Back from the Missing

I know I've neglected the blog lately. So many people have commented on it....it's nice to know that people do read it! I'll give you an update of what's been happening here in the World of Willett....

My Dad had a medical emergency a week ago and gave us all quite a scare. Thankfully it turned out to be a combination of his body bottoming out after coming off a steroid and, at the same time, reacting very badly to a new antibiotic. Luckily the medical team who arrived at the house to transport him were on the ball and quickly began to stabilize him before leaving for the hospital. After a few hours in ER, he was doing well and was able to come home. The next day he was fine, feeling so much better, while the rest of us were exhausted and had headaches. But he's really doing well now, and we're all so grateful for that.

The second thing that happened was the Scrapbook MegaMeet in Novi. This his the holy grail of scrapbooking in Michigan. It's at the Rock Financial Showplace, a huge exhibilition center. The last few years I've only been able to go on a Saturday, even though it's held Thursday - Saturday. This year I went Thursday and Friday, and it was awesome. I took lots of classes and shopped until I couldn't walk and my money was gone. I found some great deals and learned a lot of new things. As I write this, I'm in my craft room, surrounded by my new toys. Problem is, there's no room. Randy has said he's going to bring a semi-truck trailer in and hook it to the side of the house on a hinge. I think he's probably on the right track, because I have no clue as to where I'm going to put all of this stuff! Guess I'd better get busy and get some scrapbooks done. The MegaMeet was fantastic, but I was actually gone Wednesday night through Friday afternoon, taking two more days off work. Since I'm just getting back after our vacation, that meant I was really crunched for time, both at work and at home. I'm hoping I can stay home the next few weekends and not be so scheduled.

Randy and I have decided to concentrate on some new yard projects this year, so we've been busy shopping (yay!) and planting (yay for about the first hour). Here's what we're doing...

We replaced an old, rickety porch swing with this:

See those bushes on the side of the house? They're gone now:

This front flower bed? Also gone (we ran out of daylight, but the other bed in front is next):

Our purchases:

Randy worked on our vegetable garden. Here it is before:

And after:

Our hosta bed before:

And how it looked at the end of yesterday (he did even more on it this morning, but due to the rain, I didn't get a picture yet):

And a few more random pictures:

And finally, here' s Jack, doing what he does best, rolling in the yard:

So, this is our first step towards what we want to do this year. We've still got a lot of work ahead of us, but we're getting there. Keep watching the blog for our progress!