What a difference a night can make!

My phone calls this morning were filled with positive news about my Grandmother. Her Bilirubin count is down to 8 and she is feeling much better. She was put on a diuretic medicine that has reduced all the fluid and she is doing much better. What great news!

My plan today is to organize my scrap room. I am going to a 12 hour crop next weekend and I know that I will be much more productive if I have everything planned out. I also hope to visit my friend and her husband today.

Have a great day:)

Not any better

We went to the hospital this morning and I noticed that my Grandma was having a hard time breathing. Long story short she has fluid in her lungs and around her heart. She has had congestive heart failure for a few years. She also has pulmonary fibrosis which just intensifies the same symptoms. The doctor is making her comfortable tonight, she is getting pain medicine and something to help her sleep. I am going in the morning back to the hospital. Please pray for my Grandma.

I don't know if I have ever mentioned how lucky I was growing up to have such wonderful grandparents. There was never anyone better to me than my father's parents. I loved to visit them and spend the night at their house. I was afraid to sleep in the upstairs by myself, so I slept with my Grandma and Grandpa slept on the couch. What a guy! My Grandpa would go in the morning to get coffee and he would get me an ice cream cone. We always walked to the coffee shop and then to get the mail at the post office, or "PO" as he called it. We walked past a park and Grandpa would push me on the swing. My Grandmother was the township clerk for many years, so she always would have lots of papers that I could play with. I would sit on their stair steps and play for hours. They had a window there, so I would pretend that I worked in a bank. Grandma would let me write her checks out for her bills. My parents divorced in 1985, and thank God for my grandparents. My Dad was a cop in our town and would have to work different shifts for long periods of time, so they would come and stay with me or just pick me up for the weekend. On Sunday morning Grandpa would read the comics to me, as I sat on his lap. Truly the World's Best Grandparents to me. Even though I do not want to lose my Grandma, I know she won't mind being with my Grandpa again.

Grandma

We went to the hospital this morning to see my Grandma. She looked horrible. Her Bilirubin count was 3 when she entered the hospital on Christmas Eve, it then when to 9 and it is 12.8 today. The same Doctor that performed the procedure yesterday did it again today. Everything looked good and there was not any problems. Now we are being told that the antibiotic, unisyn, which was started immediately on 12/24, is causing a reaction in her body. One out of 100,000 people have a problem with this antibiotic. Poor Grandma. When I spoke to her she was so yellow looking and she obviously was not feeling good. She said, "I feel awful and I don't know what is going to happen, pray for me." After the procedure, when she was told that she would not have to have her gallbladder removed anytime soon, and told that she can eat a normal food again, she perked up. Hopefully tomorrow her bilirubin level will be down and she will feel better. The doctor did say that the bilirubin level will probably go higher and then plateau and then begin to lower. Sounds like a long process, but each person is different.

Returns & Grandma

We didn't put a tree up this year because the one we have would take up too much room. I saw a 9' pre-lit slim line tree at Wal-Mart that I wanted, but we didn't want to spend the money. On the morning of the 26th I woke up at 5:45 am and decided that I would go to the stores for the after Christmas sales. AC had told me that the stores would open at 6 am, so I rushed and got to Wal-Mart at 6:20 to find out that they didn't open until 7 am. However, the nice folks are Wal-Mart let us in at about 10 minutes early and guess what I got? A 9' pre-lit slim line tree for $62! I am so excited for next year to put it up. It was the last tree, so obviously it was meant to be:)

Then I started thinking (I should have just went home)... I have tree decorations (thanks to Martha Stewart) I bought a few years ago that all go together, gold and maroon are the colors. I really like them, but I am partial to silver now. So I decided to buy ornaments to switch to silver and blue. I bought an obscene amount of ornaments and Target and then a tons from Martha Stewart at KMart. When I got home I was looking at the wreath and garland (red and gold) that I spent a bunch of money on this year and decided with help from my husband to keep and use what we already have. That meant that I had to return tons of stuff. I was mad at myself for making more work for myself to do. That was my 26th.

Today I returned the rest of the items, made a trip to Archiver's and have been trying to organize my scrap room since.

A Grandma update. Yesterday she had the procedure and they removed 3 stones. I called this morning and Denise said that Grandma is real yellow and not feeling good. This evening they said that she has more stones stuck in the gallbladder. I am going tomorrow morning to see her and hopefully she will be feeling better. My Dad will call later on tonight with another update. Thanks for your thought and good wishes.

Merry Christmas!

Ok, lets start with Christmas Eve... Since we were having a dinner party in the evening I needed to clean the house and get it ready for company. I finished making the desserts the night before, so at least I had that going for me. My phone rang in the morning at about 8:30, but I decided not to answer so I could sleep a little while longer. Later on I listened to the message and it was my Dad telling me that my 85 year old Grandmother was in the hospital and going to be transferred to Port Huron hospital (a much bigger hospital than the one in the small town she lives in.) I jumped in the shower and tried to get ready quickly. As soon as I was out of the shower the phone rang again. This time it was the company I was expecting in the evening. The flu was going around their family so only 2 people were coming instead of 8. We missed them. We had enough food to feed a small army, so luckily it was great food. I got ready and drove to the hospital to be with my family. AC was a real trooper. He cleaned the entire house and got everything ready. His brother, Amit, was a huge help also. Thanks!

