Decoupage..

I want to learn how to decoupage.

The actual process seems to be quite simple..

The difference between something that is exquisite or ho-hum looking is more about design than technique.

It seems that there is nothing that can't be changed with decoupage..

..big or small.

holiday or everyday..

Don has a friend who gives us cigar boxes. That is what I want to start with. I can use the boxes for small horse show items or stationary boxes..but that is going to be my first task.

Look at these unique planters!

Retail Therapy...

Ummm - well as you know, I have had a few hic-ups of emotional stress lately and I won't lie...I used retail therapy to soothe my aching heart. It works ...for a few minutes anyway! Here is what I bought:

Fell in love with this jacket when I saw it!

The next 2 items will be altered, if possible, to be used as sidesaddle costume jackets. If, when I get them, I find that they cannot be altered for that - well, I like them enough to just use them as they are!

Thank God for E-bay though. I picked up each of these items for a song. I guess with the slower economy, not as many people are shopping on e-bay.

A Very Special Momento..

Yesterday I received this sweet card in the mail. It is from the vet hospital where Chrissy was treated.

Everyone at the office signed the card and if that was not kind enough, they put Chrissy's paw print on the card as well!God - I am going to miss my girl...Please take care of her.

Just a Funny for the Day!

This is What Happens When a Very Caring...

daughter won't leave you alone to cry the day away after you lose your dog...and instead INSISTS on going to the beauty salon...all day long!

Yes - it is true.. I got my hair cut, lost the extensions and had it dyed auburn!Don liked it so much, he took these pictures of me before we went to see my Dad...just so I could post them on my blog! Sweet boy!!

I think I will call it my Mid-Life Dog Crisis!

The Final Chapter..

When I said I felt as though God had turned His face away from me, I meant it from the bottom of my heart. I did not mean it out of hatred or anger towards God, only that I felt as though, with all that is going on in my life right now, that there could not have been a worse time to lose such a beloved pet. A pet that lived with us, at times - traveled with us, and kept us in good company when we were not feeling well. Only last week, she opted to stay outside in the heat and lay under the lounge chair Don had fallen asleep in to watch over him, instead of coming inside the air conditioned house when I called her. When God said No to healing her, I found it cruel, could find no reasoning in it and felt no comfort from Him for days.

It was not until I scrolled down on my own blog that God spoke to me. In the side bar I have Daily Snippets From the Word. Something I admit to ignoring lately because of what I found to be a small selection of Bible verses that were repeated too often. On that day, when I found myself so isolated, so sore and tired, I read,
"He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy." Job 8:21...
a verse I had never seen before on that side bar. I immediately felt His touch. I knew that He was not telling me Chrissy would be healed, but I knew He was there.

*******

When I received the call from the vet at the office, I spent most of the day crying. I had my chair scooted all the way up with my head pointed toward the corner of my cubical so few if any knew I was crying. Only the people who called in, could sense something was wrong by a crack or pitch in my voice. I just kept things to the business at hand and made it though one of the longest days of my life.

At 3, I left and made the 68 minute journey to the vets office in Navasota. I drove carefully. Floods of tears came following a thought or a memory. I no longer pleaded with God. Just before getting there, I called Don at work to tell him I was about to go in. He told me he loved me and we cried together. When I arrived at the office, the staff handed me the final bill and said it was already processed. That was a relief as I thought they just used my credit card to process the new charges. What I found out later is that my dear sweet daughter Joy, had called them and paid for this portion of the bill herself over the phone.

I walked to the back with Chrissy's blanket in my arms. Her crate door was open and one of the techs was cleaning her up. My eyes feel onto her broken body and I knew. She was so much worse than she was from the last time I saw her. The vet had gently told me that she was stiff on her left side. What I found were legs tightly contracted up to her body. She was asleep, but far from peaceful. She was laboring to breathe and her left side was still ticking and twitching. I leaned down into her crate and kissed her face. I breathed in her scent and whispered to her, telling her what a good dog she was and how much I loved her.

When the vet came in I said,
"It is time. Lets put her down."
He got the injection and as he pushed it into her IV, I again put my head down by her face and kissed her nose. She took 6 more breaths. The twitching stopped along with her heart. Her legs relaxed as the doctor checked to make sure she was gone. I knew. Just as quick as that, it was over.

I wrapped her up in her blanket and cradled her into my arms. I carried her out to the truck and with the techs help laid her into the front seat.
"Please thank everyone for caring for her the way you did. It means the world to me." I told her before she returned to the office.

