I am Ready for August to be over!!!

WARNING: This is Really LONG!

Hello Friends, I am popping in to share with all of you what I have been up to this month. Trust me when I say it has been nothing fun! This August has been one of the most trying months of my life personally and physically. It all started off with a visit to the ER and an overnight hospital stay. I wish I could say that my trip to the hospital "fixed" everything and that I felt better. Just the opposite, I am not sure I can feel any worse. It seems that each day brings it's own new set of problems and symptoms. I guess I should back up a bit for those of you that don't know what has been going on since January. . .

In January I remodeled my studio, I was so excited and it turned out beautifully! I was so happy with it and couldn't wait to start creating in it. It had what I though was that "new smell" but figured it would soon go away. I through myself in there and worked like crazy and had so much fun. By February I was having the strangest headaches. I have had migraines since I was 9 years old, but these were different, and I just couldn't get any relief from them. I hate going to the Dr but they were so bad and so constant that I finally went. They had no idea what they were and decided an MRI was in order. That weekend, I was standing in my shower praying that God wold make them go away or help me to know what they were from. And it came to me - they all started with the remodel of my studio! I got out if the shower, checked my calendar (I write everything in my calendar) and sure enough that is when the headaches started! I called a friend that loves research and we both got online and started researching the new building materials I had used. They were full of FORMALDEHYDE!!! So I headed to the Home depot to see what I could do to seal the offending gas in. I bought the products, emptied out my studio again and the next day Gary sealed the new built in shelving. Whew. . . I am home free I thought! Back to work I went in the studio. I cold still smell that "new smell" some but figured it was from the sealant and the paint. No worries, I had a beautiful space to create in and I had taken the steps to correct the problem and my headaches went away.

Fast forward to May when we shut up the house for the summer and turned the air conditioning on. Now the smell was back even stronger. It was not even just a smell but more like fumes now. I could feel them in my mouth and my chest every time I went in there, but no one else really did. My Daughter, Bryanna said she could smell it but she was the only one. I realized that I had added the same materials to my existing bookshelves when we did the remodel and Gary had not sealed them. But I was busy so I just kept working in there. I had lots of upcoming classes to prep for, a big birthday party that I was making things for and some personal projects I was working on and of course I have the girls everyday. I kept telling myself that when I got all caught up I would tear the studio apart again and get the bookshelves sealed. Then there was 2 trips to California, the birthday party and a couple more classes. The trips and the party added about 3000 photos to edit and so I locked myself in there for about 18 hours trying to get them all edited and uploaded before the 9cent sale at Costco photo was over. The whole time I was in there I could myself getting sicker and sicker but I really thought everything would be okay. Two days later I ended up in the hospital!!! I thought I was having a heart attack! I had been having these chest pains and the shortness of breath for a couple of months but not to this degree. After a battery of tests they decided my heart was fine and that I just needed some Zaniex and sleeping pills!!! I knew this was NOT a panic attack or anxiety related, there was something wrong with me and I knew it was from my studio. I made an appointment with my regular Dr, but first I did more research on formaldehyde and typed up some of the info and a document with a timeline and all of my symptoms etc since the studio was remodeled. She was very happy that I had done this for her an I love this Dr - she is able to admit when she doesn't know something. She told me she didn't know much about formaldehyde but wanted to keep the papers I had typed up for her and gave me a referral to a pulmonalogist. She also instructed me to tear EVERYTHING out of my studio that added during the remodel and dispose of it and to stay out of the room!

Meanwhile, I ordered a formaldehyde tester for the room and am waiting on the results from that test. Bryanna came and emptied my studio of all of it's treasures, Gary got the backs off of the bookcases and disposed of them, the room has been sealed off from the house and the windows have been kept open to allow the offending gasses to escape. and I have still felt like crap! There are some days that are better than others but I certainly never feel "well" any more. The headaches are back and my chest still hurts. And now I even have this strange new cough that lasts for about 10 minutes at a time - it is more like a bark - it is nasty!!! My house is all tore up with all of my treasures everywhere. I am working on an ancient laptop in a 2 foot area on my crowded dining room table. I am able to be online and to do Word docs on this computer and that is about all. I have done LOTS of research on formaldehyde these past couple of weeks and it is NASTY STUFF!!! It seems I unwittingly built my own little "FEMA trailor" in my studio. Part of my research brought me to a paper that NASA wrote about plants absorbing the formaldehyde out the air and out of a room. So Sunday I took my list from NASA to the Home Depot and bought myself a forest! My studio is now full of plants recommended by NASA to help clean all of this up.

