Here we are, another week came and went. A particularly busy one for me. Only 32 days left until Christmas! I just can’t believe how fast November has gone by!!
So this past Sunday we celebrated my moms birthday. I baked her her favorite kind of cake and we gathered for time together, cake, and presents. I found this recipe online for a lemon cake that had pretty high ratings. I made a few adjustments for taste and it turned out pretty well!
The texture was a little more dense than I was expecting, but the flavor was on point. It was topped with some lemon buttercream and a poor attempt at candied lemons. Honestly I should have read a recipe instead of thinking that it must be like candying ginger. But we live and we learn.
I made my mom a cardigan for her birthday, something functional and beautiful that would be a great piece for her real estate work. I based it on the It’s Shawl Good Cardigan by Heart Hook Home, but with my own additions and changes.
She really loves it and it fit her really well! I hope that it serves her well for years to come.
We all had such a great day together. We even got to see my favorite niece! She has grown so much! She has 5 teeth now! 2 on top and 3 on bottom! I was able to snag this precious one as they were getting ready to go.
Nova will be celebrating her first birthday this December!! It has FLOWN BY!! I can’t believe how big she has gotten already!
I’m not sure that I’ll be able to go to her party yet, but hopefully I will be able to.
At the very least I’ll send gifts!
I love being an aunt!
So aside from the much needed and enjoyed family time, I had a very hectic few days this week. See, a while back I got a referral from my doctor to see a specialist in our nearest metropolitan area, which is St. Louis. It’s about a 2 hour drive from here. I got that referral in February of 2018. Due to having to reschedule twice, and each time it was out about 8 months, I was just able to see the specialist.
I worked until 1am the night before, and the appointment was at 10, arriving by 9:30. So we had to be up and at em quite early. I barely got 2 hours of sleep unfortunately… and my medication still hadn’t worn off so I was really dragging. Of course it was also raining heavily most of the trip, because why not? Though we made it, on time even!
Things went well and it felt promising. I wasn’t dismissed at the door because of my age, which has happened twice to me in my area. She did quite a workup on me as well including 19 labs and 12 x-rays. So Again, thorough, and promising. I might start to get some answers for some of my symptoms and illnesses. I’ll keep you guys in the loop on that as well!
It’s really sad what people have to go through to find a decent doctor that isn’t burnt out or inexperienced. I know that so many suffer because of it because I have read story after story similar to mine. I have talked to a lot of others with chronic illnesses and it’s shocking how similar our stories are in what we go through with doctors. There has to be a way to fix this broken system of healthcare that allows so many patients to suffer and fall through the cracks.
Did you know that on average it takes someone 6 years to be diagnosed with lupus? I absolutely believe it! I’m 3 years into trying to find answers. I have found some but not the most elusive ones. Hopefully that will change in 2020 when I see my rheumatologist again. I don’t know what I have. I honestly don’t, but I do believe that it is autoimmune. I also know rheumatoid arthritis runs in my family. All I can do at this point is wait. I’m just very glad that the wheels are turning now. I was very impressed with the care I received all the way down to reception, the phlebotomist, and the imaging technician.
So what else is new.
I have redone the flower of life jacket I was working on and I feel SO much better about how it’s turning out! I made a secondary one before ripping out the old, I didn’t want to undo work then go back to the way I had it all for naught. So I made a second one and looked at them side by side and the winner was clear.
I’m sure you guys agree with my decision to keep the second draft of the project.
So I’ve been working on it more today and customizing the size a bit more for the customer, I’m going to try and finish it up this week and get on to my other projects.
I received another custom order today as well, for another Merry Jane Bag, one of my original designs.
I’m sure it’s going to make a great Christmas gift!
This time it will be darker colors so I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
I’m always flattered when friends entrust me to make something for their friends and loved ones as a gift. It’s an indescribable feeling.
I can’t wait to make another one of these though, the pattern is really fun!
Well, I hope you all had a great week! I’m gonna go ahead and wrap this up for the night!
Until next time!
sharebearcrochet.wordpress.com 