All I have to say is....

...doing grades most of the weekend, teaching all day, working some more on grades, then going to PT is KILLER!!!

DH is in Oklahoma City and spent the day dodging tornadoes!

Too tired to post much, too tired for the drive, just plain TOO TIRED!!!

Off to BED!

And a little PS

Being a passionate Jane Austen fan, I could not resist this when I saw it on Pamela's blog at Firecracker Designs.

Take the Quiz here!

Saturday- and lots of news

It's Saturday early evening. The sun is still shining- I love spring and the ever-longer days. The weather is cold again, but spring weather is close, I am sure!

I went back to school and it was tough. I am 3 weeks behind in school work- all those assignments I left for them, plus term papers and midterm exams, all happened while I was out. I have a stack of work that is HUGE!!! Getting through it, slowly.

The days when I have to go to Physical Therapy after school are really KILLER. I get home late, sore and exhausted. But I want to walk normally and be strong again, so I'm going to do what has to be done to get there.

I went to a stamping party today. It was hosted by my blogging/stamping/Flybaby friend. Had a great time. Tried out a new technique that uses a template to cut out cardstock and patterned paper and you end up with 9-12 cards from one set of cuts. I got four made after I did all the cutting and now have the parts to quickly assemble the rest. You can see here two examples. They are for a card exchange where the theme is "Tag, you're it" but my word stamps only did "your". Oh, well.

I met a bunch of her stamping/scrapping friends at the party and they are, of course, all really nice. It was a typical crafting party, lots of sharing and comparing , lots of laughs, and WAY too much food. All in all, it was an excellent day!

My DH is off traveling and is having a wonderful time. I am so happy for him that he can do this- he has wanted to for so long. He was really hesitant about going, to the point where I told the doctor this week "please tell him I'm ok enough for him to go" and the doctor did. So, I guess I am getting better!

I missed our friends' son's CD launch last night. It was held nearby, but the restaurant is not large and the parking lot is way too small and it was raining and it just seemed a bad idea to go into a big crowd on a Friday night when I would have to crutch in the rain who knows how far and then get jostled all night on the crutches. DS went, said I made the right decision and brought me home a CD. It is really good. The young man writes all his own stuff and it is fun and interesting. If you'd like to find out more, go to http://www.mattgauss.com/.

Things have been good on the African safari drives but I will not be watching them much now for a while- dawn in South Africa is midnight here now, and I just cannot stay up that late! But there are always weekends. Here's a baby giraffe that we saw last night.

So, all in all, things are good! Next weekend there is a BIG stamping show in nearby New Jersey and I am really looking forward to that. Before that I have to finish my grades and get working on a bunch of stuff around here, but there will still be time for crafting.

Back to work on all that school stuff- there's only a few hours until the next african drive.

Going back to school!

Well, it's finally time! The doctor said I can go back to work tomorrow.

I have been busy all day trying to get things done that need doing- like digging out school clothes that haven't been seen in weeks. I still need to clean out my backpack so it weighs as little as possible but has all my necessary "stuff" in it. Things like that.

The doctor chose to have me go back tomorrow so that I am starting back with a 2 day week- we'll see how it goes!

OK- back to getting ready!

A little crafting tonight

Since the leg started acting up I haven't done much in the crafting areas except crochet- *that* is still possible even when stuck in a recliner.

Tonight I dug out some things and made a birthday card for my brother. By the time I went through my paper stash, found some "masculine" paper, found a cardstock I liked with it, cut out the new stamps (from the Time to Stamp collection from the Rummage Bin at Cornish Heritage Farms), cut the background paper, cut the cardstock, did the stamping and assembled it all, I was beat!!! So, this very simple card is the best I could do- but I like it just the way it is and hope he will also.

It's WAY past my bedtime, so off I go!

Not quite my usual Sunday night

Here it is almost 11:30 and I am still up! Normally by now I would have laid out my clothes for school and been asleep. Instead I am waiting for the WildEarth drive to start. Only a few days left for me to enjoy the drives- once I go back to school, they will be not possible- it is getting later and later here when the sun comes up in South Africa.

