Back to work and a birthday

My winter break is long over. I am always amazed at how quickly this week disappears. I spent a lot of it cross-stitching and I made some great progress. I can't show it to you unfortunately. 

I also spent a lot of time cooking and baking so that Hubby and I have some "heat and eat meals" for those days that we work late. 

I will show you a cross-stitch I made many years ago at my mother's request. It hangs in her living room. It is a beautiful Irish saying for the month of March.

I recently treated myself to two new books. Mom had given me a Barnes and Noble gift card for Christmas. I adore Log Cabin quilts and this book definitely appealed to me.

In it I found this.  

I want to make a bed quilt for my daughter and her future husband. We had chosen a quilt from a magazine that I have, but she didn't seem real thrilled with it. She did determine that she likes stars. I sent her this picture and she loved this quilt.

Once my cross-stitching is completed I am going to start this quilt. This picture is of a wall-hanging size, but directions are given for a queen-sized quilt. I can't wait to start searching for and buying fabric. I will be making over 200 blocks, but who's counting.

I also bought this book, basically to use up the gift card, but also because it appealed to me. I always find books that include witchcraft or ghosts quite appealing. I'm not sure why, but I do.

We shall see how I like it.

This past week I celebrated a birthday....the last of my 50s. I really don't feel that old. At least I didn't until Thursday. I had been having some trouble with sciatica down my left leg on and off for 2 weeks. I have experienced the same thing with my right leg before and I was doing my exercises from past therapy to ease the problem I was now having. I woke up Thursday morning in extreme pain. I couldn't sit. I was barely able to stand and walk around. I was most comfortable kneeling or laying on the floor flat on my stomach. Obviously a doctor's visit was needed. My usual orthopedist was unavailable so I took the first appointment with another doctor in the same medical group but a different office. I have been diagnosed with Spinal Stenosis (I was told years ago that it was starting, but to just leave it alone). I was sent home with meds, a back brace and an Rx for therapy. It took quite a while for the meds to kick in though and I spent most of Thursday laying on the floor on my stomach. I now know the meaning of "writhing on the floor with pain". I do not want to experience that ever again. I have rug burns in some interesting places because of it. By the night time, I was able to lay on the couch. Thankfully, a good night's sleep in my bed with the help of some pain medication found me in a much better place on Friday. I am hoping that I continue to improve and maybe make it back to work this coming week. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. You all know what I will be working on.... some secret stitching.

Thanks for stopping by!