Update about my Christmas

I apologize for the late update, but I haven't been on the computer at all lately. I've been in too much pain.

I didn't get all the Christmas decorating, cleaning and baking done, but thanks to our 17 year old, most of it got done. If you're reading this, "Thanks Brittany! I hope you know how much I appreciate all the work you did!".

I was in a lot of pain during the week-end. So much so, that I did a first for me...I spent part of Christmas Day in bed! I'm usually on my feet all day Christmas, but this year I just wanted to cuddle with a hot water bottle and let pain killers do their work. Thankfully, my family pitched in though and between my husband, Brittany and 2 of our grown daughters, our traditional Christmas meal was made without any help from me.

I'm scheduled to have an abdominal CT scan done on Friday. Please pray that it shows whatever is wrong with me. I'm not even worried about what might be wrong with me, I just want to know so the doctor can start treating me and I can get out of pain.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Doctor Appointments

I finally updated here, about the most recent appointments my husband had with his nephrologist and oncologist. There isn't much news to share, which is a GOOD thing. :)

As for me, I'm going to be busy during the next few weeks, having a bunch of testing done. Apparently, now the doctor thinks there's a chance I might have colon cancer. Some other things will also be tested for.

It's been a month since I lost my voice and it STILL isn't back yet! However, that isn't as discouraging as the pain in my upper abdomen. I'm finding it very difficult to get ready for Christmas, when it hurts to do anything. By some miracle, I did complete my Christmas shopping though. Now, I just have to wrap the gifts, clean the house, finish decorating and do the baking! I still have 2 days left though. Think I'll get everything done in time? LOL

Hot Chocolate Mugs

I seriously didn't think I was going to have time to send any Christmas cards this year, but I got most of them signed and mailed today. Yeah!

I also made some of these Hot Chocolate Mugs. They're made out of cardstock, scrapbook paper and a couple of mini brads. They're very easy to make, but I think they cute!

In case you can't read it, the writing on the mug says,
"To our special friends so dear,
Wishing you a cup of cheer.
Merry Christmas!"

Snow Themed Tree

I mentioned in a different post that the ornaments on our porch tree are ones we inherited. They're not heirloom ornaments, just ordinary thread-covered Styrofoam balls that my in-laws didn't want to take to Florida with them when they moved. They've seen better days, so my husband and I had been talking about replacing them next year with snow themed ornaments.

Well, guess what my wonderful husband did!? He bought me some white garland, white lights, a snowflake tree topper, 36 snowflake ornaments, 40 icicle ornaments and several different snowmen ornaments. Today, our 17 year old took the old ornaments, lights and garland off the tree and then she and my husband re-decorated the tree together! What a great family I have!

Here are a few of the snowmen ornaments.




Here you can see some of the snowflakes and icicles.


Here is a long-shot of the tree.

Health Update

I got the results from my tests and I don't have gall stones, and even better news is that my liver is NOT enlarged. My liver enzymes are also normal. Yeah!

However, the blood tests did show that I'm anemic for some reason, and we still don't know the cause of the pain I'm having. I also still have laryngitis! It's been over 3 weeks since I've been able to talk! I have an appointment with the doctor on Tuesday and he'll be doing some more tests.

Sunday Update

I apologize for not visiting the rest of the entries in Christmas Tree Ornaments before this. Friday afternoon I had a doctor's appointment, and afterwards I went to my oldest grandson's birthday party. By the time I got home, I was pretty wiped out. Yesterday and this morning, I was in too much pain to sit at the computer.

Although the reason why I saw a doctor was because I've had laryngitis for over 2 weeks, while I was there, I mentioned an intermittent abdominal pain I've been having for awhile now. He seems to think the pain is being caused by a gallbladder problem (probably stones), but he's even more concerned because he thinks my liver is enlarged. I'm going to be having tests tomorrow, to try to find out for sure what's going on. Prayers that it's nothing serious would be appreciated!

Anyway, the abdominal pain isn’t too bad at the moment, so I’m off to visit some more of the blogs right now! :)

"Christmas Tree Treasures" is today!

Today is the day for the Christmas Tree Treasures event that Morning Glory from Seeds From My Garden is hosting. If you haven't already, post photos of your ornaments in your blog and then add your link at Seeds From My Garden.

Also, make sure you visit all the sites that have been added. I've been making the rounds and I think you'll be blessed by the wonderful ornaments and memories that others are sharing.

A special day

Today has been a special day, because my husband and I have been celebrating our 36th wedding anniversary. Not only is it special because we've been married for so long, but if you have read his Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma Story, you'll know it's special because he's still here to celebrate it!

We didn't go out to a restaurant this evening, the way we normally would to celebrate our anniversary. I have an extremely sore throat and a bad case of laryngitis, so I didn't think I'd be able to fully appreciate dinner out. However, we did go see the movie "Happy Feet" this evening. It's a cute movie!

Bruce, if you are reading this...
Happy anniversary honey! I love you and I'm looking forward to spending the next 36 years with you! :)

Shopping for Window Shades

We recently gave our bedroom a fresh coat of paint and we rearranged the furniture in there. Now, we're looking for new bedding and new window treatments for the bedroom.

Last night, I was checking out the blinds and shade products at GUARANTEED blinds.com. Since I'm a "Buy USA" advocate, I really like the fact that their products are manufactured in the USA. I also like the fact that they offer free shipping on all blinds and shades that do not exceed 98" for any dimension, and that if they receive my order by Dec. 10th, they'll ship it by Dec. 15th. That means, if I end up ordering them, I will probably have my new shades in time for Christmas!

