Erin Update Day of Surgery - 6:30 AM

Rob was kicked out of Erin's room very late last night, so he slept at the motel. Deb called David's and my room at 5:40 this morning to say the hospital called and asked if I wanted to go see Erin with them this morning before the surgery. Of course I said YES! We had 20 minutes to get ready. 15 minutes later she phoned and said the hospital called and were taking Erin down early to the OR so Rob ran over there, while Deb fed Mackenzie. David, Deb and I are going to the hospital while Ron watches the kids this moring. We probably won't stay real long, but we want to be there a bit for Rob. Ron, Deb and I talked to Erin this morning and she is doing good under the circumstances. She was in the waiting room of the OR waiting her turn when she called. More later...........

Erin Update - Day Before The Surgery

Rob and Erin left the motel this morning at 9:30 for Stanford so Erin could check in and have the embolizations and balloon test in her carotid artery done. The doctor had another patient before her which ended up taking most of the day. Poor Erin couldn't eat anythig since midnight. They had a harpist play for her to relax her which she liked very much. Finally tonight they did the balloon test and she passed. Thank goodness! This means that the tumor has not invaded that artery or has at least not invaded it enough to cut it off. They decided against embolizing the tumor. It was just too risky for her. They said the tumor is so big and there are so many little veins it could have killed her doing the procedure. Because of the lateness of her procedure no one was able to see her tonight but Rob. We are not sure about tomorrow morning either.

Rob came back to the motel going on 10 tonight to get some things so he could spend the night at the hospital with Erin. Grammy and Grandpa took special care of Steven and Mackenzie all day at the motel. Steven did a lot of swimming throughout the day which he loved! Mackenzie has been very good, but it was apparent this evening that she missed her Mommy and was looking around for her. After dinner and the kids were asleep, Ron, Deb, David and I sat outside by the pool since it was cooler than our rooms. We left the door open to their room which is right by the pool and Deb abd Ron checked on the kids often while they slept. It was nice having each other's company. It has not been easy waiting to hear something and get answers from the doctors. As far as we know the surgery is still at 8 AM tomorrow morning. I will keep you updated as we hear things.

NOTICE - Erin Surgery Updates

On Wednesday I will be doing updates here on my blog on what the family is doing at the hospital and anything we hear throughout the day form the OR regarding Erin's surgery.

Jen suggested this since she said she would be going crazy all day wondering what we are doing since she couldnt be there and how things are going. Others expressed the same thing, so I mentioned it to Erin and volunteered to do the updating here. She liked the idea and agreed.

Thanks to a very dear friend I now have an 'in' with the wireless Internet at the hospital. Shhhh

Erin and her family are already in the bay area. My brother Ron (Erin's Dad) arrived on the weekend and they are spending the day all together.

Tomorrow Erin is admitted to the hospital and they will do the embolizations and other things that need to be done before the surgery. No one can see her during the day but Rob.

We are leaving early tomorrow morning and going to Capitola for a day of renewal at our favorite California coastal town.

We will check into the motel where Ron, Deb, Rob and the kids are staying late tomorrow afternoon. We can see Erin that evening so we will.

Wednesday morning the surgery starts at 8 AM and it is scheduled to be 12 hours.

Hopefully with 5 adults there we can manage to keep Steven happy and entertained! There is a local park nearby and also the Rodan Gardens on campus which are amazing. The adults can enjoy the statues and Steven can run through the pathways. This used to be my favorite place to go when I needed to destress when working on campus.

Thank you to everyone who has e-mailed or called with support and all the prayers that are being sent up for Erin and her family. We are so blessed to have you all in our lives.

If you would like to send a message to Erin you can leave them in the comment section and I will be sure she gets them tomorrow evening when we see her.

Next post will be from the Bay Area. See you then.

Creative Moments

Though this weekend is filled with chores and things to do before joining family in Palo Alto for few days for the surgery this week, I have enjoyed creative moments as well.

Creating another life journal.

And a wine tasting journal for myself.

Lots of colored bell peppers to use up before we leave, so I made mixed pepper jam. The green is actually jalapeno's for a little heat.

Cooking over low heat to thoroughly dissolve sugar: 2 3/4 cups finely chopped peppers, 1/4 cup finiely chopped jalapenos, 1 cup apple cider vinegar, and 5 1/4 cups sugar. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon unsalted butter. Then increase the heat to medium and birng to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly for 1 to 2 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-high and bing the mixtire to a full rolling boil, stirring contantly. Stir in the rentire contents of 1 pouch (3 oz) liquid pectin. Return to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil, continuing to stire constantly for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam. (Note -- to help prevent jam from sparating in the jars, allow the jam to cool 5 minutes before filling the jars. Gently stir the jam every minute or so to distribute the peppers. This helps sometimes, not always. ) Ladle the hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe the jar rims and threads with a clean, damp cloth. Cover with hot lids and apply screw rings.

Process half-pint jars in a 200 degree F water bath for 10 minutes, pint jars 15 minutes.

As to the rest fo the bell peppers I had, I roasted them under the broiler; peeled,seeded, and froze them for later use.

I finally got labels made for everything I have canned.

and placed on the jars.

I find these onions addicting. Good thing they only have a small amount of sugar in them!

