Tom, you are missed!

Both of our schedules are super crazy this year so Chucklebutt and I are taking our annual Valentine’s Day trip to Jerome a little bit early.  We were smart this year and actually purchased some sleds from Amazon — no oil pans for us — and we are ready to do some serious sledding.  Hopefully there’ll be snow up on Mingus Mountain.  I’ve been waiting for over a year to get my winter sports on.

Have a great weekend everyone and I hope you get to do something fun with the one you love!

Buddy was a tremendous hit and all my ladies loved him.  They thought he and Mama Puff made a great couple.  I have to agree!

These crazy gals are getting ready to open their holiday crackers.  I got mine at World Market after Christmas.  That’s a great time to stock up on them.

Each cracker comes with a little trinket, a paper hat and a trivia question.  I think the hat is my favorite part.

This is Minnie — I call her Minnie Mouse.  She is so fun and a dear friend.  She actually stayed long after everyone else had left.  It was great just chilling out and visiting.

My sweet friend Lori.

Doesn’t everyone look so cute in their hats?  I love them!

This is Evelyn and she reminds my of my father’s mother.  She’s originally from West Virginia and is a true southern lady.

My momma with Julia — our amazing weekend bus driver.  Doesn’t Mama Puff look awesome?  It’s hard to believe just a few months ago she had open heart surgery!

This is Dee and she is such a peach!  Buddy really enjoyed visiting with her.

We were so pooped after everyone left.

Per usual, my sweet Chucklebutt cleaned all the dishes and made the kitchen look spic and span.  Thank you honey for all your help!  And thank you Mom and Buddy for all your help.  We even had Buddy making egg salad sandwiches.  :D

This is Mz. Kitty.  She didn’t help at all except toss the occasional cat hair our way.  We put up all kitties and once everyone was gone, they promptly showed their disdain by hopping on all the linens and clean dishes.  Sheesh!  That’s pretty impressive — she’s balancing on a bunch of tea cups.

Happy 2012 Everyone!  I’d like to say that one of my resolutions is to be a better blogger — but that would be lying.  I’ll do my best!

Yeah, I’m really not one of those annoyed people.  I love Christmas.  I love the twinkling lights (please no LED’s), cookies, wrapping paper, Christmas trees, family gatherings and of course the anticipation.  It’s always been about the anticipation.

 I think my father may have taught me that.  We would open a few gifts Christmas morning have breakfast, open some more, have lunch and then finish opening up the rest by late afternoon.   I was never one to search high and low for my gifts.  I always loved surprises and would be disappointed when the day was over.  

My sweet Daddy had the philosophy that folks needed to ease out of the Christmas holidays.  He usually would take my mother and I up to Gatlinburg, TN for a little post-holiday season fun.  That way, we always had something to look forward to after Christmas.

Anyway, I love seeing everything decorated and only wish the season could be longer.  

I have yet to start decorating my own house on account it looks like something out of the television show Hoarders.  No joke.  I’m painting my craft room and working on some pieces of furniture and my hallways are filled with boxes and crafting supplies.  It is such a wreck!

Unfortunately, I have a short attention span.   When I’m cleaning and organizing, I find that I get distracted quite easily.  So while I was supposed to be painting my craft room last weekend, I found myself working on a Christmas wreath for my dear friend Grace.  She has had quite a few health problems in the past two years and I thought this fun wreath would be a nice pick-me-up.

I love making collage wreaths.  It gives me an excuse to buy all sorts of fun vintage nick nacks at thrift stores and antique malls.

This was the first time I used mica glitter on the ornaments.  I used Modge Podge to glue the mica.  It worked like a champ and I love the results.  It reminds me of snow.

Happy Hump Day!  Have you started decorating?

First and foremost, I am thankful that my sweet Mama Puff is doing well.  She was in the hospital last Sunday to start a new medication for her irregular heart beat.  They did a cardioversion on her Tuesday and she has been doing great ever since.

I am thankful that both Chuck and I are healthy.

I am thankful that I get paid to do what I love.  It is such a gratifying feeling to get up each morning and enjoy going to work.  I know that not everyone is as lucky as I am.

I am thankful that Mom has met a wonderful, caring and fun-loving man with which to spend her life.  Buddy, thank you for all that you do!

I am thankful that central Arizona has the best Goodwills in the nation.  Seriously.  The above wreath cost me two bucks.  Score!  And Mom wonders why I spend so much time there. 

I am so thankful for everyday I have with this sweet kitty.  She has been in renal failure since June and the ordeal has taken all of our time and money.  She’s worth it.  She is such a loving and fun companion.  Everything you could possibly want in a four-legged friend.

These photos were taken Thursday as we were getting ready for dinner.  As soon as I opened my linen drawer, she took it as an invitation to nest. 

I am especially thankful for this diabolical-looking man.  Were it not for him, my precious kitty would have been gone long ago.  He gives her all her medications, sticks her when she needs fluids, manages the occasional force-feed, pays for the exorbitant vet bills and adores her as if he has always been a cat lover.  He is also a great help in the kitchen and wields a mean knife!

