Easter Treasures

Easter Treasures, originally uploaded by ivoryblushroses.

I've been recuperating in Colorado with my family this week. What fun to find a few Easter treasures to decorate with! These will look lovely on top of the china cabinet when I get back to Flagstaff!

Thanks for all the well wishes. I'm feeling better day by day and hope to be back at work next week!

Mending

Mending, originally uploaded by ivoryblushroses.

Recovering from this bug has left me with little energy and many days at home. Looking for something to do that didn't require much effort, I spied a stack of linens that I've been meaning to work on. The kind where the lace is coming off and needs stitched back on. Something easy to work on ~ mending while I also mend.


In addition to the linens needing mending, there were many old linens damaged beyond repair, the ones I wanted to salvage the lace from or save the embroidered bits from to use in something else. As I picked out the tiny hand stitches, 12 to an inch, that held the lace on a pillowcase, I gained a new admiration for those stitchers of old and the extraordinarily fine work that they did for the most utilitarian of household items. How glad I am to be able to give portions of their work a second life!


I often carry a little knitting project in my bag, something that doesn't take a lot of concentration. After I'd finished the mending/ salvaging pile, it was just the thing to work on. I've just started on the edging, which I've never done before. It's going quickly though and will make a nice little feminine facecloth when completed.

Thank you so much for all your well wishes and prayers. They have meant so much to me. I remain on mandatory leave from work and have been spending most of my time resting. I am hoping that within the coming week I will be mostly recovered and my energy returning!

Unexpected Detours

Tulips, originally uploaded by ivoryblushroses.

Some journeys take you places you never expected to go. The planned route is suddenly blocked and you are directed off the side of the road, down a hastily prepared, bumpy detour through the fields.

A seemingly mild stomach bug last week, turned this week into a full blown Big Bad Bug called C-diff, that landed me in the hospital overnight on Tuesday and now has me on the slow road to recuperation at home. Surgery is postponed for at least a month and I am on mandatory medical leave from work for the time being. I am recovering slowly and each day sees improvement, for which I am deeply grateful.


Thursday night, my DiL Amanda's mother, Shelia, passed away unexpectedly. This picture is from this past Thanksgiving. Our family would be grateful for your prayers for Amanda and Stephen as they come to terms with this great loss.

My mother heart aches, as I long to be there to offer comfort and support. But as I am still contagious and barely have enough energy to sit at the computer for a short time, much less travel for 12 hours, I am not able to. Instead I send my love and support across the miles, while healing here, and look forward to the day that I can hug them in person.

Reflections

Hyacinth Reflection, originally uploaded by ivoryblushroses.

I saw the first butterflies of the season today. Such symbols of hope and rebirth!

So too are the blooming bulbs. From a seemingly dried out root comes a stalk of delicate bloom that fills the room with beautiful fragrance. Out on the bank, the first shoots from the tiny daffodil bulbs I planted 4 years ago are springing up from the earth as the snow melts.

How I pray that the earthquake ravaged regions of the world, Japan, New Zealand, China and Haiti will also have beautiful rebirths, that out of devastation will come miraculous and beautiful change.

How I pray that the nations of the earth will sit up and take notice. That no matter how arrogant mankind is about their perceived ability to rule and control, there are greater powers at work. That they would acknowledge that there is a great and awesome God, who asks only that we should know and love him and in return love all of his creation, from the rest of humanity, to the lowliest creature and that we should care for his creation and nurture it.


As you may have noticed, I haven't done much stitching lately. My time has been spent at work, attending various classes and conferences that are work related, such as NRP (neonatal resuscitation), fetal monitoring and breastfeeding. I am working towards becoming an IBCLC (international Board Certified Lactation Consultant) as well as becoming certified in Maternal Infant nursing.

In addition, I have been preparing these past few months for bariatric surgery. I have struggled with excess weight for many years and recently my weight began impacting other areas of my health. So after years of trying numerous methods of weight loss, eating very carefully, and trying to get more exercise, all with little and only temporary progress, I decided to go the route of surgery. I have been working for the past 6 months with a team of Doctors, Nutritionists, Physical Therapists and Psychiatrists to prepare for this massive lifestyle change. Now my surgery is scheduled a little over a week away ~ with the start of spring! I am excited, a bit anxious, but looking forward to becoming healthier, more active, more able to spend time doing the outdoors things that I love (and already thinking about all the hikes I want to do!) and yes, looking forward to fitting into smaller clothes!

So, lots of changes in my life this year. Lots of renewal. Remaking. A rebirth of my own.