Alive and kickin'

Wow, it's been awhile since my last post.

Surgery went well and I came home 4 days after. I had a huge amount of motivation to keep moving in order to not have a recurrance of the DVT and 12 Pulmonary Embolisms I had after my surgery last October. That resulted in a 12-day hospital stay and my parents flying up from Texas to help with Lilliput and giving the hubs some support.

Unfortunately, approximately 3 weeks after surgery, my open incision got infected as it was closing and this resulted in a re-opening of the site. I've had wound care nurses coming in twice a day. Just yesterday I became the reluctant recipient of a Wound Vac. The machine is much larger that I anticipated and I will be "attached" 24/7 for several weeks.

Lilliput is doing great in 1st grade. She is reading like there is no tomorrow and has amazed us with her math abilities. We have always thought she was very smart and now, I feel so bad when she tells us she school is "boring." They will do assessement testing and IQ testing during the spring semester so we are looking forward to seeing how she scores. I have no doubt she will score high enough to be in the school's gifted program.

As a result of my medical issues, I have been relieved from my job. I am livid to say the least. However, I have chosen to embrace this time. I get to take Lilliput to school each day and pick her up resulting in being able to spend more time with her. In addition, I am using this time to heal and not feeling the guilt of not being at the office. The person that was responsible for me being let go was doing this behind my back. All along, he was telling me to take my time. People reap what they sow and I have no doubt he will get what's coming to him. I will probably not know when it happens, but that's okay.

That's it for now. I plan to use this time to de-clutter the house and donate things to G**dwill. There will be no garage sale as I'm afraid the weather won't allow it. It's already cold here! I also plan to photograph all my "finds" that I will be selling on Et*y and E*ay so check back often!

Under the knife

I was hoping to avoid it again. Alas, it was not meant to be.

Thursday morning, the most involved surgery in four years. Big incision with close to a week in the hospital.

After that, 3-4 weeks lounging at home trying to avoid blood clots like the ones I got last October.

Wish me luck.

So where is all this vintage goodness?

Well, and here come the excuses.

Even though I was off work the past two days, I filled them by spending time with Lilliput and running errands that I don't have time to do during the week.

I have pictures, that is if my lame photographic knowledge and talent has them looking good enough to post here and in my Etsy shop. Problem is, I don't know how to download them to get a good look and haven't remembered to have David download them for me.

I'll get to it if not today, tomorrow.

New Blog Look...

I cannot thank Tiffany enough! She created these so fast! This banner matches what is in my Etsy store. Although I haven't had enough time (or space) to photograph and list any items for sale, I hope to soon. Life and my job have gotten in the way. Back to back drills will do that to a lady!

Be sure to visit Tiffany's Etsy shop if you are looking for a banner or a blog makeover. I cannot recommend her enough!

A real kick in the gut...

Our dossier for our 2nd China adoption was returned to us today by our agency. We let them know about a month ago, that due to my health issues we wouldn't be able to complete the adoption. At that point in June, we had been waiting 2 years.

To see our Dossier with all the written chinese translations on it really made it very real and very hard that we had to request that it be pulled.

Baby Sadie will not be coming home. Seeing our Dossier on the kitchen counter made it very real and it hurt a lot.

Studio plans

Okay, to call it a "studio" brings to mind some grand space filled with tons of cool things. I suppose images of what a "studio" is different to everyone.

My "studio" will have to serve dual purposes. First and foremost, it will be a place for Lilliput and I to spend time together sans television or portable dvd players (unless L is in bed, then you might see a tv in use from time to time.) I have been creating art in my head for years and have much to my husbands chagrin, have been spending the last several months collecting materials I need. I've tried to use every coupon for the local craft stores to buy supplies for half price. I've visited the local flea market way too many times to count and have accumulated some of the coolest junk I've ever seen.

Second, the "studio" will serve as grand central station as far as managing our busy lives. Anyone who has had a child in the public school system knows that on any given day, their child will bring home a backpack with about 3 gazillion pounds of paper announcing this fundraiser, or that new reading contest. It's absolutely MADDENING! I've suggested that they use their website to distribute this information to no avail. Okay, then give me the option to view the information on the website or allow my child to sustain a back injury hauling home the tree you cut down.

So, we will use one wall that will host a fancy-schmancy cork/white magnetic board so we can effectively manage our lives! Daddy and PapPap are in charge of designing and building this HUGE fancy-schmancy organizational unit (HFSOU). I plan on finding the perfect table or bookcase to place underneath the HFSOU to manage the massive amount of mail that comes in. Maybe then we won't get late notices and allow checks to remain uncashed for months at a time.

We need help people! If you have any other organizational tips or must-try's...please send them my way! We need pictures please. I'll post links here and you will get all the credit.

She lost it...

My baby girl has lost her first tooth. All her friends had reached this milestone some time ago and Lilliput was just angst as to "why" she had no loose tooth! Often, she would pretend one was loose. I'd do the obligatory test of the tooth and pronounce it "not yet loose."

It got to be too much for me. When L would announce she had a loose tooth, my response was always, "Not yet, but probably soon." Well...I was wrong. Dang it if she didn't INDEED have a loose tooth! She lost it last week while playing in the gym and here, I present, the now toothless Lilliput!