Stasia's Place Of Grace

Friday, November 11, 2005

 

Fiona received a get-well package from the lovely Nannette and her family, which she promptly opened. You can watch the resulting mayhem here.

She writes...

Dear Auntie Nan and the H. Family,

Thank you SO much for the YUMMY COOKIES! I ate a biscotti first - MY FAVORITE!

Mama and Papa made me share with Val, Tori, and Ches - phooey on them! Everyone LOVED all the delicious smells, shapes, and flavors... and we have enough left to last a LONG TIME... but I keep telling them all, "These are MINE, ALL MINE!!!"

Thank you for my get-well gift! It makes me so happy to know you are thinking of me - I am determined to beat this!

Love and smooches,

Miss Fi

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Wednesday, November 09, 2005

 

Thanks so much to you guys who have e-mailed me, wondering where I've been. I appreciate hearing from you very much!

I apologize for not posting sooner. We've been thrown a curveball here at Chez Chef Jeff: our whippet, Fiona, had a tumor removed recently, and it has turned out to be of the Nasty Kind. (Chester had bladder surgery as well, and his waterworks are now 100% and he's back to normal - if the Wild Dog Of Borneo could ever be called "normal"...)

Fi has bounced back well from the surgery and is her usual happy, playful self. You'd never guess she is 12, which is why it was a no-brainer to decide to go ahead with the additional treatments required. I just want to take a moment and publicly say, "Thank you, God," for providing us with the ability to proceed.

Tomorrow, Fi will have a CT scan at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine, the Mayo Clinic of dog care. Next week, she will begin 18 daily radiation treatments there. Following that, they will perform a final surgery.

Of course Miss Fi is quite smug about "going to college". She has new red UW collar from Jeff, and I'm knitting her a red coat to keep her snug during the long daily drives. She even has a personalized L.L. Bean "book bag", in the school's red and white colors and with a greyhound embroidered on it, on the way (they are having free shipping from now until Christmas! Lots of dog breeds available!) She will have to pack her lunch and water in there, as she won't be able to eat prior to the procedure each day, so we will have a little picnic in the car before we return home. I'll tuck in her favorite gingerbread man toy, a St. Francis card, pack my knitting and some Ian Bostridge Schubert Lieder CDs, and we'll be good to go.

We've been lighting a candle daily for her. I'm even playing my old pre-surgery guided imagery tapes to relax her (at least they are keeping me relaxed, so she won't pick up on any fearful vibes, so that's a good thing!) If you would be so kind as to keep Miss Fi in your thoughts and prayers, and/or send good energy, we would really appreciate it!

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A dear friend of mine, A., has been diagnosed with Lupus. I am all too familiar with autoimmune illnesses, so my heart breaks at what she is experiencing. Her strength, fortitude, and humor during this difficult time are so inspiring. She is a marvelous human being who is incredibly generous to others (especially in the spinning community), and who volunteers endlessly and at great cost for animal welfare. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers as well! Thank you!

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I'm so excited for the new Harry Potter movie. I can't wait to see it and the new "Pride and Prejudice".

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What type of yarn am I?

You are Shetland Wool. You are a traditional sort who can sometimes be a
little on the harsh side. Though you look
delicate you are tough as nails and prone to
intricacies. Despite your acerbic ways you are
widely respected and even revered.

What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

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I had a terrible yarn purchasing experience and I wanted to share it with you - not to be negative, but to save you from making the same mistake! A vendor who shall remain nameless (despite terrible "customer service" and awful web photography) charged $10.95 to ship me 7 skeins of Koigu Kersti yarn. I checked the actual UPS shipping costs- $6.02. Well, I guess everyone's entitled to make a profit...

A photo of "this" yarn was posted on their website - peach, lavender, sage, silver. Cool colors.

The yarn arrived, and it was camouflage colors: brown, tan, Army green. Warm colors.

I had several online friends check the photo at the vendors site, on about 7 different computers, and all reported seeing what I saw. I contacted the vendor, and they insisted that, on their company's four recently-calibrated computers, the colors were accurately represented as the camouflage of the actual yarn. I don't know who is calibrating their monitors for them, but they must be colorblind, as my monitor is brand-new and calibrated.

After insisting that their photos and computers were all accurate, condescendingly telling me that one mus allow for "artistic variations" in Koigu yarns (really? To a completely different color family? Why have a photo at all?), and generally taking a tone with me as if I were the Village Idiot, the vendor reluctantly said she'd allow me to return the yarn. However, my request for information about whether they would also refund my shipping costs were ignored, so I kept it.

Perhaps I shall knit some lovely helmetliners for My Soldier and his platoon mates, instead of the shawl I'd wanted to make. Sigh!

Lesson learned (and explained to me by friends who have had similar experiences): Never Buy Koigu Sight Unseen. Do Not Trust Vendor Photos In Catalogs Or Online. Always Requre A Written Text Description Of Colors Before Buying If You Are Determined To Purchase. Ask About Return Policies.

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On The Nightstand

Currently reading Tom Jones by Henry Fielding - very bawdy and tongue-in-cheek. Funny. Finished Middlemarch - Thursday, Sept. 29, 1:16 a.m. Started prior to June 17th. Lordy, that one took a long time... I really loved the DVD with Rufus Sewell, though! What a cutie he is.

I finished Ahab's Wife: Or, The Star Gazer by Sena Jeter Naslund in less than a week. Read five chapters at one sitting. Fantastic writing. Amazing book. Please read it. A knowledge of Moby-Dick would be helpful but is certainly not essential... it would be like the combination of Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea.

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Must run... Fi needs to have the sutures from her first surgery removed today. What a little trouper she is. Jeff is planning on getting her a giant box of Petit Four Paws from Three Dog Bakery for Christmas, when all this is behind us.

Thank you for your friendship and good thoughts! Have a WONDERFUL day!

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