Random Stuff

I'm sharing some complete randomness because really...that is what life has become for me BUT I am learning to balance things. My mind is still: go, go go, but my body is just not keeping up...talk about frustrating! My biggest news is that we are going HOME. In case you are new here, I am originally from a small fishing town on the coast of North Carolina. I know what you might be thinking. Chemotherapy and travelling don't mix...but I will be going in between treatments, when I start feeling better. Of course I am scared that I might not feel better but I really need a break and I haven't been home in three years.

(Shrimp boats at dusk. Swansboro, NC)

The boys are out of school for summer, which seems hard to believe. Freshman year is done?? Kindergarten is done??? I wish we could pick and chose which part of our lives Time decides to go fast or slow...I would definitely chose my boys growing up to go s l o w (chemo treatments FAST! :)

(Keegan looking much cooler than me at 15)

I have made some wreaths for the shop. Not super seasonal, something that can be hung all the time....for those 'in between seasons'.

I had my first CT scan since starting chemo last week and I cannot WAIT to get the results. I really hope those nasty tumors are shrinking or better yet, just gone! I will share as soon as I know the results.

Look what a dear reader sent to me! How sweet is she?? I loved how her email read: "I know how hard it is to accept things from people...just do it!" Thank you so much Susan! This book is helping me on my juicing quest!

If you are wondering, yes...around the house I don't wear a hat or scarf and am referred to as the 'bald eagle' :)

See? Completely random. I start my third round of chemo today...but I'll talk to you soon.

My Booth Space (Beautiful Vanity!)

I Finally got this beauty in my space! When I found this beautiful vanity, all it needed was a little cleaning and TLC. I also fitted it with a combination of new and old hardware (it was knobless when I found it). I went to the Habitat For Humanity Restore in Joplin to see if I could find something suitable yet old...they have a good selection of used hardware....anyway, I didn't find any knobs that I liked, but I found some little decorative back plates. I used on the lower drawers. Luckily, I was able to bend them a little to conform to the shape of the drawer. The knobs, however, are new. I found them at Lowe's and thought they worked really well with the style of the vanity and went right along with  the old back plates too. Like it was meant to be. 

The mirror is in perfect shape (and a huge 48 inches!), which is great considering how old it is. I styled it up with some girly-girl accessories......

...then moved on to revamping everything else. Since we are approaching Summer, I thought some red and blue was in order. That fabric I have hung over the mirror was another great find. It's very "Americana" and I can see someone getting very creative with it. Can you see the eagle in it?

I also brought in a shelf to sit behind the drop leaf table for some height and filled it with glassware (a real weakness of mine, can you tell? :) and dinnerware.

Some sewing machine drawers are always fun to have in the mix too.

I'm working on a couple of lamp makeovers that I hope to get finished for the booth this week. I'll be showing you those later.

One last look at such a beautiful piece.....I wonder how long it will last.

FTD $50 Coupon Winner!

I want to thank everyone who entered the FTD.com coupon giveaway this weekend! I don't host very many giveaways but I thought this was a really great one. So without further delay...the winner of the $50 coupon is:

Donna from Sugar, Spice & Southern Life

Donna, please email me!

sweetsomethingdesign@yahoo.com

Flowers For Mom and a Great Giveaway!

Happy Friday! I am feeling pretty good today (yeah!) and boy, do I have a treat for you! How about a giveaway? With Mother's Day right around the corner, I jumped on this chance to be able to give away a $50.00 coupon from Better Homes and Garden and FTD.com

Is this not beautiful?

I lost my Mother several years ago, but luckily I have a special relationship with my husband's mom. She has always been a great help to me but especially now with my health issues and chemotherapy....she has really stepped up to the plate. She is truly amazing and can I say what a wonderful Grandma she is too? I can't wait to pick an arrangement out for her for Mother's Day.

I love how beautifully this arrangement came together...I especially love the lilies and little yellow mums. It's in a nice glass container that I know I'll find a use for later. 

I am so happy to be able to share this coupon with you. I KNOW we all have special women in our lives that would love to get a beautiful bouquet like this.

I want to keep it super simple to win this $50.00 coupon to FTD.com....Just leave me a comment! I am going to let this run all weekend and announce a winner on Monday.

Update

I am finally coming up for air....and it's May. It just doesn't seem possible, the world keeps turning and I feel like I'm in some sort of time warp where everything centers around "getting through" chemo and then recuperating afterwards. As you probably know, I had my second round of chemo last week. Even though the symptoms were the same, I am happy to report NO headaches this time.
 My resolve suffered a little by the third day, I got really dishearten in the chemo room. Looking around at all the patients and it dawns on me that I don't want to be there...and I know none of them want to be either....and to be honest, I don't even know how I managed to go back on the fourth day at all. No amount of books or magazines helped that day. That doesn't sound very positive does it? Not every day is a good one, that's for sure. On Friday, they added a Nuelasta shot that is suppose to help my body keep my white blood cells up...we'll see when I have labs tomorrow.

