It's been more than a year since I have posted. Facebook has been my mode of connection with people. A lot has happened in the past year. The biggest change is that my oldest sister and best friend, Linda has had her cancer become active again. Linda is 11 years older than me and we are alike in so many ways. Let me back up a bit and give you her story: I wrote this for "Linda's story" on Caring Bridge, it's told from my point of view: My dates might not be exact but here is the gist of the story. Back in 1995 Linda was diagnosed with lung cancer and part of her lung was removed. 2 years after that a spot was found on her pelvic bone. Radiation was how it was treated and 15 great years ensued! Linda had her first hip replaced and recovered well from that. A second hip replacement was done in May, 2011. By January of 2012 the hip replacement was becoming painful and walking was extremely difficult for her. A revision was planned and Dr. Hartman found that her pelvic bone was disinegrating and the hip replacement wasn't attached to that bone anymore. Dr. Hartman sent her to Mayo Clinic for further evaluation.It was discovered that Linda had radiation induced sarcoma and chemotherapy began. Late in February, Linda began a regimen of adriamyacin every 3 weeks. After 2 treatments scans showed that the tumors had shrunk immensely. 6 doses of adriamycin were given with great results. No more than 6 doses can be given because the drug attacks the heart and a heart attack could occur. With her last set of scans, Dr. Schwartz (oncologist) sent her to Mayo Clinic for a second opinion as to how to proceed. On July 17, I took Linda down to Mayo and we spoke with Dr. Marx. He agreed with Dr. Schwartz that a single agent chemo was best and that gemzar was effective and had minimal side effects. On August 3, I took Linda for her first dose of gemzar. It went well but I noticed her being weaker on the trip home than the trip to the clinic. I had to use the wheelchair to get her into the house instead of her using her walker (she is non weight bearing on the right leg since January). I got her settled and asked if she wanted me to stay until her daugther Becca showed up. She told me she was just going to sleep and to go home. At 6pm Becca called me. Linda had gone to the bathroom and yelled to Becca to come help her. She couldn't get off the toilet herself. Linda also said to call Aunt Jane for help. While waiting for Jane, Becca asked Linda to help support her and she couldn't. Her left side was weak. Then Linda had a "seizure-like" episode. Jane and Becca called 911 and she was transported to Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. At the emergency room, a neurologist sent her for an CT scan of her head. The results showed bleeding and swelling in the brain as well as a tumor on the right frontal lobe. She was put into the neuro ICU and we went home for the night. Saturday, August 4th, Dr. Seng (oncologist on call) said that the results showed blood in the mass and that's what caused her seizure-like episode. The cancer had metastasized to her brain. Sunday, August 5th, Dr. Dyste, neurosurgeon, told Linda that after consulting with an oncologist and internist that surgery was very viable. The reason why surgery was a good option is because the previous cancer has been contained for months! This was scary but good news. Tuesday, August 7th Linda had a brain MRI at 6:30am and brain surgery at 8:30am. Dr. Dyste was very pleased with the results and said within 7 days we should see improvement on her left side. Biopsy results will be Thurs or Friday. Wednesday, August 8th a cat scan was done to show if there was any bleeding in the brain and there wasn't. Linda was transferred from ICU to the regular neuro floor. She needs healing now and time to recover. Today, 10/12/12 we found out that Linda will be going to Our Lady of Peace hospice. It's a place where cancer patients who have no more treatment offered to them can go to live out their final days free of charge. I have been Linda's "rock" through the past 10 months and I am so thankful that God put me back in Mn so that I am here for her. She is the oldest of 5 and I am the youngest but we are soooooooooo alike. There's a lot more to this story but for now please keep our family in your prayers. My daughter gets married in 2 weeks and I just want Linda to hang on until after this happy time is over. Selfish? Maybe, but I think it's a small thing to ask God for. I also ask that God allow me to be with Linda at the final hours of her life. We've been through a lot of this journey together and I want to finish it with her. Please pray for us.

911 10th Anniversary

I cannot believe it has been 10 years since the terrorist attack on the USA. Today, as a parent of a firefighter, I am even more in tune with that day. Firefighters, police, and paramedics all rushed into the terror of the Twin Towers as they were collapsing. I cannot even imagine the fear that these men and women felt when doing their job at a level that I hope they NEVER have to experience ever again in their careers.

