Bittersweet Weekend

Thanksgiving weekend was nice because we got to see a lot of family we don't see often. We like to spend our Thanksgiving weekends at home, but Jason's grandma was celebrating her 80th birthday and all of the family was going to be there, so we made the trek this year to So Cal. We had a good time visiting with his family on Thursday and half the day on Friday. Unfortunately, while we were there this weekend, on of my grandmas got really sick and had to be hospitalized. My grandma Middough, who I'm very close to, has been sick for a few months and just hasn't been able to get over it. I guess this last week she didn't even have the energy to eat if someone didn't come over to feed her. They released her from the hospital yesterday, but only to a nursing facility so that she can get her strength back before going home, but she's at the point where she just can't live alone any more. If she would let me, I would bring her home with me and take care of her, but I know she won't. We finally did get to see her last night before we went home, and she just lit up when my kids came in the room. I know her great-grandkids make her really happy, and my kids have been a little upset because they know what's going on. And, unfortunately, I think I make it worse for them because I'm so upset. I was really grateful to be able to see her, and I sincerely hope it wasn't for the last time. I know she's been in poor health for the last few years and that she could go at any time, but it's just hard to let her go--I'm not ready. Of course, Jason reminded me that I'm never going to be ready. I know I'll be able to see her again one day, but I'm going to miss her so much. So for now, we're just waiting to hear if she gets better or worse and I'm prepared to fly back when I need to. I think we're really just hoping that she makes it through the holidays. Prayers for our family and especially my grandma would be wonderful.

The joys of home ownership

Last night, Jason pointed out to me a puddle in the yard and asked me if I had seen it. I hadn't. So we got out a flashlight and started investigating. We found two large puddles on one side of the yard, one of which had bubbles coming up, meaning that it was an active leak. We tried to turn off the water to the house, that didn't work. Called out our water company, he says, sorry, it's past the meter, it's your problem. So we shut it off at the main for the night and decided to dig it out in the morning and find the problem ourselves. Of course neither of us slept well last night, I was so stressed out about how much it was going to cost to fix. So this morning, we start digging...and digging...and digging. Almost three hours later, we finally found in the pipe exactly where it was leaking. We had been expecting a seam or a joint to be leaking, but the pipe itself had a crack in it, like it had been under great pressure and just gave. Our house is only three years old. Pipes should at least last more than three years! So I called out the plumbers that installed the pipes to our house. Finally this afternoon, the plumber comes out. Tells us that they haven't had any problems with those pipes, so we're gonna have to pay for it. Since we did all the digging ourselves, it was less than $200 (apparently the majority of what you pay for when you have a problem like this is the digging out, according to my father-in-law). But still, that's nuts for a pipe that is only three years old. I'm so pissed that we bought a brand new house, still have a bunch of crap going wrong with it, and you get nowhere with warranties and stuff like that. Whatever happened to quality and taking pride in your work enough that if you see a problem that isn't caused by the homeowners, you fix it. I don't think we really think about and are grateful for things like running water until we have a problem with them. I can't tell you how great the shower felt this afternoon after such a long, exhausting day.

A request

I am beginning to make our Christmas cards for this year, so if we haven't sent you a card in the last two years, would you please email me your address if you would like one from our family. My email address shows at the top of the page. Thanks!

A little sadness

With no family close to us here in Arizona, I have really come to rely on my friends. I've become really good friends with a couple girls here in the neighborhood who are like my extended family. One of these girls has a little boy who has been battling neuroblastoma (a particularly viscous type of cancer that strikes young children) and is in remission. The worst part about this cancer is that there hasn't yet been a case of a child who has relapsed and survived. We continue to pray for Brody and that he will keep getting better. We've seen him go from a healthy little boy to a very sick little boy and on his way back again. Today he brought a smile to my face because I walked Charlie over to their house and made him giggle because he loves my dog. Through what this family has been through, they have met others who are going through the same things and they have become good friends with another family in Arizona who have a six year old girl. She is one month ahead of Brody in diagnosis, and one year after her transplant surgery, she relapsed. This last weekend they went in for routine scans to re-stage her because they had done surgery and thought they removed all of the cancer and found that she had a bunch of spots on her liver and one on her lungs. Since this is likely her last Christmas, my friends wanted to put together a care package to send to the family. I thought back to when Jordan was in the hospital and how boring it was to sit there for hours on end. This family also has three other children who are all younger than the girl who is sick and I'm sure it's rough on the family to keep them occupied while they're there. So I bought a plastic box with a handle and then filled it with quiet games and books that they can carry along with them. I also decorated the side a little with a little sign that says "quiet box". It wasn't anything spectacular, so I didn't take pictures of it or anything. But, I also wanted to include a couple other things just for this little girl. So I put in a journal that I had made awhile back and then I spent my day off today making a picture frame for her. I was even able to go to her family's website and pull a picture of her to put in the frame so they didn't get an empty frame. My hope is that this will bring a smile to her face. Both of these children I've talked about have websites set up through Caring Bridge and their parents update them and add pictures. For anyone that's interested, Brody's website is: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/brodyfowler The little girl who is sick is named Layla and her website is: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/laylablakeley
You can also leave their families messages of support for the health of their children on these sites.

Can't wait for New Moon

In anticipation of New Moon and because my husband says I'm a Twilight nerd (and a self affirmed stamping nerd), I've been playing around with an Edward stamp I have. I'm sure I'm not done yet since this is one of my favorite stamps, but I wanted to post the few cards I've done with him. Sometimes things don't come out the way I see them in my head when I'm working, but I think they turned out okay anyway. This first one is my favorite.

This one you can't tell but the patterned paper has some sparkle to it so I thought it was fitting for Edward.


This one was designed to be an Edward card too until I finished the layout and realized that my stamp wouldn't fit the space I made for it. So I chose another new stamp I got that was the right size.