaked from the waist down and we had no clean clothes since we didn't plan to be there an extra day. So, we hauled the dirty clothes bag to the room so we could all have dry clothes and our pj's.

Around 2:30 pm or so, Mark looked out the window and it had finally stopped snowing and the traffic was moving on the highway. Mark said that we could leave if I wanted to. I told him that I was done trying to get out for the day. We didn't know what the roads were like and we only had about 2 hrs of daylight left to drive and I didn't want to drive all night (remember, we'd been up since 3:30 am). So around 3:30 pm we went down the street to Subway and I told everyone we were each ordering foot longs so that we could eat half for lunch and half for dinner later. So, that's what we did. We also bought some dice (the Subway is in a gas station) so we could play dice. So, we watched TV and played dice all evening.

We left the next morning at around 6:15 am and finished driving to Limon. Roads were still icy in spots but not really too bad. Of course, we got about 5-10 miles outside of Limon and there wasn't a drop of snow anywhere - go figure. All we had to do is get to Limon but we couldn't.

Anyway, we got home Monday afternoon - safe and sound!! And this is definitely not an adventure that I care to repeat ever!! :o)

Thanksgiving

Well, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We went to Colorado to visit my family out there. This is the first time that my 2 sisters and my brother have all been together in 7 years. We tried it last year but that is when Hannah ended up in the hospital and we couldn't go. We had a really nice time. We actually did Thanksgiving on Friday because my youngest sister, Carla, is a nurse and she had to work Thanksgiving Day.

So, on Thanksgiving Day we went to my mom's church (the one I grew up in) and they had a Thanksgiving dinner there for some homeless families who are trying to get back on their feet. A few people from the church cooked the meal (Mark went down and helped) and people from the church attended along with a couple of homeless families. It was also my birthday on Thursday and my mom made me a birthday cake (I knew about the cake but didn't realize that it was my birthday cake) and they all sang happy birthday to me too. I was not very happy that she embarassed me, but hey, that's what mom's are for I guess.

Friday we had our meal at my Grandma's then. It was my sister, Tina, and her 2 daughters, Shannon and Krystal. Krystal's friend, Sarah. My sister, Carla and her husband, Michael and their three children, Arianna, Melieah and Treyven. My mom and Grandma. Mark, Hannah, Sarah and I. My brother, Kevin and his wife, Deb. My cousin, Jami and her three kids, Kaela, Cody and Morgan. We had a lot of fun.

Saturday we all met up at Fargo's Pizza Parlor for lunch. This time my cousin Jami's husband, Brandon came along. We had a blast there too.

I'll post pictures later. Now for a post about our adventure trying to get home from Colorado.

Sarah made State Honor Choir

Sarah's music teacher sent in an audition CD of Sarah singing to the Kansas Choral Directors Statewide Honor Treble Choir and she and another classmate made the choir. They were the only freshmen from our school to try out and they both made it. We are pretty excited for her!! Their concert will be in February at the end of the month. It will be in Wichita so we will have to go for that (hopefully).

Week from heck!!

I had a week from heck!! On Tuesday last week I got a flat tire on my way to work. I was three miles from work when it went flat. The bad part is that I work out in the middle of no where. I called work and asked for one of the guys to come get me. I started to change my tire to put the donut on while I waited. I had the jack out and was just getting it placed under the car when two guys from a construction company turned onto the road and they stopped and backed up and asked if I wanted some help. I said that I could change the tire but that it would be really great if they could help. So, I jacked the car up and one of the guys undid the lug nuts and took the tire off and put my donut on and then I lowered the car. Then I was on my way!! I ruined the tire so I had to buy a new tire!! After I was on my way to work I was about a mile from work and almost hit a deer that ran in front of me. On my way home that night after Mark and I cleaned out at the plant I almost hit a coyote. I really should have just stayed home that day!!

