These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

These past couple weeks have been filled with some of my favorite things in life. I’m capital G Grateful for every moment I’m alive to experience and treasure every day!

Before my daughter and son-in-law prepared to head out in their first trip away from the baby, I got to spend a few days with them and my granddaughter. 

Sadly my sweet lemon wasn’t feeling so great for a couple days but this Granita was thankful to hold and comfort her. 

I was also so blessed spending an evening with my son who came home from Mexico for a short time!

And it’s morel mushroom hunting season right now in Ohio so I spent hours looking for them where I typically find dozens and only came up with a few! Very disappointing so far.  Hopefully next week I’ll find more but this is a short season so it could be one of those years I’m going to have to be thankful for only 2 stuffers! However, for the first time in my life I came across a deer antler shed and it was a solid 10 point buck!!

I had my first solo ride at John Bryan State Park mountain bike trails and had one of the best rides ever!! I rode every trail and had an inspiration on one of them that sparked an idea I hope to take to completion in the near future. If it happens, I’ll post here, but suffice it to say that I have a vision of something very special that will I hope will encourage all my fellow stage 4 cancer survivors to be grateful!

This weekend is the annual Stair Manufacturer’s Association conference and I got to join my hubby in Pittsburg for the gathering of old friends and fun excursions. We went to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Waters House near Ohiopyle, PA. 

Diane V. and I thoroughly enjoyed a girl’s day out on Friday starting with the most delicious latte at a lovely coffee shop in Pittsburg with Michael, the barista at De Fer Café serving us up the finest lattes!

We then spent hours wandering the glass building of the Phipps Conservatory. We smelled the fragrance of hyacinth, catnip and oregano and tried naming as many plants as possible. I’m always in awe of the variety of colors, shapes, smells, sizes and designs of so many plants! There is order and beauty at every turn and I can’t help but be in awe of God’s creativity in it all!

 

Girl’s Weekend plus D

It’s 1 am and I’m lying in bed with twitching muscles firing off in all the wrong ways and disrupting my sleep yet again. This is the third episode of severe Charlie horses in my feet, calves, shins and ribs! There’s nothing quite like this and I just adjust and readjust my body’s position in hopes of preventing an attack where I am sitting on the bedroom floor sobbing because the spasms are going off in several muscles at the same time and nothing helps! When I used to get a Charlie horse, I could flex that muscle and it would help it but these latest episodes have so many muscles going crazy at the same time that flexing one muscle triggers yet another spasm in another so I just shake, rub, sit and cry until they stop. It is likely happening because of the common side effects of the medications I have infused into my body every three weeks to treat the breast cancer. I never know when it is going to happen and there’s nothing I can pinpoint that I’m eating or drinking that causes it but every time this extreme Charlie horsing happens it’s because I had diarrhea from the meds and lose way, WAY too much fluids that disrupts my electrolytes regardless of my replenishing with foods and drinks containing abundant minerals and electrolytes. Even pickle juice!

Last Thursday was quite the night!! I had the sheer joy of getting back on my mountain bike for the first time this season out in the woods and literally was giddy with happiness! I made it to the Frankenlight trail where the setting sun sang to me through the open forest as it always does but this night was even fresher and newer and sweeter of yet another promise of life being lived to the fullest!

We rode for about an hour causing me to sweat, then my tummy started its rumbling thing and off to the bathroom I went losing yet more fluids. And as I laid down to go to sleep that night I knew my body was off because I could literally feel my shin and foot muscles twitching weird. Sure enough, 20 minutes after laying down I bolted out of bed writhing from the spastic muscles. After drinking more fluids, and eating salty and mineral rich foods, I went back in bed hoping to fall asleep because I had to get up in 3 hours to catch a plane for Colorado for my 12th Annual Girl’s Weekend with Brooklyn and Liz!! My prayer… “God please let me fall asleep now with no more spasms!!!!!!” Thankfully, I fell asleep but only had those 3 hours of sleep. 

Then came beautiful Colorado where Girl’s Weekend became Birl’s Weekend because Brooklyn’s hubby, Daniel,  (boy+ girl=birl) joined us this year as we stayed at their home. The weekend started with snow and ended with sunshine. Started with tears and ended with hugs. Started with walking the dog in the neighborhood and ended with hiking 2 hours at Batesso Preserve! Started with great food & conversation AND ended with great food and conversation!!