The finished Mixed Pepper Jam. See how most of the peppers floated to the top. I did the step to help prevent this from happening. Oh well, it is not as perfect in the jar, but it will taste good. Now, back to other things on my weekend list like laundry, ironing, vacuuming, dusting, packing............(A few hours after posting this, and I realize whatI did in the pepper jam recipe that was worng. I finely diced not finely chopped the peppers. No wonder they are not mixed well into the jam. Eye roll......)

Wrapping Up Another Week

I can't ignore the debate between the vice-presidential candidates last evening. I imagine most of you are as sick and burnt out on candidates and politics as I am. As to a winner last night? I have to say Joe Biden. However I felt a bit cheated with the whole thing, because it seemed to me the candidates were able to just ramble on and on with their talking points. I thought if I heard Palin gushing her "maverick" mantra one more time I would scream. And Biden about the middle class.



It didn't seem to me the moderator made Palin stick to answering the questions that were put to her. When it was her turn she always wanted to talk about something else and rambled on and then if she did answer the question posed to her after that, it was with curt and short answers. Much of what she said was not surprising since it is what she says every day on the campaign trail. She was confident, that's for sure, but what was with the winking and all the folksy stuff? It annoyed me to no end, and did not make me feel like she was my neighbor next door. If my neighbor next door constantly winked at me like that, I would have her commited.

Biden got to ramble on as well and I think he should have been made to hone his answer on those programs that might have to be cut in light of the bailout bill's price tag, instead of being allowed to wax on about what the Obama administration would will not cut. Palin's retort that nothing would be cut from the programs McCain is proposing would have surely brought up a follow-up or two in a more free-flowing enviornment.

Of course the responsibilty for steering these candidates toward substansive matters and away from the canned delivery, fell to Gwen Ifill, the moderator. (I hear the LA Times loved the job she did. Love this country we can voice our opinions.) Some of the blame has to go to the campaigns themselves, especially MacCain's who lobbied for strict rules that imposed very short response time limits on answers and did not allow follow-up questions. I had hoped that she would have pressed the candidates some.

Well, what did we actually learn about the cnadidates then? Palin did not have one moment of lack of confidence. We saw Biden get emotional when talking about the death of his first wife and daughter. Biden would not pattern his his vice presidency after Dick Cheney, but Palin just might, considering she also believes Cheney's office is not part of the Executive branch.

Palin gave mixed answers on the role of government. On the one hand we need government to bail out the financial sector, on the other she wants it to get out of people's lives. When it comes to full civil rights for homosexual couples, she again gave mixed answers. Biden was more consistent in his answers, but no more surprising. In short, we were given a debate where we didn't learn anything we didn't know already. I felt that Palin was a bit sarcastic at times and upset that Biden talks about the past. But we learn from the past and the past is the footprints for the future. I felt Biden was a gentleman and respectful of Palin, especially when he could have jumped all over her for naming the wrong General three times in a row. He was a gentleman and left it to the pundents. Well, I will say I enjoyed this debate much more than the first presidential debate, even though I thought the candidates should have been made to reveal apspects of their views we don't get when watching their infomercials. But hey, that's just my take.

"I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians."- Charles De Gaulle

Grateful this week - for my family and the time I was able to spend with Deb, Erin and Mackenzie. I love them dearly and Erin is like a daughter to me. To be able to spoil them and help them relax in a stressful time.

-- for my husband, who even though is still on crutches tried hard this week to help me do things I needed to get done, and even ran some errands on his own. I love him so much; he is my best friend and soul mate.

-- for the expertise of the doctors and surgeons at Stanford Medical Center beimg some of the best in the world. I know that Erin will be in the best of hands during her surgery Wednesday.

-- To live in a country where we have the right to vote for our leaders, listen to open debates, have freedom of speech, and live in freedom.

-- for the rain we have been promised later today, through the night and tomorrow morning.

Have a great weekend!

Today's Fun at Home - Preserving and Crafting

My grandson Justin inhales grape jelly with peanut butter on sandwiches. So that was the first fun thing on my list. Make Justin grape jelly.

Ingredients for Easy Grape Jelly

Filled jar in water bath

Finished product -- Concord Grape Jelly

Covering and decorating more Journals of Life

I have someone in mind for each of these

I really have been enjoying this craft project and believe that thwy will be appreciated when gifted

Gratitude -- I am grateful for all the little blessings that come my way each day through nature, friends, family, stangers and others creativity

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Deb, Erin and Mackenzie's night-over visit on their way home from Stanford Medical Center was big fun.

Cheese, grapes, crackers......

Homemade wine jelly over cream cheese spread on crackers........

They were my guinea pigs and it was an unanimous hit. I will be serving this at our holiday party this year.

Me, Erin and Deb.

We had so much fun catching up with one another, talking about the surgery and having all kinds of discussions, including politics which we all enjoyed. They both liked their journals, and Erin enjoyed the new Halloween Barbie.

Okay, who is taller, me or you?

Pretty much the same, I may have her by a quarter of an inch. Yeah, right.

Lots of laughter (and VJB wine).........

Mackenzie is growing in leaps and bounds. Great Uncle David did a photo shoot with her; she is quite the little diva you know.

Did you say spiders ????!!!!

Mommy and daughter.

A mother's kiss.........

Grammy and granddaughter.

A Grammy's comforting kiss.

Hard to see them leave, but we will see them next week at Stanford when Erin has her surgery. My brother Ron will be out then too. I can't wait for the hugs to begin!