Busy, Busy, Busy

This last week has been a crazy one. Between going to physical therapy three times a week in Murray, painting my kitchen (not finished), babysitting up to 6 kids, trying to make 4 quilts and creating my Etsy shop and new blog, I might have bitten off more than I can chew. The current state of my house proves it.

I started painting my kitchen almost two weeks ago. However, what was supposed to be a simple project has turned into a major nightmare. When we got to the counter area we found that the builders had used silicone caulking on it. You can't paint over silicone. So we've had to try to remove the caulking, recaulk and then paint. Sadly, we're still trying to get the original caulking off. Silicone is the bane of my existence right now. I HATE it. It's almost impossible to remove. So now my kitchen is currently half red and half blue. *sigh*

On a happier note, I've gotten a bunch of new quilts done and finally created my Etsy site and blog and have them listed. I'm so excited! I've named my shop Pukka Designs. As per Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of pukka is:

: genuine, authentic; also : first-class

I love the word. You can see my shop by clicking here. My new blog is here. I was going to wait until it was completely finished, but I've decided to let you all see me build it up from scratch. So far there's only rag quilts, but I'm currently working on a couple of non-rag quilts. I'll post them soon. Please spread the word about my shop!

Here's a quick preview of the quilts in the shop:

Baby Steps

Lindy has been taking a few little steps for a few weeks but is now officially walking! We're pretty excited about it. She's so spoiled (being the only grandchild on my side and ALWAYS being held) that she hasn't needed to walk nor gotten much of a chance so it's taken a little while. She's still fairly wobbly & falls & likes to walk around holding onto the walls, but hey, she's walking! Look at her go!

Pain Free?!

Last week I went to see the rheumatologist for my anylosing spondylitis. It was a great visit. Well, not at first. He reminded me of House. He was kind of a jerk. But it got better and I could tell that he really cared about what he was doing. He did a bunch of range of motion tests with me and told me that I need to go on an anti-inflammatory and start physical therapy. Sadly, anti-inflammatories can cause kidney damage & since I'm at such high risk for it anyway with diabetes, I'll have to get tests done every 3 months or so to see how my kidney function is. But he said that with these new treatments, I should be able to live pain free. That's such a foreign concept to me. I haven't had a day w/o pain since I was 10. It's exciting!

I started my physical therapy yesterday. It kicked my trash. I was SO sore! I used to be really strong. In high school I could whip out push ups like they were nothing and even beat the boys in my neighborhood at arm wrestling. Yesterday I couldn't even do the exercises for my shoulders with 1.5 lbs before they gave out. Pitiful. It was a very humbling experience. But I guess if my shoulders/knees/back were strong, I wouldn't be in PT in the first place.

I'm going to be going a few times a week for a couple of weeks - until I learn all the exercises. After that I just have to do them by myself at home a few times a week and hopefully work up to everyday without needing Morphine (no, I didn't really get/take any). ;) I'm going to learn them all and then teach my dad since he's got it too and hasn't been to a doctor for it in over 20 years (?!). I'm hoping we'll both cut down our amount of pain significantly. I really am excited about this!