Good news from the doctor

I received good news from my doctor today. I'm off bedrest, but still have to keep the leg elevated. My leg and ankle are healing well. My next appointment is in 6 weeks. I get to start physical therapy after that. No weight on foot til then though. Sometime around the middle to end of May I hope to be walking. You know I'll be crafting like a crazy woman!!!! I have access to a Cricut and all kinds of scrapbooking stuff now!!! For the mean time, I am having a blast reading other amazing blogs and starring all your amazing ideas in my Reader.

By the way...I will go back to my day job on Monday. :)

Hugs!
A.Rose

Twitter

To all of you Twitter people, please follow me @libraroze

Have a great day!!!

Still kicking ... or not

Hello to my sweet followers...that is if I have any left. My bloggy break has taken a lot longer than originally expected. My second surgery went very well. I now have four titanium plates and 30 screws in my leg. Along with that came 8 incisions and somewhere around 62 stiches. I won't be able to put any weight on the leg until the end of May (which is when my physical therapy starts) but the pain is getting a little more bearable each day. In fact I was actually able to move my foot a little on Saturday and even drove for a few minutes. (first time since the accident 7 weeks ago) Thanks for your prayers and comments. As for my bloggy friends, I still visit your pages when I can and try to leave you a comment every once in a while. I'll try to do better as I get better.

Thanks again!
A.Rose

An update on me...

I went to the doctor yesterday and he said everything from the first surgery was healing well. He scheduled my second (and hopefully last) surgery for Monday morning at 7:30. I'll be in the hospital (Vanderbilt) until at least Wednesday. Once I get home, I'll be on bed-rest until I go back on the 10th for a post-op appointment. I won't be able to put any weight on my left foot for three months, after that we'll start physical therapy. (provided that Monday's surgery goes well) The doctor did mention that the coming surgery was much more serious and invasive than the first. 

If you don't know what happened, I had a sledding accident on January 30th. I ran into a tree and broke both bones in my lower left leg, crushing my ankle. The first surgery was done on the 31st, where the doctor attached an Ex-Fix (steel frame on the outside of my leg) and fixed the tibia with a steel plate and screws. 

I sincerely appreciate all the prayers, phone calls, cards, and kind words you have sent. It seems like everyday I get a card or an email from someone. It has been wonderful and encouraging to know I have so many people thinking about me!

I hope to get back to crafting in the next couple weeks. I have a craft room full of little projects just waiting for me to work on them! I would love to sew or paint something, but I have to be patient. If I don't let myself rest, It's going to take a lot longer to heal. So...I'm going to be a good girl and stay in bed...as much as I hate it. :(

Hope you're having a wonderful week! 

A.Rose

Valentines

Hello all!

I'm still stuck in bed, with my leg up on a pillow. The doctor changed my prescription to a different pain killer. After a couple days on the new meds, I'm doing okay. I'll go back for a follow-up appointment on the 17th and then hopefully they will schedule my next surgery. I'll keep you posted.

My daughter has been out of school for 3 days this week. Monday afternoon it started snowing and 4 inches later it stopped. I still have snow in my yard. Hopefully, she'll go back to school tomorrow. The school system built 13 extra days into the regular year. The kids have used all but one of those days. If they have to miss more than one more day this year, they will have to go extra days in the summer. We're keeping our fingers crossed that they don't miss anymore.

I found an awesome idea for Valentine's on the Nanny Goat blog. Crimson loved the idea, so we had to make our own. What do you think???

I used Picnik to add the words and then just uploaded it to Walmart's photo department to print it through the one-hour photo option. Once the photos are ready, we'll use my X-acto knife to cut a slit at the top and bottom of her hand and slip a Blow-Pop or some other type of lollipop in the slits. It will look like she's holding it. Click on the Nanny Goat link above to see their version and a finished version.

I think it turned out great!!!

Since I'm still not able to stay up for long periods of time, I may not be back on here until after Valentine's Day, so I'm wishing you a Happy Valentine's day now! I hope you and your loved ones have an amazing day!!! 