My Grandma... She went to sleep on Sunday night and woke up with chest pain. She called her neighbor who took her to the hospital and phoned my Dad at 3 am. It can never be good if the phone is ringing in the middle of the night. I got to the hospital at 12:30 and found out what was going on. The doctors found that she has gallstones. She described the pain as starting in the middle of her chest and traveling around to her right side of her back. She is very weak and tired. She always tells me how lucky she is and how thankful she is that she is healthy and can live by herself. My Grandma is a wonderful women. I got home on Christmas Eve at 6:20. The party started at 6:30. AC and his family are such a huge help. I am lucky to have them as my family. Entertaining is so exhausting! There was only 11 adults and 3 kids, but man were we tired! The food was awesome and everybody had a good time.

My sister Ashley stopped by with her boyfriend for a late dinner. She was born on Christmas Eve and turned 17 this year. I want so much for my sisters. I really hope and pray that they go to school and live at the college. Hopefully here in Michigan. I just want them to be happy and successful in life. I will help them in any way that I can.

AC and I opened our gifts to each other on Christmas Eve. He is such a great guy. I had asked for slippers and he couldn't decide so I got 3 pair. I also wanted a black leather checkbook cover and I got 3 of those:) I also got a huge 15 inch digital photo frame. I had seen it at Costco and really liked it, but said it was too much. He also got me a robe, pajamas, 3 sweaters, earrings & bracelet, pants, and fuzzy comfy socks. He got clothes and cologne.

This is how we decided to display our Christmas cards and the only real decorations we put out. I bought the 2 trees at Target and was going to put them outside, but liked them inside better. (Especially since we didn't put a tree up.)

I spoke to my Dad this evening and my Grandma is going to have this procedure called ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography) tomorrow sometime. AC and I will go to the hospital tomorrow to see her.

Today we saw my sisters and exchanged gifts with them. AC and his brothers went to see a movie tonight. We have had a good Christmas and are blessed to have our families. Hopefully Grandma makes out good tomorrow and goes home soon.

I finally used the self timer on my camera and got this picture of all of us. (From the left: Me, AC, Emily, Howard (A & E's Dad), Ashley, Tim (Ashley's boyfriend), and Phil (Emily's Boyfriend.)

Hope you have a happy and safe Holiday!

An Early Christmas Gift

Tiger and Cupcake got an early gift...

Spoiled Cats! AC happened to see this at Costco for $69. A steal compared to pet store prices.

Since we are having a Christmas party tomorrow night, I have been busy getting ready for that. I made no-bake cookies and peanut butter bars yesterday and these today...
My plan is to make fudge and rice crispy treats this evening. AC and his brother Amit are cooking all of the food. We are having Italian. Actually we did order Fettuccine Alfredo from our favorite local Italian restaurant. Most of the people that are coming to the party have not yet been to our house, so we have to be sure that each room is clean. The scrapbook room needs an overhaul. I would like to take care of all the cleaning tonight. I updated my blog today, with a new template and new photos. The computer is so addicting! I could have played with this for hours. I better get to cleaning. Have a great holiday!

How many days...

Wow it December 19th already. Only...

6 Days until Christmas

Yesterday was our pot luck luncheon at work. This is always a fun day and lots of good food. Lots of good cooks here. I had sketch club last night. I always look forward to that. I was invited to the invite only 12 hour sketch club crop. It is on January 5th, can't wait!! The store owner has 4 different sketches and makes 12 layouts with various paper brands. I usually use the sketches and bring my own paper, but this time she had some layouts I could not resist, especially since I am working on my sisters pictures from when they were little. I would post some layouts, but we had out home computer rebuilt and I still have to install the scanner. Maybe this weekend.

We were supposed to celebrate my Grandmother's 85th birthday and have Christmas this past Sunday, but the weather did not cooperate. We got 6 inches of snow. It was pretty and makes it feel more like Christmas. We stayed in most of the day and went to my in-laws for dinner.

I have to start wrapping the gifts! I really don't look forward to that. I do have gift bags, so I will probably just use those.

I was trying to get my scrapbook room a little organized and Cupcake (my kitten) was into everything. I was taking paper out of a bag and she was getting into the bag. And I always wonder when I am scrapbooking why there is cat hair on everything! It is funny how different our cats are. I ran to Target 2 nights ago while AC was cooking dinner and he said he went into the living room and when he went back into the kitchen, Cupcake was on the counter next to the stove looking into the pot!! This is the trouble maker... Miss Cupcake

Hope everyone is having a great week! Thanks for reading!

No More Classes

I am so excited because I do not have class until January 7th!! I took my last exam on Monday night and I think I did well. I am looking forward to the next few weeks without school. Only two semesters remaining!

