Happy St. Patrick's Day

March 2014  Hi there!  How are you?  Are you celebrating "The wearin' o' the green"  today?  I've always loved St. Paddy's Day, but we're not doing anything special today, I'm sorry to say.  We have sunshine, blessed sunshine, and the earth is greening up, so I'll take that.  ☘️🌈   I've done posts on St. Patrick's Day and Ireland in previous years.  If you're interested in reading one, the pictures are on the sidebar; just click the picture and it will take you to the post.   

March 2015   Well once again, I've let a whole month go by without posting here.  I had really planned to do better about that this year, but the year has started off on a roller coaster -- again.  My dermatologist, actually the P.A. that I see once a year, found a skin cancer on the side of my nose.  It was so small that I never even saw it, but I'm lucky she's so thorough at those annual exams.  I had to go to a cosmetic surgeon to have it removed the first week of February.  They explained to me that when a skin cancer is found on our face, they prefer to send us to the Skin Center because these surgeons are experts at removing the cancer on a cell-by-cell basis.  That way, they can tell when they've gotten all the cancer, and they remove as little skin and tissue as possible, thereby leaving a much smaller scar as a result.    I would hate to think what it would have looked like if someone less knowledgeable and experienced had done the procedure because I looked like a fright for the first two or three days afterward.  There was lots of swelling and bruising, but it seems to be healing nicely now.    The very next day after my surgery, my husband's great-aunt passed away suddenly, and we were all shocked.  Granted she was 95 (just a few weeks away from 96) but as far as we all knew, she was in pretty good health.  We were so sorry to lose such a fun, witty, and interesting member of our family.  She was the last of her siblings to pass away, her husband died over 28 years ago, and she had said very recently that she was ready to go.  Just the same, we will all miss her.    Then on March 4, a month after my little surgical procedure, my mom had knee replacement surgery on her right knee.  She had the left knee replaced eight years ago, and what a difference.  The earlier surgery was a major ordeal.  She had to be in the hospital for three days, and she had to receive a blood transfusion (which we were told wasn't really unusual with a knee replacement).  Then after she went home, she had several weeks of painful physical therapy.   This time, the surgeon performed robotic surgery, and wow!  She was told that the actual surgery only lasted about 15 or 20 minutes -- amazing.  She spent that night at the hospital and went home the next day after lunch.  I spent the night with her that night, and my sister stayed the next night.  We alternated nights that first week, but after that, she's been okay to stay on her own.  We're still going over to help her out, as she's not allowed to drive for a month after the surgery.  She is having physical therapy in her home, but I don't think she'll have as much as she did eight years ago.     So, even though I had the best intentions to post more often this year, life happens, doesn't it?  Also, to be perfectly honest, it was hard to get in the mood to post on my blog when all it did was rain around here -- just one, gray, dismal day after another for weeks on end.  That didn't have a positive impact on my mood, I can tell you.  😒  We're being cautious about saying anything, 😉  but it does seem like things are starting to look up now.    For more upbeat news, my pansies are blooming, and I'm glad to see their cheerful faces on our front porch.   

   Last, but not least, I'm taking a calligraphy class on Monday evenings.  I've only been to one class so far, but I enjoyed it.  Maybe I'll show some of my work when I've made a little more progress.  Anyone out there do calligraphy?  I'm just learning the italic style right now, but later would like to learn copperplate.   Thanks so much for your visit, dear friends!  If you're still reading, thank you for being patient.  I had a lot of catching up to do.  I'd love to hear what you've been up to.  Have a wonderful week!!   Hugs,