I got into the truck and turned it on. I sat there for a moment staring ahead. My right hand was on Chrissy's neck. I turned to her and said,
"Let's go home girl." I felt a sigh of relief.

Pulling into our driveway, I saw Joy's car. I knew she was going to be there, but what I had not expected was that she had had one of her friends come over and help dig a large hole under the huge tree Chrissy had so often laid under. It was perfect. Joy ran into the house and got Chrissy's bed. A bed that was actually 1 size too small for Chrissy, but I won it along with a huge assortment of other dog luxuries in a raffle at work. The minute I laid it down - Chrissy knew it was hers and she would contort her body this way and that ...and fall peacefully asleep in it almost every day.

We placed the bed down into the hole. With Joy's help, I took Chrissy's now relaxed body and laid her into her bed. She was curled up just as though she was asleep and she looked beautiful. I drew a tremendous amount of comfort from this. Leaning down, I kissed her one last time. I spread her blanket carefully over the top of her and tucked it down the sides of her bed before we stared to replace the dirt.

When we were done, Joy and I walked upstairs. I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and watch movies.
"What a crappy time to have given up drinking wine." I said to Joy. "If there was ever a time I wanted a glass - it is now!"

I will be posting some "Chrissy stories" in the future.

My Heart is Breaking...

Chrissy is not doing well at all. She is far from being weaned off of the IV drugs she is on to control the seizures and yet she is still constantly ticking and twitching on her left side. The vet just verified that she is blind. She will eat small amounts of food out of the bowl, but only smells her way to it. She has damage to the right side of her brain causing all kinds of problems manifesting on the left side of her body.

I feel inconsolable...like God has turned His face from me...

The Latest From Last Night..

Don & I were so upset last night. I had spoken to the vet and he was telling me again that although the Advantage seems to be the culprit because of the timing - it could have only been a coincidence and that she could have a brain tumor. Yesterday morning they mass dosed her with Steroids - which would act as an anti-inflammatory and reduce the swelling in her brain. She did not have any more full on seizures - but is twitching on her left side...also showing signs of stroke like symptoms on her left side. This could be side effects from either the seizures or a tumor. She did lick some canned dog food off of the vets hand. If she has a tumor - the seizures will return.

I was trying to tell Don that if she starts to seize again, we need to put her down. I know he is so sick of hearing about death, illness - blah blah blah. For those of you who do not know, my husband is fighting a chronic illness himself.

I don't blame him. I have owned and loved many animals, but Chrissy owns us. I could have sworn I heard her in the house several times last night.

I did not hear anything from the vet last night and do not get to talk to him for another hour or so today.

Advantage...

We compared the Advantage box and individual container that I used on Chrissy to the ones the vet sells and they are identical. Our vet called Bayer company, who makes Advantage and reported the incident. They took a report on it, but said they have never had an incident of seizure.

The seizures started less than an hour after it was applied to her. Does that mean that it was the Advantage that caused it? Not certain, but it makes for a lot of suspicion.

Update:

They gave her a mega dose of anti inflamitory in the hopes that the seizures are being caused by some brain swelling. They also reduced her Phenob. down to 2 tenths of 1 cc. That small amount kept her from having a seizure for 4 hours and the vet was very optimistic about that. Praying for longer and longer time frames inbetween the seizures.

Not Much to Say Yet..

..apparently the drugs she was given last night (large dose of Phenobarbital) did keep her fairly comfortable - but she was still seizing some this morning. The vet called and told me he had just given her another minimal dose of phenobarbital ...hoping to break the seizure cycle with it in her system..

She had both a bowel and bladder movement last night and her blood work is still completely normal....showing all organs are working fine. In fact the vet commented that her blood work looks better than the normal 12 year old dogs usually looks.

I called and left a message with his nurse about a drug called Propofol that another blogger told me about. I read about it on the Internet. In the case study - it helped 11 out of 13 (12 dogs and 1 cat) in a study.

We must stop the cycle of seizures!!!!!

..and for those of you who have asked - this is not the same dog that was hit by a car and had the concussion. That was KC...(Chrissy's husband)
__________________

Not Sure What to do..Update on Chrissy

I brought in the package of Advantage for the vet to see. It is the 'real' stuff and not what they thought it might be. The problem is since the seizures came on so quickly, she is acting like she was 'poisoned' by it...especially since this all happened about 1 hour after it was applied to her.