It has been a very frustrating month for me and sadly I am not seeing any light at the end of the tunnel. Yesterday was an especially hard day. I could not sleep at all the night before because my chest hurt so bad and I just couldn't breathe. When I finally came out of my room I was just a mess and could not face my day with my Grandchildren. I went out on the patio and started to pray and just ended up sobbing. I am just so tired, feel so bad and just at my rope's end. Mom took the girls to their house and I stayed home making phone calls to Drs, clinics and poison control. I also made a teary phone call to Gary at work telling him I wanted the big built in (the sealed one that I was hoping to save) torn out TODAY!!!! Over a week of sealing the the room off from the rest of the house, removing the unsealed products from the room and a couple of days with a forest and the room is still as full of the damned formaldehyde gas as ever!!!! I was done yesterday - I wanted it all out of there and seems all I could do was sit and cry. I have no strength or energy to do anything, I can't be in that room without being even sicker so I have to rely on others to do things for me (totally NOT my style). Gary was a good hubby and came home early yesterday and tore apart my beautiful studio and in order to keep it out of the rest of the house, threw it all out the window and is hauling it all away today. Then he just sat on the couch with me all night watching tv shows that I like (that is really something) and playing backgammon with me. There was no dinner last night - just a pop tart as I just couldn't do it.

Today I opened the door of my studio to see what it looked like in there now - wow - what a mess! It is just so sad to see all of my dreams for a beautiful room to create in all turned to rubble! But the worse part is that all of the building materials have now been removed, the window was open all day and night, there is a huge forest of plants in there and yet still the gas is so over-powering! I do not know what the answer is. I do not know how long all of this is going to take to clean up. I do not know what the long-term effects are going to be on my health. I just don't know.

I have added some links on Formaldehyde here for you all in case you are curious about it and what products it is in. Sadly it is in just about everything! Not just in our building materials but in our cosmetics, clothing and day to day things we all use. There is no way to completely avoid this chemical and it is listed under several different names. How many of these names would you have recognized as formaldehyde?

Formalin, Methanal, Methyl Aldehyde, Methylene Oxide, Oxymethylene, Bfv*, Fannoform*, Formol*, Fyde*, Karsan*, Methaldehyde, Formalith*, Methylene Glycol, Ivalon*, Oxomethane, Formalin 40, Formalin, Formic Aldehyde, Hoch, Paraform, Lysoform*, Morbocid, Trioxane, Polyoxmethylene, * denotes trade name.

You might want to check some of the items in your house for these.

Formaldehyde Links:

Public Health Statement for Formaldehyde

Formaldehyde Safety Factsheet

Formaldehyde Test Kit

Plants Soak Up Indoor Pollution

NASA Study House Plants Clean Air

The Cutest Kids Ever!!!!

Just had to share! Have a great day

I'm Back with more Pictures

I just thought I'd share with you the daily collages I made for my travel journal. I take ALOT of pictures when I travel and I could never have a journal big enough to hold them all. So I like to do a daily collage that reflects the things I wrote about each night on my trip. so here they are. . .

I will try to get some pictures of my finished journal this week to post so I can show you how it looks all put together.

Have a great day!

I Just Can't Stay Home. . .

That's right seems I can't sleep in my own bed these days. Last night I spent at Arrowhead Hospital!

This is me when I got home today. Yesterday I thought I was having a heart attack and Gary took me to the emergency room by our house. Two hours late I was in an abulance being transported to a hospital! After some tests and such they determined no heart attack. Not sure what it was so I will be going to a new dr next week. Still not feeling great but I am home. Always something exciting going on! Have a great weekend - I will check in soon

I'm Back

We had a WONDERFUL time while we were away - it was so much FUN to have a "Family Vacation" again! I will be back soon with more pix and stories - but for now I must go to bed.

Toodles Friends

Here's The Scoop. . .

WARNING: This post is really picture heavy!!!!

July is turning out to be a stellar month for me and my family. Today was one of the highlights!!! Today we celebrated the birthdays of my 2 Granddaughters - Monkey is 4 & Bug is 1 (well they will be in a few days). I wanted to share with you all in pictures what my wonderful day was like. We must of course start at the beginning - with all of the preparation for today.

Bryanna had chose to do a cupcake and ice cream cone themed party for the girls. She asked if I would help her out with the party and I of course said yes and then promptly "hi-jacked" the whole event!!!! Thankfully my Daughter is really good and doesn't get mad when I do this (it happens occasionally).

So this is the invitation for the party - she wanted a photo invite with the girls in their swimsuits since we would be playing in the sprinklers for out "party activity". This is what I came up with (after shooting over 400 photos!)
Because of our theme I used the phrase "Here's the Scoop" alot, but it just seemed to be perfect for our party.

Then of course there were all of the decorations that needed to be made which started with these cute little ice cream cones that I hung from the chandelier. And then there was the the table linens, all made from left over fabrics and scraps that I had stashed away for "that perfect project"


And of course you all know I love banners so I made two of those. . .
One tiny one for Bug's highchair tray

And one BIG one that hung across my china cabinet.

Seriously, do you think I would have such a BIG event and NOT make a handmade book to document it all in? Of course not, so here is the cover. I used all Martha Stewart papers (I love her) with all of these cute little cupcakes and glitter on them.

Of course there was a "Guest book" section for everyone to sign as they arrive. Some people just signed their names, while others wrote a short message.

Then there were the signs made to mimic the feel of an old-fashion ice cream parlour. I even used glitter paper on this one for the numbers - not typical for me! The other side of this sign simply says happy birthday and the girls' names. It hangs in the window by the front door to greet everyone as they arrive.

