Blogtember Challenge: Day Three: When I grow up

Day Three of the blogtember challenge is "When I grow up, I want to be.." Honestly, that has somewhat changed since I was five years old but then again it has not. I always wanted to fly and I've had that chance. I wouldn't mind completing my private pilot license but i don't know that I would want to make it a job. That might make it boring because someone else would control the destination. I would prefer flying a private plane so I could fly where and when I want to. Yes, I do need the wind beneath my wings.(Insert Bette Midler song here) haha.

My real dream since sewing over the years has been to be a fashion designer. I don't know if I would do just children's clothing or move on to ladies fashions. It's a toss-up! I like kids fashions because they are usually easier to sew and fit! We as ladies understand that the more curves, the more sewing problems! This is why most models are stick figures and not real women. Wops did I just say that! LOL

My other dream is to teach kids or teenagers to sew. In my local county, there are no more sewing classes or even home-economics courses. Yes, we have Joann fabrics and quilting shops but they are not really teaching kids much about sewing. I don't know many teenagers that want to sew a pillowcase as their only project. My mother said when she was a girl they had home-ec classes in the basement of their church. A majority of girls in the church participated and therefore learned to really sew. Maybe it's an older tradition, but I think these teenagers need something to keep their fingers busy - things other than cell phones!

Another passion of mine are my girls and kids in general. I love seeing a smiling face. I know so many parents that don't allow their kids to play with playdough because they are afraid to mess up the carpet! Really?! I also have a heart for orphans...maybe someday when I have a million dollar mansion, I will fill it up with bunk beds and kids! :) Then I'll stay up all night to sew them all nice wardrobes! Or maybe I'll just wait til I get to heaven and God will let me sew the choir robes!

Ok, so back off my cloud and down to earth....I have passions for different things but now is not the time or the season. God's plan and purpose for me right now is my family. To be my husband's help mate and my daughters mother. All of which I try to do everyday and will until God reveals another purpose for my life. Well, see you tomorrow and come back...Sew Hungry For More!

Challenge Day Two: My Happiness

My Happiness

Day Two of the blog-tember challenge is What makes you happy? When I think about it, this is an interesting challenge to see what others will post about what makes them happy. It also helps us read about what we may have in common.

So here's my order: My God, My Husband, My children (two girls - one six, one three), My family and friends, My scotish terrier, A kiss from my husband, Messy craft day with my kids, Teaching home-school (first grade), Cooler weather, A good cup of coffee with lots of creme, Krispy Kreme Donuts, Pumpkin donuts from Dunkin, A nice fitting pair of jeans, An evening out with friends/family, A fabric store, A morning when the kids sleep in and my husband and I wake up for a bible study, Getting in the runway pattern with a Piper Cherokee then turning off the engine and gliding in for a landing in God's hands, A solo flight, sewing a new dress, eating my mother's cream chicken over biscuits, Thanksgiving, Christmas, a date night with my hubby, helping one another, participating in my church nursery and making kids smile, FREE stuff that you actually need or want!, the Quilt show, chatting techie stuff with my brother, catching up with old friends, making new friends, blogging, boots, designing a new pattern, Pinterest!, singing a good song, going antiquing with my BFF, smelly soap - the good kind! and whew...this list is getting long!

Truly, there are many things that make me happy. I try to look at the little things too. I remember first getting out of "OCS" Officer Candidate School and enjoying sleeping back in my bed, waking up when I wanted and eating the food I wanted! Plus I was actually able to take a long hot shower by myself!! LOL I can also remember when I had my second daughter and I was in the hospital for 8 weeks before my c-section. I was SO HAPPY again to sleep in my own bed, eat what I wanted, and not have all those monitors attached to me!!

I know also that my husband and I are both happier having had his right corneal transplant completed and we look forward to the future because at least now we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Life is good, Life is happy....so come back Sew Hungry for More!

Blog-tember daily posts challenge - September 1st - My Landing Pattern

So have any of you seen this challenge on Brave Love? It just looked interesting to me and I thought I would join in to help my blog and myself grow more into blogging. Actually, this is just the challenge I think I'm up for! Feel free to join in if you have a blog yourself or to follow other favorite blogs as we vow to blog everyday on these topics.

