It's all about love

Well, I did it! This is my 100th post. I can't believe it took me so long to get here, and yet I can't believe I had so much to write about. I tried to find some fancy fireworks display that I could post on here, but I couldn't. So, you'll just have to settle for the knowledge of this being my 100th post. Yea! Congratulations to me! :)

I thought that my 100th post should be something great and exciting, so I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with some grand story, a motivational tale, or even exciting news. However, I have had no such luck. I tried waiting it out for a few days to see if something would come up and then today I thought that perhaps I was being a bit ridiculous in my thinking and decided that I would post my thoughts like I do any other time I've written on here.

With the Valentine's holiday fast approaching I've seen and heard all kinds of opinions about the day. Most single people don't like it because they are single. Most married people don't like it because it's another special occasion they have to remember. This one doesn't like the hype, that one doesn't like the commercialism, and so on. One of the most recent themes I've noticed in these opinions of Valentine's day is that they don't feel one day should be set aside as a day to share love with others. I've seen a lot of comments about how people feel love should be expressed every day and not just one day in particular out of the year. As always, I have a few things to say about that.

Anyone who decides to wait all year long to say "I love you", or some other sweet sentiment, to someone else is just a plain and simple fool. Think of all your family, friends, and loved ones. Do you honestly know someone who vows to wait until February 14th to share their love? Do they refrain from talking, helping, sharing, or otherwise offering their talents, time, and energies throughout the year in order not to ruin the Valentine's holiday? I know of no one who does such silly things, so I wonder why others make comments about having this one day as a day set aside for love and affection. I love my family and tell them such whenever I end a phone call or an email or a face to face conversation with them. I love and appreciate my friends and tell them any chance I can, sometimes in the most random moments when they are least expected. I am grateful for perfect strangers who go out of their way to help me with something, whether I ask them or they see a need. I appreciate the work that is done by ordinary (and sometimes extraordinary) people when I am in a restaurant, a store, the movies, or at the gas station and I always say thank you. I am especially grateful for my doctors and surgeon and have written them thank you notes on several occasions because I want them to know how much I appreciate all they do for me. Above all I love my husband and I tell him so every single day at random times, again, when he least expects it and he always replies back to me with the same.

The thing is, as I get older, and the more I go through, I begin to understand better the feeling of love, gratefulness, appreciation, thankfulness, respect, honor, and friendship. I find it in the little things so here is my list of little things that others have done that I have noticed and have impacted me in one way or the other.

~When my husband gets me a cold glass of water when I make the simple statement of being thirsty. He brings it to me without me even asking.

~When my dad lets me use his garage, driveway, tools, and even himself to fix our car without even thinking twice about it.

~How my mom knows just how to hug me when I'm having a tough time and who cries with me when I don't know what else to do.

~When my brothers come by to visit and hang out with me even though my house is messy and I may not feel like visiting to begin with.

~When my mother-in-law calls me because she was thinking about me and we talk for an hour.

~How my sister-in-law knows how to make me laugh and has the uncanny ability to call or email just when I needed to hear from her.

~When my sister sends me something that she saw and thought of me for, and I don't even know it's coming.

~When my grandma and my uncle send me get well cards out of the blue and they share words of advice and thoughts that I desperately need.

~How my friend can not only teach me a new talent but get me the supplies I need to start it with and make me a little case to keep everything so neat in.

~When my doctors call to give me an update on any tests and afterward, take a few minutes to ask me how I am really feeling.

~How friends come over to visit on Sunday afternoons when they could be spending time with their families.

~How I can call my brother and talk to him for hours on end about nothing and everything all at once.

~When my friend takes time out of her busy life to draw pictures for my book, and then asks me for my advice about them, even though she is talented beyond anything I have possibly seen and does beautiful work.

~How my family members and friends send me sweet words of compliments and are excited at any happy news I share with them.

~When others share their thoughts on their blogs for me to read, thereby helping me to create my own thoughts and opinions about things, or just to give me a glimpse into their life and allowing me an opportunity to help them as they have helped me.

This list is not all inclusive because this blog post would never end. My point with all of this is to get those people who don't like Valentine's day because they don't feel one day should be set aside to celebrate love, to take another look at it. Take a moment to reflect on all the people who have made an impact in your life and how that has affected you. Don't think about the sad things, but think about the things you have learned and those you have loved, and still do. Go out and observe people. There is love in the air. People are happy, centered, content for that one day. They are able to rest their worries on the shelf for a time and think about someone else without any regrets. There's just something magical about that day that everyone can participate in, single or not. After all, it's all about love...

