Sunday, November 29, 2009

after the fact

We had a wonderful time with family, the food was delicious, and I have never been so organized as I was this Thanksgiving. Making the pies and a few other key items the day before made the biggest difference. Although this also gave a certain little monkey boy named Finn the opportunity to sneak into the fridge and taste test a few of the pies as well as mangle a few crusts along the way. I just served around his little handprint. Such a little punk.



This is all that is left of the desserts.



No worries though, Finn is ready to help me dispose of any leftover desserts. And he doesn't even need a spoon. What a little helper.



I was especially excited to use my beautiful set of turkey dishes this year, which looked even better when combined with my set of white holiday dishes . And lets not forget my dollar store glass goblets. They look nice, they go with everything, and if one breaks, no loss since I only paid $1. Total happiness.



I had ambitious intentions when I bought this fabric and ribbon, wanting to stitch up some lovely cloth napkins for my table, but alas I ran out of time. Maybe next year?



And here is my little punk Finn again. Wearing a laundry hamper. This is a constant form of entertainment at our house. My kids are weird.


 


So anyways, we had a lovely day with family, the food was delicious thanks to everyone and their tasty contributions, and there was lots of talking and laughing which is always so much fun regardless. And the only leftovers we have is a bowl of cranberry sauce, which will be gone by this evening since I have a 'cranberry chicken' recipe at the ready to take care of that minor detail. Hope everyone had a lovely day!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

the ragman cometh

When I was about 8 or 9, my Mom dropped the three of us off, me and two of my brothers Rob and Scott at the base theater for the kid's Saturday matinee. They were showing "Nutcracker Fantasy", which seemed harmless enough by the title and pictures on the movie poster. Of course then there wasn't much of a way to really find out much about a movie unless it was through word of mouth or a review written in the paper as there was no internet, but like I said, the pictures on the movie poster looked like a fun kids film. My poor mother had no idea that this movie was going to scare the heck out of us. And boy did it ever. I remember hating every minute of that movie and wishing I had never come there. It was so darn scary. Seriously, it took me years before I could go to sleep without worrying about "the Ragman" peering into my window to find we awake late at night so he could zap me into a mouse and take me away in his bag of rags. So imagine my surprise when I find this clip on You Tube with the first few minutes of the movie. And Heidi, I think that this is the perfect opportunity for liberal usage of the word "sissy".


Tuesday, November 17, 2009

and on the twelfth day…

Well, this is it. This is the cut. And it has almost completely healed, with only a bit of redness and a tiny little bit of a scab. Sorry, I know, scab is kind of a gross word, but it was all I could think of. Anyways, I have total use and functionality of my hand and can use it pretty much as I normally would, with only a tiny twinge here and there depending on how I twist it. But I can't grip things with full strength, I can't lean on my hand and put any large degree of weight on it without it really hurting, I have a weaker grasp than before, and there is tenderness in some areas of my palm and upper wrist when pressure is placed on it, but my hand feels totally normal. In fact I have forgotten many times that I even have a healing hand much of the time, it has been very easy to forget which is so odd to me, but good nonetheless. Turning doorknobs is not as mindless as it once was and neither is opening jars and twisting things open, but none of it is painful either. My grip is just not what is used to be, but I am working on it and every day I notice that I have more and more strength than before. Again, no regrets. And I know, you're wondering why there was so much bandaging after the surgery, all for the sake of that one little cut. I have no idea.


Monday, November 16, 2009

a great haircut & going overboard with the frilly headbands

I took Gracen to get her haircut Saturday morning, and the stylist was able to work miracles with the odd and choppy pieces of hair that had been hacked on the right side of Gracen's head.



Silly girl.



She loves her new hairstyle.



She does not however, love posing for pictures for any length of time beyond thirty seconds.



Note the exasperated and disinterested face. So ready for this picture taking nonsense to end.


And while this weekend was too busy for me to get to any of my sewing, I did manage to go a little crazy making Gracen a bunch of headbands with bows.