I got this really nice card in the mail yesterday. It is from Rebekah in the SCS Flybabies group and is called a TAG card, as in TAG, you're it! I will be sending Rebekah a card back as soon as I get back to stamping and cardmaking- which should be very soon if my leg continues to get better and I can dig out all my stuff. If you are interested in paper crafts, SplitCoastStampers is the place to go!

I've been having a good time the last few days checking out lots of blogs. My first blog visit every day is always to my friend Etha's blog. I've written about her before- she is my crafting guru and is always enabling me, lol! I found stamping through her- after several forms of needlework especially hardanger, lacemaking and many other things. She is a design team member for three really interesting stamp companies: Artistic Outpost, Belinda Landtroop's Clear Artistic Stamps, and Firecracker Designs by Pamela. I love the stamps from all three companies- they are beautiful but also very unusual and different. She also used to be on the Cornish Heritage Farms team, and has been published in stamping magazines. She's a wonder! Amazingly talented. AND, everytime she gets picked for another design team, I spend lots of money! Check out her blog and see what I mean.

While I am listening to the drive (and waiting for Rexon to find wonderful things for us to see) I will be checking out all the blogs I have listed here. These ladies are all really talented and give me so much inspiration. I have also learned so much from them that has nothing to do with stamping or scrapping or whatever- I have learned about other things in their lives that are important for them and also sometimes for all of us.

OK- time to start travelling the Internet to see all my cyber-friends' blogs.

Getting better- slowly but steadily- and it is HARD work!

I took this beautiful shot with MWSnap this morning- it is of sunset in Djuma, South Africa. I continue to love the game drives at WildEarth and really appreciate the animals, the scenery and the guides. I also really enjoy the chatting online with other game drive fans and addicts. It will be hard to go back to work after all these days of being able to see the drives.

I did my second day of PT today. I made some more progress but the second day had a lower effort/reward ratio: it was harder and the progress measured was not as dramatic. I know that's to be expected but it is still frustrating. My biggest issue for going back to school is not the leg- I can manoeuver around on the crutches and in the wheelchair at school- and I STILL have not heard from the insurance company about the motorized vehicle!!!! after more than 2 weeks!!!!!- but just the toll that any surgery takes at my age- I still get tired really easily. School is going to be HARD work- much harder than usual.

Having finished the baby afghan, I pulled out an afghan I had started last winter for no particular reason except I liked the yarn and bought it. I only crochet in winter- cannot stand the yarn near me in the warmer weather. I got a couple rounds added to it in the last few days. It is one giant granny square- I like granny squares but cannot stand the job of putting a bunch of them together. At this popint I am just about 1/2 way done- and since it is late March and the first day of spring, I will probably not finish it now until next winter!

I am itching to stamp and scrap and make cards, but the effort to pull everything out and set it up is more than I or my leg feel up to yet. I was thinking about an idea though- maybe I will get a stack I have of card stock in various sizes and shapes and just get a pile of ink pads and some stamps and just stamp images for later use. If I put them all in a box, then another day I could use my Prismacolor pencils on any that I want to color that way, and still another day use my markers. Maybe......

Time to get ready for the game drive. The link is right there on the left- the WildEarth link. Come visit some time and see what all the fuss is about! I'm going to ask DH to make me my hot chocolate and settle back with the animals.

Mad at myself

I just realized that I finished a cute little baby afghan and gave it to the new Grandparents for the baby without taking a picture of it.

DARN!!!!

Just a quick post

I'm up WAY too late and I'm finally sleepy as well as really tired, but the news is all good, so I'm posting!

Got good news from the doctor today- all the test results from the "core sample" during surgery are in, and what I've got is treatable and will heal more quickly because of the surgery. YIPPEE!!! Now, how *he* defines "quickly" remains to be seen, but anything that improves on the 18 months for the first leg to heal will be welcome.

