Coloring_Not Just for Kids

Hey everyone!  I truly hope your week is perfectly perfect so far.  Last week I wrote a post about multitasking, and I have concluded that most of us do that to at least a certain degree.  Now, if you are like me, multitasking comes in certain combinations.  For example, I love to listen to audio-books, and often combine that with home-keeping....mopping, scrubbing the bathroom, or ironing.  At night, while watching tv with The Man, I will generally crochet or hop around on IG.  Lately though, I have discovered something new (to me) that is so much fun and definitely keeps my hands busy....Coloring for Adults!  Do you remember coloring with your children, and how much fun that was?  Well, yes it was fun, but crayons are kind of messy and too thick to actually stay inside the lines....come on, does staying in the lines really surprise you about me? 

I would buy these beautiful big boxes of crayons in the hopes that I might get to use them before my kiddos discovered them and determined that they should all be in at least two pieces & the paper torn off!  

       

Well, you can certainly imagine my excitement when the Adult Coloring phase took off, and I discovered I could have these.......

Big beautiful books filled with lovely, intricate designs in black and white on high-grade smooth paper!  And, I could use colored pencils & pens!

       

I had quite an assortment of colored pencils already, but I ordered the pens from Amazon.  I did some research before I purchased this set, and I am so happy with them.  The colors are brilliant and they do not bleed through the page....unless I press down super-hard.

Nothing personal, Strawberry Shortcake, but this Nana has her own coloring book now!  You will always have a home in the "Activities Drawer," however, for whenever the youngest Grands are here!

Adult coloring professes to be meditative and calming, and I must agree with that.  It actually lowers my blood pressure, even when watching the political nonsense news.  How's that for an endorsement...HA!

My first two efforts, using some pens I already had but didn't like the result....they bled through the paper very badly.

The more pages I do, the more experimenting I do with colors and blending.  There is absolutely no wrong or right way....you just do your own thing!

I think as you go along, you develop your own techniques.  When I look at a fresh new page, I typically decide what colors I want to use and generally put them aside from the rest or simply hold them in my hand.  I have even mastered coloring with Abby on my lap!

Some of the coloring books can be a bit spendy and usually don't qualify for store coupons.  So if you aren't sure you will enjoy this craft, there are plenty of FREE downloads....go to Pinterest & do a search for Free Adult Coloring Pages.  All of the above are from Pinterest, but I'm sorry, I do not remember the site.  I may just frame a few of these to hang in my craft room.  Aren't they cute?

I would love to know if any of you have taken up this craft and what you think about it.  If not this, what do you do (if anything) while watching tv?  If my hands aren't busy, I will fall asleep....total "bobble-head!"  Keeping my hands busy does not deter me from tv snacking, but I'm sure there are plenty who do find it a great deterrent.

I hope you are enjoying some Spring weather wherever you are.  We may just skip Spring and jump right into Summer here in AZ.  It's been 90 the last couple of days!  I'm just going to stay inside, because I've heard there are bunnies around here, and they may want to play!  Thanks for stopping by.

I often party with these lovely bloggers:

Monday
Dee at Meatloaf and Melodrama for Merry Monday

Cindy at Dwellings--The Heart of Your Home for Amaze Me Monday
Maria Elena at Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at Our Home

Tuesday

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life  for Inspire Me Tuesday

Wednesday

Suzy at Worthing Court for The Scoop

Thursday
Jemma at  At Home With Jemma for Thoughts of Home on Thursday

Pamela at From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

Richella at Imparting Grace for Grace at Home

Chemo #3 Down!

Hey everyone!  I hope you are all having a great Monday and start to a wonderful new week!  Chemo Monday started quite early with labs at 7am, a meeting with my oncologist at 8am, and Chemo #3 started at 9am.  Once again, my lab numbers were all well within the normal range which keeps surprising everyone.  My doctor said she can already feel a drop in the size of the breast lump, so.....YAY!  I actually thought I could feel a difference but thought it might just be wishful hoping, so.....YAY!

Chemo went well, but long.  I had 2 nurses today, Wendi and Gulnar (I don't know what her nationality is, but she was absolutely gorgeous).  Both nurses were so kind and always asking if I needed anything.  

Some of you already know, but shortly after Chemo #2, my hair started falling out like crazy.  I truly looked like a victim of a nuclear holocaust!  So my sweet hubby took pity on me and took the rest off.  I still have my eyebrows and lashes....I guess they have more staying power than head hair.  If you are thinking that I might just be brave enough to show you my hairless crown, you would be VERY wrong!  I've seen some women at the Cancer Center who are "rockin" the bald head and look amazing.  I am not one of those!

 Chemo #3

I was really tired (I woke up at 4am this morning.....don't ask, I don't know why), so after they got the drugs flowing and gave me warm blankets, I actually fell asleep!

