New Website Finally Up

Hi everyone,
I finally got my new website up for my Rock Shop in Kirkland, it has been around for 21 years. I will be listing alot more on it, of course the store has many many more items then on the web site, but it is looking great.

http://www.earthlightgems.com

check it out.,
Thanks
Kim

Sale Sale Sale - Etsy - Sale Sale Sale

(SALE- November 26th thru Cyber Monday on the 30th.Every order gets a free beaded bug, your choice. Free shipping on any sales over $25.00 along with the free beaded bug.)(I will refund you the shipping back, unless you let me know ahead of time)

check out by Etsy site http://www.etsy.com/shop/kimforbeads I also just listed some new awesome jewelry, one example is pictured above. Do you want me to make something custom just for you, just let me know.

Earthlight, Inc. & stuff

Ok, so I have not blogged in a while.
I had a lot happen this summer. I lost my Mom, Aunt & my Dad all within a month. Life has been really hard. My husband is very ill and has been in & out of the hospital.

I do have one light in my life and that is Earthlight. I have taken over my dad's legacy and I am giving it a jump start. It is a fantastic rock shop in Kirkland, WA. and has been there for 21 yrs.

I have invested a lot of my own money into the shop to keep it alive & my dad's dreams. The shop has every type of mineral you can imagine, we have rough & polished minerals & crystals. Along with jewelry and fossils. I have been putting more of my jewelry in the shop & it has gone over wonderful. If you are ever in Kirkland check it out @ 46 Lakeshore Plaza in Kirkland, Wa.
on the waterfront.

Enjoy your day.
Kim

Renton River Days

Hey, I am doing a fabulous show this whole weekend. Renton River Days it is sponsored by Ikea and has lots of free stuff for kids. The art market is all handcrafted items and they have a wide selection from wood carvers to quilters to of course fantastic jewelry ( being my booth # 41) lol. The show is scheduled Friday (today), Saturday (10 - 8 & Sunday 12-6). If you are in Renton, WA. or want to stop on by it is well worth the trip. Here is a link to find out more info.
http://rentonwa.gov/living/default.aspx?id=1138

check it out & have fun.

New Farmers Market

I have been doing the Farmers Market in Maple Valley. This is the first year that Maple Valley has had a Farmers Market. It has a great turn out. Fabulous customers, and lots of selection. The staff for the market are wonderful, they try to make it diverse and communicate perfectly. I have done the first four markets it started on June 20Th. I will be doing many more, I signed up for the Maple Valley market for every day I did not have another show scheduled. So I have a show almost every weekend until December. Hopefully it will get us by until I get a day job again. I got laid off three months ago and I was doing shows on the side, now it is the only means of income.

If you are in Maple Valley or close by check out the Farmers Market it is at Rock Creek Elementary from 9:00 to 1:00. on Saturday until the second weekend in October. If you are lucky you will also see me there. Have fun.

My mom died today

I have been practically living at the hospitals, my mom just passed this morning. She is not suffering any more. She died in her sleep, under alot of medication at the hospital. She didn't feel any pain. My mom was the best mom ever, I hope everyone realizes how great their moms are. The hospital told my mom on her birthday Thursday that she had approx. 2-days. She was asleep for the last day and a half. She had stage four melanoma (metastasized) cancer for the past 7 years. The original skin cancer was 17 years ago. She fought so hard, she beat all of the odds, did all of the treatment and much more. I will miss her so much, I feel that my heart is broke into a million pieces.

My dad is still in ICU and just had more surgeries yesterday, I could not even be there for him. I was with my mom at her hospital. I am going to visit him tonight, even though he is probably still sedated from his two surgeries yesterday.

Times are sure tough.

More News on Hospital update

So much to tell. Sunday night my husband got super sick, throwing up both ways all night long. He could not keep water or anything down. I brought him into the urgent care in the am, he was dehydrated. They gave him a pain shot & nausea shot, since he was not able to take his pain meds for his recovery from his surgery. He ended up in the emergency at the hospital & in ICU for two days & regular room for two days. He just got back home.

