A to Z challenge..... X is for X-ray

X is a hard letter to do in this A to Z challenge.  

 X is for X-ray

Last year I posted about  X-rays too. 
X-rays were the X that saved my life after our car accident.

 If it had not been for X-rays I would have died.

X-rays showed the extent of my injuries and indicated what treatment was needed.

  I was monitored by daily X-rays. The weeks that I was in ICU intensive care I was X-rayed at least once a day and sometimes more.

After  X-rays showed my lung had collapsed they drained out the blood and fluid and put me on a breathing machine to re- inflate my lung which saved my life. You can see why X-rays was my pick for my X post.

But...that was my last year's X post

Why am I using X-rays again this year???

a

Because x-rays and other imaging have helped to save my life again this year.

X-rays showed I had a gall stone...

... and needed surgery.

 

 Imaging showed I had a bile leak after the surgery which would have killed me from sepsis if they had not found it and put in a stint to correct it.

  Imaging showed I had liver abscesses and a blood clot.

 

 Once again X-rays and imaging helped to save my life.

  That is why I had to use x-ray for my X again this year.

I'm home, recovering and enjoying my sweet family partially because of x-ray technology  and imaging.

 

So, I guess you can see why X-rays are my favorite letter X. I will always be grateful for them.... in fact, I might use them again if I do this challenge next year because I can't think of another X that means more to me.

Hugs, Lura

A to Z in blogland.....My Varied Valentines

Yesterday I was undecided about which letter U to do but today there is no question in my mind! 

  Today I have my all time favorite letter V to blog about.

V is definitely for Valentine’s

Please note that I did not say Valentine’s Day…. no, no, no…because to me Valentine’s is so special I celebrate it the whole month.

Normally my whole month of February is filled with Valentine fun. 
This year February was not as fun for me as usual....I had a "varied Valentine's" but I still love Valentine's and all it represents.
 
This year I was not feeling well so I did not get a lot of my Valentine activities done. I had my gall bladder out in January and did not know I had a bile leak that was filling me up with a sepsis infection. I was getting sicker and weaker each day and did not know why. 

 I got all of my Valentine supplies together. I bought candy & goodies and my friend Jan added to my stash by giving me a whole bag of her Valentine supplies.

Valentine Goody bags I made last year

I intended to make up my Valentine goody bags for my family, friends and neighbors like I do every year.

I also intended to make pretty Valentines 

I made 20 Valentines like these last year but not this year

and write a personal letter of love to my family and special friends.
I had all of the supplies but I didn't make anything this year. I kept thinking I would feel better the next day and do it then....but I never did.

However, I did set my Valentine’s tables.

This year I went totally pink.  (My hubby said it looked like there was an explosion in a Pepto Mismo factory.)

I’m glad my sweetheart puts up with all my fancy decorating. I just love it and he sweetly tolerates it. (He would just as soon eat in front of the T.V. on paper plates.)

My friend Louann and I have a  tradition of feeding the missionaries that are serving in our ward (Congregation ) a special Valentine dinner.

 One night we fed the Sister missionaries at my house.

We know that these young people are away from their families for 1 1/2 to 2 years. We try to give them some of the Valentine love they would get from their mothers if they were at home. Click here to find out more about our missionary program.

 The next night we fed the Elder missionaries at Louann's house.

I enjoyed doing this with Louann but I felt like I was made of lead and could hardly move.
 I only had 4 days left before Valentine's Day but I still could not find the energy to make my cards and goody bags.
I had extra time to get them done because I was expecting company on the 14th.

My grandson, Johnny was coming for a gymnastics meet near us.  I didn't have to mail all my Valentines to Utah because I knew I could send them home with Johnny. The family would forgive me for being a few days late.

This was the first meet since Johnny made the USA National team that I would get to see him compete.  He and his dad, Dathan,  flew down from Utah. We were suppose to go with them to his meet here and then drive them to LasVegas the next week to meet the rest of the family and attend another big meet there.
But it didn't work out that way for me.

I kept getting sicker and sicker each day after we had the missionary dinners. By the time Johnny & Dathan arrived on Valentine's Day I was too sick to do anything but go to bed. I couldn't even fix a nice meal for them much less go to the gymnastics meet.

Johnny put on a mini show just for me before they left for his competition.

I was so sad to stay at home but I just could not attend. John would not leave me alone so I made him miss the competition too. That made me feel extra bad but both Johnny and my John tried to make me feel better.

While Dathan and Johnny were gone, the rash I had got worse and worse until it covered my whole body. I was violently ill. John took me to emergency where I was admitted with severe sepsis and organ dysfunction. So much for all my happy Valentine weekend plans.... but I was alive. I could have died if I hadn't gone to the hospital when I did. I was in the hospital over 3 weeks.

I was bright red from the sepsis rash... kind of like a Valentine

Instead of making a nice dinner for my family that weekend, I had to settle for visiting with them in the hospital. It was not the way I wanted to celebrate Valentine's weekend..... but I did feel lots of love from my family and friends

Meanwhile, all of the candy and Valentine supplies are still sitting on my craft table. Can you give out Valentine goodies for Mother's Day or 4th of July???

As you can see my Valentine's month did not turn out the way I expected.... it totally varied from the normal way I celebrate this holiday of love....but I still love Valentine's day/month.... I will look forward to celebrating it next year.... and just be thankful I made it through this year.

I hope you had a nice Valentine's and felt loved.

Hugs, Grammy Lura

A to Z challenge…. S is for Setting tables

I  have a lot of good choices for doing my S post in my a to z challenge. I love reading the Scriptures every day. I believe they are the word of God and should be a guide for our lives…. but I am going with a less serious subject.

I am selecting Setting tables for my S post today.

This is our everyday table setting but it gets changed for every season.

The first major change of the year comes in Feb. for my Valentine’s theme.  Some years I go with a red and white …

and some years I use a  pink theme. 

Family and friends like either one.

I always use pastels for my Easter/spring table setting.

Even the chairs get decorated.

I would not use paper plates for a dinner but they looked quite cute for this spring brunch I had last week. (This was the 1st company meal I’ve cooked since I got out of the hospital. John was worried about me over- doing it. He insisted that I use paper plates. I agreed to it just to make him happy. It worked out O.K.)

I found these cute patriotic plates at the 99 cent store and grabbed them up for my 4th of July table setting. My D-i-L gave me the red, white and blue pitcher.  Doesn’t it look patriotic for our July meals?

Fall is the most fun of all.  All of our kids come home for Thanksgiving so I set lots of tables.

My grand girls help me set the tables.

This is our dinning room table

These are our extra tables… but I try to make them just as pretty as the main tables.

My Christmas formal table is set in white, pinks, burgundy and gold.

I use red and greens for our casual Christmas table.

I also enjoy setting buffet tables when I have a large group to feed.

After all our kids left home, I found that I could convert our game room into a buffet room for special occasions.

Thanksgiving buffet

Christmas buffet

4th of July buffet

Summer Aloha buffet

Happy Birthday Buffet

I have about 100 more table pictures I could show you but I’m pretty sure that you’ve gotten the idea that I love setting pretty tables and feeding family and friends.  That is why I chose Setting Tables for my S  post today.

Let me know when you’ll be dropping by and I’ll set a pretty table for you.

Hugs, Grammy Lura