My First Cancerversary and Other 'News'

What in the heck is a cancerversary? Is it something to celebrate? I believe it it something to celebrate. It can be a bit hard to determine the exact date. I chose the date of my final surgery; chemo was over and the tumor was out of my body.

The original surgery was the 28th, but I developed a hematoma and the doctor wanted to take care of that. I agreed, after all she is the surgeon and has more knowledge than I do. It turned out that the first surgery did not produce clear margins so the 2nd one, (on Jan 31) was indeed, necessary.

I posted earlier this month that my first mammogram since the surgery was good.

Am I cancer free? I am not sure if I like that choice of words.....is a person who has ever had cancer free of it? I think the fear of it returning is always in the back of a person's mind.

Yesterday I primed the bedroom that I am working in. When I removed the wall paper some of the paper backing came off from the drywall, leaving yellow splotches, so I covered that with primer. I hope it looks better when I get the paint on the walls. Just that small job on 2 walls tuckered me out. I plan to do the ceiling next (white) and then the light gray walls. The way I felt today I might be doing one wall at a time, which is fine with me because I have furniture in there and will have to move it to get at the different walls....the ceiling should be fun (not).

First I have to buy the paint, maybe Monday. A big snowstorm for overnight Tuesday into Wednesday is predicted for this area....so we shall see. Hubby is taking that prediction seriously because he finally went to get a new belt for the snow blower saturday....nothing like putting it off for 3 weeks.

I'm sure, if you're a Christian, there are things that you know you can not do anything about, all you can do is to hand it over to God. It hurts me to see my grandson be so sad (and to see my step son so miserable) his parents (who are separated) just keep digging their holes deeper and deeper. They have 3 boys who are so loving and smart and deserve so much better than the lives they have. Yesterday when I talked to them I asked if anyone wanted to go to Sunday school. The 2 younger boys want to attend Sunday School so I will try to talk to mom and see if I can take them next weekend. The struggle is that she doesn't answer my texts or phone calls....she might listen to a message and have one of the boys call me back. After I said I'd try to ask her the 5 year old says "Mom won't talk to you." and with that thought I say.....

Calgon take me away!

A Different Kind Of Day and Other Trivia

That seems to be my motto for this weekend. I slept in today...and it felt good. After 3 days of workouts at the Y this week today was lazy, very lazy by my standards. I go with a friend (the best way to make yourself go) and we participate in the water classes. Even though I shower after class I could still smell the chlorine when I took a bath today.

Yesterday we took a drumming class, it was tons of fun! After that we did the water aerobics (for seniors) and Candy gave us a good work out both times. Thursday we tried Ai Chi, it's a relaxing water class, we decided we like the faster paced class better.

I got my fit-bit earlier in the week and am enjoying it. I love keeping track of my steps, over 7,000 yesterday with the drumming class. It is amazing how many steps I get in just wandering around my house, I don't stay in one place very long. It also tracks sleep. Today I learned how to reset it, it was not syncing. It's an easy fix and is working correctly now. 

Since I had to run to the drug store today I had to get properly dressed....I blame that for not feeling like working in the bedroom today. I did a teeny bit of sanding. I will finish tomorrow or early in the week. I need to buy some paint rollers before I can prime the walls. As you can tell, I am not in a hurry.

I just didn't know what I felt like doing this afternoon, so I did some laundry, took care of some paperwork, and baked some cookies. Kev went to his brother's this afternoon to watch the football game.  I decided to read in the middle of the afternoon! No radio, no TV, just me and my book. I read a lot more in the summer than I do in winter, odd, eh? In the winter it's a waste of time because I 'should' be doing something. In the summer I'm enjoying the nice weather. 

It's late enough that I can call it a day; time to turn on the TV while I fold laundry and then veg some more.

I Was Impressed

We went from fall to winter overnight, literally! Over 13" of snow fell last Monday night on what had been bare ground. Our first snowfall was a doozy. It was a wet, heavy snow. Thank goodness I don't have to do any snow clearing (not my job and per doctors orders).  We were lucky to have had power all through the storm. There was thunder and lightening to be seen and heard. Kevin was 2 hours late for work on Tuesday...a rare event. I had an appointment later that morning but cancelled it. 

Thursday morning I picked up our 3 grandsons and took them to their dad's so they could go sledding with him. I watched for a bit. It's so good to see them all having so much fun with dad. I know they'll go again.

The snow hills were busy. 

We watched one guy as he tried to take his dog down on the sled. Nope, the dog wouldn't stay on, but he sure had fun running alongside the sled. 

I had 2 returns to make and some errands to run while they were sledding. While I was in Shopko I remembered to finally ask about my glasses that I purchased last March. They are scratched and I inquired about any warranty; no warranty, scratches are considered normal wear and tear. BUT she said she'd replace my lenses (both are scratched - no wonder I am always adjusting them and trying to see).

Yup, I was impressed and pleasantly surprised. The worst she could have said was 'no' but instead I got a 'yes'.
I have my new, pretty, red computer. So far everything is working just great for me! The wireless printer likes this computer and I was able to back up my Silhouette (cutting tool for scrapbooking) library and download it.
The year is off to a good start. How's your's starting out?

Progression.....Transformation....Evolution....???

This is a brave post for me.

I'm not sure if it's necessary.

I am coming to terms with some of the things cancer does to a person.

This photo was taken after I had already started loosing my hair, it's pretty thin.

Here I am today.

All summer I wore turbans if anyone was around, even Kev, but finally I got braver and thought 'this is me, take it or leave it'. There are many people who have lost their hair due to chemo treatments. The color in the above photo is my natural color, it used to be darker when I was young, but red hair turns lighter (usually blonder) as a person ages. 

As you can see it is coming back white (hmmm) and I have a naturally forming mohawk (which I will color pink when I am brave enough to go w/o a hat and it's not freezing cold outside). 

Last night at red hats, my silly pose again.

Unfortunately the hair on my legs is coming in faster than anything else....wish my eyelashes would grow that fast. One other gal in our Red Hat group said hers never came back.....how'd she get to be so lucky? She never lost all of her hair either. Sandi must have had different chemo than I did. 

There ya go folks....the whole truth and nothin' but the truth.

It's too da** cold to go out (-1) so I am staying in again today. I did go out for Red Hats last night. We just ate and visited but it was a fun night.....maybe b/c I won 2 prizes??? Actually it is not about the things for me, but the friendships. I still have Christmas decorations to put away....it will get done. I am feeling pretty good and am enjoying retirement and some lazy winter days. I can't wait to get this chapter over with!

Kevin and I are seeing my new surgeon on Friday....come back and see what's happening then.

In the mean time - stay warm!!!

Thoughts on Thursday

• I really don't like asking people to do things FOR me. Monday afternoon/evening we had another snow storm, blowing and drifting..... I had to ask our neighbor to take care of the snow for me. I did go out before dinner to shovel a path so I wouldn't have to trudge through the snow to get to our unattached garage in the morning before work. By the time I went to bed there was 1" - 2" of fresh snow. I feel like I am an able-bodied adult and I should be able to take care of myself. But I really can't shovel that much snow and we have a big snowblower (that I don't know how to use/would be too big for me). I felt guilty as I was sitting in the living room listening to him walk back and forth with the snowblower. When I got up for work the next morning I noticed that he had shoveled the sidewalk to the back door and when I got home from work he had the bottom of the driveway cleaned up. Thanks Paul!

 Yesterday morning on my way to work the lake was solid white, here it is after the 2nd day of 'warm temperatures'.

The contrast of the teal water and white, snowy ice with the sun shining on it was just beautiful. 

• We've had 2 days of above freezing temps, today it was in the mid 40's....the sunshine felt soooo good. One of our customers told me he had his sunroof open, families were out walking with strollers, and bicyclers pedaled on roadways. Tomorrow we are expecting freezing rain and snow....that's life in WI. I think I'm tired of winter, what do you think?

Here's my chuckle for the day: This morning I noticed  a pair of jeans in the garbage can at work, so all day I checked out the guys....but every single one of them had pants on.   hee hee hee

Happy Almost Weekend!

A Poopy Day, A Purse, and a Pik-Nik King

 I was off today so I ran some errands in the morning, the roads, parking lots, and walkways were full of black, slushy mush.

Later in the morning it started to snow and blow. The weather man said we could POSSIBLY get an inch of snow. It didn't take me long to shovel the little bit of snow we had yesterday so I wasn't concerned...but it kept up......blowing and snowing. 

See the steps below? The snow was drifted past both steps, even with the top of the deck.

Thank goodness our neighbor did the sidewalks and most of the driveway. All I had to do was the back sidewalk and clean up what he didn't get with the snow-blower. 

As I tossed snow up onto the snowbank (see below) it would fall back onto the sidewalk. 

I didn't know what I felt like doing today, so I kinda wandered around the house and did a little of this and a little of that. 

While I was at the thrift store I spotted this tablecloth.

I had to buy it......because.....this is one of the table covers that was made at Converting Inc in Clintonville WI in the '80's when I worked there. I may have even had a hand in the manufacture of this!!!

 I know I shouldn't have,,,,but I did, I bought another purse. 

I like it because it's unique, it's different and hand made. 

It's a Bagolitas by Janice and I paid $2 for it. It's very clean, looks like it was only used on Easter & Christmas. The body is more of an oatmeal color that it appears here. There are 3 cell phone size pockets inside. It won't be my everyday purse but I think it's cool.  

I checked online and $2 was a good deal.

How was your day!

Thoughts On Thursday / Hopping Down The Bunny Trail

It's still Thursday, 

And it's still January, and it's not below zero (smile), but that means snow (frown).

I'm not sure how much snow we got this afternoon, more than I wanted to shovel, so I called the neighbor and he came over with his snowblower. I had enough of shoveling just doing the walkway to the garage and driveway.

See my bunny trail?

He always comes by to leave tracks in the fresh snow right in front of the patio door.

He hopped around by the back door, it was locked.

 Playing tag in the back yard? 

The bunny trail from my back door to the patio door. I'm wondering what the point is. 

What I am really thinking about today is work, or the fact that no one has been hired yet to replace Lisa. One of the owners told me that only one qualified person applied and she isn't available for a month. I'm wondering why? Pay too low? No one needs a job? Job is not appealing? An acquaintance of mine just hired a new office assistant and she said she had several good candidates to choose from, and her office is in a much smaller municipality than we are. I think a few prayers are in order. I really do hope they find someone who will be an asset to the business.

Today I went to the thrift store to look for a table for my crafting area in the basement. I found the perfect table, rectangle with square legs like a parsons table. It had a 'sold' sign on it. Darn! Guess that's what happens when I have to work and can't thrift. So I ventured to the other place in town and found a table there, what are the chances? So many times God puts what I am looking for in front of me. It was sturdy and heavy. Delivery was $10 and Linda (who runs the store) told me they could take the legs off  and it would fit in the backseat of my car, it did. Two guys carried it out for me.

When I arrived home I was on my own..........this is gonna be fun.....Did  I mention the fact that it's a heavy table? I finagled it out of the backseat (after putting a rug down so when it dropped on the driveway  I would't break the corner off. Once I got a good grip on the table top I got it inside without incident. The basement steps are carpeted so I decided to slide it downstairs.....and I did...but quite a bit faster than I had in mind. Gravity pulled the 2 halves of it apart (it has a leaf). I got it back together, screwed the legs back on, and had to sit inside the upside down table and kick the opposite end  apart so I could put the leaf in. Why didn't I think of that when it was apart? THEN I had to stand it up........thank God I have long arms and my mom's mantra "If there's a will, there's way."  I suppose I could have waited a couple of days to see if I could find someone to help me....but I don't have any patience and I was anxious to get things set up.

