Time Flies When You're Having FUN!

Much to my chagrin, it has been well over three years since I sat down and wrote in my blog. Phew...to think of all that has happened since my last post in July of 2010.  I won't remember it all; I'm probably going to break it down into bite sized chunks.

My darling Chaz and I got married in June, 2010.  NICE wedding - over just a little too fast but fun.  Short honeymoon trip to Vermont, which was a blast as always.  Home to settle into married life. Going well until about October when Mr. Chaz had a heart attack at work.  There's a phone call!  Hello, your husband isn't feeling well...can you come pick him up since we don't feel he can drive himself home.  okie dokie, I'm on my way (I'm an hour away!)  I'm half-way there, the phone rings again, sorry, he's off to UMASS via ambulance...you might want to just head there. Call us and keep us updated!  OK!

UMASS - by the time I get there, he's been sedated, stented and is recovering. I can take him home in a couple of days.  Yes, it was a heart attack but thankfully, a mild one.  I did take him home two days later and he was relaxing.  Guess, what...he had another small attack at home, we go back to the hospital where he gets a second stent on Halloween. Hmmm...why not do two at once?  Not the usual practice.  OK... got it! Take him home on November 3rd and he's home for six weeks recovering.

Back to work about two weeks before Christmas.  He's doing well - we're all stressed but slowly life is moving back towards normal.  Christmas Eve...we're at a family party and guess who starts having trouble breathing?  You guessed it - we're back to the ER and Charlie is hooked up to every machine possible.  No attack this time, but something isn't right.  He goes home Christmas Day and we celebrate a lovely holiday with the kids (well as best as we could since we're all so tired it's not funny any more).

New Year's comes rather quietly. Charlie is not feeling all that great, so I call the doctor on the 3rd.  We take him into the ER and the next thing I know he's off to UMASS via ambulance again!  This is getting to be a habit no one likes.  He's stuck at UMASS now for the next sixteen days, when the doctors do a double bypass on him (one down the front of his heart, one down the back).  You could say I'm a mess by this point. I'm not sure if I'm going to have a husband for long so I've decided to enjoy him while I can.

The bypass goes very well!  Charlie comes out of it like a trooper. I was beside him the entire day (well, right up until they gave him a valium drip and he started giggling...then it twas time for me to leave!)  I was there when he woke up though.  I had five minutes to see him; I leaned in close and said I love you baby, I'm here.  He raised his hand since he could talk and caressed my cheek. I knew exactly what that meant. I love you too baby.  He has not let a night go by when the last thing he says to me is "good night my love".  The nurse was afraid he was going to slug me but I told her no, I know exactly what he's doing.  He smiled every so slightly and went to sleep...for two days!

When he woke up, a foot of snow had fallen and I couldn't get to him.  Talk about pissed! (Me, not him!) He got on the phone and told me to stay put, he wasn't going anywhere and we could talk as long as he was able.  We did talk for a few minutes but then I hung up so he could rest.

He came home four days after the bypass a new man. Granted, he needed some rehab work with the VNA but otherwise, he's been awesome!  We spent the next few months adjusting to his limitations (no heavy lifting, so the canoe stayed in that summer!), and just kept pretty quiet.

That's all for now...I won't forget to post more. Believe me, there's lots more!

This is my first Dr Who scarf. It is 66 stitches wide and 1,062 rows. Took me about one full day (but completed over two days). It's a present for someone who is going to be amazed!!!

I've Gone Quackers!

These little darlin's are for another fundraiser at the weekly band concert. They are yellow cupcakes, dipped in yellow frosting, with a donut hole for a head and 1/2 a marshmallow for a tail. The eyes are mini M&Ms.

What frustrated me was the dipping portion. I did chill them but I'm thinking freezing them slightly would have been better. The heads kept falling off and I ended up with yellow frosting all over my shirt, shorts, hands, countertops...you name it...there was yellow frosting on it!

My favorite is the one that is butt up - he's camera shy.... :D

Wedding Photo

It's a month late but I'm taking a moment to look back on my wedding to Chaz on June 12, 2010. It was a rather small wedding, with the children standing up for us and both sets of parents watching from the front row. We had a nice group of family and friends witness the vow exchange and despite the rain, everyone was all smiles for most of the day.

Chaz loved the dress! I looked exactly as he had pictured in his head - classy and elegant. He loved the hair up in a beautiful twist and was tickled all kinds of colors at everything we had put together. Here is a photo of the bouquets and the gorgeous toasting glasses my parents gave us.

There was not a thing I would change about the day (not even the rain bothered me!) I was happy and could not stop smiling all day.

KOI cakes

Ok so it's 90 degrees out and I'm making cupcakes (of all things!) Not just plain, ordinary cupcakes...oh NO! I have to get fancy and make KOI fish cupcakes! I got a new book called "What's up Cupcake?" and this was the first one that caught my eye (well honestly, I liked the yellow duckie ones that are on the cover that made me buy the book!)

They are made of yellow cake, buttercream frosting, two circus peanuts cut apart, M&Ms for the eyes and one lone apple jack for the mouth. Before I put the fish on, I frosted the cupcake and then dipped it into blue colored sugar so that they look like they're floating in the water.

Wedding and Honeymoon

Now that the wedding hoopla is over, we can take a collective deep breath and hope that life returns to semi-normal. Here is a photo of us at the Queechee Balloon Festival. The balloons were just amazing! There were only about 15 going up so I cannot fathom how spectacular the event is in New Mexico! Guess we'll have to save our pennies to make a trip west some time!

After a short honeymoon trip to Vermont, Chaz and I are starting to meld two households. We're looking at some kind of shelf along the kitchen wall and if he gets his way, we'll also have a bookcase right here where my desk is now located (I moved out here because I was feeling way too isolated in the bedroom doing homework and now am right in the middle of things).

Wedding Album

This is our Wedding Album

My Wedding Cake

Just freshly decorated, here is our wedding cake. It is the night before our wedding and I am sitting here just staring at it. Yes, I know there's no topper but we've both agreed that it looks just beautiful without one.

The cake is comprised as follows: the bottom layer is pound cake with strawberry filling; the next 10" layer is spice cake with a cream cheese filling; the 8" layer is a lemon cake with a lemon curd filling and the final top 6" layer is chocolate with mixed berry filling. I started baking on Tuesday and just now finished (well about an hour ago). The roses are all gum paste and completely edible! The only thing that isn't edible is the sprigs of baby's breath. Otherwise, it is a completely edible cake. Not too shabby for my first (yes, my FIRST) really big cake!!!!