In the Arena

This weekend Big T and I headed to Purdue University to watch B play volleyball.  Purdue gets big points for their rec center...can I go to school there, please?

This team has been fun to watch this season. Aren't they all so cute?  Especially the blonde with the braids in the back row... 

Friends, I have seen a few Indiana sunsets, having lived in the great state for six years of my young adulthood.... each is prettier than the last.  Of course, while we were tooling down the highway, enjoying the scenery, we were listening to an audiobook....

In true Brene Brown style,  this book is about growing from defeat by studying and understanding how we perceive our own failings, and learning from the experience.

This is the third Brene Brown book I have read, and it is every bit as good as the other two.  I love how honest and real she is...I seriously want to be her friend.

Soul Work

Purl Soho was the perfect distraction while I was waiting for my CT Scan results last week.

I was like a kid in a candy store...

 Look at all those beautiful yarns! Friends, if you are going to knit, use the good stuff.

Whenever I am faced with my own mortality (like when I am awaiting test results) I feel the need to start knitting anything that can wrap around my future grand babies,  just in case I am not around to wrap my arms around them.  

Look at all these cute ideas.

Of course, Big T didn't see it quite the same way....

C is for Clean!

Big T and I just returned from New York, where we had a lot of fun with C  and CLEAN scans, thank God.  
Our first stop was the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  (The construction is finally finished in St Patrick's Cathedral...it is gorgeous.)

Big T and I lit candles as is our tradition.  I had so many loved ones praying during this time.  I could not have done it without you.  Friends, "thank you" does not come close to expressing my gratitude.

My nurse, Nancy, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center has been with me since the beginning.  You know how you feel about your labor and delivery nurse?  Times that by ten.

Enough about being 2 years clean...on to the fun stuff.

My favorite breakfast spot in Midtown is always Norma's.  Her eggs benedict is out of this world.

This time, Big T's favorite was Sixty Five in the Rainbow Room.  (65 was Big T's college football number. ) The food was good, drinks were better, and the ambiance was  the best.  That elevator ride up is quite a trip too.

C's favorite eatery is always Laduree because macaroons are her life.  

Blue Water Grill in Union Square was her close second...great sushi, great live jazz, beautiful venue and the banana ice cream tower is incredible.  

I had to go to Purl Soho this trip.  I did a little damage in this store....but that is a post for another time.  You know I love my soul work.

Last night we saw Hamilton.  As expected, it was amazing.  Lin-Manuel Miranda is a genius.  Do not miss this one.  My favorite character was King George.  He cracked me up every time he came on stage.

After Hamilton, we celebrated at the Rainbow Room.

Then we headed  back to the Waldorf Astoria to celebrate C with their famous red velvet cake. (It was as good as I remember from childhood when my mom convinced the waiter to give her the recipe.)  It was well past midnight by then and, as I do every year,   I had to recount C's delivery-- 23 years ago...almost to the minute. 

Happy Birthday C! 143!

Scanxiety

We head to New York tomorrow for my annual CT Scan....so this weekend Big T has been hard at work distracting me from my scanxiety.  Tonight we went to see Swan Lake at the Kauffman Center in KC.  It was so beautiful. We both loved it.

  I keep reminding myself to be grateful that I was able to survive cancer.  I keep reassuring myself that I feel good, this is just routine, and it hasn't come back.  I keep telling myself to live in the moment, and trust God because I know He is with me.  But friends, I will be glad to have this behind me!

Shalom

Last night Big T and I prepared and served the evening meal at Shalom House in Kansas City.

Shalom House offers hospitality to homeless men willing to live in a peaceful community.  It is based on the tradition of the Catholic Worker Movement founded in part by Dorothy Day during the depression.

Dorothy Day dedicated her life to helping the less fortunate.  It kind of makes our one little lenten meal seem like it is not nearly enough....but then...she did proclaim: "People say, what is the sense of our small effort?  They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time.  A pebble cast into a pond causes ripples that spread in all directions.  Each one of our thoughts, words and deeds is like that.  No one has the right to sit down and feel hopeless.  There is too much work to do."  

My Real Friend, K

My dear friend, K, came to visit me last week!

K, like me, lives in Leland all summer.  I just met her last season, but feel as if I have known her forever. What a lovely surprise in my fiftieth year! We immediately bonded over our love of needlepoint and knitting, our children's summer weddings, our empty nest-hood...and our similar unlucky genetics.  K had a stent put in her heart last spring, so she truly is a fellow survivor.

I could not wait to show her the new needlepoint shop in KC.  We ended up buying the same project, which we will show you as soon as we finish it...like in 2019.

K is one of the kindest, most gracious people I have ever known.  She is honest.  She is real.  I am so blessed to call her "friend".

Come back soon, K.  We miss you already.

My Healthy Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day, Friends!

I spent the last two days with M for mom's weekend. Two years ago, I was in the middle of treatment during this fun event and needed a dress that would camouflage my ileostomy bag.  My body has healed.  A lot.

Big T has spent the last few days on Vail Mountain with T, S and C.   Last year I would have missed this gondola ride because I couldn't feel my feet well enough to ski....not because I was on the dance floor with M.  Now, my neuropathy from the FOLFOX chemo is almost gone so the slopes (and the dance floor) are back in my life. 

 If you are in the early days of survival...remember...your body will heal.  You will feel better.  I promise.  And you are doing great.  Hang in there.

Cheers!

Prayers Answered

My niece, E, has decided to join B in Notre Dame, Indiana next year.  I am so grateful that E is healthy enough to go away to college!  Friends, this is an answer to our family's  prayers.

E was born with Diamond Blackfan Anemia, weighing less than four pounds, with the soul of a warrior.  B thinks "she rocks".   

Throughout history, Christians have been leaving Ex Votos in churches, often hanging on the door, in gratitude for, and testimony to, prayers answered. I think that the faith of those who have gone before us "rocks".

Big T and I found this one in an antique shop right after I finished treatment.  

Thank God for E's good health, for the closeness of cousins, for grace received.

Battle of the Brownies

The ladies of our parish have a big Mardi Gras bake sale every year.  They asked me to make brownies.  My kitchen smelled amazing...actually, even my hair smelled like chocolate.  This is my kind of volunteering.

I worship at the altar of Ina Garten, so my first batch was her Outrageous Brownies.  The name says it all.

They were delicious...but there was a lot of chopping and melting of chocolate involved...and I was running out of time....so... (by the way, did you know that if you put your brownies in the fridge for an hour, they are way easier to cut? ) 

My next batch was with this beautiful box...super fast and easy.

These were pretty outrageous too....I actually liked them better....sorry Ina!  I am just a dark chocolate, gal.  I wonder which ones will sell faster?

Happy Fat Tuesday, Friends!