Weekend Progress Report #31

This post is quite late since last week alternately dragged and flew, mainly because the beginning of it was spent in pain and the end of it was spent in the hospital. The upshot is I am now gall bladder-free.

But to the bemusement of the hospital staff, not to mention my husband, I did have the presence of mind to pack an "in-case-the-doctor-sends-me-to-the-hospital" bag that contained my current BAP, extra needles and scissors, a few books to read and my Big Book of NY Times Sunday Crossword Puzzles. Oh, yeah and fresh underclothing and nightgowns, slippers and robe and the usual toiletries. But first things first: crossstitch.

You know you are addicted to cross-stitch when it's the first thing you pack for a hospital stay though your eyes are crossing with the pain of what turned out to be a porcelain gall bladder. I have heard of porcelain skin but never a porcelain gall bladder.

Anyway, I was able to make some small progress on TW's Autumn Faerie in the hospital ... see photo. It was gratifying to have a new and appreciative audience for my craft: the nurses and PCAs and even the doctor from my primary care practice [Dr. Lisa F was the one making the rounds this week] all commented positively. There were the usual "I haven't the patience to do that" and "how can you tell where to put your stitches?" remarks, but Dr. Lisa admired the piece's intricacy saying she had never aspired to anything beyond a simple birth announcement and even commented "so that's what it looks like when you organize your floss properly!" She speculated that I must have had all the DMC colors with me and I simply said that no, my complete collection of DMC took up three bobbin cases each twice the size of the small case she saw on my bedside table ... I didn't mention all the other fibers with which a true fiber queen surrounds herself. The only comment made by my male doctors was that it was a good thing I had brought something to keep my mind off the pain.

The other issue I need to address in this rather late post is the winner of my blogaversary gift: Dani. I'll be e-mailing her and asking for a mailing address later this evening.

Tomorrow, I shall have to set aside my Autumn Faerie and start work on an angel for a round robin that needs to be mailed on Saturday morning.