HAPPY NEW YEAR, DEAR FRIENDS...DEAR FAMILY

DRAMA QUEEN

I'm fine, but Buzzy has been a screaming mimi and had to be put in time out with a big fat Valium.  We arrived at the dialysis center at 7:15 his morning and he was either grumpy from the cold and being woken up at the crack of dawn, or he's still sore and puffy from surgery.

Either way it made for a stupidly dramatic morning again.

Damn Buzzy.

I swear, all this fuss is Stewey Little coming back to haunt me for being such a bad Mo-ther.  Given the similarities in personalities between the two, I won't be at all surprised if we get home and Buzzy decides to pee on the ottoman.

A new stitchy start last night!  I decided to play along with all of you stitching Forest Snowfall by Little House Needleworks.  I think I'm supposed to hashtag or something, but this is me we're talking about, Kids, and I haven't a clue.

Not much progress, but progress nonetheless:

So that's the report for now.  I'll leave you with a little glimpse of my view today.  Only three more hours to go!

IN WHICH WE DISCOVER THE JOY OF THE GREATEST SOCKS EVER MADE

These are fuzzy socks from the JoAnns.  I think they were about three bucks for a pack of two pair, and all I know is that they are changing my life.  They are warm and fuzzy and stupid stupid soft, and the designs are whimsical and making me happy.

I am determined to stitch today, but I need to get my wits about me.  Last night's dialysis session was rather drama-filled because I clotted and then decided to lose my blood pressure.  Let me tell you, kids, if you ever want to see a trauma team in action, let your blood pressure drop to 60/40.  I've never had that experience before, and I'm not sure I ever want to have it again, but the team was well-prepared and I lived to tell the tale.  Just a little worse for wear today about the head and arm, but nothing a Tylenol and a few ice packs won't remedy, I'm sure.

Today is bitterly cold and snowy outside, so the Jersey Boy and I are hunkered down with sports on the TeeVee and a pot roast for dinner.  I had hoped to be with my stitchy sisters today, but alas, methinks it will be the Happy Chair and the big girl sleigh bed until tomorrow morning when I venture out into the tundra for the next adventure.

Thank you, as always, for your notes and love and support and encouragement.  Please forgive my negligence in responding to you properly....I am fretting over the lapse of etiquette but know that you will all understand.

I hope that your very own Saturday is warm and safe and dry, Dearies.  Let's see what fun we can get into and then come tell each other all about it!

CHANGE OF VIEW

Today's post is brought to you from the cozy confines of the big girl sleigh bed at CS2.  Buzzy and I had surgery this morning and are now home recovering for a bit before heading to dialysis later this afternoon.  Turns out he had a bit of a blockage that was causing a fuss, as well as a few errant branches, so some angioplasty, a stent, and a couple of coils laters and we're all set.

(Who knew the little guy was so into accessories?!)

Rich is clattering away at the dining room table on his laptop contraption and I have decided to just be a patient today.  No need to solve world peace or recreate the wheel. Just snoozing, happy thoughts, and spaghetti for a late lunch before heading out into the tundra again.

I'm not crazy about the third shift time slot, but as time goes on and space opens up I should be anle to go on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the morning so that I can enjoy my afternoons and evenings with my Jersey Boy.  It's all about routine, kids.  It's all about routine.

My stitching routine has gotten so out of kilter it's not even funny, but I am trying to breathe and reboot and remember that this is just a temporary diversion...not the end of a career.  I have a head like a rock, so the realization that I cannot stitch during my Jiffy Lubes is troublesome, but I need to just chill out and let it come.  Maybe eventually I will get to the point where a lap stand will work.  Now, though, I need to enjoy playing on the ipad thingie and just keep the damn arm still.

So that's it for a blistery Friday, my Dearies.  All is well...all is well.

Please continue to tell me all about your little corners of the world.  I hope that your needles are flying, your hearts are full, and that the weekend is exactly everything you want it to be!

HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY

Jersey Boy is home safe and sound and I am in the Happy Chair with a new project.  This is Forest Snowfall from Country Cottage Needleworks and I am hoping to start it soon.

