Survivor Files: I've Been Inked!

"I did it!" I hear them say, then they post pictures from all angles of the tattoo they just got. Seems to be a more frequent thing these days, people getting tattoos. Well, like everything else I seem to experience in life, I am doing it a little differently than everyone else that I have known. Yes...as of today, I have a tattoo and no, I am not going to post a picture. The reason is, I don't want to be flagged as having pornographic or inappropriate content. Besides, it is swollen and "angry" right now as my tattoo artist told me and it will look much better when it is fully healed.

It isn't a pretty rose, a butterfly, a heart or any other picture that might come to mind as you recall your last visit to the public swimming pool. No, it is an areola. That's right, I now have two fake breasts (made from my excess stomach tissue) and a permanent tattooed right areola. TMI? Probably, but it is the last step in the process of my reconstruction. So basically, don't hold your breath for the posting of my "tat picture" because it just isn't going to happen.

It was a strange conversation the first time I called the number on the card to set up this appointment. I had never thought of getting a tattoo and wasn't sure what I was supposed to say..."hi, my name is Jody and I need you to tattoo me an areola?" No, that didn't seem like a natural intro but somehow, the appointment was made back in February for a tattoo in July. My body needed six months to heal because you can't tattoo on scar tissue for six months and my last surgery was in January.

Like the words...font could be a little less scrunched together

Today...that brings us to today. If you are curious about what they can do to help those of us who have had to make the hard decisions about what doctors can do to our bodies to rid them of cancer, there are many websites that explain every aspect of reconstruction. I am thankful to every person who has had a part in my "new normal".

So yes, I have a tattoo, but no, it isn't a fun one that I can really show off. The whole anticipation of the day has got me thinking though, what kind of tattoo would I get if I ever decided to get one that people could see?

Cool reminder - I want to always be ready!

I could use this reminder on my wrist
so I could see it every day!

Since I can't post a picture of my tattoo, I will post some pictures of some that I think would be kind of cool to be able to show off.
I don't know if I would ever get a tattoo that everyone could see, but if I did, it would have to be something simple and very meaningful. But, now having gone through the actual process of getting a tattoo and knowing what to expect, it isn't such a crazy idea to me. Maybe some of you who have a tattoo could tell me what you have or post a picture. That could get me thinking!

Love this...simple conversation starter

I will keep you posted if I ever decide to get something permanently inked into my skin. For now, this current tattoo is going to be healing for the next couple weeks with discomfort and itching to look forward to. But, I can't lie when I say that it will be a wonderful treat to step out of the shower and look a lot less like the Bride of Frankinstein. Did I tell you she inked my bright red scars so they would be less prominent. Well, she did and I am so thankful!

God has blessed some people with a very unique talent and the faith and obedience to pursue an avenue to do good in this world. There are a lot of things that breast cancer robs us of. I had no idea the kind of "grieving"' that came with this whole process but there is a lot more than I knew about. I praise God for those He puts in our path to validate our struggles, to soften the rough edges and to shine a little bit of light into a dark day. I am glad for this day and that it wasn't one of those dark ones! Thank you Marie at Artizo Ink! You are an amazing artist!

Sunshine From the 70's

I was searching online for anyone who may have posted a few old songs from the New World Singers to find one in particular I was remembering. I found it and a whole plethora of other songs from the LP's my mom and dad had growing up.

Maybe if there were more songs like this in the world today there wouldn't be as many people on antidepressants! Had to smile when I was listening to some old songs today...thought I would share. You can hear it too if you click on the link.

"Spread Some Sunshine - help a brother make it through!"

"And when you see a shadow pour your sunshine in!"

Just thought I would "spread some sunshine!" Have a great day everyone!

A Puffy Project

I brought out my trusty number two this week to work on the next project I have been thinking about. It was time for the Bernina to go in for its annual check up and tuning and since it has been about a year and a half since the last one and I have just finished the last of the Mario quilts, it was time for her to have a little time at the spa to rest up!

I love my trusty number two. A sturdy Singer Touch and Sew works just as well today as she did when my parents bought and refurbished her for my high school graduation present. I really love this machine and it was a fun weekend sewing away in my cool basement in the heat of the summer!

I have piled up a bunch of projects in my head while I have been sewing away on my Mario quilts. One of the projects I have been wanting to tackle is a puff quilt. I have had a pile of fabric in my stash since David and I were newlyweds. My MIL used to sew high end window treatments and had many leftover awkwardly shaped pieces of nice fabric and she gave them to me once when she was cleaning out things at her house.

Many pieces were large enough for me to use for windows in various homes where we have lived over the years. Every room in our first apartment was decked out in the fabrics she handed down to me. The last home we lived in had many basement windows that were old and ugly. I was able to make curtains and cover them up which made our time down there much more enjoyable.

After all of these years, I still have a large pile of fabric, good quality fabric in fact, despite their odd shapes. Being the soccer mom that I am who usually has a kid or two tagging along to games, I get complaints when the blanket they are sitting on gets damp from the morning dew. I have been thinking while sewing 1.5 inch Mario squares that if I used the fabric from my MIL which is great quality and heavy duty, make a puff quilt and back it with water proof vinyl like material, it will keep the dew from soaking through to the top.

