Well, the name says it all...so before I get to the "good stuff" I'll give my little lecture. October is my favorite month. Why? Well...first it's because my birthday is this month. And since my brush with breast cancer two years ago it has become the month I get to encourage others to get their mammograms. Truly I tell you, a mammogram saved my life! Although the two tumors I had were smaller than the eraser on a pencil, they had already spread to my lymph nodes under my arm. They were too small to feel, and nearly too small to be found on a mammogram, but because they were caught early and treated effectively, I'm here to nag you about getting tested. It may be a momentary discomfort, but in the long run your family and friends will thank you for spending more time on this planet with them. PLEASE don't put it off!! Ok, lecture over...LOL
In the past I have had a give away. I'm still trying to pull one together, but haven't had time to sort things out just yet. I will be visiting a needlework store next weekend and if I can find something, I'll put a giveaway together...so watch this space!
What have I been doing to keep me from sorting out something for my favorite cause? Well, I was invited by another breast cancer survivor to accompany her on her annual trip to Ocean City. She usually goes with female members of her family, but I was adopted for the week this year and was invited to go with them. Let me tell you...we had a blast!! If you are friends with me on facebook you know some of the things we've done. I was away from my computer so I couldn't post pictures of our little escapades last week....so here are a few.
Here we are on the boardwalk decked out in pink. Before you ask, I had pink on my black shirt that said "I fought like a girl and won".
We spent time on the beach soaking in the rays...
We played two awesome games of mini golf...
And I actually won!
We fed the birds...
Visited the car show down by the inlet...
Watched the sun set and rise and the moon shine...
Saw the dolphins playing in the surf...
And listened to the waves crash on the shore.
We visited The Salty Yarn on the boardwalk and I enhanced my stash a bit...
I even got a chance to work on "The North Wind" by Littlehouse needleworks!
It was a great week, one I didn't even realize I needed until I was there relaxing and having fun. I miss the ladies already! After spending so much time with my guys doing guy things, it was such a change of pace to spend time with ladies doing ladylike things. And I get to do it again this coming weekend when I spend time with ladies I used to work with going to a retreat in Shiloh! I'm getting very spoiled! LOL I'll fill you in on that trip when I get back.
Last, but not least, I am pleased to announce that my beloved Orioles have made it into the playoffs! I think I posted last time that the guys were up early the day the playoff tickets went on sale and were able to snag tickets to the first game of the playoffs. We are so excited that the Orioles are in the playoffs, the first time in 15 years they have made it this far. It will be an exciting few weeks until we learn if they make it to the world series! I'll keep you posted. In the meanwhile...LET'S GO O'S!!
Hi Folks!
Well I'm limping along with my sore hand, and things seem to be taking a wee big longer to do than usual, but I think I'm headed in the right direction. The weather is becoming cooler and less humid, with a few thunderstorms thrown in for good measure, but it's making for a BEAUTIFUL fall in the Adirondacks. I am throwing a few pictures up here that my husband's cousin took back home. This is the scene they experience every fall, ones that I grew up with as a kid, and miss like crazy. This time of year, my heart is in the Adirondacks, listening to the loons call across the lakes and the Canadian geese calling to one another as they begin to flock getting ready to migrate south for the winter. It doesn't help that my birthday is coming up causing even more nostalgia to settle in. But that's ok, I have some fun things coming up that should keep me from getting too homesick!
We've been a tad busy these days. The Orioles are doing so well in the league this year that we have fingers, toes, legs and eyes crossed, hoping that they make it to the playoffs! The guys were cruising the internet the morning playoff tickets went on sale and happened to find three together in the rafters but still in the ball park! So, we are ready should they actually make it! The guys have been planning games since the beginning of the season and we have tickets to at least two more. It has been an exciting ride, except for this night...
It had been a long day as the guys are up and out the door before 6:30 AM each day and this particular night was a double-header, so I do excuse him for taking what he calls a "power nap". The man can actually fall asleep anywhere as soon as his body stops for 15 minutes. I call it ARMY training, my Mom calls it old age...tee hee.
Things have slowed down on the stitching front however I have put a few stitches in here and there. I received the last of the patterns for Lavender Blue from Angie Designer and the finishing bug hit so I HAD to finish it up. The banner across the top was finished left handed, after I had my surgery. It was slow going, but I'm happy with the results and so I have another crazy finish! I've lost hope of ever finishing the challenge, but will still limp along until the end of the year. I'm just THAT stubborn! LOL
I have been working slowly on other crazies, but with my hand being so sore it's hard to put my heart into it. Not to mention I have been advised not to spend a lot of time each day stitching. So...here is a little progress on One Nation (from By Gone Stitches)...
And The North Wind from Little House Needleworks...