Then on Friday we took my car to Kansas City as we had to go to Hannah's school for her annual IEP review. It was an awesome review!! She is doing so good in school and living in the dorm this year and everyone had really good things to say!! Well, on the way back from KC we stopped in Topeka for dinner and to go to Goodwill (Sarah needed some things yet for her costume for the high school's musical that is this week). Well, we smelled antifreeze when we stopped at a stop light. I thought it was the truck next to us but when we stopped at Goodwill I smelled it again. Sure enough, when we came out the car was leaking antifreeze and water. We babied the car home stopping every so often to put water into the radiator. We thought it was the water pump. Well, we turned it into the shop today and it was just a hose but our mechanic had to take out the intake manifold (whatever that is) to put it on. So, it wasn't as bad as we thought, but still this is after a major ($2,000) repair on our truck in September.

On Saturday I had a craft show and it closed at 4 p.m. Mark called me on my cell phone and asked if I was getting ready to pack it up and then he asked me if I wanted some more bad news. Of course, I told him no but I was sure he was going to tell me anyway!! He said that my washing machine quit working!! Great!! So, I got to buy a new washing machine yesterday. Of course, they didn't have it in stock and had to order it so I get to go a week to 10 days without a washer!! UGH!! Calgon, take me away!!!

My MIL

My MIL will probably get to come home tomorrow from the hospital. She was able to eat food today and was doing well. We'll hope she has a good night and that she will be able to go home for sure. They tested 20+ lymph nodes and none of them came back positive for cancer. That is awesome news!! Thanks to everyone for their prayers. Please pray for continued healing.

Hannah and goal ball

Hannah has made the traveling goal ball team at her school. She was very excited today when she found out. She will go to Missouri this next weekend for their first meet.

Here is what goal ball is because I don't think that I can explain it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goalball

Good luck, Hannah!!

My Mother-in-law

My mother-in-law was diagnosed with colon cancer last week. She saw the surgeon on Monday and was told that they also found a spot on her liver and her lung. She went in for surgery on the colon yesterday. They had said that once she recovered from the colon surgery then she would have to have chemo for the spots on her liver and lung because they couldn't operate on the liver because it was too close to an artery that goes to her heart. Well, while in doing the colon surgery the doctor said that they couldn't find the spot on her liver. There was no cancer. So, she will not have to have chemo and they will deal with the spot on her lung after she has healed from the surgery. Sounds like she is doing pretty good today. They had her up and walking about. Glad she is doing well.

MRI results

Got the results back from my neck and brain MRI's. They are both normal. So, I asked the Dr. "now what?". She has scheduled me for an EMG and a nerve conduction velocity test. If you want to know what they do you can go here:

http://www.webmd.com/brain/electromyogram-emg-and-nerve-conduction-studies

It doesn't sound very pleasant but I guess we have to do what we have to do to figure out what is going on. The doctor basically said that if these 2 tests don't reveal anything then she doesn't know what to tell me. She says that she could refer me to KU Med Center in Kansas City to see if they might be able to offer some insight.


????? Not happy but glad that the MRI's came back okay ??? Don't really want to be a guinea pig either.

Report Cards

Well, we got report cards this last week. Sarah has all A+'s except she had one A. Hannah brought home 5 A's and 2 B's and 1 C. The C was in Orientation and Mobility (this is her class that teaches her how to get around as a blind person).

Sarah always gets A's and we are very proud of her. However, I have to congratulate Hannah on her Report Card as this is the best one she has had in a VERY long time and we are proud of her for her accomplishment this year. She has really matured and seems to be enjoying school this year.

Hard to believe that the first quarter of school is done!!

Sarah has been practicing for the high school's musical that will be in a couple of weeks. She will no more than get done with that and basketball practice will start on the 17th of November then they will have about a 1 week break after basketball and she is on to softball til the end of school. I have a feeling this year will fly by!!!

MRI's completed

I had both of my MRI's yesterday. One of the neck and one of the brain with and without dye. The tech said that they should have them read by the radiologist within four days and then I will get a copy of the report. I suppose that if they find anything I will hear from the doctor sometime next week.

I pray that they don't find anything and if they don't - then what?? Something has to be causing the "muscle spasms" and the weakness on my left side. I guess we'll have to cross that bridge when we get to it. In the meantime - I wait!!

I will update as soon as I hear something.

