Happy Winter

Happy Winter to all! I think it's here!

~Life Notes~

It's cold and wet here in the South. Winter has arrived. Today I needed an umbrella and coat. Tomorrow I can leave the umbrella at home and wear a short sleeve sweater and light jacket. The next day I'll probably need the umbrella again and then the next day...who knows...a snowsuit! I do like winter though....especially in the South! Warm thoughts and hot cocoa go out to all who live in a colder climate. Hoping that your furnace doesn't stop working.

Daughter is home now from college. We like having her home...we just need to re-adjust. Hubby was waiting patiently for her to finish her Wii game so that he could watch Sunday Night Football. Everyone wants to use the bigger HD TV at the same time. I'm going to leave it to them and go upstairs to finish my Christmas gift wrapping while sipping on some hot cocoa.

~Quilting Notes~

Hubby could not think of anything to get me for Christmas even though Josephine was suppose to be my Christmas gift. (New Baby-Lock sewing machine I bought in October). He wanted me to have something to open on Christmas morning. So I sent him to my LQS and told him to find Karen, the store owner. An hour later he came home with four gifts. Karen even wrapped them up for him in pretty Christmas paper she had at the store. I've shaken the boxes and lifted the gifts bags to test the weight. Can't wait to open them. Karen has such good taste. I wonder if Hubby would mind receiving a gift certificate from there for his birthday....hum?

I've joined yet another quilt club at my LQS. It's the Silver Thimble Quilt Club. It's hosted by a quilting professional/pattern designer (Pat Wys). Pat calls it the 21st century quilting bee. It's a fellowship of new and experienced quilters all doing something they enjoy. Sounds like fun. I've always liked to sew/quilt with a group.

~Crafting Notes~

I've been making my own Christmas gift labels. These were cut on my Cricut machine. I just received a new Christmas cartridge and could not wait to try it out.

I'll make pretty name labels on the computer and stick them to the back. I would love to use my Cricut die cutting machine more often, but my quilting takes up most of my spare time. The Cricut can cut fabric too. I was hoping on day to try it and cut out appliques. It would be wonderful if I could blend all my equipment to use for my two favorite hobbies...quilting and scrapbooking.

~Nursing Notes~

This segment of notes was inspired by a fellow quilter/blogger/nurse julieQ who does this on her site, which I thought was such a great idea.

A female patient on our floor (I will call her Mary) has just reached her 60th day stay with us. My unit is a short term acute care surgical stepdown unit, so when a patient has stayed as long as she has she becomes part of our family. Mary's body is trying so hard to heal itself but with every step forward towards healing there always seems to be two steps back that eventually occurs. Mary has been with us through Halloween and Thanksgiving and will probably be there with me through the Christmas Holiday. Mary doesn't and really can't come out of her room much because of all the lines and tubes and drips. Mary never has many visitors. Husband is elderly and in bad health and children live out of town. Mary is always on the lookout for someone to talk to and socialize with. Many times I've sat with Mary and chatted with her while completing my nursing charting tasks. Mary is always interested in what is happening in other people's lives and hardly turns the conversation to herself or her illness. The other day one of the nurse's bought Mary an electical candle fountain. It's the cutest thing, about 8 inches long and 6 inches high. It looks like a real candle with flowing wax. This one little gift has been like a fish hook in the water. Hospital personnel, patients and their families walking past Mary's door notice the lighted candle fountain and go in and admire it and ask about it. Mary has made so many friends that now stop by to chat with her. The little gift that was given to Mary has been like a friendship beacon that welcomes everyone to her room. Now Mary seems to know something about everyone now....staff and patients!

Hope everyone has a great week.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Quilting!

Happy Living!