Tying the Knot

Well, technically, Paul and Linda had tied the knot a week before this reception but it was still very special. Paul is John's youngest brother . . . and the final brother to get married! I have a special place in my heart for Paul. I met him when he was only 14 (I was only 18, but still). When John and I lived in Fort O. for the first year we were married, we went to his family's house almost every Sunday for dinner. Somehow, it evolved that Paul and I were assigned to make dessert. We always had so much fun insulting each other's culinary skills. He really feels like my little brother, not just my brother-in-law . . . we just have way too much fun dissing each other.

The reception was held in "The Valley," the ward John grew up in and the ward we attended for the first year we were married. It was a lot of fun to see people I haven't seen in awhile . . . any visit to the Valley involves lots and lots of hugging. I love those people! Laura and Hilda did the decorations . . . aren't they amazing?! I told Laura she should go professional and write a book or something. I mean, I hate HATE (no offense Linda, I'm just weird!) the color purple and all I could think was how pretty everything looked. That's quite an accomplishment in itself! Sarah's (Matt's wife) parents catered and HOLY COW . . . that was the best spread I'd ever seen or had at a reception. It was so good.

My mom made the groom's cake as her gift and it was pretty darn beautiful (as all her cakes are) and delicious. For the small amount of people that came, a lot of cake was gone! Poor Paul only got a bite (they cut the groom's cake since it was his hometown) but I made sure he left with a cinderblock-sized piece . . . gotta get him working on those "husband handles" . . . heh, heh.

Charlie had a great time. Several people told me he was "the best dressed man" there. Sorry, Paul. He was very skittish at the beginning but then he warmed up and went wild. Mr. Turner (photographer/family friend) took a liking to him and followed him around. Charlie would pose and dance for him (it's sounds creepier than it actually was!). He even encouraged Charlie to touch the cake as if he was stealing a lick of frosting! For anyone who gets those pictures, let me know so I can see how those came out! Charlie had the best time playing with his nephews. As with any Flynn function, it ended with a tangle of boys on the floor. Charlie loves playing with his boy cousins since he doesn't have any siblings. Guess that means one thing . . . it's time we find Charlie a new home where there are lots of boys to play with. Any takers?

But I think Charlie's favorite part of the night was Linda. I think he's in love. He kept talking about her all night! When I told him we had to leave, he says, "Say 'bye' to Linda?" As we drove home, he kept asking, "Where's Linda?" Hmmm . . . I wonder what he sees in her . . . (wink, wink) It may have had to do with all those big kisses she gave him . . .

John took Paul and Linda's engagement and wedding photos and they honestly are some of the best pictures he's ever taken (portrait-wise). Once John gets his website where he wants it, you'll have to go visit and check it out. The slideshow he made for the reception was really beautiful. Ah, what a talented man!

Congratulations Linda and Paul! We love you!

Brian, Matthew, Scott, Paul, John's Dad and John.

Paul and the nephews.

Cutting the cake.

John's mom and dad, "We're finally done!"

Keeping Busy

. . . . or just trying to look it.

Here are a couple of purses I made a month or two ago. Both of these came out really, really nice, especially on the inside. Now I'm a little embarrassed at some of the first ones I made!

This "Bluebirds Seven" purse is for Donna Blackburn and I have yet to deliver it to her! ANYWAY, I know yellow and blue are her favorite colors so I think she'll really like this purse . . . when I get it to her!

This purse is for Donna's niece, Elizabeth Webb. For those of you who don't know her, she's the best! She's Charlie's Nursery teacher and probably his favorite person in the world. She's at UTC studying French and Portuguese. Yeah, she's kind of brilliant. So, I thought this French book would be perfect for her. I lined it with toile because you can't get more French than toile. And by the way, both of these purses are lined with toile because my mom is kind enough to let me raid her huge fabric stash . . . and toile is like crack to her. I'm not kidding. She has it in every color. ANYWAY . . . I didn't want the purse to look too old-fashioned so I added those clear handles to make it a little modern. I love this purse!

And now it's time for a failed experiment. I've decided I want to try to sell my book purses. Once I've made a few, I'll start an etsy page. In my crazed mind, I thought I should make other things out of books . . . like wallets. Last week I attempted my first wallet.

It literally took me DAYS to figure this out. Pathetic, no? And when I finally finished it, it did not look sellable at all. It's all wonky and not straight . . . and not cute. In fact, soon after I finished it, it started to fall apart. I'm just not meant to sew! The purses require no sewing . . . just lots of ironing and glueing. I should stick to that. Not to mention, you can charge much more for a purse than a wallet . . . and I seriously could have made 2 to 3 purses in the time it took me to make that dang wallet.

