Follow-up on LCK appointment!

Good news! The pain is caused by bursitis, which follows a hip replacement twenty per cent of the time. He gave Lynn an anti-inflammatory injection. Doctor said that he has had a possible defective prosthesis in only one case. He seems to think the media hype, even though it should be considered, is overdone. He recommended that Lynn call the DuPuy 800 number to be placed on the register and then they would pay for any expenses should the prosthesis cause problems in the future. So we are delighted and thankful that another surgery is not called for at this time. Thanks to all of you for your concern and prayers.

Information about this Weekend

Don't want to run this in the ground, but want to make this information available for anyone who still might be able to see the Calvary Quartet this weekend.

10/ 3 - Sunday morning and afternoon (10:30 and 3:00):

Bible Baptist Church, 2500 Margaret Avenue, Terre Haute, IN. Phone # - 812-233-2541. Website www.thbbc.org

10/4 - Sunday evening (6:00 p.m.):

Faith Baptist Church, 11612 State Highway 243, Cloverdale, IN. Phone # - 765-795-3789. Website www.faithbaptistcunot.org

This church is about 1/2 hour further east on Interstate 70 than the other church. The pastor told me over the phone that it is located about 6 miles directly south of the interstate exit (but I can't remember which exit). It could easily be googled or mapquested.

I would imagine that the Sunday evening service will be a repeat of one of the services held at the morning/afternoon church.

Disclaimer: I do not know anything about either of these churches other than the information given above. They may be very quiet, conservative style churches, or they may be more "out there." Just so you know!

I am preparing for two nights on a traveling bus with a hotel night inbetween. Guess the men in the group are used to it. Saturday they will be recording a new CD at a studio in Evansville, IN. It will be strenuous but I am looking forward to the trip!

Thanks much - Ann

SLEEPLESS NIGHTS

Do you ever have one of those nights when some stupid little thing gets on your mind and you can't sleep? Monday night I woke up at 4 am and starting "fretting" about how I would ever get the quilt and wall-hanging finished complete with the prairie points requested by the customer! I had told her I wouldn't do the points and she agreed, then last week called and asked if I would please put them on the quilts. I said I'd think about it.

So. . . in the middle of the night I was trying to figure if I had enough fabric left to make that many points, how big were the squares supposed to be 4" or 3.5", how do I get them to attach properly around the corners, etc. etc. etc.!! Finally at 5:30 I got up, came in the office, played a little spider and free-cell, read a book - all in an attempt to get the quilt off my mind. At 6:30 I went back to bed and slept until 9 am!

The problem didn't seem nearly so bad by then and I decided to tackle the project! Always please the customer, right?!? Spent many hours Tuesday and Wednesday completing the wall-hanging. First job was to measure fabric and count, and count, and count several times to make sure how many squares I needed - which I determined to be 180. Good! I had enough to make about 200. Here are some pictures.

Step 1: Cut 180 4"squares. My cutting skills improved considerably during this tedious process. Then I had to fold corner-to-corner and press each square into these triangles.

Steps 2,3,4: Cut and "square" the top - notice the batting and backing are tucked under. Then I had to cut the back piece 1.5 inches bigger than the top, and then cut the batting .5 inch bigger than the top. Got all that? Yes, very tedious and tiring and stressful! Thinking all the time that one small slip of the rotary cutter could ruin the entire quilt!

Steps 4,5,6: (no pic) Pin each triangle to the quilt edge with the back tucked under and out of the way. Sew the triangles to the top fabric. Bring the back fabric out, fold under, pin to the top, and hand-stitch in place. Again much tedious work. I had to take many breaks in all these processes - to relax my back and my mind.

VOILA!! THE FINISHED WALL-HANGING!

Now to repeat the process to complete a large queen-sized quilt!! Wish me luck! Only one slip of the rotary cutter . . .!

Now what causes your sleepless nights?

Latest from the LCKs

Re the proposed relocation: a contract has been signed on another home after the contract on the first fell by the wayside when the home inspection revealed various potential problems. This second home is much more homey. Now we wait to see what develops. Closing could be in three or four weeks.

On a more serious note. If you are one of the many that have read of or seen on TV the recall of DePuy artificial hip, my sweet hubbie has that recalled hip. Tomorrow we have an appointment for an evaluation with the orthopedist that performed the hip surgery last December. Regretably, the implanted hip has been giving him increasing pain; we do not know what is in store for him. Doctors were notified in March not to use that particular hip and that was three months after Lynn's surgery, although DePuy apparently has known about problem since
2008. Apparently one in eight have hip problems with the DePuy hip. Google shows a multitude of lawyers like a lion pack clamoring for the kill in lawsuits.
Please pray for wisdom on the part of all in tomorrow's appointment with Dr. Hofammann.