Our daughter, ended up with the same thing on Tuesday - the Dr's then realized that my husbands problem, was not all related to the surgery. Our 8yr old was terribly sick for two days, had to have IV fluids and lots of tests yesterday. She went back for tests today, but she is finally feeling better and slept thru the night. She has graduated from a full clear liquid diet to the BRAT diet. ( BRAT = Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Toast). Mainly she is eating toast and Popsicles, but she is holding them in finally.

My mom had her scheduled pet scan, she has approx 12 + tumors from her cancer- she has been fighting a long time. We got some good news, 80% of her tumors are a little smaller, yeh. Maybe her experimental treatment is helping. She is still weak, but not in the hospital, just going for fluids alot, due to her problem holding everything in and not having an appetite.

My dad was moved out of ICU to PCU and just got moved to a regular hospital room late last night, yeh. I hope he keeps getting better.

I am exhausted.

You wont even believe this.

So if you read my last blog regarding Hospital Woes, you will know my family is going thru tough times.

My mom was sent home earlier in the week from the hospital, it only lasted one day and she was sent back for even more serious problems. The day she originally got out, my dad was rushed by ambulance to the hospital. I just got back from visiting my husband at the hospital, and I had a message that my dad had a heart attack & a seizure. They said he had maybe 8 hrs to live. I hurried p/u my daughter from school and rushed to the hospital, an hour away. I called the hospital on the way and was told that he was more stable and had turned a corner. They said that he had not had a heart attack. He did have the seizure, and has been in ICU for four days now. So the next day I had my Dad, Mom & husband all in different hospitals. Way too much stress. I had to pull our daughter out of school the next day. There was no way I could get on the bus, visit three different hospitals not in town and make it back in time to pick her up.

My husband is now home, but my mom & dad are both still in the hospital. My dad is still in ICU, but he has obviously a better outcome then originally thought. He is expected to move to a regular section tomorrow, hopefully.

I have not had sleep in two days - (since my husband has been out), he is in so much pain that he has me trying to keep him comfortable, getting his meds, and just listening to him suffer all night.

I understand, I am just really really tired.
I hope everyone else is having a better time of it. Oh and by the way I didn't get the job from last weeks interview. Things have to get better.

Hosptial Woes

My mom has been in the hospital for over a week now. She got really dehydrated and weak. She had diareahha and nausa for 2 months now, she is fighting cancer. Her experimental treatment she has been on for 1 1/2 years, they say has given her Colitis. She has been on all kinds of minerals, and fluids to fight the bought of extended dehydration she has had. Now she is also on steroids. She is starting to improve.

My husband had his surgery last week and has been recovering at the hospital. They took out a section of his small intestines & a section of his colon. We do not know how long he will be in the hospital. Luckily family flew down to visit & see him during these rough times. He met his Dr's goals yesterday, he walked some. It is a start, he still can't eat anything, or drink anything. He is not allowed to swallow at all. He has not ate in over a weak, good thing he is getting fluids by IV also.

My mom & husband are at different hospitals in Seattle, so I keep having to drive to one to visit then drive to the other. So much time & parking, crazy times.

I hope they both are out soon, it is taking its toll on our family. It is hard to manage it all.
I guess it is a good thing that I was laid off last month, so that I can be there for both of them and my family.

SALE- SALE - SALE

Here's my deal, which will run 5/22 -5/25: MEMORIAL DAY SALE: & my Birthday weekend sale. Buy any item from my shop- at any price and receive a free beaded dragonfly or any beaded bug and a free gift box. You can pick if you want to - otherwise you will get a dragonfly.Here is an example of my beaded dragonflies & more. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16783665

Job Interview

I have a job interview today, I am so excited. It sounds like a wonderful job. Not in my previous field, but something I have done in the past. Wish me luck, the weekend should be great.