Buzzy is still very unhappy and will see the doctors tomorrow morning at 7:25.  Then, if all is well dialysis will take place again in the afternoon.

That's the report for the day, Dearies.  I hope that your corner of the world is warm and safe and dry and completely swell.  Come tell me all about it!

IN WHICH BUZZY MISBEHAVES AND GETS SENT TO THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE

Ugh.

My first dialysis session was a piece of cake...low and slow and about two and a half hours.  I chattered like a circus monkey but got the lay of the land a bit and came home with two small booboos.

The second session was going just fine until I bent my arm (to see if I could stitch), infiltrated, and all hell broke loose.  Three techs and what felt like minor surgery later and I came home with instructions to ice the arm, six booboos and enough tape to circle the globe.

Today?  I thought I was doing fine, but after an hour the nurse pulled the plug.  Literally.  

So I'm home with Buzzy under an ice pack and an appointment at 8am Friday morning to have him checked at the access center and then we'll try again with the dialysis on Friday afternoon.

Greusome, I tell ya.  Just freakin greusome.  Between the eyeball and a now very swollen and black and blue arm, I look like a character in a Stephen King novel.

Dialysis. Sucks.

OEY

Buzzy and I got in a bar fight.  He's hooked up to the Jiffy Lube at the moment and I am getting ready to close my eyes for round three.  We're a bit worse for wear kids, but my Jersey Boy will be home at eight tomorrow morning, so...it's all good.

No stitching to report.  I just haven't felt well enough to do so.  I am determined to get into that cube room studio and get a basket together, so stay tuned!  I am thinking that I might join in the Frosty Forest SAL...my very first!  

OK, time to close my eyes and go to my happy place for a bit...back to Chez Spinster with snow softly falling down, the fireplace warm and toasty, Stewey on the ottoman, Jersey Boy in the kitchen making waffles, and all of you hanging out laughing and stitching.

Happy Futzingday!  Do something fun and come tell me all about it!

CHRISTMAS EVE 2017

Dear Friends,

What a year it's been.  For some, full of heartache and tears.  For others, happiness and laughter.  My own year has been full of blessings and love.  Today is Christmas Eve, but my gifts came all year long from a community of like-minded souls determined to make this a better place by just being kind.

My Christmas wish is that you will all know the peace and love that you so generously gave me, and that your heart is filled with profound joy.

With much much love,

Coni

The Spinster Stitcher

REMIND ME TO TELL YOU A STORY....

About the time I went for my first dialysis treatment and used a picture of a pregnant woman wearing a Wonder Woman top for inspiration and when I got there and got in my chair a pregnant woman with a Wonder Woman top was my tech.

I swear, you can't make this stuff up.

Dearies, I am in the Happy Chair today with Christmas movies and my stitching.  I feel a bit like I've been in a car crash, but I suppose that's to be expected for a bit.  I'm going to finish my damn good and get on with it.

Love and thanks to all...hope your Saturday is swell!

I'VE BEEN HERE TEN MINUTES AND THEY'RE GIVING ME GIFTS ALREADY

D-DAY

This woman is pregnant.

She is running in a race.

She won the race.

While pregnant.

And while wearing a Wonder Woman sports bra and flowers in her hair.

Really, Alysia?  Really?  You manage to do that and still look completely fabulous, and I can't get it together enough to GO SIT IN A FREAKIN CHAIR.  Girlfriend, you just gave me the kick in the heiney I needed to pull up my socks, quit my fretting, and get the heck on with it.  This sitting around catastrophizing is just for the damn birds.  So, I'm a kidney patient.  So, I have to start dialysis.  I'm fifty-one years old and have been through far worse and done it all with far less.

Enough.

Thank you, dear friends, for cooing gently and stroking my fevered brow while patting my back and propping me up.  I confess that the feeling if sinking into that particular warm blanket has been lovely, but...

I.  Got.  This.

Now let's get on with our Fabulous Fridays and see what trouble we can get into.  Rumor has it that I am going to spend this Christmas holiday planning my stitchy rotation for next year.  Visions of Miras and Red Velvet Cake are dancing in my head!  Maybe a new journal or WIP tracker too.  And threads!  And LJP's!  And lots and lots of laughs and love with all of you and my stitchy guild sisters!