Retirement!

I worked my last shift last night. This is the email I sent to my co-workers...

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to let everyone that I am resigning my position as OR scrub tech, effective RIGHT NOW! (I will be finishing out my scheduled CBE classes through December.) I say “right now” with enthusiasm, not because I am anxious to leave all my friends and great co-workers, but because I will be moving on to being a full-time wife, mother, and grandmother. For this, I am very thankful and excited.

Those of you who know me well will be surprised to know that my husband is actually supportive and also excited about this. He is, I suppose, now expecting decent breakfasts and delicious dinners. You can see how my life is going to change!

So though I am giving up a job that I have enjoyed and appreciated for 16 years, I am looking forward to a new phase of life. Many thanks and regards to all of you who made my years with you very memorable.

Judy K.

So YEAH! WOO-HOO! I am no longer a "shift" worker. In December I will teach my last class and really feel like a free woman. Well, I have a notebook full of things I need and/or would like to do, so free time will not be a big part of my new life, I'm thinking.

ArtPrize 2010

Saturday at ArtPrize I was surprised to see this sculpture at Meijer Gardens by an artist from Eureka, IL.  I thought I took a picture with his name and the title of the piece, but apparently I didn't save it to my phone--must be my age or lack of strong technology skills!  I think his last name is Esmer or something like that just in case any of you central IL folks are familiar with him.  I'm also including a picture of me in front of Chihuly glass piece that is on display at Frederick Meijer Gardens but is not part of ArtPrize.  In case you are interested I have some pictures of other pieces on my blog.  Click here to see. 

 

What's On Your Bookshelf?

Just wondered what the Ks are reading these days?

I'm re-reading GREAT EXPECTATIONS with my seniors - for a number of years they've read it on their own; therefore, I'm rediscovering many of the interesting characters and plot details that had kind of escaped me.

Am also going to start THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE by Stephen Covey. Apparently it's fairly well known, but I was not familiar with it until this summer. And a friend gave me THE VALLEY OF VISION, which is Puritan prayers. It's not heavy reading at all and I have been enjoying it.

And for light reading - READER'S DIGEST!!!!

Let us in on what's on your bookshelf these days.

Fun in GR

This is the second year for ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. It's the brainchild of a DeVos entrepreneur to build interest in art in GR and showcase to the world Grand Rapid's art community. Almost 2000 artists from around the world have brought there work for display in hundreds of venues both indoors and outdoors. Last year several pieces were installed in the Grand River. The community registers to vote on their favorites with a thumbs up/thumbs down. After 10 days or so the Top Ten go into their own competition and the winner gets a $250,00 prize.

Last year I went downtown to see the Top Ten and was amazed at the work. The winning painting was an ocean scene that appeared to be a photograph instead of a painting. It was my favorite although I also really liked three portraits made from push pins!

ArtPrize begins tomorrow and this year I plan to go tour more of the work and then go back for the Top Ten.

Some of you K's who really enjoy art should consider a fall trip to GR in the future for this event.

BUSY DAY

This morning I put a new quilt in the frames at Sunrise Manor. Hard job, but I got it done. We're taking dinner to a friend of Jerry's who had surgery last week. He lives alone, so I've been baking brownies, cooking chicken and noodles for a casserole, and cooling a jello salad in the fridge. Also taking a banana bread that we bought in Arthur yesterday. Sounds good, huh?

Here are some pictures of my latest projects - these were on facebook, but don't think I put them here before.

This is "tilt-a-whirl" pattern in blues and pinks.

The star pattern in beige, golds, and misc.

This is a ballerina girl - dresser scarf and small square table top.

In progress: another tilt-a-whirl in pinks and greens. I think this might be my favorite when it's completed. Still working on the machine-quilting on this then will flip the back to make dark green border around the edge.

This and That

We spent a leisurely day driving around the countryside near Arthur. It was interesting to watch the Amish harvesting with the horse drawn equipment. It was difficult to take pictures from a moving car and this was the best one. Also they don't like people taking pictures, so I didn't get any people. We had a delicious dinner (at lunch time) at Yoder's Country Kitchen and I got a new pattern and fabric at the local quilt shop. Good day - tired tonight.

A DAY WITH FAMILY

We spent a good day with Jason and family today. We left home about 8:30 this morning heading for Downers Grove eagerly looking forward to watching Noah play football. We stopped at a 50's diner in Dwight for breakfast, and spent the driving time listening to great gospel music on XM radio. We arrived at the "stadium" at 11:15 just in time to settle in for the 11:30 game.

