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I Love To Sew

Karen · 8 Comments

Yes, I do! Sewing is fun, and creative, and artistic. Sewing lets me take that pile of fabric over there:

fabric for Emily's quilt (eventually)

or this fabric here:

fabric for a laptop bag

and turn it into something beautiful and gorgeous and cute, like this laptop bag:

My laptop bag

or this tote bag for my daughter in law made out of my son’s old Air Force uniform:

Sarah's bag made out of Seth's Air Force uniform

There are all kinds of things I can make and use my creativity, like quilts, which to me is the ultimate in sewing and art and creative juices flowing:

Becca's Lone Star Quilt
Owen's Baby Quilt
Spencer's "Sleeping Bears" baby quilt

But, what sewing is NOT for me? Hemming pajama pants that are too long. Or fixing the crotch of your pants after they have ripped. That? is like me asking you to unclog the toilet. Like asking you to take out the trash. It is work. It is a chore. It is, well, just not fun. But, because I love you, I do it, and it takes me half a freakin hour to fix that crotch because those pants have some of the weirdest seams I have ever seen.

Mending pants is not sewing

Mending pants is not sewing. Just so you know.

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Filed Under: Fabgrandpa, Sewing Tagged With: love, Sewing

31 Day Challenge Day 2

Karen · 6 Comments

Today’s Prompt: The person (or people) that make your world go around.

There is no question who that person is. I write about him all the time: FabGrandpa is my heart, my love, my world. Don’t you think he’s cute:

My heart
At Stone Mountain Park in Georgia
At work at the Grand Canyon
With me at Point Sublime, North Rim Grand Canyon

To join the challenge, go here:

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Filed Under: Fabgrandpa, General Tagged With: 31 day challenge, love

I Am Getting Even Fab-er

Karen · 13 Comments

So, this week when we were in Tuscaloosa, getting the last minute alterations done on my dress for Becky’s wedding, I got a phone call from Emily, my youngest daughter. She started the conversation like this “Mom, are you sitting down?” Now, as a mother, for all of you who are mothers, don’t you just hate to hear that? You immediately start imagining the worst. And I can not even say out loud the things that raced through my mind when I heard her say that.

I said, “No, but I think I will be able to handle anything you can tell me right now.” I was after all, at the VA Hospital, so I think if I had fainted they would have at least come to my aid long enough to haul me to the civilian hospital across town. She says “I am pregnant.” and I said “Oh My Gosh!” She has been married for 19 years, and has one son who will be nine years old in April. But, she has said since she was pregnant with Spencer, before he was even born, that she did not want another child, that one would be enough. They  weren’t trying to have another child, it just happened. And she is over the moon happy about it. And so am I!

I was so happy, in fact, that when I stopped at the fabric shop to get the brown fabric to complete my bedroom redo, I bought this cute baby quilt pattern:

baby quilt pattern
Dinosaur Quilt pattern

I can hardly wait to make it!

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Filed Under: Family, Quilting Tagged With: Family, love, Quilting

I Want A One Of These

Karen · 7 Comments

kindle, amazon kindle, buy me one!
Purty Please

My family who loves me knows that I don’t DO Valentine’s Day, nor do I often ask for gifts. And when these first came out, I didn’t think I would like them. But, since I got my Droid X in November, I have been thinking more and more that THIS would be a good thing for me to have.

Because I live in an RV, and love to read, and books are so heavy, and heavy is not good for RV, AND because I when I am working there is a lot of slow time, and this would fit so great in a backpack, I thing it is more that I NEED one of these. It is not a WANT but a NECESSITY! So, because it is something I NEED, I will just this once accept a gift for Valentine’s Day if anyone would like to send me one. Purty Please. With a cherry on top? Oh, and you don’t necessarily have to be family to get me one of these. hahahahaha!

And NO, this is not an AD. It is a Plea. No, not a plea–I am BEGGING. Oh, and don’t forget there is Mother’s Day, and my birthday, and Tuesday, all very good reasons to get me something.

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Filed Under: Fun Stuff Tagged With: Family, Friends, Fun Stuff, love

10 Years Ago Today

Karen · 1 Comment

Can you remember what you were doing 10 years ago today?  My guess would be, unless you were having a baby, or getting married, it would be highly unlikely that you would remember something that happened that long ago. I remember exactly what I was doing, though.

