Missing All of You!

I've been so missing all of my blog friends and my crafty life!!!!  I think (fingers crossed tightly!!!) I'm finally at a "place" where I can reintroduce myself to all of your blogs and my craft room :)

We've had some wake-up calls these past few months:(

As some of you know from previous mentions in blog posts my 86 year old mother-in-law spends the winters with her daughter in S.C. and the rest of the year in her own home around the corner from us.  Before my MIL was due to return here her daughter had a heart-to-heart phone conversation with my husband about the decline she had noticed in their mom:(  A family meeting with all of my husband's siblings who live in the area was called and everyone agreed to step up their efforts to help their mom live independently for as long as possible.  My MIL is a feisty lady and has no intentions of leaving her home!

I'm sure alot of you can relate to how stressful caregiving (and especially the coordination of it) can be!  Soooooooo, last month I spent ALOT of time getting our own household organized in order to be ready!  We're talking serious purging in every drawer, cabinet and closet in the house - I donated over 10 bags of clothes and stuff!  I think all the floorboards in the house are breathing a sigh of relief - LOL!  Annnnnd, we finally finished doing some updates in the bathroom.......may that "pretty when it was bought 13 yrs ago" wallpaper border rest in peace :)

Then...... my dh paid a visit to his cardiologist and was given two choices:  either cut back on carbs (100-130 grams/day), lose some weight and get your cholesterol level down even more than it already is OR take more drugs............

Whaaaaat????!!!!  More drugs is NOT an option!  But I've got to be honest - for this carb lovin', half-Italian gal cutting high carb foods from our diet has been kin to a death sentence:(  Turns out most of the low carb veggies are green and I don't mean to gross anyone out but after ingesting broccoli, kale, asparagus and spinach day after day I don't know how much greener my pee can get...........And meal planning along with tracking all this stuff is very time consuming :(  The doctor suggested the free app My Fitness Pal and I have to admit it's a godsend!!!  I've found some helpful recipe sites online (yes you can make mashed cauliflower resemble creamy mashed potatoes!) but would LOVE to hear about any you know about!!!

Our last wake-up call happened a week ago and brings me to a card share (about time, huh?!):

One of my husband's oldest friends (they grew up in the same neighborhood together) went in the hospital for stent surgery and ended up having a triple bypass instead.  I shudder to think about what could have happened if he had waited any longer to see a doctor.  And if there's a silver lining in this cloud it's that my husband and I are that much more committed to sticking with the changes we've had to make:)

Still inspired by the online Pattern Play class I took and find the formula they suggested when selecting pp's to be very helpful!  I also used a little trick I learned from a Hero Arts card class at Scrapfest a couple years ago - I stretched the banner holding the bandaid across the die cut heart on the card front.  The multi-color heart is attached to the back of the banner behind the bandaid so it all appears to be "floating".  The red dotty heart is attached to the inside of the card.  I added some glossy accents to the bandaid for more realism.  Of course you can tell I have no patience for letting things dry by the crack on the right hand side! 

Supplies Used:  Lawn Fawn On the Mend clear set (bandaid and sentiment), Papertrey ink white cs, BG True Love pp, Pebbles Seen & Noted pp, Echo Park dots & stripes pp, Stampin' Up blush cs and heart border embossing folder, WPlus 9 banner and stacking hearts dies, googly eyes, glossy accents, W R Memory Keepers corner rounder 

Thanks for stopping by and for making it through my rather wordy blog post:)  Looking forward to seeing what everyone's been up to!