I am thankful for the beautiful home we have built together.  We sure do have a lot of fun!

I am thankful for friends who are like family — those both near and far away.  This is my dear friend Lori who spent Thanksgiving with us.

 What are you thankful for?

I used an old school photo of Mama Puff.

Don’t you just love those pursed lips?!  My Aunt Jeanne gave me the small cameo.  It had been my grandmother’s and she knew that I would put it to good use. 

When I got home from the class, I added the flower pot and fence.  I love all things miniature and though they added a bit of hominess to the house.

One of the coolest techniques I learned in Terri’s class was etching on copper.  It looks super complicated, no?

It was sooo easy!  We stamped various images on the metal and then used ferric chloride to erode the metal around the image.  Lots of fun!  Can you see where I stamped “Je t’aime?”

  Thank you Terri for a great experience!  Thank you Chucklebutt for the opportunity!  Have a good week everyone.

Oh yeah, and I love to dress up!

I love costumes and wigs and hats and fun false eye lashes.

I also love crazy stockings. 

Luckily for me, my place of work allows me to be as wild as a woman needs to be!  That’s what happens when you teach theatre for youth and are an activity director in a retirement community. 

As a lot of you already know, my family has been through the ringer since the end of September.  Mom had open heart surgery (I promise to blog her story soon) and the whole month of October has been a blur.  Normally Chucklebutt and I would have thrown a big shindig for my residents at Halloween, but there just wasn’t enough time this year.  I did manage to work on a few crafty projects.  I’m addicted to decoupaging Funkins!

I got the idea from the folks at Country Living.

I decided to go black and white chic, but I’m already thinking about what I could do for my Thanksgiving decor.

The first Saturday I was back home in Arizona, I took a class with one of my favorite sculptors — the very talented Jenny Hernandez. 

Skellies!!  Aren’t they precious?

I had such a good time working on these two love birds.

Check out that mustache!  He is so daper.

Hope that everyone has a very Happy Halloween full of lots of treats and a few tricks!

My memory is a bit foggy on the next few details,  but either that night or the following night, we were at the local community theatre preparing for our perspective plays.  I was doing a read-through for Neil Simon’s Rumors, and mom was working downstairs in the costume shop ironing nun costumes — she was the wardrobe mistress for The Sound of Music.

About thirty minutes into the read-through, Stan the costumer comes to me and says, “Nicole I think your mother is having a stroke.”  As you can imagine I was completely flabbergasted and my adrenaline kicked into crisis mode.  When I got downstairs, there was my mother — the quintessential stroke victim — complaining about her arm not working properly.  All she was interested in was ironing those nun habits.  I explained to her quite nicely that she was having a stroke and she needed to get in the damn car!

Fortunately, the hospital was less than five minutes away.  When we entered the emergency room, folks immediately swarmed mom and began to do what they do best.  I have never in all my life seen emergency medicine work so quickly and competently.  It really is almost an art form.

To make a long, traumatic experience short, Mom was given the super duper anti-clotting drug (you must be given it within three hours) and in minutes she went from a stroke victim back to my gregarious, crazy mother.  Within seconds, her hands unfurled, her speech became recognizable and her face no longer palsied.  It is truly a miraculous medication.

Mom was extremely lucky and has no residual side effects from her stroke.  However, shortly thereafter, she discovered she has something called atrial fibrillation.  It is a pesky, irregular heartbeat, and most people either take medication for it or are lucky enough to naturally go back into sinus rhythm.  Mom has not been so lucky.  For the past eight years, she has tried all medications, been jump started more than anyone her cardiologist has ever known and exhausted all other alternatives.  Except one — ablation.  It is a pretty labor intensive procedure where they enter into the heart from the groin and scar the tissue that is all out of whack.  Doctors have been encouraging Mom for years to do this, but she has been wary.  Unfortunately, she has been experiencing a decline in health for the past year and a half and has found that her activities are limited.  She is ready to take that next step and she has got a tremendous amount of folks rooting for her.

Back in June, we (Mom, Buddy, my Aunt Jean, Uncle Peter and myself) all headed to the God forsaken land that is known as Cleveland.  The city was rainy and cold and really quite dreary, but it has an amazing heart hospital — The Cleveland Clinic.

Mom met with the head of the electro physiology department — Dr. Lindsey — and scheduled a date for her ablation surgery.  November 10th.

We just got word this morning, however, that there has been a cancellation and her date has been moved up to September 20th.  It is truly a blessing and we are all rejoicing!

The staff was incredible.  From the doctors, nurses, PA’s, housekeepers — everyone was solicitous, kind and encouraging.  We all feel extremely confident regarding Mom’s care.

This is Nakeyah — one of Mom’s nursing assistance.  She was a doll.  She even gave us her phone number so we could call her when we get back up there.

The hospital itself was gorgeous — original artwork everywhere.  I love this sculptor made entirely of letters.  The pictures at the beginning of this post were taken of a wall made of letters.  Buddy promptly ran his fingers through them and only then did he see the sign that said Do Not Touch.  Doh! 

