Garage Sale Goes High Tech

Still catching up on the other things in life that have been happening before being so rudely interrupted, I want to share the coolest thing ever...especially if you are one who is drawn to holding your own garage sales. This is even more cool if you go together with a few friends or family members and have a garage sale.

This is an app available for both Apple devises and Android called "Garage Sale Checkout". It was the best $2.99 I ever spent on an app. It holds up to ten sellers and you can set it up to automatically compute eight amounts along with the ability to type in any sale amount as well.



I would just like to say that I can't talk enough about how much we didn't miss all of the stickers and the notebook paper and the calculating this year. It was amazing how accurate the totals were. We were less than $5 off at the end when all the earnings were passed out and we were through.

The cool thing is that at any moment in the sale you can hit the "sale total" button and it comes up with everyone's total so far. I did take a picture of the screen every so often since this is the first year we used it just to be sure that I had record in case there was a glitch of some kind. I think that I would do that every time because there always is a chance that something could hiccup.

I was so surprised at how much this made our lives easier at this year's sale. I don't think you will find us without the app in the future. Many people were impressed with our "high tech" sale!

A Birthday Present Project

Today is surgery day. I am celebrating that life hasn't always been and won't always be about my cancer by cranking the hand of time back a few weeks. Yesterday was a little heavy and so I am skipping "from the heart" this week since I pretty much laid it all out already.

Zachary turned 10 and I am not going to miss reporting this most amazing milestone. He LOVES Garfield...I mean LOVES! So you can add "Garfield Cake" to my resume along with "Garfield Costume" and "Garfield Valentine's Card Box". I was thrilled that it turned out to actually look like Garfield because there were a couple moments that were touch and go as to whether or not he would be recognized. Zachary was thrilled! (Me too!)

Although Garfield is his first love, he also loves Charlie Brown and Snoopy. So, when Grandma and Grandpa got him a fleece blanket kit with a big Charlie Brown and Snoopy on it. Grandma decided to leave it undone and spend some special time with Zachary tying the blanket together.

The kit is marked where the fringe should be cut and unfortunately our Lefty had some problems working his mom's right handed fabric scissors. It was a project that took longer than this 10-year-old had an attention span for and so Grandma did a lot and Zachary did a little. Because Grandma is fast, they both finished around the same time and now Zachary has a great new blanket to sleep under. He has slept under it every night since and snuggles in it every time we watch the Peanuts movie. I love that Grandma has so much patience and that she lives next door. 

A few days after his party he announced to me "I am planning to work on my new blanket with Grandma today." I told him that he should probably go over to Grandma's and see if she had some time because sometimes she has things scheduled in her day. Thankfully, Zach picked a good time for Grandma and they got right to it. Grandma was patient with Zachary who wanted to get it done and use it. The process was a great lesson for Zach about waiting and taking our time and doing our best work...all those lessons she taught me all those years ago. 

Survival Files: Heavy Hearted Pondering

I am grieving a little bit today. You don't have to read if you don't want to but it is part of the process for me and so just getting it down and out of my head makes it real and more manageable. I stood in front of my bathroom mirror for a little extra time this morning. I think back on all it took to get the cancer out and me looking "normal enough". Six months ago if I would be writing this with no vision of what the future holds, I could tell you very easily all the things that bug me about my new reconstructed body.

But today? Today is the day before they have to go in and take it away, maybe my whole right side. The side that took three surgeries to get. Three surgeries, miles of  packing and a stint with the wound vac. I remember all of that and now...looking in the mirror, it was worth it...worth it enough to make me stand in front of my mirror and wish I could just keep this scar laden, tattooed right breast. Sigh.

It isn't about the cosmetic part of it anymore. Now, it is about once again being able to claim cancer-free status, no matter what I look like underneath my clothes. I will get used to my new normal and the new body but I can't help sitting here wondering "if they are going to stretch my skin to cover the part they will remove, does that mean my new tattooed nipple will end up in my cleavage?" It is these things that make me go hmmmm. I have to admit...thinking about it does make me giggle a little because if I don't, I will just end up a crying puddle on the floor.

I am left with my thoughts again on that. Until I wake up after surgery I won't know what will be left. Hopefully, many more healthy years with my awesome family and friends. Starting tomorrow afternoon when surgery is over, I will begin to heal, and slowly get used to what will be. For now my mind wanders and wonders about what they will do while I am sleeping and the aftermath of what I see the next time I get out of my shower and face the bathroom mirror.

David McCullough is keeping my mind
busy as I read his book 1776

Relaxing in the infusion room

Yesterday went well. I met with the doctor who will be putting my port in tomorrow and got my second iron infusion which went pretty well. I was a lot more tired afterward than I was last week. Then I realized how much the adrenaline from having to get home and getting us all out to camp really helped keep me from crashing. I didn't have that rush this week though. I felt like coming home and taking a nap.

The last stop yesterday was cardiology where they did an echo cardiogram. They want one of those before starting chemo and so they were on the ball and scheduled it before my surgery so that there wouldn't be the pressure on my chest after the surgery. I am glad someone knows to think of these things.

Specific prayer requests for today (and the next couple of days):

• Prayers for wisdom and guidance for the doctor's hands who will have a part of this surgery tomorrow. (There will be three doctors involved)
• Fun distraction for the kids
• Successful removal of all areas affected by the cancer
• Peace for me in the morning and for David throughout the day as he waits for updates
• No complications arise during, immediately after or overnight as I stay for observation
• Peace when I wake up and find out what they have to report when it is all done

Thank you family and friends near and far! It has been a great year and a half since my last surgery. I am a little rusty at "the night before surgery jitters" I am blessed beyond measure by all of the words of love and encouragement from you all! Thank you! Thank you!

"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:22

Celebrate Freedom

Today I will be meeting with another surgeon who will put in my port during Friday's surgery, visit the infusion room for another dose of iron, meet with the "wig lady", and finish my PCI visit at cardiology where they will be doing a echo cardiogram to be sure my heart is strong and working properly before starting chemo a few weeks after surgery.

I may or may not write about all of that tomorrow, so until then, here are some fun pictures of the sparkler celebration on our cloudy July 4th evening!

Kids Camp 2016

NCBC moved in at EIBC for a week of Kids Camp

It has taken a few days to get back into life here at home after camp. A great distraction has been that Auntie Chelle is here from Georgia. The last night of camp was Saturday and we arrived home about 9 p.m. and unloaded all of the suitcases into the garage. (no one wants smelly damp camp bags coming into the house!) By ten, the kids were back in the empty van to go with their dad to pick Michelle up from the airport.

Those who had a serving job at church went on Sunday morning but the rest of us were so exhausted! After my slow rise from bed, I continued with the laundry with the smelliest piles first.

Matt jumps into the very slimy
scripture challenge on Day 1

One of my favorite memories of camp would have to be this conversation I had with Zachary during his bunk's craft time when I was in assisting the "craft lady". Zach called me over to where he was sitting:

Zachary: :Mom, yesterday I saw you in the kitchen when I went through the lunch line, today you are in the craft room...LONG PAUSE (with perplexed look - I nod)...What do you DO here?"
Me: "Just a little bit of everything!"

My first year camper - Day 1

I enjoyed being the counselor coordinator. Each day I ate breakfast with the counselors and went around at bedtime to each girl's bunk and talked with them and prayed before bed. That meant in between times I could help out in any area where they needed an extra hand.

The first day one of our counselors had a conflict at work and they hadn't given her the day off. I stepped in and was counselor the first day with one of my great junior counselors from one of last year's bunks. Very fun!

Day 2 - Flippering...lots of flippering!

Here is Matthew with his balloon
sword running up to the stage
during their skit.

It was fun watching all of the bunks at their activities and it was also nice to have a little time to rest and read or nap. I got to see the triplets a lot more than when I have counselled too since they are all gophers and run around doing whatever needs to be done.

Lots more hugs and conversations that are so sweet since camp kinda brings out the best in them. I need to save those great attitudes and bottle them up for home throughout the next year. (They aren't always so willing to do what I would like them to do around here.)

Zach and his bunk buddies waiting
for their cue during their skit

Matthew's bunk checking
in to see if they found all
the items on the scavenger
hunt...they did!