Friday night we had reservations at Black Belly Restaurant near Boulder!! Ok, true story…I cried over the warm focaccia bread! Yes, it was THAT amazing! Life changing! Mind blowing! Stop the bus! Focaccia!

Then to really splurge, I had a mini scoop of pistachio ice cream and strawberry pavlova with lemon curd dabbled on top. I didn’t cry over it but it made me just close my eyes and slowly relish the decadence of it as I unashamedly ate dessert!

Once I returned back home it’s been post, post, post and sell, sell, sell! 

Then today, Tuesday, I’m up at The James once again for my 3 week infusion of Herceptin and Perjeta. I’m ever so thankful as I feel as well as I do. I see the sad eyes of so many others here as they struggle. Today I take my medicine and give thanks to God for my life!! 

Yes, I hear the institutional beep, beep, beep of the IV machine alerting my nurse of the drugs emptying into my veins and yes, I see the syringes on the tray to flush my port and yes, I feel the warmed blanket on my lap that they offer for comforting the cancer patients. And yes, I thank God, my Lord and Savior for breath in my lungs, strong legs to walk on, and a joy-filled spirit where I’m happy about my life!  This short little life is too short to be bitter, sad, demanding, selfish, dissatisfied, or complaining! 

I don’t let this define me.

Easter 2023

Thanks everyone (well almost everyone save 😉 KP) for not minding that my posts are now planned for ‘whenever’ it seems best vs every Tuesday. KP, you’ll just have to call me more often which I’d gladly welcome!! 🥰

On Monday 4/3/23 I was doing a book study with my favorite French friend and the words seemed to jump off the page from the book we are reading, Revealing Revelation, by Amir Tsarfati when it said, “Lord, open a door of opportunity for me to love others and share the truth of Your gospel.” Can you imagine what would happen throughout the world if those within the church would look for “open doors” to make Him known to those who live without hope? The majority of this earth’s population have no awareness that Jesus will return one day. We know the truth, and we are called to be His heralds to a lost world.”

That really pricked at my spirit like when an unseen thorn surprises a finger tip and the thought that this blog is my ‘open door’ and has the potential to reach so many to share this one insignificant person’s experience with my relationship with the God of the universe!!….well, I’ll just say that I’m rethinking my previous post. And as I’ve been informed by lots of folks that they are inspired by it, I realize it was me who was tiring of writing down just my normal day to day things and assumed it wasn’t all that interesting to my readers.  I wanted to spare you from dull blog entries. However, God spoke to me with that passage above and reminded me how my words aren’t boring to everyone, but rather can be life-giving to a seeking, yearning, listening, open hearted soul. If one is available to receive from God something that He wants one of His beloved children to hear and that He might be using me, my story and my normal to accomplish that, then I’m willing to be sharpened in that way by my eternal, all-knowing Father.

So perhaps I will share more after all. 

On that Monday I got to go for a solo hike, which isn’t my preference because of my comfort in social interaction with others and for safety reasons. I went to one of my favorite familiar trails and found myself spending time praying for everyone who came to my mind and worshiping God out loud for the sweet gift of life I have, and for the beauty of the sunshine streaming in my eyes, the vibrant blue sky, the allure of walking next to a babbling brook and the joy of literally hugging trees that seem to be hundreds of years old. 

I paused at my bench a while and then sat at a second hidden bench that my Angel Carl built and I listened to this!!

Then Monday evening I witnessed something that not everyone might appreciate but I’d like to honor my husband, John Wonderly, as he approaches retirement to spend unlimited time with me as we celebrate life and our love. Today he cut the final handrail for his last job! This beast of a handrail was no easy task to move but John, Tim and Matt made it look effortless. Here John is making his very last cut as a master woodworker professionally. The rest of his cutting will be for the completion of our WonderVan, but I was thankful to have gotten this recorded. 

As Easter is approaching I have a desire to share about how this holiday is meaningful to me yet I know so many people have knowledge of its spiritual meaning as a time of acknowledging the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, as well as its secular frivolity with the Easter bunny and Easter egg hunts, baskets, and candies. wanted share something in my blog that is over 25 years old. It’s an Easter story that I wrote when my kids were littles and I was conflicted in the duality and often over celebration of the secular Easter viewpoint. Here is a photo when they were at Wendy’s Farm holding sweet baby goats as kiddos. That was a time chock full of happy memories! Sadly I can’t find the book right now but I’ll keep an eye out for it. 

