Happiness ...

I have a lot to be happy about after my wild and crazy holiday season. My three daughters, their husbands and fiancée, and my granddaughter were all at our house on Christmas Eve to celebrate together. But Genevieve—my daughter who had the liver transplant—felt sick the entire time and ended up in the hospital on the 26th because of gut pain. She had surgery this past Wednesday for a partial bowel obstruction, thought to be caused by adhesions, but guess what they found? An internal hernia. I didn’t even know there was such a thing. A piece of her bowel was sticking through a hole in a membrane, causing her pain after eating. The ace transplant surgeon fixed her up, she’s recovering, and the entire family is so thankful and happy for the positive resolution of this latest problem. As I sit here beside her hospital bed, I realize she won’t be nearly as cheery as I am for quite some time, since she has to heal (again) from a big incision and won’t be able to drive or lift anything.

I have been taking care of my granddaughter for the past 12 days, which has impacted my post-Christmas quilting plans, of course. But I did get her “Christmas Hugs and Kisses” quilt done, and I’m really happy about that.

I also finished “Joan’s Log Cabin” for my sister—hand quilted and appliqued. She recently finished restoring a real log cabin in Manitou Springs, Colorado, and this little quilt will go with her red décor.

Hurray! I have a new laptop. My previous computer was seven years old, incredibly slow, and no longer connected to the internet. And double happiness—to go with the laptop, one of my Christmas presents was Electric Quilt 7—wow! What great software. I am playing with it to gradually learn what I can design.

My fellow Piece and Plenty Quilt Guild members created a final little bit of happiness for me. I am chair of our next quilt show (Oct. 8 and 9), and at last night’s meeting, quilters stepped forward and volunteered for many of the jobs I needed help with. That was a big stress reliever, and goodness knows I’ve had enough stress the past few weeks. Next on my list—take down the Christmas tree. When that’s complete, I’ll REALLY be happy.