~ Every One Indeed ~

So ... it's crunch time, people. In one week my belongings will be on a truck. It's been a crazy December to say the least, but I am bound and determined to remember to celebrate December for exactly what it is: Jolly and Joyful and ... Blessed.

So I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, knowing we won't be in touch until sometime in the New Year. I am very excited for my New Life in my New State in the New Year. But don't think for one minute that I'm not counting my blessings from This Year. Such as ...

* I have travelled all over the country to see all of my children and grandchildren ... and they have travelled to see me.
* I have enjoyed the company of fabulous friends who have done way more for me than they should have ... but I must admit that I couldn't have done it without them.
* I have been blessed from the start to finish (and we're not finished yet, but I'm feelin' the blessings in the midst of the [back breaking] process) of this move.
* I have felt and heard and received 100% support from every single person I have spoken to about my new plans ... even though lots of those people were less than thrilled that I was leaving.

* I am spending Christmas with (most) of my children (the others are so tightly packed in my heart ... it's like they are right here) who will forgo the after-Christmas sales and other forms of relaxation to help me pack, clean and drive.
* I have lived such a wonderful life here in the Land of AZ that it's heartbreaking to leave.
* I am so excited about the future that I'm thrilled to leave.
* I have been kept from going completely bonkers despite the aforementioned conflicting emotions.
* I feel love and support from the PDaddy.
* Ditto for that Baby in a Manger.

Try not to forget about me all together until we are next in touch.

Love,
~ Mary ~

He's still a Winner

So ... you may or may not have expected this, but PDaddy won an award last week, honored once again for the great amount of pro bono legal work he did throughout his career. I am pretty certain that he is still working for others ... for free.

Also in the "you may or may not have expected this" is the fact that I finished the second little quilt in record time.

Fun, fun, fun from start to finish.

An Inconvenient Truth

So ... I am sorry to report that the stupidhead Anonymous people ... won. Yep, they have worn me down. Sucker-punched me one too many times. Worse than that, they called me "Sunshine."

I'm sorry ... them's fightin' words.

For some unknown reason, I have become a recent favorite for the weirdo commenters who are not actually familiar with the English language but still feel compelled to convince me that I must somehow invest with them. I only know this because the word "investment" is encased in a paragraph with a lot of other words that don't make a whole lot of sense. Except that they start out by referring to me as "Sunshine".

Which happened to be a nickname of mine in High School. "Little Mary Sunshine" to be exact. So I cannot allow them to tread on that sacred ground. (Oh, who are we kidding? High School was not sacred ground in my book, but these people crossed the line nonetheless.) How the heck do they know that I am oh-so-Sunshiny?

So I have been forced to put up that little rectangle of misaligned letters in order for you to leave a comment. (And you will leave a comment.) I'm sorry, really I am. But let's face it, it's not Sunshine's fault, it's Anonymous'.

Stupidhead Anonymous.

(The photo is courtesy of PDaddy at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens last summer.)

Ode to PDaddy

David aka PDaddy

July 27, 1949 - October 13, 2009

Thanks for making us laugh every single day.

That's what Friends are for ...

So ... I've been away for a bit.

Let's just say that after that l'il bout I had with salmonella, we had a week long hospital stay involving PDaddy and then just as we were bringing him home we discovered a "slab leak". For those not in the know ... "slab leak" = evil.

The good news is that all the grandkids are here with more children coming this weekend. The good-er news is that we have the most marvelous friends in the world, many of whom that have superb plumbing and drywall skills. Other friends have amazing cooking skills. Others have done our laundry without so much as a whimper. Thank you. Thank you, thank you.

The good-est news of all is that we are home, we have running water, and these grandkids are still keeping us in grins. Once again we have too many blessings to count.

p.s. The above picture was taken when one of their mothers discovered them in The Kingdom playing "office" with some sort of Business that involved thread spools and quilting gloves. When questioned where they found the quilting gloves, Miss Dub promptly replied, "In the glove aisle, of course."

p.p.s. Oddly enough, I won another give-away from this blog, through my friend at this blog. I know it's unfair, but what can I say?

smells fishy to me ...