Mothers Day Weekend was Great

I had a wonderful Mothers Day, I got to go out to dinner & see a movie (Wolverine) on Friday after my show. On Saturday after my show I went to a family reception. My show went great both days and my daughter (8yrs old) danced and had a ball at the reception. Then on Sunday we got to go out to breakfast and then I got to bead during the day. I also went to my moms house and gave her a wonderful mothers day basket full of spa goodies and such, she loved it.
We visited with some family that came from out of town for the family wedding, that was fun. To top the whole weekend off, I didn't have to cook my husband did, which is really rare now adays. I also received two wonderful handmade cards from both of my kids ( 20yrs old & 8yrs old) and they were so well thought out, they both made me cry.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mothers Day.

Still Need A Job

I still need a job, I have been searching like crazy. I have a headhunter, a Career Service & Monster.com all on the look out, besides all of my friends & family. The main problem I am finding is that I need to stay in a certain pay range, due to the fact I was the only one working in the family due to my husbands medical problems. So I cannot take a low paying job to get by, it won't get us by. The jobs I am finding in that range all want a college degree of some kind, I have experience but not a degree. I have been working for over 20 years. I need something in the $35,000. to 42,000 a year range. I was making $42,000 at my last job. I have skills in business, administration, customs clearance, import air & ocean. I have the ability to use Word, Excel, Phone, Fax, Copy, Email, etc. Any tips, or leads please let me know.
Thanks so very much.
Kim

Beaded Butterflies

I just received a custom order for 160 beaded butterflies to put on cupcakes for a wedding.

I am doing it for full wholesale due to the quantity. If anyone is interested in custom orders or wholesale just let me know.
Here is a sample of some of the beaded butterflies and some of the other beaded bugs available. For more check out my site on Etsy. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5821737&section_id=5473244

Dentist Time

I went to the dentist today, I got my teeth cleaned. Since I have been on alot of inhalers as of lately, I had more plaque then usual. They didn't mention it, but it took more time to clean my teeth and my gums were sensitive. The Dental Hygienist did let me know that when you use inhalers it makes your gums very sensitive and it can be painful. She was not kidding, they are really sore now after the cleaning. I had to work hard at sucking it up, and not showing how much it hurt. I feel like a kid "I don't like going to the dentist" , good thing they are nice or I would never go.

Hollywood Schoolhouse Show

I just set up for a fabulous spring show. I have my Etsy shop on vacation mode to do this Fantastic show. It is called Hollywood School House Spring Boutique and is located in Woodinville, WA. http://www.hollywoodschoolhouse.com/ Stop by if you are in the area. My Etsy shop will be back up on Sunday. The inventory may not be the same, actually I hope I have to take all new pictures, because I sold so much. lol.
I have a ton of inventory there. Four full- really full tables of jewelry of all kinds. It would blow your mind. The show has approx 50-60 vendors & they are all fabulous. Everything you can think of wood, paintings , photography, furniture, clothing, food, and much much more.

Check out some info regarding the show listed in the Seattle Times. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/mbase/cgi-bin/DisplayPage.pl?document_id=2009101547

New Design - Dragonfly Bobby Pins

This is a new design I came up with for a special request, I like it so much I am now listing these. I can make them in any color combination. Let me know what you think?
Thanks so much.

Job Search

I have been searching and networking for a job. Not so much fun. If anyone out there has a job in the South King County Washington area. Please contact me. I have experience in
business, excellent customer service, phone skills and more.

Let me know of any job openings & I will review them if they are applicable, I will send my resume and apply.

Thanks so much
Kim

Sunday Mariners Game

My family & I went to the Mariners Game. We had tickets for awhile now, in a box seat. I never have had such good seats, too bad they didn't win. My daughter got to bring one of her friends and they both had fun. Today was a kids day and they both got Ichiro jerseys - very cool. They wore Mariner hats and the new jerseys, they both had foam fingers and were so cute.
We had to park very far away so that we didn't have to pay much for parking, but it was quite a walk. Good thing the weather was nice.
I hope you all had a great Sunday.

