Sew excited

Guess what I received in the mail today? Yep, a new sewing machine, thread, bobbins, patterns, etc from my uncle. I'm excited to start sewing again. After I mistreat my shower curtain, I plan to make this frilly shirt pattern for myself. :-)

Seeing Stars

It's no secret that I love nature and particularly birds. Recently I've started incorporating stars into the home decor as well.I adore these mirror stars, but I'm having trouble placing them. They're in the living room right now, but they may end up in the kitchen by the end of the day.

This one is perfect here, even though the points come off the wall. Love seeing this when I come in. My whole living room theme is "smile-inducing."

Not sure how long this one will stay here at the end of the hall either. It may end up over my bed soon. It was rustic looking, but I'm not exactly a country chick (although the picnic basket right there may send me over the edge,) so I spray painted it ink black. Now that's more like it. This baby was just a few bucks at a thrift store. I picked it up before going to Washington.

More on cleaning, organizing, decorating to come. Oh, and I created a "spa Secret Garden Bathroom Retreat," and will post pictures soon!

4 Days in Pictures

Keep praying for healing, for safe travel and for my family while I'm away. Thanks, dear friends!

Refocusing

Well, I've spent the last 24 hours in a fog, crying off and on. I didn't sleep well, and my mind has been a bit hazy. So thankful that my sisters and parents were all here last night.

I have a fantastic family.

Can you tell Vu got cold last night? I keep my thermostat on 68 usually, and my poor family froze.

Yes, I did turn it up eventually!

Mimi has been her usual self: cheerful, the glass is always "half-full," and "we're taking one day at a time." I still have so much to learn from her.

When I was on the phone with my Dad earlier, again on the verge of tears, I told him how much I've been struggling with directing my thoughts. He reminded me of Ecclesiastes 3.
There Is A Time for Everything
1 For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.

Right now is my time to rejoice that I have TIME; that I can go and see my Mimi; that we can build even more memories; that I can hug her and see her and enjoy her laugh. It is not my time to grieve. Mimi is here. And I have to believe that she will be here longer. I have to believe that God has a mighty purpose He will bring about because of this. Already He is teaching me new things.

And, instead, of being scared of leaving on my last day, I will look forward to our next visit (hopefully in May, if she feels up to it.)

Anyway, I'm just processing a tad of this "out loud." The rest I will hold in right now.

My mom posted pictures of our last visit with Mimi and Papaw. I posted a couple of them, too, and you can click on over to view the rest.

This little man will be coming with me. :-) He can always make me smile.

I'm Broken tonight

I really don't even know what to write. I'm tired from crying. I'm just not okay tonight. But who cares? About me, that is. I'm not what matters. I love my Mimi.

Mimi, I love you so much.Friends, I'm asking you to continue to pray. Pray for healing. Pray for peace. Pray for support. And for protection while I travel. And for my family while I'm gone. But especially for peace.

Psalm 29: 11 The LORD gives strength to his people;
the LORD blesses his people with peace.

From my Papaw:
Well, brethren, the news is not good tonight. And a lot of you have already heard by telephone or word-of-mouth that we got the results this afternoon of Minnie's PET Scan. The pancreatic cancer has returned and this time it is not operable. We will discuss her options with the radiologist on Tuesday. Radiology will not cure cancer; it may delay it and make some of the symptoms more endurable. When I asked the oncologist this afternoon how much longer she has, he told me there was no way to know. It could spread very rapidly or if it is more localized, the radiology might slow it down and a year from now see what we are faced with. She is so thankful for this past year the Lord gave her since finishing chemo last January. She was able to see both Cheryl & Jeannine's family in Arkansas in May including all 8 of the great-grandchildren. Timothy and Jon both visited her at home and she got to see her family in Texas in November. Minnie is thankful she was able to finish quilts for all of the great-grandchildren, including the three who will be born this spring. That's a total of 11 great-grandchildren and how blessed we are--and she made two more baby quilts for the next two that we believe the Lord will give us.

Minnie has the Lord's peace in her heart and she has told many people that the Lord "doeth all things well." He has His reasons for what He does and she looks forward to seeing our Lord and her parents and sister who are already in heaven ahead of her. But it is so painful for her to leave the large family here and friends and so many who love her so much. "To depart and be with Christ is far better," but the pain of separation requires special grace from the Lord. But "He gives us more grace" and has promised, "My grace is sufficient for you." I am reminded of Job's words, "Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?" Job 2:10 HCSB

So we live one day at a time and thank God for it and say, "This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it." There may be many more days ahead than we think and for that we will be thankful.

Trusting in our Lord to work all things together for good,

Bill & Minnie Burnside

Random decorating happiness

Sometimes I just need to do something crafty for fast therapy. You know, those days when everything kinda goes wrong, and you just need a pick-me-up in the evening, instead of doing the pile of laundry. So, I decided to recover all of my light switches and outlet plates, starting in the kitchen and living room.

Before (plain, blah... the wall color is off too.)

After (happy swirliness)

Kitchen covers

The polka dot, below, was my first attempt at fabric covering, and I think it turned out pretty nice... and the coating on top makes it wipe-able.

What do you think? It's not perfect by any means. And, yes, I realize that my switch plates probably need a good scrubbin'... but the point is that it makes me smile. And I like things that make me smile. :-)

Coal, we will miss you

Coal

It is with deep sadness that I announce the death of my parents' beloved dog, Coal,
a Black Lab, son of champions and friend to anyone he met.
Avid runner& hiker, strong and beautiful.
He adored his best friend, Sally. She stayed with him until the end.

You will be deeply missed but never forgotten.
Love, Wendy

Okay, I know this doesn't sounds like me. I'm not a big "animal person."
I don't love the smell, hair on my clothes, barking...
but I still have a soft heart towards them, even if I don't own one.
Sally and Coal were great together.
They were fun, energetic,
great for my kids,
running partners for my folks.
I felt better knowing that my Mom was out with her big dogs, not all alone.

Proof that dogs are good for the soul

But let me back up. I'm just going to copy in an email I wrote to a friend, to make this faster and easier:
On Saturday my parents' dogs disappeared. The gate was shut, and there were no clues.

This morning my parents checked the animal shelter and the lab rescue, but no luck. Then we had a tip from a friend this afternoon, but it didn't pan out either. The dogs were not my mom's. While my mom was checking out that lead, another friend stopped by here and said that he had spotted two dogs (one that was down.) I went to check it out myself, because I didn't want my mom to find one of her dogs dead. Sure enough, it was them. :-(
Sally was okay-- just tired, cold, hungry....she wouldn't leave her sidekick Coal, who must have been hit. I didn't get too close. I had all four kids with me, and it was difficult to hold on to one large black lab, and call my mom on the cell phone. My poor mom. This has been a rough day on her. She got Sally home and then went back to make sure that Coal was not suffering. He wasn't. She was able to say her good-byes....came back sobbing. I feel so sad for her.

This is on the heels of an already emotional day.