Kindness and the Blogging World

Travelling to a location that you are unfamiliar with is exciting. Just think of the fun you will have exploring new and exciting places. Travelling to a location that you are unfamiliar with for major surgery is darn right scary and stressful. It can leave you feeling lonely and vulnerable at a time in your life that you need the most support.

A few days into our trip to North Carolina, I received an invitation on my blog from two lovely ladies living in the Raleigh area asking if I would like to get together for lunch. What an exciting and thoughtful gesture it was and of course we did!

Not wanting to venture too far from hubby, Kristen of Dragondreamer's Lair and I had lunch at Denny's near my hotel. In my usual fashion, I forgot my camera so I do not have a picture of the two of us. It was wonderful meeting her in person. We chatted about all kinds of things and it was loads of fun. She's very sweet and easy to talk to. Thank you, Kristen, for a fun lunch and a much needed break from the craziness of the moment.
Kristin brought me some beautiful yarns and some yummy chocolate chip cookies. Of course, the cookies are not pictured because we ate those up in a snap.


Meeting Thearica of Pigtales and Quilts was almost not to be due to the terrible stormy weather that came through Raleigh. She persevered and we were able to do lunch the day before I left for Honolulu. Karen, a fellow board member of Thearica's on the HGTV quilting board, came in from Virginia that day and joined us for lunch at the Olive Garden. We do not have an Olive Garden in Hawaii so it was a real treat for me. The stuffed chicken was divine. Both gals were so sweet and I felt so welcomed and right at home.

Here we are, Karen, me, and Thearica on a bench fronting the Olive Garden.


We wanted a picture in front of their sign so Thearica and I had to romp through the Olive Garden's garden to get this shot.


Thearica and Karen are quilters and they offered to take me fabric shopping. Of course, there was no way that I was going to say no because you all know how much I love fabric. Our first stop was at Wish Upon a Quilt! What a wonderful shop filled to the brim with everything a quilter could desire.

These are some of the things that I came home with. Best Press, a layer cake, charm pack, Bias Tape Makers, and a quilting book.


Of course, fabric.


more fabric....


and more fabric.


We headed to JoAnn Fabrics where I purchased, you guessed it, more fabric. We don't have JoAnn's in Hawaii, so this was a real treat.


Beautiful red fabric that reminded me of our Hawaiian prints.


Thearica's hubby, Butch, is a woodworker. I was very touched when she presented me with a momento of our trip to Raleigh. A beautiful pen made by Butch. The wood used in this pen is from wood that was being replaced in his mother's house. The wood is very old and from the 1700's. I am very appreciative of anything with age and I can only imagine if this piece of wood could talk, it would probably have some really beautiful and touching family stories to tell.


Although our trip to Raleigh was for surgery, I did have some really good times spent with some very nice people. Thank you, Kristin, Thearica, and Karen for making me feel so at home and for showing me a very good time. A time that I shall never forget.

A huge thank you also goes out to Stephanie of Scraps for lending me support through email even though she herself was going through a lot with her own hubby's health. She's also from North Carolina, but too many hundreds of miles separated us from meeting each other in person.

To Becky G. for offering to put me in touch with her very dear friend in Raleigh. Thank you. This meant more to me than you will ever know.

And to all of you who offered support in prayer and well wishes, thank you. Each night before I put my head on my pillow, I would read your comments. I was far from home but I never once felt all alone. Thank you for making us feel so blessed.

I would also like to thank you for your get well wishes. I am finally feeling better and am no longer bed ridden. I took my seasonal flu vaccine, so by process of elimination and comparing the symptoms, I believe that I had the H1N1 virus. I checked with my doctor before I left for North Carolina to see if I could get vaccinated for H1N1 but they weren't available. Her advice was to check with Wake Medical in North Carolina to see if they were holding shot clinics. I was told by the nurses there that they were experiencing a shortage and had barely enough vaccine to go around for their own staff.

My advice, if you are one that was thinking of exposing your children to H1N1 to build their immunity instead of getting them vaccinated, I am here to tell you not to do it. This is a terrible strain of the flu and made me so miserable that I actually wished for death. It's that bad. I would have chosen to be vaccinated over having the flu any day. And I speak from experience.

Have a Blessed Thanksgiving, everyone. I have lot's to be thankful for this year. And now that I'm feeling much better, lot's of turkey to eat too!

Aloha!