I did my first physical therapy session today- 2 hours!!!! I've been down this road before with my shoulder in 1995 and my knee in 1984 but I had forgotten just what hard work this is! The physical therapist I am going to is the same one who worked on my shoulder and who took such great care of my DH when he had to have his leg put back together, so I trust her implicitly and know I will be better off in the long run- but it was HARD!!! The good news? The leg feels so much looser; still sore but it just feels BETTER!

And the really good news- DISNEY WORLD HERE WE COME!!!! I got the reservations for the condo and the airplane tickets over the weekend so now we can start planning for the fun stuff like tickets and character breakfasts. We're going in June after school closes and by then I should be a lot more mobile than I am now- heck, almost anything is more mobile than I am now- and even if I am not, I'll just rent a scooter and ZIP around WDW.

So, it is all good news!

Just HAVE to share this!

I've been "on the 'net" since 1994. One of the greatest things about the Internet is the ability to find people of similar interests whom you would never have met/known any other way. Over the years I have connected with cross stitchers, quilters, scrapbookers, lacemakers and now stampers all over the world, all through the wonders of the Internet. I have also found communities of people who share my issues in life, have been able to enjoy the wonders of Africa (a secret passion of mine since childhood!) in a way never before possible, and just been able to reach far beyond the confines of home. Back in the mid-late 90s I spent several years restricted to home for medical reasons and during that time the Internet was my sanity. (Going through a similar, though thankfully shortlived, experience now following surgery, I am again so grateful to have this outlet!) I have "known" many people, met some of them "IRL", and made friends who have remained close through the years. Yes, there are many terrible things that happen on the Internet, but for me it has been an outlet, a link to the world far beyond my limitations, and a true joy.

Today I received in the old-fashioned mail a testimony to the wonders of Internet friendships. I found SplitCoastStampers many months ago, started getting active in the community there in recent months, and have found in the SCS Flybabies community a group that shares both some of my passions and some of my problems. Like any other good Internet group, we post to one another about our crafting activities, but also just about our day-to-day lives. So, naturally, my surgery and recovery have been topics.

So, what did the mailman bring me today? THIS!!!!!

I wish I could get a better scan of this, but you get the idea. This is a card that is ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!!! The work on it, the choice of colors, the details, the many techniques involved, just the sheer BEAUTY of it is spectacular.

For anyone not a cardmaker, not a crafter, this is just a card.

For those of us who do papercrafting, this is a masterpiece!

For me, this is a boost to my spirits as other crafters, whom I have never met IRL, take the time and effort to think of me and make something beautiful to cheer me up and remind me that, though we have not met, and may never meet in real life. we are REAL FRIENDS!!!

Thank you all so much for your kind thoughts. Thanks to the wonderful creator, on behalf of the group, of this beautiful card. Since you didn't sign it, I won't give away your name, but I KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!

OK- time for my afternoon nap. I'll sleep happy!!!!

Up late on the drive

I am getting some enjoyment out of being laid up- schedules are not important right now. The result is that I am getting to see some of the late night here but early morning there game drives from Djuma/WildEarth. The drive this morning (our time) was a very sad one. The Mapogo had killed one of the Nkuhuma lionesses and two of her cubs.

Shortly after we saw the dead lioness we came upon several of the Mapogo.

The "happy" news was that they were pretty beat up and mauled- the one seen here is actually treating himself for wounds. So, as one of my Africam friends noted, she "did not go gently".

The guide from WE, Pieter, spoke intelligently but also kindly about the realities of life in the bush and the fact that these lions need to establish dominance in order to survive- Darwin at his best.

The drive tonight has been a happier time- we have seen a lot of animals and some things that were new, at least to me. We saw a magnificent Kingfisher, a beautiful bird of the most gorgeous color, but I didn't get a picture that does him justice. I thought this picture was cute- a grey tree frog, which Pieter somehow spotted on a tree branch. This feat was amazing because this little guy is all of 2 inches long!

Well, even with no schedule, it is time for me to get to bed.

A little fun

Well, it was a good day but now I cannot sleep. So, I am following the WildEarth game drive and checking out friends' blogs. While at Suzanne's blog I came across a couple of fun quizzes. The first is Which is yourDisney alter ego? This one was fun. The results will surprise no one who knows me- Peter Pan! (PP ranked a 75% match- the close seconds were Cinderella and Ariel tied at 69%.)

