Backpain is Good?

Beware...backpain can be a good thing!  With the change in weather, I'm feeling my age.  Or maybe it's all the sewing I'm doing that's not helping!  LOL  Anyway...after suffering through (and non-effective whining), I decided to get the ol' heating pad out.  Hubby very graciously brought me the pad and the nasty, icky, disgustingly so old cover it's in.

Well, that and this:

And this:

And this:

...led to this...

And this:

And this:

Here's a much better picture that wasn't taken outside...

So now...backpain beware...not only will I be warm and toasty...but I will be laying on a happy, cheery and pretty heating pad cover I made just for me!

September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

There are many survivors today...but not as many as there could be with education, awareness, early detection and treatment.  These are the facts:
All women are at risk
Symptoms exist-they can be vague, but increase over time
Early detection increases survival rate
A PAP test does not detect ovarian cancer

Risk factors are:
Genetic predisposition
Personal or family history of breast, ovarian, or colon cancer
Increasing age
Undesired infertility

Potential symptoms include:
Pelvic or abdominal pain or discomfort
Vague but persistent gastrointestinal upsets such as gas, nausea, and indigestion
Frequency and/or urgency of urination in the absence of an
infection
Unexplained changes in bowel habits
Unexplained weight gain or loss
Pelvic and/or abdominal swelling, bloating and/or feeling of fullness
Ongoing unusual fatigue

It is important to know that early stage symptoms are not silent-so women should be extra alert and watch out for early symptoms!  Call your physician if you have any concerns or questions!

Happy Birthday!

This is who we were so excited to meet ten years ago!

Happy Birthday Beano!

Singin' the Blues!

Very fitting color choice today.  Overcast here...sprinkles...tired from a late night...lots of 'heavy' things going on in the lives of people we love right now.  Loss of jobs...baby Isaac updates that make my heart hurt for him and his parents...friends having trouble in their marriages...a 'blue' day fo' shore.

The one on the very left has bunnies in the intricate scrollwork.  I bought my first Kaffe Fassett and the others are just plain beautiful.  The bunny fabric has already found a home in a new quilt top I'm doing.  I'm thinking of naming it 'Simplify' from Thorea's observation and exhortation 'Our life is frittered away by detail...Simplify, simplify, simplify!...Simplicity of life and elevation of purpose.'

What details so we deem important enough to become, well, important?  To the point of spending so much time on them, we lose things like time, opportunity, sleep, people and places?  We let out heads get so wrapped around minutia that we lose sight of the big picture.  We forget we really aren't living smack dab with our faces against a brick wall...that we can take a step back and see the larger picture.

From our nose pressed up against this...feeling the panic in our breast, not being able to breathe, oppressed, depressed, overwhelmed...

To this...

I know that somewhere, all the time, without fail-the sun is shining.  Even when the skies are laden with rain here and it seems there is no rainbow in sight...somewhere, the sky is a beautiful, radiant blue.  Someone is turning their face to the sun and feeling its warmth on their skin.  That babies are laughing.  People are falling love.  Flowers are blooming.  Birds are singing.  And that people are perservering.  Enjoying life.  Living joyfully.  Are thankful.  Hopeful.

Let that be our purpose.  Joyfullness.  Thankfulness.  Hopefullness.  And a living out of the simplicity of life...not pressed against a brick wall where all we see are the huge obstacles made up of so many tiny parts in front of us...but taking a step back to view the bigger picture.  What those damning details all come together to make...a purpose.  A reason.  Air breathed in and air breathed out.  Letting go of our worries and anxieties with the unclenching of our fists.  Closing our eyes as we step back and opening them to a fresh perspective.  Clearing our field of vision to see beyond what is right in front of us to what might be.

Promise.  Purpose.  Blue days with rays of sunshine present if we but remember to hope for them.

A First for Both of Us!

Joan over at 'Wishes True and Kind' is having her first give away!  What a milestone for her!  She's giving away these beautiful fabrics:

I've been lurkingly following Joan's blog ever since I started blogging.  My first is that I actually committed to being a follower...something my mom always warned me against!  LOL  I'm secretly wishing she's open to adoption as she has made the most gorgeous quilt and pillows for her 'other' daughter.

You can find Joan here:

http://wishestrueandkind.blogspot.com/

Take a look through her beautiful pictures and don't drool on your keyboard!

So...Here's to Joan and her blog and to the lucky winner!

Sunrise...

Sunrises are some of my most favorite times...and my least favorite times.  Favorite because of the crispness of the air, the promise of a new day, the glorious colors and a day with that many more hours of awakeness to have to accomplish tons of things and enjoy life with.

Least favorite because they come so dadgum early!  LOL  Now, if God could just give me sunrises at about...oh let's say...10:00, when I'm really good and awake and have had my morning caffeine and fixed myself for the day...it would be perfect!

These are some pinks I bought out shopping last weekend.  I don't have a favorite out of the pile...I love them all.  This morning, coming back from taking youngest to school...the sunrise was full of heavenly pinks.  Now, I live with all men (men in trainings mostly) and pink isn't a color that happens a lot around here.  Me and the dog...we're about as pink and girly as it gets.  But, I like the color.  I read how pink is the 'universal color of love'...wonder if the Martians know that?

Pink is also supposed to be a quiet color.  Providing feelings of caring, tenderness, self-worth and love, and acceptance.  Now I'm beginning to understand the attraction to pink for me.  A tidbit of trivia is that some prisons use limited, deep pink tones to diffuse aggressive behavior.  I think it's time to go to Lowe's and grab some paint and paintbrush!

Oldest should be coming home today.  Hubby may take the afternoon off.  Not sure how the pick-up thing from school is going to work, but it will. 

Have I shared how much food we've had in the house this week since someone's been away at camp?

Sunny Inside and Out!

Shhhh!  Can you keep a secret?  Yellow is one of my favorite colors.  Amarillo in Spanish.  Kiiro in Japanese.  Jaune in French.  Gelb (blech!) in German.  Tsah-hov in Hebrew.  Giallo in Italian.  Amarelo in Portugese.  Zhyoltiy in Russian...there's a little ' over the o that my computer just can't make.  And in Swedish it's gul.  There.  Don't we all feel smarter now?  LOL

Yellow is so bright and happy.  Cheerful and content.  Drawing attention to itself without being loud or obnoxious.  Warm.  Safe because it's not red or green.  It's a slower pace.  A summer day.  A lemon slice in your ice water.  Soft towels after a long, hot bath.  The shirt I wear to soccer games because our colors are gold and black.  The color of a new quilt project.  And in this photo...endless possibility.

Yup.  That about sums it up for me! 

Oldest is still at camp.  I've been taking youngest to school in the morning.  It's nice to be out and see the sunrise, fog on the field, deer coming out to eat and sense that peacefulness of a new day full of promise.  School today.  Library.  Painting the walnut shelves.  Not a lot of laundry or housework.  Scratching my head trying to let the fabric fairy help me find a new little thing to work on since the table runner is already done.  Need oldest to help with the camera.  Need to write down

 how to download pictures to the computer. 

Hoping for a happy, sunny, yellow day!