A Bit of This, A Bit of That, and 7 in 7!

First of all I want to welcome my new followers!  So glad to have you here!  A warm welcome to my returning followers as well   : )   

I thank everyone who commented on my last post concerning my husband's beyond successful weight loss.  I have started calling him Skeletor.  

I decided that my negligible weight loss ... which upon my last step onto the scale revealed I had gained 3 pounds overnight ... was "missing something" & that something was the jump start program I usually do before starting a diet.  The jump start is a very strict diet which allows me to eat only so many ounces of chicken or fish, so many ounces of certain veges & fruits, & nothing else other than water & tea.  It's not fun but it gets results & once you start losing you continue to do so when you move yourself onto the low carb/food combining program. I would start that strict diet now except for the fact that for some reason it affects your blood test results & I have 2 big testing times ahead of me, one of which is this coming Thursday & the next which will be sometime in October.  Therefore I decided over the weekend to bake a cake, open a box of meringue cookies, & eat anything else I wanted until the testing is over.  Hooray for me   : )

This past week was fraught with busyness.  I met with a prosthodontist last Tuesday to give me an opinion of my dentist's work.  It was a disappointing visit.  He barely looked in my mouth & then told me that it takes a while to get used to new dental work like bridges & crowns & that all my symptoms should be gone soon.  I should give it till the end of November.  When I told him that I have had bridges placed before & never had a time of getting used to them, he told me "Well, you're older now."  Thankfully I have an appointment with another prosthodontist in a couple weeks.

I spent Wednesday copying & arranging medical records & filling out forms to take with me to see an endocrinologist on Thursday.  The visit with the endocrinologist was like a trip to heaven!  She was wonderful!  She spent a lot of time with me, asked me lots of questions, took notes, examined me, & then listened patiently while I asked her some questions.  She never once made me feel like I was holding her back from something more important, nor did she say anything about me having to pay a $250 administrative fee or tell me that she refused to take insurance   : )   When she ordered some blood tests for me they were done right there in the office!  I didn't have to take the order & then go to my local hospital!  She even gave me free samples of a new medication to try!  She confirmed that the blood tests ordered by my current doctor do indeed show ta strong possibility of lupus & that I should definitely see a rheumatologist for further testing.  I asked her if she could refer me to someone & she said "sure" & did so right on the spot!  I would switch my care over to this doctor in a heartbeat but unfortunately she does not treat the pituitary problem that I have.  She said there are 2 doctors in Louisville who focus on this problem & after she gets my blood testing results back from her own office this week she will refer me to one of them.  She said I can then decide if I want one of those doctors to care for me or break up the care between them & her.

I was lucky with the rheumatologist in that they had just had a cancellation before I called so I was able to get an appointment this week, on Thursday!  Oh happy day   : )

Now for some fun stuff   : )   Last Sunday I decided to stitch an ornament.  I was finished with it by Monday & so I decided to start another.  I finished that one & then Tuesday started another.  I then thought to myself "I wonder if I could possibly stitch one ornament a day for 7 days?"  I decided to give it a try & I succeeded!  

Remember I mentioned last week sitting down & looking through my past JCS Ornament issues?  These 2 ornaments are from 2 of those issues   : )   (The following photos show the ornaments randomly.  They are not in the order in which they were stitched.)

Two of the ornaments below are likewise from past JCS Ornament issues.  The one in the center is a With Thy Needle & Thread design called Woodland Frosty.  It looks like a simple stitch & I guess it is but I hated every minute of it.  It is stitched using 2 threads over 1 on a loosely woven fabric called Fine Ariosa.  I love the design (it is finished in the shape of a snowman) & I am going to try stitching it again but this time with my own choice of fabric, floss strands, & thread count.

And these next 2 ornaments are from my beloved Stacy Nash   : )   They are simply called Homespun Stocking & Mitten Ornaments & if you haven't already guessed, they are finished into the shapes of stockings & mittens.  I loved stitching these, especially since Stacy blessedly did not add any French knots   : )   I will definitely stitch more of these!  The pattern called for using 28-count but I decided to try them using osnaburg & I really like the result.

After reaching my goal I promised myself that I would tackle those specialty stitches on the exchange piece I mentioned a while back.  Eyelet & Smyrna & Rhodes ... oh my! That is what I will be attempting to do today ... after I have a piece of cake   : )   Afterward I will need to make the exchange piece into something although I admit to wondering if my partner would like to receive it as part of a "Finish It Yourself" kit   : )   I don't think my usual pillow-type finish will do it justice so I'd better get out the Xanax before sitting down with this one!

Before I end this blog post I will share a few photos with you of my friend June who stopped by to visit me last week all the way from the UK!

I was quite surprised to look out the window & see her at my butterfly bush!  She didn't stay for very long.  In fact, she didn't even come inside or say hello!  She just gorged herself on nectar & then off she went, back home I'm guessing.  Even though she didn't come inside or even acknowledge my existence, it was nice spending some time with her & I hope she stops by again   : )