So this Happened

They received the same sweater in different colors

from DD & DS father 

(Missing is Helene who went home to her family in NY)

Howie inspected a fake Husky

Hannah and Tom attended a 20's Holiday Party

David the real Husky made himself at home.

The Friday before Christmas found Ben

 and I racing back to the ER

and we spent hours there with gurneys lining the hallways.

I got the very last bed and we went through it all again.

A blood clot and obstruction in my throat 

were being considered with CT scans with dye contrast, 

but thank heaven after 

more antibiotics, blood tests etc I stabilized

once more and went home.

Hannah and Tom arrived early the next

morning and those three stayed by my side

every minute and took excellent care of me 

day after day. I'm pretty tired but 

hopeful I can turn this around and be done with it.

Ben made fresh mozzarella, beef stew, and standing rib roast,

along with breakfast and lunches for a week for all of us.

Before he left for CA he pressure cooked pulled pork for me 

in my new Instant Pot also gifted from Ben.

Hannah monitored fluids, meds and my rest,

scolding when necessary.

Hannah and Tom installed a new 

video doorbell for me,

gifted from them. Now I can check the door

from my couch perch.

With me permanently parked on the couch,

we played board games for hours, 

and viewed a lot of bad tv.

I learned that I am lousy at Boggle.

They were so gracious as it was

 indeed an odd holiday for them. 

I have great kids, wonderful kids.

I miss them something stupid.

I'll be heading over their way as soon as I'm able.

I'm still on oxygen but trying to wean off.

My voice was completely gone for 5 days

and now is just a scratchy croak.

Maybe I'll sound like Garbo when all is said and done?

So good bye 2017. It is officially 

my least favorite year hands down.

I pray the sun will set on 2018 

with a return to truth, decency, science and

good riddance to the vipers and the rodent in the WH.

I pray and pray some more and I resist.

A special thank you to all who called and emailed

to check on me and lift my spirits.

I appreciate it so very much.

Z

New Normal For Awhile

SO

It took me 2 months to get an appt 

with new primary care provider.

My appt was at 8:00 Friday morning.

I had been quite sick, OK very very very sick all week,

so it was fortuitous that I already had appt. 

The Dr and her nurse walked in and both said,

"You don't look good"

I replied "I feel bad, coughing for 6 days non stop, 

fever, short of breath..."

10 minutes later as they're taking multiple

 blood pressures as my oxygen levels were low...

I had an "Incident" and 15 minutes later

 I was on a gurney being loaded into an ambulance.

Where I spent the day in emergency being treated so

well by the staff at St Rose as they tried to figure out

heart, lung, infection what????

They could not get oxygen stabilized 

with treatments, oxygen, x-rays, blood work etc 

so back and forth back and forth. They decided to admit me

which I resisted. Years of childhood trauma

 with parental illness and hospitals I suppose.

 After a lot of hours and a wonderful ER Dr,

he agreed to let me go home with oxygen.

Since I no longer required Iv's I said it is cost effective,

and since your waiting room is crammed full, 

I'll give em my room.

Diagnosis and I quote "extreme bronchial infection"

An hour later my wonderful nurse walked up to my glass

door, put on a mask and closed the door completely and 

said you are highly contagious- you also have a strain of flu.

Then she put a large contagion sign on the door. 

No wonder I felt like crap.

AND if I had not had that appt, the Dr said...

"ya know you would have been in real trouble within hours."

scary-would I have known in time I was in trouble?

I never go to the Dr except when things are broken,

so the two month wait was worth it after all. 

Thank you guardian angels.

At shift change, all the folks I had encountered, 
stopped by my room or waved goodbye
 as they left, course now they had masks, 
after me hacking near them all day. 
Felt so bad about that.

The paramedics were in several times that day

 and even they stopped in.

Of course I'm an entertaining kind of gal

 and had them all laughing.

My Dr's office was across the street from the hospital,

so to avoid me from having my bestie Annie

drive clear across town to get me a block to my car,

after I was discharged

security drove me there in a golf cart!

St Rose rah rah rah

I'm still not A-OK but I'm home with Howie.

Seems I'm gonna be dragging a tank around for a while.

My kids both almost flew home,

they love me...

and I have the dearest pal in Annie. I alerted her around noon

 I might need her so she came over to my side of town

 and hung around until 6:30 and then drove

 her mom all the way back home and was going to drive back.

My phone had died in hospital. I called her back

 from home, just in time.

Other pal Sue is already offering whatever I need.

Makes me all weepy.

 Maybe later I'll tell you all about full, droopy, boobish, exposure

 to 5 hunky paramedics, 1 xray tech and three passers by in hallway.

ANYWAY 

I'm going to take a break for a bit and catch my breath

literally 

and rest up.

