This is another one of the fun projects I’ve done with my monthly stamping group. It was called the “Favorites and Newest Tag Book.” Dodie was the mastermind behind this project. She made up a list of themes and wrote them down in a numbered list. Each of us then drew a random number to find out what we would be making as our contribution to the book. Based on your theme, you were to make an example of your newest or most favorite way of doing it. We each had to make 11 copies of our page and attach a smaller tag to the end with our name on it. When the pages were all done we passed them around and everyone was able to bind a complete book to take home.

The themes represented are Stamp (Kris), Technique (Chia), Color (Susan), Paper (Kim), Punches and Paper Edgers (Jamie), Holiday (Patricia), Background Techniques (Doug), Embossing Powder (Betty), Distressing Technique (Billie), Recycled Item (Dodie), and Texture Folder (Cheri).

I got this wonderful photo from one of my stamp club friends, Kris. Kris told me that her daughter, Jen, used my Mardi Gras mask template to make the cupcake decorations for adorable Lillian’s party. Speaking of “Adorable Lillian”, take a look at the next photo:

Isn’t she beautiful? She looks like a Fairy Princess and I think I’m a little bit jealous. What fun it must have been to get all dressed up and painted for what looks like a magical party. My hat’s off to Jen for doing such a great job and creating something so special for her little girl. You’re a talented and loving mom.

To my little girl, I’m sorry… I thought kool-aid and hot dogs were special. I think 30 years ago it was. And while it may not have been magical, you have to admit the back yard obstical course was pretty fun.

I’m really happy that Kris and Jen shared these photos with me, and allowed me to share them with you. It isn’t often that I get to see what people are using my templates for. I always get a thrill when I see one of the projects and this time was no exception. Who knew my little template would be part of something so grand. I feel a bit like a proud momma.

Today I am sharing the cards that I received in our stamp club swap. Six of us created 4th of July cards to share with each other. I showed you mine on Saturday.

The girls did a great job and it was a fun swap. I’m glad that so many of them enjoy making these little pieces of art.

We don’t have anything special going on today, just a barbecued dinner with The Boy. It is so hot outside that we probably won’t even eat out of doors. Summers aren’t the treat that they were for us in our past homes. We use to look forward to spending time outside and now that we are in the Phoenix area, we do everything we can to avoid being outside in the summer months. That’s been a hard adjustment for me. I miss walking barefoot in the soft, cool grass and setting out a barbecued feast on the large picnic table.

I’ve been mentioning to my kids that I wouldn’t mind having grandkids. My daughter is always quick to point out that I am Grandma to her two cats. On Friday, The Boy added two puppies to my family of grandbabies.

One of his co-workers got a call from her husband, telling her that he found 3 abandoned pups in the park. He put them in a cage and brought them to her at work.

It didn’t take long for one of the gals in the office to say that she would take the buff colored one. That left 2 dogs… and The Boy.  As soon as the black one snuggled into his arms, he was hooked.

Suddenly, he was at my house with a cage full of puppies, asking me to babysit until the end of the work day. They are really sweet little dogs. He has decided to name this spotted female, Sasha.

Look at those ears! This little black male is Batman. Those ears just look so much like bat wings ready to take flight.

They have settled right into life at his house and have fallen in love with their new daddy.

Do you remember how last October I decided that after more than a month of knee pain and not being able to walk very well, that I should go to the doctor? I saw my primary doc’s assistant and he suggested physical therapy and a visit to the orthopedic doctor. He also ran general blood work since I hadn’t been in for a check up in over a year. Based on the blood work he prescribed Lovastatin for high cholesterol. My levels have been elevated for a while and while my primary was happy to just keep an eye on them, her assistant felt it would be best to medicate. Since we have been keeping an eye on it for so long, I was ready to go along with the new plan and started taking the pills right away.

Physical therapy went very well but while I was getting more mobility, I just couldn’t rebuild the muscle strength. I kept mentioning this to the PT doctor and he said to keep exercising and it would improve. When I started having hamstring pain I told him and he added more stretches and massage time, and told me to keep exercising and it would get better. Three months of PT and I was still having the same problem with strength and hamstring pain.

