You all have NO idea how your comments on my blog over the past several days have helped me through one of the most difficult weeks of my life! I have a Blackberry, you see, and as I was running around making funeral arrangements and picking up various family members at the airport and such, my Blackberry would ping me every single time another lovely comment was posted here. Those comments were such a HUGE lift . . . a true blessing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.As if my dad's passing and funeral weren't ENOUGH, my darling daughter had an appendicitis attack while we were at his viewing. I spent the entire night on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning in the Emergency Room at the children's hospital with her. As her symptoms were atypical, they were testing her ALL night long (after we had waited in the waiting room for over THREE hours!)! By the time they had actually determined that it WAS appendicitis, it was 5:30 a.m. (we got there at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday night). She didn't get into surgery until just after 9:00 a.m. By the time she got out of recovery it was approximately 10:30 a.m. My wonderful sister in law came and did the "mom fill in" for me while I rushed home, got cleaned up and drove out to my dad's funeral (I had been up for about 30 hours at this point). Did I mention that I was speaking at the funeral, too? By the time we had the funeral, drove to the graveside service, drove back to the church for a dinner provided by the church members then came home, changed clothes and went back to the hospital it was about 7:00 p.m. It took a while to get settled in . . . we had several visitors and the nurse had to hook my daughter up for the night. When did I get to bed? About 10:45 p.m. . . . a mere 41 hours since I had gotten up the day before!! I will NEVER use the term "exhausted" lightly again!!
Here is the graduation announcement I made for my son. Being cheap . . . I mean FRUGAL . . . I decided it would be better to make our OWN announcements instead of having to pay Jostens to make them for us! Here is what I came up with . . .I did the "West High School - Class of 2009" medallion using WordArt in MS Word. The panther was something I scanned that is actually the icon that the school uses.
For the inside, I just created the photo panel and graduation info using Word Perfect (I don't usually use MS Word - actually, I kinda HATE the program, but I DO like the WordArt feature). I was pretty proud of this, too, because I took the photo on the left and the photo in the middle. LOVE how they turned out! I ended up making about 60 of these babies!! Watercolor paper is so much fun to work with. I'm just sad I couldn't run it through my printer. It is waaayyyy too thick!!Stamps: None!
Paper: Watercolor, Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red
Ink: Printer ink
Accessories: Spellbinders Small Classic Circle Nestabilities (S4-116) and Large Labels (S4-168), 1 3/8" circle punch
Again . . . thanks, dear friends! You have brightened my days and lightened my burdens . . . HUGS to you ALL!
so sorry about your crazy week . . . i know how you feel. i was in the ER with my boyfriend 3 nights in a row last week before they finally took his gall bladder out at 1AM Wedensday. Got home at 3:30 AM only to find that my cat had accidentally been let out and was missing . . . all of this while also trying to pack up my classroom for the end of the year and go on our big end of the year field trip! my heart goes out to you!
ReplyDeleteWhat an exhausting time for you! I am so glad that Amelia is ok now and on the mend. The announcements you made are absolutely perfect, great job!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat an unfortunate turn of events that should happen at the worst possible time. I feel that God had a reason for these event, which may not be known for a while, but He is watching out for you my dear.
ReplyDeleteI hope your daughter is mending well and that things settle for you very soon. I cannot imagine staying up that long...you must have been running on pure adrenalin. Hugs and prayers to you and your family.
May God give you the rest, strength, and comfort only can He give.
ReplyDeleteJudy Jackson
Oh my goodness...I don't know how you managed. Prayers!
ReplyDeleteForgot to mention that I love the grad announcement you made. It's fantastic!
ReplyDeleteWendy, words can not express how sorry I am for your last few days! I sure hope you are getting some much needed rest right now!
ReplyDeleteYour graduation announcement are wonderful...I am sure they are even better then what you would have had to pay for!!
Hugs!!
Bless your heart, Wendy; you've certainly had a rough time this week. I cannot imagine being awake that many hours and do all that you did. I trust and pray that your daughter is recuperating well.
ReplyDeleteAs for the graduation announcements, they are awesome and so much better than what a company would do for you because you have personalized them so beautifully for your son. I'm sure he appreciates your work and will treasure this gesture of love.
When it rains, it pours... maybe the distraction, tho exhausting was there to help keep your heart from aching so much... I think the Lord takes care of us in ways we don't expect. I hope your heart heals soon and that your daughter does to - I love your blog and all the wonderfulness you share with me everyday (yes I realize I am not the only one that reads your blog, but I feel like you do it just for me, and that makes me feel pretty special!)
ReplyDeleteYou are in my thoughts and prayers... may Heavenly Father hold you close and give you reassurance that you will see your dad again... remember your dad loves you and misses you too...
Erin McMilon
mnmcmilon@comcast.net
Wendy, hang tuff girlfriend. I hope your little girl is getting stronger each day. I went through that with my daughter when she was in college. Luckily we had been visiting her at school when her attach happened. Talk about timing. The Lord will not leave us in that valley. He promises to walk us THROUGH it.
