Life and The Wednesday Showcase

It has been a difficult summer. At one point, I sat down to dinner and told my husband that I feel like Job, you know, the guy in the Bible who lost is family, all of his money, ended up covered in boils, and whose wife told him that he should just curse God and die. So much for a supportive wife!!! Well, life has not been that bad, thankfully! But, below are just a few of the issues I've had to deal with this summer.

There have been family issues, which are always heartbreaking. We had a major gas leak to deal with. The good news about that is that we didn't end up on the national news, or worse, dead. But it was a major project to get it fixed. We had an electrical fire. Our contractor was amazed that the entire house did not burn down. It happened while we were away, so had it been worse, we would have lost the dogs as well as the house. 
There was the accident with the airplane when a tire blew out as I was landing. While far from a major accident, it was frustrating at best. Because the plane was disabled on the runway, the airport was shut down for 3 hours while they moved the plane off of the runway. Boeing is based at my airport and of course this was the moment that they wanted to get one of their jets out. And as fate would have it, 2 other private jets were ready to go, so no one was happy with me. As for the blow out, it wasn't my fault, it happens. And the good news is that I handled it beautifully, and no one was hurt...or dead. 

The plane was due for its annual inspection. So since it was disabled, I had to arrange for the mechanic to come to me. Getting this arranged was not an easy task. In order to move the process along a little faster, I helped with the maintenance. Of course this always comes at a time that really isn't convenient. But it was accomplished, and.... 

  

I have been back in the air, and doing aerial tours. This picture was taken by a couple whom I took up for a ride back in June. I had no idea the picture was taken. They said they couldn't believe my concentration.

I hurt my back. When I went to the doctor, I was asked if I had ever had damage to my hips, or had been in an accident. Nothing that I could remember. Then I went home and began to think about it. I remembered that after having all the injections in my hips for fertility treatments, my hip muscles burned when I would go for my morning walks, and that it lasted for about 3 years. My morning walks are not a stroll. Many have told me that my walk is more like a run, so I'm really moving. When I went back to the doctor, I told them about what I remembered, and they now feel that I have deep tissue damage that surfaced due to all the heavy gardening I did this summer, 

as well as the extra work I was doing to prepare for the marathon in October. 

I am now going to rehab twice a week. The marathon is off for this year. The good news is that since I won the lottery, I can move my position to next year. The doctor feels that there are muscles that can be strengthened around the damaged area and that the pain will go away and I should have no problem doing the marathon...next year. I'm disappointed, but this is hardly the end of the world. 

As I've shared with you, Little Bit was diagnosed with cancer. She's old, almost 16 years old, so of course things go wrong at this point, but it's heartbreaking nonetheless. We had two bad nights a few weeks ago, but she has rebounded, at least for now. 

I began doing the Wednesday Showcase posts probably about a year after I started blogging on a regular basis. I was so very grateful (still am!) to have anyone read my posts and I wanted to give a little something back, so each week, I would showcase 2 bloggers. Some you knew well, others were new to blogging. Over the years, I have met some of the most amazing people, and I've even had the opportunity to meet a few in person. I've been doing the Wednesday Showcase posts for about 5 years, and during that time, everyone who has contacted me has been very happy to have me showcase their blog. That was not the case recently. The post was as all my showcase posts have been. I linked to the blog, showed pictures of their beautiful work, and encouraged readers to check out the blog. I heard from the blogger who was quite angry, and went on to tell me all that I had done wrong. I was shocked to say the least, and quite honestly, very hurt as well. I apologized and said that it was only meant to try and promote their blog and say thank you for following my blog. To add insult to injury, this happened on the same day that Little Bit was diagnosed with cancer. 

So many of you have told me how much you like the Wednesday Showcase posts as you enjoy learning about new to you bloggers. After the recent incident, I have decided to end the posts. Of course, one should not spoil it for everyone, but as I thought about it, I decided that maybe it's time for something new. I have been working on a new project that will begin in October. It won't happen on a weekly basis like the Wednesday Showcase posts did, at least, not for now. But I think it will be fun, and it will give me the opportunity to introduce you to some of the fabulous people and the things that they are doing in the sewing world. This is kind of a situation of where when life gives you lemons, find a way to make lemonade. 

So, to all of you who stop by, thank you. And a big thank you to all of you who do blog. There was a time when I thought I would see the end of sewing as a creative art. But thanks so all of you who blog and sew, and even those of you who don't blog, but still sew, this extremely special art has not died. 

Happy Wednesday :)

Rhonda