This little sign served as a sort of "menu board" at the do-it-yourself-sundae bar.

These are the little cupcakes I made. They look like soft serve ice cream cones. Too cute and very yummy!

Of course you gotta have beverages at a party, and since we were serving so many sweet things we decided to serve bottled water instead of soda, etc. But just in case they needed a little bit of flavor I bought these old style diner sugar dispensers and filled them with koolade powder. Pink lemonade and fruit punch so they would match our color scheme. The kids really enjoyed this.

Then there was the lolli-pops served in a sundae cup as table decorations (and of course the kids all went home with one).

Oh, remember the water bottles? You know I couldn't just serve plain old water bottles! These are arrowhead with new personalized lables on them!

And we can't forget the yards and yards of curly ribbon that needed to be curled and hung from the chandelier and the other light fixtures etc.

And here are My Girls! The whole reason I do what I do!!!!

Finally all of the preparations were done and the day was here - time to celebrate! We started off with my Son-in-law grilling dogs for everyone. There was chips and melons too.

Then it was time to do what kids do best. . .PLAY!!!! We set up some water toys in the back yard (my water bill is gonna be HIGH this month!) Our party started at 11am, so it was pretty warm and sunny but not outrageously HOT like it gets in AZ in July. Some of the grown-ups stayed inside with the air-conditioning, but most of them made it outside to watch the kids splash around and have fun.

Monkey got a scooter from her Moma & Papa and even attempted to ride it down the slip-n-slide! Not a good plan in case you are wondering.

Slip-n-slides are not as slippery as I remember them being when I was a kid. So we went through 2 gallons of bubbles, a bottle of baby oil and a bottle of shampoo to keep the kids sliding down that plastic.

Doesn't my Bug look adorable in her tu-tu swimsuit!

I think they were having FUN, don't you?

Bug is still too little to take a trip down the slip-n-slide by herself, but one of the girls let her hitch a ride with her. She just closed her eyes and squealed as she went.

After they were all waterlogged, we headed back inside to play "Donkey on the tail" as Monkey calls it. She saw this game on a tv show and asked if she could have it at her party. Of course you can - Amma will give you almost anything you want! Luckily this request only cost a $1.99! (BTW - Monkey won!)

"I scream, You scream, We all scream for ICE CREAM"!!!!!! That's right, it was time for sundaes! My daughter Lizzy is the "queen of whipped cream" so she was in charge of that for the kids. Oh, and notice the bowls, they look like giant cupcake wrappers! Found them in our colors on clearance for .20 cents each!

As soon as they finished their sundaes it was time to make a wish, blow out the candles and eat some cake!

Monkey usually cries when you sing happy birthday to her - but not this year! She loved it and was all smiles!

It just wouldn't be a "1st Birthday" without pictures of the birthday girl digging into her cake with her bare hands! And we are very traditional around here!

Then there was the gifts. . . Funny thing about invitations - you write "RSVP" on them and no one calls to confirm or decline. You write "Your presence is your present" and everyone brings a gift. But it was very thoughtful for everyone to bring a gift, actually 2 gifts since it was a double birthday!

After the gifts and a little more visiting everyone went home. It was only 1:30 when the last guest left. How nice we all thought, to be done so early in the day. Everyone was tired and ready to just sit and relax. The guys went golfing, Liz and Richard went to the gym, my Mom watched the girls while Bryanna and I cleaned up the mess. A little after 2 my brother-in-law called to let us know he was running late but on his way to the party with his girls. He thought the party started at 2pm!!!! You can't say no - so we got the food & drinks back out and waited to start party #2!

After

they opened their gifts and had some food we headed back outside for more water fun. (did I mention my water bill?)They had so much fun, and had races. We were out of bubbles and baby oil by the time party #2 started, so we resorted to using Gary's shampoo!

With a smaller group around, Bug was able to try out the slip-n-slide with a little more freedom. She loved it!

We were also able to let the dogs out since it was a smaller group and these girls are not afraid of dogs. Zsa Zsa even gave the slip-n-slide a try!

It is no longer 11am and it is HOT now - so hot that Bryanna and I even took a few goes on the slip-n-slide fully dressed!

But now the house is pretty much all cleaned up again. We have had dinner and the girls are all snugled in their beds at home, worn out from the excitement of the day. Our next big event is out birthday trip to Disneyland on Wednesday!

How BLESSED are we to have each other, our health, our friends, our family, and all of ths joy!!!! But now I need to go lay down and get some rest - I am an old lady you know!

Toodles

NEW TAB on My BLOG!!!!

Look up at the top and see the new tab I have added to my blog. . .
There have been so many requests for project kits and instructions that I decided to add a section for those of you that want to buy my class kits and instructions. I hope you will take a look at what I have available there. Of course I will update this section with new kits and instructions as I come up with them.

My newest one is my Disneyland Travel Journal - This was never taught as a class, just something I made for my own personal use. But I had several people email and ask if I would do an instruction sheet - so I did.

Have fun brosing through this new tab!

Toodles!