In Sickness & In Health

If you've wondered where I've been & what I've been up to... well I've been taking care of my sweet husband since his open heart surgery last Thursday. He had an aortic valve replacement & aortic root replacement (to repair a 2" aneurysm in his heart). He had an amazing surgical team & the nursing staff has been so kind, helpful & ON TOP of everything. We are both tired but, sooooooooooooo very glad this is behind us & we are on the mend. The emails, phone calls & support from so many of you before, during & after the surgery has been so much appreciated. Some of you have walked this path for your own health issues, others have shared stories of helping a spouse or parent through this. It is not a walk any of us want to take but, we are so thankful that the technology is there & continues to improve for this & so many other procedures. It was scary to think of them stopping his heart, putting him on heart/lung machine & then taking his heart out to work on it. But, then I reminded myself they can do heart surgery inutero so knew this was BIG but, not something that couldn't be handled. NOW we heal. And then he will be better than before. So, to each of you THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!! For all the prayers THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For all the support THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!! For all the friendships... know you are valued. So, in sickness & in health I DO! HUGS!

What do you do after you have spent 8 hours in a hospital recovery room or waiting room???? Come home, go directly to your Lazy Boy with a large glass of cold milk & a package of OREO's!!!! DUNK & STUFF!!!!!!

Now that probably didn't help my hip/pant size any but, tomorrow's another day Scarlett & we got good news! Although Hubby still has to have open heart surgery... he didn't have to have stints today or when they work on the valve they don't have to do by pass surgery because his arteries are clear! HEY, a girl has to have positive things be thankful for. RIGHT? And another thing to be positive about... ALL MY AMAZING SUPPORTIVE FRIENDS OUT THERE!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU 100 TIMES TEN!!!!!!!!! YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING. Thank you for the Prayers (never can have too many of those), the wonderful emails & comments, & most of all your blessing of friendship. All is well in our world today. Well, everything but the OREO DAMAGE!

Happy Birthday to Me !

These boots were made for walkin... Well, that's what the song said. I had read a post on my friend Deryn's blog a few weeks after ADORN ME & she was telling how she had fallen in love with not ONE pair of Cow Girl Boots but, TWO! And how she bought them both(& I just read she found a vintage pair so that's THREE). I LOVED the Teal colored ones she got & sent her an email/comment on her blog that I wanted new boots too. Not long after that Hubby & I were down in Brenham, TX & while browsing in a cute little Western/Design Shop I spotted a pair of boots that I totally fell in LOVE with. They had a HEART & WINGS! And I love both of those things so this was a total meant to be!

But, they didn't have my size (yes, size HUGE). The person helping us found out that the boot was made in my size & that a store in the Stockyards in Ft Worth had a pair.

When I got up this morning..... I HAD A PAIR!!!!!!

What do you think Deryn? And of all things, I MIGHT be going to College Station to take a Resin Class with Deryn this weekend. Want to guess what I'm wearing? And won't they be grand for Paper CowGirls Art Event in June (check 2 posts back for information on that if you don't know about this fun Texas Event). And the boots were just a surprise gift... Look below for the BIG GIFT! I'm fainting & screaming with happiness!!!!!!!!

This gift is THE ONE that I had on my list for #1 most wanted thing for my Birthday.

As anyone who knows me well KNOWS I LOVE MERMAIDS! I always have but, after falling in love with the Central Coast of California last year this has become an obsession! And when I saw the Artistic Affaire LeSirenstalked about on Kim Caldwell's beautiful blog I wanted to go so badly. But, I had just returned from Petticoats & Parasols in Savannah & didn't think I could ask to go to LA, California & another expensive but Soul Inspiring Art Event. When sweet Hubby asked "what do you want for your birthday" I sheepishly replied "truth" & he said "Of course" to which I said "to go to LeSirens Art Event" I had to explain that one but, once he got past the name He said "OK" SOLD! The next day I went to Kim's site & signed up. By the way, she is closing registration this week & there are only two spots left so if you are interested in joining me hurry over. Once again, I can't believe I am blessed enough to be able to go & I am simply OVER THE MOON WITH EXCITEMENT!

Sweet Christine from Dollybelles (you met her in my posts from Savannah) is hosting a Mermaid Necklace Swap that I am so excited about. We are to make 7 ribbon flowers & send those plus some bits & bobbles (mermaid based of course) we have & she will combine six different swap partners items together & create a ONE OF A KIND necklace for each of us! THANK YOU SWEET CHRISTINE!

And then there is this adorable button to add to my side bar because Joy & her roommate Terri are hosting a cocktail party in their room which sounds ever so FUN! Mermaid Martini's oh I can't wait!!!!! I love the art work & think I need a shirt with this on it.

Now, I want to share a couple of cute things I had found about aging... all in the fun of this birthday you have to look at things in the RIGHT PERSPECTIVE! Hope you get a chuckle out of these as I sure did.

THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE:

1. You believe in Santa Claus.

2. You don't believe in Santa Claus.

3. You ARE Santa Claus (in my case Mrs. Claus).

4. You look like Santa Claus (again... Mrs. Claus).

SUCCESS:

At age 4 success is... having dry pants.

At age 12 success is... having friends.

At age 17 success is... having a drivers license.

At age 35 success is... having money.

At age 50 success is... having money.

At age 70 success is...having a driver's license.

At age 75 success is... having friends.

At age 80 success is... having dry pants.

Since we are taking care of Hubby's 87 year old Dad with Alzheimer's I KNOW how very true this last one is. It is funny when you read it but, oh so very true & sad. So, since I am pondering my age today & reflecting on how wonderful my life is & so very full of blessing... I just want to say THANK YOU to my precious Husband for the gifts he gives me every day. For his love, his laughter, his kind & giving generous heart. And to each of you my friends that share my loves, life, interests, & adventures. I look forward to another year of sharing fun & ideas with each of you.