Thanksgiving, gifts, state-of-being report

We had a delightful Thanksgiving with my parents and my sister A and her husband. For our big meal, we had steaks with shrimp sauce. The sauce, which my Dad made, was scrumptious.

In the evening we opened Christmas gifts with my parents and A and her husband. Since we will be spending Christmas in California with hubby's family, we thought it would nice to open gifts with those members of my family who were visiting. As a result, I can share some of the Christmas gifts I've made this year! ;)

This is easily the favorite Christmas gift I've made so far this year. I took these photos of the girls dancing with my Dad earlier this summer. The dresses are ones that my Mom made for them. It is a little hard to read but there are cubes along the bottom (from an RSVP game which is something like Scrabble) which read 'Time for Dancing.'


I made three of these one for my hubby and one for his Dad. This is the one for my Dad.




Last time Mom and Dad were hear they made gingerbread men with the girls. I found this wooden gingerbread man at Goodwill awhile back - I had to do something special with him. I gave him to my Dad 'the chef.'


The love frame I made from purchased pieces that I painted and sanded. I microbeaded the image over so it is a bit glazed looking. The heart is something I found at Goodwill and painted and decoupaged. At the bottom of the heart is a little piece that says 'more than a thousand words' and has the girls initials and the year 2007.


I bought this funky frame at a second-hand store for more than I would normally pay for a frame at a second-hand store but it was sooooooooo cool. I collaged the girls with maps, a stamped compass, heart stickers, and iridescent embossing medium. I really liked how this one turned out. I gave it to my Mom.



I bought this mirrored frame at a second-hand store for more than I would normally pay for a frame at a second-hand store but it was sooooooooo cool. I had to make a fun collage for it. I gave it to my Mom.


A very poor photo of the Christmas frame ornaments I made this year.



My state-of-being update. I am frustrated. The doctor gave me a prescription for a steroid to help with the inflammation. I did not want to take it as I do not like the idea of steroids but my husband wants a functional wife and the NSAIDs were not doing it so I took the steroids. I did not get complete relief for three days which hardly seems worth it but when it ran out and my inflammation flared up my husband wanted me to get the one refill I had. So I did.

Today I finished the second run of steroids. It took three full days for complete relief the second time as well. I will be interested to see how I feel in the morning. I feel that steroids are a bandage and a dangerous one with potential side-effects that certainly don't balance the benefits. My husband wants me fully functional. I want to learn how to manage this naturally and I can't be fully functional when I am trying to understand how this works...urgh...