Update on David

I last wrote about David in June, shortly before his surgery. 

I won't go into a lengthy discussion about what a roller coaster ride this has been, but I do want to let you know that the surgery that he had in June, was a good news/bad news story. The Doctors removed 1/3 of his stomach, several centimeters of his esophagus and 18 lymph nodes (3 of which were malignant). There was another cluster of lymph nodes that had attached themselves to a major artery and could not be removed. The plan was to shrink them as much as possible and then keep a close watch on whether or not there was any spread of the cancer in the future. The recovery from the surgery was long and complicated. We prayed for good days but rejoiced over good hours. In September, David started on a second round of chemo. Twelve treatments over 6 months, every other week. Any additional rounds of chemo are a challenge as the body accumulates the drugs and it is, at times, a battle. As of this writing, David has 4 more treatments; two this month and two next month. He had an intestinal blockage at the end of September which landed him in the hospital and set his treatment back a bit.

When I reread the previous paragraphs, it all sounds pretty gloomy, but,

THERE IS HOPE...THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE!

Around Halloween, David kind of turned a corner. He started to have more good days than bad. When he was feeling OK, we were able to go out for a meal or do some short errands. We have been able to attend church pretty regularly, which is huge! Being able to do some "normal" things gives him some renewed energy. Not every day is great but we are seeing some light at the end of this long, long tunnel. A preliminary scan showed that the lymph node cluster is indeed shrinking and there was no new cancer detected. 

So, onward we march! We are supported by the love and prayers of our family, our friends and legions of church prayer groups. We have leaned on that and on our loving God. We could never be doing this alone!

So, thank you if you've remembered us in prayer or had a positive thought directed our way. We appreciate every one!

We are both on Facebook (Joyce Muhly Gleason, David Gleason) and

I also started a journal on thecaringbridge.org under his name.

I said in my New Year's post that I wanted to be more consistent on this blog and I mean that. I did so little creatively in all of 2015 and I need to get back to that! It's therapeutic for me.

When I write next time, I will tell you about my 

One Little Word for 2016!

Have a gentle week dear friends!

joyce

xoxo

One Little Word for 2014

(I found these notecards at Michaels today...I thought the message was appropriate! 

Thanks Mary Engelbreit...you always know the right thing to say!)

Read on...

I can't believe that it's January 8th and I haven't told you my 

One Little Word for 2014!

(I know you have been waiting breathlessly for me to reveal the word!! Ha!)

Choosing a word is always an interesting process. This is my 6th year participating in this exercise. It all started with a post on the blog of Ali Edwards. She chooses a word every year to focus on and let it inspire her into learning more about herself and take some chances. You can read her post for this year right here, which has links to previous years. This doesn't have to be a difficult process, just one that makes you more conscious of who you are and where you are going.

My former Little Words have been

2009-FOCUS

2010-MANAGE

2011-SIMPLIFY

2012-CELEBRATE

2013-LEARN

Now I'm not going to rehash the successes and failures with these words and there have been some of both every year. I will only say that while I LEARNed lots of things this past year, I didn't LEARN some specifics that I really wanted to. I wanted to LEARN how to use David's fancy Olympus camera...I'm still plodding a long with my little one. I wanted to finally install and LEARN Photoshop Elements 10 which I have now had for 3 years!! I'm still limping along with my Barney Rubble publishing program. I wanted to LEARN to use my super duper Ninja Blender/Food Processor without amputating a limb...I gave my Cuisinart to my daughter when I bought the Ninja so I'm back to hand chopping. I wanted to LEARN to make bread...from scratch. Nope, haven't done that either. I'm only writing about this publicly on my blog to shame encourage me to LEARN these things even though 2013 has ended. I almost kept LEARN as my word for this year but I must move on.

I thought for a long time about my One Little Word for this year.

I couldn't seem to make up my mind, and then, in writing a message to my good friend Marie,

it suddenly appeared!

DECIDE !

There it is! 

There are a number of rather big decisions David and I have to make this year....

do we stay where we are or do we move. We've been talking about if for a long time. It is not an easy decision to make by any means. Either way we decide, there will be other decisions that go along with the BIG decision. I need to be strong and decisive this year. I have to let go of a lot of "stuff" that I've been hanging on to even though it's in my way. (I'm not being vague here...I'm talking about tangible "stuff") I need to clean out and tidy up. But first I (we) need to decide. 

I'll let you know how things are going...

I'll fill you in as I attempt to LEARN the things this year that I didn't last year.

Feel free to nudge me if I'm not reporting in.

I will leave you with a photo of the little scraggly amaryllis I wrote about in my last post

In less than a week....this little plant went from being almost dead to this!

There are even 2 more flowers coming along...

Thank you for stopping by. I love when you visit and I am thrilled when you leave a comment!

xoxo

Joyce

One Little (but it's really BIG) Word and The Planners

OK-it's time to develop a new routine.

I want to get a bunch of things completed around the house (like cleaning-hahaha) but I also want to be diligent about my blog. Let's start with my

One Little Word for 2013

I went back and looked at previous posts about the words I've chosen over the years...

Focus

Simplify

 (that was a real failure)

Manage

Celebrate

(this one was easy..so much to celebrate and be grateful for this past year)

My word for 2013 came to me very easily

LEARN

Now that I'm fully retired, I want to work on keeping my mind sharp and my health in check.

There is a lot I can and should LEARN to accomplish these goals.

Plus, there are tons of fun things I want to learn, too.

First of all, for the first time, I am actually doing Ali Edward's on-line class entitled

One Little Word.