ReplyDeletehugs,
Pam
http://stampsinc.blogspot.com/
Oh Wendy...I am so sorry to hear about your loss and your daughter. I am so glad that the surgery went well and I hope that you have gotten some rest. I can't imagine what you've went through. The announcements looks incredible!!!
ReplyDeleteOH MY! My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family! I hope you get some much needed rest..... The pic of your the casket draped with the flag, etc. is precious and touching. It speaks a 1,000 words! Hope you get some rest.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless
~Maureen
Wendy my thoughts and prayers are with you on the loss of your father. It is hard enough to loose a loved one. I can't imagine how you managed to also take care of your daughter while at the hospital. It's nice of your sister in law to help.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely LOVE your announcement! I think it is much nicer to make them yourself than have them made at Jostens. I ordered the announcements from them but made the invitations to the party myself.
I don't know how you made it through...God be with you, you are in my prayers for SURE
ReplyDeletejust wanted to let you know that you've been in my thoughts and prayers Wendy!! (((hugs)))
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy,
ReplyDeleteWhat a difficult time you have had. Sometimes we wonder how much more we can take, don't we, but God tells us that His grace is sufficient for us, and that He will give us His perfect peace, which passes all understanding. I pray that you will have it in full measure and overflowing because you have been through so much. Three years ago my just turned 18 year old only son was almost killed in a dreadful car accident which left him in a coma for a month, with a broken back, and neck, and severe brain damage. On the same day, my dad was admitted to the hospice and he died one week later. My son was in hospital in a city 8 hours drive away for 13 months. I understand how you must be feeling right now, and I can tell you that God is Good, and He is Faithful. He will not let go of you. You have such a busy life, but do be kind to yourself - you sound as though you and your Dad were as close as my Dad and I were - I miss him so much, but like you, I know that I will see him again one day! Be gentle with yourself and don't expect too much of yourself, you've had a huge loss, and you're exhausted as well. I will be praying for you. God bless you. Hugs, Anne. dinkuminkum at yahoo dot co dot nz.
It never rains but it pours, huh? I'm glad your daughter is going to be okay. It's always such an amazing thing to me how much we can get through when we get to those times in our lives...God gives us just enough strength and endurance to get past times like these. Then when we have time, we can fall apart more leisurely! Now that you're over the hump, I pray that you will get some peace and comfort to help your spirit heal. Take care of you and I'll talk to you soon.
ReplyDeleteWendy...you know the saying, when it rains, it pours. And the other saying, God only gives you what HE knows you can handle.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to hear your daughter is doing better. I'm sure everything was a blur. Ask your father to keep an eye on you and to send you a little help, he's there for you. We joke at home that us four kids and Mom keep my Pops even busier now that he passed away.
I agree about the graduation announcements...my nephew graduated last year and I couldn't believe the cost of them. Your's are quite lovely and very striking. I hope you don't mind, I might use your example when my brainiac graduates...but that isn't until 2016. I know, it will happen sooner than I think!
I still have you in my nightly prayers...Huggs...Patty
Wendy you are in my thoughts and prayers...may you feel a special Peace that only the Lord can give. Amelia will be in my prayers too... Hope you have gotten some rest!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Sherri aka sherristampsalot
I am so sorry about your dad. I graduated from high school 15 years ago on June 3rd, which was also the last day I saw my daddy. He lived apart from us at the time, and he died a month after my graduation - it is a painful thing for me to this day. But I will always be daddy's girl.
ReplyDeletePraying for you and your family, hope your daughter is better.
Wendy - I am so sorry to hear about your daddy and apologize for the delay in sending my thoughts and prayers your way - I have been out of town with my daddy over the past few weeks and am just now catching up with emails and blogging and just read this. I am glad to hear your daughter's surgery went well and she is recovering quickly. I love the announcements you did for your son's gradution - they are great.
ReplyDeleteI am keeping you in my thoughts and prayers and hope you are getting some needed rest.
Hugs ~~
Isn't it amazing how some people you only know thanks to modern day tech can brighten your day. Hope your daughter is feeling better soon. My son graduated on Saturday night. I feel like a male peacock with my feathers spread and struting my stuff...lol.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless,
Deanna
Wendy,
ReplyDeleteYou've had a emotional week and your sweet daughter is hurting also. You both need to take a long nap thank God for your many blessings and know that Dad or Grandpa is at peace in Heaven.
You take care lady your the best.
Hugs,
Jeanine
I always picture as smiling, happy, cheerful, etc., so this struck me to the core! I am so sorry that those trials were piled and mixed all together. You're amazing.
ReplyDeleteLove the grad card! We received more hand-made cards than the traditional ones and it is truly refreshing to see some individuality!
Josten's makes enough $$ off our HS kids' parents!! Where did you use watercolor paper...because it looks like everything is printed?
Pam from Price, UT (you know a lot of Pams don't ya?). xoxo