Not Christmas, But Sure Feels Like It!

Ever had a day where you wake up and feel like it's Christmas morning and you're running to the tree to collect your gifts? This is one of those days for me! I just knew there would be good news in my email (there was) and some great opportunity looms on the horizon.  LOVE days like this! I am very excited to start work on a brand new crochet design today. It's a SECRET!!  It's something I've had a couple of requests to do, and something I've meant to make for years. Something everybody in the whole world needs, too! So, wish me luck, I hope it turns out as well as I'm imagining!

Kind of disappeared a little for awhile, Koby's passing really threw me. (If you haven't read my prior posts, Koby was one of my rescue schnauzers who battled diabetes and finally lost. You can read about him here).  Anyway, here is a photo of Koby in much happier times. He adored his "swimmie pool," I always kept it for him every summer. I miss the little guy terribly. 

We had quite the adventure when we took five dogs in for vaccinations at the local low-cost vax clinic for area rescues. I'd never been to one before, and our budget demanded we give it a try! It was a snowy, windy day, about 18º outside, ice everywhere to walk on... my worst nightmare with two new hips!) But I didn't fall, we managed not to freeze to death, and all the furkids have their shots. Whew. Ron really was a huge help moving the dogs around.  Here they are playing in the snow during the huge snowstorm earlier this month. 

Got out my jewelry stuff to play in and had a great time with my friend Heidi the other night. I had orders for two of the Rainbow Bridge Memorial Gemstone Bracelets. I selected the stones and then turned Heidi loose on laying them out in her preferred design. I think they turned out really pretty, don't you agree?

I really need to start playing jewelry again. I tend to put it aside for long periods of time and then go back to it. 

I spent a lot of time this month sorting out my own costume jewelry and getting rid of the stuff I don't wear or like anymore. 

I'm not sure what it is about rainbows, they just make me happy! The person gets to pick their focal (standout) stone to memorialize an occasion of a particular month. People really seem to appreciate them.  The first one is an October focal that I designed using blue Peruvian opal, white opals, a pink Peruvian opal, and Opalite. 

Here's something new I've been doing the last month or so. There is this site called Listia.com. It works a lot like eBay with auctions, but you GIVE away your items! People bid points which you collect and then use to buy stuff from other people's auctions. It's beautifully simple, really. A very common auction on there is a "stuffed purse." Here is my first stuffed purse auction. It's a blue Coach bag stuffed with various goodies. I'm hoping to get lots of points from this one! Anyway, if you have a lot of stuff you don't want anymore, this is a great place to get rid of it! 

Well, I need to get busy crocheting on that secret project now! Hugs to the world - Sheila

Stinky Day

Well, it's stinky for two reasons. No, three.   One, my surgery for Monday, my long awaited left hip replacement, got cancelled yet again due to issues with my blood disorder.  Next try is mid-September. So another month of... status quo.  Stinky reason 2 is that I managed to cut my lower leg on a stupid rosebush this afternoon. (It's in this little garden by my front steps - I just HAD to walk in there and pull a weed!)

That would not be a big deal, except I have a situation where owies on my legs take about 4 months on average to heal up (that's what years of Prednisone will do for ya).  They tend to get infected during that time, more complications, blah blah.  Total pain in the rear.  Oh - and being on blood thinners tends to lend a lot of drama to getting cut in the garden too.

Stinky reason 3 is that while leaving a restaurant last night, I suddenly had a big white splotch appear in my  left (good) eye. I tried to blink it off to no avail. Today, it's still there. Reason for terror is that I am already half blind in my right eye from a stroke two years ago, and the idea of losing yet more sight ... just not acceptable.  So I'll see the eye doc Monday and find out what's up. I don't think it was another stroke. It's different.

On a far more positive note, my friend Laurie brought her girls Chelsea and Lacey over for a visit today. Chelsea's been at her dad's in Kansas City for the summer, so it was very nice to see her. Laurie brought me over a beautiful swimsuit for me to try. I'm new to water therapy, loving it, and of course you have to look GOOD so you feel good about yourself... having lost a lot of weight the last couple of years, I'm too small for most of my swimsuits. I tried one on the other day that was laughable.

My son John brought his new hot rod Chevy truck home today, bought and paid for. I am sooo very proud of him.

Koby had a good day, too. Ate all his breakfast and dinner. I'm thinking this new food might be a winner, we'll see.  We are playing a new game to deal with his blindness, I call it "Find Mommy." I sneak across the room from him and say "Koby, find mommy!"  He can actually do it! Yes, it takes a while but I make a huge deal of praising him for his success. Hey, I figure anything that makes him happy and wag that tail is a very good thing.  And it helps him learn to navigate in the house.

Enough with the computer already. Been working on website for a couple of hours now.  Time for sleep!