(read her blog post about this activity here, and know that you don't have to take the class to participate in this challenge...it's just an interesting goal)

The class goes on for the whole year and at the beginning of each month, you're given prompts to get you thinking about how your word is impacting your life and you keep a journal/photo book.

The class is available through Big Picture Classes

I will write more about my "bucket" learning list as time goes on.

Now, I can never start a new year without some kind of planner. Last year I used this one...

which featured my word for 2012...Celebrate

I found some really nice planners at Target this year and actually decorated 2 of them for friends for Christmas. Both of these friends are experiencing some difficult challenges in their lives right now and I wanted to give them a place to write important appointments and also a place to journal. The planners  have a very sturdy outer acrylic cover and then the cover of the journal is patterned but there is no writing on it. They were a dream to alter.

Mary Ellen's planner...

(the paper label just rips off)

and Jacqueline's...

and my planner...

A work in progress!

This is what the planners look like inside...

Plenty of places to write

OK-off to do some cleaning and organizing and  Planner cover planning...:D

Have a warm and toasty day!

xoxo

Joyce

Happy New Year

I love this postcard that Julie at Old Design Shop shared.

It shows the end of the old year in the tired face of the old man and the

excitement and anticipation for the New Year in the face of the Baby.

That's how I feel as 2013 starts.

I am starting in a new phase of life, different from any other I have

ever experienced.

There are many things I am looking forward to and many adventures to have.

In the next few days I will share my "One Little Word" for 2013. It was an easy choice this time.

For now, I want to thank all of you who stop in to read my posts. It's great when you leave a comment but even when you don't, the stats tell me that you're out there somewhere and I appreciate your interest.

I wish a Blessed, Happy and Healthy New Year to all!

Cheers!

Joyce



One Little Word 2012, a New Planner and a Sneak Peek

I have been giving serious thought to my One Little Word for 2012.

One Little Word was initiated by Ali Edwards several years ago, as a way of choosing a word to inspire you for the year. You can read her post about it for this year right here, and also check out one of Ali's posts from January, 2011 with some suggested words here, as possibilities.

In 2009, the first time I participated in Ali Edwards' challenge, I chose the word focus. For that year, I tried to focus my attention on what was in front of me instead of being so scattered. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.

2010 's word was Manage and I wrote about it here.

I wanted to manage my time, my health and my priorities better.

In 2011, my word was Simplify, I wrote about it here.

As it ended up, 2011 was anything but simple.

This year the word I've chosen as my One Little Word is

Celebrate!

2012 will be a year of changes for both David and me.
We've come through some struggles in 2011 and now it's time to be joyful!

I will write more as the year goes on but we will have lots to

Celebrate!

How about you? Can you chose one word to inspire you for an entire year?

I have never been a good journaler but this year I read about a great planner that I think will help me.
Vicki Chrisman, a wonderful source of inspiration, had a giveaway of this marvelous planner and the new Crafty Secrets Creating with Vintage Images CD. I had already purchased the CD so I went right to the source to order the planner, which can be found here. (Sadly, it is no longer available for 50% off)

There is a lot of room to write while also giving you the whole month at a glance.

At the beginning of each month there are pages to scrapbook or just slip in your favorite pictures.

Here is Vic's cover....

(courtesy of Vicki Chrisman)
 Here is my cover....this qualifies as my Pinned It and Did It for this month.

I save my pocket sized planners every year because they are the closest things I have to journals.
If you want to know where David and I had dinner on our first Anniversary in 1991...I can look it up!


I'm also showing a sneak peek of something that I made for a special little guy's birthday party.

These birds are winging their way to you Jo and should arrive Tuesday or Wednesday.
Let me know what you think :D

xoxo

Joyce

I have my "One Little Word".....

Have you chosen a "word" for 2011?
My word for 2009 was FOCUS...
In 2010 it was MANAGE....
Sitting in church yesterday I thought, "I have to chose a word that will inspire me and not set me up for failure." It came to me...."SIMPLIFY".
I need to SIMPLIFY things in various areas of my life...
Reorganize, eliminate and use-up come to mind....

If I SIMPLIFY things, I will have more time to create.....

Thanks to all of the Peppermint Girls and their amazing tags!!!

And concentrate more on being healthier so I don't feel like this...

Courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

and I want WAY more time to spend with these people...

Charlie and Miles (and their parents) came for a visit right after Christmas. Charlie & I made pancakes one morning...we had lots of fun together! 
Wish me luck with this commitment and I wish you the same with your One Little Word if you choose to participate. For more information, you can go to Ali Edward's blog here or here.

I'll be back soon....
XOXO
Joyce





Goodbye 2010....Hello 2011

Dear Friends,
I have been gone from this little blog for weeks and weeks.
Life needed tending and I haven't yet been able to make my way back to posting. I am fine...I was just busy with so many things at once.

Today, I have been....
thinking about the Valentine swaps and a year long swap I have signed up participate in.
thinking long and hard about my One Little Word for 2011.
thinking about and praying for so many friends who are struggling right now. Health issues, personal conflicts and even death of a loved one has troubled some dear, dear friends recently.

I miss you all and have appreciated your notes and cards, emails and gifts (which I will write about soon).
I will not miss 2010. This past year has had more challenges than I would have liked. Thank God for his grace. He has brought me through some difficult situations and renewed my strength.

This was my planner for 2010...pretty funny, huh?

And my new planner for 2011

I promise to be back sooner than 6 weeks...I just didn't want 1-01-11 to slip by without wishing you....

Happy New Year!

Thank you for all of the love and support you have given me this past year.

I have appreciated it more than you will ever know.

xoxo

Joyce