Bump in the Road

Well I was planning to get some quilting done over Labor Day Weekend. Unfortunately, I receive some bad news the week before. I had gone for a Colonoscopy and they found a blockage and was suspicious. They sent the results of the biopsy to a Surgeon,and sent me to the Surgeon. Dr. Sugrue informed me that it was Cancer. He scheduled me for surgery on Friday, September 22.

I as informed that the surgery took a little longer than planned, because it was a little higher up in the Colon, so they had to reposition the Robotic’s that they were using. They took the 5 centimeters plus few on either side and some Lymph-Nodes for testing.

I got a call last week from the surgeon that the Lymph-Nodes were Cancer free. It is his opinion that I do not need Chemo, but he was going to send me to Oncology to get their opinion.

I was back, working from home Friday, September 29th, I got to come back to the office Tuesday, October 10th. I am so glad to be back and see how much I was missed.

I had planned to fly to Las Vegas with David for his conference, but now I am just going to stay home and hopefully get to work on some quilting.

Current project

Working on David’s quilt right now. Quilt is Blue Ribbon Ohio Star. The pattern called for blue and white but being Ohio he thought scarlet and Grey would be better. This is the block. The second is with the border between the blocks

Finally finshed 2 quilts (took 9 years)

David;s Red Gumballs

Davis is happy that I finally finished 2 of his quilts. They have been packed and ready to bind since 2015. Now that I have finished School and we have moved to our home, I once again have time to quilt again.

David’s Christmas

Long Awaited Update (and it is a lot to catch up on)

I know it has been a long, long time since I have updated (since 2016). Since my last post I have graduated College (May 2019), with a Major in Business Information Technology, and Minors in Computer Science and History. I had neck surgery for a compressed disk that had caused me to be unable to open the tailgate of our car with my left arm for 9 months. I then proceeded to get a hairline crack in my left wrist and had to first wear a Sugar Sling for 5 weeks and then a Cast for 6 weeks, during which time we were also packing up the entire house. August 1st 2019, we moved from Tennessee to Illinois (cast was removed the day before our move). We moved as David had received an offer for Tenure Track Professor in Computer Science at Elmhurst (was College, changed to University), with a start date of Mid-August.

We moved and rented a tiny house in Schaumburg. While searching for full-time work, I got a job working at Target full-time. In November, I was able to find full-time employment (contractor temp to hire). Boss put in for them to hire me full-time, but then they had a hiring freeze, and then Covid started. I went a year as a contractor and was finally hired as full-time in November 2020. March 2021, we knew the Santa Fe was going to need some major work done, we went to look at Nissan, and they offered what we wanted to get out of the Santa Fe, and the Pathfinder was only 1 year old with only 7,000 miles and 100,000 mile warranty, so we traded in for it. Saved more on the Pathfinder and trade-in than we would have spent on the much needed repairs/maintenance that was needed.

We started looking at building a New house because pre-owned houses were sky high. We ended up have to look farther out then we would have like because even new homes in the area (because of Covid, people working from home and moving away from the current locations to cheaper living areas and Supply Chain issues), of course the developer that was in our budget in May 2021, was out of our budget by October, the Supply Chain issues had caused the prices to go up over $50,000. So we started looking at other builders, even the one we had bought from in Alabama, but we didn’t like theirs. We finally found one we really liked and it was in our price range, even with the few upgrades we wanted, granted it was a Duplex/Townhouse (2 units), with a tiny yard. They broke ground at Christmas 2021.

We started looking at getting a second dog, looking at different doodle mixes. I was really falling in love with the Bernedoodle, when we went to the breeds home, they had a couple of different breeds of doodles. While there we also saw the last one of her last litter of Ttoodles (Tibetan Terrier Poodle mix), she was 3 months old, the breeder told us that if we liked her, she could reduce the cost of her since she was 3 months. We almost bought both, but thought it would be a little too costly to get both fixed at the same time. So, we picked the Ttoodle, she is Black with a little white chin and a little white chest. Named her Natasha, as in the Black Widow. On our drive home, she climbed up my arm/shoulder to lay across the back of my neck/shoulders.

About this time they poured the concrete for our basement, which is about the same size as the rest of the house (only smaller if you counted the loft area and the garage). We are getting a decent sized storage area in the basement, and Xander is getting the rest for his “Apartment”.

In August 2022, they finished the house, we closed and moved in. Now I have about an hour’s drive to work (compared to the 15 minutes before we bought). But the house is worth it. We doubled the living space just on the main level, from the house we rented in Schaumburg. It is still smaller than the house we were renting in Cookeville, but it is much nicer. We are actually just about a block from the Police station and about 4 blocks from the Fire Department.

One of the upgrades we had done, was pre-plumbing in the basement, so Xander will have his own bathroom. Since we moved in, between my MIL and FIL, sending money and our own money, we have had the framing of walls done in the basement, the water softener installed (extremely hard water), the electrical ran (Chicagoland area’s almost all require electrical wires to be ran through metal conduit to keep mice/rats etc from chewing on wires and causing fires). We already bought all the Vinyl flooring needed for his basement, but we need to level out the flooring and get the walls up before we worry about the flooring.

One of the upgrades we had done was that the entire first floor is vinyl planking (upgrade because they did it everywhere but the bedrooms). The only thing we left carpeted was the stairs to the loft and the loft itself.