So ... the PDaddy has been spending the morning going over his fishing ... stuff. He mutters phrases from time to time that sound vaguely familiar like "Wow, this is older than I thought" ... and ... "where the heck did this come from" and "I can't even remember buying this". I can not tell you how good that made me feel. I tried to confess to him that these are the very phrases that I mutter when I go through The Stash. I'm not sure he heard me.

I didn't repeat it.

As you can see, I have been doing a bit of fishing myself. These beauties from the deep blue sea are my latest hand applique project. I have a somewhat similar machine applique project in the works. I may or may not wear sun screen while working on them.

Does your husband have a hobby/sport/electronic obsession that helps you to justify your own crafty/sewing/paper obsession purchases? Do tell.

(Yes ... I would be the one who placed the package of goldfish to give him something to aim for. He has yet to catch one. You can't say I didn't try to help.)

I {heart} a lot of people ...

So ... tomorrow is the big Day O'Looooove. The day to celebrate how much you love your loved ones. (Redundant I admit, now that I see it in print.) I have a lot ... I repeat a LOT ... of ones to love. And I want them all to

Be Mine.

I am just that selfish.

First and foremost ... the PDaddy, always the PDaddy. Secondly ... the four childrens. Next ... the adopted-by-marraige childrens. And of course ... of course ... the grandest of all grandchildrens.

If any of you would like to apply to be my Valentine, just give me a good reason. I'm not above the inclusion of anyone, including total strangers.

Love is a Grand Thing indeed. I wish you Joy and Love on the big day.

Land O'Hope

So ... we've been gone for a few days. Back to the land of hospitals and doctors for a check-up. Back to the land where one could easily freeze one's patootie off if one is not careful. Back to the Land O'Beauty.

We came home with a few souveniers. First: These incredible pictures/memories taken by the Pdaddy. Second: Bellies chock-full of some of the finest seafood ... ever.

And last, but certainly not least: A Clean Bill of Health ... the go-ahead to Go Ahead.

Gratitude beyond words.

Nuts

So ... I bought a new lamp. I could not believe what a fantastic find it was.

* Right size. Check.
* Cool suede shade. Check.
* Hip woodsy theme. Check.
* Takes a 3-way bulb. Check.
* On sale for a smokin' deal. Check.

While waiting in line at TJ Maxx, conversing with my fellow line-waiters about how I had the buy of the century, it suddenly dawned on me that there was one small flaw with my new lamp. Because of the brown suede lampshade, I knew that it was not going to emit as much light as it's predecessor. And I worried that PDaddy was going to miss that light because ... well ... I tend to go for a lower-light-ambience than he does.

The first night he didn't notice the lamp or the lack of light. (The blazing light from the Christmas tree from across the room probably helped out.) But sure enough, the next night, the following actual conversation took place:

PDaddy: "Is that a new lamp?"
Me: "Yes ... do you like it?"
PDaddy: "Sure."
Me: "I am well aware that it has one major flaw."
PDaddy: "You mean ... that it's a squirrel?"

I love that man.

Weekend Update

So ... let's just say that our weekend did not involve high society parties and thrilling adventures. I feel relatively safe in saying that our weekend involved:

* Dust. Yep, it still lives and thrives on every surface. Today could possibly be the last dust-inducing day and then it won't be long until the new floors begin to unveil themselves.

* Yuck. PDaddy feels like yuck. He's into his second cycle (of four) of this (which had always been anticipated to happen after surgery recovery) round of chemo.

*Yum. I am half way through reading this most delightful book. Absolutely yummy. If the term hadn't been overused and commercialized, I would even venture to say ... Yum-mo.

So ... how was your weekend? Do tell. We are more than happy to live through it vicariously.

Martha, Me and Miss Dub

So ... it still feels a little like fall and I am relishing it. So much so that I decided to bake a pumpkin pie. Now PDaddy loooooves him some pumpkin pie and although he won't be able to eat the crust (do you remember the part about PDaddy not having much of a stomach anymore?) he will truly enjoy the filling.