I'm a little behind, but here is the topic for September 1st: Imagine the front sleeve of a hard cover novel. Give us your "About the Author" so we can get to know one another, and for fun tell us what your imaginary novel would be about.

When I was a little girl, I always imagined what it would be like to fly a plane. I drew airplanes for a while and even glued together model airplanes. Then in the sixth grade, I received a VHS in the mail. Not just any VHS tape, but it was my cousin on his first flight! I burned with jealously, but knew my parents could never afford this type of adventure for me.

On my twenty first birthday I surprised myself with my first flight in a Cessna at my local airport. Little did I know that I would soon land a well paying job after college that allowed me to fly a Piper Cherokee for the next three years. However, right before obtaining my private pilot licence, September 11, 2001 happened and I decided to join the navy to fly.

After weeks of long hard hours, I was discharged from Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida due to anemia. Coming home disappointed, discouraged and broke, I moved into a home with my parents near the airport I once flew at for three years. I would walk in my neighborhood and look up at the planes in the runway pattern. Little did I know that in that pattern would be my parents new home, my church where my future husband was leading music and our first house.

The novel would be called: My Landing Pattern.

I'm linking this article up to the blog-tember challenge as stated above. Please feel free to comment. Hopefully you have gotten to know me more and always come back...Sew Hungry For More.

Update on my husband's recovery

"Things look Good." Dr. Bowden advised my husband. It's been four weeks now since his surgery and things are looking good. No signs of infection, no signs of scratching, and only signs of healing. He still has to wait two more months before the stitches come out in the right eye and we will then see if Dr. Bowden will let him proceed with surgery on the left eye. So for now it's all about letting God heal his eye and preparing my husband for the left corneal transplant. Stay turned for more updates as things happen and feel free to comment or ask questions regarding the transplant.

Honey, we need to call the eye doctor...

"my contact just fell out!" My husband said calmly. He said he saw a gray film along the outside of his vision and all the sudden he was seeing more clearly. He wiped his eye, the gray film caught the tissue and POP. Out fell the Prokera ring that was placed on his new cornea to release helpful medicines into his eye. It was scary, but it had been ten days since the surgery and we were scheduled to see the doctor the next day. We called Dr. Bowden's office to ask if we should rush him in for a check up of his eye. They called back with an appointment time, basically get there as soon as possible. We gobbled up lunch and drove all the way across town to the doctors office.

When at the doctors office, my husband was checked to see his current vision. His right eye registered at about 20/50 on this date, but not much of a change since the day after surgery. They examined the wound and it was healing as it should. While the ring fell out on it's own, everything seemed intact. He was advised that a different porous contact lense would be placed in his eye. This would be more like a plastic band-aid to help the eye continue to heal and protect the stitches.

My husband was asked to come in about ten days time to check on the lense placed in his eye. Things are "looking" better for him every day. Healing is continuing and so are his many, many drops. He is now able to do a few things but should still avoid running or any other strenuous activities. We keep his eye covered most of the time with a clear patch and elastic around his head. My daughters kindly say that dad's a pirate!!

We have another doctors appointment soon and at that point we will see if he needs another contact lense or if he is able to just wear an external eye patch. So as always come back...Sew Hungry For More!

AKH

The Days after the transplant

"Ok, Mr. H, we are now going to remove the patch and I want you to tell me what you see." The nurse stated as she began to pull up an eye chart for my husband. As they removed the patch, my husband looked at me and smiled, "Wow, I can see you more clearly honey!" We both were trying to hold back from crying. The nurse ran through the regular eye chart routine. They were evaluating his sight. I asked what his vision is rated as of now. "It looks to be about 20/40!"

We again waited and were placed in another room for Dr. Bowden's evaluation. "What's his vision now?" Dr. Bowden asked the nurse. "20/40" she stated. "Really!? That's fantastic!" The doctor stated. We were advised to keep up all the drops/the prescriptions. I think there are like 10 bottles and we use them about 2 hours to 1 hour apart! At first it was a lot on me as my husband had to rest and couldn't see with one eye to accurately place the drops on his eye. (Weeks have gone by and now he's a big boy again, doing the drops by himself.) Before we left, the doctor placed a dissolving ring/eye contact on my husband's eye. This distorted his view completely again as it was film and plastic. However, the contact was to dissolve over 10 days and place medicine into the eye to allow even more healing.

