SATURDAY, MAY 02, 2009 - WHAT A WEEK!!!

I HAVE BEEN HAVING A WEEK THAT DOES NOT SEEM TO END!!

My nerves have naturally been frazzled all week!! And, I got "the call", but am not quite sure what to think!! "I believe we got it all"!! My faith in God is saying, "Rejoice and be glad!! But, that little inner voice keeps saying, "are you sure" and "for how long this time"!! Thus, what more can I do except "ignore this" and hope at some point, I finally get a set of dentures that will fit!! I have been without teeth for just about six months now!! I truly do not miss them at all any more!! I said to Max, "well there goes my love of fresh sweet corn"!! Max simply says, "Not so, I can easily cut it off the cob for you"!! It brought tears, not because of the missing teeth, but because that sort of answer is my "old" Max back

Then Friday, began very early for me!! My legs are down about as thin as they ever were, but I am having excruciating pain as I can no longer feel my feet at all!

Max needed to be in Iowa City, but I simply could not make the trip with him!! Thus, before he left we went out for a BIG breakfast as Max was scheduled to have two teeth extracted. He ended up having four extracted - amazing what an insurance card presented will enhance!!

We are on the eastern edge of Iowa with the Mississippi River completely bordering the entire eastern edge of our town!! There is about a two city block length bridge that will take us over to Fulton, Illinois. It is a small city where every one knows every one!! When you move in, it is the duty of your closest neighbor to tell you that no one is allowed to cut their grass, do yard work, hang out laundry or work on home repairs for any reason on Sundays!! And they truly enforce and mean these steadfast rules!! My salon is located over there and we wanted to move over there and become a complete part of this community!!

We tried for five years to begin construction on our dream condo, but for one major health and/or injury problem we did not have the time and attention to devote to this construction and put it off another year!! When Max was told of his need for a liver and kidney donor transplant we finally gave up this dream!! I thought that we had finally burned these blueprints, but unfortunately they surfaced again early Friday when I made Max take me into "That Room" and I had more tears!! Not sure if they were for the blueprints or so much more stash!! I will be including pictures some where here!!

This weekend was the annual Dutch Days for this little town of Fulton, Illinois. The Clinton Humane Society always has a space in the craft and things for sale section of this celebration. We had our big breakfast in Fulton and then went down town to the Dutch Days fair section. I have an entire front little "court yard" to redo since the construction of my handicap ramp is finished. Our Humane Society sells plants that people have split and donated to them. I bought five different beautiful Hostas and five different Day Lillies and finally two big clumps of what the gals thought were "Bluebells"!! Max says only perennials are allowed as he is not going to continue to replant every year!! Little does he understand about thinning out the flower beds about every third year at least!! It was a perfectly lovely early morning, but I saw so many wonderful things and wonderful signs on tents that were all sealed up yet that early!! I was making a firm plan of attack for Saturday as soon as dialysis was over at 10:00 p.m.!

I was quite just very unsettled and had tremendous anxiety before Max left for Iowa City!! Max knew I was just sort of "contemplating" a new pattern I had just gotten that is Just Nan "Floral Fifteen". He told me perhaps I needed a change and he thought I should begin it!! Well, I am in the midst of so many and I just found one that I thought would never surface again!! I told him I did not have any Mint Green Cashel 28-Count Linen or any Antique White Cashel 28-Count Linen. So, he said, why did I not start the lost chart, which happens to be Lavender and Lace "Fallen Roses". And, I told him I did not have any Petite Treasure Braid. Well, within the next fifteen minutes, I had the Cashel Linens in my favorite Opalescent as a surprise and the Petite Treasure Braid. Well, enough of his arm twisting and I started the "Floral Fifteen"!! I am absolutely not making any real progress what so ever, even though the little squares are only 25 stitches by 25 stitches!! My mind simply was not concentrating on stitching, and I can not tell you exactly what it was on so all I can conclude is I kept falling asleep. It was one of the rare times I was left completely alone at home!!