And I will truly enjoy watching him truly enjoy the filling.

And then I will promptly eat his crust.

I even went so far as to add some fall touches with the left over crust. Very Martha. Except she probably would have put hers on the pie sooner than I did, because I'm not sure mine got totally cooked.

And because I am an EON (Equal-Opportunity-Nanny) I wanted to show off this very fall-ish picture of Miss Dub during a trip to the apple orchard. Is she not soooo beautiful?

Oh yes ... continuing in my Martha ways I will give you a very Helpful Hint about preparing a flaky pie crust. After you have rolled it out and put it in the pie plate and crimped it like a pro ... stick in in your (self-defrosting) freezer while you prepare the filling. The very purpose of such a freezer is to suck moisture out of the air. Because it sucks some moisture out of your crust, you can add a little more water while preparing it and make it much easier to roll out.

Because ... I love patchwork quilts, but I really hate a patchwork crust.

How about you?

Still Charming ...

So ... you'll be happy to know that I have (somewhat) gained control of my food-tossing ways. And my shoulder is better. And I have a sneaking suspicion that my shoulder is not what you have tuned in here to inquire about.

Yep, the PDaddy is coming along like the trooper he is. Last week we actually had a setback (an irregular heartbeat that put him in the cardio ward for a couple of days) and I was like ... "Are you kidding me? We don't have setbacks! We only move forward!"

And that's when I realized that even with all we have been through, I feel like we live this very charmed life. And naturally the heartbeat "popped" back into place in not too long and we went back to an even better room with an even better view than before.

It was ever so lovely to have my Miss Gin with me, but alas she went home on Saturday. Before she left, I combined some errand-running with a vigorous walk and the chance to take some pictures. I do love me some greenery! Okay ... so I just happened to end up in a quilt store (Undercover Quilts) down at Pike's Market. This little lovely in the window had some incredible machine stitching, not to mention happy, happy applique.

And just so you know. I am well aware that we are not really charmed ... we are blessed.

I'm just saying.

Of Sandwiches and Surgeries ...

So ... let me tell you about the rough day I had yesterday. Late last night as I sat on the bed eating my dinner which consisted of one half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich ... wearing a white T-shirt ... it threatened to slip and fall, thus soiling my T-shirt and perhaps ruining my dinner. In my attempts to save it I royally pulled a muscle in my shoulder.

Other than that, my day went really ... really .... well.

Oh yeah, PDaddy had a 7 1/2 hour, complicated, life threatening surgery and came out like the trooper that he is. As in everything went splendidly. Let's just say that less than 24 hours later he has already walked around the nurses station, been moved out of ICU to a regular floor and cracked us up a half dozen times.

You might also be happy to know that ...

*Your faith and prayers were heard. Over and over again. Our gratitude is boundless.

*On this very day, PDaddy and I are celebrating our 34th wedding anniversary and ...

* Oh yeah. The PB&J was delicious.

The Story, the whole Story and nothing but ...

So ... after 4 1/2 months of beating around a very large, prickly bush, the time has come to fill in the details. You know ... the PDaddy details ... the why-the-heck-are-we-going-to-Seattle-for-a-month details. The details that some of you are mighty familiar with and others ... not so much.

Let me just say that I have not previously told this story because I didn't feel it was my story to tell. Over time I have seen PDaddy (the DH, fyi) himself spill some parts of the story, so at this point ... with 4 days to go before we leave ... here goes:

In March we went to the doctor because he was feeling really dizzy. They saw his blood count was low and assumed a bleeding ulcer. Three days later we found out they were right ... except that the ulcer was sitting on a tumor which was sitting on his esophagus.

Bummer.

No problem. PDaddy took matters into his own hands. We found out that this would involve a major surgery that would remove most of his esophagus, and make a new one out of the top of his stomach. We were told it would be wise to have a surgeon that does this surgery a lot. Really a LOT.

Enter Dr. Low in Seattle. Our new home-away-from-home.

