I'm back!

Let's start with a card.....here's one I made last week with another card blank from Whichcraft, a center step blank this time. I decided to get Kiki's birthday card safely made, even though her birthday isn't until August. I cut and tore a load of various shades of white core cardstock, then sanded them to show some white. The stamp is a LaLaLand mermaid, and the shells are real shells that I found tucked away. Not quite sure what the bit of burlap is doing, but it looks a bit like a fishing net if you have a good imagination. Overall, I love this, and I think she will too. Having the card blanks already cut and scored makes life so easy - thank you Paula for sending them to me

Next, well, I must say thank you for all the good wishes and emails I have received, they really did cheer me up tremendously, and I appreciate each and every one

I have no intention of boring you with medical type details, but a couple of things did stay with me after my hospital visit......I trained as a RN many moons ago, but it is so different from a patients perspective....

Why do they put you in a strange gown in a sickly shade that makes you look ill even if you are feeling okay? Why does this gown tie at the back, so that if you have a IV in one arm it's impossible to walk without showing the world a not very flattering view of your naked backside? Then when they come to 'do stuff' to you, you have to remove the offending gown because the area of body they want exposed is inevitably the front bit not the back.....just wondering.....

The number of people who turned to me and said in a low, emphatic whisper "I HATE hospitals" - Six. Such a ridiculous statement - as though the rest of the world LOVES them. I felt like saying "Oh really? if I want to cheer myself up I can think of nothing nicer than going to sit in a hospital waiting room for a few hours drinking that really weak coffee from the machine and breathing that special hospital smell of disinfectant. With luck, I may see some really strange back views of patients as well to give me a laugh......" of course, I didn't say it, but it didn't stop me thinking it. 

When did they start giving patients enough information about their condition to get a PhD on the subject? I had information overload, and believe me, most of it, I didn't want to hear. In my day, the patient wasn't told anything at all, the relatives were taken into a little room, given a cup of tea and given the (bad) news. Then the patient spent the rest of their lives wondering why everyone burst into tears when they walked into a room and saw them....there is a middle ground waiting to be discovered I think....

I was walked to the operating theatre, when I got to the ante room a nurse bustled up and said 'you can't wear those' and took off my pink fluffy slippers. She put on a pair of beige socks and said kindly 'you can keep these as a souvenir'. What? So that when I am relaxing on the sofa at home, with my feet up, I can look at my feet, smile fondly, and say 'ah yes, these socks remind me of that lovely visit to...............' Not in the same league as a sombrero hat from Spain or a pink plastic flamingo from Florida is it?

When did doctors and nurses start qualifying at the age of 14? I'm sure they were older when I was in training all those years ago...

So there we go, that's my last word on the subject, fingers crossed that this ablation was a success and I don't have to repeat the whole thing in a few months - still, look on the bright side, I will be prepared this time and make sure I take my souvenir socks in with me and make sure that my backside looks as attractive as possible.....

See you tomorrow when I will have sorted out the ProMarker winner, sorry about the delay, I've been busy being a diva x