The pleated shades at GUARANTEED blinds.com are currently on sale, but the ones I'm most attracted to are the double cell room darkening shades. They have an insulating R-value of 5.00, which means they would help to lower our heating bills this winter. They also block 99.99% of UV rays!

I can get up to 12 samples from GUARANTEED blinds.com, so I think I'm going to request samples of the Altamont, Colonial and Teaberry.

My Christmas Tree Treasures

My favorite Christmas tree ornaments are the ones that no longer hang on my tree. When our children grew up and left home, I allowed them to take all their childhood ornaments with them. That included; the ones they made in school, Sunday school and Girl Scouts every year, the ornaments we made together each Christmas season, and the special ornaments their Dad and I gave them every year on "Christmas tree decorating night". Although I miss seeing the clothes pin reindeers and paper snowflakes hanging from the branches, I don't really mind that my tree doesn't still have my favorite ornaments on it. One of my daughters told me last year that when she decorates her Christmas tree for her own small children, hanging her own childhood ornaments on the tree helps her to remember the wonderful Christmases SHE enjoyed as a child. That means...my yearly Christmas goal was, and continues to be, accomplished! :)

Although my favorite ornaments moved when my children did, I hope you will enjoy looking at some of the other special ornaments that DO still decorate my Christmas tree!


My husband and I got married on Dec. 5th. When we returned home from our honeymoon, my parents had set up a Christmas tree in the living room of our new home and it was decorated with decorations from our wedding reception. Most of the wedding decorations didn't survive for more than a year or two, but this will be the 37th Christmas tree that this little bird from our wedding cake, has helped to decorate.



Since we were young newlyweds, without much money, instead of buying Christmas ornaments for our tree, we hand painted Balsam wood ornaments to hang on the tree alongside the wedding decorations. We still have an abundance of these wooden ornaments.


This red reindeer hung from a plastic garland we used for decorating during the early years of our marriage. When the garland had outlived it's usefulness, I saved the reindeer to hang on our Christmas trees.


When we moved to upstate NY from another state, it was a Thanksgiving week-end. Although we didn't know anyone when we moved here, we learned that neighbors in the Adirondacks are quick to befriend newcomers. One of our new neighbors created this plastic canvas church for us, even though she hadn't known us for long.


Although we lived in a different town the following Christmas, we still lived in the Adirondacks. We learned that neighborliness exists in other Adirondack towns as well! Every year, for the past 24 Christmases, one of our neighbors delivers a plate of home made cookies to us on Christmas Eve, along with an ornament she's made. This is one of the many wreaths she has made for us over the years.


The daughter of a friend of mine, made this for me one Christmas when she was still a little girl. Although she's grown up now, unlike with my own children, I don't feel obligated to give her the ornaments she made when she was young! :)


I collect ducks so, for many years, my husband gave me a duck ornament every year. These are only as couple of the ones he gave me.


This little Eskimo girl was a souvenir from Sitka, Alaska. The gal that sold it to us, made it herself. Not only is it special because it reminds me of an incredible trip, but also because that was the year my husband was diagnosed with an incurable type of cancer. Every year when I hang her on the tree, I'm reminded to be thankful that my husband is here to celebrate another Christmas.


One of my grown daughters gave me this angel a few years ago. I love getting Christmas ornaments as gifts!


One of my other grown daughters gave me this cute snowman last Christmas. Aw! :)

Thank you for looking at some of my special Christmas Tree Treasures! Thanks also to Morning Glory from Seeds From My Garden, for motivating me to do this!

I joined Blogsvertise!

I'm excited because I just joined Blogsvertise! As a registered member, all I have to do is visit the web sites that Blogsvertise assigns to me, and then talk about their websites products and services here in my blog. I don't have to endorse the products or services, I just have to talk about them. I can praise them, endorse them, or even complain about them. In exchange for talking about the assigned web sites in my blog, Blogsvertise will pay me per task/blog entry!

Since I just joined Blogsvertise, I haven't had a task yet, but it sure sounds like doing assignments for them will be a fun and easy way to earn some extra money! I enjoy surfing the web and looking at new web sites anyway, and I'm often looking for different topics to blog about. Blogsvertise will help me to do what I already enjoy doing, and they'll pay me to do it!

If you have a blog (or if you're thinking about starting one), and you'd like to make some money with it, you might want to check out Blogsvertise!

Santas by Santa Carver

Before my brother-in-law had a stroke and she had to become his caregiver, my sister used to hand carve Santas out of wood. Although she sold most of her Santas at gift shops and craft fairs, every Christmas she used to carve family members a Santa. Here are some of the Santas she carved for me. They are some of my most treasured Christmas decorations!

This Santa is a candlestick.

Another candlestick, with a close-up of it.

A hanging ornament, with a close-up of it.

Another candlestick.

The following Santa is carved on a wooden thread spool.

Occasionally, she carved subjects other than Santas.

If you enjoyed looking at these Santas, you will want to visit my sister's web site to see many of the larger and more ornate Santas she has carved!

Special Christmas Tree Ornaments

On Friday, December 8, Morning Glory from Seeds From My Garden will be hosting Christmas Tree Treasures. The idea is to post photos, as many as you want, of the special ornaments that you hang on your tree each year. Share with us why they are special to you. Maybe they are family heirlooms, things your children made you or you had as a child, or special theme collections -- whatever it is that you put on your tree that brings you pleasure each year as you decorate it. Maybe it's the tree topper.

On December 8th Morning Glory will have a Mr. Linky set up so you can add your name and the link to your post that displays your photos.