 


Ok, maybe a lot crazy. But it sure was fun making them.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

a lot more twirl

In my sewing frenzy in the days leading up to my surgery, I managed to sew five nighties (in my next post...) and three twirl dresses for my little girls. They absolutely love them, and it feels so good to have them all done. I made the first two dresses with the same pink and brown polka dot and floral fabric scheme so the girls could be twinners, and the third dress was done mostly in pinks just for Gracen. She loves pink. A lot. So I came through for her as pinkly as possible. And the twirl factor? Well, let me assure you, it's just right. And if by "right" you mean "extreme". Oh the twirl these dresses have, it's so. much. fun. Gracen was more than happy to demonstrate this for me when I pulled out my camera...


(these pictures were taken before Gracen gave herself a haircut)





Needless to say, there is a lot of girly twirly going on at the moment over here. All I know is that I would have killed for a dress like this when I was little. Seriously, I thought there was nothing more beautiful, or fun, than a dress with a full twirling skirt. And the skirt on these dresses is beyond a circle, they're huge. So here is where you correctly guess that I am living vicariously through my children and their big twirly dresses. Nothing wrong with that. Now to get the other four twirly dresses cut out and sewn up.

…and done

At my follow-up appointment this morning, the Dr. cut off the bandage, removed the three stitches from my wrist and placed three Steristrips on the site of the incision. I am still sporting one last drawing courtesy of my Dr. mapping out the surgery I guess, and the skin on my hand and my wrist was also very oddly textured form the gauze being pressed into it constantly from the bandage, and it took over three hours for it to go away and my skin to regain it's normal appearance. Weird. And happily I can now get my hand wet and go about my life using it like normal, except I am not allowed to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk for two more weeks.



Weirdly enough, once the bandage was gone, the tenderness in my hand was also gone. Not sure why that is, but oh well. I feel great and I can honestly say that for my first experience with any kind of surgery, this was a great one. My right hand is still noticably weaker than my left, but I am amazed at how quickly it is re-gaining strength. I do have to add though that when the bandage came off I found the incision site and the subsequent stitches to be kind of disturbing. I mean, there it was, evidence that someone had been purposely cutting into my skin, then sewed it back up with thread and everything. It looked so Frankenstein with the ridges and puckers where the edges of the cut were, it was kind of freaking me out a little. I know, I sound like such a baby, but it was just so beyond weird for me to look at it and think about it. Sorry, I just had to reaffirm to you what a total dork I am. So, enough of that. I am going to head over to my sewing table today or maybe tomorrow, depending on how my day goes, and see what I can work on. I was a goon and bought 6 yards of fabric the day before my surgery.



Enough to make four twirl dresses. I know, what kind of a moron does that? Like I even need to tell you.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

day six

Well, I have an appointment with my ever amazing hair stylist on Saturday morning to see what can be done with Gracen's hair. In the meantime, I have bought any and every cute headband I could get my hands on to try and cover up and/or distract from the hack job on her head. So far it's only kind of working. Oh well. As for my hand, I am still trying to not overdo it but I am sure most of you know just how hard that can be in reality when you are a mom. Tomorrow is the day the bandage comes off, and I can hardly wait to see what it looks underneath. I know, I am going to be so underwhelmed, but my curiosity is still piqued. Anyways, I can do a lot with my right hand already except a lot of lifting. It has no real strength, and it hurts if too much weight is put on it so, still somewhat limited. I can type at my normal speed though, except it hurts to do that for too long still, but I am happy to have my dominant hand back in action. I didn't need any ibuprofen today whatsoever, and I'm feeling very good and thrilled with my speedy recovery. Seriously, I have no complaints about my surgery and recovery, it has been so good. I am however heartily sick of tv and the computer these days and I am literally feeling crazed with there being no way for me to do any thing I would normally do to decompress or entertain myself. No sewing, crochet, embroidery, knitting, nothing. Ugh. Sorry, I know it's a stupid complaint (sorry to be such a whiner), but seriously, even after these few days I am really hating the very few means of entertainment available to me right now. So, are you doing anything fun and creative, because I am dying to live through you vicariously and I so want to be jealous of you right now. Seriously, jealous beyond words. So I would love to see what you're doing, my mind is going to implode upon itself if I don't get some more of my crafty fix on and soon.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

days 4 & 5

I am still doing well, but I keep forgetting I need to take it easy on my right hand and I have pushed things a little bit too much these last two days. But still, I have total use of my fingers now, I am able to type with both hands fully and at the same speed as before, and I can do some minor tasks now that only a day ago I could not. My healing has been much faster than I ever thought, for which I am eternally thankful. And the only pain meds I have taken or needed has been OTC ibuprofen, the Lortab scrip I was supposed to need was never even filled. And I am so desperate to get back to my sewing I can hardly stand it, but maybe by the end of the week I might be there. Thursday is supposed to be the day the bandage comes off, so I am looking forward to actually seeing with my own eyes what it looks like under all of the wrappings and gauze. Until then, I'm still just going along and working on getting my hand back.