AC worked nights last night, but they told him that they needed him on days today. He worked from 6pm last night to 2 am this morning. He went to work around 8:30, so I am sure he will be tired. I am hoping that this means that they will have him work days from now on. His company put only 2 people on nights, coincidentally the only two that do not have children. That is not fair, there should be a rotation, like maybe 4 weeks on nights and then 4 weeks on days. Life isn't always fair.

Only 7 more days of work this year!! I have the week+ off between Christmas and New Year's Day. I am looking forward to the break. Have a good Wednesday! Thanks for reading!

Birthday Weekend!

The weekend flew by! On Friday night I did an 8 hour crop. On Saturday night we went out for my birthday dinner and then had ice cream cake at home. I always bring this yellow birthday hat to every birthday dinner and make everyone wear it. They hate it and always hope I will forget it! I love it. I think it is funny and cute. So here is my pic in the birthday hat.

Here is AC's brothers goofing around...I am so glad that we took this picture in front of the light that was taken half down to change, then we figured out that we would have to paint around the new one, then we ran out of time to put it back up!

On Sunday we went to Howard's house for another birthday dinner. Howard was my mother's second husband and the father of Ashley & Emily. I got some great gifts this year. It was so nice to see everyone. Thanks for making my birthday great!

Holiday Cards

Today's 2Peas Challenge is: Do you try to send a family photo inside your holiday cards?

Last year I sent wallet size photos from our wedding reception in November. This year I decided to get photo cards. They are much cheaper than I expected. At Costco I got 75 cards with envelopes for $24. I will be returning the Hallmark cards I originally bought. I maybe should have gotten a better picture, but I needed to get them sent out, so I mailed them today.

Not much going on this week. I turned 29 yesterday. I went for drinks with Amit and came home and caught up on the DVR. Birthdays are not as important as they once were. I didn't really want to do anything. It just wasn't a big deal to me. We are all going out for dinner on Saturday evening, because AC is not working. My mother-in-law had to make an unexpected trip to India on Tuesday, because her father passed away. She called me on my birthday from India. How cool is that? She remembered and made a point to call from India!

We are celebrating Christmas and my Grandma's 85th birthday on December 16th, so this weekend I need to wrap the gifts. I bought a Christmas wreath and garland from Costco, so I put that up last night. I also bought two artificial, potted, 4.5', pre-lit, pine trees for the front porch, but since it was windy I put them on each side of the TV and I like them there. I don't feel like putting the tree up this year, so I think I will just leave them inside.

I am going to the Scrapbook Tree tonight to crop. I am excited to get some pages done. Have a great weekend.

Challenge, School, & a Song

2 Peas Challenge today is: What are 5 things on your computer desk right now?
I am at work, so I have a tape dispense, stapler, lotto tickets and money (we have a lotto club and I have to get the tickets before tomorrow night), statistics book & calculator, and a little red fan.

I watched Desperate Housewives last night, can't wait to see the next episode! Who won't survive the tornado? Victor is obviously is the husband that does not survive, but who is the friend to all that doesn't make it? Carlos? Hope not!

One week from today I will be done with school!! So excited! I registered for next semester and I decided since I only have 6 classes left I will take 3 each semester and finish in June! Winter semester I will have Marketing Management, Organizational Leadership, and Production & Operations Management. I really hope it is not too much with working full time.

My favorite song for the last 2 months...

God Bless the Good Samaritan

Friday night my sisters came over and spent the night. We did a little shopping and then had dinner at Chili's. The shopping we did was at Kohls. Kohls reminds me of Art Van, you know how they are always having the biggest sale of the year. The Kohls we went to didn't have everything I needed so I planned on going to another Kohls today.

The Scrapbook Tree was having their anniversary sale today and everything was 20% off. I spent 2 hours in the store and got some cool paper. Then I went to Kohls. I was Christmas shopping, so I am not going to say what I was getting, but I had to go through lots of items to find the correct things that I wanted. I was sitting on the floor going through the items and was not having any luck. I saw an employee walk by, so I got her to help me. She looked in the computer and it said they had 8 of the items. I told her they were not out on the floor, so she went to the back to look.
I was making a call while I was waiting and all of a sudden I realized my purse was gone!!! I frantically went to the department I was looking in and nothing. I was panicking and thinking about how I was going to be buying Christmas for someone else! I saw another store employee and told her my purse was missing. She was quizzing me on where I was and said she would call customer service. I was nervous. Luckily a Good Samaritan had found my purse on the floor (by where I was sitting) and immediately turned it in. Thank God there were honest people shopping at Kohls today!!

As I mentioned before Kohls has different sales all the time. Today, while I was in the store they announced that the "special pricing" would remain in effect until 2 pm. Lucky me, so I re-bought most of the items that I bought last night, thinking I would save some money. Kohls was busy and did not have any carts available so I was dragging a big shopping bag that they have. The bag was so full that I couldn't carry it! All that to get home, compare the receipts, and realize that I paid the exact amount for all items bought yesterday and today!! So, this evening I picked up some dinner to take to my husband, who is working 2nd shift, and then went to a different Kohls and did my returns.

Before I forget...
Where ever you are Good Samaritan, God Bless You and may you have a great holiday season.