This afternoon I went in to see her - just before lunch. I was hoping that she would recognize me...and maybe I could even get a tail wag from her. What I found was a completely sedated dog. I took a picture of her laying in her sterile crate..with her little IV in her short little arm. The vet approached me..the vet whom I have been working with since this all began. (There are 4 vets in this office) She told me that shortly after I had called that morning Chrissy had started to seize again and they again had to sedate her. It was not good news. She indicated that she NEEDED to get better by tomorrow or.....

I called one of my best friends and asked her to go with me to see Chrissy tonight. She agreed and told me she would even drive. Not one minute after I hung up with her, the vet called again telling me Chrissy was getting worse...now seizing every hour if Valium was not given to her. She indicated that I needed to make a choice since they did not have someone who would be by her side all night - only intermittently.. She could be taken to A&M University or she needed to be put down.

I could not breathe...I could not speak.. .. she had already had had so many seizures and realistically we did not know what was causing them. Normally - if it was a brain tumor, they would come about gradually..not what we were dealing with. I held the phone to my chest. Tears were flooding down my face and I asked the vet to have the bill ready when I got there. I would put her down, but I did not want to have to pay for it after it was done..

Debbie came and drove me there as I explained everything to her. When we arrived, I tried to hide my tears from the other pet owners who were there to pick up their animals. It was useless. Debbie insisted that we talk to the owner of the vet hospital...the "head vet" I suppose you would call him. He looked over her chart and was just as puzzled at to why Chrissy was suffering from this. He looked a bit concerned - turning the pages back and forth and left the room for a moment. I laid the blanket out on the table so that when they brought Chrissy in, she would already be on the blanket I wanted to take her home and bury her in.

The doctor walked back in and told us he wanted to try something else. He had assumed that the first vet had put her on phenobarbital (sp??)..which is another seizure medicine...stronger and more dangerous. He said it would keep her sedated longer and since he was on call that night, he would personally come in to check on her, giving her more if needed.

I wanted to see her. We walked back into the recovery room of crates. She seemed more aware than she was the last time I was there, but still far from conscience. I held her face and kissed her..telling her what a good girl she was...and she started to seize again. It was nothing like the seizures she had had the day before and it only lasted about 30 seconds ..but still..

I decided to let them try the new drug. The vet seemed so compassionate about it. I don't know if I did the right thing. Please tell me what you would have done.
__________________

Please Pray for Chrissy..

She is in a vet hospital tonight.

I found her in our bathroom breathing hard and salivating more than normal. I noticed she was having a difficult time walking..but no matter what, she would not leave my side. I called the vet and made an appointment. Moments later she was in a full blown seizure. I called the vet again to tell them I was on my way in and why. Don scooped her up and put her into the truck. I drove 90 MPH with my emergency lights on. Chrissy again had a seizure on the 20 minute drive in. I started to cry, trying to hold her on the seat and keep control over our truck.

When I arrived at the vets office, once again Chrissy seized. They gave her an injection, took her vitals, put an IV line in and ran an oxygen tube up her nose. The whole time they were doing this they were asking me questions about what Chrissy had done & eaten that day. I recalled NOTHING out of the ordinary..until I remembered that I had treated her with this:"Where did you get it?" the vet asked me.
"At our local feed store."
Without hesitation, they grabbed my Chrissy and submerged her into a soaking tank. They scrubbed her with soap and water, especially in the spots where I had applied the Advantage. The vet told me that Advantage was only suppose to be sold by vets and that a different product, under the same name and manufacture was now being sold in other establishments that was much more toxic - especially to cats.

My poor Chrissy girl suffered 4 terrible seizures today because of this chemical...a chemical that I applied on her. She is doing better. She is off her oxygen and thankfully has not had anymore seizures, but we do not know what damage she may have because of the ones she did have. I am just heartbroken about this. Please send up a prayer for my sweet Chrissy.

Meet Lourdes

I was flipping through my blog when I discovered that I have never posted pictures of Lourdes. This is her with her Momma - Isabella.

Lourdes is the 3rd baby lamb born this year on our farm. The first is Roman and the second one died at birth.Lourdes is the smallest and since we are breeding miniature Chevoit's - small is a good thing!

New Door and Stall Handles

Ever since we installed these handles in the barn..I have hated them. Yes - they were functional, but they rusted and well, they totally lacked the character that the rest of the barn possessed!