Monday, November 9, 2009

her achy breaky haircut…my achy breaky heart

So far the ONLY child of mine to ever cut their own hair (or any hair for that matter) is Gracen. She hacked off several large chunks a little over a year ago, and had only just recently grown out her bangs and the right side so that her hair was a cute bob, and all one length. I thought she was beyond the personal hair butchering phase. I thought that was it. Nope, I was very, very wrong. Gracen decided that she needed a new style. A retro look that is not often seen, where the front is short and the back is long. In other horrifying words, a mullet.


 


 


 


 


Why!?!?!? Why!?!?!!? For the love of all that is holy, why?!?!?!?


While I was putting dinner into the crock pot, she was in my bathroom with a pair of scissors. She cut off her cute all-on-length bangs, and hacked off the majority of the right side again, and this time a large chunk of the left. Afterwards, when I asked her why she cut her hair she replied "Because is was loooong! It was long like this!" as she pulled the sides of her hair up and out to demonastrate what she thinks is a valid reason. Sorry, that's not reason enough for me. Ugh! The last time she mangled her hair I was able to fix it myself. Not this time though. This time requires professional help. Stat. I keep telling myself it's only hair, and it will always grow back. Just not fast enough for me to laugh about this yet.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

day three

Woke up with some dull aching in my wrist, but nothing severe, just constant. I ended up taking some OTC ibuprofen in the afternoon, and it not only helped but it seemed to give my wrist enough of a rest that it feels a lot better tonight. No more throbbing, so I have not taken anymore ibuprofen since. I managed to take a shower by myself this afternoon by holding my right hand up in the air the entire time and it never got even a drop of water on it. And this time I was able to undress and then dress myself without any help too. I know, I'm a big girl now. I kind of did my hair, but it looks pretty bad since I can't roller brush it with my hair dryer using one hand, so I look frizzy, but I smell fresh as a daisy. I will have to bribe my teenage daughter to do my hair for me sometime tomorrow when she gets home from school. I can use some of my right hand to type, so it takes me less time to write this post, but I am trying to limit the majority of my typing to my left hand so I don't over do it. I am determined to let my hand heal properly as I am dying from boredom already, so I don't want to have to be out of commission any longer than I need to be. Seriously I can only watch so much tv before I want to gouge my eyes out. Ugh! Craig and I teamed up this afternoon and made a delicious peach crisp for dessert to go with the lovely lasagna dinner my mom made for us. I had the lasagna in the oven baking, it had been in there for an hour and I went to take the foil off the top for last 15 minutes when disaster struck. The oven rack the pan was on had been taken out and put back into the oven upside down, and I didn't realize this at the time. So when I pulled the rack out 1/4 of the way to get to the pan of our supper, the rack tipped forward and slid out, dumping the pan of lasagna out, where it crashed onto the floor. It spilled most of it's lasagna-y goodness all over the floor and oven door, ending any chance at being our meal for the night. Even if I had the use of both hands, I can honestly say I still could not have stopped that from happening. Mom, I am so sorry, and Craig was even sorrier still, he LOVES lasagna and it was a bitter pill for him to swallow to be looking forward to that tasty dinner you so painstakingly made for us, only to end up eating a quickie last minute dinner of turkey dogs instead. We were able to salvage what stayed in the pan, and he made up two lunches to take to work this week instead, so he was no worse for it in the end. But I have to say, it felt like such a weird tv moment to have dinner ruined in such a spectacular fashion and in the 11th hour too. Seriously what's the deal with that?

Saturday, November 7, 2009

day 2

I am writing about the boring aspects of my carpal tunnel surgery/recovery because I have other fmaily members that will likely go through this same surgery in the coming years, and I thought this was a good reference foir them in future. As well as to track how fast I am able to regain certain functions and abilities of my hand as it heals.


