Doctor Today

So, I don't make it in here every day. Life happens. :)

Today is my hearing test and follow-up appointment with the surgeon. I expect him to release me to go back to work. I am still very nervous about working, but I need to get back to some semblance of normal life.

I'm still working on quilling. I'm getting much better. I can quill on a comb now, sort of. The quilled pieces look so dainty and delicate. I've got to get one of the cards in the mail today, to a friend whose birthday is on the 26th. The card has to be hand-canceled, so it could take a little longer than normal to get there.

I'll post pictures someday - when I have the energy to download them from the camera, resize them, and post them here.

Card Making and Quilling

I've spent the past couple of days making cards -- one for a friend who injured her ankle, and one for a friend whose birthday is at the end of the month. I sent the get well card without getting a picture of it. I haven't sent the birthday card, but I'm not sure it's finished. I keep looking at it to determine if I want to add anything more to it. I don't think I will, but I never know when it's done. I will take a picture when I'm sure I am finished.

The birthday card has quilled flowers on it. I have been doing a lot of quilling during my recovery. I'm just learning. I had some quilling supplies in my craft stash, but I hadn't done much of it. It is a craft that lends itself to be done by people who are recovering from surgery.It's also a very, very quiet craft, and that's majorly important to me now. I can sit on the sofa in my slug-like state and quill my little heart out. I've made dozens of flowers, leaves, hearts, and other shapes. I compare my first attempts with the ones I'm doing now, and there's definite improvement. It's a fun craft. It's very time consuming, but it's a craft, so what the heck! There are people who do some really intricate pictures using quilled shapes. I will probably never get to that level, but they look beautiful on handmade cards. I'll probably use them on scrapbook pages, too.

Okay, so back to quilling it is.

Scared of Work

It's been almost 8 weeks since I had surgery (a middle fossa craniotomy) for Superior Canal Dehiscense Syndrome. Unfortunately, the surgery didn't resolve my most devastating symptom - noise makes me sick and dizzy. In fact, the surgery worsened this symptom.

My first challenge in returning to work will be getting there. My car, a 10-year-old Jeep, rumbles. It's not so bad that most people would notice, but it's horrible for me. My husband's car is easier to ride in, but I don't like driving it. It's a big boat of a car. Besides, I doubt he'd be willing to trade cars with me.

The next challenge in returning to work will be the noise that is there -- computer noises are particularly troubling. I had to turn off my home PC -- totally intolerable. I ended up buying a new laptop. My old PC hasn't been turned on since. Someday I'll need to turn it on, uninstall software, and get rid of the personal files on it. Then I'll probably give it away. I won't be able to use it again. Before I do that, though, I have to make sure this new Windows 7 laptop will connect to my Pfaff embroidery machine.

Before my surgery, working all day was very challenging. One of the symptoms of Superior Canal Dehiscence Syndrome is "brain fog." The brain is so busy trying to sort out what's happening in the inner ear that it doesn't leave much room for anything else. Sometimes I felt like a complete idiot. For example, my boss asked me to edit a document I'd written. It was a complicated technical document, but I had no memory of writing it. If I hadn't found it my outgoing email box, I would have sworn I didn't write it.

My ear feels completely plugged up. The more I'm exposed to noise, the worse it gets. It sounds like an echo chamber in there.

I see the doctor again on June 21, and I expect him to release me to return to work. I want to get back to work. I'm tired of sitting around here feeling sorry for myself. But I'm really worried about how work will affect me. I will have to take each day as it comes.

I'm on a Craft Spending Diet

I love crafting. I go from one craft to another and back again. Here's a list of my crafting interests, in no particular order:

Sewing

Quilting

Scrapbooking

Quilling

Bead Weaving

Cake Decorating

Card Making

Machine Embroidery

Bead Making

Crocheting

Soap Making

I have all the supplies and all the tools to do all of these crafts. Here's a list of some of the tools and supplies I have:

Stacks and stacks of paper

Stacks and stacks of fabric

Die cutting machines (1 very large, 1 medium sized, 1 small)

Dies to go with the die cut machines -- dozens of them in all sizes

A digital cutting machine (I love my Silhouette SD!)

Sewing thread

Machine embroidery thread -- maybe as many as 100 spools

Machine quilting thread

Decorative thread -- a dozen or more spools

Serger thread (four spools of each color, a dozen or more colors)

Pre-wound bobbins (hundreds of them -- purchased by the gross on eBay)

Beads -- lots and lots of beads, in all sizes and colors

Scissors -- at least a dozen pair

Rotary cutters -- at least 5

Yarn -- not a lot of yarn

Books on every craft mentioned above

Embossing tools (the big Shape Boss and a bunch of accessories for it)

Embossing folders for the die cut machines

Xyron machines - in 4 sizes

Long Reach Pro machine for setting rivets, nail heads, eyelets, metal corners and buttons

All the setting heads for the Long Reach Pro

Corner rounder machine (can't remember the name, does 100 sheets at a time)

Three sewing machines

Serger

Binding machine and hundreds of coils for it

Punches (haven't invested in a whole lot of these, but have a few good ones)

Padding machine

The list goes on and on. Consequently, I have a craft room that is overflowing with stuff. The stuff flows out of the craft room into hall closets and laundry room cupboards. When I go from one craft to the next, I have to move things around to have better access to the things I need.

I can't even begin to imagine how much money I've spent on all these things -- no doubt thousands and thousands of dollars. I didn't buy it all at once, of course. I do not regret buying any of it. I use all of it. All of it has added value to my life.

But....I have decided to go on a craft buying diet. I am not going to buy any more tools or supplies until I have used up some of what I already have. No more paper. No more fabric. No more tools. No more books (everything I need to know about all of my crafts are somewhere in the books I already have). No more thread. No more stickers. No more embellishments. No more dies. I have everything I need to create several quilts, dozens of outfits, hundreds of scrapbook pages, hundreds of cards.

So that is what I am going to do -- create several quilts, dozens of outfits, hundreds of scrapbook pages, hundreds of cards -- before I purchase any more tools or supplies. I might have to buy sewing thread, because I don't have matching thread for all of the fabric I have.

So wish me luck in this endeavor. The pictures here are of three scrapbook pages I made after making my decision not to buy more paper. Don't I have beautiful granddaughters? Most of the paper I have was purchased before my grandbabies were born, so I don't have a lot of "kid" or "baby" paper. I am still going to make do with what I have.

Until next time.....