Sarah's Confirmation

Sarah was confirmed yesterday in church. She had to attend classes for 2 years to learn about communion, the creed, the 10 commandments and baptism.

Family picture after church.

Sarah with Pastor Bill.

Sarah being blessed by Pastor Bill.

The cake for the reception afterwards.

R. I. P. Zorro

I am very sad today because my beloved cat, Zorro, was hit by a car today. We think he got in under Mark's car when Mark left for work this morning. Of course, I am the one that found him this morning when I went to go start my car. He was laying at the end of the driveway right at the edge of the road and right behind where Mark parks his car. He was a very loving cat and he had a lot of personality. He will be greatly missed. Mark buried him in the back yard tonight after he got home from work.

This is Zorro as a baby (June 2006).

Zorro loved to lay on top of the computer tower while you were in the office. He would just hang out there while you surfed the net.

He love to go for rides on the baby gate that we have between the kitchen and the hallway (this is so the dogs don't eat the cat food and get into the litter box). If you opened the gate he would sit up there and you could swing the gate back and forth and he would hang on and enjoy the ride.

He loved to lay like this on the back of the couch too. He was a big, fluffy boy. He like to eat potato chips if you were eating them. If you didn't give him any he would try to get into the bag himself.

Machine is up and running!!!

Yeah!! I got the part for my machine yesterday evening. I didn't get to do anything with my machine last night though because I had a sorority meeting and was only home long enough to scarf down my supper, load the car with some stuff to take to the meeting and leave (about 20 minutes). Then I didn't get home until 9:30 pm. So, I put the part on this morning and got the machine going this evening. I have done a hooded towel hood and I am working on the big towel to the crab towel set. However, I have to leave for church choir practice in about 20 minutes so I don't know that I will get anything else done tonight.

Broken embroidery machine

Well, I broke my embroidery machine yesterday. I was VERY upset. It comes with 4 different standard hoops and when you select one of those hoops on the machine to use it shows you a picture on the screen. The outside edge of the hoop is in black, the inside "safe" area (this is where the needle can safely embroider without hitting the hoop) is in red and your design is in blue.

Well, you can purchase other size hoops for the machine but you have to enter it manually - so I did that. Well, not realizing that it doesn't indicated the "safe" area for you and even though I did a trace (the machine moves the needle around the hoop "tracing" the shape of the design to show you where the placement will be) and didn't have any problems - when it was stitching out the presser foot hit the hoop and it broke the needle. So, I changed the needle and put something else on the machine in a different hoop (using the same design though). Well, when that hoop moved, apparently the pressure foot was bent and I didn't realize it because it caught on the edge of the different hoop and REALLY bent. I was so upset because this is not an inexpensive machine and I just knew that Mark was going to be mad.

Well, he wasn't - he said to just order the part. He said some parts are meant to break so that you don't damage bigger parts. From what I can tell that is the only thing that is wrong. Still I was very upset. And, I am trying to get ready for a craft show that I have in 2 weeks and it doesn't help having my machine down.

Test results

Well, I got my first test results back from the neurologist on Friday. I ended up going to visit Dr. R again because I had another "episode" of what happened in July. Of course, by the time they could get me in to see Dr. R. I wasn't having an "episode". However, she is very concerned and wants to get my MRI moved up sooner from the October 28th date that I have.

The test results from the EEG came back normal. However, she said that normal doesn't mean that I am not having seizures. An abnormal EEG would confirm that that is what was going on. So, I guess that test didn't do any bit of good.

I guess we'll have to see how soon she can get the MRI moved up to and go from there. She told me that she could put me on seizure medicine if I wanted her to but I told her no. There is no sense in putting me on medication that I don't even or may not even need. I'll wait for the MRI results, thank you.

The whole deal with the MRI is that they can do it on Ft. Riley but they were more than 30 days out so Tricare was going to refer me off post. Well, Tricare wanted more information from the Dr. as to why I had to have it done because an MRI for a family member has to have a "second level" approval (whatever that means). Well, my records from the first visit to Dr. R were out for dictation and by the time they would get them back and get them to Tricare and we'd go through the whole approval process it would probably take about a month so that is why I am scheduled on Ft. Riley on October 28th.

