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.