These past few days I’ve been enjoying ‘mi familia’ in Illinois and have had the pleasure of meeting in person, my son’s special friend, Susan. We also all met our favorite Chicago cousins upon Jonathan and Susan’s arrival at O’Hare to start her rapid fire introduction to this group of crazy and fun-loving people I call family. 

Sister, Lys, and I took Susan on a two hour hike!

Gathering on Saturday with the Wisconsin crew!

The favorite Chicago cousins!

My granddaughter getting a little help with the Easter egg hunt in Florida! Easter would have been better if we had been together but at least I got some cute photos!

Since my grandmothers name is Granita, I was excited to see the antiquated corner store in Rockford called Zammutos was actually open! It’s where my Dad grew up in south Rockford in the Italian neighborhood and this famous place served them then and me now a refreshing authentic Italian Granita!! 

I have also had the gift this past weekend of all 3 of my sisters being together and on Sunday we all forgot about the scale and gluttinously indulged in eating our family’s famous and my favorite Easter foods: tagno, cannolis and cream puffs!!

Sunday I was thankful to attend church at my sister’s, Redeemer. Then Sunday night we attended a movie at the theaters called His Only Son (very slow, but told a biblical account of Abraham and Isaac, for which I’m grateful.)

Before I close my eyes tonight and post this, I will share my Easter prayer:   I’m so thankful Jesus that You have revealed Yourself to me as the One and Only way to God the Father. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭6‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

There is NO other, no none, that I believe in but Him and His sacrifice for me to make the way to the Father. There is no Universe I pray to, no reincarnation I believe in, no being good enough to get me into heaven that I’m hoping for! There’s no other way and Jesus is the only name I trust to have made a way, THE way and I believe it’s true! I’ve seen the miracles! I have tasted and seen them and need no other explanation. Thank You, Father for sending your Son Jesus to offer me the gift of salvation I have in Him. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Thank you for the freedom I have in Him. Thank you for the confidence and hope I can claim because of the Promised Messiah coming and fulfilling every single prophesy foretold. Thank You, Jesus for choosing to be my sacrificial Lamb, my Passover Lamb, and taking on my sin as Your own and paying the sin debt I owed.  “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭6‬:‭23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Amen and hallelujah! Yes, I believe with all my heart and confess with my mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord.  And Father it’s my deepest hope and desire that my loved ones will know Your Son this same way at some point before they die. Don’t let one of them perish before understanding this truth in full. Amen and Hallelujah 

TTFN

It’s time! Time to scale back again.  Somewhat because I don’t think there is that much interesting to have to write about in my day to day life that’s different than what I have written about every week, so I decided that my blog entries are going to become less and less frequent… Perhaps monthly or so unless things with my health change there might be a cameo blog entry here and there. 

To my faithful readers, who seem to look forward to reading my blog weekly, I hope you will understand. Call me if you’re curious or missing me. 🫠

I am so thankful to report that I’m feeling awesome in mind, spirit, energy and physically! Breathing is perfect! I feel normal with only minor skin things like I’ve mentioned in the past.  My weeks are filled with my normal activities: Bible reading, a good book, a soak in the tub at night, posting lots of things on Facebook marketplace and hopefully selling them, helping out with tasks for getting the WonderVan ready, hiking with LillyMae and my favorite activity of visiting friends and family!

So thanks for reading and praying and caring for this past YEAR!! I tell people when they ask me how I’m doing that I feel like I’m the recipient of a miracle! And I know I am!! It’s coming up on one year since my re-diagnosis!! But I’m kinda getting bored of blogging so I’m going to not stress about Tuesday’s blogs and just say they’re WHENEVER blog posts. So before I sign off until next time, here’s a photo dump of my last several days. Just my normal, regular, blessed days, like yours! 

Lunch with a friend. 

The hiking trail after a rain!

Selling all my things in the house!

Selecting the prettiest pieces of spalted maple for the WonderVan. 

Selling John’s business equipment!

John working meticulously on designing every millimeter of the WonderVan. 

Thankfully I decided not to sell this favorite piece of artwork but sent it to my sister in law to be its keeper, especially since she’s the photographer of these pelicans landing at Land Between the Lakes, KY where we camped together a couple years ago. 

AND…Reading from my favorite little devotional, Jesus Calling. 

Adieu 💋