Broke

Friday it snowed, and snowed, and then it snowed some more! The 6 or 7 inches we ended up with was amazing for middle Tennessee. Unfortunately, all the broke bones I ended up with wasn't quite so amazing!!! We got up Saturday morning, had an awesome breakfast with my brother and his wonderful family, then put on fifteen layers of clothes to go sledding. The first time I went down was a lot of fun. The second time was okay...I bailed too early. I was freezing at this point and wanted to go inside. My sister-in-law asked me to go just one more time. She wanted to video it for Facebook. (I know we're obsessed) My hubby gave me an extra hard push because he knew I would go in the house afterwards. (I don't do cold!) I was going really fast. I don't remember exactly what happened, but my left foot caught a tree and tried to knock it down! The tree was about 3 inches in diameter. Not very big but big enough to HURT!!! I immediately started screaming "call 911!" My sis in law did. The ambulance came and got me. We first went to our local hospital, but later was transferred to Vanderbilt in Nashville. I had surgery on Sunday morning. I broke both bones in my lower left leg and crushed all the bones in my ankle. I should be going home from the hospital today, but have to come back next Wednesday to see the Orthopedic doctor. He said they will schedule the 2nd surgery the following Wednesday. Needless to say, but I'm going to be out of work for a while. I'll keep you updated, but probably won't have any new crafts for a couple weeks. Thanks for all the sweet comments you left on my last post! Have a great day!!!

Want a drink? Take a coaster.

Do you use coasters in your house? We haven’t in the past, but with all the painting of furniture we’ve been doing I thought we should start.
I bought these photo coasters a few years ago, but never took them out of the box. I purchased them through ABC Distributing, but you can find them at JoAnn’s, Michael’s, or even Wal-mart. You just have to look around.

(Sorry I started this project late last night…bad lighting)
To make the initials, I used a font I like and played around with it until it was the size I liked. I then printed and cut them out.

Took apart the coasters.

I used Dark Fig by Valspar with a dry-brush technique to paint the frames. Dark Fig is a really dark chocolately brown. Can you believe spell check doesn’t think “chocolately” is a word??? It is a word! I made it a word!
 
Aren’t they just pretty in all their chocolate glory?
As for the initials, I didn’t like the white paper against the brown, so what is a girl to do? Bring out the tea bags…that’s what!
After making a fresh pot of tea, I broke apart the tea bags and poured or more like squished the tea grounds into a plastic container, filled with water. In went the “R’s” to soak. The amount of time you leave them in would depend on how creamy colored you want your paper. You could use coffee grounds, but since we’re not big coffee drinkers…I used what I had.


I left mine soak for about 2 hours, then pulled them out to dry.

This rack from my microwave worked really well. I put a paper towel below to catch any drips.

Here you can see the difference in color.

What do you think?? I’m excited to start using them. Crimson beat me to it, though. I went to the computer to post this, walked back in the dining room and what was on the table?

Oh well, that’s what I made them for…right?

Edited to say: I'm linking up with Today's Creative Blog, Get your Craft on Party.
My silly computer won't let me cut/paste the button. I'll have to figure that one out.

Cajun Chicken Pasta Bake with a little Zest...

Good morning all! I hope you had a great weekend.

Thank you for all the prayers and get well wishes for my husband's family. His grandmother was released from the hospital to the nursing home last Tuesday, but had to be rushed back to the ER on Friday. They couldn't get her blood pressure up, so she was admitted. Please continue praying for her.

On a lighter note...

I found an awesome recipe for a quick Cajun Chicken Pasta on the Sister's Stuff blog.

(If you aren't a regular reader you should be! They have the cutest craft ideas and lots of quick easy recipes. Go check out their blog and you'll be hooked!!! Just click on Sister's Stuff blog above.)

I wanted to try to make it, but my hubby took it over. You can click on the link above for the Sister's Stuff version, which will be much quicker and easier than this, but here's my hubby's...