Woo to the Hoo, people!  Woo to the Hoo!

DEAR FRIENDS

Tomorrow I will start dialysis.

As much as I would love to tell you that I am calm, prepared, and light hearted...the truth is that I'm terrified.

I'm not afraid of the pain or the inconvenience or the side effects or the risks or the...I don't even know. I'm terrified of the fact that this is just not the path I wanted to take.

But, if nothing else, I am learning that sometimes the unexpected is actually...wonderful.  And that the unexpected takes us places and gives us things that we didn't even know we needed.

So I need you to bear with me for a minute, Dearies.  I might not be here as often as I would like the next few days.  I need to get my head around this and fall into a routine before I will be able to regale you with Tales From the Dialysis Unit.

Your cards and gifts and emails and comments and calls and visits and love and support are, as always, completely overwhelming.  I really don't know how I got to be so lucky to find you.  This thing of ours is, and has been, one of the greatest blessings of my life.

Take good care, do something fun, get those needles flying, and come tell me all about it.

With love,

Coni

The Spinster Stitcher

Still feeling poorly, but I'm here, Dearies.  Please don't fret or worry...all will be well.

Eventually.

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF FLOODS AND LOCUSTS...

Diverticulitis flare up started this morning.

I swear...you just can't make this stuff up.

JUST ME AND THE CHICKENS...

Rich is at the Martins securing provisions, and I am in my Happy Chair with my second cup of damn good, the Saturday paper, and the chickens for company.

Yesterday is a bit of a blur to be honest.  I think I slept most of it, but when I was awake, we binge-watched The Marvelous Mrs. Maizel on the Amazon thingie.  

It was wonderful.

(Rich and I have a running joke about me trying to be Donna Reed...with the pearls and pumps and pot roast, and this show was set in the late 1950's New York with a funny housewife who wore pearls and pumps, but who had more moxy and spunk than fifty Donna Reeds.)

(It's created and written by the same folks that brought us Gilmore Girls, so buckle up for lots and lots of snappy dialogue.)

So today I am resting and resting and then resting some more.  Rich will watch all of the sports on the TeeVee and I will try to get a few good stitches in between naps and snoozes.  I am still enjoying the Glendon Place piece, but confess that my woozy head is proving to be a big deterrent.  

On the kidney front, my plans have changed a bit.  Plan A was to hold out for a pre-emptive transplant from my sister.  That is, unfortunately, no longer an option, so I will move on to Plan B...dialysis.  I will still hope for a living donor to come forward, but in the meantime will follow the dialysis protocol and get on with it.  The good news is that dialysis will make me feel much better and I am promised lits of time to read, stitch, blog, and contemplate.

Plan B also involves moving everything out of the house and saying good-bye to it once and for all.  I had been also holding out hope that I could return to it, but alas, the time has come to say goodbye to it as well.  I'll mourn it, I'm sure, and I know that there are going to be a lot of tearful meltdowns every time I go over there to pack up the last remnants and then eventually have an estate sale, but...onward.

Rich and I have talked a lot about what life looks like a year from now.  The happy part of the conversation is that we both see us together and happy...we just don't have too many details as to how or where that will happen.

But I am, for once, very content with that thought.  I might not know where I'll be, but I know wherever it is I will have a hand to hold.

There is another Stewey in our future...that much I know.  For now, though, I dream about my Little and laugh at his antics, and cherish the pictures of him and the love and comfort he gave me.  I think my next Baby Dear will be a girl...most definitely a little Jack Russell, and I think I'll name her Daisy.  Stewey would have liked that, I think.

Wow...so much navel gazing for a Saturday morning!  Wonder what's up with that?

So that's all the news from Lake SpinsterBeGone, my friends.  I hope that you are enjoying a happy, healthy, peaceful weekend and that your very own navels are where they should be.

WooHoo!

 

ALL IS SEMI-WELL, MY DEARS. ALL IS SEMI-WELL.