If I'm not back in time to wish you a merry merry,

please know I love all you little buggers,

and I say that with pure, unadulterated affection.

Z

Merry and Howie

Getting close now

Counting the days until kiddos

AND

Happy Birthday Howie.

Here is why we fell in love 12 years ago.

Favorites #5

Little Bits Here and There

Tidbits- that floral booklet tucked in there my daughter made for me 

of my yard photographs.

The letter you see tacked to wall? My grandma and young father

 sent sweaters to Europe during the war.

This a letter thanking them and the Mom mentions

 hoping her children can return from the countryside soon -

 families terrified of the bombings, sent their kids to safety .

Notice the address?

Venetia, PA USA America.

That's all it took back then.

Tree in first guest room

Guest Room

Stairway

Top of Stairs

Fences decked out for Christmas

Stairway

Tree in second guest room

I think the elephant is my favorite

but oh this tail!

On Studio wall

Love these elves and deer

If there is a knob...

One of my prized possessions. 

My dad gave me my grandfathers red plaid flannel robe,

and I wore it through college and well into marriage. 

When it was so threadbare parts were really just threads, 

I cut up what remained and made two bears. One for my dad and one for me. 

***

Counting the days till kiddos.

Packages for cheese making keep arriving on my porch

 via Amazon.

Ben is making cheese I gather. Woot! 

Z

Living Room Progress

Most of the presents are now wrapped.

I still need to add some greens to them. 

Of course they are all larger than normal 

and don't fit in the space this year. 

I didn't think that through.

I don't do much "cute" but these guys

make me happy, so of course they appear each year,

and a little nod to the holidays on top of the spices.

I've now lost track of the time, so let's call it.

Suffice to say, because of the way I store, 

and the way I decorate it's all fast and easy.

I'd rather rest and enjoy.

Favorite Things #4

Floral Picks

  

So I decided that I did not want to go

with the House of Hatten after all,

so I pulled the red picks I had used

 and replaced with these brown velvet ones

 and added some carved

 grey, green and ivory ornaments.

I added these same elements to my memory bowl.

 Pinecones, stars and birds appear in every vignette

in every room, even though

 they are all a little different.

Repetition is another favorite thing.

These changes and additions to the family room

 took about 30 minutes, so I'm at 2 hours and 15.

How are you coming along?

Z

First Tree for 2017

This tree has three sections but was too full at the bottom

for the space so I only used two tiers. Never thought

to do that before now. It worked just fine.

Then I boosted it up a bit by placing it on a small bench.

New size and I tried a different spot.

24 years in this house and trees, real and fake,

small and giant have been 

everywhere but here.

 Those glittered black stars at the top

 were Halloween decorations,

I believe Wendy Addison's. I don't decorate 

for Halloween anymore so I ripped

off the spooky fronts and replaced with pewter snowflakes.

Lots of my homemade pinwheels on the tree.

You can almost pick out one of the glittered moons

that received the same treatment as the stars.

The tree took about an hour start to finish.

Add in about 15 minutes as I figured out the 

stars and moons.

So we're at 1 hour and 45 minutes.

and no mess.

Tonight I wrap the gifts I have so far.

After nagging my daughter to remember

 to thaw her bird, (and yes I had nagged)

I almost forgot mine Saturday!

Kiddos having a friendsgiving in CA.

I was asked to come down,

but since they'll be home soon, I'm 

waiting until January to visit. I can stay longer

and avoid the horrible traffic

 that happens between CA and Vegas during holidays.

Also they're already having nine with additional dogs,

but that meal with Ben in charge will be amazing!

I'll be doing my deep fried turkey again this year.

CANNOT wait.

See here for the story.

Z

Favorite Things #3

This Bowl

Spring /Summer

Autumn

Winter

I spent another 5 minutes

removing the fall foliage

 and putting it into the tub 

that contained the other seasons.

Then very unceremoniously plunked

winter in. I see I need to adjust a hanging pine cone.

I truly do mean plunk, and it seems 

to all come out OK in the end. 

If you look closely you can see that spring/summer

 shares a lot of the same foliage as the autumn.

That switch is even easier.

The burlap bags for the chair backs

 are stored as is, and 

so are the cones for the hutch.

These are not used every year,

but are ready to go when I do a burlap

black and cream plaid living room,

as I am for 2017.

I have a box marked mixed greens,

so I headed to the porch and 

plunked.

Think I'll add a ribbon here later.

The stars and vintage ornaments

were in 1 of a box of 2 marked "Misc Christmas".

I can just open those two small boxes

 and pull accent pieces to add to greens as I go along.

So let's see - bowl switch, and removing

bags/cones from bin

 and hanging them in Dining Room, then 

more plunking on porch maybe another 20 minutes?

So currently at 30 minutes total.

How am I doing?

Z