November 2022, I applied for and received a “promotion” to another department. I am now a Data Analyst in our Inventory Control. My MIL & FIL came up for our first Thanksgiving in the house and loved the layout, room sizes, and the fact it was almost all 1 floor (loft upstairs is actually David’s office) and the huge basement.

With the new positions, there have been days that I was able to work from home. I took off June 1st and 2nd and set up my sewing area and actually started working on 2 different quilts and started pulling out a couple of others to start working on too. I also finished binding the last of the quilt tops I had from Grammy, and the 2 quilt tops that I had quilted shortly before our move from one house to another in Cookeville, before I started attending college.

We founds several quilt shops within a decent distance. Also during my quilting that weekend, the TV in my bedroom/sewing area decided to stop responding to powering on. It lasted 9 1/2 years, a move from one house to another in Cookevile, the move out of state to Chicago, and the move to our new home. Luckily Costco had TV’s on sale, I got the same size, if not slightly bigger, better quality, without being the latest and greatest, for about 1/3 the cost of the TV it was replacing.

Xander asked Mamaw for a new Digital Camera, because my Cannon Ti3 was too old and he needed a good (newer) one for his classes. He is going for 2 majors and like 3 or 4 minors in Digital Media/Marketing etc. at school (attending Elmhurst University), and is on the E-Sports team, he is actually one of the committee members and has had to interview possible incoming freshmen for the team. He and David are going to be taking pictures of the 2 quilts I had made and just finished binding, so I can post them to the blog. I will also be taking pictures of what I have been working on for the other 2 quilt tops that I have started working on.

New House moved in during August

pictures of our home

Status regarding my hiatus from quilting because of my education

I am still working away on my education. I am in my 4th full semester and taking junior level course. I have gone from Marketing to B.I.T. (Business Information Technology) and Marketing with a minor in History. I am taking my 4th history class. Dr. Armstrong convinced me into adding B.I.T. to my degree, because of my work history. I took Dr. Webb’s class – Science in History as an elective, then History I & II, and I am currently taking Dr. Kharif’s class – The Old South and before you ask The Old South is pre-colonial up to the Civil War. Dr. Kharif’s class requires researching and writing a paper. I am also taking a Special Topics class with Dr. Ismet Anitsal researching and preparing a paper possibly for presentation at a conference and publication.

I was interning for Dr. Tzeng at Whitson-Hester School of Nursing at Tennessee Tech. I received work study this year and I am working at Volpe Library’s front desk.

Great News on my Father-in-law

My Mother-in-law, Glenda face-timed last night to let us know that Wayne, Father-in-law, came through his neck surgery just fine. Wayne spoke to Xander for a bit and was in good spirits last night. Xander was happy that his Papaw was doing well. This afternoon, Glenda sent us a text that he was getting released to go home. Thankfully there were no complications yesterday. Now, he gets to go home, recover, heal and get ready for his next surgery, which is Open Heart to repair a valve that caused problems last April when they originally went to do his neck surgery. We have been told that the Heart surgery is tentatively schedule for about 6 six from now.

Please send good thoughts and prayers for our family.

My father-in-law, Wayne, went in last April for neck surgery. There were complications and they had to stop the surgery. Every couple of weeks since then, my in-laws have been making a trip down to UAB for tests to be run to decide if they could do the surgery. If they don’t do the neck surgery, any wrong jarring motion could paralyze him. At this time, he can not move his neck much, so it is very dangerous for him to drive since he can not turn his neck, he has to turn his body to look left. They have finally decided to do the surgery on Wednesday, October 28th. The heart surgeon is against it, but if they wait and have to do the heart surgery, they won’t be able to do the neck surgery because he will be on blood-thinners for the rest of his life. Once the neck surgery is done, he will heal for about 6 weeks and then they plan on doing the heart surgery to repair the problem found during the original neck surgery back in April.

Dr. David W. Brown

Xander and I are proud to announce that David goes for his hooding ceremony on Saturday, December 12th. Everyone is welcome to attend. Just send us an email and we will give you the details. There will also be a party, details to be decided upon. Congrats Babes, we love you.

$25 Gift Card Giveaway Event

 

Disclosure: This post is part of a giveaway event. The participating bloggers received nothing in exchange for this post.

Everyone loves gift cards. Every little bit helps at this time of year.  Good luck to all.

Welcome to the $25 Gift Card of Choice, Giveaway Event!

Hosted by: Lil’ Blog and More.

and Co-Hosted by: My Silly Little Gang, and Best MMORPG 2015. 

Ready for a fun giveaway? Well here is your chance to win a $25.00 Gift Card, to anywhere that you’d like! You can also just choose to receive Paypal cash, if you’d like. 

The holidays are right around the corner, and what better way, then to win your gifts, right?! 

The Giveaway!

One lucky winner will receive a $25.00 gift card (or Paypal) to anywhere they’d like! Enter below, using the GiveawayTools form:

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prize out. Must be 18 years of age or older to enter this giveaway.

This giveaway starts October 18th, 2015, and will end on November 6th, 2015 at

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new winner will be chosen. Once a winner is drawn and confirmed, the

name will be announced on the GiveawayTools form. 

 

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