Me and my Happy Hubby

My husband and I were sitting across the desk from a young oral surgeon, who was explaining to us that FabGrandpa had Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Tongue. And he was crying. Maybe because the doctor was crying, maybe because he said that really scary “C” word that no one wants to hear, I will never forget that day. FabGrandpa and I went  home, stunned, and dazed.

Only five months before, we had sold our house and all of our possessions, and bought our first travel trailer so we could go off to see the world. Now, we had no idea what our future would hold. We had no statistics, nothing to read to calm our fears, no information. His treatment began with surgery to remove part of his tongue, 14 lymph nodes in his neck and the salivary glands on one side. When he came out of surgery, he looked like Frankenstein, with an incision that went from just under his ear to the middle of his throat, closed up with metal staples.

A couple of weeks later, he had to have all of his teeth removed in preparation for radiation treatments. Right after that, the radiation began, and went on for 37 treatments. The radiation was painful, and killed not only the cancer cells, but the remaining salivary glands as well, and burned his entire mouth and throat. Before they were done, FabGrandpa had lost almost a hundred pounds, and was not able to eat or drink anything at all for about two weeks. He was advised in the beginning to get a feeding tube inserted, but he refused. I finally took him to the emergency room, where they gave him IV’s to hydrate him on an outpatient basis for several day.

It is not easy being either the one receiving treatment for cancer, or the caregiver to that person. It was very hard for me to stand by and watch as the man I loved more than anything in the world suffered so. But the main thing is, he DID survive. We got through the all the treatments, and have had a wonderful 10 years together. Not everyone is so lucky. My friend, Donna’s husband, Michael, was one of the ones who didn’t make it.

The statistics (From The Oral Cancer Foundation):

  • Close to 37,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral or pharyngeal cancer this year.
  • It will cause over 8,000 deaths, killing roughly 1 person per hour, 24 hours per day.
  • Of those 37,000 newly diagnosed individuals, only slightly more than half will be alive in 5 years. This is a number which has not significantly improved in decades.

The death rate for oral cancer is higher than that of cancers which we hear about routinely such as cervical cancer, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, laryngeal cancer, cancer of the testes, and endocrine system cancers such as thyroid, or skin cancer (malignant melanoma). If you expand the definition of oral cancers to include cancer of the larynx, for which the risk factors are the same, the numbers of diagnosed cases grow to approximately 50,000 individuals, and 13,500 deaths per year in the US alone. Worldwide the problem is much greater, with over 640,000 new cases being found each year.

Signs and symptoms of oral cancer:

  • A sore or lesion in the mouth that does not heal within two weeks.
  • A lump or thickening in the cheek.
  • A white or red patch on the gums, tongue, tonsil, or lining of the mouth.
  • A sore throat or a feeling that something is caught in the throat.
  • Difficulty chewing or swallowing.
  • Difficulty moving the jaw or tongue.
  • Numbness of the tongue or other area of the mouth.
  • Swelling of the jaw that causes dentures to fit poorly or become uncomfortable.

In celebration of FabGrandpa’s 10 years of survival, we are asking people to get screened for oral cancer–it is a painless process–just ask your doctor or dentist to screen you for oral cancer the next time you go. Click here to read about what they do in a screening.

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Filed Under: General Tagged With: love, oral cancer, survival

That’s My Boy!

Karen · 4 Comments

Seth in 2004

I don’t write about  my son very often, but that does not mean that I don’t love him just as much as I love my girls. It’s just that he doesn’t talk much, and writes less frequently than he calls. He is married to Sarah, and he is the father of Michael, Sarah, Owen and Miss Amelia. He gave Ameila my middle name when she arrived on my birthday, and that made me cry. Happy cry, of course.

Seth in uniform

He has been in the Air Force for going on 17 years now, another thing that makes me really proud of him. He has been stationed in Texas, Guam, England, and now at Andrews AFB. We don’t get to see each other very much at all–the last time I saw him was in March.

Because our family is so spread out, I asked each of my children to make a wish list on Amazon. Seth’s wish list has cracked me up, but it has also given me much pleasure, because I can see from what he has on there that he remembers things I did for him when he was a little guy.

