Home again!

Terri came home (well... to our house) on Thursday.
She is getting plenty of rest & plenty of spoiling from all of the wonderful people that know & love her.
The pathology report is due tomorrow, and her follow-up with the surgeon is late Tuesday morning.  We will know more then, hopefully.
Yesterday she conserved her energy so she could go with us to our usual Saturday night restaurant, New York Pizza, in Anderson, SC.  The owner & staff are like family to us & she wanted to be able to show them she is doing well... (and, enjoy their awesome pizza!).
We sure have good luck, Karma, angels, God, good spirits or what-have-you on our side.  This has been such a whirlwind couple of weeks & our true friends have emerged once again to give us support, love & assistance.  We could not ask for more (well, that she never had the tumor might be one request, but we learn from adversity...and we cannot change what was).
(I guess it makes me feel a bit like a wimp with migraines... LOL)
Friends have offered to help at the store & refuse payment, one thought I should not have given her a discount when she bought her items at the end of the day, another said she would be insulted if we even offered to pay.  But their help is worth a lot to us all. To Terri so she can feel less stress about the coverage at the store, & Dad and I so we can at least take a few hours off each.
Dad is a real trooper, he has worked just about every day (except Sunday) for 2 weeks.  I am grateful to Phyllis for helping me watch the shop yesterday so he could have a break.  I was able to get a couple of hours off Friday morning thanks to Mary for being an extra set of eyes at the store & a real help for anyone looking at the stamping supplies.
I have tried to keep up with updating everyone about Terri's progress, but it is not always easy to find the time when I have the energy.  Please forgive me if I missed anyone, it was not intentional.
Yes, this post will be cross-posted to the store's blog...

If anyone wants to help out at the store, please email the store ( mercantinc@aol.com ) with days & times so we can have a written list.  A few of you have told me days, but I for some reason cannot remember when they are...

Roses for Nana

March 4th would have been my Nana's 100th birthday. We have adopted a tradition from one of our friends to go out to dinner in honor of our loved one's birthday and eat somewhere they would have enjoyed and just celebrate the life that was.
On the 3rd, we went out for Italian (Nana was Italian) and had a wonderful meal. Afterward, we were in the grocery store and I saw these gorgeous pink roses. Pink roses were Nana's favorite. I bought them. This is a photo of them in the morning sun the next morning, which was actually her birthday. They lasted a week, but have gone on to rose heaven...

Hole in The Bead Gang

Last week the Hole in The Bead Gang had their Holiday gathering. It was a nice relaxing afternoon of food, fun and friendship.
One of the activities each year is the surprise gift box. In order to have a turn at opening the box, someone has to roll a 6 on the die. The stipulation is that you must be wearing the work gloves in order to open the box. That person works on it until the next person rolls a 6... The first photo shows Dee working on the outer box, then Phyllis has one of the inner boxes. The last photo shows me with the next to last box (nobody said you cannot use your teeth :~) ). In the end, I was the one to read the note inside the smallest box, so I won some beads. I will post them tomorrow after I take a photo of them.
As always, it was a great gathering of wonderful and talented people.
I hope to post sooner next time... (darn Facebook takes up too much of my computer time...)
Please show thanks for the things in your life and have an enjoyable Thanksgiving day.
I am thankful for my family, my friends, my health and my ability to pursue my creative side.

A Mountain Get-Away

About a week and a half ago, we (Mom, Dad, Terri, Rodney, DragonBen and I) went up to the mountains to spend the day with my sister Sue, her husband Jim, their children Bobby & Karen and their respective spouses Shelly and Matthew.
We were in the western NC mountains just north of Cashiers in a place called Lake Glenville.

This first photo is of Matthew, Shelly, DragonBen, Karen & Jim out on the dock fishing... Karen & Ben caught more fish that day with raisins than Jim did...









This is a view from the lower yard looking up at the house...














...and this is the spectacular view of the lake from the back deck of the house...

Columbus Day

I don't have any photos today, but I want to let you all know about a new blog my youngest sister has, along with her husband and our nephew. It is called Any Ideas for Dinner? So far they have had recipes for dinners as well as desserts and spice mixes.

If you are thinking of trying something new, or a new twist on an old favorite, check them out to see what ideas they have.