Blech! (⊙﹏⊙✿)

Hi friends! I hope you are well. I am still not. sigh. I mean, at least I am NOT laying around sloth-like still. My stomach was "feeling bad" so I started taking the over-the-counter acid reducer my doctor told me to take when it acts up. After a week, and sudden majorly increased pain, I called and he told me to double it and take extra strength Gaviscon at the maximum dose as well. After 4 days with no improvement I was seen by him. He gave me Nexium samples. I have been on those at the high dose of twice daily and the maximum dose of Gaviscon  for 4 days also now. I had an abdominal ultrasound done yesterday morning. This ruled out problems with any of my other organs. So my doctor believes I have one or two significant ulcers. These medications should heal my stomach  up, it is just taking a long time because of the severity? I am still a burnin' here folks.  Let me tell ya, a bland diet is not much fun at all. =(

Say! I have good great news!! The Neurontin I told you I was approved for, to take care of my chronic SI joint pain, is working!!!!!!! WaaaaaaaHooooooo! It is keeping my pain levels at a 2 or 3 all the time people. Isn't that great?! I think so. I could be angry that so many different insurance companies we had over the years refused to cover Neurontin for me. They insisted I use the generic, even though not one of the four generics I tried  brought the pain down.  Well, I won't lie. I was quite angry about that. But I do NOT want to be bitter. Soooo, I am grateful that I may be on brand name Neurontin NOW,again after 9 years.

On Wednesday night we went to Marquette University's New Student Convocation. What an experience. The keynote address was given by Chitra Divakaruni. She is the author of One Amazing Thing, the book I read along with Jacob and all of the incoming freshman this year. There are exactly 2013 freshmen this year, the year of 2013. Strange huh? They had 23,000 applications!! We are very proud of Jacob.Well, it is really happening folks. Our oldest has begun college now.Twenty-five additional nursing students were added because Milwaukee's VA Hospital has paid for the additional teachers and classrooms required to increase from 100 to 125 students. The VA prefers Marquette trained nursing staff. There are now 6 young men and 119 young ladies. Oh boy!! ;)

I did hear from our dear friend Carol over a week ago, that she received my gift right before she fell ill. Like a dummy, I forgot to take a picture of the beaded angel needle threader I made her. I made her in blue, Carol's favorite color. It was my first time making a needle threader. I also sent Carol this:

Yes, that is right. I actually gave her some of my Chocolate Swirl irises. These are the ones that smell of chocolate.♥ Carol commented on my blog over a year ago that she wished she had some. =) Now she does! And her DH even planted them while sweet Carol was ill .

I did NOT take a picture of the counting pins and two patterns I sent off to Vicki either. But she has received them and likes them. =) Here, I borrowed her picture of my gift.


And I also sent gifts to Angela P, which she has received and likes too! And you guessed it!!! I did not take a picture of pattern and counting pins either. But here is a picture Angela took and said I could show here.

I sent all three of these ladies gifts because they guessed the correct color of fuchsia for my purse.

Emerson and Madeleine have begun classes again as of Thursday. Jacob's first classes begin Monday. He has been to orientation things every day since Wednesday now.

I did not stitch one time while I was ill for the first week. Too weak and exhausted and nauseous.I am currently stitching up another freebie. I did get a lot of reading done. I finished The Last Runaway. That was good, but I felt very badly about the handful of swear words. I then read Evidence Unseen by Darlene Deibler Rose. THIS was an excellent, true story. She was a POW in WWII. She and her pastor husband were missionaries in New Guinea when WWII broke out.

That is it for today. I continue to take my "little purple pills" and hope to be all better very soon. Just wanted you to know I am still alive. ;)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

I Finished Love Notes, Would You Like The Pattern?

Good Morning my friends! We  have been in the 100's for a week! Thank goodness, a cool down started last night. Today it will only get in the 90's. ;)

Jacob is at Marquette University right now. We took him Wednesday afternoon and will pick him up at lunch time today. He is participating in Project Beyond. It is a federally funded program to encourage leadership skills in the nursing field for men, first time college students and minorities. Jacob qualified for two of those.  He gets to sleep in a dorm with the only other young man who came. All meals are covered. They invited 25 and only got 7! Jacob's roommate is Matt. His parents both came from Thailand. Oh, such nice people. Brian and I really liked them. Jacob and Matt really got along too. Jacob and Matt are the only guys there. The other five are young ladies!! I asked the teacher how many of the one hundred nursing students enrolled this year are male. 5! The grin on the faces of Jacob and Matt!!! Oh boy!!

I finished stitching the French pattern of Love Notes on Thursday.(There are three patterns included.) I did the finishing on it Friday. This is a gift. As soon as I saw this pattern on Mii's blog for a giveaway, I knew I wanted to stitch that French Pincushion. Only not make it into a pincushion. And I wanted to stitch it for our Emerson. Yes, Emerson. He has taken French for three years and will begin his fourth year shortly.

We are a close, loving family. I tell the kids I love them most every day. And today is Emerson's birthday. My baby boy is 17!! He will be getting this gift tomorrow at his birthday party with family.

It says "I love you with all my heart" in French. I thought a bookmark for his Bible was a very good use for this. I chose a dark chocolate linen for the back. I used small patches of French General fabric from my stash.

 I decided to stitch this one over one, on a mystery 30ct Lakeside Linen. I used the dark red DMC called for but replaced the pink (gasp!!) with creamy white DMC 3865.I used a somewhat stiff fusible stabilizer.