I am still feeling weak, but I am going to be working in my booth tomorrow....poor thing, I haven't been in two weeks! I am moving in a beautiful vanity that I found, I'll take some pictures for you. :)

No More Bad Hair Days

Never in a million years did I ever think that I would be blogging about cancer, wigs, green lemonade....anything really, other than decorating, crafting...tidbits of life here and there. I suppose that I blog about what is happening in the here and now and well, cancer is the here and now. It is not easy for me to open up and share about cancer and it's effects...every time I sit down it really does occur to me what a terrible writer I am and sharing my inner most thoughts and feelings is just not easily done.
There are so many of you that have reached out to me with support and understanding, stories, advice, prayers....how would I be feeling today if all of you weren't out there pulling for me? You all, along with my family are really helping me, more than I could ever put into words.

Last week I started losing my hair and while it was emotional for me, by the end of this week I was just plain aggravated. It had to go, it was coming out in handfuls...hair EVERYWHERE, I just had to let it go. So Friday afternoon, after the kids got out of school, I sat on a stool in the middle of the kitchen and my MIL shaved my head. Did I cry? Yes, but not for very long. It seemed to me that I started feeling a weight lifted off of me...that for once, I was choosing to do something, instead of the cancer making choices for me...which it's done for a while now.

My hair a couple of months ago, before I started chemo:

 The day of the shave. Most of it had come out and I shed a few tears.

Right now, I'm feeling ok about it. Although, I am FREEZING all the time now. I am cold natured anyway...shave my head and I'm chilled to the bone! I've discovered a few moles (or as my mother always said: beauty marks) on my head that I never knew about. I've been wearing some of my new hats and playing with my scarves...and there is always the wig that I bought to wear too. Keegan took a few days to warm up to the idea of his 'bald' mom...but now we are making bald jokes and moving right along. 

At first, Logan was a little scared, and even though we had talked to him about losing my hair, I don't think he fully understood...but like most kids, he bounced right back and told me he would use his magic to help me grow my hair back...I believe him too.

This was right after we got done, Keegan looking less than thrilled....we are all in shell shock in this picture! I want to take some pictures all dolled up...at least with some make-up so when this cancer is just a memory I can look back and see how far we've come.

(Justin is not in this picture, but he pretty much had the same look on his face as Keegan did!)

I have started reading a book called Crazy Sexy Diet. It is a book written by Kris Carr who changed her entire life to defeat cancer. It is a powerful book that has offered me a lot to think about and presents a lot of ideas to help ME change my life too.  A lot of things she talks about I never even knew or had heard about. I'm almost done with it, but I've already started implementing some things. I will give up eating certain things (processed meats, refined sugars, dairy, etc.) in order to defeat the cancer in my body and live an overall healthier lifestyle. Have you heard of Kris Carr?

I start my second round of chemo tomorrow. Hopefully, I recover faster than I did last time. Talk to you soon! 

Green Lemonade

Thank you so much for all love and support about losing my hair...a lot of you know exactly what I'm going through and I feel better knowing there are a lot of people in my 'virtual corner' :)

You guys know I am not a cook, per say...but I am trying really hard to try to become clean. What does that mean? Well, I've been delving into the world of eating healthy and having a clean body...basically eating right to defeat the cancer. At the beginning of the year (before I knew the cancer had come back), I really wanted to start eating right, and now that the cancer has reared it's ugly head, I am, let's say, a little more determined to begin a healthy lifestyle. A lot of you have share various websites (thank you!) and a good friend of mine told me about Eat To Defeat.com and I have learned a lot reading over there. I bought an inexpensive juicer and tried out a 'green lemonade' recipe. I thought I would share this recipe just in case you haven't heard of it or want to start juicing too.

This recipe calls for the following:

Fist full of Kale (7-8 leaves)

7 Stalks of celery

2 Sweet Apples (cored)

1 Lemon (cut the ends off)

1" of Ginger Root

This was the first time I've ever used a juicer...it was actually really fun! I was amazed with how much juice can be extracted from veggies! It is really loud and I was really clumsy with it at first, but the more I used it, the better I got.

This recipe yields approximately 12 oz. I read too that by drinking the juice, your body isn't spending energy trying to digest the whole foods, the energy is spent cleansing, I had never thought about that .

Of course, everyone wanted to try it, even Logan...which he did not like it and told me so. :)


For me, it was not bad. I think, like with anything, it will take some time to get use to....but I will get use to...the cleaner I get, the better it will taste. I like it ice cold and with a straw.

I am looking for other versions of juice recipes, I bought a diet book dedicated to eating right, so I'm looking towards getting a handle on my health. With every change in lifestyle, it isn't easy. Giving up things like red meat, whole milk...fast food, fried foods...yikes! This is a step in the right direction!
***
If you can believe it (I can't), I do not have any doctor appointments this week! However, my next round of chemo starts next week. Just like they told me...about the time I start feeling better, it would be time to go back. Round two here I come!