For instance, on his very first Christmas, I gave him a Curious George monkey and one of those stuffed gorillas with a plastic banana in its hand. And look at this stuff from his wish list:

That’s Not My Monkey (Usborne Touchy-Feely Books)

Super Stretch Screaming Flingshot Flying Monkey

Tub Tattoos: Monkeys

When he was a few years older, we lived in a house that was under the landing pattern for a small local airport. The planes flew so low over our house that you could read the letters on their tires. One day my son asked me where they were going, so we got in the car and drove over to a hill across the road from the airport and watched them land. That became a weekly activity. My son has been in love with airplanes ever since. The evidence is right here:

E-Sky 4CH USB Flight Simulator Training Kit For RC Airplanes and R/C Helicopters

Revell B17G Flying Fortress 1:48 Scale

Revell Corsair F4U-4 1:48 Scale

When he was 13, he loved to watch The Frugal Gourmet on TV. And whenever I bought a new cookbook, I would often find him in the kitchen trying out new recipes. Evidently he still loves to cook:

Farberware Classic Stainless Steel 10-Piece Cookware Set

Tovolo Red Melamine Colander

Trudeau Melamine Mixing Bowls, Set of 3

He has always had a warped sense of humor: who else would put these things on their wish list?

Liquid Ass 1 Ounce Bottle Spray Mist

Pull My Finger Fart Finger Pen

Fart Whistle

But the one thing on his wish list that makes my heart go pitter patter? This:

Love Your Mother. Bumper Sticker

p.s. yes, there are affiliate links to Amazon. But I still love this wish list.
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Filed Under: Fun Stuff, Son Tagged With: love, Son, wish list

What Does A Lawn Mower Have To Do With It?

Karen · 14 Comments

19 years ago today, on Labor Day Weekend in 1991, I went to the hardware store to buy a bolt for my lawn mower. There was a bolt missing from one side of the handle, so that it kept falling down and making it difficult to push the mower. I had been dealing with the faulty handle all summer, and that day I came to the end of my frustration quotient. I went inside, got a pair of pliers, and took the bolt off the other side. I jumped in the car and drove to the hardware store to buy another bolt.

When I walked in, there was this cute guy standing there talking to the store manager, who just happened to be my brother-in-law. So, the cute guy helped me find a bolt to match the one I had in my hand. He was very charming, and kept up a conversation with me while we looked for the right bolt. After I made my purchase, I went home, repaired the mower, and finished cutting the grass.

But, I couldn’t get that guy out of my head. I went in the house and called the hardware store. I asked my brother-in-law “what is that guy’s name that waited on me today?” and he told me. I asked, “Is he married?” and my brother-in-law said no. So, I said, “Well, give him my phone number and tell him if he is interested in going out to dinner to give me a call.” And he did.

I cried when we sold that lawn mower.

Me and FabGrandpa in 1992
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Filed Under: Fabgrandpa, Fun Stuff Tagged With: Fabgrandpa, love

This Reminds Me How Blessed I Really Am

Karen · 3 Comments

Tara is a young mother of four, whose husband, Mike, is in the Army. Their youngest son, Isaac, has been diagnosed as autistic.  I don’t know Tara personally–she was looking for another person with the same name as mine on Facebook, we started chatting, and reading each other’s blogs.  Her story is amazing–you can read what she has to say at Red, Green, Lellow.  Tara spends a great deal of her time fighting for her son–first to get a diagnosis, now to get treatment and help for him so that he can return to a normal life. I sincerely hope that her efforts pay off and that he will be a healthy, happy, normal little boy again.

In the mean time, Tara’s husband is being deployed somewhere again.  I don’t really know where or for how long, but this means that she will be by herself again with four children until he comes back. They are planning a ONE DAY “vacation to Virginia Beach before he goes away. I would like to see them be able to go for two or three days, and for them to be able to take the children to see some of the wonderful sites in that area, like the Virginia Aquarium .

I am so interested in her story, I guess, because it is one that is repeated so much here in the United States. Our health care system is NOT the best in the world. Even if you have insurance, like Mike and Tara do, that does not guarantee that you will get the health care or services you need and deserve for your family. Tara has had to fight tooth and nail every step of the way. It shouldn’t be so darn hard.  Can you imagine how much harder  it would be with no insurance? I surely can’t, but there are many many people just like Tara and her family, who have struggles like this every day, who do not have insurance to help pay for it, who get nowhere in their struggles.

Tara has no idea I am doing this, but if you would like to make a donation via paypal, to help they have a much needed few days at the beach, send me an email or make a comment and I will send you her paypal address. Let’s make this a great trip for this little family that is trying so hard.

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Filed Under: Friends Tagged With: Friends, Life on the road, love, pay it forward

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