Saturday, January 30, 2010

A Handy Fabric Station...

LOVE , LOVE, LOVE this new card rack...

$6.00 in a gift store going out of business...I'm thinking a great way to store and display fabric right at your finger tips...

Being vertical...it doesn't take up much room...

It sure holds a lot of fabric...and spins!.
I thought it deserved it's own sign ...since there was a place to attach one!


Well...January the "Get organized month" is about finished...this is about as good as it's going to get for me...












The hand dyed fabrics in the bird cage...
How's the weekend going?...xoxo~Kathy




Thursday, January 28, 2010

UPDATE...

Hello all...we are finally home from a long day of testing in Grand Rapids....I think the DRIVE was a little test this morning too...the roads were pretty slick.
Dave was scheduled for a "Thigh to eye" PET scan and then a brain CT. scan to follow.
The facility is amazing and the staff could not have been better in caring for our needs...
We arrived and immediately were shown to our "Suite"! (I'm thinking...? Suite?).
For the next three hours we stayed in our own little mini room complete with heated recliners...refreshments...full screen tv...heated blankets ...what ever you needed.
Dave was hooked up to an I.V. and over the course of the next two hours he drank and received fluids through his arm.
Then he was given the PET scan (20-min.) and taken to another room for a CT. scan of his head. On completion of the testing they brought in a snack and drink cart so Dave could get something in his system before leaving, as he had no food all day.
All-in-all, as enjoyable an experience as it could be.
While in transit we recieved phone calls from both the Colon Dr. and the Liver Drs. offices...to schedule visits on Monday , (Feb 1)...an hour apart! We were thankful they could coordinate them both on the same day and close together!
So Monday we will know FOR SURE... the PET scan results and the plan of "Attack" in it's totality.
We are thankful for the way things are going...and the speed to which things are rolling along.
David "feels" well and is using this time to catch up on reading, visiting some friends and just girding himself up for the months ahead...
About 9 months by the time we hopefully see the end....Just about the time of a normal pregnancy!!!! I told him ..."Just think!..You'll be born again!...in 9 months... What would he do without me!...Lol.
That's all for now...Hope that keeps you current and as always...we covet your prayers as we can feel that sweet sence of peace every time the boat starts to rock...
GO AHEAD!......HAVE THE BEST WEEKEND E-V-E-R...!!!!!!! XOXO~Kathy.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

GOOD NEWS...


CONGRATULATIONS...Don't you just love that word...It can only mean good things are following.

Some days ...you just can't help but SMILE!!!!!!!!!
Especially when you open the mail box and....... someone likes your work enough to publish it!!!!!!! WHO-HOOOOOO...


Thank You Stampington & Company....Great timing for some GOOD news...

Tonight I'll dream of artful things...and look forward to next months " Stampers' Sampler"
finding it's way to my mailbox!
It's nice to be liked...
and you my friends...are treasured...xoxo~Kathy

Sunday, January 24, 2010

A GOOD DAY FOR TWINKY LIGHTS AND CANDLES....

Living in the third grayest state in the country presents one with two choices...Live in the dark or lighten up your world! Decided to leave the little white lights up all year on the mantel...


Probably breaking a decorating rule...Oh well...I'm good at that.

Light the candles too...

Read a querky book about "almost" love...



Rainey Sundays don't have to be dreary...
The sheading of light....can be a mini vacation.
Sunny Sunday to you all...xoxo~Kathy.



Friday, January 22, 2010

WE HAVE A PLAN...

Yesterday was our initial vist at the Lemmen -Holton Cancer Pavilian...My love...the Chiropractor and I came away encouraged...Next thursday a PET scan is scheduled...if nothing else crops up the plan will roughly look like this...
A port will be inserted in Dave's shoulder for chemo- treatments...three months worth,
after that two surgeries...removal of approx. 1/3 of the colon, ( secum area) and then removal of the two spots on the anterior portion of the right lobe of the liver...
If all goes well there is a possibility the two surgeries could be done at the same time and Laproscopically...( which would be a hugh plus).
Once Dave has healed from the surgery....another three months of chemo.
this is roughly the plan...open to change at any time.


PLEASE ALLOW ME TO ESPRESS HOW MUCH WE ALL HAVE BEEN BLESSED BY YOUR OUTPOURING OF LOVE AND CONCERN...YOUR PRAYERS HAVE CARRIED US THESE PAST COUPLE WEEKS, ALLOWING US TO GET TO THE POINT WHERE BREATHING SEEMS NATURAL AGAIN.
YOUR EXPRESSIONS OF LOVE THROUGH CARDS...FLOWERS...EMAILS...HUGS AND TEARS ARE LIKE A FINE RAIN ON A THIRSTY DESERT...
WE ARE OVERWHELMED.

MANY OF YOU HAVE ASKED HOW TO PRAY SPECIFICALLY...
WE WOULD COVET YOUR PRAYERS AS TO THE PET SCAN RESULTS....NO MORE SURPRISES...THE SCAN SHOULD SHOW THE TRUE PERSONALITY OF THE LIVER SPOTS AND HOPEFULLY THAT ALL THE CANCER IS CONTAINED ONLY IN THE COLON AND RIGHT LOBE OF THE LIVER... IF THAT'S THE CASE...WE CAN DO THIS.
MY MOST URGENT REQUEST IS THAT THE CHEMO WOULD TREAT MY LOVE WITH THE RESPECT HE DESERVES...TO BE KIND TO HIM WITH AS FEW SIDE EFFECTS AS POSSIBLE...
THANK YOU ALL AHEAD OF TIME FOR YOUR CONTINUED PRAYERS AND CONCERN... Before we left the office we all heard the words..."We can beat this"...
and that my friends....IS THE PLAN!...XOXO~KATHY.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

GETTING OUR BEADS IN A ROW...

A quick note as we get ready to leave...
Today we have our initial appointment with the group in Grand Rapids...We are anxious to hear what they have to say and what direction we'll be taking...
We're still trying to get all our beads in a row
A lesson we're learning from "Lukie"...
xoxo~Kathy...We feel your prayers...

Monday, January 18, 2010

SLAYING THE DRAGON...

For the next few months...at least til we are on solid ground ...I will post when possible any updates and progress reports available.
This blog initially started out as an "Artful" blog and still is...just taking a momentary detour. When we look back in ten years I'm sure by then Momentary will apply.
Hopefully this will be helpful for family and friends wanting to catch up on our journey...as My handsome prince slays this NASTY dragon...xoxo~Kathy.

WE ARE TAKING A LONG WALK...TOGETHER....THE LORD LEADING THE WAY...

Today was a big day for us...After much deliberation...my son (the Chiropractor) and I (retired nurse) both decided to take this show on the road to Spectrum Hospital in Grand Rapids...By noon Dave and I had delivered all Daves transcripts and ct scans and MRI results to my sons office...by 3:00pm he had delivered them to the Drs. office in Grand Rapids.
We are now waiting while a team of oncologists review the situation and arrive at a plan of attack. The MRI results ...(I read in the car) do indicate that there are two spots on the liver also...I have not heard from a DRS. lips yet that they are in deed cancer.
It is a great comfort to have a son who I can bounce these things off of....by the time we left his office...I was already doing the initial surgery in my head...over and over....that Nurse gene I guess.

My love this fall....

It has been two weeks already that we first heard the words...colon cancer and now liver... which puts it into stage 4. If all goes according to plan ...surgery by next week,( colon) and more fun to follow...


We've decided to hold on to each other and allow the Lord to go before us and guide us...step by step...through to the other side.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

WAITING ON THE STRONG ...STILL VOICE...

I miss you all so much....have been trying to look in on you when I have some time...
We are in a waiting mode...very difficult, waiting with not many answers.
I suspect there will be a lot happening this next week and we will come to miss this quiet time we are having right now...We look in each others eyes ...searching...always trying to remove the others fears, hundreds of times a day.
It's is an exhausting practice...but love is the motivator, so it becomes a ritual.
Our ritual...
born out of love... Your words of comfort and promise of prayer are a source of joy and strength for us...
It is said that times like these can bring a couple closer together...
therein lies the anxiety...Can two be too close?...seems to make times like this harder.
Gods perfect LOVE casts out fear...We are counting on it, standing on it... and finding Him Faithful...Missing you xoxo~Kathy.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

AND THE FIGHT BEGINS...

THANK YOU MY SWEETEST OF FRIENDS FOR THE OUTPOURING OF LOVE AND SUPPORT...ENCOURAGMENT AND PRAYERS FOR MY HUSBAND DAVID...
TODAY WE BEGIN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE DISEASE YOU NEVER THINK YOU'LL GET.
TWO SPOTS WERE ALSO FOUND ON THE LIVER...THIS EVENING WE LISTENED TO OUR DR. TRY AND PREPARE US FOR THE MONTHS AHEAD.
SURGERY IS SCHEDULED NEXT FRIDAY...CHEMO...THEN MORE SURGERY TO FOLLOW.
AN MRI. IS SCHEDULED TOMORROW...
I'M PRAYING THIS IS ALL A MISTAKE...
WE ARE PREPARING FOR THE RACE OF OUR LIVES...
YOU WILL NEVER KNOW HOW MUCH YOUR PRAYERS HAVE MENT TO US...
I SHALL TRY AND PERIODICALLY POST...GOOD NEWS.
THE LOVE OF MY LIFE IS STRONG...
AND GOD IS FAITHFUL...
WITH HIM ALL IS POSSIBLE....XOXO~KATHY... I'm right beside you sweetheart...we can do this...

Sunday, January 10, 2010

MY LAST POST...

I thought I could continue to post daily....but I'm finding it difficult to manuver this while dealing with our latest development....
The love of my life has just been diagnosed with Colon Cancer...last Thursday.
We are in the beginning stages of trying to digest this and prepare for all it entails...
We are scheduled for a total body catscan tomorrow with impending surgery probably by the end of the week...
No one ever wants to hear those words but I am encouraged...As I look back on the last few months...I now realize that the Lord has been preparing us both for such a time as this...
I know you all ( my precious blogland friends)...will understand my absence from your blogs for a bit...You are all so amazingly understanding and supportive when a blogger is down.
As soon as I can start to connect the dots in my head once again....I will be back.
I am prepared to see that God is everything he has promised to be when we need Him...
Til then this will be my last post for just a little while...
This is an Amy Butler purse I just finished....All ready for spring!
My love to you all....


Some ribbon...beads...initial...


Have gotten my $ worth out of this pattern....think this is my 8th one ....




Just love this happy fabric...
Be thinking of you...xoxo~Kathy



Saturday, January 9, 2010

BATTING OF THE EYES...SEDUCTIVE SMILES....THEY WORK!

I batted my eyes and put on my most seductive smile and said..."Honey...Let's go for a ride to Ikea". Now that's no short drive from our neck of the woods... a good 3-3 1/2 hrs.
We decided to pack a lunch and go off on an Ikea adventure... (the eye batting and smiling worked!)
I have been there once...this was my mans first time....HE WAS IMPRESSED...
We spent 4 hours in the organizational paradise...and had a marvelous lunch there to boot!
These little jars...when I saw them I knew they could perk up the spice cupboard...
There is such a plethora of organizational equipment there...one could go crazy...
Herbs de Provence.... lovely...always reaching for the Herbs de Provence...

Fun labels... (Kathy)...not Ikea...



This little kitchen bar with attachable containers...I could use a ton of these...Thanks IKEA...
Just a few of my purchases...
Ikea= making my life a little more organized... xoxo~Kathy.
How are you doing with the January clean-up?


Friday, January 8, 2010

A MARRIAGE....

Found these cut little scrolled tree ornaments in Gaylord at the "Spud Warehouse"...my favorite place...After Christmas sale...Thought I could do something with them...

Some used buttons....ribbon ...a cute word ...


Been waiting for these bottle brush wreaths to hit the 1/2 off ...
found them the same day at Big Lots....The last two!!!!!-Perfect....


I like this marriage...
sorry....I'm still on a Christmas roll....but I'm thinking about dismanteling...
maybe I'll start today.....or....maybe not.
It's Friday, Have a great weekend...xoxo~Kathy.


Wednesday, January 6, 2010

FIRST GIRLFRIENDS LUNCHEON, 2010...

Girlfriends Christmas Luncheon...the first of 2010...


Wrapped Garlic for everyone to take home...A gift of Good HEALTH for the new year!...
Napkins...Ikea


Palest pink timblers ...Ikea...


Fire King mugs....fun stripped marshmallows for stirring up some choco, coffee.
A blushing rose Merlot....an arrival toast!...


Peppermint sugar...