Birthday celebrations & fun

If it's not one thing it's another to keep me from blog posting.  But hopefully I'll have a little more time and continue to feel good physically and emotional. That's a good thing.  Even told David I was okay enough for him to return to work. Just in time for this corona virus thing to shut his office down a week after he went in for a return meeting. He took a quick trip in this week to pick up monitors and computer to work from home.  Have to admit I like him working from home but not because of the virus scare but just because he's around. My contract job ran out so it was good timing for him to go back to work. 

So before all this virus stuff got crazy Pamela and I met some friends at Bernhardt Winery for a birthday wine tasting. We had so much fun and as my friend Sheryl said to Pamela..."I have a whole new perspective on nurses"  LOL.  If anyone was about to give birth we were covered.

 
My friend Sheryl of Country Cottage made us some birthday cookies to share after the wine tasting. Sew darn cute. They look like quilt blocks. Oh and very tasty. If you need cookies click on her link and check out her cookies. She retired to the country and decided to start making and selling cookies.
 

 Rebecca had to get a picture with Bill. He was our wine guy. He even made us some Aggie Blush on the spot. They didn't have any bottled.

 
 Fun and Crazy nurses.

Me and my sorority sisters. Sheryl and Gigi were able join in the fun. Wouldn't be the same without them.

 Pamela with our friend Ashley and my former co-worker.













And me with two more former co-workers and friends. Genesis and Samara. When I retired from CyFair ISD I left a lot of good friends behind but some of them were able to come and join Pamela and I.

Sandy and Denise are both quilters and former co-workers. Sandy is from CyFair and Denise is from a freight forwarding company. Was sew glad they came out to join in the fun.








These nurses know how to have fun. Pamela has a great group of friends.

Spenser went to nursing school with Pam and they shared and apartment while in school.

Me and Samara

Me with Ashley

There might have been a cupcake icing fight with Samara once we moved outside. She came after me but she ended up with more of it on her with some help of another friend.













 Mother - Daughter Moments

 Group photo. A few of the girls got away before we took this picture but a big 

Thank You to each and everyone who showed up. Such a fun time!

We appreciated the extra bottles of wine and gifts you shared with us. 

What happened after the winery is well .... not documented but I believe the nurses continued to have fun.     More celebrating to come. 

I wanted to make a quilt for my Texas Guest room and Pamela told me I should make one using bluebonnet and wildflower fabric so I started collecting fabric. Recently I finally decided on a simple pattern of a Square in a Square. So far in my layout on the design wall I only have a couple repeat fabrics. I'm sure I'll have more once I get it big enough for the queen size bed. I've partially sewn 2 rows together but it needs to be longer so I'll have to add a couple more rows.  Coming together slowly.  

I wanted to finish it at retreat but that didn't happen. I did get other projects completed.  I had a week long quilt retreat. Before gathering I asked the usual questions about being sick, having fever or being around anyone that has been sick or been out of the country. None of us wanted to get anyone sick by no means.  We were over the suggested max gather of 10 by 1.  Me and 10 of my quilty friends met in LaGrange at RR Retreats by Margie. We always have lots of fun and create some really pretty quilts. More about retreat in another post.

Lilley has adapted well to farm life and talks to the cows and Jerry regularly. The cows look at her like what is your problem and Jerry will sometimes go nose to nose with her at the fence. She's such good girl. She'll follow David out to the barn and shed but doesn't stray off to far while waiting on him to gather his tools or whatever.  She has even been following him to the mailbox as far as the cattle guard. She waits patiently for him until he comes back across.

One evening after work Pamela calls me all excited and frantic.. A naked man with nothing but an IV and a small towel came at her begging for a ride. She made it to her car before he got too close. She posted this on snapchat shortly after the incident.     Apparently he escaped from the ER. She never heard what happened to him after she called her house supervisor and drove off.   I'm glad she's safe but now it makes me laugh especially if you would have heard her description of what was happening.

Leslie  Pam  Avery

David was going to take us out to eat for our birthdays but Pamela got a call from her friend Avery in Colorado saying she was flying in to spend the weekend to celebrate with Pamela and their friend Leslie was coming up from Houston so we rescheduled dinner for the following weekend.  We had called the restaurant and they were going to be open as far as they knew at the time we called. We crossed our fingers that they'd be open on the 13th.  

Pamela ordered some fun cookies from a nurse in College Station to Welcome the Girls 

On Sunday (3/8) I drove to Calvert to meet the girls at En Gedi Winery. Yes the small town of Calvert has a winery. They're friendly and the wine is good.

The girls had been to a couple of breweries in Bryan and wineries and now they were ready to go to try En Gedi in Calvert.

David and I found this winery when we went to a festival in Cameron a few months back. They have some really tasty wines.

They're next stop was the Rock'n K.

Gotta come feed the cows and meet Jerry.
The cows came to attention when they saw David carrying the orange bucket out to the pasture. Leslie ws offering Jerry his share of carrots. Which he hated.

 

 That's Daisy aka Crazy Bitch, getting a cube from Avery. She and one other cow sounded angry and kept bellowing but they weren't gonna turn down the cow crack as we call it. It's like cat nip to a cat.




Pamela caught the best picture Jerry. It looks
like he is laughing at us.  Gotta love it. LOL

That's Sophie at the gate.  She actually got off the porch.
















David and I kept the fur grandbabies while Pamela had company so while visiting she decided to take her babies back home with her which meant someone had to share the back seat with them. 
Avery decided she'd take one for the team.
Now Bri decides to make herself comfy.
She half sat on Avery and Sophie.  Poor Avery, but she was a good sport about it. So ends another good birthday celebration.  Until our family dinner.






The girls got groomed before things shut down.
ET phone home. Misty of Top Paw Pet Spa always has some background for the dogs for a photo shoot after getting beautiful or handsome.  LOL The one cracks me up.

Lilley

Brianna

Sophie

Also Before things got so crazy we grabbed Mom and took her to see Brittany @ Trendsetters Salon for a hair cut and style. Mom's hair had grown so much since our last visit and it seems to be getting thicker.
Love my Momma and Pammy loves her Mimi.
After spending the day with Mom it was time to head home.  David had called and told us we might want to stop at grocery store to see about getting toilet paper and some supplies. He tells me that our Walmart was empty of such things.  What?!  So Pamela and I made our first stop at the Kroger in Montgomery and yep shelves were emptying fast. This is crazy. There was no TP, water or gaterade.
What the heck!
Did someone announce there was a shortage? People are hoarding like crazy. I'm at a total loss as to why people think they have to hoard food and supplies.  The stores are open and they replenish at least once a week but with this hoarding they can't keep things on the shelf.
I'll be glad when this craziness is over and we can be safe again.

Not the best lighting but I caught this picture of Lilley this morning. She's having withdrawl issues. David is working and has his office door shut. She's been standing there a little over 5 minutes just looking in the window. LOL About the time I snapped the picture I heard David chuckle and opened the door so she could come in.  She's her Daddy's girl.





I've rambled on long enough on this post. I'll have lots of pictures for the next post too so stay tuned.

Sooo

Until next Blog....

A little Hitch but I'm back....

I know it's been a while since I blogged which means I'm really behind but I do have a sort of excuse.
Some of my close friends got upset with me because I didn't share this prior so they could pray for me or be there for me but you know sometimes You (Me) just have to come to terms with what's going on. And at that time I wasn't ready to voice it.  I had a hard enough time telling David and Pam.  My imagination had already made up it's own scenarios.  Soooo  here goes...back in December I went to the doctor and gave her several symptoms that I had noticed that were getting more frequent like shortness of breath, and sometimes my chest would get tight enough I had to cough to get a breath and my legs tended to feel like lead. To be totally honest it was some of those days that I did take a fall. I kept thinking it was just part of my being out of shape but it started bugging me.  It was an effort to walk to the mailbox. Two weeks after my visit the Doc scheduled me for a Stress Test.  Which didn't happen as planned. My blood pressure shot up so high just while they were setting things up and taking resting heart pictures that they couldn't do the actual stress text. It shot up higher than it's ever been. A walking stress test couldn't happen and all they did was take resting heart pictures and turn me loose. Now the doctor had to decide how and when to proceed.

