Time Flies!

Where has the time gone?? I can't believe it's been a month since I last wrote. Life has a way of slipping by. But no news is good news, right? In this case, it definitely is. Randy had a whole series of testing and doctor visits this month. We were better braced for the news this time around. Surprisingly, it was all good news this time! Such a sigh of relief! We get a 3 month reprieve from cancer. Woohoo! The cat scans showed a pocket of what they suspect is lymph fluid, called a Seroma. This is caused by one of the veins (not sure if it's actually a vein.) that was cut from a lymph node, leaking a little fluid. Nothing serious. He has to have another scan in 2 months, which is now a month I guess, to make sure it's not growing and changing. If it is, then it could actually be something else. For now, we are just relieved to have a break from this monster that is changing our lives.

On a sad note, our wonderful surgeon is leaving the practice and heading to Florida i August. We are really quite sad about this, as we are quite fond of him. He has such a great personality and has been so helpful and informative. I do hope we are able to find another just as good.

In the meantime, Randy is doing more house renovations to keep him busy. I have never been so thankful for that last stimulus check we received! Our house was definitely in need of some repairs. Our nasty, dark and dreary back porch, is finally getting an overhaul! I gave Randy some photos of what I was hoping for, and he is making it happen. The insane high costs of lumber and building supplies has definitely put a damper on what we could afford, but it is still turning out beautiful. I'm disappointed we can't afford new windows and a screen door, but we are making do. We still need to put a new roof on the back of the house, so I need money for that too. With Randy staying home these days, there is no extra cash flow, so we have to make compromises. Another week and I should have pictures to share. :)

We also had a wonderful visit from the new granddaughter! We soaked up as many snuggles and cuddles as we could! We also took several hundred pictures of her. lol She is absolutely precious! So peaceful and content. Looking forward to another visit next weekend, hopefully!

Testing on my eyes continues. Every test was consistent with the same damage to my left eye from glaucoma. So far I have just lost some depth perception and color variations in a section of my eye. So that means certain color variations I can't actually see from one area. Kinda weird. I started eye drops last week and it's going pretty well. Praying that it works for a very long time!

In the world of my art, I have been totally sucked into my new clay and rock designs! I have been spending about 12-14 hours a day working on my new creations of miniature realistic landscapes on rocks. It pretty much combines everything I love. I have a hard time pulling away even to go to bed at night. lol Years and years ago, we visited the Wild Center at Tupper Lake. They had a whole room of glass cabinets full of clay mushrooms that looked real. Ever since then, I've been obsessed. I went right home and bought some clay, but just didn't have the skills or knowledge of how to make them. I went down a different path with the clay and have always loved working with it. I never gave up on the mushroom idea, though. Somehow, I stumbled onto this idea of making mini landscapes with mushrooms and anchoring them to my round rocks. It was a genius idea since I love both of them so much! It has been such a fun process and I'm actually learning quite a bit about mushrooms in the process. Every rock has real sculpted mushrooms, flowers, mosses, lichens and more. I am excited to share these with the world and I truly hope they find their way to new homes. I am hopeful that they will be a good seller. The rest of my business has been pretty quiet and I could definitely use the sales!

Everything else is going well. Kids have one more quarter of school and I will be so glad for a break from sports and afterschool activities. I see less and less of them the older they get. :( But life goes on quietly around here. The kitties keep us company and we keep ourselves busy with our work at home. I really am thankful for all we have. I am especially thankful that so far I have not needed to go out and get a different job to fill in the gaps. We are making do with less and are still happy to be home.