When I was in Oklahoma City covering a horse show a few months ago, I found these. I still need to touch up some stain and paint where needed, but ...

..Wow - what a difference! They are heavy and made of forged steel. They feel good in my hand when I have to pull the heavy stall doors.

I LOVE these! Now for the best part...I found them at a Home decor outlet for $4.00 each!

Oh How I HATE This!!!

If anyone has this kind of comment area:

http://masteringbreathing.blogspot.com/2009/06/holding-my-breath-about-jobs.html#comments

I cannot respond and it is so frustrating. Some of my favorite blogs to follow, I am unable to comment on. When I try, it just says Error on Page and I cannot go any further!

There seems to be about 4 different formats for leaving comments. All the other 3, I can comment on, just not the format like the example above!

Update on Don

Don started his new dosage of medicine about 2 weeks ago. He goes in every Monday to have his blood drawn and so far, everything seems to be doing okay. Although he bruises very easily, he is not having nose bleeds or any other bleeding problems to date.

Tomorrow he is going to have an MRI done on his liver. It is no secret. They are checking for malignant tumors. He is very high risk for these and if he gets one, they want to find it when it is small and they can do something about it!

Now - let me tell you about something that happened this weekend. My dear husband has been suffering terribly with leg cramps. It is a common side effect from the medication he is on and I know how awful they can be. I suffered with these during my pregnancies off and on. Don though seems to have to deal with them on a daily basis and they are closer to Charlie Horses than just cramps.

Yesterday, while I was taking my riding lesson, Don decided to not only clean the back room (where his cats live) but to also put some boxes into the attic. When I got home I was putting a horse into an outdoor pen and Don came out to help me. He reached over the fence to hold another horse, to keep him from bothering me until I had unhooked my horse. The horse Don was holding yanked his head straight up into the air, causing Don to go up onto his toes and losing contact with the horse. His elbow hit one of the fence boards and he flew backwards. I looked over at him and hurried to release my horse and get the gate closed and locked behind me. At that very same time, he got cramps in both of his calves. The cramps caused him to collapse to the ground and he was unable to get back up. I looked at him again only to see him laying contorted on the ground on his back with both legs up behind him, toes pointed towards the back of his head. He made some excruciating noises which made me think he was having a seizure. I got over to him just as he was regaining a position to be able to work the cramps out, but still unable to stand. It was very frightening for both of us... We later discovered a veritable 'goose egg' hematoma on his elbow too.

Sometimes it feels like the medicine is as much an enemy as the disease!

100 Things About Me...

A friend of mine did this and I enjoyed reading it so much, I wanted to do it too!

1. I am a Christian.

2. I have been married for 18 1/2 years but we separated 4 times ...once for almost a year!

3. I was adopted at birth and try to remember to Thank God every day for my natural Mother not aborting me and for my real parents for raising me in every aspect as if I was of their own flesh.

4. I love sushi... raw sushi!

5. I have high cholesterol even though I have never been overweight and have a good diet. Yeah Lipator..

6. My answer to most things is humor. Some people do not appreciate this and I try to be mindful of this.

7. I like all horses but a talented American Saddlebreds just take my breath away!

8. The foal I bred that I spent the most money on..is the least talented!

9. I really want to build a normal house on our farm one day..but realize that it may not happen...but will probably never stop dreaming about it.

10. I spend too much money.

11. I am a morning person. If I do not get up and get going - not much is going to get done.

12. I love Pembroke Welsh Corgi Dogs and currently have 5 of them!

13. I am learning how to ride Sidesaddle and started a blog about it. www.ridingaside.blogspot.com

14. I will spend $1000.00 on a riding suit, but buy most of my normal clothes from from resale shops.

15. I color (lighten) my hair. The older I get - the darker brown my hair gets and I do not know why. I still do not have any gray - even though I am 47 and have enough stress to be bald! ha ha..

16. I am allergic to cats. If they scratch me, I swell up like a balloon. If I pet one and then touch my face, my lips swell up and I get hives on my face and neck...and yet we have 2 indoor cats and 4 barn cats!

17. I have 2 jobs. Full time for an airline and part time for a horse magazine.

18. I am really critical of my own weight, but realize that I do not hold the same feelings/values about my friends weight. Does that make sense?

19. My first car was a used Pontiac Firebird. I drove it home from work one very cold day and went through a big puddle of water. The car died. Later I found out that the cold water caused the engine block to crack.