I'll be headed out of town this weekend. One of my buddies from the Breast Cancer support group has invited me to spend the week with her and some of her family memebers at a time share in Ocean City. It will be the first time I've done this with her, but it's not her first time. I'm not sure what to expect, but when Ms. T and I get together it is a non-stop laugh fest so I can't imagine we won't have fun. I still can't help thanking God for my cancer, as I've made so many great friends through this experience... and Ms. T and I both say, "Out of something bad, something good always comes." She and I consider each other the "something good". Otherwise we never would have met.
On that note I'll say "ta ta" and will catch you after this week. I'll try to put up a few pictures before my next adventure...the Shiloh Retreat. More about that next time. I'll try to keep up with my pals on facebook (thank heavens for smart phones!!) so I won't be totally out of the loop! Have a great week! *Hugs*
I can't believe how much time has passed since I last posted. Time is passing way too fast and I just can't keep up with things. So what have I been up to you ask? Hm...well...where do I start?
On the stitching front I was able to finish up the next portion of Sweet Flowers. I will be able to get the last portion of the pattern, and for that I'm eternally grateful I was able to finish. You see, I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome and so my stitching has slowed down considerably. Many of you know that I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer on April Fool's day of 2010. Once chemotherapy was finished I was prescribed Tamoxifen. I've been taking that for more than 18 months, and it has begun to cause problems. One of which is a rapidly progressing case of carpal tunnel syndrome in my right hand. It has begun to affect my liver, muscle tone all over my body, my eyesight and a few other things. It has been a very discouraging time for me, because I've had to give up so many of the things I love to do, or still do them but with considerable pain. I have since stopped taking the Tamoxifen and will try to use diet and exercise as a way of preventing the disease from reoccurring. Again, it has been an uphill battle since it is never easy to develop new habits when you are (as my husband tells me) more than a half century on this planet. LOL Here is my attempt at the next portion of Sweet Flowers.
It hasn't stopped me from doing other things though! My dear husband reads the Washington Post religiously every morning and discovered the week before the exhibit was about to close that there was a mini golf exhibit at the National Building Museum in Washington DC. We decided to go the day before Labor Day, and waited in a line for 3 hours before we finally got in to play. There were only 12 holes, but each was different, challenging, and designed by a different architectural firm. I actually had TWO holes in one, I'll let you know which holes as we come to them, but when the dust had settled, I WON...yes I beat out the guys...yippee!! LOL
The National Building Museum is a pretty cool place. It is an enormous building...
with a lovely large room as you first walk in that has been used since the 1800's to hold inaugural balls. It's hard to show in a picture how immense the room is, and that the ceiling is 4 stories high. Very impressive!
While we were waiting in line we discovered there were other exhibits being displayed at the same time, one was a lego exhibit with some lovely pieces on display. This tower was twice the height of my 6 foot tall guys!
They had also done a food drive for area food banks but had used their donated items to create some artwork that was on display. This one I thought was pretty neat. The front was of first moon walk, and the back was the view of the earth from the moon. Pretty interesting!
Now...on to the golf holes...
Hole number one...
Hole number two...
Hole number three...this one was kind of interesting as it was actually a 3D model of the streets of Washington.
Hole number four...this one is hard to see, but it is all uphill, and you had to shoot to the left and let it fall through all the gates so it would finally end up in the hole. It was a tough one!
Hole number five...
Hole number six...This was my first hole in one on the course. It's hard to see but it does go uphill all the way! Watching the other players before us, you had to shoot to the side and hope that it would fall straight down into the hole....it was a tough one!!
Hole number seven...It's hard to see but you had to shoot through the bus and hit the car at the other end at just the right angle...I had two shots on this one.
Hole number eight...
Hole number nine...this hole had me going in circles!!
Hole number ten...
Hole number eleven...this was my second hole in one!! I loved the little miniature furniture on this hole. I felt like Alice in Wonderland! LOL
Hole number twelve...
And there you have it! It was a long day (especially since we waited in a line for three hours and then took an hour to play there were so many other "golfers" on the course), but I love spending time with my guys!
A few days later we went to see the Orioles play their first game in a series against the Yankees. They won, AND it was the day they unveiled the statue of Cal Ripken so we were able to get a mini statue too! It was the most exciting gave I've been to in ages...AND the Orioles are in first place right now (though the Yankees play tonight so their status may be short lived. This is the first time the Orioles have been this close to making it to the play offs, what an exciting season for the Orioles!!
As I mentioned, my carpal tunnel has reached the stage where it is effecting my life so....they have decided that surgery is necessary. I will have surgery tomorrow morning so if you don't hear from me for a while, don't worry, I'll be back. You can't keep an addicted stitcher/blogger down...so watch this space! *Hugs*