Last night, the phone rang and it was Eunice's Maintenance Man that takes care of her buildings. He finally has time to devote to my "throne"!! No more embarrassing falls from the toilet for me!! YEAH!!! HIP HIP HOORAY!! He is going out to the building materials store, Home Depot, and purchasing an official ADA approved 17" high toilet in my main bathroom!! I do not think too many people ever think of this being a problem, but take my word for it, as it is a BIG problem!! He plans on starting at 9:00 a.m. sharp tomorrow, Sunday, morning!!

Max is not happy as he will miss AA, but I had not broken the news to him that I am wanting to go to church again as I am beginning to feel a bit better!! Perhaps, I should as he might not be so upset!! I am so excited!! Think about it you young gals, you, too, will be one day very excited to get an ADA approved toilet!!

And, we did give up our cabin a few years back as it was simply just too much as I was so ill and my time being up was too limited to make it worth our while of upkeep, etc.!! Last Wednesday night, Miprezious was showing signs of being homebound herself and needed an outing!! I suggested we go over and pick up Eunice and take a ride south of Clinton about 12 miles and check out our old favorite fishing holes and start planning to get some fishing in this summer as Eunice and Max love it!! I will vasculate from stitching plastic canvas (safe on beach) and my fishing pole!! If, I use a red and white bobber, Mi will come to me raising particularly awful behavior to get my attention to inform me I have a fish on my pole as she stands on point of that bobber!! Works for me!! Max usually will not go fishing without me as it leaves me home alone (I like my time home alone), but I do not like to go fishing as I do have active melanoma and the last thing I need is any unneeded sun upon me!! Well, I got snooping around here and there and I have secured us a cabin for the week of Memorial Day and then again the week of Labor Day. This is a small cabin, but it also has a wonderful handicap ramp!! It is one room with a lovely loft that is not accessible for me!! It literally has a ladder that goes straight up the wall. There is a flushing (ADA approved) toilet with large vanity with sink and many lights for doing hair and make-up!! Only thing is there is no shower right in the cabin, but we are welcome to use the Iowa DNR shower house that is immaculate all the time due to attendant at the adjoining campgrounds!! It has a microwave, small refrigerator with a small freezer and sink. NO stove!! Nice counter space and few cupboards!!

Real nice wooden table and six chairs and a lovely futon. The loft is filled with a bunch of comfy mattresses encased in plastic. I think we will opt for our own blow up portable bed!! There is a nice front porch and it will do us fine for a fishing shack for the two weeks we are planning to stay there!! I will be taking my "fake" OTT floor lamp as I will have to stitch at some time or another and, of course, my phone and charger!! I asked Max if he was sure he was up to all this and he says he absolutely can not wait!! I remember when we went before, although the things pretty much stayed for the season!! I told Max we would have at least one load of just my medical supplies as my oxygen modulator is huge!! The portable tanks will only last four hours at a time!! I can remember trying to do that one year!! We had rows of portable tanks in our garage and every time some one came down to visit we had arranged they would stop and get as many tanks as they had room for to bring down and take back the empties!! The oxygen company would just come and make the trades of full tanks for empties once a week also. Max decided enough of that and began just taking the modulator!! Thus, I think we are talking about four van loads per week!! However, dear Eunice has already stepped up and said she and Marion each have a truck and they with Wanda will take us down settle us and then come pick us up at the end of the week!! Although, Eunice is planning on staying with us for awhile, but "IF" her and Max can continue to get along I look for her to stay the entire times with us!! This will be just fine. The more the merrier!! And, we are all starting to look forward to these weeks. Not very luxurious vacations, but at least we will be getting away to complete peace and quiet and fishing!!

And, that brings me to this morning!! Evidently, I fell asleep in my stitching nest last night and Max fell asleep in his living room chair!! Somewhere around 3:00 a.m. he woke and tried to get Mi and I woke and moved into bed!! Neither of us evidently wanted to cooperate according to Max!! Max woke me at usual 4:00 a.m. to get my morphine into me so I am able to function by about 8:00 p.m.

He then left to go to his dialysis session!! He was a bit uncomfortable with his teeth also, but he knew how badly I wanted to go back to the Dutch Days celebration!! Thus, when he got home about 10:00 a.m. we did go over to the Dutch Days celebration. When Max wants to control me he will always insist on my "transport" chair instead of one of my regular wheelchairs!! My "transport" chair looks like a regular wheelchair, except he does not have any wheels or controls I can operate. I have to depend on who ever is pushing me to get me where I want to go!! Little does Max realize, I have strengthened my legs to put my feet on the ground and "toddle" with my legs short distances!!

