aka Chesty LaRue

I have always relied upon the kindness of strangers

(Cross-posted at Live Journal as well.)

I may not be Blanche DuBois, but I am so very appreciative right now.  7/10 of the Six Wives costumes has sold (Anne of Cleves, Catherine of Aragon and Katherine Parr are still available) and all of the proceeds have gone to Layla's surgery fund.  We have covered the MRI she had yesterday (showing a very large interior liver shunt with a small bend in the vena cava which is worrisome), various vet bills when she was very sick last week and required IV fluids twice and blood draws twice, and it looks like we will have enough left over to cover our part of the surgery costs.  Which is a tremendous relief to me and my family. 

I went into the Six Wives project trying to find a fun group project for the Wench Posse and also to challenge myself to do something BIG.  Who knew it would turn into something even bigger in terms of the generosity of people I have spoken to all over the world?

Kathryn Parr is going to Australia.  Lady Jane Grey went to CA.  Others went to Florida, Texas, and the East Coast.  Queen Mary Tudor went to a Wench Posse member who was unable to participate on the day of the Six Wives.  And I am slowly finishing the Queen Elizabeth costume for the lovely Marti Potter who is completely recovered from her H1N1. 

I am just so honestly grateful for the people who spread the word on forums, blogs, bulletin boards, Facebook, My Space, eBay, Etsy, etc.  It is a huge weight off of us financially to know that the vet costs are covered, and that maybe we really can Save a Puppy. 

We are waiting to hear back from the surgeon who is to do the surgery to tell us if he has the proper size coils that get put in the shunt to close it off (or has to order them), and if Layla is still considered a good surgical candidate based on the vena cava issue she has.  We are crossing our fingers, as it would be heart-breaking to everyone involved to come this far only to not be able to have the surgery. 

Again, I am so overwhelmed at the generosity I have seen displayed towards myself and my family.  Costuming people really are the best people in the world.  Thank you so very much for all of your help.

Keeping me up at night...

Or the reason I haven't posted in several days:

Layla and Roxanne Larue, 8 weeks old, 4 lbs. each, Welsh Terriers.  They will be about 15-20 lbs. as adults, and will look like this:

They are cute and cuddly and like to get up at all hours, and Holy Crap have they completely reinforced the fact that I don't want another infant EVER.  And God Bless the Monks of New Skete, because I think their puppy training methods are going to enable us to actually sleep at night.  Because right now we are all so slap-happy that I think the kids are currently drinking coffee.

And yes, they are named after the Eric Clapton and Police songs.  We are big fans here at Chez Larue. 

Otherwise I have mostly been working on clients' work (pictures coming eventually), finishing up beading for the Princess (which is not as exciting visually when it is In Progress) and working on Georgie's Mardi Gras and German costumes.  And making really bad Santa jokes. 

Did I mention the lack of sleep? 

I have a lot of work to do before Costume College on the 30th of July (and WOO!  Uninterrupted sleep!  YES!) and should hopefully have pictures of something by then.  Otherwise I will just put up more Puppy P*rn. 

Off to nap.

In praise of man's best friend

Just wanted to post a note that I updated the status on the blog here to include the death of Isabelle, our crazy, sweet Australian Cattle Dog.  While clearly not right in the head, we loved her and will miss her terribly.

 

This picture is a rare one, as usually we got pictures of her butt as she ran away, as she did not like the camera.  She was a big sweetie. 

On a lighter note, the crotches of El Jefe's shorts are now safe.