Then I took the Nerd Test and here are my results:



So, I'm not nearly as nerdy as I could be or even as I thought I'd turn out!

Anyway, the drive is going well, so I think I'll watch a little more- we've seen a baby waterbuck already- and then head off to bed.

Enjoy the quizzes!

More news and stuff

Hi! I had a really good day.

Leg is still "sore" but the "pain" is decreasing daily. Saw the doctor- definitely no infection, which is great news. The other test results are not back yet. Hopefully when I see him next week to get the stitches out. I have to start PT at home- which just consists of heel slides to get the durn thing to start bending again. Have to wear the right leg brace for protection from all the crutches pounding, but no brace on the left leg. No back to work til at least after Easter- will review that decision next week also. So, progress is GOOD.

Then after I got home from the doctor's a local TV station called. I had entered one of their website contests and won tickets to see My Fair Lady this Sunday. This is the Cameron Mackintosh production that just ran for two years in the West End in London! So, I'll be crutching down the center aisle of the Academy of Music Sunday night- no matter what it takes I'm going to this!

Then my son came home with a real treat. We ordered pizza for dinner and watched the new Stargate movie just released on direct-to-DVD today. It's totally for fans, so I can see why they didn't bother releasing it to theaters, but we loved it.

If I had to pick three TV series of which I would want to own the complete collections, it would be Magnum, PI, West Wing and Stargate. So, getting a BRAND NEW Stargate was terrific. (And, yes, I am working on those collections.)

Still cannot do any crafting- just too much to get around and get things set up, etc. I do need to get finished with the crochet baby afghan that goes with the card I posted a few days ago. That I think I'll start back on tomorrow- I think I might be able to do more than just stare at the TV while I sit by then.

I've gotten a bunch of new stamps in the mail that I want to try out. I got several Michael Strong cloisonne stamps that I cannot wait to try out- have you seen his stuff on Craft TV Weekly? Then I got a bunch of stuff from Firecracker Designs by Pamela- her new sets Bliss, Birthday Balloons and a bunch of her new custom cutouts. What a great Idea- cutouts that exactly match the stamps for a really neat 3-D effect! From Onyx Xpressions I got the new full sheet Lemon set. They have a new thing where you can get your stamps cut out for you for a small fee- with a sheet this big it was THE way to go! Finally I got my first stamps from a new company, Clear Artistic Stamps, which is designs from artist Belinda Landtroop. Belinda is a sweetheart and a doll. Her stamps came beautifully packaged, with a note from Belinda and a surprise. I got the Hop Into Spring collection and several individual stamps from the Sweetpea Sweetheart Collection. So, once I feel able to get around again, I have LOTS to play with!!!!

OK- I can only sit at this computer for relatively short periods of time so I think I'll just get back in the recliner.Thanks for all your prayers and kind thoughts. I'll be back to my usual self in a short time, so watch out!

A few more details

Well, I'm feeling better today so here's some details.

I am home! Surgery was Thursday but there's no news yet- doctor took a "core sample" for biopsy and other testing. He also drilled 10 pinholes in the bone. Will hopefully get test results tomorrow at the follow-up visit.

I was originally supposed to go home Thursday night but they ended up keeping me til late Friday. Then I was in no shape to come home to a 2 story house so I went to my mother's apartment til last night.

I'm finally starting to feel normal again. Leg hurts but I'm off the heavy duty pain meds. I have to use crutches for everything- I'm not allowed to even lean or step on the leg, so mobility is very limited. So, I'm either here resting the leg on the desk, or in the recliner. I have to keep the leg encased while sitting or sleeping in a big chunk of yellow foam- DH calls it my "big block of cheese" (for West Wing fans).

Thanks for all the kind thoughts!

Home from hospital

I'm home. The surgery was tough- will have the test results on Tuesday, hopefully. Totally exhausted from least little effort. Will post more later in the week- right now just glad to be home.