Laid Off- What Do I Do Now ! ! !

I just got laid off of work yesterday. My work said they were eliminating my position. They wrote me a letter of recommendation and wished me luck. I was told it was not my fault and that they were sorry ( blah, blah, blah). Either way I am job less. I am the sole provider for my family, now what to do. I have contacted lots of people today including a headhunter & unemployment. This could get really bad. My husband has not been able to work for 5 years he has a rare non-cancerous ( as of yet) lymphoma and has surgery coming up, we don't have the date yet. I don't know if I can handle all of the stress. This economy is killing me, I have my jewelry and such in stores, but not that many any longer. Four stores closed last year, and two already this year. I need to find more of an outlet for my work.

What has this economy done to your life.

Baby Blanket

I am making a custom order Baby Blanket, I don't have them listed on my shop. I should eventually make some for my shop, but they sell pretty quick and take awhile to do. I crochet them with a cute Teddy Bear pattern - three rows of three teddy beads and I add a scalloped edging. I also do need to get ready for a show in April. When I was in the hospital I missed my first show of the year, so I need to do good to make up for the loss of sales. Hopefully this next show will be fabulous.

Here are some pictures of one my finished blanket.

Best wishes to all.
Thanks
Kim

Still Recovering from Bronchitis & Asthma

I was in and out of Urgent care for a week, went to the doctor's many times & after it was all said and done I ended up on 14 different medications. It didn't work good enough or fast enough, I was then admitted to the hospital for 7 days on Oxygen and all of my medication and more. I have bad veins, they had a hard time getting my IV in and I still have bruises from all of the misses. Every 2-days my IV's would go bad & they would have to re-do the IV again. Which meant many more misses & problems. The hospital sucked, I hated it.
I have a nebulizer at home and was using it 3 to 4 times a day before I was admitted due to the Bronchitis, and I am still using it every day since I am still recovering. I am still on alot of medication, but I had to go back to work. Even though I am only getting 2 - 4 hours of sleep a night, due to all of the medication, I just lay in bed wanting desperately to sleep, but not able to. I have a referral to a pulmonary specialist and should be seeing one soon to get me down off of some of this medication. Oh did I mention I tore muscles and a ligament across the upper part of my back / across my lungs from all of the many asthma attacks. My asthma reasonably good for so long, this thru me.

I have not been hospitalized for my asthma since 1994., even though I do have times every year when I am sick that I have to be put on extra medication and sometimes use my nebulizer.

I received the Proximidade Blog Award !!!!!!

(SoftPencil) http://elizabethpujalka.blogspot.com/ has awarded methe Proximidade Blog Award !!! check out her site it is wonderful.

Thank you so much! The following is a description of what the PROXIMIDADE Blog Award represents: "This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!”Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this clever-written text into the body of their award.I am honored to accept this award and I pass it on to these 8 worthy recipients. The recipients must award it to 8 of their favorites and post the award description on their blog.I present the PROXIMIDADE Award to :

Here are the eight worthy blogs

http://plaidfuzz.blogspot.com/

http://baroness-bijoutery.blogspot.com/

http://creativeladies.blogspot.com/

http://artmixter.blogspot.com/

http://susan-beadlesandpins.blogspot.com/

http://aggieray.blogspot.com/

http://forloveorfunny.blogspot.com/

http://luvmymonkeys.blogspot.com/

Breathing Sucks

I have been sick all weekend, it started as a cold, then a bad sinus cold. I woke up Saturday even worse, all of the congestion went into my lungs. Breathing sucks - really really sucks. I have now pulled all of the muscles across my upper back from coughing. I was in bed all weekend. I have a nebulizer which I used along with my usual medication/inhalers. I of course did not sleep well, I can't breath - duh - hence no sleep. I also cough when I lay down, I hate sleeping sitting up.

My voice has changed it is now all deep and quiet, because I am sick. Some people think it is sexy, but I don't. I am talking all low and quiet because I have no air function not because I think your hot. lol People are weird.

