First Friday and Saturday AND SUNDAY!

The sun is shining , the weather forecast is perfect and we are fired UP for the weekend. Hilary Barbour from belle et bonne jewelry is here setting up her trunk show (YUMMY goodies, just in time for Mother's day) and I am actually ready ahead of time for tonight's FIRSTFriday of Falls Church event. Ok, well, not quite ready, I still need to buy more food and beverages for tonight, oh and blow up multiple balloons, and. Ok, so I am not ready. But the shop looks GREAT. Lots of new art and vintage treasures.

I am proud of my wondrous friend and artist Beth Loftis. Her painting made the Washington Post as the signature piece in Falls Church Arts opening announcement in the Regional Fairfax edition yesterday. Page 35 if you are interested!

We have special hours all weekend, so if you normally can't stop in because your schedule doesn't allow it please visit www.Stifelandcapra.com/events.php to get all of the scoop on this weekend aAND the rest of the month.

3 days, 3 doctor appts. All Good!

Bob & I went to the orthopaedic surgeon on Monday to get his 6 week evaluation following his hip replacement surgery. Those doctors are pretty clever. Bob really turned a corner 48 hours before the appointment. A few days earlier and the doc would have heard a lot more whining than he did on Monday! The news was all good. Bob is cleared to exercise, drive, frolic, pretty much anything his artificial leg will let him do.

Bob went to visit his prosthetist (artificial leg creator, mechanic and counselor) on Tuesday and Charlie gave him a thumb's up for proceeding with the building of his new C-Leg http://www.ottobockus.com/products/lower_limb_prosthetics/c-legproduct.asp . The "c' in C-Leg actually stands for "Canada" (where it was invented) NOT "Computer" which is what most people think! It is fascinating. Bob will strap a bracelet transmitter on his right leg and it will transmit information to a microprocessor in his prosthetic knee and will actually mirror Bob's gait and the slant of his step! This will enable him to walk for safely on stairs, slopes, just about everywhere! Needless to say, Bob is VERY excited to be moving in a forward motion again. 2 Round of physical therapy to go. One pre-leg to build up strength and one post leg to learn to walk on his new leg. Again.

You know your child has a little to much time on her hands when she can carve her vegetables into food purveyors before she eats them... I guess I should be impressed that she eats veggies. I know other parents are impressed when my son tells them he can't choose between asparagas and Brussels sprouts for supper.


Oh, and doctor appointment number 3? I went to the dentist yesterday and for once in my orally begotten life, everything was fine!
I did LOTS of treasure hunting over the past 2 days. Stop by and see what is new!

A Sneak peek for Jennifer!

I do so love making things! And it is even more fun when I know they are already paid for. It's hell being a middle class capitalist rather than a starving artist, or rather I should say an aspiring middle class entrepreneur! These pillows are for my fellow artist Jennifer for sundry gift giving occasions in her life. My personal favorite is the first one but I think it is because I am impresed with Grandma's arm muscles as she surf casts. We should all look so good!

As you can see, you can make a pillow for just about anything. To decorate your kid's room, mom's day, weddings, babies you name it, I have probably made a pillow or ornament to go with it! I really enjoy people's reactions when they see the pillows. It makes the occasional misstep all worthwhile!

Today is my birthday so wish me a happy day if you see me!

TA da!

I got a little crazy last night and "re-did" the guest room. My husband breathed a HUGE sigh of relief when he found out that just meant changing out the bed linens and art in the room and not painting nor busting out walls! Doesn't it look pretty? My aunt Maridel made me the lovely quilt folded at the bottom of the bed. It has great thirties inspired fabrics mixed in with the solids. The Pieceing and the quilting are first rate, just like my aunt!

The yo-yo quilt is a rare find I discovered at a church rummage sale last year. My friend Justine thought I was nuts to buy for the princely sum of 75 dollars but I couldn't resist all of the work that went into each and every round. The colors work beautifully in the room I do believe!

892 sixth graders, holy moly.

