Hoppy Easter

Just "hopping" in for a quick minute to wish everyone a glorious Easter.  Mark's been back in the US for the week and was to be home tomorrow but he's had to extend his stay for another week.  So I'm having a little pity party for myself and Clarice if anyone wants to join us.  Seriously, it's not so bad because I have been stitching up a storm, watching all the crime shows I can stomach and eating junk food for a week but today I'm off to buy some real food since I have the car.  Yes, I'll make sure to watch out for those parked cars that decide to jump into my path....lol!  I was just about over it when we got the bill from the guy yesterday.....$1500 Euros and trust me,  when I say very little damage on his car.  WTH but it's not like I can do anything about it so just gonna  pay it and move on with my life.  I can't change it and it was truly an accident, no one was hurt and quite frankly, I'm surprised it hadn't happened sooner.  I'm just not a great driver because my depth perception is always just a little off.  But don't ever, ever tell Mark I said I wasn't a good driver because we argue about that all the time. 
I'm off to shower then out for a quick jaunt to find some frames for my needlework and of yea, to get some food.
Hoppy Easter
Donna

One of those years Already!

It's been quite a week, month or for that matter year.  I decided to take the car on Saturday to hit a couple of antik stores on the hunt for some frames for my recent finishes and "hit" turned out to be the word of the day.  Yes, I hit a parked car and yes, I was driving Mark's company car and yes, it gets even worse....I don't have a German drivers license.  I'm just beyond sick still.  I have about cried myself dry at this point but I have to pick up a copy of the police report today so that will probably change.  I just can't believe that I hit a parked car and it's gonna cost us around $6000 Euros to get both cars fixed and pay my fines.  What a stupid, stupid  mistake!  And then unbelievably, Mark offered to drive me to the stores afterwards to find frames.  WTH! No, I didn't go because I just spent my entire European budget for the next 3 years on my little accident.

It was a crazy flight back to the states last month too.  It was my first solo flight with Clarice and I wish I could say it passed uneventfully but no such luck.  We made the flight just fine until we landed that is......we were stuck on the tarmac because the flight was early and there was another plane still at our gate.  We're just sitting there waiting when suddenly I smell something....oh no, she didn't???? Yes guys and gals, she did and it smelled to high heaven.  I forgot to take her food away the night before and in her defense, she had been in the carrier for 15 hours at this point so who could blame her really.  I apologized to everyone sitting around us, tried stuffing her bedding into a barf baggie and clean her up a little.  It was terrible because everything I tried to do was useless and I still had to drag her thru customs, immigration and of yea, the airport in general so poor little girl.  I took her into the bathroom and gave her a quick sink bath before we got into the car with Morgan and Donna for the final leg home.  After we got home it was a long, hot shower for both of us then a nice long snooze because we were both worn out.

I have been promising pictures from Switzerland and Carnival along with stories but I'm not sure I can do them any justice.  It was just an amazing adventure and just too unreal for words.  It's such a family event unlike New Orleans and they start planning the costumes as soon as the event is over.

Now to my stitching finishes.  I actually finished the E Cunningham by Blackbird Designs before Christmas to honor my friend's mother, Joyce Weatherford as a gift for her.  But I didn't get to see her when I was home so I couldn't post it until I was able to surprise her with it.  I found the most awesome gold, vintage frame to put it into but I forgot to take a picture of it.  I'll have to ask her to send me one.

 

 

 

And finally my last finish is My Valentine by Blackbird Designs but I still need to personalize it.  I just can't decide who to honor with this one.

 

 

 

 

Stateside!

Hey guys,
I know I've been MIA for awhile but I've been stateside for the last few weeks undergoing  some medical tests.  As I mentioned earlier, I was diagnosed with vitamin b12 issue when I was home for the holidays but I was still having some issues that needed o be checked out. Clarice and I flew home 3 weeks ago and it's been a whirlwind ever since.  I have been taking the  pills for a month now and the good news my levels are up so no shots needed...yippee!  I also had a test for Alpha 1 which is hereditary and my family has the gene but the wonderful news is I was negative. So now I'm batting 2 for 0 and the dr decides that in light of my excellent family history maybe I should have an echocardiogram done. I called the cardiologist and scheduled an appointment but felt like it was more of a CYA for my dr than I actually had any heart issues since the EKG he did in his office showed everything was ok. Well the cardiologist ran a new EKG in her office and showed I'd had a minor cardiac infraction at some point. Then it's on to wearing a heart monitor for a week, doing a nuclear stress test and taking beta blockers twice a day. WTH, I'm only 47 and in spite of the horrible family heart issues, I've always had  low blood pressure.  I have my follow up appointment to discuss the test results on Thursday and if she clears me I fly out to Germany Friday morning. Nothing like cutting it close to give me a heart attack!  I'm really worried about these tests and what this will mean.

But in spite of all this crap, I have had the most amazing time spending 3 weeks with my folks. You are never too old to need your mommy and daddy when you are scared. They drove in from Arkansas and have just been wonderful running me all around town, feeding me, doing my laundry, ect....so I feel very pampered.  I just don't know how I wold have gotten thru all this without them. Mark flew over last Wednesday but he's been in Tennessee working so my folks have been my support system here. I'm going to miss them when they go home but not as much as Clarice will. She's totally become a Pappa girl and even got him to pet her.  He so doesn't like cats but she has won him over. He speaks kitty to her and she meows back, he plays laser tag for hours on end and she thinks he hung the moon. She also takes daily naps on the couch with her Ninny so she doesn't miss Hubert as much.  My brother is staying at their  house and taking care of Hubert and Gizmo so I owe him one as well now.

Ok, I'm off for now to stitch a little before my pills kick in for the night because I haven't put in more than 20 stitches the entire time I've been home.