My veins were collapsing in Urgent care, they could not get an IV in to do the blood work and give me Steroids. After four different trys and two nurses. They gave up, did the blood draw with a butterfly kids needle - too small for an IV, then gave me a show of steroids in the butt. So much fun. I also had three more treatments at Urgent care even though I just had one before I left just to be able to get there.

I am so drugged up now. They have me on 7 prescriptions, from mass inhalers, to antibiotics, to Steroids( predisone), cough syrup, and much more. Oh and I got chewed out at the end upon release, they let me know in not so many words that I need to call 911 next time and not wait so long, they said I was lucky they didn't have to intibate me. I guess I will have to plan out being sick on the week days, it is much more convenient then the weekend when everything is closed.

So you may think it is all easy to breathe, and you don't think about it, but sometimes it just plain sucks.

Friday - finally

It has been a long week, I have been posting new things on my sites, check out Made it Myself http://www.madeitmyself.com/user/kimforbeads.aspx for some new finds. I added cell phone charms, all one of a kind, in other color choices. I also added some fabulous earrings and a Bear necklace. In my Etsy site http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5821737 I added more cell phone charms, an awesome frog necklace with a matching bracelet, as shown below for a previous blog post. I also relisted some items that expired, check it out. Look for the beaded spiders - ooh. On my Artfire site I added many choices of cell phone charms, click it to see the options. http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=ViewListing&product_id=109992 . And last but not least I added a lot of new earrings and a few necklaces to my silk fair site. http://kimforbeads.silkfair.com/ Check it out if you have not already.

I also do custom orders & wholesale for quantity, just let me know what you need.

New Frog Necklace & Bracelet

What do you think, cute huh- I am posting these tonight on my Etsy website, check it out.
http://www.kimforbeads.etsy.com/

Back in Town-Diagnosis

Hey after being at the Mayo clinic all week, we are back in town. They did tons of test and procedures. They have come up with some answers, but not all. The specialist said that she would not necessarily call it Cancer, but that she thinks he has some obscure kind, not identified yet, of Lymphoma. They also found a bacteria living in his gut that was spreading the disease to other areas instead of just inside of his intestines. It is proliferating, I think was the word she used. He is on a four pack of antibiotics and such to get rid of that and hopefully stop the spreading or proliferating. She has sent all of the findings to our Doctor at the
U of Washington, and said that he needs surgery right away. Hopefully we will be able to schedule that without too much of a delay or a hassle. We did find out that he has been misdiagnosed for 7 years by more then one Doctor. If after the surgery the masses of lymph growths come back then they will consider him as having Castleman disease and then he will need radiation/chemo. Lets hope the surgery does a good enough job to tide him over for awhile, he is not ready for Chemo, or Radiation. I am so glad we went to the Mayo clinic, it was quite the adventure, but they were so willing to help and find answers - it was like having a Doctor that cared. Isn't that what we all want, someone to care for us and our family like we care for them.
Thanks everyone for your prayers and loving thoughts. It is always helpful in times like these.

Waiting Room

Hi Everyone,
My daughter & I have been sitting in the waiting room all afternoon waiting for (Dad- my husband), we took a break for lunch. He should be out in about an hour. They just let us know that they finished with his Colonoscopy, we only have to wait a little longer. It is hard to entertain an 8yr old when she is bored out of her mind. lol - She got tired of doing all of the things we brought to do in the waiting room. Good thing she is a good kid, and that they have computers. She is on a Hanna Montana site, doing a manicure. Well I know we will be going out for dinner tonight, my husband has not eaten in days and was starving when he went in for his procedure. He is planning on eating dinner, then a really early breakfast. He can't eat after 6:00 am because he has an MRI tomorrow. We have an appt Friday night (tomorrow) to hopefully go over the three days worth of tests and procedures. They will hopefully have answers and solutions, and they will let us know if we will get to go home on Saturday or if we are staying until next week.

