IF YOU KNOW...YOU KNOW

OH...MY VERY DEAR DEARIES

I am always so overcome with love when I come to this here blog and see that you are sending me your thoughts and prayers and good wishes. 

Gobsmacked, really, since I am not feeling very much like somebody who deserves such lovely treatment...especially when you consider that I have been (and still am) a MAD. COW.

I'm not going to bitch and moan and complain about it here. God knows I'm doing enough of that in real life, and this is our Happy Place, right? But for those of you who are reallyreallyreally worried that it's something catastrophic...the truth is that I just don't know yet. The big game of Whack-a-Mole that is my medical life at the moment will continue with some tests this week that might get us closer to answers. 

So in the meantime, why not a quick little update on crap I've been up to when awake and upright(which has been about 6-7 hours in the afternoons). (Imagine the following as a moving picture display with some lovely music playing in the background):

That's it for now, Dearies. I'm sleeping, eating, slurping, reading, stitching, and diamond painting...pretty much in that order. Not a lot of any one thing, but enough to keep me going. BellyBean is still hanging in there (thank God), and he has endured a lot of poking and prodding and medication changes with courage and good humor.

Bear with me a bit longer, please. Until I feel better I might need to stay quieter than usual.

I love you...most sincerely...I do!

BACK IN A BIT, DEARIES

 

TUESDAY PLAN

 

VIEWER MAIL

Hello, Dearies, and Happy Saturday!

As I type, JB is doing his thing over on campus, I'm slurping my second cup of damn good, and the most beautiful cool and sunny day is happening right outside the bedroom window.

A few quick answers to notes, emails, and comments Yours Truly has received...

DIAMOND PAINTING : Yes. I really really like it, and to date I have completed a total of six canvases that now live happily in a book thingie that is kind of like a big scrapbook. (Note to self. Pressing finished stitchy pieces and then slipping them into an album-type book might be better than wadding everything up in a big box under the big girl sleigh bed). No. I haven't abandoned needlework as my favorite passtime, and no, Betty, I will not be selling/auctioning/donating/or trashing my needlework stash. Diamond painting is just something I tried and discovered that I a) liked and b) can do whilst this damn head of mine has the wobbles.

STITCHING : I seem to be able to stitch in very short spurts, mostly in the morning/early afternoon, so I continue to play with the Emily Call Autumn project. I really do love the colors of it...the details are here, since more than a few have asked: Chart is called "Cozy Autumn Medley" from Emily Call Stitching on etsy. (You purchase a pdf chart and can download it instantly.) Fabric is Autumn Squash from Colour & Cotton, as are all of the threads. (I belong to a monthly subscription service from C&C and receive fabric and threads from them, so whenever possible, I try to convert my projects so I can stitch from stash.) 

MY CRAZY HEALTH : Remember when they told me that life after transplant might be a constant calibration of meds to keep me in balance? No? Yeah, me neither.  To put it succinctly, at the moment I am a complete mess. The vertigo has ramped up, my once-quiet Crohn's disease decided to move back into my basement like a college kid home on break, and it seems that my 58 year old female self said "Hey! Watch this!" and decided to put every hormone in my body into a cocktail shaker and have a party. Add to all of this the decision to stop anti-anxiety and anti-depression meds, and throw some ridiculous seasonal allergies in there, and you've got a very fat, very tired, very dizzy, mean, weepy, frustrated, sick, dehydrated, angry, crazy lunatic, running to the bathroom every fifteen minutes, miserable, all over the place, exorcist spewing, head-spinning, banshee screaming, almost bald because her hair is falling out ... cow.

I. Am. Out. Of. Order.

I do appreciate your tips, tricks, suggestions, referrals, potions, lotions, herbs, recipes, and nuggets of wisdom, and I especially appreciate your thoughts and prayers. I made it over to the Grotto on my transplataversary, so fingers crossed that whatever Catholic voodoo thing happens there will kick in any minute now ... but as with all things Spinster, methinks we need to be patient.

I will see both primary care and gastro docs this week, as well as visit the lab and (hopefully) get results back from a Pharmacologist who is supposed to be able to corral all of these different meds and straighten it all out. So don't cry for me, Argentina. We'll get there. Eventually. 

IN THE MEANTIME : Let's drink coffee and talk of happy things. As soon as I get myself somewhat pulled together, I'm going to try to stitch a bit, sleep a bit, diamond paint a bit, and drink enough water to float a barge. I have a new stitchy project to kit up (a canvas work piece from Nancy's Needle) and a new diamond painting to distract me today. No Notre Dame football, but Phillies/ Mets at 4:00!