Now, since Dr. R doesn't want me to wait that long - she is going to use my office visit to her on Friday to submit to Tricare and she is putting "urgent" on the MRI request so hopefully I will know something sooner and can get it done off post in the next week or so. I'll keep everyone posted on that.

First Craft Show

I did my first craft show yesterday here in town. I have done craft shows here before and they really don't make you any money so I figured I was paying my $20 booth fee to advertise. I did make around $120 though so I did 10 times better than I thought I would. I took 5 special orders. Two of those were for the kids hooded towels (a total of 3 towels).

My next craft show is October 18th. I am still keeping busy making lots more stuff.

I was able to figure out on my digitizing program how to add lettering to stock designs so I am pretty proud of myself for that since I have no clue what I am doing with that program.

See my embroidery blog for some pics of the special order bibs I did today.

Tests

I went for my EEG today and my bloodwork. Obviously won't know anything until they get the results back to the Dr. I was supposed to go for my MRI tomorrow but the referral hasn't been approved through Tricare yet so I will have to wait for that and then reschedule it.

I was supposed to be sleep deprived for the EEG this morning so I went to bed last night at around 10:40 pm and probably didn't get to sleep until after 11 pm. And the alarm clock went off at 1:30 am. I was supposed to go to bed at the regular time, which is usually between 10 and 11 and then get up 4 hours before I normally get up. Well, I normally get up around 5:30 - 6, there fore 1:30 am it was. Mark gets up around that time to get ready for work anyway so he was up with me.

I did come home and take about a 3 hour nap but I am headed to bed here shortly as 3 hours wasn't quite enough!! LOL!!

I'll keep everyone updated on the test results once I know something. Hopefully it won't turn out to be anything.

My new embroidery machine

These are some pics of my new commercial embroidery machine that was just delivered on Monday. I have been messing with it now for a couple of days to get the tension right and all that and I finally did my first item on it. It was the hand towel for the scarecrow towel set that I have posted on my embroidery blog.

I am very excited about my new machine but there is lots to learn I think!! And, of course, hooping things is a lot different than on the home machine I have so I am having to work on that too. It will all come with time (which I don't have right now because I have a craft show on Saturday!! Yikes!!).

Having some tests

Please keep me in your prayers - I have to go for some tests. I go Wednesday for some blood tests and an EEG (An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a test that measures and records the electrical activity of your brain. Special sensors (electrodes) are attached to your head and hooked by wires to a computer. The computer records your brain's electrical activity on the screen or on paper as wavy lines. Certain conditions, such as seizures, can be seen by the changes in the normal pattern of the brain's electrical activity.) I will also have to have an MRI but that hasn't been scheduled yet.

I am having this done because back in July I started having what felt like a muscle spasm in my left hand. It was tight and my fingers would move and twitch all on their own when I wasn't doing anything. It started on a Friday night and over the weekend into Monday morning it worked its way up my arm into my neck and jaw. By then I thought maybe I was having a stroke or something and I called the hospital. They set me up an appointment in the clinic and when I got there the PA that I saw told me to go to the ER. He said that that is where they should have told me to go in the first place so that they could do a CT Scan to make sure that I wasn't having a stroke. So I went to the ER.

They did a CT Scan and did a regular bloodwork and a blood test for Lyme's Disease. The CT Scan came back normal so I wasn't having a stroke, which I thought was a good thing and all the blood tests showed was that I was "slightly anemic". The anemia didn't surprise me because most people who have the weight loss surgery that I have had have low iron and B12 so I started taking more of those 2 vitamins.

Anyway, the doctor in the ER said he wasn't sure what was causing the spasm in my arm so he said that he would put in a referral to a neurologist. The "spasm" continued for 2 - 3 more days and then quit. The referral to the neurologist never came and I didn't think anymore about it.

Well, about three weeks ago I get a call from Tricare (our insurance) wanting to know if I had made an appt from the referral. I ignored the call and a couple of days later I got another call. See, when you make an appt from a referral then you have to call Tricare and let them know when your appt is. Well, I was going to call them back to let them know that had never received the referral and the next day I got the referral in the mail.