 It's a MIRACLE, I have hair again!

The wig is actually pretty cute, but it's still too warm here for it to be very comfy for all-day wear.

Thought you would want to see the back, too!  The color is quite close to my last salon hair color (whatever color combo formula that was....lol)!

I continue to be amazed and humbled by the outpouring of sweet comments, prayers, and even some sweet gifts from some very kind and generous women.  I'll be sharing more about that in a later post.  They know who they are and how much I adore them for their kindnesses.

I'm happy that Chemo#3 is done, and I only have 13 more to go!

The New Me!

Hey everyone!  Thought I'd share just a brief update on me and the "Demon C!"  I had Chemo #2 on Monday, and by Thursday I was shedding worse than our cat.  Yep, Chemo #2 pretty much blew every hair from my head!  Today I resorted to this:

I'm blind as a bat without my glasses, but this little conductor's hat sits so low on my forehead, it created all of these weird shadows when I had my glasses on!  This actually turned out better than I thought it would, since all I was seeing was a blurry blob! 

Hope everyone has something fun planned for this weekend!  Have fun and be safe!  

Do You Really Want Another Update?

Hey everyone!  First, just let me once again say, my friends, how much your support and positive comments mean to me.  I'm assuming (never a good thing) that if you grow weary of reading my updates, you will simply stop commenting.  Is that fair?  Anyway, I do have a few things to share, health-wise, but I thought I would share this photo that you may have already seen on IG & FB.

Had a nice "date-nite" with The Man on Friday night and filled up on Prime Rib!  I'm sharing this pic, because I actually think it's pretty cute, and because it will probably be the last one with hair!

The Man snapped this one during my 2nd Chemo Infusion.  It's because of this, that the future of having hair looks bleak!  I'm starting to shed and will be getting the "chemo-cut" next week.

I had labs and then a meeting with my Oncologist to discuss the tests and scans that I had before starting chemo, and I am happy to report that they all came out extremely well!  The MUGA (a complete scan of my heart & how it functions) came out perfectly.  My PET (a scan of my body from head thru torso to see if there are any other cancers) shows NONE other than the breast lump.....HALLELUJAH!  As for my labs, I scored an A+++.....the doctor was amazed and happy, and my chemo nurse said the #s were incredible.  

Just to back up a bit on what happened this last weekend......I had a little fall!  I got out of bed in the wee hours of Sunday morning, going to the bathroom, and only made it a few steps before my legs crumpled under me and landed me on my butt.  I did not get hurt (thank goodness for extremely soft and thick carpet), but it was just the strangest feeling.....my legs were not cooperating with what my brain was telling them to do! A very rude-awakening for The Man, because apparently I make some horrible noises when I fall down!  He helped get to the bathroom (that was still a priority....big time) and then back to bed.  I now know that I have to take a few seconds to be sure I'm steady before I move forward.....lesson learned!

As for how I felt after chemo #2 yesterday -- very tired, and made it to bed quite early.  I awoke very early this morning, feeling wired and kind of like a junkie hopped up on steroids.....not that I have any clue as to how a junkie feels, but just guessing!  I am going to the gym with The Man in a few minutes, and we shall see how that goes.  Last time, chemo #1, Tuesday was a very good day, so I hope the same will be true today.

Once again, thank you all for your wonderful support and comments.....you are just the best!

Some Crafting and a Little Health Update

Hey everyone!  I just have to say, I have the BEST bloggy friends ever!  If any of you ever wanted to be a cheerleader, then I proclaim you have reached that goal.  I am so very humbled and grateful for the outpouring of love & prayers you've bestowed on me and The Man.  Because I get so many sweet emails asking for updates, I thought I'd give you a little progress report before sharing my crafty projects.  I am doing very well and feel quite good.  I only had one really bad night and the next day, but nothing I couldn't handle.  There has been no nausea, thank goodness, but extreme exhaustion.  There is a big learning curve to this whole "chemo-infused" body-thing.  I think the most difficult thing for me to learn is to listen to my body.  As women, mothers, grandmothers, we are used to pushing through fatigue because there are others who need us.  It's a hard lesson to learn when you are having chemo, but you have to become a bit selfish.....you simply must take care of yourself first or you will be of no use to anyone else.  I cannot imagine going through this if I had young children at home, so bless your heart if you are in that situation.  Ask for help!  Chemo-fatigue is not like any other I've ever experienced.  Your body just won't let you push through it; it simply stops you.....you can heed the subtle warning signs or you might just find yourself flat out on the floor.  No, that hasn't happened, but I came pretty close yesterday at the gym.  I know the importance of getting exercise to combat the fatigue, so I decided to go with The Man to see how I would do.  I pushed myself through an extra ten minutes on the treadmill and barely made it off & to a chair on my own power.  Now I know what that feels like and won't do that again!  I also realize that chemo-fatigue messes with my brain and would impair my ability to drive......DON'T DRIVE OR OPERATE HEAVY EQUIPMENT!  So does this mean I won't go back to the gym?  NO!  I will trust my body to signal when it has had enough.  Just a side note, I think I've mentioned before how peanut butter has become my BFF (best favorite food).  Well, that seems to apply to most any food that contains my BFF......I reached "Nutter-Butter Nirvana" when The Man brought that wicked little cookie into our home a few days ago!  I am already hooked, but save yourselves and stay away from this evil little morsel!