Mayo Clinic

Hey we flew out of town to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota for most of the week. They offered an appointment to my husband, we are hoping for the best. So my husband, our 8yr old and I, all made arrangements and took off with one week notice. We were at the airport yesterday at 1:00 pm- the flight left at 3:10pm from Seattle. We flew into St Paul -Minnesota approx 8:30 and we were due to fly out to Rochester at approx 10:25. The plane coming in before us was so late it delayed our flight an entire hour. We did not get to leave for Rochester until 11:25, we arrived approx 12:35 and it was snowing. By the time we got bags, taxi & checked in - got ready for bed, it was 2:00 a.m. My husband had a 7:00 appt, we all woke up at 6:00 for his appt. So we are very tired.
It went great, they are very nice, helpful & they are doing alot of tests that were not previously done and some that need to be redone. We have appts, procedures & test scheduled for the next three days. Friday in the evening will be the big day, to tell us if we go home, or stay longer. They will hopefully have answers and help for him. My husband has been sick for seven years and this is his last shot for help. We have tried everything in Seattle and this is the best in the USA. Wish us the best and pray for him, but things are looking up. As long as we can get thru all of the tests - he is so tired of being poked and prodded and of course is a male and we know how well they do when they are sick. :(

Sock Hop

Here is my daughter and one of her best friends at the local
school sock hop. She is in second grade and had a blast. Check out her cute outfit I got for her. They did the hokey pokey, the limbo, the chicken dance and much much more.

Fun Fun Fun. They even did Macarena. Don't you wish you

were back in second grade, with no cares in the world.

Valentines for your Sweetie ! !

Check out these cute Valentines - a ring for you sweetie.
Beaded Flower Bobby pins for your Daughter

Earrings for your Daughter

Gloves to keep you warm your young sweeties hands. Check out my Etsy shop for these great Valentines.

Here are some more check it out, for you and every women you know.

http://www.etsy.com/search_results_shop.php?search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_5821737&search_query=hearts - You know you want to !!!

click it. click it, click it. Hearts Hearts Hearts. Fun Fun Fun.

Business Taxes

Well my business taxes are due tomorrow on the 31st. I have not done them yet, I have had no time. So tomorrow I will have to buckle down and finish, pay & mail them out, all in one day. Wish me luck. I hope to be online again Saturday night, I have new items to post on my websites.

Guitar Hero = Family time

Does anyone else play Guitar Hero? We have the drums, vocals (mic) and guitar. I can do the drums and the vocals. Not fabulous, but not bad. My daughter and I trade drums or vocals which ever, she gets to choose. She is only 8yrs old, so some songs she doesn't like to sing. Her favorite song is Eye of the Tiger. She also loves, Livin on a Prayer, Love me two Times, Heartbreaker, and a few others I can't recall. My husband can do it all, but gets stuck doing the guitar mostly, because us girls want to sing & drum. We have not got to play very much lately, but every now and then we get a set in. A set is 6 songs that we select. I like to do a gig with the band we made, it is more challenging, because we do not get to pick all our songs, we just pick a gig. Oh the name of the band is very funny, my husband came up with it
(Mental Constipation). What do you think funny huh. It is good to get our minds off of troubles & have some family time & fun.

Beading all weekend

I have been beading all weekend. I was working on inventory for one of the shops that carry my jewelry. The name of the shop is Revolutions in Issaquah, WA. I beaded lots of flower bobby pins, and some of the new heart bobby pins. I just came up with the heart design this week, what do you think? I made some in all pink, and some in all red. Below you will see a sample of a couple colors available. I have them on sale on Etsy, ArtFire & Made it Myself. To check it out look for the links on the side of my blog. I can custom make these in any color choices you want and in any quantity. Enjoy.