This Dutch Days is the only fair I have ever been to that sells "Topless" or "Bare" and/or "Naked" Shoes!! My mother and Max HATES these shoes!! Each time I wear them I could make hundreds of dollars if I had a dealership in these shoes. Just before I got injured, I had looked into this possibility and fully intended to get into these and have a dealership!! They literally sold theirselves!! I know the gal who has the dealership very well, but with my memory I did forget her name this past year!! They live out on a farm and spend winters in Florida!! I got Max to wheel me into their little tent space this morning and Cindy's husband went to get her from out back where she was taking a break from the crowds!! She came in and asked her husband who wanted to see her as she did not recognize any one in the tent at that moment!! I yelled at her and she just let out a very loud shriek that could be heard throughout the entire area!! We immediately began catching up and she was absolutely astounded that I had ended up permanently in my wheelchair and she truly had not recognized me!! She promised to start stopping each time she gets into Clinton from now on!! My mother and Max loved each time I would be taken to the Emergency Room as the nurses never quite knew what to do with my shoes and they both would in unisom tell them to throw them away!! I finally ended up with no shoes!! These shoes are fabulous!! I can not stand any thing on my feet whatsoever!! These shoes resemble the sole of flip-flops, but there is absolutely nothing else to them, but the sole!! You just set them on the floor, peel off the cellophane liner and beginning with your heel just roll your foot onto the sole of these shoes!! They adhere to your foor and I have never had any thing make them come loose and some of them I had worn probably two to three months!! At night you simply peel them off your foot and wash them with soap and water. You tip them up to dry overnight and presto they are ready to go again adhering as well as brand new ones!! And, they are absolutely the most comfortable shoes you ever have walked in!! I bought six new pair today!! And, I am a bit too old now, but in my younger days I had all the feet jewelry that went from your ankle to your toes and your individual toes!! I am a bit "over the hill" for the jewelry at my age!!

I usually do not go for alot of the jewelry tents at this particular fair as it is not the best quality of jewelry for home made!! I love some of the others at summer fairs, but not much at this particular one!! However, there was a new dealer this year and I found a wonderful pair of tea pot and tea cup earrings!! I love them!! There is a picture on here some where!!

I then saw on some one's posting a ceramic tea pot and tea cup that they got at some thing similar I believe. So, naturally I had to look!! Actually, I used to display a lot of my crafting things many years ago, but have quit since the accident!! And, it seemed like if you saw one fair you saw them all. Each had about the same things, just a different creator!! Well, I got to thinking and realized I had not seen any thing for at least about five years!! And, after checking things out I did find that every thing seemed new to me!! I had a very good time, although Max began his "Hobby Lobby" "bitching" so I simply again put on the brakes and had to see EVERYTHING!! I did give him a break if I truly was not interested as he had been to dialysis and had his teeth out yesterday!! Although, if he had not taken me to this craft fair and celebration he had wanted to go to the Country Club for another eighteen holes!! So, not a whole lot of guilt here!!

I found another plant displayer!! Oh, she had some of the most outstanding beautiful things I have ever seen!! She had stainless steel glazing globes for gardens and yards that were guaranteed to last for it's lifetime!! They were gorgeous!! A bit pricy at $50 though!! I got a whole flat of half perrennials and half annuals flowers, but they are very unusal for around here and they were absolutely the most beautiful I have ever seen. I will have to take pictures tomorrow!!

And, there were a bunch of sisters who went around town wearing big straw hats and overalls for years!! They made their living working carnivals selling their home made taffy in about every flavor you could imagine!! Max has ordered it and picked it up at their home before when you catch them home as they travel to a bunch of local fairs, etc. yet!! Max said he saw their trailer and that we had to go get some of my beloved strawberry taffy!! Thanks Max, just what I need to remind me once again I am toothless!! So, off he pushes me up to the trailer to say my "hellos" to all!! And, the gal immediately said well we better start up a new batch of strawberry!! And, I told her about my problem and she slipped me a few pieces and told me to see what I could do with them, but for God sake's do not choke on it!! It went down like water and I saw and thought only STRAWBERRY TAFFY!! Max ended up buying me the entire bucket of the strawberry taffy for $22.00!!

