This past weekend we were planning on doing our last-minute running around before leaving on Thursday for California to celebrate my brother-in-law's wedding. Well, you know what they say about best laid plans!

Last Thursday, I started getting back aches, and eventually abdominal pain. By late evening, the pain had shifted to my right side and by 2 a.m. we were leaving for the emergency room. After waiting 2 hours before being seen, they did a CT scan to check for kidney stones -- nope, acute appendicitis. Within 2 hours, the surgery was over and I came home the following morning. As of today, I feel like I'm back among the living.

I was able to make a necklace on Sunday to wear to the wedding. I used Swarovski crystals and pearls strung on 3 strands of crinkle wire:















And, these are the earrings I made to match: