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!

LOVE ON

Happy February, Friends!  Big T sent these on the 2nd...the 32nd anniversary of our first date (...we went to a Billy Joel concert on campus...but that is another story for another day...).  God LOVE him for remembering.

February is the month for LOVE!  My clever friend, Kathleen, invited some moms over to make Valentines yesterday.  (OK, hers were way cuter than mine...but it is the LOVE that counts, right?) We all had a ball.

This is an incredible (scientific, yet very engaging) book about how LOVE makes us healthier, happier, more creative, more productive...almost as if our Creator designed us for LOVE.