Okay, if you are still with me, I'd love to share a couple of small crafting projects I did last month.

The things I created are right here on these two bookshelves in my sitting room.

These orbs are kind of trendy right now, but can be expensive unless you make them yourselves.

Can you see what they are made from?

Yep, those are embroidery hoops!  Super easy to make, & they are all over Pinterest.  I'm already thinking how I will use them in my Fall decor!

The tutorial I used is HERE.  

I used two different sizes of hoops that I already had, stained them with some dark wax (already had) & touched here and there with some Antique Gold Rub'nBuff (already had).  This project cost me nothing except a bit of time, and we all love FREE, right?  Wouldn't some of the very small hoops make adorable Christmas tree ornies?  Yes, my mind is racing!

I found two of these mixed media type easels at Michael's back in July on sale -- this one and one slightly smaller.  One was $5 and the other $7.

I really like the antique-look stands.

This is the smaller one and is the one you saw next to one of the orbs on the bookshelves.  I've been wanting to do some mixed-media for awhile and had so much fun putting this together.

I have a lot of framed photos scattered all over our home, and decided to bring some of those  together into this little display piece.  With mixed-media, you have to open your mind to pulling lots of different elements together -- textures, ephemera & maybe even the kitchen sink!  You really cannot mess up!

I wanted this book to be mainly about The Man and I and our grandchildren, but I also included a photo or two of our kiddos since they are the reason we have the Grands!

I didn't put the pages in any kind of order & pulled most of the page decorations from my scrap paper drawer.

Some photos are in page protectors, but I added in quite a few additional photos as well.  Some of my Project Life 4x6 cards were the perfect backdrop for some smaller photos.

Most of the paper I used came from a Recollections scrapbook paper pad called Vintage Country.  The pad has actual burlap pages (I used that for my front cover) & paper that looked like burlap (as in the page above).  This paper pad would be fun to have for lots of crafty projects, not just scrapbooking.

I'm so pleased with both of these projects and see them being a mainstay of my decor for quite awhile.  They may or may not move from this location.....just sayin'!

Thank you so much for stopping by.   I always love hearing from you!

FYI:  I did much better at the gym this morning! 

I often party with these lovely bloggers:

Monday

Julie at Julie's Lifestyle for Cooking & Crafting With J & J

Cindy at Dwellings--The Heart of Your Home for Amaze Me Monday

Kathryn at The Dedicated House for Make It Pretty Mondays

Tuesday

Maria Elena at Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at Our Home

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life  for Inspire Me Tuesday

Wednesday

Suzy at Worthing Court for The Scoop

Kathryn at The Dedicated House for Before and After Wednesday

Thursday

Richella at Imparting Grace for Grace at Home

Pamela at From My Front Porch to Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday

Friday

Kathryn at The Dedicated House for Anything Blue Friday

Ready for a Battle

Hey everyone!  I haven't posted in awhile, and thought long and hard before I decided to write this post.  Blogging for me has always been about the fun stuff......home decor, seasonal decorating, some travel, and even some bragging about my kiddos and the kidlets.  I'm normally a very private person and don't like to share things that are too personal.  However, I'm going to make an exception this time in the hope that it may bring some enlightenment to some of you.  I have been diagnosed with Stage 2A breast cancer.  I have a family history of breast cancer, so I am very diligent about mammograms and self-examination.  In January, I had a clear mammogram, nothing suspicious.  Then on July 26th, I discovered a lump......one month, no lump, next month, lump.  I share this in an attempt to make you very aware of how important it is to do the self-exam and get to know your own lumps and bumps.  The cancer I have is very aggressive, so had I just waited until January 2016 for my next mammogram, I would probably be at Stage 3 or even 4.  I give my GP much credit for seeing me as soon as I called, and for getting me into the Imaging Center just a couple of hours after that.  At that appointment, I had another mammogram followed by an ultrasound.  Within 15 minutes, the Radiologist came in and said I needed a biopsy.  The biopsy appointment was scheduled just a few days later with the results in my doc's hands two days later.  Again, my doc got on the phone with
MD Anderson Cancer Center and got me an appointment right away.  This past Monday I met with the Breast Specialist-Surgeon & the Oncologist (both women) and a host of nurses who all treated me like I was their only patient that day.  They never acted rushed or tried to rush me.  Anyway, my "team" has mapped out a plan for me.  Nothing is left to chance, so this week is filled with numerous tests.  I start chemo next Monday and those will run pretty much through the end of the year.  If that has worked the way they hope, then I will have a lumpectomy followed by several weeks of daily radiation.