The hospital itself is like a city within a city.  Complete with bookstores, restaurants, boutiques and gift shops.  The one thing that did shock me was a McDonald’s — in a cardiac hospital!!  I guess it helps business.  Sheesh.

Tours of all the artwork are offered daily.

I spent most of my time with Mom, but it was nice to come down to the lobby and hang out with all the kooky installations.  They even had a gal playing a grand piano for ambiance.

Did I mention that the Cleveland Clinic also has their own police force?

This sculpture is made entirely of felt.

Super Cool!

Once they discharged Mom, we all went to the roof and had a photo shoot.

The roof was a nice place to come up for lunch, read a book or just meditate.

On a completely different note, can you tell that I’ve discovered the nifty processing buttons in Picnik?  My favorites are Holga-ish, Orton-ish and Cross Process (the above effect).  I am hopelessly addicted!
I’ll be sure to keep everyone posted as to Mom’s progress.  We would appreciate all prayers and positive thoughts.  Cheerio!

Here’s Chucklebutt pre-fungus!  Isn’t he cute?  This was our one trip this summer –  West Clear Creek Wilderness.

We drove up to Payson the Saturday before Memorial Day and hiked in Sunday morning.  It was a perfect weekend.

I love the hike in — it’s the hike out that’s a ball buster!

This was our sweet camp site.  There was absolutely no one around.  We saw a few folks hiking out and they were jealous that they weren’t staying the night.  Incidentally, when Chucklebutt and I got married six years ago, we registered primarily for camping supplies.  This trip was the first time we had ever been camping together.

We had such a good time cooking freeze dried food and the best chili EVER!

Doesn’t it look wild?  The one on the right is lasagna and it tastes just like lasagna.  It’s magic I tell you!

The scenery is gorgeous in the canyon.  Unfortunately, the water was ice-cold and took your breath away.  Don’t worry, we still got our swim on. 

Can you tell I have MRSA in this picture?  You know — the nasty staph infection that is immune to most all antibiotics?  Yeah that’s what I thought.  My dermatologist wasn’t too excited about me going camping, but I told him I’d wear some water proof bandages on my neck and it would be alright.  It was. 

This was the path leading to our camp site.  Dr. Livingston I presume?

I took this photo with the timer setting.  It was hilarious trying to run with my pack and get in the picture on time.

Like I said, climbing back out is always a lot more difficult.  We’re smiling on the outside, but crying on the inside.  Super fun!

We encountered these cuties on the drive out.

Mooooooooo!  I love that baby!

As far as the kidney problems, my sweet Scooter turned 13 in August.  She has been getting thinner, and to make a really long story short, her kidneys are not functioning properly.  She’s on a special diet and takes lots of liquid meds.  Tomorrow she is having surgery to insert a “gift tube” into her back so it will be easier to give her fluids.  She is feisty as ever and we are hoping to have her for a few more years.  She is still beating up on the new cat (Mz. Kitty) and is bossy as ever.  That’s what I use as a barometer — is she still willing to swat around the other members of the household.

In regards to atrial fibrillation, Mom has a surgery date of November 10th at the Cleveland Clinic.  It’s been a slow process and Mom has gotten a bit discouraged.  It’s as if we’ve all sort of put things on hold until her surgery.  I’ll be sure to post pics soon of the Cleveland Clinic. If you got heart issues — that’s the place to be.  We all went up in June for her consultation and the facilities are amazing!

Anyhoo, we’re plugging away as I’m sure most folks are.  Hugs and Love!

It’s so good that even Chucklebutt enjoys drinking it.  He stays far away from regular tea and is convinced that by the time I’m 60 I will have a plethora of kidney stones.  I tell him it will be well worth it and to pass the lemon and sugar. 

Regular grocery stores don’t sell the stuff, but it you have a Latino market nearby, you will be able to find it there.  They call it jamaica — pronounced ja-MIKE-uh, not like the country.

That’s what it looks like in the above left teacup.  It’s super easy to make.  Simply fill a medium sized pot with water and bring to a boil.  Once the water starts to boil, turn off the stove and dump a handful of flowers into the water.  Let steep for approximately 10 minutes.  Unlike regular tea, you don’t want to leave the flowers in too long.

Before the mixture cools, I strain out the flowers and sweeten it with honey.  My most recent batch, I got a little carried away with the honey so when I make a glass, I add about 1/3 a cup of cold water to the mixture and stir.

A special thank you to my sweet friend Jan for the super cute pitcher.  She sent it to me a about year ago and I love using it. I love the style and the weight and of course the color — PINK!

You can’t really tell from this photo, but on the stem of our crystal ware is lily of the valley.  These were Chuck’s mother’s and I adore them.  Her sterling and china are also lily of the valley.  I never got a chance to meet her – she passed away before I met Chuck – but I always feel a little closer to her when I use her dinner ware.  Her crystal is perfect for a glass of hibiscus tea!
I hope that everyone had a nice weekend.  Ours was pretty uneventful, but it was nice just hanging out and doing mundane things.  We’re watching the new sci-fi series on TNT — Falling Skies. It’s the pilot, so the verdict is still out.

Thank you baby for the pics!