I look back and realize I haven't written in a week and I wonder what HAVE I been doing? One BIG thing I did last week (seemingly even bigger than my son's all school field trip!) was attend my daughter's concert in the Fairfax County Honor's Chorus Concert. It was very impressive. Not only the kids singing, which was sublime, but the logistics of getting almost NINE HUNDRED six graders in one place at one time, opening their mouths in unison was simply amazing. A lot of us parents want the conductor to come to our homes and tell our kids what to do! My daughter sang with half a dozen kids from her elementary school plus we knew four other children- friends from different schools that were singing as well. As a matter of fact, my angel friend Gretchen saw me standing in line for the ladies room (because of course although my daughter went when I asked her to before we left I neglected to go) and said "Friend, we have room for you!" and it was a good thing too or I never would have found a seat! Kudos to all of the music teachers in the county for working so hard to get the kids ready and to Hayfield Secondary for hosting. The school did an amazing job getting the kids and their parents (!) in and out.

Found these crazy pineapple pillows when I was out treasure hunting. Aren't they a hoot? Anybody have a surf bedroom out there?

Spring is in full rage in the Washington DC metro area. The famous cherry blossoms are on their way out but my first azalea is in bloom down in the back yard. It's funny, my house is on the shady side of the street and our flowers come out weeks after out neighbors across the street. The good thing about that is the spring last longer. The hard part is waiting for my blooms to emerge! Hope your spring has sprung!

13 steps but who is counting?

This last week has been a bit of a blur. Hard to believe it's been a week since I have posted. I have been full of good deeds done and received and been impressed by all of the good that is in the world (more on that later). I have been dodging the nightly news so I can concentrate on said good! On the Bob front he is feeling just well enough (3 weeks from tomorrow from his hip replacement surgery) that he is getting to be a pain in the back side. Actually really no, but he IS a lot perkier and feeling his oats. Wanting to push things physically and really go for it so it is all good. As long as he doesn't fall and mangle himself or others of course!

Friday night one of my neighbors wanted to host a neighborhood happy hour and called to see if Bob could come out and play. When the answer was "no". They brought the party to us! So we spent a very pleasant Friday evening munching, and drinking and talking. We are so blessed to be surrounded by folks that we actually like! Most people that see our 'hood in action really don't quite believe it is for real but it is!

The weekend was a real turning point for Bob, pain-wise. He has been able to drop his pain meds by 75%! So, thank you to all of you who have been praying for his healing. It is really having an impact!

Bob's big event for ths morning was he got to climb the stairs to the second floor of the house with Bill the physical therapist! Bill was really impressed with Bob's physical strength being able to manuever with both his operated hip and his prosthetic leg so king size bed and full size shower, here he comes!

One of my Fun Things To Do last week was put together a donation for the Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry's annual fundraiser. NOVAM (http://www.novam.org/) was founded in 1987 by members of concerned faith communities in Northern Virginia who wanted to provide a compassionate response to the AIDS crisis. I put together this kid oriented donation because NOVAM does a lot of work with kids who are affected by the disease, whether they themselves are infected are perhaps have parents or caretakers who are.

IMAGINE is NOVAM's signature event featuring a fabulous evening of dancing, cocktails, dessert, live entertainment, and live and silent auctions. Many of Stifel & Capra's artists donate to this event. Just maybe because our good friend & neighbor Jane is the Children's Services Program Manager! The event is at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Old Town Alexandria on Saturday, April 26 at 8 pm. It is a high energy festive event so if it sounds like something you would like to find out more about please review NOVAM's web site for all of the details!

The sky's the limit!

One of my lovely teacher friends comissioned me last year to turn her annual six grade tshirt into something more useful (as she is not a tshirt wearing kind a gal) and I started to iron it and melted the decal, and ruined my iron. THIS year I am happy to report the 2008 version of said Tshirt is now successfully a lined totebag that is reversible to a pop art abstract (for when she doesn't want to admit she IS a teacher, I suppose...). Luckily my custom project sewing disasters are few, if you don't count the paint that got "put away" by an unnamed member of my household that leaked into a bag of finished projects waiting to be delivered. Note to self: if you had delivered them as soon as you were done this would NOT have happened. Luckily they are reproducable.