Lymphoid Hyperplasia

My husband is finally back from the hospital barely, we were back for 5 minutes and he started bleeding with diarrhea. I called the hospital they said to call 911, I did the paramedics came and accessed him. My grown man of a husband started to cry, he did not want to go back to the hospital. I don't blame him, it was not a good experience we will not be back at that hospital again, very poor care & no communication. The paramedics took his blood pressure & once my husband heard that is was still OK, he decided he was not going to the hospital, the paramedics made him sign a release that he refused to go. He is doing OK - at the moment. Maybe he got hemorrhoids from being in bed for 4 days I don't know. I will be calling the doctor today and the Mayo clinic which is not even close to our state. To see if they can help him, his doctor at the U of Washington told the hospital, that he does not have Crones - but Lymphoid Hyperplasia with an unknown cause. He told him that he can not help him and does not know where to send him. This was news to us, since the U of Washington specialist is the one who diagnosed him with Crones and just in Sept of 08 had told me that he was positive that he had Crones, since I have doubted it all along. He has many more signs of Lymphoma but they say he does not have that.

What to do, just pray and support him and hope he can hang in there for someone to help.

Intestinal Obstruction

My husband has been in the hospital for three days now, he has a full Intestinal Obstruction. The hospital was going to do emergency surgery the first day he arrived, then when they got his history they now are delaying it. He has had Crones for 7 years and the last 2 have been horrible. He has a specialist at the University of Washington who has given up on him, and we have no one else to help him. He has tried every thing out there and nothing works, they have never been able to get him into any type of remission. He now has Crones thru his small, large & colon. It all started in the small intestines. His Obstruction is in the Ileum (I hope I spelled that right). The hospital has been shooting him up with mass steroids, and they have decompressed his stomach with a tube down his nose into his stomach. He also has a Catheter to pee. He is a mess, they are going to do some type of dye test today to see if they can force anything thru the obstruction. If not they will probably have to do surgery. I will let you know how it goes. But right now life is sucking for us all.

My daughter's Native American Legend

My 8yr old daughter had to write an Native American Legend for school- she worked really hard on it, she is still doing the illustrations for it, and it is due on Monday. By the way she made this up all on her own. I thought I would share it with you, actually she is excited for me to put it on my blog. Here it is & let me know what you think. If you want to see a picture of her, check out my flicker site, we have some with her in her Halloween costume & with her new puppy. By the way she is in second grade & has to tell this to the whole class as part of her project.


HOW FOX GOT HIS NAME
There once was a village called Tatoosh, it meant the land of happy people.
The village was peaceful until one day things started disappearing.

The chief was angry so he told his son to watch over the village and find out who was stealing their things. The boy watched the village from a high tree until nightfall, he didn’t see anyone. Everyone had stayed in their huts to protect their belongings. Then he found out the thief was coming during the night. The next day he came up to his father and said “the thief is coming at night, oh how well I see at night.” His father summoned the great spirits and changed him into an owl. He waited until night came, then he flew to the top of a tree, and watched.

Finally he saw a creature (no name.) The creature had orange fur and a long bushy tail. He walked on all fours, crouched close to the ground. As he stole some specially prepared Salmon, he noticed an owl up above him. “Hello” he said, do not tell anyone about this. The Owl nodded his head, as the sun started to rise. He then transformed back into a boy. The boy climbed down from the tree, and started to run toward his fathers hut. The creature (no name) ran after him, and tied him up, put a piece of cloth around his mouth so he could not speak. He brought him back to his village, Quana he’ ke’.

The village was strange, but the boy could not figure out what made it strange. The creature (no name) took him into his hut. When the creature (no name) uncovered his mouth, the boy spoke and asked “ why are you stealing our things, & what are you? He answered “we need these things for our village, …I have no name”. I will give you a special gift, if you let me go & return to my village with me. After he thought for awhile he agreed.

They proceeded to the boys village. They went to the chief’s hut. He shows no harm father. I promised him a special gift and he has agreed not to steal from us any longer. We shall have a powwow and give him his special gift at that time.

They announced to the village that they would have a powwow that evening. Everyone got ready - they began. Finally they decided that they would name the creature (no name) - fox which means sly in their native Tatoosh language.