When I saw the orthopedic doctor I told him about the weakness and pain. Like the rest of us, he thought it was due to the month that I didn’t use my muscles much. He told me to keep exercising and losing weight and it would get better. After surgery I told him the knee was doing a lot better but all the supporting leg muscles were still very weak. He said to keep exercising and losing weight and it would get better.

I told recliner man that I thought the weakness might be related to the Lovstatin I was taking. He didn’t think so, and told me that his doctor had told him that any muscle weakness from that medication would be so profound that it would be difficult to even lift my arms, and I’d know for sure. Hmm. So I guessed everyone was right and I just kept exercising and working on the weight loss.

I saw my primary doctor in  early May and when she asked how my knee was doing, I told her it was good but I was still having trouble with all the muscle weakness. She told me to keep exercising and losing weight and it would get better.

I don’t think any of them believed that I was actually exercising and they just blew me off as another lazy, fat person.

On Father’s Day I had an epiphany. It dawned on me that I’d been really worn out for about a month. Really worn out, like waking up late in the morning and immediately wondering how long it would be till nap time. Like dragging a chair in front of the stove so I could cook dinner, and in front of the sink so I could brush my teeth and dry my hair. In that moment my mind was filled with a single word; PROFOUND. I don’t care how easy it was for the doctors to dismiss this, to me it was profound. That day I stopped taking the Lovastatin.

The very next day I told Recliner Man that I was still very weak but I felt like I was getting a bit better. He didn’t believe me and said it wouldn’t happen that quickly. Excuse me, Dr. Recliner Man. I wasn’t so concerned about nap time and my mind felt clearer. Till my mind improved, I didn’t realize how slow I’d been thinking, and how little ambition I’d had for anything. One day later and I was sure that I was getting stronger. It was still difficult to get up from a chair, but I could do it in a semi-graceful way without having to lean heavily on the table. Each and every day since then I have been able to note improvement. Simple things that we all take for granted, like getting in an out of a car, are becoming moments of joy for me. I may have kept going but the going had been really, really hard for me.

I hadn’t gotten in the pool yet because I was afraid I wouldn’t have the strength to climb out of it. This past week I felt I was strong enough to take the risk. I’m very happy to report that I made it in and out with only minor discomfort. I was so happy that I made the ATC at the top of this post as an act of celebration. Now I’m in the pool every day and doing 40 minutes of aqua exercise. And I’m loving every minute of it.

This may have been a bit too much info and could have been summed up in only a couple of paragraphs, but I have a reason for wanting to share so many details. When I searched on the internet to find descriptions of Lovastatin related muscle loss and just how profound, profound was, I didn’t find comments with a lot of the actual day to day details. Even less was said about how soon you might notice changes after you stopped taking the drug. I want to have this post up so the next person searching will have something to find and compare their own experience to.

I know that I probably should have gone back to the doctor and demanded the blood test that can show an elevated CPK enzyme that indicates your muscles are in trouble. I’m sure my doctor will mildly scold me for skipping this opportunity for scientific proof. Proof smoof. I feel like the doctors had their opportunity and blew it. I’m just glad that moment of clarity came to me before I ended up in the hospital with kidney failure.  And I’m very glad to be feeling close to my old self again. Now, if you will excuse me, I have about 10 months of skipped housework to catch up on…

I’ve finally got some creative ambition back so I’ve been making some ATCs. This first one was for a swap with my monthly stamping group. I’ll scan the cards that I received and share them later this weekend.

A week later I met up with my monthly ATC Swap group. I decided that I liked my first card so much, that I’d make a matching one for this group. I really enjoyed the background paper. It is a cut up cold food bag from a local store. Last month Marla, a member of the ATC group gave each of us a bag to use in our play. It seemed like a natural fit for some vintage 4th of July cards.

I was having so much fun with these that I made an extra card for the ATC gals. I haven’t felt like doing much for over a month and the reappearance of my creative urge has been quite a thrill for me. It’s been too long since I just played and had fun. I’ve got some more things to show you but I am going to drag it out a bit and put them in their own posts. I should have things to share for several days. Maybe that will even get me back in to a routine of updating the blog. Goodness knows that I could use a push in that direction!