So, I made the appt with the neurologist and I went this last Wednesday. She did some observations and "tests". Like I had to push and pull against her hands and then she tried to pull or push my hands and legs, etc. She looked in my eyes and in my mouth and told me to say "ahhhh". She poked me with a safety pin to check my sensory nerves (yup - I can feel it - it hurt slightly). She tested my reflexes with her rubber hammer and then ran the sharp tip of it along the middle of my foot (that hurt worse than the pin pricks!!!). Then she had me walk across the room normally and then in a straight line with one foot right in front of the other and then she had me stand with both feet together, arms out of front of me and close my eyes.

After she was done testing me she said that I have significant weakness in my left side. She asked if I had had any spasms or weakness in my leg and I told her not that I noticed, only in my hand and arm. She said that what happened that day could have been a seizure. She said there are other things that can cause these "spasms" such as a deficiency in calcium (hence the bloodwork I am sure). She has ordered these tests to see if they can see anything else. On the orders for the tests she put down the diagnosis as a "focal movement disorder".

If you care to read more about it you can go here:

http://www.neurologychannel.com/movementdisorders/index.shtml

This is the website that I found had the most organized information about it.

I have not had anymore "spasms" but she said that sometimes they can happen and continue over the course of a few days like mine did and then it may not happen again for days, weeks or months but then they eventually can come more often.

So, I guess I get the tests done and we'll have to see what happens. I am a little nervous but trying not to worry until I really have something to worry about. I suppose that if they find something she will call me and let me know and if not I have a follow up appointment in 6 months.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Family Weekend

After having to have our truck repaired (a major repair that cost a lot of money and two trips to the repair shop - once being towed there) so we could go - we went last weekend (September 11th - 14th) to the State Fair in Hutchinson. We pulled the camper down to Halstead, which is about 20 minutes from Hutchinson, and we stayed at the Spring Lake RV Resort (http://www.springlakervresort.com/). We have stayed there before and really liked it lot.

We left Thursday morning around 9 am and got to the campground around 10:30. Got the camper unhooked and set and then headed to the fair.

(Entrance Gate at the Fair)

We got to the fair grounds at around 1 pm. It was drizzling a little bit and did that most of the day. If it rained too much we just went to the inside exhibits and when it quit we went to the outdoor ones.

(This was the biggest pumpkin - it weighed 652.7 lbs)

(This was a very funny looking rabbit - it looks like a poodle to me!!)

(This is a Watusi cow)

We walked and walked and walked some more until around 9 pm that night. Hannah went to see a Puddle of Mud concert that night by herself while Mark, Sarah and I hung around walking some more.

On Friday morning we left for Wichita at around 6:30 am for Hannah's eye appointment which was at 8:15 am. This was her appt to see if she could wear contacts. It rained VERY hard all day Friday. Wichita even had some flooding and had some areas that were evacuated. It was miserable. What should have taken us around 40 minutes to drive from the campground to the Dr.'s office took us just a little over an hour.

Anyway, after they put the contacts in, it was amazing at how much more she could see with them. We had to hang out until 2:30 pm, which is when they wanted her to come back to the eye clinic to see how it went with the contacts in. We went for breakfast at IHOP and then went to places like Sam's, Walmart, the mall, Hobby Lobby, etc. When we went back to the Dr.'s office he checked her again and since her eyes had adjusted to the contacts she was able to see even better. So, Hannah is getting contacts. They had to send them back to have them tinted and they will probably be in sometime this next week. To say that she is excited is an understatement!!! LOL!!!


Friday night we played Bingo at the campground's Clubhouse. Hannah won 3 games and I won 1. Their prizes were things like notepads, a can of Pringles, candy bars, etc but we had fun doing it and it was still raining and beat being cooped up in the camper for the evening. Then we ate homemade ice cream that the campground does.


Saturday we went to the State Fair again at around 10 am and we walked and walked and walked some more. It was drizzling just a little bit when we got there but by about 11 or 11:30 am it quit and the sun came out and we had to take our rain coats and umbrellas back to the truck.