Not that I would have been reproducing ANYTHING on my printer. It died. When I have orders due. Past due now (see above). I determined through exhaustive research, that... oh I didn't actually DO the research I was just exhausted listening to the research that my lovely, analytical beyond my wildest dreams, husband did. I am more than a bit braindead from exhaustion these days anyway so when my brother-in-law offered to come over and buy and install the printer for me I was thrilled to take him up on his offer! Turns out that all the models highly recommended in "Consumer Reports" magazine are not actually carried in most major stores in the Washington DC metropolitan area. So Glenn and I soldiered off to the nearest big box retailer where I did exhaustive (there is that word again!) copy tests with an 1887 postcard of Thanksgiving turkeys (don't ask!). Picked a winner, wouldn't you know , it was out of stock. ugh.

Luckily Glenn has more perserverance than me at this point in the evening and shepherded me toward another batch of machines. One of these machines was an all-in-one that we saw boxed up in "printer row" without a model. Turns out that it was featured in the front of the store on an endcap. Of course I am thinking hhmmmm, could of just walked in a bought it but no, no I didn't dare let my thoughts go that way! The happy ending of the story is that I liked that machine, Glenn snagged the last one on the shelf (so if you are looking for an HPJ6480, don't) and I even got an instant $50 rebate because we turned in my old printer for recycling rather than take it up to my parent's house for target practice! Glenn got it set up like the tech guru he is, and say and drank a glass a wine and watched him, handing him wires occasionally. Now THAT is what I call teamwork! Thanks Glenn.

It's good to be 12, part 2

And 12 year old's receive some great gifts! Here are my some of my daughter's newest birthday treasures!

Bob Update: Well, apparently he did too much over the weekend and the therapist told Bob to "give it a rest" for the next 48 hours. We aren't sure whether he twisted his knee slipping or the fact that he has cut his painkillers in half are contributing to Bob's knee pain. Of course, right after Bill said to take it easy Bob asked if they could practice stairclimbing. This is what I am living with! No wonder folks are saying I am looking tired....

It's good to be 12!

We had a fun birthday party at the shop over the weekend. The birthday girl turned twelve and invited her friends in for snacks and creativity. We took vintage jewelry apart and repurposed it into funky necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Here are some examples of the items they put together.

I am about caked out between first Friday and birthday Sunday. You know when your guests have gone through a full sheet cake that you have probably had too much icing in a 48 hour period!

April Flowers....

What a GREAT weekend I am having. Friday evening was loads of fun. We had lots of animated, interesting, fun folks in the shop, some all the way from Buckeystown (!) to check out the new art and see all of the new treasures. One highlight of the evening were parades of littlest shoppers: girl scouts dressed in togas on their way to an regional event event and The Fashion Show Of The Clashing Hat. New trend? Hmmm, maybe not!

The unheard of occurred when all of my daughter's massive birthday cake was eaten at one sitting. My experience is normally the little people eat all of the decorations and it sits there forlornly on the table.... Not so Friday.

Saturday was great; we sold three pieces of art. That makes it a good day for the artists as well as me! The weather was sunny and brisk after a forecast of day long thunderstorms so I was delighted by the gift of the sun that brings walking traffic to visit me.

On a not so good note though, there were a lot of broken bones this week. TWO of my artists have broken hands and one of our favorite customers was hit broadside and suffered a broken clavicle and a separated shoulder. Ever the optimist Diana reminds me that it's her right side that is injured and that she is left handed! God's healing touch on all of these friends and those you know as well.

Speaking of healing: the Bob update. Bob has upped his hourly laps from one to three around the house per hour and is gaining speed and rhythym! He now can sit up for short spells at a relaxed angle, and can stand assisted for longer periods of time. Bill the therapist says Monday they are going to start stair climbing, and although Bob is angling for heading up the interior flight to get back into his own bed to sleep, my guess is that they will start with the front porch steps!