The numbness in my entire hand has faded now, and I can feel a slight twinge every once in a while if I accidentally move my hand or fingers a certain way, but still no serious pain. My understanding is that the pain would not come from the tiny cut from the laproscope, but from the nerve that was severed. The grogginess from the anesthesia on friday has totally worn off and I woke up this morning feeling alert and refreshed. Although I am getting frustrated at not being able to do even the most simple tasks for myself, like dressing and undressing myself without major help. Eating is not too bad, but I was no help tonight in bathing the kids and getting them into bed. Everything has fallen to Craig, he is taking on everything. I feel so useless. And frustrated. But even tonight, as I type this with my left hand, my right hand still feels fine, with only a dull ache at the bottom of my palm and down my wrist. I still have not filled the pain meds scrip the dr. gave me afterwards, and I am still hopeful it stays that way. No pain is a good thing. I still have not taken the bandage off, and my wrist feels very itchy right now, and my hand is not as swollen as it was yesterday. All good signs. And I really need to figure out a way to get a shower. Not allowed to get the bandage wet, so I am going to have to get creative I am sure.

Friday, November 6, 2009

very good

The surgery went well today, and I was home in 3 hours and 15 minutes, start to finish. We left the house at 11:45am and we arrived back home at 3pm, just as the kids got home from school. My mom was kind and sweet enough to come out to watch the little ones while we were gone. I am typing with my left hand, slowly but surely, so this will be brief. My entire hand is still numb from the surgery meds, and will be for at least 48  hours, so no pain.


 


My hand is oompa loompa orange from the betadine wash, a bit puffy and swollen, and I only have a small cut from the laparoscopic procedure, so I am on track to heal quickly. And the "YES!" was drawn on with a sharpie by my doc before the procedure to ensure they operated on thr correct hand. I feel fine, just a bit groggy and tired from the meds in surgery. I was fine when I got home I ate some soup, then at 4:30pm I laid down to rest and ended up sleeping unyil 9pm. I woke up feeling good, but still a little tired from the meds from the surgery still. And I was told I can start back up with my sewing in about a week, for which I am ever grateful and thrilled. Thank you for all of you kind words and well wishes, you all rock!!!


 

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

twirly girly

A few weeks ago I made this winter holiday twirl dress for a certain little birthday girl.



I used fabrics that had a winter theme instead of using all-out holiday prints so it was not just a Christmas dress. I wanted her to be able to wear it throughout the winter months right up until Spring if she wants. And I made sure there were polka dots, because I love polka dots, they're just so fun.


 


My favorite, of course, is the cute print with the fat little birds on it. Seriously, they are killing me with their total chubby cuteness, they're all so round and adorable.


 


I really enjoyed making this dress, and it was easy enough and went together with little trouble, so I immediately started in making several for Haven and Gracen. I have numerous projects I am desperately trying to finish before my hand surgery on Friday, since I will have to set it all aside for a little while until my hand is healed enough to allow me to start back into my projects again. So until then I am spending every moment I can working on these last few things. I will try and get the general measurements and such I used to make these posted on here in the next few days so that anyone else that wants to make one of these can have a go at it. But take warning, these dresses have a lot of twirl. Which in the case of my two girls is a very, very good thing since they absolutely love that feature in a dress.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

that rabbit belongs to emily brown


While at the school Book Fair a few weeks ago, I came across this book titled "That Rabbit Belongs To Emily Brown". Even though I had never heard of it, nor read it before, I kept coming back to it, it just looked like a good book to me. Finally I gave in and decided to buy it, it appealed so strongly to me with all of it's cute and quirky illustrations, I felt like I couldn't lose. But once I got home it was immediately seized by my little ones who made off with it to read for themselves, and it kept getting passed from child to child until I finally found a moment to grab it and sit down to read it for myself. And I absolutely loved it. Hands down one of THE best childrens books I have read in a very long time. Cute story, cute characters, and wonderful illustrations, it is incredibly well done. My kids love it too, and I have been working on making a Stanley for some of my little kidlets to lug around, because everyone needs their own Stanley. I also found that there is another title by this author, "Emily Brown And The Thing" that looks just as wonderful, so I am looking to find a copy to buy presently. Have you read any good childrens literature lately?