So...I went through my big stack of oddly shaped drapery fabric and sorted between the good prints and the lining fabric along with a few old sheets and cut 5" squares out of the good stuff and the 4" squares out of the linings and sheets.

I was pretty amazed at how the colors fit into two different camps (I actually shouldn't be surprised thinking about early nineties interior decorating color swatches). Pleating each side of the 5" squares I pinned them each to a 4" square. After sewing three sides I spent our family night NCIS marathon stuffing batting into each "puff" and pinning the fourth edge, readying it to sew shut.

The 4" square will not be seen in the end product so I am very excited about using up old fabric that I won't use for anything else. After my first batch which included a little bit of everything I had, I was able to set up a couple of color schemes. One is heavy on the forest green and mauve, the other is blue and peachy. I started focusing on the green and mauve and have pinned and stuffed many more of those. I will make that one first.

I have a forest green color vinyl table cloth that I am going to be using for the back. It will keep the dampness off of anyone sitting on the quilt on the grass and it will also hold up being thrown in the back of the van and pulled out for events that require sitting on the ground. I can't wait to see one put together. So far, I have spent all of $8.00 on the batting. I should be able to make one and a half quilts with that batting. The rest of the quilt will not cost anything. I love using something that would have otherwise be thrown away!

This next week we are doing a garage sale at our house so I won't have too much time to sew. Hopefully by the end of the week I will be back at work on it because I am looking forward to seeing how these old fabrics look when new life is breathed into them.

A Final Goodbye to Mario...For Now

Ryan's quilt done!
July 2015

IT IS FINISHED!!!! My two and a half years of Mario quilt sewing has come to a close. I can't say that I am a bit sad. I have so many things that I have been planning and other quilts that I want to dig into that I am ready to move on.

I never imagined when I started on Zachary's two and a half years ago that it would be that long before the three quilts would be done. I also didn't count on a breast cancer diagnosis and six surgeries either. There are definitely perks in being deep into a project you are passionate about when you are going through a life changing event outside the sewing room.

The boys aren't the only ones thankful for my work. I am thankful that there is something therapeutic about creating something special for someone else while you ponder your own mortality and struggle to heal and move on. I told Ryan that he has gotten the best one of the three because with all the time I've had, there is a perfecting with each new quilt.

Remembering back to the first attempt, I was following the directions on the Cut to Pieces website which I was so happy to find. In search of the perfect quilt for boys after the girls' quilts, they told me they wanted a Mario Brothers bedroom. I was excited to hear that because when working on projects it is awesome to have designs that are fun. Soon though, I was disappointed to find that there were only two fabrics that I could find with Mario on them. I could use sheets but they were still expensive and wouldn't hold up as well.

So I was excited to find Cut to Pieces and although the Quilt a Long was over a year old, I knew that I was going to do it - times three! The link with the original instructions is here. I hadn't used anything like the stablizer that she mentioned but it is always fun to learn something new.

MattJoAnn's with Zachary
March 2013

Zachary and I went to JoAnn's to pick out all the official colors for each character in March of 2013. Here he is after picking out the best "Mario" red, "Luigi" green along with the other important colors, light blue for the backgrounds most importantly.

I worked through Zachary's quilt first since he was the most excited about helping to pick colors and me getting started, I used the sticky wash-away stabilizer. I didn't like it. I did like the time I got to spend putting the puzzle together with Matthew. We followed the pattern of 1.5 inch squares and sewed them together when they were all laid out.

The step after the blocks were sewn was to wash out the stablizer before sewing together the blocks to make the quilt top. For Zachary, I used red fabric for sashing. I didn't like how the blocks laid when the stabilizer dissolved so when I started in on Matthew's I positioned the different colored squares around me and the patterns and pieced them together without the stabilizer. It was much quicker for me and I liked the end result better. I continued to work the same way with Ryan's quilt and his went the quickest with the least amount of trouble.

Each boy picked the characters they wanted on their quilts so everyone of them got their own personalized blanket for their beds. With the binding I sewed their names into the stitching all the way around. I have been asked from a couple of people whether or not I would make any more if someone paid me. At first I thought "no way", but I do have extra fabric so who knows maybe I would think about it!

Zachary's Finished Quilt
Matthew's Finished Quilt

Wrestling Camp

Here is my little wrestler. He wanted so much to go to wrestling camp this summer. He even went so far as to empty out his piggie bank looking for the money that it took to register. Bless his heart, with six dollars he needed a little help from mom and dad.

Four days of camp at the high school was pretty intense for an almost first grader. The first day he got partnered with a very "serious" wrestler and was not so excited to go back the second day. He told me "Mom, it really hurts!"

I talked to the coaches and told them he really loves to wrestle right now and is a little younger than the others. He needs to be encouraged, not constantly smushed face first into the mat. It isn't like him to beg to stay home on the second day.

Thankfully, they matched him up with a kid that was a little more on his same level of experience and he enjoyed the rest of the week.

I Have Arrived!

The Family Who Gardens Together...