20. My parents made me buy my own car while all of my friends parents were buying them cars. My parents could have easily afforded to buy me a car... Now I really appreciate what they did for me!

21. I miss my Mom every single day of my life and get jealous of women who still have their Mothers on this earth with them.

22. My favorite dessert is cheese cake...but a close second if chocolate chip cookies with pecans...especially Vicki's!

23. My Mother made the best lasagna in the world!

24. One year, many years ago, the mortgage company announced that our escrow account was in arrears and our house payment was going to DOUBLE for a whole year. To make up the extra money - I baked yeast bread and sold it at craft shows and to my friends. I did not even have a mixer to kneed the bread. I did it all by hand!

25. I used to be a Surgical Technologist. (like a scrub nurse, but I could only work in the OR..not on the floor. Nurses had the choice to do either job.)

26. I became a Surgical Tech by taking only the courses pertaining to the job and then passing the national board exam. I did not get a degree.

27. I never realized what an important person my Father was until a doctor I was scrubbing with stopped operating when he found out and said, "That is Your Father? He is the Who's Who of Neurosurgeons!" and then continued to talk about him through out the entire surgery. My Dad is very humble.

28. I am a girly girl. Love wearing dresses, makeup and always looking nice...not that I always do though!

29. I have had a hard time with depression this last year, but still have not resorted to drugs. Not against it, just would prefer not to use them.

30. I gave up drinking wine when my husband was diagnosed, since he can no longer drink...but I miss it.

31. My Grandfather took me to the Pin Oak Charity Horse show when I was about 8 and it was there that I fell in love with American Saddlebreds.

32. I hate hate hate looking older and would love to have something done to my neck to tighten up that skin.

33. I cherish all of my friends very very much and hurt when I think of the few that have fallen out of my life...mostly from moving or changing jobs.

34. I love to plan and create things ...but have a harder time maintaining them...good example is creating a new garden verses weeding it and redoing it the next year! I do it..but don['t find it as fun.

35. I drive too fast...but admitting to it does not help.

36. I ride my own motorcycle. DH probably would rather have me on the back of his...but my motto is "if I am gonna get killed on one, it will be because of my own mistake and not anyone elses."

37. If you have not figured it out yet - I am fiercely independent..just like my Mother was.

38. I love to sew things for the house, but rarely sew clothing.

39. I can't wear solar nails ..or any other kinds. I have something in my body chemistry that keeps them from staying attached to my nails. I love the way they look and wish I could though.

40. My belly button is pierced. I think that was my midlife crisis!

41. I miss my old house..but hated the neighborhood.

42. I love Canary birds. Had one that died a couple of years ago and want to get another.

43. I don't talk or do enough things with my Father.

44. I get mad at my husband when he procrastinates and I have to ask him over and over to do something.

45. I hate the sound of someone chewing on ice.

46. It drives me nuts when I am trying to concentrate and someone is either singing or whistling.

47. Love to read, but hardly have the time.

48. Love to visit small historical towns and browse through antique shops.

49. My family used to travel by train to see my Grandparents. I still remember how scary it was to go from car to car on the train...but would love to do it again as an adult.

50. I dress up when I fly on a plane.

51. My favorite perfume is Laura Ashley ..but they do not make it anymore. :0(

52. I feel better (in a better mood) when my house is clean...but am a normally happy person anyway.

53. I would rather clean stalls/barn than the house.

54. I love surprises!

55. I have 2 brothers, both older who are natural children of my parents.

56. I had plastic surgery in first grade. I had a half moon shaped scar on my cheek from a bazaar accident where the end of a pipe hit me in my face. You cannot see the scar anymore.

57. When I had the surgery in first grade, the doctor pierced my ears as a surprise.

58. My first husband cheated on me so many times, I found out about another affair AFTER I was remarried!

59. I sleep on my stomach...even when I was 9 months pregnant!

60. My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving...but it has to do with the fact that it is my anniversary and it ushers in Christmas. I also love the fact that my Mother taught me how to make all of her recipes before she died.

61. I prefer baths to showers.

62. I know that my guardian angel spoke to me, warning me about something I did not see and saved my life...and most likely the lives of my daughters as well.

63. Some of my favorite sounds are owls, Canary trilling (better than classical music!), my horses when they talk to me, my husbands whisper.

64. The first time I really heard a Canary sing, I was in a shop thinking I was listening to a audio enhanced tape of background music. When I realized it was coming from one bird, I knew I wanted one.