And because I know, even with a more sobering post such as this, y'all still want pictures, right?

This is the first thing you see when you enter MD Anderson.  It is called "The Tree of Hope" and each ribbon honors someone who is or has battled cancer.  This is so beautiful; much more so than my biopsy bruise (yes, that is truly disgusting), or my Port that goes in tomorrow which I will be happily sleeping through!  

I am very optimistic, my doctors are very optimistic as well as my family and friends.  The Man has always been my "rock," and this is very hard for him knowing what I will be going through and knowing there is nothing he can do to lessen the ordeal for me.  I cherish him so much and know that we will get through this together, just like we've always dealt with the ups and downs of life.

Just to give you an update on my sil, she is doing amazingly well and feeling stronger every day.  She isn't even sick enough for Hospice, so we are all feeling confident that she will be with us a lot longer.  I intend to follow her lead and not let cancer take over my whole life.  I'm sure there will be times when it will feel that it is consuming me, but I don't want it to be who I am.

I have a wonderful support system and some of you are a major part of that.  I will try to keep tabs on as many of you as I can, but even when you don't hear from me, just know that I'm probably still reading your blogs and thinking about you.  I hope you will keep me in your prayers and good thoughts.  

Hugs,

Getting Healthy or At Least Trying!

Hey everyone!  What the heck am I talking about with the "Getting Healthy" bit, when we are currently surrounded by so many delicious temptations?  I'm not intending to put a damper on anyone's food cravings, but I thought it might be a good time to share what The Man and I have been doing, because we have reached that age when you'd better take better care of yourself so no one else has to.  We joined a small gym about a year ago, and felt like we were at least putting some effort into taking better care of us.  Then, about four months ago, we found out about this App for our iPhone called My Fitness Pal.  It's FREE and makes logging your food intake so very easy.  It keeps track of a multitude of different things that I won't go into, but it can be set up to record the number of steps you take every day.  My favorite feature of this App is that after inputting some info, it figures out how many calories you can consume to lose a pound per week (you shouldn't lose more than that).

Another thing that I figured out about a month ago, are my energy cycles and how it affected my gym workout.  I'm an early riser, but The Man is not.  That meant we were going to the gym around 8:30 or 9 o'clock in the morning.  That happened to be just about the time I was having my first energy slump of the day, so I was struggling to get through even 30 minutes of exercise.  I also really hated that by the time we got home and cleaned up, the morning was almost shot.  So, while The Man was in Peru, I went to the gym no later than 7 o'clock, and found I could exercise for an hour instead of the mere 30 minutes.  Wow, that was a wonderful and empowering feeling!  It's a good thing our gym is only 5 minutes away, because we now each go at our desired times.

This is what the gym looks like at 7a.m. -- The Early Bird (me) has the place to herself!

I don't have to contend with a bunch of stinky, sweaty bodies (except mine)......heehee!

 I refer to this section as the "torture and blood-letting" area -- I stay away from there!

First up is this "bad boy," and as long as I can watch HGTV, 

the elliptical doesn't kick my butt too badly.

It's harder than it looks, but it really gets your heart rate up, and it's good for 

the arms, too.

Then it's on to the treadmill.  I prefer this one on the end.....don't ask me why.

I'm on the treadmill for quite some time, but again, HGTV is key!  I just love watching those young married couples buying their first house.

So you may be wondering why I would be sharing all this right in the middle of celebrating Fall.  Well, good health does not follow a season, and The Man and I wanted to go into the "major" food feasts of the year a little bit more grounded and better prepared than we typically do.  I'm happy to say that I've lost 14 pounds in the last 3 1/2 months, and while I won't say it has been easy, it has been doable.  Will I avoid Halloween candy or do diet food for Thanksgiving and Christmas?  Not on your life!  Do I have a better handle on how to approach the various celebrations and indulgences?  Absolutely!  It is so very true that everything is more difficult & takes longer as we get older.   When younger people get sick with a cold or the flu, they can usually bounce back in just a few days.  Where as the "older generation" typically takes several weeks to fully recover.  When younger folks (I now refer to anyone under the age of 50 as young....lol) imbibe a bit too much over the holidays, they can go on the "Diet Fad of the Month" and drop that extra poundage in no time.  But for us "elders," it is a real struggle.  So, I truly hope no one is offended by my diatribe, because I really just wanted to give hope to those who struggle with weight and other health issues.  

Now, who wants an apple?