Bye Bye 2010

A little bit rocky this year, 2010, and I'm glad to move on to a new one.

It wasn't all doom and gloom, there was lots of happiness, but I am looking forward to 2011.

A bright, shiny new beginning....

Merrily............

                                                   Warmest Wishes for a Very Merry Christmas!

Wrappings in Red

Getting my wrapping done today. I love the matryoshka tissue and tags that I found at World Market this year. Lots of red dotted love!

Holiday Fun

I went in to Em's class today and helped the kids make gingerbread houses. It was a blast to see what they came up with. All that candy and gooey icing!!

I got together a great craft for Em's class as well. I found the idea on Crafty Crow and added glitter. I prepared by making part of it ahead. First drizzle hot glue all over cardboard. Then you cut out a circle and spray with glue. Foil is pressed down on the glue. This is when the kids take over and color each area with a permanent marker, leaving the ridges silver. Then they take the ornament to a box where we sprayed more glue on top and it was off to the glitter tray. Finally, we put a string through a punched hole and bagged them to keep the glitter contained on the way home. I was lucky to have lots of help getting the ornaments ready and helping during the process.

The only other thing I added was a paper cut out on the back of the ornament for each student's name and I also included the teacher's name and year.
It was so much fun and I am so glad it is over and we can relax and enjoy this next week. It is snowing here-lightly-so pretty.
My Bell's Palsy is slowly getting a bit better. I have more control over my mouth and eyelid. :-)

Peppermint Sticks

A sampling of Christmas around here.....

Merry...finally

Well, I'm finally ready to start blogging again. I am not completely healed--it will take some time--but I am on the road and seeing some progress. I woke up on the third of November with half of my face paralyzed. The doctor reassured me that it wasn't a stroke, but it is Bell's Palsy. A cranial nerve gets damaged and it completely paralyzes one side of your face. My eyelid droops, mouth droops, tongue, cheek and nose are numb. My sense of taste, smell, and ability to eat are all affected. It does usually reverse itself at a painfully slow rate. It has been 4 weeks and just small improvements, so far. I am thankful for those, though. I can eat solid foods (on one side) and I don't require a straw to drink.
The hardest parts are the purely vain, looking strange and having people stare and then there were the medications with awful side effects. Most of all though I miss smiling with my whole face and the nuances of expression. It will get better though, I just have to have a lot of patience (who has a lot of that?)
During the month I busied myself with a few Christmas stuffies. I've seen ideas all over the place. The sort of gingerbread man pictured above is inspired by a project in "Fa La La Felt" by Amanda Carestio. The project from the book is by Cathy Gaubert.