Wrenching

Again this afternoon I felt transported back 11.5 years ago to a horrible morning.  Then I was a teacher.  Today I'm a mom.  Then I sheltered my students - third and fourth grade boys and girls - from the terror.  Today I read online while my boys played and did homework.  I waited until they were playing outside with my husband tonight in the safety of our backyard before I dared to turn on the news.  I stopped watching the news many years ago - but tonight I wanted to know who and why, so much more elusive - WHY???????  I cannot scream it loud enough, I do not scream it at all, except inside - from every bit of my soul.

I know there are so many who are feeling this reeling, wrenching pain.  So many there who feel the physical pain that can't be taken away regardless of the amount of pain medication and that it will take so long to get past this day - to come to terms with this day, because one really never forgets this kind of thing.  This terror.  Wounds are torn open, actual and those that our friends cannot see, ones we hide with a smile and, "Fine."

But we are strong and resilient and we will be stronger and we will heal and remember and honor and revere those who stepped forward today and those who will never be the same and will never be forgotten because they were among the innocents.

This is the prayer I posted on my Facebook feed after I read first about what had happened...

Prayers for those in Boston and those reliving tragedies as they see this develop. Prayers for those helping, rescuing, and caring for victims. Prayers for those families that will never be the same.

I will continue my prayers tonight and for so many more nights to come.  And when this has faded from the headlines, something will remind me of this day and I will pray again.  I have faith.  Faith in our country and faith in the people.  Most importantly, faith in the Lord.  My faith gives me hope that He will teach me something that will make tomorrow a little bit easier to bear here on this earth.

Thank you for reading.  Please pray - or send positive thoughts, should you choose not to pray -  for those who are suffering tonight.  It will not end when the newspaper, Facebook, Twitter, and television headlines fade - remember and honor, regardless of the headline.

~Nicole

Reopening & Restocking & Restoring

As you can see to the right of this post, WoodstreamPapery is open!  I plan to reopen WoodstreamDream in the next week.

I spent part of today adding stock to WoodstreamPapery, but there's still so much to add, many more hours of work... I could use minions just about now!

On the last two days of June we celebrated my husband's birthday and my younger son's birthday. Now we're into July and the weather is [still] blistering.

Doesn't he look so excited?  The photo in the background I bought from another Etsy shop.

He's a lover of all things train related, so I thought some art for his bedroom that would

last a long time would be a big hit and it was!

I'm getting new items made for the fall, dreaming of sweater weather as I stitch ... Today I crochet for the first time in weeks, my arm is not in agony and I'm so glad!  I have items from the past several months that need photographing so they can be listed.

I'm still in healing mode.  There are still several tests that I'll have this summer and a whole lot of doctor visits, but I pray that there is no more slicing and dicing, as I have been regarding my springtime experiences this year.

I'm so very grateful for all of the prayers, help, and support over the past few months.  It will be a while before I can do things that I want to do and wouldn't have thought twice about if I hadn't had four surgeries. There is furniture to be rearranged, boxes to be packed and hauled to Goodwill or stashed in the attic, and lots of watering at the patch.  That last one sounds easy, but that hose is a beast - very heavy and long - and I cannot haul it to our patch by myself just yet.  I rely on my husband to join me so that I can take up some of the slack that my dear friend has been towing since mid-April.  I look forward to being able to just do the things I want to without thinking about if I should.

It will come.  I have faith that little by little I will stop feeling the aches and pains and soreness that's plagued me during these periods of recovery.  Every few days there will be change for the better.  I will be restored to full health.  These are just temporay.

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading!  Have a blessed week!
Nicole