CANCER AND HOME IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

Sooo—I’ve been thinking—

  Our water pipes clanged for hours, throughout the night.  (That has happened intermittently, during the pandemic years when no workmen had entered our home.)  The fact of the clanging, last night, after we’d paid our plumber $1500 for various problems, which took days to resolve), suggests the age of our third home as being 27 years old … Geesh!

I say Geesh, because I still think of our current home as ‘our new house’ though Will and I have lived here longer than any other abode within our entire lives.

About three years ago (close to the time when my Lieomyoslarcoma was finally correctly diagnosed) we received notice from our HOA, saying that the exterior of our house was in need of painting.  With friends on the board who know how ill I’ve been, putting off this painting project has not been a hassle.  Now that we finally care about choosing colors, the painting will begin upon our return from CA. 

The fact that our minds are open to making these kinds of home improvement decisions suggests that living with active cancer has been incorporated into our every day lives.

🙋🏻‍♀️🍀🇺🇸Annie.

THANKSGIVING TRADITION 2022

 If a picture is worth a thousand words then here’s a pictorial of our family’s Thanksgiving preparations …

       And a happy Thanksgiving was enjoyed by all’

!

SELF EMPOWERED WITH THANKSGIVING

 In addition to what I want to convey on this bright, beautiful, sunny Thanksgiving Day concerning gratefulness (as well as thoughts left unfinished in previous posts), today’s train of thought rises above all else:

I’ve been enjoying a most intriguing novel, the theme of which seems evident within the two  quotes  below, followed by my intuitive thought for today—

Hester

By Laurie Lico Albanese

Main theme (to my way of thinking):

“I saw the words in your work, Mercy—the very first day. You have magic in your hands.”

She shakes her head, even as I describe the S and F linked together. (Safe)

“Not magic,” she says. “I told you before: if you think you’ve got power, then you got power. And if you think you don’t, then you don’t. That’s how you made those letters in the yellow cloth that saved us.” (Run)

“Keep your powers hidden and use them when it’s your time. Mam could not have known where my life would take me, but she understood that every woman will face peril and hardship—and that it’s best if we keep our strengths and skills close and strong. That way, when we need them, they are powerful enough to carry us to a new beginning.”

My take away:

The compound of logic (made of knowledge and experience) and the magic of the mind (made of intuition, and creativity) will take you where you don’t even know that you have need to grow beyond whomsoever you have come to be, thus far, today.  However, all of the above lays fallow within a brain that fears mustering the courage to break the mold within which you were poured during childhood so as to take a first leap of faith followed by many more as you choose to mindfully piece together the whole, self empowered adult you were born to become.

Today and everyday  I give thanks for love, friendship and personal growth as well as so much more than I can state simply in words.

With hopes that your Thanksgiving tradition is bountiful, delicious and enjoyed with loved ones eager to gather together from both near and far,

Your forever friend,

🙋🏻‍♀️🥰🍀Annie 

DEFINING HOLIDAY: FUN FUN FUN

 As fatigued as I be

I’m addicted to joy

And so, I’ll have

Lots of fun on Thanksgiving

And the fun I’m planning, which

Is sure to come

Straight from my heart

Will demand

No energy on my part

Just creativity of which

I have A LOT

More when next we meet

🙋🏻‍♀️😊🍀Annie 

A TASTE OF ITALY

 8 down 7 to go

Daily radiation treatments

Along with oral chemo, daily 

Sees me dealing with

A double whammy of

A side effect as I catch myself

Cat-napping throughout

The day, which, yesterday, was

Enhanced by sleeping on

The living room couch from

3pm-7pm, and even then

Eyelids felt heavy upon

Awakening. And while

Awake I think of myself as

A fortunate woman

Why?

Well, let’s take

This example for instance: 

Last evening, while wearing

A warm smile, Will handed

A mozzarella salad to

Me followed by

Dropping a gentle kiss upon

My brow

And when I asked—

What did I do to warrant your kiss?

Will replied without hesitation

All you have to do to win a kiss is

To be in the room with me

(Needless to say neither

Will nor I actually made use of

Words like warrant and win

Those two words just

Popped into

My mind while

Penning this post, and

Once I decided to employ

Poetic license, I also

Decided to tell you

The truth, because

Each time I publish a post

I choose to relate

The truth

The whole truth

And nothing but—

THE TRUTH

Because otherwise

There’d be no point to

Writing a blog about

Life as I choose to

Live mine, during

High times and low

🙋🏻‍♀️🍀🇺🇸Annie

Love you!

🙋🏻‍♀️❤️🍀🇺🇸

ONCE A TEACHER ALWAYS A TEACHER

 This is not a new thought on my part:

Ten men in tanks and shorts

Run back and forth in the center of

An arena, passing a large ball that

Must be dribbled and

Shot through two hoops, one at

Each end of the court

Though I agree that

This game is great fun to watch

(Here comes ‘the but’)

But—come on, let’s get real and

Answer this question—

Does sinking a large rubber ball

Into a basket command

Salaries worth many millions when

Teachers can barely scrape by on

Salaries still so low that 

Many must work two jobs to

Pay their bills while

The low wages of

Aides in our children’s classrooms

Are paid by way of fund raisers in which

The student body raises pledges from

Aunts, uncles, grand parents and

Friends for laps run while

School supplies remain

In such short supply that

Teachers are known to

Buy that which

A world power cannot (?) afford—sooo

Now that I’ve regained faith in

Our nation’s voters, who, having

Watched our democracy threatened by

Right winged White Supremacy, came out in

Droves to stand in line at the polls to

Elect a legislature bound to

Protect the longevity of our freedoms

Isn’t it high time to legislate

Significant amounts of money to

Fund the education of today’s children

(Tomorrow’s leaders) as never before?

And having had my say, today, please 

Excuse me as I redirect

My full attention away from

The truly serious subject of

Our offsprings’ under funded

Education  toward

Cheering for my over-paid (and

I mean that big-time)

Basketball team knowing that

Once Congress reconvenes

You’ll hear me say

Loud and clear

Go legislators!

Fight for what’s right!

Win big-time by funding educational needs!

🙋🏻‍♀️🍀🇺🇸🏀Annie

A GLANCE AT MY POLITICAL STANCE

trump and lake

A ticket to nowhere good for you or me.

I believe that pair would lose a run for the presidency, for sure.  I believe the liars and crazies (one and the same) have stirred sane people to take action when we fear losing the right to vote, the right to medical decisions and the right to choose whom to marry.  For the first time our fight to uphold our democracy has won over fear of a flagging economy.

Results of this midterm election have garnered my belief that we who opposes right winged white  supremacy will continue to make up the majority of the people who will vote against political figures who condone perpetrators of hate crimes.

I believe it will be a long time before deeply alarmed American voters react sleepily with complacency when elections roll around.

We want to know that those empowered with representing us are actually listening and responding to the majority so as to become truly mindful of serving the needs of their constituents.

Whew!  Trust me when I say I was not feeling at all positively focused or relaxed until reason for massive relief offering tension release manifested itself throughout the whole of me once sane intelligent voters gained the win in certain states.  Whew!

Though I admire and support Biden/Harris, I feel need to ask the same questions I felt need to ask half way through trump’s reign of terror:  As we know how quickly time flies by—who amongst the current generation of youthful political figures will be ready to step up to lead the lion share of our sane populous forward once 2024 becomes the current year to host our next presidential election?

I wonder if The USA (which had of recent years elected a certifiable lunatic to rule, over all) will be ready to elect an intelligent, experienced woman to the highest office in the land. (???)

🙋🏻‍♀️🤔🍀 Annie