It's been just over a month since my last post here, and two months since I posted on my other blog...to be honest, it seems like longer. And things are in such disarray here that I feel like it will take forEVER to catch up on anything...much less finding time to make shoe and wardrobe posts for fun.
So what's happened? Well, a week before Halloween, my mother called me to say that my parents would have to cancel their trip to New Orleans (we were going to meet them there for Thanksgiving). Why? Because my father was in the hospital with no feeling in his lower body. Obviously, he couldn't fly. And things have just gone downhill from there.
To make a long story very short, my father has been living with Stage 4 prostate cancer for about a decade. By the time the cancer was found, it had metastasized to his bones, so while he had radiation and surgery, we knew that it wasn't going to go away...but he's lived with it for longer than most people do. For that we are all very grateful, don't get me wrong! But of course I selfishly want him to live forever...
Anyway, the cancer in the bones caused his spine to compress, so he had some disks that were collapsing and damaging nerves to his legs. Again, long story short- he had surgery and has been getting physical therapy but it is unlikely he will ever walk again. So instead of meeting my folks in New Orleans, my husband and I flew to Arizona to help out however we could. My father is in his seventies and mom in her late sixties, so it's not been easy for them.
We left the day after Thanksgiving, stayed with my folks for several days, and then I worked an art festival in Tempe, AZ - all in all, we got home on December 6th. Arrived in Atlanta around 8 pm and got home at 10 pm and then I worked like a dog for the next few days filling holiday orders and trying to catch up on everything that had been ignored for nearly two weeks.
Then last Wednesday, I had jaw surgery (again). The surgery I had this summer was about as major as it gets; fortunately this was much less so, but still debilitating for a while. I can't eat solid foods right now because I can't open my jaw wide enough to do so, and I'm on pretty heavy pain medication. This second surgery was necessary because one of the stabilizing plates from my first surgery was in a bad position; usually those just stay in for the rest of your life unless there's a problem. Well, I had a problem and the surgeon said it needs to come out before the end of the year. And the only time to do it (when I wasn't working festivals) was mid-December.
So here I am, trying to recover from that, fill more jewelry orders (not that I am complaining about the business! It's just been a tough time managing it all with travel and health issues), and get my life re-organized. The house is not decorated for Christmas (when was *that* going to happen this year?), no presents are bought (and they pretty much all have to be shipped), no cards sent out...right now my husband and I are just trying to manage the day to day of everything.
So that's why I've been pretty much offline for a while now. I hope to have things back on track by the end of the year, but for now it's just one foot in front of the other and taking things day by day (sometimes, hour by hour). But I don't want to leave you without something to look at, even if it's not shoes...I did manage to grab this when I was in Arizona (mostly because the weather was 20 degrees colder than forecast - so I had to get something warmer than what I'd brought)...and I am loving it. Target clothes rarely fit me well, so it always feels like such a *score* when something works:
Mossimo, $39.99. I've been looking for a cute, lightweight, trench-type jacket for a while now, and this one is awesome! I've been wearing it almost nonstop. I realize the dark gray makes it hard to see the details, so here's a photo of the red color:
Happy Holidays!
So what's happened? Well, a week before Halloween, my mother called me to say that my parents would have to cancel their trip to New Orleans (we were going to meet them there for Thanksgiving). Why? Because my father was in the hospital with no feeling in his lower body. Obviously, he couldn't fly. And things have just gone downhill from there.
To make a long story very short, my father has been living with Stage 4 prostate cancer for about a decade. By the time the cancer was found, it had metastasized to his bones, so while he had radiation and surgery, we knew that it wasn't going to go away...but he's lived with it for longer than most people do. For that we are all very grateful, don't get me wrong! But of course I selfishly want him to live forever...
Anyway, the cancer in the bones caused his spine to compress, so he had some disks that were collapsing and damaging nerves to his legs. Again, long story short- he had surgery and has been getting physical therapy but it is unlikely he will ever walk again. So instead of meeting my folks in New Orleans, my husband and I flew to Arizona to help out however we could. My father is in his seventies and mom in her late sixties, so it's not been easy for them.
We left the day after Thanksgiving, stayed with my folks for several days, and then I worked an art festival in Tempe, AZ - all in all, we got home on December 6th. Arrived in Atlanta around 8 pm and got home at 10 pm and then I worked like a dog for the next few days filling holiday orders and trying to catch up on everything that had been ignored for nearly two weeks.
Then last Wednesday, I had jaw surgery (again). The surgery I had this summer was about as major as it gets; fortunately this was much less so, but still debilitating for a while. I can't eat solid foods right now because I can't open my jaw wide enough to do so, and I'm on pretty heavy pain medication. This second surgery was necessary because one of the stabilizing plates from my first surgery was in a bad position; usually those just stay in for the rest of your life unless there's a problem. Well, I had a problem and the surgeon said it needs to come out before the end of the year. And the only time to do it (when I wasn't working festivals) was mid-December.
So here I am, trying to recover from that, fill more jewelry orders (not that I am complaining about the business! It's just been a tough time managing it all with travel and health issues), and get my life re-organized. The house is not decorated for Christmas (when was *that* going to happen this year?), no presents are bought (and they pretty much all have to be shipped), no cards sent out...right now my husband and I are just trying to manage the day to day of everything.
So that's why I've been pretty much offline for a while now. I hope to have things back on track by the end of the year, but for now it's just one foot in front of the other and taking things day by day (sometimes, hour by hour). But I don't want to leave you without something to look at, even if it's not shoes...I did manage to grab this when I was in Arizona (mostly because the weather was 20 degrees colder than forecast - so I had to get something warmer than what I'd brought)...and I am loving it. Target clothes rarely fit me well, so it always feels like such a *score* when something works:
Mossimo, $39.99. I've been looking for a cute, lightweight, trench-type jacket for a while now, and this one is awesome! I've been wearing it almost nonstop. I realize the dark gray makes it hard to see the details, so here's a photo of the red color:
Happy Holidays!
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