The fair had all kinds of food and we, well Max, as I was gorging myself with my beloved taffy was hungry!! Thus, we telephoned my mother to see if she wanted some thing as we were NOT cooking today!! Well, yes, she would like a pork chop sandwich!! Okie Dokie!! Max and I got Brat Patties and got one for Miprezious!!

Max unfortunately could not eat his with his teeth, but I had no problem finishing his!! Max opted for some Cream of Wheat!!

And, I have not Blogged for awhile!! Last Saturday night we had one of the most fierce storms I can ever remember!! About 1:00 a.m. Max went to bed and I was just going to finish about ten stitches and follow so he could help me!! Max sleeps about two hours and then gets up and paces until he knows I am down for good at night!! Suddenly, I got just like shoved out of my chair onto the floor and poor little Mi even got knocked over!! Max got shook in that darn Thermopedic bed which is not supposed to ever feel any movement!! Lo and behold, a huge lightning strike hit the tree right outside my stitching room window!! I could reach out and touch it as it is so close. That lightning had to have knocked me out of my chair!! And, I just feel unlucky some times!! I, and our home, were truly blessed once again!!

I am not at all sure how my pictures will post here, but I have a picture of the ugliest lamps in this entire world!! These lamps were given to me about twenty years ago!! Carla it is another real mystery for you!! And, I think there are markings on these!! There is a floor lamp and a matching table lamp!! I swear the shades to these "beauties" are about the size of a card table!! Well, lo and behold, my mother LOVED these lamps and they have been at her home all this time. Well, some one noticed the article I have pictured on this posting in a QuadCity Newspaper in their Antique Column. You can send in pictures of your antiques and tell about them and this "Doug Smith" supposedly will run them down for you!! Well, this article is a bit late coming to me as it is dated Dec. 2007, however, the letter of inquiry was written by my "esteemed" SOB (sorry no other word for this waste of space) "brother's" step-daughter, Angie!! Evidently, he is planning on attempting to take "MY" lamps as well as every thing else that is not nailed down at my mother's home!! Well, as much as I DETEST these lamps, I DETEST that person who is supposed to be my "brother" and his "step-daughter"!! Thus, Max and I are picking up these wonderful and beautiful lamps this week!! I do not intend to pack them up in the van and go looking for a buyer as this article suggests, but they are going to be up for sale ASAP!! I can not even imagaine having these specimens in my home!!

And, as for my stitching, I am going along splendidly!! However, I am doing a Super Super Secret of Secret Projects right now!! Anyone, or I should say most anyone, can request a private showing as I am very proud of this piece as it is definitely a whole lot of firsts for me!! And, I am starting "Fallen Roses"!! I bought this pattern right when it premiered and the fabric shortly after that. I immediately lost the pattern and just found it a day or so again. And, I am starting "Floral Fifteen" and I have another WIP I found that I will picture tomorrow also!! So, I would say my stitching is coming along very well!!

And, I did make Max take me into "That Room" and let me stand there and just look!! I took pictures thinking I might see something in the pictures that I did not while standing there!! All I can say is HELP!! And, now those of you waiting on magazines will be able to understand why you have not received them yet.

The blonde tall bookcase has not had human touch to it since prior May, 2002!! I have no idea of what it holds. NO, my entire home does NOT reflect how this just horrific things look!! And, within days you will again see it, but absolutely clean to a tee!!

Well, first nothing to post, now a whole lot to post tonight and tomorrow!!

And, remember Meari has offered to come help me try to learn how to do this Blog and now that I am beginning to feel a bit better I am going to hope her offer will still be good in a few weeks when ever, and if she still has the time to help me!! I need about a week with Wanda just to make it so we can work on every thing in itself and I do have to be totally recovered before I will allow visitors around me. My legs are prone to bursting open and when they do, I simply will not take the change of them becoming infected and the germs spreading to some one I truly care about!! I am probably overly cautious, but I just do not want any one to ever chance picking up this awful disease!! Thus, hopefully I can label or these pictures will make some sense as to what they are!!

Love and Hugs!!

Deborah