A Kick in the Rear

My darling friend, Cathi, is a church mentor for a group of teenage girls. A week or two ago, she talked to them about life and how to Bee happy. She taught them: Bee Your Best Self, seek for Balance and have a Plan Bee. Then she challenged them to set goals for the next two weeks to help them “bee”gin the process (sorry, I couldn’t resist :)).

Last Friday she surprised me by giving me a folder like she gave her girls! Along with the folder, she gave us a darling SU treat box with things to help us track and achieve our goals. Here’s a picture of my goodies.

Isn’t that a fun idea! I will confess I needed a kick in the rear to get me goal setting and self improving—and I’m glad it was in the form of a gift in a bag.

Ponderings

I attended a family funeral on Saturday. As I listened to family and friends honor my cousin, I was impressed by the impact of one life on the world. Does that sound lofty?

Each of us has such power! Our small lives aren’t. Small that is. There are countless people whose lives intersect ours every day.

Several years ago I began to notice a yellow truck on my drive to work. It was particularly remarkable because, well, it was yellow. Day after day I would see that yellow truck. I began to wonder about yellow truck’s driver. Where did he go every day? Was he a teacher? A father? Did he wonder about me (I doubt it because my Honda is pretty run-of-the-mill silver)? One day the yellow truck was gone. I wondered if yellow truck’s driver bought a new truck or moved to Italy. Sometimes I still wonder.

I might not have a spouse or children running around, but I’m really trying to be a spot of light in the world. If enough of us do that, we can and will make a difference.

Wow! Quite philosophical for a Monday, eh?

Founder's Circle (Fun in the Sun)

The Gathering Place-waiting for demos to join the fun!

I returned from Founder's on Sunday morning and dropped into bed for 7 hours. 7! I was sooo very tired. It's a great event-a true privilege to be able to attend and help KelleeSue and her amazing team.

Here are some of my highlights:

Lynsay Mahon and Cori Hancock-Check out that concentration!

Our Lovely MDS Lab

1) Teaching MDS with Cori. The pointer finger and naughty finger. That cute kid (who does he belong to, anyway?) flying down the slide. Making the same scrapbook page over and over (and over) again. I'm a pro at that page now! Once, knowing something Cori didn't know-the rest of the time she totally schooled me.

2) Speaking at the final dinner. The weather was quite dramatic, but The Ledges golf course was beautiful. The demonstrators did a butterfly release, we ate yummy food and took tons of photos. I got to share the story of my butterfly sister Linnea. It was a tender night.

3) Meeting the Rising Stars and hearing their stories. I sooo hope they continue to be successful. What neat ladies!

4) Seeing demo friends again.

Me with Tami White. Aren't we cute?

5) Making new demo friends.

Jackie Ross and Sharon Armstrong peeking through the decor.

6) Laughing with (sometimes at) KelleeSue's team.

7) Hearing the great ideas at the business share.

8) Watching over 115 ladies swap.

9) Joining a few demos for dinner. I went to Paula's restaurant with Judy Garza, Ruth Bingle, Becky Kareck, Angie Juda and Esther Boyle. It was soo great to visit and learn more about them. The food was just okay, but the company was four star!

10) Tying lots and lots of knots!

I dare say a great time was had by all. I also dare say some of us need a break from all this fun!

Cincinnati Regional

Donna and Shelli doing a great pose after Shannon taught us some tips

Shannon looking fabulous

The regional in Cincinnati was so much fun! I am always better after spending time with demonstrators and Stampin' Up! employees. I was pleased that I had the energy needed to support my amazing team of facilitators. They really rocked it. I was sooo happy with the stamping and business content! We arrived around 8 p.m. on Wednesday and just had a bite to eat at the hotel. The next morning was deliciously lazy-we met at 11:00 for lunch and to head to the convention center to get set up for rehearsals. Lunch was at Chipotle. We hit it just right because right after we sat down the line went out the door! The rest of the day was all about getting ready for the seminar. Rehearsals went well and set up was a breeze. That night we ate at a brewery next to Chipotle that had the yummiest food.

Lisa the Popester

Friday and Saturday were a blur of Stampin' Up! regional fun-I swapped, smiled, hung up demonstrator swaps on the display boards, gave feedback to my team, and got caught up with Jill.

Bonnie and the great facilitators

We flew home early Sunday and I napped and then went to bed early. I love my own little bed!

Big Day #2

Hemolytic anemia. Whew! The bone marrow biopsy was 100% clean and clear. No sign of cancer; no sign of anything extraordinary. The doc thinks my body got confused because of either a virus or some medication (could have been either) and began to treat my red blood cells like an infection. My immune system is working overtime to kill off those pesky red blood cells faster than I can store them, making me anemic and tired. We did more blood work and will know Thursday for sure if this is the real deal. The treatment is steroids and folic acid. I can handle that. I had to use Prednisone once before for about a week and nearly went out of my mind but, considering the alternative, I'm feeling quite positive about this! If you're like me and get curious about this kind of stuff, medline has a great explanation.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/MEDLINEPLUS/ency/article/000571.htm

It was a nice weekend-I had some Bonnie time, some Landon & Parker time, some stamping time, some Tamsin, Sam & Emma time, and some family time for Annette's birthday. Still, at the back of it all was the upcoming doctor's appointment. My two sisters joined me for the news and my brother gave me a great blessing yesterday.

I feel such relief-and such hope that I can begin to get my energy back.

One thing-you sure realize how many people love, support and care when you go through a scare like this. I am overwhelmed by the wonderful friends and family I have. Truly blessed.

Yay!

Waiting for the Phone to Ring...

...Just like in high school when I was sooo hoping for a call from the totally great guy in Biology. Only this time it's waiting for Dr. Litton to call. I'm pretty sure he told me that he'd call if the results came in on Thursday. Problem is I was at the beginning of the Versed injection, so I may have been in lala land.

He's not going to call, is he? It's 9:30. He's gone home. He doesn't work on Fridays, Monday is a holiday. So, I guess it's wait until the 12:20 scheduled appointment on Tuesday.

My mind just went to a dark place. Did the biopsy come in but he didn't call because there's something wrong?

Yikes. I am now going to self-medicate with some diet root beer and air popped popcorn. Wow, that sounds rather lame in the self-medicating arena. Perhaps I should throw in some chocolate.

Yikes.

Big Day #1

It feels like forever since last Monday when this bone marrow biopsy was ordered. I have lived 7 different lives since then. Emotional roller coaster seems to be an understatement. I'm off to the hospital in a few hours. I feel great. Calm. Ready for some answers. The procedure itself doesn't concern me at all. Perhaps ignorance is bliss?

Anyway, that's how I feel.