Garden In Bloom

Another swap card.  I was going to use this one for my shoebox swap but too many pieces to have to prep for!

This card uses one of my favorite new stamps from the catalog (photopolyment, pg. 119) - Garden in Bloom.  It is a two-step stamp and that is my favorite kind!  That is what got me into Stampin' Up in the first place.  I like the look of Lost Lagoon paired with Mint Macaron.  The striped paper is a piece of the Envelope Liner Paper.

My mom ended up staying at the hospital Sunday & Monday nights.  They did all kinds of tests on her and actually were discharging her around lunch time Monday.  As she was trying to eat some lunch, the GI doctor came in as she was hurting every time she swallowed solid food.  So, he changed the discharge papers for her to stay another day & put her on a liquid diet until he could do an endoscope.  He thinks she could have one of her pills lodged in her esopahogas which causes a cyst to from around it.  Marianne stayed the night with her and I don't think either of them got much sleep. I was just headed out the door this morning for the hospital when Marianne texted me that the GI dr. had come in early and wanted her to stay another day until he could get the results of her stress test back & schedule the 'scope.  Shortly after he left, the Attending Physician let the nurses have it because he discharged mom yesterday.  Said the GI Doc did not have the authority to extend her stay!  She was only there for observation & Medicare will only pay for 1 night.  So, back to the discharge!  I took her home around 9 a.m. and made her a milkshake.  She drank all of that.  She slept most of the day while I was there.  I am headed back in the morning to pick her up and take her to the hospital for the 'scope.  We are keeping our fingers crossed that he can fix the problem tomorrow and she will still be able to have her dental surgery on Thursday.

We got a surprise phone call last night from Ashley.  They are on the ship heading to the Solomon Islands.  She was just calling to check on her grandmother.  We didn't get to talk long because an alarm started going off on the ship and she had to evacuate that area.  I got an email from her today and she crossed the equator yesterday.  So she is now offically a "shellback."  There is a traditional Navy line-crossing ceremony.  (You can read about it here.)  She didn't tell us much about what they did - only that it wasn't as bad as she was expecting since they probably cannot do hazing anymore.  She said the seas have been rough on their crossing.  She forgot to take her seasick meds when they left Micronesia and the seas got the best of her.  She was 0 for 3 on keeping her meals down on the first day.  She is taking her meds now and the seas have calmed down so she is ok.  They are due to arrive in the Solomons on Friday.

Here is a great story which just emphasizes the wonderful work Ashley and the team are doing.
Midwife Saves Baby
Sure makes me proud!