FIRSTFriday at Stifel & Capra

Someone in the gallery this morning enquired if it was "tradition" to rain on First Friday. I will say that it certainly seems like it lately! Although at two today the sun today the sun came out. So fingers crossed! We will be at the shop tonight from 5 to 8pm admiring all of the new art AND my daughter's birthday cake. She turns twelve today. Seems like she was 3 last week so I more than a little confused. Every one tells me if I think the first decade went fast , just wait for the second!

Bob seems to have reached a new breakthrough today where he was one step LESS than miserable, actually on the recuperation path, guardedly optimistic. Hhe still has pain standing up and sitting down but feels more comfortable with his exercise routine (probably because his therapist told him to back way off as he Bob was doing too much!) Thank you to everyone who is keeping Bob company while I am at the shop. I feel like I am running about a month behind so every minute is precious. Did I mention I was thankful?



Tomorrow is the first Saturday of the month so DO stop in! We will be open from 10am to 5pm for your viewing pleasure (and there is sure to be leftover cake; it's a monster!).

Tuesday with Bob

Amazing how one can feel like one have accomplished absolutely nothing, yet have a day speed by. I guess that is better than it crawling by. I have done nothing today but take care of my hubby, do eight loads of laundry , tidy my studio, make nine phone calls, sort paperwork and well, wait a minute no wonder I am tired and it is only 5:oo. I am waiting for a neighbor to stop in so I have an excuse to sit on the porch! Because it is finally warm enough to. Hooray. That's where Bob is now, reading the mail and enjoying the overwhelming smell of hyacinths and bird song. Cabin fever DOES begin to set in after a time so I am glad he can get out.

These 2 pieces to the left are examples of things undone and things never to be done. The house collage was to be submitted to a quilting magazine's paper quilt challenge. I made two , was most pleased with this one, finished it to the binding and then proceeded to neglect to send in a photo by the deadline to submit it. argh. The second piece is a prelimnary sketch that I was going to do for a family Easter card as we never quite got around to sending Christmas cards this year.
I like the layout well enough so I started adding color and completely ruined it. Good thing I took the photo so I can at least remember the sentiments I was harboring during Lent! All good quotes; all still true. I can tell you that with all we have been through in the past year and a half I know I have reliable friends. I hope you do as well.

Bob update: Bob is walking about 50 steps at a time using his walker and can get in and out of bed with very little help at this point. He still has fairly severe pain in his upper leg. His therapist today told him that he thought he was overdoing it with his exercises. Bob, over do, ya think? And advised more walking, less exercises so more laps today than he is probably happy about. He's a trooper though and muscles through them valiently! Thanks to aforementioned good friends I "get" to go to the shop tomorrow through Saturday; normal hours. Yippee!. Thanks friends.

Weekend Update!

I DID get to see the Falls Church Arts Show Sensazione at Don Beyer Volvo on Friday. Ellen went with me for an hour to admire everyone's work. The crew in charge of the show did a wonderful job setting it up (no thanks to me I was depending completely on the kindness of friends to be involved at all this year). We got there 15 minutes after the show began and it was already crowded. A phenomenal turn-out! If you didn't get a chance to go to the opening selected pieces will be on display at the Falls Church Arts Gallery through April 26th. The gallery is located at 111 Park Avenue and is open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm.

My hubby Bob did NOT make it to the show, but he DID make it home from the hospital on Friday afternoon. He is in pain, now understanding that one should take one's meds BEFORE they wear off not after! We have had both a visiting nurse and therapist come out and give Bob the once-over and the thumb's up on his progress. Bob has been very diligent doing his exercises and it shows. His range of motion is improving daily although transitioning (from standing to sitting to laying down and back) is brethtakingly uncomfortable. Thank you to those that have visited. Bob loves company. It's distracting to him and makes the time pass, so call and come if you like!

Friday's a busy day AND NIGHT!

I "get " to go to the shop for the first time in a week today. I am psyched! I have tons of new merchandise to tag and put out and new art to hang. After we close at 2 I will head to Mt. Vernon and wait impatiently for the staff to discharge my hubby from the hospital!

Tonight after I get Bob settled in with a neighbor chaperone I am hoping to head over to the Falls Church Arts www.fallschurcharts.org Show and Sale tonight at Don Beyer Volvo at 1231 W. Broad Street in Falls Church. This is a lively annual event with live music, tons of great art and light refreshments. The opening is tonight from 7 to 9pm. The show continues at the Falls Church Arts Gallery at 111 Park Avenue from Sunday March 30th through April 26th. See the web site for details!

Linda Morgan of Purple Cat Studios came in last week and broguth the CUTEST array of beaded keychains. If you click on the photo you can see them up close and marvel at the variety of colors and shapes she has put together. I can't imagine what her bead stash looks like. They are only six dollars so if you need a little extra gift or a sweet way to say you are thinking of a friend I don't think you could go wrong with these. (my kids tell me that they would love cool hanging from their backbacks as well!). The shop is open on Saturday from 10 to 2. I will be at Stifel and Capra and hubby Bob will be holding court on Pinewood Street so stop by; we'd love to see you!

Man Breaks Own Land Speed Record!

This is the view on the sidewalk out of Mt. Vernon hopspital. Quite picturesque but I am not feeling compelled to set up camp in Alexandria. Seems I won't need to after all as Bob outdid himself in physical therapy today. Not quite gamboling but stepping pretty darn briskly up AND down stairs (a flight of five) as well as a lap or two around the nurse's station. This qualifies Bob to enter his own home on his own two feet - a prerequisite for being discharged. So the big guy is again defying expectations and is ahead of schedule. I must admit I was hesitant at the thought yesterday but watching him work today he was very smooth. Bob is still in pain but it is from the surgery, NOT the arthritis, as far as he can tell. Amazing. Modern medicine is indeed a miracle. We are going to set up a bed for Bob on the main floor until he is well enough to traverse an entire flight of stairs. I have visions of him holding court from on high in the family room. High because I am propping the bed on risers so he won't have to bend so far!

Evonne, Bob's friend and fellow leg amputee, came to visit today sans crutches or cane. I think Bob was a little envious of her mobility but I predict he will catch up with her sooner than he can dream. Bob will be home Friday night so DO make plans to call and stop by, Mr. Extrovert loves the company!

well, it WAS a thing of beauty....

Bob's ever supportive company, Project Performance Corp. sent over a great package to the hospital this morning of a cheery balloon, bear and an edible fruit arrangement. I left the room for a minute to fetch something and realized I missed the opportunity on my photo op. Can you tell my kids don't care for honeydew?

Bob's big PT adventure started with attempting to put his prosthestic leg on and realizing that it didn't fit the same way as before the operation. (Charlie if you are reading this, you are right again! As always.) But Bob muscled through and got him self suited up and ready to run! Bob, being Bob, passed all of his posted daily physical therapy objectives (and yes, they literally are on a poster, posted on the wall in front of his bed!) of standing up, walking 40 feet, panting like a dog (ok maybe that part isn't on the poster), resting, walking back and navigating the bathroom. That means he is free from tubes, of an internal nature (except one IV port).

They removed his epidural line this morning as well so know poor Bob knows EXACTLY how much pain he is in. Thank goodness for Percoset! Bob got to sit up and eat both lunch and dinner in his wheelchair. I was told that the wheel chair is not at the dreaded 90 degree angle they tell us to avoid. Apparently if yo bend past 90 degrees your hip can golly, just pop on out. ugh. The surgeon was happy with how his incision looked. I can't get over how the whole thing seems to be held together with clear packing tape. Don't they even use gauze any more? Apparently not!