This is the only pattern of the three I am stitching. Would you like the pattern? I received this pattern in a giveaway from Mii, who received this pattern in a giveaway from Sally, who received this as a gift from Barb! ;) If you would like to be the next stitcher, please be a follower of mine and leave me a comment here on this post. Please also pass this chart on to another stitcher after you are done with it. =) This giveaway will end on Friday, July 26th.

Crazy Daisy struggling in the heat wave

No, not rain, just watered.

Milk Chocolate Daylily

Well, I better shove off. I have a marble cake with chocolate buttercream frosting to make!

Baking and Praying,
Vickie

Somebody needs a haircut!!♥

 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. John 13:34

Sewing and Gardening

Good Morning friends! Wow! We shot right up to 89º yesterday! Lovely day for gardening. I have been getting some done every day this week. Madeleine and Brian even helped a bit on Sunday. I am so glad. I just cannot garden all day long anymore at all. Take a look at my garden pals.

These two were hanging out under the trampoline for a shady rest. They continue to get along. The biggest issue is that Mabel wants Henry's food and he wants her diet food! I have to stand watch every time or they will switch!

These two sit on the back porch now. =)

I could not find the same pink pansies as last year. These are a pretty pinkish purple. I also planted the two pots in front of the garage with the Pius XI colors, since the graduation and party are not far off now for Jacob.

I am not sure if I made mention that he is officially registered at Marquette University. He will begin the nursing program in the fall. They only had room for 125 nursing students. Over 1,100 applied from around the country and world. It will be so very interesting to see how many male students there are.  It appears there will be few. Jacob received very good scholarships and grants.

Jacob just went to his Senior Prom with a friend. They had an excellent time. It is now a whirlwind of school activities. School is done before May is over. Jacob and Emerson have both begun studying for Advanced Placement course final exams. These will be difficult, but if they do well, they will receive college credits for the courses. Lots of money saved then. ;)

This is the little bed I made for Henry. Now he has two, like Mabel. He loves it. Have I mentioned I love HIM?!?

SQUEE!!

I finished the book A Skeleton In God's Closet by Paul Maier. A very good fiction book. It is twenty years old. I read it because our Pastor mentioned it. I just began The Twelve Clues of Christmas by Rhys Bowen last night. This is one of the Royal Spyness series I very much enjoy.

No cross stitch to show at all. I must get this latest book read and back to the library so I can begin another waiting for me. =) I just love books. I love to stitch too, but sometimes new books just need to be read. ;)

Today promises to be another hot one. I may garden again, don't want to push the pain too far. I have prayed for all of you today my friends! I hope you have a glorious day!

Reading and planting,
Vickie

It's Been A Year!

Good Morning my friends! How are you? I hope you are happy and healthy. I have prayed for you my friends today. =)

Well, this week went from craptastic to fantastic. I haven't had a serious episode of gastritis for 9 years now. I was born a worrier. WRONG to worry, I know! Kinda hard to get it out of the old system. Well that can be rough on the stomach after so many years. Little flare ups once in a great while, just pop tums for a day or two. Not this time around. I took A LOT of ibuprofen when my pain increased recently. Then you add in the citric things I shouldn't be drinking or eating and you get profuse vomitting! Ugh! I have NEVER vomitted that much in my life. Nauseous and vomiting for 14 hours. Doctor gave me acid blockers to use for two weeks. He is fine with me relying on ibuprofen instead of the percocet. I will just need to take an acid blocker during those periods he says. My tum tum is still burning right now. It will take a few days.

Now, hey! Onto fantastic!!

 Yes! That's right!! Our boy got accepted into Marquette University Nursing School. We are so happy for him. And just a wee bit proud too! For those of you not in Wisconsin, Marquette is kind of a big deal. It's like the Ivy League College of Wisconsin or something. There were 1,100 applicants to the Nursing School this year. They are accepting 125. The letter states: "In addition to your academic achievement, your commitment to community service is impressive." Our children have been delivering clothes with my FIL, from my FIL's parish thrift shop to the homeless shelter in downtown Milwaukee for years now.

Then there is also this.

Yes, he was accepted at his second choice, Concordia University also. We already found out the financial aid available for him there would be fantastic. We will wait to hear from Marquette if it is great also. As long as he gets good scholarships and aid, he will choose Marquette. They are only one of two colleges in the state that offer a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree specializing in pediatrics. That is his plan thus far. If he chose Concordia, it would have to be a general degree for him, as they do not specialize in pediatrics there.

Did I mention he can live at home while attending either college?! At least to start. tee hee This mama is ♥happy♥!

So yes, I have been blogging exactly one year today. =) I am so thankful to have "met" all of you. I am sorry to say I did not finish one of the gifts on time. I will work on it today. I will have a "ONE YEAR GIVEAWAY" very soon then. ;)

Oh yes, a Mabel update. Thank you for your well wishes and prayers on her behalf, we are thankful.♥ She continues on the medications, but tapering off now. She definitely took longer to "come out of it" this time. Concerning, yes. I believe she is pulling out of it and clear. A few more days will tell. She is her happy self though. =)

I am still stitching on the scissor fobs. Yes, fobs. I decided that the bargello will be "too much" to place on the back of my "V" I stitched up for the front. So that means I need to make one more front and one more back. ;) But first I will work on the giveaway piece. Really!

Thank you for allowing me to share Jacob's University adventures with you at this time. =)

Have a great day in the Lord!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie