Office Christmas Parties and Farting Pigs

...and a few other things that are keeping us busy through the weekend. We end on Sunday with a funeral for our sweet nephew and cousin Samuel who was born right into Jesus' arms this past Monday morning.

Life is crazy! Life is hard! Life is silly! Life is rich. Last night wasn't as bad at home as I thought it might be. We are sadly used to the routine. Life has just been plain heavy. There is no way around it. On the bright side, I have lost seven pounds on the "bad news diet" so there is that. However, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

I talked the boys into playing the farting pig game Auntie Chelle got Zach for Thanksmas. We laughed until our bellies got sore, that is for sure! A perfect game for pre-teen boys! I have had "Pop Goes the Weasel" in my head all day today! We highly recommend it for a great laugh.

Thankful while it is still thankful month because after years and YEARS...I am talking YEARS, God has answered my prayer for my husband. I have prayed for a job for him where he would feel valued for what he brings to a company and a career he enjoys. Now, it has only been since September that he has worked at Samsung but the whole atmosphere in our home alone is blessing enough for me.

He has never in 26 years worked for a company that holds a Christmas party. I think one year one of his managers did a little something at his house, but other than that, he may have gotten a Christmas turkey or two along the way. So we are looking forward to Saturday night at Cedar Ridge Winery. I have given my liver a rest these past couple weeks and went through Thanksgiving without a single glass of wine so I will celebrate with a small one..at a winery...so...yeah.

I will start chemo next Thursday. It will be a three week schedule. Life is still good. God is still good. Every day I wake up and He is still good.

Answers...To Some of the Questions

There are so many who encourage and have encouraged me along the way on my path by telling me that I am strong and inspiring and all of that. I thank you. But I thought just so you know that I am human I would report that I do find myself in a puddle sometimes as I did this morning after I dropped Matthew off at school.

He has an amazing teacher and he came early to choir practice and she was coming in from her car. Just the idea of dropping him off into the care of his teacher warmed my heart. Then of course I put on my playlist on the way home. I should have waited to put on my make up that is for sure!

Well...there is some news today. And, I am much happier about it than I expected. Happier about it than the pictures from this morning anyway! It doesn't sound that great when it comes out but I have stage 4 "metastatic carcinoma consistent with breast cancer". So to answer my sons question we still wear pink!

The good news is that it has mutated from Her2 negative to Her2 positive and there are more options for treatment including immunotherapy. (spell check doesn't like that word). We will start with an immuno / chemo thereapy combo and monitor with scans until the liver is clear and then maintain with immunotherapy. And that is all I know.

I will be getting an echocardiogram next week before we start. I do know that they are three week rounds so we will see how my body tolerates it. I have no idea if I will be able sub some still (because I do really love to be in a classroom), but I do know that at least while I do this I can take my two online courses to renew my license that expires in March. That can be done from the recliner just fine and will help me feel productive!

Thank you to all who have given me suggestions for holistic options. I do faithfully use my Juva roller ball with essential oils over my liver every day. I also have options for liver cleanses and the woman and the health store down the street was a very good resource as I made may way around.

I love all of you...this morning texts and comments on FB kept my phone busy. You are all so good to me, to all of the Sloans. This is all very preliminary. In about three weeks we should get results back from the molecular testing and we may switch things up if they find a better path to cleaning out this mess! I told my daughter today (well, texted actually) "God numbers our days. Today I am happy that the prognosis is better than I had imagined".

The reminder again from a song that my grandma used to like "One day at a time Sweet Jesus...that's all I'm asking from You. Just give me the strength to do everyday what I have to do."

"Lord, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me 'there is no help for him in God'. Selah. But YOU, O LORD, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts my head. I cried out to the Lord with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill. Selah."
Psalm 3:1-4

Give Thanks

A sure fire way to "de-uglify" Facebook is to get a cancer diagnosis. Seriously...there are so many times that I want to just duck out of the Facebook world. It is so much easier for people to "speak (or type in this case) their mind" on Facebook than they would if you were sitting across from them. That is why I have always tried to follow the rule that I won't post anything that I wouldn't say to someone in person. I have shared my rule with my kids too. It is just a good way to stay out of "cyber trouble".

So, the results have come in. We will go in tomorrow morning and hear what they have found. And then the best thing, we will start attacking back. It is the limbo and waiting that is the worst. I sound like a broken record in my head. I find myself thinking deja vu...I have typed this before. Probably because I have. This is not my first rodeo.

I am always amazed at the people who rally around when they hear my bad news. So many of you who have popped over to my blog after reading my aunt Jo's post on her amazing blog. If you haven't been to Jo's Country Junction you should visit her. I love her a lot and she has been such a support to me. The rest of you...those who have FILLED my FB feed and texted and called with love and support and prayer...THANK YOU near and faraway!!!! There has been so much activity that there is no room on my feed for those posts to pop up that are less than uplifting.

Today I am going to sew. I have things in my sewing room that need to be finished so I can work on a couple of Christmas projects. I have not sat down at my machine in weeks. The quilt that I was working on is still on my machine from a month and a half ago. My heart wants to create today. I will  not borrow tomorrow's trouble. It may actually be quite manageable. I expect my God is ready for it and so my heart will be at peace.

I sat down at the piano this morning. I am working on a song, George Winston Thanksgiving. I have loved it since I was a teenager and a couple of Christmases ago Michelle, my sister-in-law gave me a George Winston piano book. The song has a sad sound. It sings to my heart on the days that are hard. Back then I wondered why in the world he called it "Thanksgiving". As an adult I have learned that there is peace in giving thanks in all circumstances. It is not always easy but I will tell you that my thankful list is WAAAAAY longer than any complains I could have! Life is truly RICH!

1 Thessalonians 5:18 

In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ for you.

Happy Thanksmas 2018

Thanksgiving week went by fast. It always does for me. We have celebrated "Thanksmas" as our family tradition with my husband's sister Michelle. I don't remember how many years it has been , but we don't see her at Christmas time so we do our gift giving and turkey eating all together.


This year there was a wrench in our plans. We planned Thanksmas to be on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving based on plane flights and kids' activities. Michelle's fiance was planning to be with us for a couple of days and came last Monday. The wrench came when my biopsy was scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Troy and Michelle made the whole meal so by the time we got home, it was all ready. We enjoyed our family meal and then opened presents. It was very nice and low key for us. We are thankful for the timing of everything and they were more than happy to help.

Thursday they had plans for Thanksgiving with Troy's family so we had a small gathering again at the house with David making turkey number two. My youngest brother and his family came over along with my parents. We enjoyed food, a puzzle and football. (not so much the football...the Falcons lost.)

The rest of the weekend was quiet and I was able to hem two jacket sleeves, three tux pants and five choir dresses for the high school choir. (I love jobs I can do sitting around!) We had movies going while I stitched. Quite a range of viewing actually, we watched the latest Jurassic World, followed by Pride and Prejudice, and then Lincoln.

It was a great weekend. This week we hope for some news...preferably the good kind!

Basketball Season is HERE!!!!

Basketball season is upon us and the Indian women started out strong with solid wins against Benton last night. Stacey played JV and a quarter of the varsity game on Tuesday night. I am looking forward to something fun in the months ahead!!

Number 3 shoots for 2 (yep, the ball went in)

3XFIGHT

Friday I said to David "I'm too tired of all of this to blog anymore." I couldn't even think what I would write coming out of my doctor's office after being told my liver on the PET scan pictures was lit up like a Christmas tree. She also said "It is very rare that these spots AREN'T cancer". I didn't want to sit down and blog this! So there you have it.

Lets back up a month and a half or so. I had started feeling winded when I walked around a classroom, or up a staircase. I was having a heaviness in my chest, and weird back spasms multiple times daily and other random things. Nothing was constant enough to warrant worrying, at least not enough to stop and question. I went in last Friday for one of my three month appointments. They go through the list of side effects to record how my last three month have been on my trial drug. It is usually a quick thing.

I stopped her after about the second one on the list. "You know..." I said, I haven't been feeling good". We went down the list slowly and I complained pretty much at each side effect how it has gotten worse this past time. She listened and recorded. After the exam, she said it was time to have an MRI and PET scan." I heard myself sigh.

Thursday morning I had my scans. Friday, the doctor wanted me to come back for the results. Survey says...spots on my liver. One large one on each lobe and several smaller ones. So, we have a biopsy this coming Wednesday morning and we wait about a week to see what kind of cancer we are dealing with and how we will proceed.

As I was pulling out of the parking lot of David's work after my appointment, a jeep pulled in front of me as we were leaving. I sat waiting for the cars in front of me and focused somewhere on the back of the jeep til I zoomed in on the license plate. 3XFIGHT...it was an Iowa Hawkeye plate which would make most people start humming "Fight, fight, fight for Iowa". Not me...it clicked in my brain THIRD TIME TO FIGHT. I am not one who believes that God has a special message for me but I do believe that He sometimes works in the "coincidence". We are taking it as our marching orders. We are preparing for our third fight.

I can share as results come back for those who are interested in following us. I understand if you are weary of this...we are too. But my daughter said I have to blog, "it is how people know what you need". So we will be here in the very capable hands of the God who laid the foundations of this earth, the One who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line. The One who laid the cornerstone.

If you are still with me here, I will leave you with this: the song that has been playing on repeat for me this weekend. Your Ways are Higher Than Mine I want mountains to move, You want me to climb. We already have the hiking boots...time to put them back on. Love you all!

Hallmark Christmas Movie BINGO

I was watching my first Hallmark Christmas movies last weekend and as I was stitching a project, my head was listing things that so many of these movies have in common. If you have watched a few than you know what I mean.

Last Christmas we started a game around our house. Each viewer in the house had until the first commercial break (which usually takes a little longer since they are trying to establish the story line and characters) to predict who would end up with who, and any other details they wanted to predict before the first commercial break was done. Then, we see if anyone had it right by the end.

This year, as I sat and watched the first three of the season, being a teacher, I quickly thought "I bet there is a BINGO game generator online" AND "I bet I could make bingo cards out of some of these similar themes and characters.

Some have asked me for my list. It is ever evolving and as you read through these that I have shared, you will more than likely come up with a few of your own. (Especially if you are a seasoned Hallmark Christmas Movie watcher!) So, as you read through this list, feel free to add any of your own in the comments and our bingo games will be all the better for it! Let the Hallmark Christmas movie watching begin!

• royal main character
• Candace Cameron Bure
• ice skating scene
• bah humbug older relative
• special Christmas ornament
• cookie contest
• snowman building scene
• tree lighting ceremony
• orphaned main character
• mistletoe
• trying to get back the Christmas spirit
• travel delays
• ugly sweater contest
• Christmas ball
• closing the big business deal by Christmas
• work-a-holic main character
• Christmas tree farm scene
• an injured Santa
• character named Nick
• dogs
• Christmas decor contest
• main character actor is a singer in real life
• single mom main character
• trying to find something that is lost
• a marriage proposal
• soup kitchen or shelter volunteering
• bratty spoiled rotten kid(s)
• saving a small town business from failure before Christmas
• snowball fight
• falling in love with a total stranger by Christmas
• special ingredient hot cocoa
• estranged adult child reunites with parent(s)
• car problems
• break up of mismatched couple
• solving a Christmas mystery

Oh and there are so many many more! If you run across a good BINGO generator, share that too. I found two. One I like all right but the cards are decorated beautifully for Christmas if you choose the Christmas theme and I would eat up all of my printer ink. The other I found has duplicated the same thing on two boxes on the same card. You can go to town and add all of your favorite actors to your cards as well, the only rule would be if your actor plays a royal main character, you can only pick one or the other on your card. (or, make your own rules...its up to you)

There are so many channels that run these movies at this time of year. I can't help but think we are drawn to them because we would love a life however messy it is in the middle, to be a happily ever after. Maybe this BINGO game can make Christmas movie watching fun for the whole family!