I spent all afternoon rearranging my tables in the basement and doing a little purging. I have a lot more to go through. If I was going to be home tomorrow I'd be downstairs organizing. Actually I like to get things organized, although you'd never know it if you stopped over now.

Hubby called and left a voice mail yesterday while I was at work. It amazes me that they have Wifi and can use cell phones while on a boat at sea. Just a couple of years ago he couldn't do that. He said it's hot there and they are behind schedule. It's so nice to hear him say "I love you." when he calls. 

Guess I've babbled on long enough, so let's all get up off our chairs and do a "February thaw" dance!!!

Eerily Beautiful Cold Lake Michgian

I was out and about running errands and stopped by the lake to take some photos. 

Can you see the steam? I know it is hard to see, but in person it is very visible.

I saw it the other morning when the sun was coming up and it was unbelievably beautiful with the orange/pink sunrise.

I had to look it up online because I wasn't sure what it was.

A steam devil is the result of frigid weather meeting with warmer water – in this case Lake Michigan – and humidifying the water into steam. 

 Another planet???

View from a Lonely bench

I've said it before and I will probably say it again - Lake Michigan is so beautiful, I love to look at it when I drive by, every day it is so different! If I had time on my mornings on the way to work I could take more photos.....but you'd get tired of seeing the same ol' thing.

Will You Pick Up A Penny? and other random thoughts

I will, I'm strange like that. I'll bend over and pick it up. Today I picked up 11 cents....I am sure my bff thought I was nuts. oh well........... One day, while I was patronizing McDonalds' bathroom facilities, I found a lot of change in the parking lot right by my car. My big score!

It was blowing and snowy last night and there was a drift across our sidewalk to the front door so I called one of hubby's friends to clear the snow for me. The neighbor was out before 6 and did the front, I was hoping he'd turn the corner and do the driveway too...but no, I had to call Greg.

Our garage is not attached. I went out and shoveled to the garage and a portion of the deck. We clear a path on it because it doesn't get icy when it melts. I was almost, ALMOST sorry that I called Greg because there wasn't as much snow as I thought there would be in the driveway. The sidewalk on the side of the house did have some big drifts. We'll pay for the snow removal from hubby's expense account (for the trip).

My bff and I stopped at the big thrift store in town so I could look for a table today, they didn't have anything suitable. I did find a bulletin board for one of my grandsons though. I'd like to run to the St Vinnies in the next town on Monday to see what they have but I have a feeling most things will be shut down, it's suppose to be COLD all week....AGAIN.

What I'd really like is a specialized craft table like this:

$243.00

I do have a book case I could use for one end, the other needs to be bare, it goes against the wall. I saw one ONCE at a thrift store or garage sale...but didn't need it then. Guess I'll just dream.

This afternoon I cleaned off my computer desk in the basement, it is BARE! I threw out a bunch of old papers and it felt good! 

While I was down there I was thinking of purging a lot of stamping stuff and just keeping scrapbooking items and how I want to set up the craft area. I have to get a notebook and write down every thing I plan to do upon my retirement!

Just the stuff that is in my head could take years.

Try to stay warm!!!

Thanks For The Wake Up Call

at 4AM, unfortunately I was already awake, and I am sure I'll regret getting up this early later today while I am at work. It was someone (from work) returning Kevin's call. 

He was outside early removing snow from last night's storm.

A big storm was predicted for yesterday, we got some snow in the morning.....and that was it. Seems like the 'big lake' saved us during the day. I went home after work and made plans to pick up 2 friends for book club. About 3/4 hour before I was going to leave the wind picked up and the snow arrived, so we cancelled. 

Hubby was up early this morning with the snow blower (he has to be at work at 4:30 or is it 4AM?) and that's what woke me up.

I don't know how much snow we got but do know that it wasn't as much as some other parts of the state. There aren't any cancellations here this morning so I guess the plows are getting the job done.

