Well, hello there!

Okay.

So I have super slacked off and I am sorry. I got sick a week before Thanksgiving, ended up in the ER the day after Thanksgiving because my tonsils were so swollen, I was having a hard time breathing at times, was put on Zithromax for 5 days as a result, and also had a nasty shot of antibiotics in my hip so that whatever "virus" I had - wouldn't damage my heart or kidneys.

I seriously had a panicy moment in the ER at 12:30am at the thought that I could be dead in a week because my heart had been attacked by a virus. It had happened to a former local man just five years older than me a week after Labor Day Weekend. He ended up being flown to San Francisco and underwent a heart transplant, but the virus had down too much damage to his body. So, I sat and silently panicked in my little room, all while my husband was a half hour away, at home with our two little boys.

My tests came back negative for both strains of the flu, one of which was Swine Flu, but dang! That test was horrible! The taste in the back of the mouth for a few hours after, the runny nose because of it, and the horribly watery eyes. ICK!

If any of you have ever had nasal flu test, you know EXACTLY what I am talking about! For those that don't, here is a run-down:

The nurse came in with a tray with all sorts of little goodies. (insert multiple eyerolls, please. thank you very much!) One was a swab to swab the back of my throat to test for strep. The other was the long swab thing for my nose - the flu test. It has a red line up a little way from the "swab" part. Oh yes. A little red line. The nurse was telling me that the little red line needed to be lined up with my nostril. So I am looking for this little line, but I am not seeing it. She then directs my eyes to a little red line probably 10-12" from the tip of the swab. Oh no! Oh boy....here we go. Oh YUCK! My eyes were watering and I was gagging. I seriously couldn't wait to gag on the tongue depressor to have my throat swabbed for the strep test. I hate that, but I was really welcoming it at the moment. PLEASE!!!!

I finally got home at 2am and was dead tired.

Fast forward a few weeks, some listings on Etsy and a post (or two) here, and I found myself doing a ton of stuff my oldest son's kindergarten class. I had this wonderful idea to have the kids stuff a little Christmas tree ornament, write their name on the back, and then I would sew it up at the bottom, after I had pinned the already stuffed tree trunk in.

Yes, I was gutsy and took my most favoritest sewing machine with me to a classroom with 20 5-6yr olds. Some people thought I was crazy. I even thought, AFTER the fact of course, that maybe I was crazy for doing it. But seeing those kids have fun with the project? Totally worth it!

Then I had to finish up all the loose ends for their Christmas party that was on Friday, Dec 18. My oldest had been home sick on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday that week. He had a bad headache and fever on Monday, and early Tuesday morning, and then he woke up throwing up at 4:15am on Thursday.

He was seriously throwing a kink in my holiday sewing. He was fine around 10am that morning after he had thrown up, and was ready to go to school. Um, no.

By 1am, Monday, December 21, he was sick AGAIN! An ear infection. Lovely! We were able to get into the doctor at 5:30pm. Our doctor's office is 30 minutes away, in the next town over, so we ended up having his prescription filled there, and having dinner at Pizza Hut.

I slept like a rock that night, only to wake up the next morning, the 22nd, to find myself with a funny feeling throat, and sneezing. LOTS of sneezing. JOY!

So I was sick. Great. Didn't I just get over being sick...like 6 days earlier?

Here it is, four weeks later, and I am still with a tiny bit of a cough left.

But hey! It is a new year! We finally have a new computer, which is great for my Etsy shop. I had a really hard time getting pictures off my camera when I did my last listings in early December because my computer was getting so slow. Now my only excuses will be laziness to take pictures, etc., which does happen - but usually in the spring and summer months because I am usually in my backyard hanging out under our huge yellow plum tree, or weeding my garden beds. I would like to eat lettuce and not some nasty dandelion weed that has snuck in there.

I have a few pieces of new fabric, which will only make a few bags. But I may be able to get some more. Those will be in the shop soon.

I also working on some tie hairbands, but need to get the length right.

I have also purchased a showcase slot for the "Bags & Purses" section on Etsy for Feb 1, 2010. Keep an eye out for a special sale section for that week in my shop!

Take care!