I took the kids to visit Bob this afternoon and had the grand adventure of eating hospital cafeteria food for dinner and doing homework on tables and chairs with wheels. Those of you without eight year old boys may not realize how challenging this can be. We said our goodbyes, passed out all of the kisses from you all and headed for home. Rest easy and AmBob in Baghdad please, keep your head down.

Wednesday morning update

Ashleigh is kind of enought to hold the store down (literally!) while I tend to my family. Thanks Ashleigh!

The vampires (aka the blood squad) came in this morning at 4:30 to take Bob's blood and woke him back up at 6 to give him his sleeping pill (just kidding his morning meds). His blood preassure is still low (perhaps the blood loss, perhaps because of the epidural) so no blood preassure meds today. They have removed his pain epidural and have started by mouth pain meds. Bob had 2 percasets in him by 7 am apparently. The orthopaedic surgeon came in this morning and looked at the surgical site and gave it a"thumb's up!" It all looked good to him. The wound is still packed with ice and they hadn't gotten him up yet but Bob has 2 therapy sessions scheduled today. One for 11:ooam and one for 3:00 pm so that is going to change very soon!

Bob has been VERY diligent about doing his hourly exercises. He is fired up about going to PT. As we have been joking he's "old and chubby" in real life but at the hospital he is "young!" and "Strong!" even with one leg! I am sure he will be running circles around his thearapists again soon....

Thank you everyone for all of the prayers, good wishes, and offers of help. They are much appreciated and we wouldn't be where we are today without the power of prayer. Thanks again!

Tuesday at Mt. Vernon with Bob

So after I had made way too elaborate plans to get the kids covered for getting off to school this morning, my beloved husband looks at his paperwork last night and says "oh look we don't have to be there until ten, not nine!" Weeellllll, somebody mucked up the paperwork because when we walked into Mt. Vernon this morning at 9:58 some stern woman was calling "Robert Stiff-el?!?!" and Bob, proud of his 2 minutes early status said "YYEEESSSS, with great aplomb". And she said "Come with me, sir." Apparently it was last call. Surgery was at 11 not 12 (I guess when we postponed after last week there was a communnication issue). Well, I have never seen anyone prepped and slapped up on a table so fast. It literally caused a breeze! Well, he was quite a sight with his artificial leg tucked under the gurney with its shoe hanging out. Caused a few second glances as he wheeled down the hall I reckon!

As if to make up for all of the trauma of surviving sepsis and the agony of his amputation last year, today was as smooth as silk. Bob went in at 11, the surgeon was consulting with me by 12:20 telling everything went "textbook" and other than losing a "fair amount of blood"(!!) everything went very smoothly. Bob took 2 hours to recover, then was shipped up to the Ortho ward. As I headed up and the elevator door opened, I was a bit overwhelmed with feelings. The last time we were there it was extremely triumphant as Bob had survived and MADE it to rehab. I see Bob being the poster boy for rehab again soon so it was encouraging to be on the floor again.

Bob looked a little gray but as he started warming up , wiggling around and eating a bit, his color came up and he looked a lot better. He is still on the IV pain drip so keeps saying, "Huh, I'm not in pain!" When the nurse reminded him that they could turn down his pain meds to solve that situation he settled down! Brian came by and kept us company for awhile and then headed for home when Bob nodded off for a bit. He ate a robust supper. I left him watching bad TV and went home to my kiddies...

Signs of what I call my husband's "pathological social-ness" are already showing. HE is SO excited to be on the back side of the surgury. It will be hard for him to stay as still as he should so, if you want to schedule a visit at the hospital or at home, DO drop me an email! :o)
Theresa@StifelandCapra.com

Bob's out of surgery!

Hey all, Robin (Theresa's sister) reporting on Bob.

He is out of surgery! He went in earlier than his scheduled time and is in recovery now. He is expected to be in recovery for 1 1/2 to 2 hours and then should be heading for a room. Theresa said that the surgeon proclaimed Bob's surgery to be "textbook".

Will report more later.

Yea! Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts for Bob, Theresa, and the kids,
Robin LeTourneau