He's leaving this weekend for Nigeria (for work) and will be gone at least 4 weeks. Woe is me....there'll be more snow to get rid of. He has asked a friend of his to take care of it, but Greg lives 10 miles away and has to work too. I think I will ask our next door, retired, neighbor if he'd do it for me. If he's outside before Kevin is he usually does the sidewalk. 

About 10 days ago our front door handle decided to lock itself.....and no one knows what happened to the key (very odd for me to not know). There was no getting the door open. We live on a corner, so in able to get the mail we had to walk around the whole house on the sidewalk.....and it's really a cold walk when it's below zero. Monday hubby finally decided to remedy that situation and cut the latch out. Both doors need work, but not at this time of the year. 

To be honest I probably won't miss hubby much the first week..... our grandson usually spends weekends here, I have plans on my days off with a friends, and work. Hubby usually spends his time upstairs with his sports cards and TV and doesn't say much. I can eat what and when I want, there won't be as much laundry, but it will get really quiet after a while. MAYBE, MAYBE I'll tackle an easy project around here. I am not sure how much communication we'll have because he'll be on a boat. 

I'm ready to go back to bed now....but instead I have to get ready for work. 

No news there yet, I haven't heard a thing from either of my bosses about hiring a replacement for Lisa. They better find someone soon! I need some vacation in February and in April.

If you are a fellow Wisconsinite - keep shoveling............-(

Don't you just wanna go someplace warm and sunny???

Thoughts on Thursday

Only in WI? I'm not sure, have you seen a sight like this any place else? Saw the tent and lawn chairs sitting in someone's back yard on the way to my granddaughters Christmas concert last week. This tent has been up since late summer, I've seen it several times when I drive to Appleton or my daughter's and kept wondering when they'd take it down.....still wondering. So I'm guessing they do not have this tent set up for Christmas guests?????

 I guess I really shouldn't be talking though.......our hose is still coiled up outside on the hose reel on the side of the house. I guess it is my job to bring it in...........I usually do but hubby had been using  it often so I left it for him to take care of. Have I mentioned he more of a condo owner type of guy than a stand alone home owner type? 

Random thoughts:

1. If you don't send Christmas cards anymore do not feel like you have to mail me one after I've mailed one to you. It's ok, next year I will know that you don't do cards. I know a lot of people have stopped mailing cards. My hall wall use to be full of cards, this year I have only one tiny portion covered, and have only 3 hand made cards........one is from my grandson. 

2. If the snow keeps up like it has been I don't know what we are going to do with it.....we got about 8" on Sunday on top of the 3" we already had and more on Christmas eve. We desperately need a January thaw!!!

3. Christmas is over......and a Norman Rockwell holiday it was not. Family stress and drama....sigh...for the most part it was good, but one selfish person with a 'poor me' attitude, decided not to show and is hurting a lot of people who care about him. The positive that may come from that negative is that one person may see the good in another person, MAYBE!

4. On the up side, the very UP side.......my 5 year old granddaughter graciously thanked me today for the matching slippers. .....remember I gave my grandson slippers that didn't match, they weren't even the same size. 

I should be off today but my co-worker took a day of vacation so I'm off to work. I don't have any shopping to do anyway. 

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

Stepping Back Into Time

Saturday afternoon I went with a (very small) group from our church to  Pinecrest Historical Village to get a glimpse of what Christmas was like 100 years ago. We've been having a really cold spell along with some lake effect snow so I wasn't sure that I wanted to go....but when I say I am going to do something I do it (94% of the time). There were only 2 cars going and I was driving one of them. Naturally the country roads were a bit slippery so I was pretty slow, I didn't care if a couple of cars passed me.

No, this wasn't the road.....one of the paths we walked on in the village.

I wasn't planning to take my grandson, but his mom called in the morning and asked if I had plans....to make a long story short J wanted to go along, so I swung past his house and picked him up. Tapping out a morse code message was his favorite part. 

 In the cheese factory we were given a small container of sweet cream that we could churn into butter by shaking. 