Fox was so happy that he announced he would never steal from them again, only come to visit and stay friends.

Rain Rain & more Rain

It has been raining like crazy, we live near a local river, which is on flood alert. I am not worried about the house, we are on a side road a little bit away from the river. If it floods though we will be stranded, it will flood across our road to leave the house. It is really high, I am really worried about the holding pond outside our house, DOT doesn't really monitor it much any more. I can't get check to see how high the water is because they have it fenced off and locked with a pad lock. I just hope we make it through the night without being evacuated. Wish me luck.
Rain Rain Go Away.

The Wizard of Oz

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the Wizard of Oz play we were suppose to go to having to be rescheduled due to the snow. My family and friends could not make it to Seattle with all of the snow. Well today was the day, we went to the Children's Theater and saw The Wizard of Oz, in Seattle. http://www.sct.org/browse/production.aspx?prod=4495 ( Here is a link about the play in Seattle. It was wonderful, they stayed with the exact song list and story line of the movie. My mom asked my daughter of 8yrs, what part she liked best. She said that when Dorthy sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". The Actress playing Dorthy & singing this had a great voice. Everything was fabulous and the sets were fantastic. If you are ever in Seattle with children of any ages, schedule, way ahead of time, to see a play with the Seattle Children's Theater. My mom has a yearly pass & we go about 2-3 times a year with family & friends, who also have yearly passes.

Enjoy the New Year.

My life and family in 2008

I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year. Today is the start of 2009 & I hope it is better then last year.

A Lot happened in 2008.

In March my husband finally got disability (social security) he has been very ill for years, and we were able to pay off the medical bills and some of our credit cards. His Doctor has now given up on him & does not know if they can do anything more for him, we are now sending his records to two different doctors out of state, hopefully that will lead to something.

In April I opened up my Etsy acct & spent all the money the government gave everyone to spend. I spent it all on supplies for my business. In June I started selling on Etsy, I sold 98 items in 2008 most all out of state. I almost reached my goal of 100 sales. Next year I hope to sell 200 items + since I will be open twice as long.

My son turned 20, moved out of the house, dropped out of college, got engaged and quit his job all in the same week in October. What a lot of changes. He moved into an apartment with one of his guy friends, now finally has a job he starts in Jan. He applied to approx 40 places without success. He has been doing a lot of volunteer work, he want to feed the homeless and help people in need & show them the way to God if they need direction. He gave up art, which was his previous desire and chose God, I can't be disappointed with that. I just hope he finds a way to make a living at his wanted profession.

My daughter turned 8 and is doing great. She finally got the puppy she has wanted for 5 years. She got a Beagle puppy who was 8 weeks old on her birthday in November.

I quit my job to start a new job in November - it is going OK, I miss my old customers, but not my old work as much as I thought I would. The money is better and we need that, since I have to support the whole family on my own. The Craft show season was down overall, and I had another promoter go back to work so 4 - shows were canceled. Last year a major promoter also did this and I lost 6. Times are tough, 4- of the stores I was in closed due to the economy, which is rough they were my best stores.

My Grandma died of Cancer in 2008- I miss her a lot - this was the first Christmas without her in my whole life. Grampa didn't come either - he is doing OK, but not very social now.

My Mom is still fighting Cancer- I hope she beats it this year, but things don't look so great.
My Dad's health is poor and his current wife left him, he is a wreck mentally and physically.
My Step dad almost died, he had simple shoulder surgery and the next day ended up in the hospital with blood clots in his lung and leg, he will be on blood thinners for at least 6 months to the rest of his life.

One of my husband's four sisters just discovered right before Christmas that she has Breast Cancer, she is having surgery next week - double Mastectomy and part of the reconstruction. My husband will be flying down to CA. for about a week to spend with her.

Life is hard for all of us, but I try to keep up a good attitude. It is not always easy, but hopefully 2009 will be better then 2008.

Best wishes to all.