As we left the office, I asked what my husband's vision was two years ago when we were advised he needed the surgery. "Let's see," said the nurse, "20/400!!" My husband had to have all 5 layers of his cornea replaced because of all the scarring and bad tissue in his eye. Now after surgery, so far so good! Dr. Bowden informed us that this is probably the BEST outcome he has ever had for this type of replacement. Most people have very fuzzy eyesight after the surgery and it's hard for them to see the biggest E on the eye chart. At the same time, my husband and I are not that surprised. We have been praying to God and knew it was in his hands. Our church has been praying as well. God is good. And while it was a little nerve racking, we know that God is faithful when we are faithful.

Well, gotta go...I'll blog about the ring coming out in my next post as well as our crazy last few weeks with doctors appointments about every three days! So come back...Sew Hungry for more!

AKH

Right Corneal Transplant

"Hey, Can I have some more of those numbing drops?" My husband asked as he awoke from his right corneal transplant. "Sure, let's get some of those over here," The doctor stated as he was finishing sewing up the last of the stitches.

That morning had been a long morning. Probably my longest ever. We woke up before the sun rose and drove to the first surgery center. While I waited in a room, Dr. Bowden cut my husband's right cornea in the other room. They left it in place, patched it up and we went to Baptist Surgery Center to complete the operation. While I drove my husband, I asked him, "How do you feel?". He said, "Well that was a weird experience. But they did give me some valium." It was funny, he was relaxed. I on the other hand was nervous and scared about the major procedure about to occur. Why did he have to get his eye cut at one place? Well, the doctor wanted to do a zigzag cut that would be more precise and allow better healing when the new cornea was installed. We both know he was the expert, so we didn't question the procedure.

When we arrived at Baptist Surgical Center, We waited in the waiting room. Dr. Bowden had to finish up with the patients at his center, then also drive to the surgical center. I think we waited an hour. My husband was number 3 in line, but he was the only corneal transplant that day. When they called my husband back, they prepped him to wait in the back before the surgery. They placed an IV in his hand, a heart monitor complete with stickers to the chest, a gown on his upper body and placed his shoes in a bag. He was ready! I looked at the doctors board and noticed he was an hour behind. I could see the other two patients ahead of us in make shift rooms as there were only blue curtains between us. And so we waited...again.

Over an hour later, we were still waiting. It was lunch time. The nurses were warming their lunches in the breakroom and the smell of chinese food caught wind. Sniff...Mmmmm. We were both hungry. My husband jokingly asked where his was and the nurses laughed. "It's wrong you know to have a patient lose 65lbs just to have surgery and on the day of, you decide to smell the hallway with food smells!" He stated. We laughed about it and continued to wait. Finally the anesthesiologist came to my husband and introduced himself. We also watched the two other men go back to the operating room and then go to the recovery room. The time had come. I knew I had to slip out to the waiting room and wished my husband well with a kiss.

An hour passed and I was still in the waiting room. Two hours passed. I went to the nurses desk to ask if the procedure was over. "Not yet, Mrs. H. We will call you back when it is." They told me. I called a few family members and friends to talk about my husband's status and to check on my girls. Finally, after what seemed like forever, they called me back. When I approached the back, he was patched up and sitting up. He was eating graham crackers and drinking water. The nurse stated he would be ready to leave in about 15 minutes!!

As I said, this was a long day on August 4, 2014. We woke up at 5:30am and didn't return to our home until 2:30pm!! I had a headache after only eating a pop-tart, coffee, some crackers and a lot more coffee!! My husband needed help up the stairs and Grammy still had the girls. I called her to check on their status as my husband soon fell asleep. Whew..my 3 year old had just laid down for a nap. So I decided to take one too after this long day. As they say, now the real work begins as my husband's restrictions are to do...NOTHING! And I will talk later about how he is currently doing as well as his eyesight in a later posting. For now, gotta go...come back Sew Hungry for More.