"Let the redeemed of the Lord tell
their story, the ones who have been
redeemed from the hand of the enemy"
Psalm 107:2

 Zachary and Matthew's bunks both waited until the last day of camp to perform their camp skits. There is a points challenge throughout camp and there are many ways that each bunk can win points toward their final score. The bunk who wins with the most points gets to pick an activity that they want to do on the last afternoon of camp while the other bunks clean up the property before shirt signing and supper. The bunk skit is one of the many ways to earn points - a lot of points!

I have enjoyed getting to be at camp for the last couple of years while my middle schoolers gopher. It definitely was a more relaxing year this year with one session of counselor coordinating. Last year I jumped in and was counselor for both sessions. Although it was fun...it took about a week last year to recover! This year it was fun to do a little bit of everything. It made my heart happy when I went into the yellow bunk each night and there were some of my little pink girls from last year remembering all of the fun we had.

One of  my gophers taking
a much deserved break!

Serving together

There is definitely soul therapy being part of the team that makes it all possible. And, like the kids, I got to know some really great ladies and men a little better because we were serving together and had the opportunity to get to know each other better than we do just passing and chatting at church. I did sleep much better in the "Ladies Bunk" than I did in the Pink and Lime Green bunks last year. (Even though I didn't get there fast enough to claim a bottom bunk!)

It was great to get away for this wonderful distraction and I won't close today without saying although I didn't get any pictures of Ryan doing what he does at camp, I am very proud to have him running around and doing what needs to be done too. I am thankful to Pastor Mick and Julie Lear for keeping the gophers busy and in line. They have memories that will last a lifetime and it is the reason I am here! They have to have a parent serving at camp in order to be gophers and so that is what brought me to Kids Camp last year for the first time. They are already looking forward a couple of years to when they can be Junior Counselors.

Happy Birthday America!

I find that the recent events in my life have taken away from my anticipation of the Independence Day preparations. I wasn't able to read the story of the Declaration of Independence to the kids, or talk about what it means to live in our beautiful country very much leading up to this day. I hate that. There is not a day goes by that I am not thankful to live in this amazing country. And I believe that it is amazing because it once had an amazing God. I say that not because He is no longer amazing, but because so many no longer claim Him as theirs.

I was on a news channel last night and thought it was entertaining when the man with the microphone went up to random people on the beach to ask them some simple questions about America. Let's see if you could answer any of these correctly:

1. Who did we fight in WW2?
2. Which country attacked Pearl Harbor?
3. Who won the Cold War?
4. Who did we fight in the Vietnam War?
5. Name a Founding Father?
6. What did Benjamin Franklin do for our country? (I just had to say I am sure you all would be better at answering than one young lady who looked questioningly into the camera and said "Wasn't he our 100th president?")
7. Name a Founding Father (sadly, more than one answered "what's a Founding Father?")
8. Why do we celebrate the 4th of July (thankfully, there were a few among the crowd that mentioned something about our independence)
9. Who did we declare independence from?

Thankfully, most of my children know the answers to these questions and I do my best to raise them with some sense of understanding of the price of this freedom. As entertaining as it is to see people in their bathing suits answer the question "South Korea" to the question "Who did we fight in the Vietnam war?", it is also very sad to me.

I am not going to get very deep in this 4th of July post, if you want deep, you can check this out...Thoughts from 2015 but I am going to say, as I do most years that we have got to stop taking things for granted. And, the reason we are great (or have been great since some would beg to differ in our current state), is because God is in control of this nation. He was the first focus of our founding fathers (no, Abraham Lincoln was NOT a founding father). As He becomes less and less a part of our country's culture, we see more and more a people who see this day as just another day off of work where we can hang out at the beach and grill a few burgers. (Check out Google's banner for this Independence Day)

Happy Birthday America...may we have many many more!

An Adorable Soccer Player

Today is the last day of camp and we will be coming home and unpacking later tonight. In the meantime, who doesn't want to see an adorable soccer player enjoying his first year on a team! He really puts everything he has in all of his adventures! I am sure he will have a lot to tell me when we get home about his first adventure at Kid's Camp!