Ingredients:

1 box Penne pasta

1 jar Alfredo sauce

1 pound boneless chicken breast or chicken tenders, sliced into thin strips

1 tomato, diced

2 tblsp Cajun Seasoning

1 tblsp Garlic powder

Fresh basil, chopped, about 5 leaves

1 tsp Grapefruit zest

1-2 tblsp Olive oil

Parmesan and/or mozzarella cheese

Cook penne pasta per directions on box, drain. Warm alfredo sauce in saucepan. In medium frying pan, add olive oil, cajun seasoning, and garlic powder, then add chicken strips. Cook chicken covered until done, mixing occasionally, drain any oil and/or fat from pan, then add tomatoes, basil, and grapefruit zest. Continue to cook covered on low, until tomatoes are warm. Mix alfredo sauce with penne pasta. Layer pasta and chicken mixture in a medium lasagna pan, cover with parmesan and/or mozzarella cheese. Bake on 350 for 10 minutes, or until cheese on top has melted. Enjoy!!!

Note: The amount of cajun seasoning, garlic powder, basil and grapefruit zest can be modified to fit your individual taste buds. The grapefruit makes this a very light tasting pasta. You could use this as an appetizer, instead of a full meal.

Hopefully, I can get back to posting more often. Life just seems to pass like a blur these days. It's funny how the older I get, the faster the days go by! I really wish we could slow life down...just a little, and enjoy it more. Losing Ricky's grandfather has been hard on everyone, it was definitely a surprise. We knew his grandmother was sick and probably wouldn't be around much longer, but his grandfather was pretty healthy for his age. He had to have surgery back last summer for lung cancer, but he got well after that and was doing great. It wasn't until a couple weeks before Christmas when he started feeling sick and was told he had pnemonia. When the pnemonia didn't want to go away, my mother-in-law took him to a different doctor. We didn't find out until after he passed that it wasn't pnemonia at all...he had emphysema. (sp?) Make sure you tell your family everyday that you love them, you never know when you may lose them.

Prayers please

My husband's grandfather died this morning. His grandmother doesn't yet. She had to be rushed to the emergency room and is now in the ICU. She will be having surgery for gangrene in her gallbladder soon. They gave her a little better than a 50/50 chance. Please keep his family in your prayers!!!

Thanks!

She got it!

If you haven't met my daughter...here she is:

My gorgeous baby girl (I know, I'm partial) makes me proud everyday of her life. The smallest things she does makes me happy and her smile can make a whole room light up. So, when I say I'm proud of her for this, I don't want to take away from anything else she does...but....

She was booked for the A&W Restaurant commercial!!!

We're so excited for her! She goes in this afternoon for the "talent fitting" and then back on Wednesday for the actual shoot date. It's going to be a national commercial and they don't know how many seasons it's going to run. I'll let you know the air date as soon as I know. It's also going to be on the internet, so I'll post a link once it's up.

In other news...

**Our computer is back up and running, but I still have to install a few programs in order to blog again. (I'm on my lunch break at work right now.)

**It's frigid here in middle Tennessee!!! It was 9 degrees when I got up this morning!!! It's not supposed to get above 32 degrees for the rest of the week!! This royally sucks, because we live in an old house! Yesterday, we woke up to frozen hot water. Not frozen cold water, just hot water. (and no, it's not the water heater) It was crazy! The cold water line going into my washing machine was froze, but the cold water in the rest of the house worked just fine! Even the dishwasher, that is on the other side of the wall from the washing machine, worked just fine! Luckily, my in-laws live just over a block down the street, so we were able to take showers. About five minutes after I got up this morning the power to the whole house went out! With the hot water still frozen, I was ready to cry. My hubby messed around with the breaker box for a little while and it finally came back on. He said that the main breaker had overheated due to the load our heating and air unit was pulling. I don't understand a whole lot about how electricity works, but it's back on now so I don't have to cry! Now, if only the hot water lines would thaw.....

**I took a bunch of pics with my Christmas present. They were all of my darling daughter. I'll post a few soon, but for now...this is what he gave me:

It's a SUH-WEET Canon 20D with an 18-55 mm lens. LUV it!

My photographer/writer sister-in-law has one, so when I got ready to have a bigger better camera, I had to get one like hers. Speaking of the S-I-L, she started a blog recently. It's about her journey to being a published author. Go check out her blog and give her some bloggy love!!!

I guess that's all for now. I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's and that 2010 will be an amazing year for you! I know it will for us!

Happy Monday!

A.Rose