I'm so sorry for my absence, Dearies.  I have received a few hundred concerned emails wanting to know my whereabouts and my whatsywhoosits, but just haven't felt well enough to post.  It would seem that I have a bit of the flu that has settled in my left side.  My ear, eye, neck, and jaw are a bit worse for wear, but I have been dispatched to the Happy Chair with fluids, Tylenol, and the care of a very nervous Jersey Boy for company.

All will be well soon, I promise.

There are plans afoot for the weekend and the next few weeks.  The weekend will involve a turkey and lots of Happy Chair time for me, and then next week Rich will head to New Jersey and I will head to the cube room studio to plan the 2018 Spinster Stitcher Year of Fun.

Details soon, I promise.

The weekend is upon us, so let's all do something fun and come tell each other all about it!

REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST ON A SNOWY TUESDAY

OH...DEER.

Despite feeling poorly, I managed a few minutes upright in the Happy Chair yesterday.  I got the bright idea to outline the deer so that I could do all of the filling-in while only half awake.  I don't think I've done that before, but it sure makes sense to me now.

Thank you for all of your loving concern, Dearies.  I will see the doctor tomorrow afternoon for a check-in to make sure that this is just a case of the icks.  I've been behaving myself quite nicely with lots of rest and fluids and Tylenol, so never fear...I'll be back in the proverbial saddle again soon.

Happy Monday to one and all...

SATURDAY AFTERNOON SPINSTER BLISS...

The late afternoon view from the big girl sleigh bed:

A big pot of chicken stew bubbling away for later:

Some fresh snow:

The Army/Navy game on the TeeVee:

A new stitchy start, because Miss Linda at the House of Stitches inspired me:

Cozy man toes:

I'm totally bummed that I missed my stitchy sisters at the Elkhart EGA luncheon today, but alas, I am just not feeling well at all.  I suspect that it is a little touch of flu and that it could be much much worse had I not gotten the flu shot in November like a good girl.

Either that or it's something exotic and I will be used as a test subject for finding a cure.

(Which I am completely fine with, by the way.)

I'm going to have a hot bath, some more water, and then snuggle in for some stitching.  I hope that your very own Saturday is...blissful...and that you will come tell me all about it!

SOMETHING SEEMS....SNOW!!!

When I stumbled out to the coffee machine this morning the light somehow seemed different.

I couldn't quite put my finger on it at first, but then I put my glasses on and...

Wooooooohoooooo!

Poor Rich is miserably cold and shivering under a blanket, and I'm wanting to throw the windows open and sing Oh What A Beautiful Morning.

Labwork and grocery shopping today.  I pulled a bunch of recipes out of the basket last night, told Rich to pick one, and now we have our plan for Sunday dinner...pasta with brussel sprouts and bacon.  I might also make a big pot of chicken stew to have for lunches next week.  Seems like the perfect thing to have bubbling away on a cold winter's day!

No stitching last night, Dearies.  I ended up going to bed with my book at about 8:30...just still not feeling very well.

Hope your own corner of the world is magically wonderful today!

JUST US CHICKENS...

Rich has gone to work, and I am left to my own devices in the Happy Chair today.  I am still decidedly unwell, but I really do think that this might be my new normal for a bit.

(At least that's what the chart in my kidney notebook says.  The only symptom I don't have at this point  is edema/swelling, so I definitely have THAT going for me!)

Today I have promised myself to deal with the enormous basket of mail that has accumulated.  I have gotten myself into a very bad habit of not looking at things as I should, and I end up finding all kinds of things in there.

(Note to self: Must get better about spending a little cockpit time.  Also need to get another Erin for the new year and use it!)

I had hoped to clean and scrub and scrub and clean the apartment to within an inch if its life today, but methinks a little more time under the Magic Blanket with the last five episodes of Outlander might be better for me.

(Can I get an "Amen" from the congregation, please?)

So that's it for today, Dearies.  A whole lotta nothin' goin' on in these here parts.  I hope you are warm and safe and dry in yours, that your needles are flying, and that you'll come tell me all about it!

SUNDAY IN THE HAPPY CHAIR WITH WENDY...

