fingers crossed for faith

(((  slurp  )))   I never let champagne pass me by!!!  Faith I am soooo happy for that news.  Let's hope that's the start of nothing but good news for you for a long, long time

We just stopped thru my new surgeon's office on our way outta town. They wanted to double check me from the other day, before allowing me to leave the metro-area. LOL.

She aspirated yet more fluid this a.m. Apparently this will be an ongoing theme for a while.

We have the car all packed, looking a bit like the Clampet Hillbillies heading to greener pastures. So now it's west, west, west, a hard right and then north, north, north, north and a whole lot more north after that. We will stop just before falling into the great lakes.

Our little slice of heaven awaits us a mere 12 hours or so at a northern artist colony peninsula called Door County, WI. Our little spot is in a village, seriously called, get a load of this: "Sister Bay". We are a block from sunsets over the bay of  Green Bay and a six mile bike ride across the penninsula to sunrise over Lake MI. In our village the nightly excitement is the gathering of everyone at the marina to watch the sun go down. So it's back to all of those nightly sundown pictures with gorgous sailboats interrupting the nightly color explosion for me.

Declared one of the top ten family vacation destinations in the country. Over the last decade we have been carving out larger & larger chunks of time there. Our goal is to see the fall colors for the first time this year. I fly in & out of either Green Bay or Milwaukee for my professional invites.

Anyhow, the penninsula is rife with all things art: studios, galleries, orchestras, jazz, theatre in the park, sculptors, Shakespere, weavers, dinner theatre, fireworks, musicals, gardens galore, quiche, boutiques, photographers, antiques, quilt shops, percussion camp...... I could go on and on. We are so fortunate to have the opportunity to be there annually. My husband golfs about  four or five days a week. Last summer I rode 827 miles on my bike.

There are more restaurants than you can imagine. Wineries. Family-sing-alongs. Festivals. State park splendor. There's not one stoplight along the fifty five miles of coastline. Well, I guess technically there's about 110 miles of coastline, cuz you can go up one side and down the other. LOL. It's a whole different pace for us. It's so very restorative. It's so wholesome and creative.

Anyone wanna come up for a visit??

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Hugs all up and down the thread.

The weekend is at hand AND I can breathe!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And we're headed to another summer in paradise.

All is well with the world.

Gentle hugs Faith.  May your summer be fun, relaxing and carefree. 

Cookiest. You are so hilarious!! We've been there for chunks of 15 summers and never been to Not Licked, yet. Can you believe that?

I think it will take another forty years to get to all of the great eats.

One of my water-side favorite is Fred & Fuzzys. That's where we took Saints last summer for their first meal. It was picture postcard perfect. Saint howled with laughter at the setting. We had a big table literally on the water. Greg had the sweet potato curlie fries and smiled his first smile I ever remember being so heart felt and deeply exhaled for the first time in the years that we've known him.

There was this yaucht (how do your spell that? VERY big pricey boat) being commandeered by a professional captain..... with this little squattie fellow/owner, who'd had a few extra drinks on land. Anyhow, he struck up this conversation with Saint that he carried on once aboard his very big boat. She bet him that they wouldn't be able to navigate outta the tiny little spot.

Well, when his captain got them seriously turned on a dime, this monster big boat, thru like no available space, he bellowed their horn for Pat and we all stood up and cheered. Seh was soooooo easily entertained by nonsense like that.

Oh gosh. Now you've got me in tears thinking about it. This is the first summer in three years that we haven't spent our first night in her home on the way up. We will see her family this ummer, but not on this leg.

I will see & hear her at every juncture. There won't be a gallery on the whole penninsual that I won't hear her running commentary. The woman had an opinion for everything. What a gift & marvel that we had that chunk of time together.

The car ahead of us just pulled a Chinese Fire drill on the Chicago Interstate Route 90..... that's how fast we're going. I kid you not.

A good distraction from loss.

Cookie, let me know when your plans get ironed out for the summer. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

safe journey my friend.  and thanks for the visual Faith ... I could see Saint haggling with that yacht owner - honest to God!  and I could hear her laughing afterward when he blew the horn.  ahhh... memories are sweet escape, aren't they?  hugs to all

Well it's all about me, day.

All over again.

I just got a phone call from my mom that my neice has just learned that she has cancer. The details are yet to unfold. Neice's named Kelly and is 27. My daughter Sarah is a few weeks younger and they have always considered themselves 'twins.'

