Thursday, December 31, 2009

Sunday, December 27, 2009

The rush is over, and I'm toast

Mein Herr's cold is still going strong, both in him and in me. Didn't make much of a partying atmosphere, since I felt like crap at all the family gatherings. The in-laws gave me a huge tapestry sewing machine case on wheels, big enough for my Janome and half another one. It has oodles of pockets, so I can keep all my thread, scissors, etc. in one place. Mainly, it will really come in handy when I take my sewing machine back and forth to school for projects. Mein Herr gave me a Sizzix, which is a handy dandy little die-cut machine, and I'm looking forward to getting some parts for it so I can actually use it.
The loom is still naked, although I had J drag up the warping board and the tub of warp, and pulled out 24 tubes of white warp. K still wants to warp up all white, although J and I are bored with that, and want to experiment with some more color. The pale blue worked well, although I understand that it limits the weft you work with. She and JJ brought home two shopping bags of rag balls from Nana's, but I haven't felt like looking through all of them.
I did spend my birthday money already -- Amazon first, of course, from my wishlist, and just now from The Woolery -- warp and mop cord in browns and reds. I really want to get my ebay orders of fabric in and weave some place mats. The papers I have to grade are glaring at me, but they'll have to wait. S gets her wisdom teeth out tomorrow, and I'll be waiting on her hand and foot for a couple of days. Pray that everything goes well for her. I know she'll be terrified.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Why didn't someone tell me?

Somehow, somewhere, I figured that I had another week until Christmas. Last Friday, the awful news dawned on me: Christmas is THIS WEEK! My only excuse is exams are rotting my brain. I have one more day, and then it's Christmas Adam. You know...because Adam came before Eve. That's when my family opens their gifts...and I went nuts Saturday wrapping gifts because if I hadn't, there wouldn't be any to open. I just have my MIL's to finish. However, I have much more cooking/baking to do. I did do several food-in-a-jar gifts last night: Spiced Mexican Hot Cocoa, Sand-Art Brownies, and Christmas Soup. I do like giving soup mixes, because it seems you're overwhelmed with sweetness this time of year. And they're handy to have on hand for those cold, snowy days.
My husband has had a nasty cold for a whole week -- really, I think it was more like bronchitis, since the doctor said his lungs were congested. I made him hot tea, medicated him religiously, and in return, he gave me the cold. Four days before Christmas. sigh.
I do have all my sewing done, I think, and eldest daughter is finishing the firewood carrier she designed for her future in-laws. She has no fear of diving into ambitious projects, definitely. And speaking of ambitious projects, we need to get that loom warped. Today. Or tomorrow, for sure. Or Wednesday....it's such a huge and back-breaking task, I'm procrastining.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Giant sigh of relief!

We're done! And really it was a success...I just wish we could have had more foot traffic. It's hard for me to judge things overall, as I get caught up in the nitpicky details. (Who turned off the Christmas music? Do we have enough spoons for the cheese soup? Should we put a mint on the trays? What did I do with those mints?) I will say that every vendor that I spoke to had nothing but gracious words for us, and especially for the hospitality. That is our speciality -- serving lunch to them at their booths, bringing them coffee and tea all day long, and because of my claustrophobia, making sure everyone was not crowded elbow to elbow in the placing of booths.
I didn't do badly myself, although I never can predict what will sell and what won't. I really want to get some more weaving in for next time, and K is right now weaving a rug for her friend for Christmas, threatening J with death and destruction if he messes with it. Her OCD makes her stress about making every section perfect, even though I tell her it won't matter. I want to warp up with black and white next time, and weave up the old chenille blankets.

Friday, December 11, 2009

I don't think I'm ready.....

Well, tonight's the night the madness begins. Vendors for our craft show, Holiday in the Halls, can begin setting up at 5:00 tonight. Pray for me that I can maintain peace and serenity as I juggle information. It seems that I've always overlooked something. Or several somethings. I must say that of the gifts God has given me, organization is not one of them. My stomach is in knots just thinking of all the work ahead in the next 24 hours.
BUT, if you're in central Illinois, and want to see an absolutely fantastic craft show -- every booth full of handmade goodies, come to Decatur Christian School and see the Holiday in the Halls! We have tons of jewelry, purses, soy candles, embroidered everything, crocheted allsorts of whatsis, photographic art, and so much more I can't remember. It's Saturday, 8 - 3, and I'm planning to collapse about 5:30. I may not revive until Monday.
And I really wanted to make a lot more coasters, but my fingers and back gave out last night. And I haven't really made any more jewelry since the show in November. Oh, well. It is what it is. I did get a few more buttons made -- I'm not a rocket surgeon, and a few about fabric/quilting.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Starting all over again.........

Somehow over the last few years, I've lost my blog. I don't know where it went, or how to find it again. So, I begin again. The first blog was begun to chronicle my diagnosis with follicular lymphoma, and my treatments, to keep my family members up to date. There were many days I didn't feel up to phone conversations, but typing a few lines was possible. Now the chemo is over, and since I had the radical reaction to the last Rituxin treatment in June, there are no more treatments in the foreseeable future. My CAT scan on November 30 showed that the lymph nodes have either disappeared or at least have not enlarged. It is a relief not to have Rituxin this December since my schedule is so full, as it really fatigues me, and the last set made me continually nauseous.
Thankfully, the drama production is over, and Holiday in the Halls, our school craft show, is upon me in three days. I really need to sew coasters tonight, although my joints are crabbing loudly at this cold front breezing through. My goal: Learn to use my camera correctly to be able to upload pics to this blog and use it to sell my designs. Hopefully, this winter I will have time to work on this project.