We looked at some antique tractors and watched a man do chain saw carvings.












We had concert tickets that night to see Jason Michael Carroll and Joe Nichols. It was a pretty good concert and I got some good pics.

(Jason Michael Carroll)

(Very nice close up of Joe Nichols!!)

I got an awesome shot of the moon and clouds while at the concert too. It was an absolute beautiful evening after all the rain that we had had.

We left Sunday morning to head for home. It was a fun weekend but boy were we beat. And then, of course, we had to take Hannah back to Kansas City for school.

Catchin' Up

Well I will try to get everyone caught up on what we've been up to all summer. I don't know if I'll get any pics posted but here is a summary:

Sarah played softball from the beginning of June until the week after the 4th of July when they had tournaments. She pretty much has just hung out all summer but she has been babysitting for a teacher that went back to work last week Tuesday. She'll babysit for them everyday until she starts back to school on the 19th - which is next Tuesday. She is ready for school to start. She will be a freshman.

Hannah had summer school (Extended School Year is what her school calls it). She went up to school for 3 weeks from July 7th trhough July 25th. She worked in the Activities Room at a Nursing Home for those three weeks and really enjoyed it. She will be a Junior and when you go to summer school at the school for the blind at that age then they actually put you into a vocational program and you learn job skills/how to get along with your boss and co-workers, etc. So, she actually got to earn a paycheck this summer. She went to Heather's Camp from July 31st until August 3rd. Heather's Camp is a camp for visually impaired children. This is her 3rd year going and she absolutely loves it. She got to "drive" a speedboat and go tubing. She got to fish and do crafts and all the fun camp stuff. She will start back to school on Monday so we take her to Kansas City to enroll on Sunday. She is ready to go back to school too.

We went for her yearly vision exam yesterday and she will get to get contacts. This is a new Dr. and he said that she should have been in contacts a long time ago. He has worked on a study that shows contacts give people with certain visual impairments more field of vision (meaning they can see a greater area) and it also lets her read 3 lines smaller on the vision chart than what she can see with her glasses. So, to contacts she goes. We'll go back on Sept. 12th at 8:15 am to get her trial pair and then she'll wear them all day and we'll go back at 2:30 pm on the same day and she and the Dr. will decide if that's what she wants to do. If so, then they will have to send her contacts back to be tinted or order her her permanent pair that will be tinted and then she'll go back to get her permanent pair. They tint them so that it cuts out the glare - just like her glasses - and so that if she drops one she can find it. She is VERY excited to say the least.

Mark and I have just been still both working our full time jobs and our 2 cleaning jobs. I have just added the embroidery to my schedule as I would like to do this and maybe eventually make it a full time job (I can dream can't I? - LOL!!)

We have only gotten to camp 3 times this summer - which really stinks because we usually camp 2-3 weeks out of each month. However, Mark's work schedule and the weather - we have had a lot of rain/thunderstorms this summer - have not permitted it.

We are going to go to the Kansas State Fair the weekend of September 12th also - so, we will get to camp that weekend and we are going to see Joe Nichols and Jason Michael Carroll in concert that Saturday. I can't believe that the summer is pretty much gone!!

Embroidery Blog

I have started machine embroidering. Thanks to my SIL, Rose, for doing such great work - it hooked me. I have created a blog just for my embroidery. It is http://kountrytymestitchin.blogspot.com. Take a look when you have time.

Snuggle Bug bib

Here is a bib I did tonight that will go with a blanket and burp rags that I am doing for a friend whose due date was yesterday. Don't know if it is a boy or girl so I am doing it in materials that will go for either. Want to wait until the baby is born though to get it's name so I can embroider that and it's birth date on the blanket.

Sarah's towel designs

Here are some more designs that Sarah embroidered on my old towels. They are just tooooo cute!!! (I couldn't get the top bunny one to load right - it wasn't this way in the file on my computer - oh well, you get the picture!!)

2nd attempt at embroidery

Here is Sarah's attempt at embroidery. Again, we did it on an old kitchen flour sack towel from my drawer. Good thing because I didn't check to make sure we had all the extra part of the towel out from under the embroidery area and we stitched a corner in with a small part of the design - oh, well - just learning. We'll remember from now on. I also didn't quite get the design in the spot I wanted - again, we're just learning. I can see that this will be a trial and error deal.

Embroidery

OK. Rose has me hooked - I think. We bought an embroidery machine (a used one from Ebay - and that is a story all in it's own) and I am very excited - I think (no, seriously, I am very excited although I don't think my hubby is because of all the money I am spending - but it was originally his idea - he thought it would be cool to have one). Anyway. I am going to post a picture of my first attempt. I think - it turned out okay. I just used one of my old flour sack towels that way if I messed it up I didn't mess up something new. I had to make sure that the embroidery part of the machine worked because the "sewing machine" part isn't working right. I am hoping that it is just because it went through shipping.

Anyway, I will be taking the machine to the "doctor" tomorrow so they can check it out. Sarah is getting ready to do something on another old towel to do a test run. I'll post that here in a little while.

We're okay

Just wanted to let everyone know if you heard about tornadoes ripping through Kansas last night that we are okay. We did have to take shelter at about 11:15pm in the basement when the sirens went off but all we got was some rain.

However, please keep in your prayers the town of Chapman, which is about a 30 minute drive north of us. The town is only about 8 blocks wide and a tornado ripped through about 6 blocks of it. We are hearing reports that it is about 80% destroyed. We have friends whose parent live there and I have heard that they are okay but that they lost their house. The schools are destroyed and 2 churches. The funeral home is gone. It basically went through the downtown business district, destroyed 60 homes, 30 homes have major damage and 20 or so more homes have minor damage.

A tornado also hit Manhattan, which is where we go to do shopping. It hit the Kansas State University campus and damaged some buildings there. My bosses home was hit with debris and houses 300 yards from his were leveled (about 30-40 homes gone) and there was a car dealership and lumber yard that were very heavily damaged. Manhattan just had a hail storm that came through there about 1 1/2 weeks ago too. They had softball size hail that destroyed cars parked at the airport and some manufacturing plants out there. My bosses cousin owns a used car dealership and they had about 250 cars on the lot and all of them were totalled.

It is scary and sad and I pray we never have to go through something like that. This has just been a bad year for weather between the tornadoes and hail and the ice storm in December.

Updating Blog

Well, I have started to update the blog after being without internet for almost a month at home. I will still get the story updated on here. But for now you can see the new pics/posts below. I'll update more as I get time.

8th grade Graduation continued

These are the carnations Mark and I bought for Sarah for her 8th grade graduation - they were a surprise and the first flowers that she has ever received. She was very excited.

The kids all made these pages for their parents. I don't know if you will be able to read them or not but their hand prints were on one side and then they could put what ever they wanted on the other side. Sarah put a couple of poems and then a personal note to her dad and I. I took pics of the sayings but I don't know if you will be able to read them. When their names were called to be recognized, they brought these to their parents. I cried.

May 20th - Sarah's 8th Grade Graduation

Me and Sarah after the graduation program. The theme of the evening was Night of the Stars. All the 8th grade parents were in charge of decorating the gym. The kids had a dance after the graduation.

Sarah with Mrs. B - her middle school counselor who is an awesome lady and who took a new job at another school for next year.

The whole 8th grade class - there are 30 of them.

Sarah with 2 of her best friends - C and C.

Some of the decorations.

Before the 8th grade recognition part of the program. The kids had their last vocal concert of the year. They do a 6th grade choir and then a combined 7th/8th grade choir. My baby girl takes after her mom when it comes to singing. She had a solo and a duet that night but the pictures turned out blurry.

This is the 7th/8th grade choir.

May 12th - Sarah's last band concert for 07-08 school year

Here is a picture of the whole 7th/8th grade band. This was Sarah's last middle school band concert.

Here is Sarah playing her flute.

Sarah and her friends - C & C.

Sarah and the other flutists (not sure if that's what they are called???)

1st camping trip - May 16th

Here are some pics from our first camping trip. I just love a good fire and it was a beautiful evening out.