Anyhow, last week Kelly had surgery that removed half of her thyroid. Apparently the pathology report has found some cancer. She will have the rest of the thyroid removed this Tuesday, pre-op tomorrow.

On the upside, she is supposedly with the country's best team of surgeon's for this procedure. They have been told that what has been found is 'early' stage. They are guessing that she will not undergo chemo, but will have onc prescriptions of some sort in addition to meds for the missing thyroid.

With this news my personal world-view goes tumbling assunder again. I am so much more at a loss, with this happening to her. She has been thru much trauma already in her brief life, that would require a book to outline, yet has emerged from each testing more devout in her faith.

They live in Augusta, GA. My parents moved to Augusta a couple of months ago. The theory was that my sister's family would be available to them my aging parents, but for this immediate chapter, my parents can be available to my sister's family.

Here's Kelly and her step-son, Skyler, who she dearly loves and receives love:

Here's a picture of the three cousins. My two daughters from L to R: Sarah, Noelle and cousin Kelly:

We are in great need of prayer for Kelly. There are bucket loads of "stressors" in our extended family and this will surely test us all. So prayers for our whole little tribe would be greatly appreciated.

And so it goes. And I don't have Saint to listen to my wracking concerns.

I have taken a happy pill. I'm not sure that atavan is up to my inquiries of heaven over this development.

Thanks as always for your support.

(((((((((((Kelly, Faith, and the family))))))))))))

Thanks team, for your support & understanding.

Today is Kelly's pre-op, and her surgery is scheduled for first thing tomorrow. She is to report to the hospital at 5:30 a.m. We are so grateful that she is first & doesn't have to spend the day in suspended animation, waiting.

Thank you for your prayers & PMs, too.

I'm kinda-sorta better today. The wind was sincerely knocked outta me yesterday. Regaining my footing, gradually.

Pray on.

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Faith, sad to hear that the beast in a new form has attacked your family.  My heart and prays go to your niece Kelly for strength and recovery and gentle hugs to you for the extra support you need.  Hope all goes well with her today.

Time for a happy dance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My niece, Kelly came thru her surgery with flying colors. All good news at this point. Her lymph nodes are clear...... she's on her way to recovery!!

Thanks for keeping me company.....................

WOO HOO Happy day for your family Faith.  Wonderful news!!!!.  Hugs.

First the crazy story:

Something dramatically awful has happened.

I wasn't going to say anything, cuz there's nothing you can do, but then my buddy said to ask all of my buddies to lend some moral support.......... so here goes, this is what I put on FB:

"HELP!! I seriously need help!! I've made a colossal mistake. I'm just now able to acknowledge what happened...... on Sat after the CAEYC workshop at Columbus State, somehow, in the packing/driving away phase, I left my black leather portfolio containing ALLLLLL of the unfinished quilts of my new picture book, in the loading area on Grove Street."

Please, don't even ask how this could happen.

It did.

There were three of us there, me, DD & DH with a ton of stuff to get loaded into our two cars.

It happened.

The reality is that the sun came up today. Life will go on. The portfolio contains the original 15 quilts from this new book, and three from the earlier book. I had neatly packaged it all together so that I could get to the actual finishing of the quilts up here.

The good news is that the book is printed. That got accomplished.

If somehow, God, The Universe, the fabric fairies, the PINK-tober gremlins, the do-gooders, the campus security, could all join hands and lead the person who found my life's work to getting it back into my hands -- well...... let's just say that I'd be eternally grateful.

I know in the grand scheme of things this is not the tidal wave of defeat that I'm feeling at this moment........... it's just a very unfortunate accident, that might still be able to be remedied.

Somehow.

Would ya lend me some prayers, good wishes, encouragement, fantasies?

xx00xx00xx00xx

I am just in a stupor.

I can not allow myself to feel anything at all.............................

If I may make a suggestion.

1)  The quilts are well known now and will be easily recognized so it will be difficult for anyone to sell them as their own.  This would be a criminal act.

2)  Contact the organization officials and offer a substantial reward for their return.  The amount would be however much you wish to have them back.

3)  In the future, insure your quilts since they are actually a revenue source.

4)  Make sure you put a non-removable label with your name, phone number, address on each quilt top.  I know this mars the beauty but it also ensures that nobody else can display them as their own.

Happy news, indeed, for your neice!........I am sooooo late for that party!....LOL