Time....

Is it possible that another week has actually slipped past? I know that the next few months will be filled with things to do and that 2009 will descend upon us in the blink of an eye. Why is it that as a child it seemed as though Christmas and our birthday would never come and yet, as an adult, they are here and gone so quickly?

I want time to slow down. I want to enjoy the days and hours more than I do. I love the holidays and I want to savor each minute with the little ones. I want to have the time to go out and work in the garden, sew, cook and quilt like I am not rushing to get it done. And.....I don't want to sound like an "old" person complaining that life is going too fast.

The cool weather has returned and the sweaters and sweatshirts have made their appearances in the wardrobe. I must say, it does feel good to wear them again. We actually enjoyed a little rain over the weekend -- a most welcome drink for our very thirsty hillsides. I am certain that the new grasses will soon dapple the landscape and refresh our senses.

Yesterday was surgery day for my arm. For a "tiny" spot, it surely looks as though I fought a good battle with someone. The Mohs procedure went well and they were able to remove all the skin cancer in the first cut. Thank goodness for that because I had a one and a half inch hole in my arm with the initial cut. I cannot imagine how big it would have been if they had to take more. I am thrilled to have it behind me despite the fact that I have more than 30 tiny stitches that will need to be removed next week. I think that I will ask the doctor to do the fine sewing on my next project as these stitches are the most precise and beautiful stitches one can imagine. At least the sutures on the inside will dissolve on their own.

A little overkill on the dressing.

The weekend was busy. We had the little ones over for dinner and trick or treating on Friday night. We have so few children that come around our neighborhood anymore and our friends always enjoy seeing the grandchildren.

Loving the built in muscles.

The smallest pumpkin.

Sorting through "the stash."

Saturday night we did a big turkey dinner with my sister, her husband and my mom. It was an eventful evening as it seemed nothing was going right. I always start my turkey off for the first half hour at 500* to brown it and then lower the temperature to finish it off. When I went to lower the temperature I turned the second of the double ovens temperature to the desired temp. About an hour into it we realized what I had done. It was actually great tasting, but done before I had planned. Bad start!




When my mother arrived she happened to run off the sidewalk in her power wheelchair and into the mud on two tires. My dear husband was out with the hose trying to gently remove all the mud from the tire grooves and somehow managed to get a little moisture on the battery connection which made the chair inoperable. We disengaged the power and had to push the chair (with my mom in it) into the house. Those chairs are heavy!! Bad post start!




While enjoying a glass of wine before dinner and laughing about our events, we heard this thunderous crash with breaking glass. Not knowing what to think, we ventured to find the source. For some unknown reason the top glass shelf in my curio cabinet came crashing down onto the middle shelf which crashed down on the lower shelf. Why it happened is still a mystery, but suffice it to say that it was a disaster as I had my Lladro figurines and Waterford crystal inside. Bad middle!




We did, however, thoroughly enjoy our dinner and visit together. Our SIL was working so our daughter and the new baby came over and joined us for dinner as well. Good ending!





Sunday evening we had dinner in Santa Barbara with my husband's cousin and her husband, Erno. It was absolutely delightful. Erno has just written book that was released this week, Stealth Germs. He gave us an autographed copy and it is excellent. Although he is a doctor, this was written for the lay person to understand. It is basically how they are finding that many of these persistent symptoms and illnesses can actually be "germs" lying dormant within the body and not picked up by the doctors. It is definitely worth the read.





I am sure that everyone is as happy as I am that this election process is finally OVER! I was so sick and tired of the phone calls, junk mail, banners and street signers. We now know the results and can get on with our lives. Heather had a great post yesterday about how good life is no matter what and it does put in perspective all our stress and angst over elections.





And now it is onwards to the follow up appointment on my arm. Hopefully, that will include a smaller bandage. I hope that everyone has a wonderful week ahead of them.