Missed all of you...but I have a good excuse!

I guess it's time to divulge what has been going on with me.  Ladies it has not been good.


This last year, 2011, was pretty hard on me both physically and emotionally.  I literally thought I was becoming a hypochondriac or was loosing my mind.  I've suffered from migraines for most of my life, however this past year they worsened and I started developing other symptoms.  Extreme fatigue, pressure headaches that worsened when I strained coughed or sneezed, my voice became hoarse, vision problems and dizziness.  Most recently my feet and hands are feeling numb and they tingle when idle.  I know, I know, I sound out of my mind huh?  Well after all the work up and several MRI's, I have a diagnosis - I have Chiari Malformation l - basically my cerebellum has descended into my spinal cord about 1.5 cm., and is interrupting the flow of the protecting fluid that circulates around the brain and spinal cord.  Apparently I was born with this condition and no wonder I have been feeling so lousy.


I was seen at the Stanford Medical Center Neurology Clinic in Palo Alto yesterday will have surgery to correct the problem soon.  It was a struggle getting to this diagnosis, mainly because Chiari Malformation l is not a very well known disease and not many doctors are familiar with the condition.  I am happy that I took the initiative to look into things further and that my doctor did not hesitate to consider my requests or to refer me to specialists.  Ladies don't give up - if you know you feel sick and out of sorts, be persistent, do your research  and hopefully you have a primary doctor like mine - love Dr. Cruz - such a caring and humble doctor.  


I will keep you posted as to when I will have my surgery, probably the end of April or May.  We'll see how things progress. My goal is to finish the school year or until we start winding down but my condition will ultimately dictate this.  


Please keep me in your prayers and don't worry, you'll still see me lurking through your blogs.


Jenny




ladonaboutique

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!  And God's blessings to everyone!

Christmas Holy Card

I have been collecting Vintage Holy Cards for several years and I find that I have a hard time doing or parting with them.  I was hoping that this year I would have the time to make something with them or at least get them scanned into my computer but of course life got in the way again.  I have several Christmas ones so I will post them for you to see.  


In regards to Christmas decorating,  I hope to get up and going this week - finally - this is my favorite holiday and I just could not get going early enough and I've gotten grumpy about it.  I have to keep reminding myself that it's not just about decking your house but also a time to prepare yourself to receive Him and what blessings He brings.  

Take care everyone and don't burn out on Christmas -  remember, "He's the reason for the Season".


Trying not to be grumpy , Jenny

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

First, I would like to wish each and everyone of you a Blessed Thanksgiving Day.  I hope you are blessed abundantly in the company of family and friends.  


I wanted to share my very first paper wreath...I am too happy with it even though It took a while to get all those cones done.  I got the clip art from the Graphics Fairy, it's a fabulous site with oodles of free downloadable clip art.  Check it out.


I chose the work family and the crown because family is extremely important in our lives.  

 I hope the pictures are not out of focus.  I didn't have my glasses on.  Take care everyone.


Jenny


ladonaboutique

Remember these?

Well I finally got to finish this cloth pumpkins.  I scoured the net for patterns but finally decided to just trust my own intuition and go with it.  I check out a few tutorials and went for it.  I am glad I did because I usually change things anyway, even if I have a pattern - something about being creative I guess.  Anyway here is what I came up with.

Before:

This is what the large ones looked like - $2 soft pillows.

After

Doesn't this look like an apple?

Bye friends...

Sharing Fall goodness

Aren't these pomegranates beautiful?  My sis sent them to me because she knows how much I love to eat them and how I like to take pictures.  

Happy Fall Saturday everyone!


Also stay tuned as I am preparing a scrapbooking giveaway sponsored by MyMemories.  Hope you return and enter.

Linking Up To I Heart Macro

Very Late for  I Heart Macro Sunday but nonetheless, here are some pictures of what I have on my work table - can't seem to get any projects done - just too much work and I get home exhausted, with all my creativity zapped out of 

me .

I was playing with my camera and discovered it had a color feature.  I turned on the sepia option and this is what I came up with.  I love how the paste brooch turned out- missing a stone though.  

These next ones are the original colors

And with these I chose the vivid color option.  Can you see the difference.  It's slight but I can see it.

Check out other entries here: