Traveling Teddy

I joined a group on Ravelry called 'The Traveling Teddy'. For those of you who don't know how it works I'll tell you. Each person in the group gets a teddy bear (or some other sort of stuffed animal) and prepares 'luggage' for them by making a bag for them to carry. You also send with your teddy a small notebook which acts as their passport. Once all of this is assembled you mail it out to your downstream partner. When they receive your teddy they are to 'stamp' its passport by making notes of where your teddy has visited. They are also supposed to take pictures of your teddy out and about visiting their town. Before they ship your teddy off to their downstream partner they are supposed to send along with it a small memento of it's trip. Sounds interesting enough. I've never tried anything like this before so I thought it might be fun.
My favorite bear, Bean is making this trip. I immediately regretted my decision when I handed her over to the clerk at the post office. Poor Bean shoved inside a padded envelope. I've had Bean for probably 8 years, at least. She's scented like Vanilla Bean. That's where she got her name. Amazingly, even after 8 years she still smells. Who knows what she'll smell like when I get her back-IF I get her back and she doesn't get lost somewhere along the way. I guess all I can do is pray for her safe return. She'll be making 9 stops before returning back to me. In those 9 stops she'll be visiting 8 different states....Texas, California, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. If all goes well I should have her back at home around Christmas time...but HOPEFULLY before. It just won't be Christmas without Bean sitting on the stair rail with garland and lights.
OH! and if you're visiting my blog because you're in my Ravelry group-Please take care of my Teddy!!! and post your location below!!!

Monday, Sept. 15th

My husband and I are asleep in the bed when suddenly I am awakened by a ringing phone. I glance over at the clock and it's only 5:00 am. Immediately I think "Uh oh" and sit up in bed. It's one of those things that I think is the exact same for every one out there. You know something is wrong if someone is calling that early. I start thinking of who this call may be concerning. I answer it. When I heard my mother-in-laws voice I knew exactly. She asked to speak to my husband so I wake him up and hand him the phone. I think my heart stopped beating, maybe I stopped breathing. All I heard him say was "Uh huh, uh huh.....Uh huh, uh huh. Okay. Bye" and he hands me the phone and lays back down. I ask him "What???? What is it????" He responded "Annette was rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night because she was having trouble breathing." And just like that we both dozed back off to sleep.

I only slept for 15-20 minutes then got up and started to get ready for work. When I woke my husband up later he asked if we received a phone call about Annette or if he had dreamed it all. I told him that indeed we had received a phone call. Then having his fears validated he says "They said she's not doing well and don't know if she'll make it. The family is going to the hospital." I was so frustrated! How could he forget this vital piece of information?? He apologized and explained that he really thought he was dreaming it all. I decided that I would stop by the hospital on my way in to work. I guess at this point it was about 6:15am.

....Annette. Annette is my husbands aunt and a good friend of mine. She's 37 years old. She has a son that's 16 and has been married to her husband for about 16 years. Do the math and she basically got pregnant on the honeymoon :-) or very soon after. She loves her family. That's for sure. Annette found a lump in breast 5 years ago and was diagnosed with breast cancer. Soon after finding the lump they removed it and she went through a few rounds of radiation. She was a survivor. That is, until she went in for a routine mammogram. She told the technician that she was in a lot of pain but of course the technician said that it was normal. She suggested that Annette just go home and take some Advil. She did but it didn't seem to help so she went to her doctor. Her doctor found that a staple from her previous surgery had come loose and was causing the pain. The doctor removed it and after testing it found cancer cells attached. They scheduled Annette for a masectomy, not a double masectomy, just the one breast. Annette had the breast removed and had once again survived. That is, until she went in for a routine check up. I don't know all the specifics but one test led to another and they found that Annette's cancer had returned. This time it was in her chest cavity and in her lungs....and the doctor seemed to be throwing the word 'terminal' around. She was started on aggressive rounds of chemo and radiation. At one time just radiation. Then just chemo. Then there were times she was on both. Chemo pills...liquid chemo...this and that...experimental...Who knows? She tried it all. In May she was admitted to the hospital for trouble breathing. They found that one lung was entirely filled with tumors, the other lung was partially filled. Her airway was being filled by tumors and they found a small tumor in her heart. Things weren't looking good at all and they planned to put a stint in her airway to help her breath easier. The doctor gave her 1 month to live. After a few days of radiation the tumors began to shrink and the doctors decided that they wouldn't need to put the stint in afterall. Weak and nauseated, but very determined Annette left the hospital and a week or two later went on a Caribbean cruise...something she always wanted to do. Recently though Annette has just seemed to get weaker but has still been fighting like the dickens. The doctor said there was nothing more that they could do because the chemo was no longer shrinking the cancer and she was too weak for anything stronger. He gave her (now) 6 months to live. But still her faith and our faith was in the Lord...


At 6:45 I'm dressed and gathering my things. As I'm about to head out the door the phone rings...I stop and I KNOW. My husband answers and I hear him say "Okay". Then he hangs up. He tells me that Annette had passed away.