Here are some geese that were hanging out on the lake. We usually take old bread to feed them but they weren't close enough to feed all weekend. So, the bread went back into the freezer for the next time.

Here is a picture of Hannah fishing - Mark had to go buy her her own fishing license this year because she turned 16 in December and now must have her own. She loves to fish and got quite the sunburn that weekend. She had the top of her right arm and the underside of her left arm sunburnt because of holding her fishing pole all weekend.

Mark helping Hannah with her pole.

A beautiful sunset.

Finally have internet!!!

We finally have internet after 4 weeks without (at home)!!! Whoo Hoo!! I will get some updating done - hopefully here in the next few days as I have taken lots of pics. LOL!!!

Sick

As I posted below - I went up Friday night for Hannah's prom. Well, Sarah and I went back to room we were staying in at the dorm around 10:30pm to go to bed. It was probably about 11 pm before we shut off the lights. I woke up around 3:30 am with a horrible sore throat and I was coughing and it hurt to cough. I woke up again around 6:30 am and didn't feel much better.

Hannah stayed in the room with us so I got the girls up around 8 am so that we could head home for the rest of the weekend. Before we left we took about an hour and packed up some of the things that Hannah won't need for the next couple of weeks as school is out on May 23rd. It is a 2 1/2 hour drive from Hannah's school to home. We stopped about half way in Topeka and got breakfast and then went to Hobby Lobby (had to hit the scrapbook supplies that were on sale), Walmart (had to return a couple of things) and Sam's (had to pick up some supplies for church). By the time we got home at about 1:45 pm I was beat and still felt no better. I spent the rest of Saturday in bed (or on the couch Saturday night since my husband decided to drink beer with his buddy and I couldn't get him to stop snoring - he just wouldn't roll over, darn it!). Anyway, crawled into the bed when he came and woke me up around 3 am.

Slept until 8:20 am on Sunday morning. I got into the shower and felt somewhat better so I decided to help Hannah go through her dressers and closet because we are having a yard sale the first weekend in June. Well, about half way through her room I decided that this probably wasn't such a great idea, however, it had to be finished - so we finished it. Spent the rest of Sunday in the bed. And went through an entire box of Kleenex and then some.

Got up this morning still feeling like a truck had run me over and I was still coughing pretty hard but the nose seemed to have quit running quite as bad. I decided that since this started in my chest and went to the head (kinda backwards I think) that I should make a Dr. appointment. I did go into work for about 1 1/2 hours, since I wasn't there Friday afternoon, there were a couple of things I had to take care of and the I went to my appointment. The Dr. said that it was just a horrible cold but she did give me something for the congestion and for the cough and said liquids and rest. I also have had a "rash" on my elbow that comes and goes so I asked the Dr. about that and she said it is eczema (SP?). She game me cortisone cream for that. Went to the pharmacy then off to home and bed I headed. Got home and no more than walked in the door and had to go get Sarah. She was running a low grade temp and felt like she was going to throw up. Got home again and I got something to eat. She watched a 30 minute game show while I ate and then we both slept. I only slept for about 2 hours and Sarah slept for about 4 hours.

I am feeling a lot better this evening and will probably go to work tomorrow. Sarah seems to be doing better too.

Boy, I can't remember the last time that a cold put me in bed for 2-3 days. I have had couple colds this winter but none so bad.

Prom 2008

Here is my beautiful daughter before her prom. Their theme was "Masquerade" so they all had masks that some of the staff at her school made. They went to dinner at an Italian restaurant called V's (it was very expensive let me tell you!!!). I went up to her school Friday afternoon and took pictures during prom. Sarah went with me. So we went to dinner with the kids. Even though I told Hannah that we didn't need to go with her she insisted and they made room for us. Sarah and I then stayed in the dorm Friday night.

Hannah and her date, Patrick. Patrick is a 2nd year Senior at the Kansas State School for the Blind. He is a weight lifter and does track for the Special Olympics. I'd have to ask Hannah but I think he has weight lifted someplace like Korea or something like that. I'll ask and get back to you.
Another picture of Hannah and Patrick.

Another picture of my beautiful daughter.