Happy Saturday, Dearies! Come tell me something fun that's blowing your skirt up today!

THE FRIDAY REPORT...A FINISH AND SOME PROGRESS

 

😮

 Sorry, Dearies...but I couldn't find one that said heiney. 

TRUTH

 

THREE YEARS...

Forgive me for repeating words I've already written, but I can't think of a better way to say it.  If you would have told me during the dialysis years that someday I would be celebrating THREE YEARS of a new life, I'm not sure I would have been able to believe it.

But.

A man I never met gave me the gift of a new life. I don't know his name, or his age, or his hometown, or his favorite color, or whether or not he was a husband, a brother, a father, or an uncle...but I know that he was loved, and I know that he was extraordinary.

In my heart I've named him Angel, and his is the first name I mention when I ask God to watch over those that have gone before me, and his gift is one of hundreds that I hope to be worthy of by living a good and grateful life.

Thank you, Dearies, for all of your love and support and prayers and encouragement and good wishes, and for a constant reminder that this life of mine is very blessed, indeed.

And thank you, Angel, for giving me a chance to live it to its very fullest.

 

FRIDAY

 

 

UPDATES ABOUND

Happy Monday, Dearies!

Thank you for all of your lovely notes and cards and comments asking how I'm feeling! They are so appreciated, and I confess that more than a few grateful tears have fallen all over the front of my old lady t-shirt.

Virtigo and I are still Besties, I'm afraid. I have been diligently taking the prescribed meds, drinking lots of water, and watching my blood pressure, etc...but alas...the room is still spinning. My entire medical team is on top of it, and they assure me that it will eventually pass, so my job is to exercise some patience and follow orders.

Betty is irked at my recent foray into diamond painting, but Betty is going to have to just go to bed. Enjoying diamond painting doesn't make me a lesser person, Betty. I'm sorry you don't like it, but I do, and it has provided a lovely change of pace when stitching has been too difficult for me to navigate while trying to hold onto the sofa.

So there.

Here's the latest:

Lots of questions about my affair with this:

I am not normally a flavored coffee kind of gal, but this had me at Butterscotch. I had quite a few rewards points to use (ahem), so I thought I might enjoy this for a Sunday treat.

Lovely. 

I did brew it along with a French Roast pod to cut the strength of it a bit, but as a change of pace, it definitely hit the spot. I added cream, but opted not to add any Truvia, and the overall sweetness of it was just perfect.

I busted out the crock pot with hopes that it would mean cooler temps, but we're not quite there yet. Despite rain and cloud cover, the temps stayed high enough that the a/c stayed on.

What's in that magical little ball of goodness?

Mexican shredded beef, which was then made into nachos:

And on the stitching front:

 

The alphabet is coming along very nicely, thank you. I know that once it's complete, the tree and bottom checkerboard will go pretty quickly, so fingers crossed that we'll have a FeeNee soon!

So that's that, my dear sweet friends. I hope you're all well and safe and happily entering Fall! Come tell me all about what's new and exciting in your neck of the woods!

UH OH

 

 

WEDNESDAY PLAN...IF THE ROOM STOPS SPINNING

 

ANOTHER FINISH, A LITTLE STITCHY PROGRESS, AND STILL DIZZY 😵‍💫

 

MONDAY SHENANAGANS

I spent the day at the doctor's office, the lab, and the pharmacy.

Phooey.

Virtigo has me in its clutches, and as long as I don't try to stand up or move my head, the room stays still and doesn't spin. 😖

I'm going to try to stitch.

Or maybe I'll just go to bed and hope for a better Tuesday.

What's new with you?
 

SUNDAY SPINSTER BLISS

 

SATURDAY SPINSTER BLISS

 

FRIDAY SPINSTER BLISS

 

THIS NEVER HAPPENS WHEN I'M STITCHING 😖

 

A DIAMOND PAINTING FINISH AND A DIAMOND PAINTING START

I have to say...age has really done a thing to me. I have been able to play with this new milieu without having to buy ALL THE THINGS and go crazy looking for gadgets and containers and storage systems and whatnot.

A lightpad, an upgraded pen, and cheap kits from the amazon, and I've had tons of fun!

Thank you to all of the veteran YouTuber diamond painters who told me what is necessary and what isn't!

I'm back to stitchy stitching this afternoon! I just kitted up a fun little piece from the interwebs and am looking forward to putting needle to thread!