Thanksgiving 2007

This Thanksgiving we went to my husbands brothers house. As we do with most trips to his house, we first picked up his mom and away we went. Its only a 35 minute ride.
It was nice seeing everyone again. We have not all gotten together since August. He has four kids ranging from 15 to 23? Two in collage and one in high school. The oldest is living in New York. They are all truly nice folks. If all works out everyone will be at my house on Christmas Eve. Christmas day will be at my sisters in Norther New Jersey.

The weather here is getting colder. Just two weeks ago it was close to 70 degrees. Today it was 40. The leaves are falling by the yards. The birds are looking for extra seed and bread. ( I always feed the birds our old bread)

We purchased a new Christmas tree. Yes its fake. 7 1/2 feet tall. Bigger then what I really wanted. Next weekend we will be setting it up along with the outside lights. That will be fun.

I will post photos as soon as everything is set up.

Winter Blocks

Check it out! Here are most of my winter blocks for mjfg connection. I normally make all the same block but this time I mixed them up a little. I used all the same fabrics just in different places. I fussy cut the birds. Used green, red and a tan with gold.

Two Months and all is well

Well it has been just over two months since our surgery. Jeff is doing great. My kidney is working and living just fine and happy in him. I was hoping he would start liking Chinese food but no luck. It is still pizza for Friday nights. Oh well. I am doing well too. If not for the scars on my abdoment I would never know that I underwent major surgery.

Right now Jeffs only problem is his legs. He has a lot of pain in the hips and knees. The clinic doctors are saying it could be the medications he is taking. Prograf, Cellcep and Prednisone, they are all anti rejection medications. They are apparently recking havoc on his joints and bones. he also now needs to take Oscal and Fosamax. A bone density test shows some deterioration in his one hip. (he is only 45)

Its a little ironic how one drug saves your life as at the same time it can make you feel miserable.

He is keeping very busy these day with his HO trains. He is building a new layout in the basement. Gosh it is humongous. Almost three full sheets of plywood in a "C" shape. But this keeps him busy. He can't work in the garage because it is getting too cold. Also, he has a hard time getting up off the ground. So no working on cars for him this winter. I just hope that his leg and hip issue resolves it self by spring. He so loves to ride his motorcycles. If his legs are not strong enough then there will be no motorcycle riding for him.

Well, that's it for now. I have a lot of quilt blocks to make for a number of swaps I am in. ASG meeting tomorrow morning. And next week I am going to see my sister. We are taking a quilting class. I think we mostly take the class as an excuse to see each other. We talk more then we sew.

Autumn Theme Block Swap w/mjfg

Well here is the selection of blocks that I received from our recent swap. They are great. These will make a cozy quilt. I can't wait to see what the next swap might entail. Who made the blocks on the right hand side? There were no names attached.

RED WHITE and BLUE

Check it out. I received these blocks in a swap I did with my many friends at mjfg connection. Now it is a work in progress. I am still machine quilting. We swapped 8 1/2 inch blocks. Red white and blue, as you can see. Without a border it is about 40 X 40. I will most likely add a 1 1/2 or 2 inch boarder to it. Some of the blocks were hand sewn. Some were hand embroidered. Some machine. There is a foundation pieced one. Oh, the watermellon has these cute seeds sewn on them. They are all unique. What do you think? These ladies do nice work.

Fall Theme Blocks

Here are the 12 1/2 inch blocks I have made for mjfg connection swap. Something is wrong with the camara. The colores are messed up. They should be brown, orange and yellow. The darker block should be dark green with dark reds. I will have to re take this photo when I have some time.

What do you think?

Getting better with each day

Its been a week or so since I last posted anything...
Jeff was released on Sunday the 2nd of September. He was never happier to get home!
We are both doing better now. Well I am almost back to normal. I have little or no pain. I can't lay in my stomach yet, but I am doing well. I drive and even went out to the fabric shop for two hours the other day. I will see the doc on Monday for my checkup. He will tell me when I can return to work.
Jeff is doing better too. They removed all the staples on Wednesday. He can now wear his jeans. He is in some pain still. His incision area is a little tender and bruised. His legs are the real problem. Now his joints are bothering him. He goes though bouts of real pain in the knees and hips. We were told that could be caused by some of his meds. I believe it is the Prednisone, one of the three anti-rejection medications he will be taking for the rest of his life. But they are slowly lowering his dose each week. He started off at 20mg twice a day and is now down to just 25mg once a day. Monday he is to start taking 20mg once a day. For the pain he can take an extra strength Tylenol or if it is real bad he takes an Oxycod or better known as Percocet. (they put me in la la land) I will stick to the Tylenol.
Yesterday was Jeff's first time driving since the 13Th of July. He dropped off the cycler equipment. That is a piece of his life he never wants to see again.
This first month Jeff needs to go to the clinic/hospital twice a week. I believe in October he will be going only once a week. And then every other week. They need to keep a close watch on his blood work and kidney function. So far everything is good. Lets just hope it stays that way for a long, long time.