Great Joy and Great Sadness...

Where to begin?  First, I want to wish my best buddy, Sonya, a very Happy Birthday!  I drove to my LNS where she works today to bring her her present.  I have been planning and plotting this present for almost a year, and I couldn't wait another day to give it to her.  Here is a picture.

 
 

Just a little background for you, Sonya loves tea, so at the beginning of the year I started looking for a tea cup.  I had seen tea cup pincushions all over the place on the internet, so decided this would be the perfect gift for her.  I finally found one on my trip to Virginia during the summer.  If you know me, you know how hard it is for me to keep a secret.  I have been dying to tell Sonya of this gift for ages.  The  next part was to search for the perfect pattern for the pincushion...one that incorporated the colors of the tea cup along with her favorite things.  I finally decided on the swan from the Castles in the air pattern offered on Papillon Creations, as the swan is another of her favorite things.  

 

Now, her gift had all her favorite things wrapped into one, a swan, tea and her love of needlework.  Lastly, I mixed some lavender with the stuffing of her pincushion, so it also includes her favorite scent.  I hope you have a very Happy Birthday my dear friend, you deserve the best!  Sonya helped me in so many ways as I struggled through my cancer treatment.  You truly are a gift from God!  Where would we be without our girlfriends, right ladies?

I have to mention here the sadness I feel today too.  Remember I've asked for prayers for DS's friend, T.  T is going through his third round of chemotherapy.  His last round was very difficult, he lost a lot of weight and had terrible issues with things too graphic to post here.  He even stayed a few nights in the ICU.  The last report from his Mom that was posted on Caring Bridge today was not good.  T has developed an infection.  His temperature is bouncing up and down, and so is his blood pressure.  He hasn't been able to keep any food down and any medical procedures they have tried recently to give him nourishment have failed.  They are praying he doesn't have to go back into the ICU.  Because it is cold and flu season, no one under the age of 16 can visit T and that means the majority of his friends.  He is missing his greatest supporters.  Along with the bad news, there is good news.  They have found a bone marrow donor for him, in fact they found two, who were willing to donate to him.  They are in Europe, so they will extract the bone marrow in Europe and fly it to the US where he will receive the transplant.  He has one more round of chemo to prepare his body for this after the first of the year.  If he can overcome the current issues and his numbers go back up he will be able to spend Christmas at home with his family.  He was able to spend his birthday (the same day as mine!) and Thanksgiving at home and it is our prayer that he will be able to spend Christmas at home as well.  Please pray for this strong, courageous young man.  It is breaking my heart to see this humorous, talented, big-hearted young man go through such trials.  And his family could use the prayers too.  Thank you.
  
This week has been a very difficult and stressful week.  Murphy's Law reigns supreme (did I mention that was my maiden name?  I SWEAR they wrote it about my family!!)  With trials coming from all corners of my life, work, family, church and even my internet family I have lost my stitching mojo.  I am struggling with a number of issues I think are from a medication I must take for another 4 years, forgetfulness, severe headaches and swelling in my arm, legs and feet.  It's just not fun to be me right now...I don't know what I will do, but if you don't hear from me for a while, sit tight, I'll be back soon.  You can't keep an addicted stitcher down for long.  In the meanwhile, try to remember the Reason for the Season and be kind to one another.  A little kindness goes a long way!  *Hugs*