Did I mention that he has already had 9 weeks of chemotherapy (which worked really well ... woohoo) and blood clots in his lungs (that put us back in the hospital in June ... not even a woo.) Our biggest concern at that point was that the surgery would be postponed. Ooh, only by a month! Woohoo and Yippee. The surgery will be on Tuesday, August 26th. We welcome your prayers. We know we have them already. We thank you.

So ... the good news? From the very beginning there has been more good than bad. He was diagnosed relatively early. He found the right doctors. (Our family doctor has been more than amazing.) The blood clots were diagnosed in time.

The best news? Well first of all, friends and family who have given support and love ... and an amazing amount of chocolate. We thank those who will (live in) and care for our home while we are gone.

The best-est news? Why PDaddy himself, of course. He is wonderful. He has made me laugh every single day. He literally has knowledge on his disease that equals his doctors. He has an amazing faith that touches everyone. He never, ever wants anyone to feel sorry for him. So we don't.

We just laugh.

And we pray.

And we thank you in advance for joining us.

Is it for the birds?

So ... I've got nothing to blog about ... except blogging. This morning PDaddy said that he thought it was one of the most wonderful things that had happened to me ... because it makes me so happy. I asked him if he thought maybe I was a tad "obsessed". He politely declined to answer that question ... specifically ... but it's pretty clear that what makes me happy, makes him happy.

This conversation came about, of course, because when I read my daughter, Mrs. Dub's blog today, I determined to make some decorative changes to my own blog. One thing led to another and now I am hoping to clean house just a little ... and maybe even get a new banner.

Which is not solving world hunger.

Is that Okay?

Celebrate!

So ... this is a weekend full of significance. First of all, we are home .... always significant. Secondly, tomorrow is PDaddy's birthday. Woo. Thirdly, tomorrow also marks the one-year anniversary of my blog. Yowza. And fourth? Eh, that's enough for one weekend, don't you think?

The first picture was taken on Thursday as we took in a Harbor Cruise on the Sound and basked in the sunshine. Does that mean we were warm? Au contraire. But hey, we're from Arizona and "warm" means something very different to us.

The second picture was taken as part of our 40 minute vertical hike from the waterfront back to our hotel. Sweat glands were activated and in full force. I told you that I would take pictures of some outdoor foliage. I always aim to please.

So ... in conjunction with my blog-iversary, I am in the beginning stages of planning my GiveAway. Stay tuned.

And Happy Birthday to the PDaddy. He is a fabulous reason to celebrate.

Pink Chomping

So ... technically I am still taking pictures of pictures ... but these ones are just more fun (which I promised) and required me to eat a calorie-ridden cupcake (which I did.)

After our morning round of appointments we had some lunch (eh ... so so) and ventured next door into a charming little shop, appropriately called Sugar. The walls were all painted in lovely pink stripes, with these luscious pictures of sugar laden goodies to offset the oppulent displays with the real things for sale on the other side.

Of course it would have been just rude, rude, rude to take my pictures and leave. Being the generous soul that I am, I purchased a chocolate/cream cheese cupcake and ate it on the spot. PDaddy had an oatmeal raisin cookie. I would hardly call that Sugar, but to each his own.

On the way back, PDaddy himself pointed out this lovely scene, above. Even if you live in an old high-rise apartment building, that doesn't mean you can't add your own sparkle and panache.

I would definitely call that Sugar!

Life at the Baroness ...

So ... we are in Seattle, land o' clouds. Remember how excited I was to bring my sweaters? Remember how I am from Arizona? Remember how I love to wear flip-flops and how now I want some Uggs?

Truth be told that the forecast says this is our coldest day here. Highs in the 60s. Yesterday when we arrived there was a heavenly breeze and you could hear seagulls and ... I have no complaints.

These pictures are from our hotel room (at "The Baroness") which was decorated ... a long, long, time ago. But I thought the pictures had a sweet vintage quality about them.

PDaddy is just getting pre-surgery pokes and prods. I am doing a lot of crosswords. I'll be heading back now. Talk you you all later.