Please forgive a late posting today, Dearies.  I've been a bit out of commission due to an unexpected and unwelcome visit from Mr. Crohn's.  He and I had separated quite some time ago and he was remaining at bay with clean living and a Walgreens full of meds, but these last few days?

Oey.

But, before you cry for me, Argentina...behold!  Progress, joy, and fun fun fun:

I managed to complete another two sections of my Wendy Moore class yesterday and stay true to my plan to enjoy this piece each Sunday.

(Cue the gold star, please.)

In the midst of drinking lots of water and taking lots of naps, I have been thinking about several stitchy-related things.  Some involve just me...like whether or not I want to try a rotation system next year.  Some involve you...like whether or not you would enjoy/participate in/or be completely offended by a Spinster Stitcher marketplace.

Next year will mark the ten year anniversary of this here blog, so I am thinking about doing a few things to celebrate that.  One idea I had was to publish the blog into a book.  Another idea was to offer several different things for sale with sayings on them relative to this thing of ours and using the proceeds for a Stitcher's Fund (or maybe donating them to an animal rescue org).  The final thing on my list (which is actually the first thing I will complete, ironically) is a thank you gift.  I got the final piece of that puzzle completed today, so my hope is that those will be ready to fly by year's end.

Who says laying in the big girl sleigh bed is a waste of time?

So, stay tuned please, and if you feel any certain way about any of the above...all opinions are welcome and will be carefully considered.

(Yes...even yours, Betty.)

Rich is home from the Martin's with dinner provisions and peppermint ice cream.  He stayed here to watch over me today, bless his little heart, so now he's going to fuss over me like a mother hen to make sure I stay hydrated and well fed.  I really don't know what I'd do without him.

Happy Monday, one and all!  I hope your corner of the world is completely swell and that you'll come tell me all about it!

RETURN OF THE 300 POUND HUMMINGBIRD

I am all over the place again.  If what I read in the paper is true, perhaps my out-of-sortsness is due to the Super Moon.  (At least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.)

The Bargello Cardinal is coming along nicely, but it occurred to me that I shortened his tail because I am apparently incapable of reading a chart when it's spread over more than one page.

(That's OK.  We'll just call him Stumpy and move on.)

My fingers got a little sore from pulling through canvas, so last night I decided that I wanted to do a little cross stitch.  I futzed and futzed and futzed in the cube room sudio before finally settling on Winter Quakers.

(Bliss.)

Many of you asked that I be more specific about my little self-treat from yesterday...especially the haul that I got at the Michael's.  I went there before our EGA luncheon to assemble my gift exchange gift, but I just couldn't resist the "Mad About Plaid" section for my very self too!

The little train case is red "leather" and it is just so perfectly swell I almost can't stand it.  It was also cheap, cheap, cheap with the discounts and coupons and such.  The glasses and glass case are also plaid, as are the nail files and ToDo list.

What's not to love about that?

Rich and I went to campus and attended a Latin Mass in a dorm chapel.  I had never been before, so it was...interesting.  I think I still like the Folk Choir Mass in the Basilica, but I am, if nothing else, just happy to be there.

Breakfast at our favorite place, a quick stop for the paper (which they were out of), and now we're home with laundry sploshing and a lovely day of stitching, footballing, and maybe a little cooking later on.

(More bliss.)

So that's the Sunday report, Dearies!  The sun is shinng and the birds are tweetly sweetly.  I hope it is likewise in your very own neck of the woods!

SATURDAY POST LUNCHEON SPINSTER BLISS

Today was the South Bend EGA Holiday luncheon at the Papa Vino's.

I behaved myself nicely and had soup and salad, but I may or may not have spoiled myself with a little side trip to the Erica's afterwards.

I spied the Mira Miss Christmas Eve on a fellow stitcher's Instagram page and immediately fell in love.  The Jim Shore Santa is the stitchy version of a figurine that I have, and the little dog somewhat reminds me of Stewey, and the Sue Hillis Tree chart was on clearance for $5.

(Who in their right mind can pass up a $5 chart on a beautiful December Saturday?)

So now I'm home in the Happy Chair to finish the paper, have a little snooze, and then get a little stitching in before the day is done.

Who's happier than me?