As the mother of a firefighter, I say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for the job you do. I remember where I was that day. Do you?

Wedding Quilt

My niece and goddaughter got married to the love of her life on Saturday, June 18th, 29 years to the day that I married the love of MY life! Steve and I were thrilled when Jackie and Greg chose their date and we now share an anniversary!

Jackie grew up in MN and is a huge Twins/Vikings fan. Greg grew up in WI and is a huge Brewers/Packers fan! There is a lot of fun in their house when it comes to sports, although the Twins/Brewers only play each other once a summer. My sister and I decided to make them a tshirt quilt that depicts this division! LOL I had to scour 2nd hand stores for more Twins/Vikes shirts (not hard to find in MN) and Packers/Brewers shirts (CHALLENGING) in order to make it work! Here is the final product!!!

Here are Jackie and Greg after the rehearsal and opening their gift! They LOVED it and I know it will get a lot of use/love! It's always a thril when the quilt/gift is appreciated!
And here is a pic of Jackie and Greg after cutting their cake. They were a beautiful couple and the day was perfect! I hope they enjoy many happy years together...just like Steve and I have!

Mini Messenger

This pattern came to me in the May/June McCall's Quilting magazine. The designer is Darci Wright. It's just an adorable way to tote your Ipad/Kindle or any other small electronic device. It can go across the chest so there's no falling off of your shoulder, making it a great purse for a shopping trip too!!! There's plenty of room for a small wallet as well. This is the one I made for myself.
Isn't it nice and springy?

I also made one for the caretaker of our condo building! Kathy saw the one above and fell in love with it! I was sneaky and asked her what her favorite colors were. She said purple and she always loves earthy tones. YEP...I found fabric for one! This is the inside. I added a pocket for the cell phone but if I do it again, I'd move it up higher on the back. I wanted to conceal the one seam into the base of the holder not realizing how deep it would be. Oh well...live and learn!

Cute? I think so!

I hope she likes it!

Water damage...

Well, this is one time I'm glad this happened in a condo and not in a single family home! Our homeowner's association will pay for the damage...which started with dripping water last night...a slow drip but dripping nonetheless! This morning the adventure of where it was coming from began! It started out with this small hole cut into our soffit...this told the men that a plumber needed to be called. Later in the afternoon, the plumber shows up and decides he needs to make the original hole bigger in order to see better. That didn't work so well so he had to make a HUGE hole above the microwave. (this is an interior wall) He's still not 100% sure about where the source of this water is...

He has made a big mess so far though...

He decides to make a smaller hole over to the left and now he's convinced that the drip is between hole #2 (in this picture) and hole #3. Hopefully, tomorrow he comes and replaces a large portion of the pipe and puts in a new one. More demolition to follow!!!

Our temps here in MN were sub-zero to barely above zero so I stayed inside and quilted!! I bought this fabric the last time I was in CA to visit my friend Laurie. I appliqued the hearts and finally put it together! I figured it was perfect for Valentine's Day! Here's a close-up of some of the hearts and the border fabric. I think I like it!!! Tomorrow...a backing for it!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Big City girl

I am a big city girl. I grew up in Rochester, Mn which was a medium sized town. Since then...St. Paul, Apple Valley MN, Burnsville MN, Overland Park KS and now Minneapolis MN. I love love love big cities! Chicago is a place near and dear to my heart as well...did I say I love love love big cities???!!!!!!!

There is always so much to do. Concerts, great restaurants, shopping, public transportation, and so much more. Plus...in a large city you always have the suburbs to explore. You can also find peace and tranquility as well!

For example...when I left MN for KS, I missed the great quilt stores. BUT...I did find a couple that I liked a lot. One of them was in Lawrence, KS called Sarah's. She had fabric along with a lot of other stuff. Lawrence is home to the KU Jayhawks which we became fans of. I miss KS!!!

I love Mpls though too! We have great restaurants nearby and walk everywhere. Steve walks to work and we got rid of a car! Rush hour traffic doesn't exist for us anymore! YEP...it's a BONUS!!! What I do miss about urban living: a house, a deck, a yard, and not sharing walls with people. Nothing in life is perfect...but my life is!!!