thankful

this morning at 2:30 am i got a phone call from my younger sister that my mom had a seizure and that the ambulance was taking her to the hospital. my mind was racing as i recently supported a conference where they were said that holidays were the worst day to be in the ER because these days had the highest incidence of medical errors. we prayed on the phone and discussed what we should do. my stepdad was with my mom so we decided to wait until we heard from him.

her vitals were ok but they wanted her to stay at the hospital. my mom is really hard head and just wanted to be back home so they released her this morning at 7 am. although we (the "kids") want her to remain in the hospital, we don't want to fight with her and just want her to be ok. she was just really tired and wanted to go home and sleep ... which is what i'm trying to let her do but it's hard.

i brought her and my stepdad lunch and told her to relax while i started cooking. luckily the chef at my sister's workplace agreed to cook our turkey so that was a great blessing to us. when my sister came home from work, she had boxes to be unloaded from her car. her coworker gave us stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberries, and candied yams. talk about being blessed!!! my sister didn't know that he was going to give us all this food ... and was so touched she was crying. on a day when my mom couldn't be stressed, God really gave us a helping hand. although we were having our family and a couple of family friends over, there was a lot of food. not only did we have all the food above, we also had chinese steamed fish, chinese chicken salad, traditional type of stuffing (since i don't like fruity stuffing), macaroni salad, poke, korean meat stew, home baked apple pie, custard pie, and mochi ice cream. lol. my mom (like most moms) likes to have an abundance of food so that her guests can take some home.

my mom's doctor came over for dessert to check on her and also went over on friday to bring her the meds she needs. isn't that wonderful? my mom didn't even have to go to her office ... she came to her house! :) this thanksgiving, i am truely thankful for all that i'm blessed with.

m & t

sometimes at work i do make and takes (abbreviated to m&t) during lunch. i usually show my gfs how to make a card or i demo a technique. since we only hve an hour, i usually have to do something simple. it's funny how competitive they are (trying to out do one another) as to who has the cutest card. they even rag on each other when one makes a mistake but it's all in good fun. one of my gfs, mona, loves snowmen so i'm going to do a m&t of the card in the blog below. i simplified the card a little so it'll be easier to complete during the lunch. i still think it's cute! :) i'm doing the m&t during lunch tomorrow ... i'll try to take pics of them so you can see the results. ;)

{products used: galaxy black marker med tip; sakura 05 black marker; powder bazzil paper; deja views rub-ons; versa magic pixie dust chalk ink pad; brilliance platinum planet & pearlescent sky blue ink pads; making memories snowflake foam stamp & silver brads; fun craft grosgrain ribbon}

"christmas card emergency"

my cousin sherrie is hillarious. she is one of those people that you just want to be best friends with. she's down to earth, crazy, and one of the coolest people i know. she told me a while ago that her coworkers wanted to do a christmas card exchange and that she HAD to participate in it so she asked if i could help. {ironically, sher is really creative and has a great eye for design. she makes great invitations and announcement cards and i really didn't know why she needed my help!) i told her no problem but started to fret at what kind of card she wanted to do. i didn't hear from her and called her about two weeks ago regarding it. she was sick but called me a week later about her "christmas card emergency". lol.

i knew we were going to meet on saturday so i pulled all my christmas card and craft mags for inspiration. anyway, she brought over some pictures of cards (that she didn't want to do because all her coworkers had seen them too). when i saw the pictures, i immediately showed her a couple of similar cards and recommended that she do the snowman card (that she ultimately decided on). the only thing i asked was that she make one extra for me. it was a lot of fun, especially because she thought she was cheating because she had a whole store full of supplies (my craft room) but i told her that her it wasn't her fault that her coworkers didn't have fabulous cousins like me and that they could have easily gone to a scrapbook store and made cards there (and have access to a lot of resources like she did). i really liked the way the card came out and will probably do it as a make and take for my gfs at work. the only thing i would have done differently is instead of fish-tailing the ribbon (scarf) ends, i would have frayed it so that it looked more like a scarf. (it was my idea to fish tail it in the first place ... why don't i get these bright ideas sooner???) ;) {giggle} isn't the card cute? :) i LOVE it!!!

halloween

this is the fourth time i'm writing this ... sometimes i never learn. =P for some reason when i tried to post my pictures, after i wrote my blog, it all disappeared. so for now, i'm just going to post the pics and will blog about it next time. lol.

busy ...

i've been soo busy lately ... working on weekends, helping take care of my brother's kids while he's away, worrying about my mom while she has surgery and helping take care of things at home, taking classes, studying, studying, and studying. =P whew! the good news ... actually the BEST news is that mom's surgery went well and she's going to be ok. :)

my brother is gone for another 2 weeks and since my mom is recovering and my sis-in-laws family is going out of town soon, will still be helping out with the munchkins and hopefully be planning my niece's 8th bday party. of course i still have an exam to study for and i pray to God will pass. my memory is terrible and no matter how much i study it seems as though nothing is setting in. :( i just have to keep remembering not to stress out - not to give up. i can always take the class again right? i've been too distracted lately but hopefully i can cram this week and get back on track. :)

horiscopes

not that i put any stock into astrology/horiscopes (in fact i think they're evil because of how much people use them to rule their lives) but one of my best friends sent my profile to me and even though he knows how i feel about them, i know why he did when i read it.

everything that's in yellow, is what applies to me. everything in black is what they recommend i do and i agree with them.

Hypersensitivity and insecurity define you, but if not for them, you wouldn't work nearly so hard to be the mensch that you are. Despite your impeccable intuition and instincts, your fear of failure and rejection thwarts you from setting and achieving goals. Hence the important role that supporters and admirers play in your life. Since you're incorrigibly impressionable to the perceptions of others, seek believers and encouragers. Strong, confident personalities who catch your eye tend to cross your path recurrently. Cultivate relationships with the safest, most emotionally securing of these potential mentors. An assertiveness trainer can show you how to conquer your passive past. A loving relationship is your link to being the best that you can be. Each stride you make will work synergistically with the next because the more secure you become, the less comfort you'll find in melancholy. You may eventually cease to subordinate your own happiness and pleasure to that of others. You'll always run to the rescue of troubled souls. But as you build a nest with someone who soothes your own troubled soul, you'll live less vicariously and ever more vigorously.

as you can see - most of it is yellow & black. lol. my friend reminded me that this doesn't define me and that i can change ... if i want to. i know having him as my friend makes me start working on the things in yellow- even if he's just my friend.