Deb, grandson J, and Carolee paused from  their "shake, shake, shake....shake your booty" for a photo. After about 30 minutes of shaking we had a small ball of butter inside our containers.

Pretty as a postcard?

 Yes, I think this would be a good post card too!

This tree, decorated with mittens, was inside one of the buildings.

 Inside the bar room,

the doctor and dentist were upstairs.

Don't you just love these old desks?

Old lunch boxes.

Notice the cup on the top of the lunch box on the top shelf. 

Another postcard image. 

Entrance to the tavern, doctor, & dentist.

In-spite of temps in the 20's it wasn't very cold. The lack of wind had a lot to do with that.

I would have liked to walk around and go inside more of the buildings but J got bored and wanted to go home. He was great for quite a while but then......

The good news is I got my tree up today!!!! One step closer to being ready for Christmas......

Have a great week and thanks for stopping by. 

Snow Day

It seems like no one knew we were going to get so much snow today....but we did! Almost everything is closed, or at least opening late. 

Hubby was out REALLY early clearing the driveway and our 2 sidewalks, we live on a corner. 

 I have never seen such big drifts in our back yard in the 23 years I have lived in this house. Hubby posing above to show how high the snow bank is. 

 It was snowing and blowing. When I got out of the shower this morning there was a phone message saying I didn't need to come in to work until 9:30, but to call first to see how the roads are. Hubby went in 1-1/2 hours late. 

 He had to wait until the road on the driveway side was plowed, then he had to clear that snow bank, and then he was able to get out and leave for work. I have to leave in an hour...wish me luck!

 It might be the 4th of July by the time all of this melts.

 Pretty tho......

By the front door.

Thoughts on Thursday

Do you have an ereader? Here's another place to get free and cheap books, no matter what format/seller you use: BookBub. First you choose the genre of books you're interested in and then the format, it's that easy. I get an email every day with 2 or 3 choices. Free is good! Right?

My week started off interestingly.....Our grandson stays overnight on Saturday nights. Sunday at 9:30 AM his mom calls and says she'll pick him up about noon. OK.  It's after 12 when she calls and says he can stay for another hour. OK. Several hours and 2 phone calls later he's picked up by her dad and at 7 PM he's on his way home. I didn't mind, but I had plans to work on straightening up my crafting area in the basement. We found plenty to do and talk about. Unless I have other plans he's welcome to stay!

Monday I had a 'coffee' date with a friend. We have LONG meetings where we share all kinds of stuff about our lives. After I ordered my Chai I called her and, sure enough, she forgot. I just read the paper and finished my drink and then went on with the rest of the day's errands. It was cold, only 1 degree above zero, but I had to go to the grocery store anyway so it wasn't a big deal.

Of course, as long as I was out and about, I stopped at the thrift store. While I was there a man came up to me and told me he liked the color of my hair. I colored it last Sunday and it's bright! In fact, that is what 2 of my friends told me when they saw me last week. It's hard for me to find the right red or strawberry blond color. I've decided that it's just an accessory and I can change it when and how I want to!

Tuesday morning when I was getting ready for work I got the crap scared out of me. Kevin leaves for work about 4:30AM so it's pretty quiet when I get up. Suddenly, the bathroom door opens and I scream, what else would you do??? It was hubby, on the coldest day we've had this winter, the battery in his truck was dead and he needed to use my car to get a new one. When I left he was outside (there's no room in the garage for his truck) working on it. ....and he DOES NOT work outside or do auto repairs......but he had to do it.... It was -7 when I left for work. He said he finally made it in to work at 9.

That's it for this Thursday! I'm on my way to have lunch with the friend who stood me up on monday (smile).  Have a great weekend!

Thankful for Snow

I am so thankful that I woke up to this (our first snowstorm of the winter on March 3) rather than the devastation from tornadoes that flattened towns in Indiana to Kentucky.

Heavy, wet, snow stuck to the sides of the deck railings.