Her funeral was last Thursday and honestly, it was probably the nicest funeral I've ever been too. The pastor couldn't have been more right about Annette in everything he said. She lived her life beautifully so only good things could be said about her at her funeral. I think death is always a time of reflection...for everyone. We're reminded about how fragile and uncertain life is. The Bible says "Life is like a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away." (James 4:13)

I miss Annette and I imagine I'll miss her more in the months to come. I'll miss her even more at the holidays with all the family get togethers. One thing I've noticed though the older I get and more mature I become in my Christian walk is that God has given me a peace about death. I'll never be entirely okay with death. I don't think anyone will but I've become more accepting of it over the years...less bitter towards it and less fighting with it. When God calls someone home there is nothing that I can do about it...not matter how much fighting or grieving I do, and there is nothing that anyone else can do about it. I know that Annette is in a much better place as cliche' as that sounds. I can grieve for my loss. I can grieve for her sons loss and her husbands loss, but I can't grieve for Annette. One thing that has put a smile on my face is picturing her in heaven. The Bible says we're given a new body in heaven so I can see Annette filled with all her energy again, talkative, inquisitive, bubbly, and full of life. I can imagine her trying to help Jesus plan the menu for the next feast or asking if she can paint the walls in her brand new mansion.

At the funeral the pastor put it wonderfully-he said when friends or family members die we shouldn't see it as a withdrawal from our life but rather a deposit into heaven.

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Thanks for allowing me to share Annette's story with you.

FO-This is Over Due!

It's been forever since I've posted! I guess you can tell that blogging doesn't exactly come natural to me. It's like you're just putting yourself out there for all the world to see. Maybe someone will read it, maybe they won't. Maybe no one even really cares. I started a blog though cause I thought it would be neat. I guess in a sense I was trying to ' keep up with the Jones' '. I do enjoy reading other peoples blogs. They are so natural and so entertaining. Mine on the other hand? Not so much.

Well, enough of my ranting and rambling and such...


Even though this is over due and old news to many I wanted to include a pic of my Ami doll on my blog since I referred to it in previous posts.

Allow me to introduce....AUTUMN!

Autumn is my first amigurumi doll but she definitely won't be the last. I've already got plans for several others. My problem now is just finding the time to start them. It seems my crochet days are being filled with Birthday presents, Christmas presents, and Shawls and Blankets for the Prayer Shawl Ministry. I imagine at the beginning of the year things will start to slow down for me some.

I crocheted Autumn with a 2.75mm hook...much smaller than the hook called for in the pattern but I like to make sure that my amigurumi is extremely tight. I hate for stuffing to show through. Her dress was crocheted with a 3.5mm. She's made up of Caron's Simply Soft, Vanna's Choice, and some random yarn that I found in my grandmother's stash. She took me about 3 1/2-4 weeks to make. She's about 14 inches tall. As you may have guessed - her hair took the most time to make. I think I spent 3-4 days on her hair alone and had I not been so stinkin' impatient I would have added more. However, I do think it turned out fine the way it is. I also gave Autumn a trendy little scarf and headband...because it is extremely important for a girl to accessorize! Now she just needs her very own yarn bag and stash.

If you're interested in the pattern I used for my doll you can find it here:

http://stitch.hellooperator.net/free-patterns/amigurumi-doll/

Always a Day Late and a Dollar Short

After much consideration my husband and I planted an apple tree in the backyard about 4 years ago. I say after much consideration because we couldn't really agree on what type of fruit tree we wanted to plant. He wanted a cherry tree because he loves cherries. I wanted a plum tree because...well, I love plums, but mainly because my grandmother had a plum tree that I used to pick from when I was a child. I remember running over to my grandmothers house with a large bowl as my mother watched from our back porch. My grandmother would come out and help me pick as many plums as I could fit in my bowl and often times...many more. I would stagger and weave my way back to the house dropping and picking up plums all the way as my grandmother watched from her yard. My mother and I would wash them and start eating them as soon as I got in the door. BUT my husband didn't want a plum tree because plums are a soft fruit and he felt they would make too much of a mess when they fell from the tree. We considered a peach but I made the point that a peach is a soft fruit too.
We decided to go with an apple tree because it's a much harder fruit and it's very versatile. Excitedly, we ordered from http://www.starkbros.com and we planted it as soon as it arrived. We ordered a special apple tree. One that had been grafted to produce 5 different types of apples. I don't remember all 5 types but I do know it has Granny Smith, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Lodi. We were told it wouldn't produce fruit until it was approximately 3 years old. We had crop after the first year. Not much though and the apples we did have were very small but we were happy nonetheless. This year it's 4 years old and we were unprepared for apple season. We picked probably between 35-40 apples and we threw several away that had insect damage.
I went to the store the other night and bought a book that tells you everything you need to know about preserving and of course it had several recipes in it. Now I'm super excited and super sad! I'm super excited because now I actually know what I'm doing and I've got all kind of really great recipes to make apple jelly, apple jam, spiced apple rings, cinnamon apple syrup, apple sauce, apple butter, spiced apple butter, apple with raisin and cranberry compote...SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!! I'm super excited! But I'm super sad because the apple harvest is almost over and it looks like I'll have to wait until next year to exercise my new found knowledge :-( . I guess now I've got time to prepare myself. I still have to buy some of the canning equipment required. Maybe I'll try going to the fresh market and picking up some fresh produce and try my hand at canning to get some practice in. I'd hate to ruin all the wonderful apples we harvest next year after a year full of waiting in anticipation...
It seems like I'm always a day late and a dollar short....