During the holidays I got a call from Baylor Scott & White to reschedule a 2 day nuclear stress test.
On January 9-10 I took my nuclear stress test and more pictures of my heart. A cardiologist called me later that afternoon but I missed his call but he called again Saturday morning.  He was concerned and wanted me to come in for a consult asap.  I asked if we could wait until the following week so I could bring David with me.  Test results showed a dark area on my heart which could mean blockage or a shadow from dense breast tissue. That's the way I was leaning.  But the only way to get a 100% for sure diagnosis was to do an angiogram.  On January 23 they did an angiogram. I was scared as hell. I didn't know what to expect and was scared to of what they'd find.  I had been through this with David about 10 years ago when they said he would probably have heart bypass but once they did the angiogram all he needed was a stent.
Anyway instead of going through a vessel in the groin area for me they used a vessel in my right wrist.  The 3 nurses at Baylor Scott & White in College Station that prepped me and took care of me were awesome. They did everything possible to put me at ease and make me comfortable.  I was awake during the whole procedure but they did give me drugs to relax me but it didn't take away anxious feeling.  Once they went in they determined that I did indeed have blockage and put a stent in to open the blockage.   I had to stay in the hospital for about 4-6 hours after the procedure to make sure I didn't fall out or anything.
I wasn't allowed to move my fingers or hand that they went through for the next 24-48 hours.  That was a hard task to say the least.
To keep me from moving it they put a splinted on it. By the time I took the picture the splint had slid down and I could move my fingertips slightly. It was close to time to remove it so it was okay.
End result of this story is I have 36 weeks rehab. Physically I already feel much better. My legs no longer feel like lead weights and I don't feel the shortness of breath.  Moral of the story Listen to your body when it tells you something is up.

What do I have now is a permanent cramp in my left leg just under the ole' butt cheek. It comes on early hours of morning and doesn't give me any relief until I've been up and moving a couple of hours. Was told at my appointment with the PA this week to try some extra strength Tylenol for next 3 days. I'm not to take Aleve or anything like Naproxen because it lowers the  heart beat and mine is already low.  So like I said I'm physically fine. They did an EKG and gave me a thumbs up.
Mentally and emotionally is a different story. I've been anxious and the anxiety level has been up. I've been worried about the stent collapsing like my Mom's did in 2004 and she went into cardiac arrest. My mind can't relax. David my sweet guy, has been able to be home with me to help me feel safer.  He's got my back. I get all emotionally at times.
 At the Cardiologist/ PA visit this week David brought this up to her. She assured me that that shouldn't happen but what I'd need to worry about is plugging it up. Oh well great, that puts me at ease already. Not so much.
Okay so there you go. My story is out. I am finding little things that were an effort come much easier now.  Emotionally/mentally I know that will heal too with time.

How about some cherrier news and happenings.
I gave Jerry a ball to play with. I had an ole water polo ball of Pamela's and tossed it to him. At first he looked over the fence like I need attention and "what is that thing" you just tossed in here. LOL  He got his lovin and then went to check out the ball. My phone screwed up (operator error) and I didn't catch it on screen. He picked that ball up and shook it up and down.  Too funny. Even the cows have checked out the ball but it didn't interest them. Maybe the next time I'll catch him playing with it.




Gotta Love the Sunsets at the Rock'n K. 

One night last month we were sitting out by the fire and we star a large number of shooting stars. It was too cool.  I don't know we would have seen it like we did here if we still lived back in the city.

I started the year off with my first Round Robin Hand Off. I let myself say yes to another Round Robin.  I didn't make it to the Medallion hand off but I made it to this one.  The medallion I had to add a row to first was a playful cat. I can only show you the center medallion and not the row I added in case the owner, Kim see's this post. Once we handed off our center medallion in December we don't get to see it again until the final review, after everyone in the group has added a border. to it.
These are all the colors I could use to create a border. I knew right away what I was going to do.  I think it turned out pretty cute.I passed the cat medallion off to the next person to add a row onto mine.
And then received another medallion that I finished working on recently. Next hand off is in March and I finished ahead of time so I get to relax.  I cropped this picture because Kim had already added a border on it and now I had to add a border.
It took me almost 20 days to decide what to do. I Crossed my fingers that my idea would work. I do believe my addition came out pretty good. For whatever reason an Asian themed medallion throws most of us off. I don't know why exactly because it's still just piecing but it does. These round robins tend to take me outside my comfort zone big time. But I kinda feel like it was a tad little easier since I did one back 2018.  I have 3 more medallions to add borders to in the months to come.

Right before my stent procedure Pamela and I took a field trip to Fayetteville so I could visit a quilt shop I'd not been too.  It apparently opened up about the time I quit traveling down HWY 159  when I'd go to quilt retreat in LaGrange. I bribed Pamela that if she'd go with me we would buy fabric for a close friend who's having a baby and that I'd take her to The Blue Mule and Rohan Wineries that were within 5 miles of the quilt shop. Didn't have to twist her arm. LOL. 

The Spoiled Quilter was a cute shop and the owner and her husband were super friendly and helpful.   And sew were the other shoppers in the store.  It's not a big shop but Pamela and I found the perfect fabric for another baby coming into the world. And after I made my purchase I managed to walk out of the store without the bag of fabric I brought with me hoping they carried the line of fabric or something close to it. Kathy the owner called me after we were almost home.  OH darn, Perfect excuse to go back soon.
After the quilt shop I kept my promise and we drove about 3 miles down the road to The Blue Mule Winery we didn't even take pictures.  Owner was really nice and informative. Yummy wines. They had a cute baby donkey. Maybe next time it won't be misting rain and we can go pet it and take pictures. They're expecting another baby donkey and we saw on FB it had arrived recently. Our next stop was at Rohan Meadery. Another good stop for some yummy wine and friendly conversation. We were running out of time so it was a quick stop. It was time to head home before we knew it.
The day after my procedure I get this call from Pamela saying she fell at the gym and just maybe broke her foot. Oh Lordy. She went to Convenient Care and yep it was broke. Almost in the same place she had broke it 6 years ago.
 I had to go into Bryan for a rehab class and picked her up and took her to the orthopaedic consult. She gets to wear this designer boot for 4-6 weeks.
I tell you exercise for the Kennedy girls is not healthy. LOL

She's working light duty at the hospital as it heals.

I was leaving the house to go to rehab a couple weeks ago and this lone paint brush was at the corner of our road and the highway. Uh this is only the first of February and that's too early for paintbrushes. It was so bright and colorful.








Couldn't get my gloves off fast enough and grab my camera to catch hay all over the girl's head. It was like camouflage. We were putting the hay bale out and she stuck her horn in the bale and the hay stuck to it and was all on her head. Now there's just a little left. I think Ferdinand pulled it off her head and started eating.. You can see he has a mouth full.  Too funny.
On February 6th Pamela was texting me saying you should be getting snow and sure enough at 11pm it snowing like crazy but nothing stuck. It was fun to see though.

Valentines day David sent me a text saying "I should get Husband of the year award. I got you over 2 dozen roses"  Then he sent the pictures.  Now he gets to plant them but they'll provide me long lasting flower power for many more Valentines and some nice rose aroma.

 


 He did buy one for the house in a cute wooden planter. The rose is cool looking.

 


He also bought and planted 5 blueberry bushes. They're already budding out with leaves. Now to see if we get any blueberries.  Yum

They're planted out at the end of the raised garden beds.
David also put the walking stones to the garden my friend Sheryl made us. Thanks again Sheryl and Ross.
The last tidbit I'll end with is about going to the Mother Earth Fair is Salado where I got to meet, talk to and get my picture taken with Marty Raney from the show Homestead Rescue.  David and I were sitting outside talking about how we missed seeing Marty Raney on Saturday when he was scheduled to be there.
Then I heard this guy talking behind me and I thought that sounds like a familiar voice so I turned around and there he was sitting right behind us. Of course I picked a bad spot to take the picture, A shade line right across our faces. Oh well. It is what it is.  He's taller than I thought he'd be and a super friendly guy.  He had his trademark white shirt, black jacket and hat on. Made my day. He and David talked about the show we had just watched.



On that fun spot I'll close for now.

Until next blog......The most important thing is to enjoy your life -- to be happy -- it's all that matters. ~Audrey Hepburn