65. I hate liars

66. A motto I used when raising my daughters was "Own Up to anything you do - especially if you need to apologise!"

67. I taught my daughters that :
a. There are worse things than not being married.
b. One of them is to marry the wrong man.
c. another would be to meet Mr. Right when you are married to Mr. Wrong ....so CHOOSE carefully!

68. When I was a little girl my favorite stuffed animal was a blue 5' long snake I named Snavley.

69. I have a God given talent to write, but do a better job when I am writing about something that has touched me emotionally.

70. Both my parents were only children...so holidays were also family reunions!

71. I wish ladies hats would seriously come back into style.

72. Half the fun for me learning how to ride sidesaddle is the costume!

73. I can't stand to have pedicures since I am so ticklish on my feet.

74. I am ticklish on my feet because my brother used to hold me down and tickle me until I wet my pants.

75. I used to have a big jewelry fetish. Since my Mom passed away though and I inherited hers, I lost the desire to buy anything new - at least anything expensive.

76. I get too emotionally attached to things that have been passed down to me and I wonder if it does not have something to do with the fact that I am adopted.

77. I love to write hand written letters.

78. I LOVE details...in home interior, party plans, outfits, etc.

79. I hate to weed more than just about anything.

80. I enjoy sheering my sheep, but hate catching them to get them sheered.

81. The biggest compliments I ever received was from one of my Fathers friends, an English professor who had just read one of my story-poems and said that not only was it one of the best poems he had ever read, but he was not surprised that I did not have a degree in English since it was so original. I would have thought someone so highly educated would have said the opposite.

82. Even at my age, I love it when my Dad brags on me. :0)

83. I wear too much black clothing.

84. I have so many back molars with gold caps on them, my dentist told me my grave was not going to be safe!

85. My teeth were so buck when I was a child I had trouble closing my mouth over them.

86. I wore braces off and on for 8 years.

87. I used to pray one prayer every single night. "Dear God, Please bring me a horse of my very own and make me a little bit prettier every day...but if you can only do one of those things, I want a horse!"

88. I am not scared to die. I am not a fan of pain though!

89. I can sense evil in people sometimes and no matter what anyone tells me - I will believe my own feelings first.

90. I love to go places with my dog - especially the hardware store. She likes to ride on the low cart like a hood ornament.

91. I wish we had a green house.

92. I want to have chickens, but will not get them unless we have a coop and enclosed yard for them. Too many predators!

93. I collect Pembroke Welsh Corgi porcelain figurines.

94. My Grandmother, Mother and now I collect Royal Copenhagen figurines and hand painted dinner plates.

95. I know how to love someone for all of my life and not just a husband, but dear friends, other family etc.

96. I am compassionate but stern.

97. I don't read my Bible enough.

98. Although I am a Christian, I am cautious about others who call themselves Christian...as some of the least Christian people I have ever met were anxious to be identified as such! ha ha..

99. I love to travel - but am always glad to get home.

100. I miss my Mom every single day of my life... opps I think I already said this - but it deserves 2 postings anyway!

Galveston Island, TX.

A couple of weeks ago when Don had his first appointment with his new doctor, since we both had the day off, it was really beautiful weather and we were already about half way there, we went to Galveston. The beeches are nice, but I love the historic Strand.

It had only been 8 months since the devastating hurricane Ike. I was thrilled to see how well the restoration is going and have to say that the Strand is nicer now than it was the year before the hurricane!

Another historical building.

The city was planning a re-birthday! Most of the stores were open or very close and the town was ready for a celebration!

I found this cute bear sitting on a bench just waiting for me to hug him...

This is a sign made from an actual photograph of The Strand over 100 years ago...

...and this is the exact same spot today.

If you look very closely, you will see a blue line. That line was the water line from the hurricane! The Strand is on the opposite end of the Island than the beech.

Just to give you an idea of how high it is... I am 5'6" and had to walk up a 10 inch curb to get to where I was standing.

Madison & Trestin

Just thought I would share these adorable pictures of our G-kids!

HUGE Disappoinment!

Late Friday I received word from my doctor that they were unable to schedule my surgery this week. Since 2 doctors must be in the operating room, they were unable to coordinate it that quickly. Now, because of different circumstances with my doctors schedule and my own work schedule, I cannot have it until the end of July. I was so so discouraged by this news. I did not want to wait because knowing that you have to have surgery tends to grade on you the longer you wait... :0(