And, something totally random. My brother-in-law Paul got married last week and I was too sick to go. So, I made him and Linda a "wish I was there" card. Obviously, the "f" is for "Flynn" and I used the purple and green because those were their colors . . . I think. I had heard olive and plum, but who knows? I think people need to send Pantone swatches of their colors along with their invitations so I can make them cards with the right colors. Yep, everyone should go to that trouble just for my benefit! And the fleur de lis . . . I used because I like them. Kind of random. It does not look like a wedding card, but I think it's nice anyway.

Healthy, Wealthy and Wise (1 out of 3 ain't bad)

Okay, I'm probably not wise either. I'll tell you why.

I've always been extremely allergic to dust and mold. In the fall, I was outside while John raked leaves for maybe 45 mintues. I'm allergic to leaf mold, so I wore a mask. 2 days later I was in the doctor's office with a sinus infection. Pretty crazy.

So you'd think when I started making purses out of old books something would've clicked. Old. Books. Allergic to mold and dust. Sinusitis that won't clear up. Those facts finally clicks a couple of weeks ago. Hmmmm, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to rip apart books that were older than I was . . . some older than my dad. One almost as old as my grandmother. They could have, I don't know, DUST in them? Mold spores, maybe? Uh, yeah. I'm an idiot.

To make a long story short, here's the rundown on what's going on.

1. Antibiotics helped a little. I still have a permanent sinus headache that comes in part from grinding my teeth which has made my jaw swollen (ENT says I have "TMJ" - whatever that means). I grind my teeth at night because my sinuses are flared up. I have sinus pressure because I've been sick for so long and not everything drains the right way because I have a deviated septum. It's a vicious cycle, my friends.

My ENT says nothing is really to the point of surgery (sinus OR oral, although he said there's a better chance of them working on my jaw than my sinuses) yet. We're now going to focus on my allergies. I'm having an allergy test (my third one!) in a week and a half. I will probably have to do allergy shots (again) and perscriptions, etc. As annoying as that is, I'm grateful. I think it's great we're doing this now as spring (and pollen!) is approaching. Maybe I'll actually get to enjoy spring this year instead of being inside and miserable. I hope it helps. In the meantime, I got a new, smaller mouthguard for my teeth. I'll admit, I've been using athletic guards at night for years (they're so cheap!) because I thought it was all the same. They aren't. They make my bite way bigger and I think that could cause the "TMJ" (is that even a real thing? LOL.)

2. THE BIG ONE. My ENT tested my blood for my thyroid levels because I had been feeling so fatigued. I kind of rolled my eyes thinking it was pointless. I felt like I had the flu and thought it had nothing to do with my thyroid. Weeks went by and I totally forgot about that test. Last week I got a voicemail from the ENT saying my TSH was low. Wha? (I have to mention the nurse's tone of voice . . . she had this tone of fake concern that I KNEW something was wrong. They should really have classes on how to leave voicemails in nursing school . . . if they don't already.) She said they'd already called in some synthroid for me to take. WHA?! It felt like a total slap in the face. It came from NOWHERE. I wasn't expecting that at all. I was very upset about it that day because I know so many people who struggle with thyroid issues and it is NOT fun (not to mention I'd heard that medication can make you gain tons of weight--NO WAY! Not after all the weight I've lost . . . twice!). I'm just so sick of all these random little health problems getting in the way of my life. I hate missing out on things (like my bro-in-law's wedding yesterday--I'm still bummed about that one) and not being reliable because of these dumb problems.

So far, I've been on the synthroid for only a week. I've heard it can take months to work. I'm trying to be positive. It is nice to finally know there is a reason why I've been exhausted, achy and having chills. I read some other symptoms of an underactive thyroid and it totally fits the bill. It's kind of ironic how I've been praying for answers and when I finally get one, I don't want it! I'm just trying to be patient and hopefully the thyroid medication will kick in soon. It's so hard to feel so tired and not get any relief. It's really hard to stay positive when I just want to crash all the time. But I've talked to lots of my hypothyroid peeps and they all had positive things to say about the medication, etc. Right now it doesn't look too serious so I'll just keep doing the best I can . . . even though right now my best sort of sucks.

By the way, 1 out of 12 woman have an underactive thyroid. If you're feeling "flu-ey" and it doesn't go away, go get your blood tested.

Thus endeth the whining.