Noah played the defensive right end position for the Panthers and did a great job with several tackles. This first picture shows the best defensive players waiting for their turn to enter the field. (Hopefully you can enlarge it to see the names on the jerseys)

This picture is Jason - one of several coaches.

Miles, my photographer, took a lot of pictures, but I could choose

only a few pictures to show you.

Zac is the team's official videographer.

And the finale - the Christensen cheering team! The Panther's won the game 6-0.

GO PANTHERS!!

Alice Klopfenstein

She's a beauty!

Old Photos from the Attic

Trip to Hungary & Israel

We have now survived the jet-lag from a wonderful 12-day trip to the Holy Land in Israel which included 3.5 days in the Budapest, Hungary area. It was special to meet people in HU who still remembered Dad & Mom and the Hungarians showed wonderful hospitality and literally "rolled out the red carpet" for us. We will never forget the beautiful singing in their 3 churches we visited. We were blessed to stay 3 nights with hosts in their homes and learn more about their culture. Israel was incredible and we highly recommend that no one pass up an opportunity to visit there. We visited 54 Biblical sites and had a great Arab Christian guide.
1) Kathleen on a camel in Jericho, Israel
2) Following a swim ("floating") in the Dead Sea, seen in the background. Temperature was 106 degrees!
3) The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem
4) From the Mt. of Olives, overlooking the Old City (Jerusalem) which is behind the wall. The raised portion of the large wall is the closed (for now!) Eastern Gate.
5) Arriving in Hungary

In Case Any Klops Can Come

Andrew's quartet will be singing in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Sunday morning and afternoon, October 3. I will be along as well as they need some help that weekend - am so glad that that is the weekend they need me to go. We'll get back to SC at 5:30 Monday morning, so I may regret it later that day! There are bunks on the bus, but don't know how well they sleep. We would love to see anyone who can come.

Some K's have expressed interest in going if it works out in their schedules, so I thought it was worth posting to let more of you know about it. This is their itinerary, and the church is Bible Baptist, 2500 Margaret Ave.Terre Haute, IN 47802.

Knobloch House update

Front of house

Hard to get stuff do when the phones keep ringing (Casey and Perry Jr.)
Birds eye view of the dinner wagon
Jamie helping put done shingles
Perry Klopfenstein Jr. building porch

The Family Reunion Saved My Life!

If it hadn't been for the reunion, I'm sure I still wouldn't have had the mole on my arm checked out. Too busy. But Judy saw it at the 5K and said she wouldn't leave me alone until I called a doctor. Linda sealed the deal when she said, "That can kill you!" Well, I did call a doctor -- our very own Sam -- and it got crazy from there. Since then, I've learned alot about melanoma, met some great specialty doctors, had surgery, and prayed alot. A long month later, the results are in...ALL CLEAR! Thanks to all of you for your love and support. I love you all!

Recovering...

My surgery took place yesterday as planned, and I am now home resting and recovering. It was pretty much an all-day affair with a nuclear medicine procedure first, followed by a sentinal node biopsy and tumor removal, and finally plastic surgery to put it all back together. I had not had a surgery since I was about 10 when I had a minor dental thing done, so the whole thing was new to me. It was both frightening and fascinating. I felt well-taken-care-of, both by all the doctors, techs and nurses and by my family who were able to be there. They tell me that the doctors were pleased with the way things went, and now we are waiting test results to know what is next. For now, I am resting comfortably. I was queasy and weak most of the day, needing to eat in order to keep pain meds down but simply could not. Then, exactly 24 hours after I woke up from the surgery, I suddenly wanted chips and dip. I ate some, and it tasted great. Go figure! Tonight I rode with Jerry to take Heater to a football game and then stop by Bob Evan's to buy a pie, and it was too much. I should not have tried that as it has landed me right back in bed. Nathan is at mom's, so that makes it easier to just rest. Tomorrow will be a new day!

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers as I've gone through this. I love you all.

P.S. Forgot to mention the highlight of the day...a very nice hospital volunteer -- friendly, white-haired gent -- gave me smooth wheelchair ride down to nuclear medicine and back. He sure knows his way around the place! :)

Anna Gramm (Klopfenstein) in Grade School

Can you tell which one she is? She is in the front row.

Angela's Surgery

In case you haven't heard, I want you all to know that my surgery is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, at noon. It'll take most of the afternoon, but I hope to be resting at home tomorrow night. Please pray for all involved!

ARE YOU A REDNECK?

You know you're a redneck if you hang a bedpan/flowerpot on your tree . . .