Moldy Crayons, Crocheting, and Other Fancy Things

The other day I pulled out some coloring books and crayons that I hadn't used in ages. I usually enjoy coloring because it is very soothing to me. I really like trying to focus on what color I should use and how I can make blank pages look. It takes my mind off other things. So, the other day the mood struck me to color and I pulled everything out. I have many boxes of crayons, but one box I haven't used at all. I opened the crayons, excited at the thought of being the first to use them, and was unbelievably surprised at what I found. There was mold on the crayons! Take a look!


At first I thought it was just some dust, but then I took a closer look.


Gross! I honestly didn't think that crayons could grow mold!

I took the crayons out of the box, gave them a good washing, and they were as good as new. Note to everyone: use your new crayons from Roseart as quickly as possible to avoid moldy crayons!

Another thing I have been doing lately is crocheting. My friend Gina taught me how to crochet a couple of weekends ago and I can't seem to put it down. She's a fantastic teacher, so patient and understanding. I loved having her teach me how to do this wonderful craft! I honestly can't believe that I went this long in my life without learning how to do it before. I am making a small blanket and pillow for Lil Pig. Here's what it looks like so far.



It really is a fun thing to do and I think everyone should learn how to crochet. I have a great teacher if any of you would like a recommendation! The only thing I forgot to ask about was how to finish a piece. I don't want to make this pillow any bigger, so I'm kind of stuck at the moment. And I would love to start on Lil Pig's blanket, but I don't want to cut off the piece I am working on and have it be too small in case that's not how it's done. I'll just need to call up Gina and ask her how to do it. I'm going to see her tomorrow so I'll more than likely try and set up another lesson again soon so I can ask a few more refined questions and learn how to finish a piece. Lil Pig's birthday is coming up really soon so I thought this would be a perfect present for her.

I also got James an early Valentine's day present. Anyone who has ever seen James' car knows that the door handle on the outside of the drivers side of the car, is missing and has been for quite some time. He managed to find a way to jimmy-rig it so he could actually open his car door from the outside, and he got so good at it that he was able to open it with one hand most of the time. However, if the door handle was slippery or your hands wet from the snow or rain it was darn near impossible to open the door. What you had to do in that instance was open the back door and reach around to the front to open the door from the inside. Just trust me when I tell you how terribly inconvenient it was to get that blasted door open. As an early gift to him I went and had the handle on his door fixed without him even knowing. When he came home that night I told him I thought I left something on the front seat of his car and asked him to go get it for me. He went to the car and tried to jimmy-rig the handle like he always does but when he couldn't he had to take a second...and third...look to see what was going on. That was when he realized the door was fixed. He was so happy he danced a little jig right there in the parking lot. It was awesome. I tried to get some pictures, but it was too dark and I was up on the balcony. Today it was snowing a bit when James left for work. I told him he could take the Scion but he said he wanted to take his car because the door handle was finally fixed and he wanted to use it. Ah! It makes me happy that he's so happy about it.

Well, I think that's all for now. I have another gift for James for Valentine's day but it isn't ready yet and I don't want to spoil the surprise. I'll let you know what it is and how it goes over once I give it to him. Until then...happy crocheting everybody!!

I cried Friday...

...and not because I was sad. I was driving around in my car running a couple of errands, when I decided to take a little drive. I hadn't been out of the house for the week, and the weather was beautiful, the traffic light so I decided to go for a short drive. I thought I would turn on the radio and listen to some music when one of my favorite songs came on. I immediately started to sing along and, without even realizing it, I was singing the high notes that I haven't been able to reach since my surgery. I then started to harmonize with the song and before I knew it I was choked up with emotion at being so very happy that I could actually sing again. I don't think you get how happy I am about this, I mean...I CAN SING AGAIN!! Mind you, I do not have my full singing voice back yet, nor do I have the same range, so asking me to sing "Memory" from CATS is probably not going to happen. However, if you are in the market for someone who can sing "I'm A Little Teapot" then I'm certainly your girl. I remembered that shortly after the surgery I recorded the teapot song so people could hear my voice. When I got home on Friday I pulled up the old recording and proceeded to record a new one right after it, comparing both versions of the teapot song. The first one was recorded on May 6, 2009 about three weeks after my surgery and right before the radiation. The new one was recorded January 29, 2010 almost ten months after surgery. I can't help but smile every time I hear it. And now, for your listening pleasure.