Sue's Scraps and Snippets

Life is back to some semblance of normal and is chugging along. We got our youngest daughter moved into a new apartment in another town. She has a 7-month internship in Landscape Architecture. After she finishes that, she will have completed her MLA degree. She will continue looking for a "permanent" job. Such exciting times for her (and so nice fr us to have all 4 of our kids finished with college).
This little card is one that I am doing for a swap. I don't think that you can see it, but the butterfly image is sprayed with Tsukineko sparkle stuff. I stamped the background swirls with Memento London Fog, over a mask on the butterfly (stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black). I colored the image with Copics. The frame is Bazzill CS cut with a Nestie, with faux stitches inked around the edge. I actually made these in about 6 different colors. I will try to add a pic of those later. This pic was taken with my phone, and isn't great.
Well, my friends, wherever you are on life's journey, I hope that you are doing well. Take some time for yourself, and then take some time to give a hug (you will find that is for yourself, too, in the end).

Hi to all of my beautiful friends. I am so glad that you stopped by today. I have a fun little card to share with you. I love cards that are special folds (flip cards, trifolds, etc.). But, you probably already knew that! This little flip card is almost all stamping, with just a small piece of DP and some ribbon. I used all 6 stamps in The Angel Company's (TAC) "Want to Fly" set. I thought it might be fun to use an entire set in a single card. I also used a swirl from TAC's "Wonderful News", and a script background from TAC's "Vintage". Feel free to e-mail me if you want more information about TAC's wonderful stamps.
For colors, I used Memento Grape, Lilac, and Pear Tart on Birch CS. These are approximately the colors of Samantha's SPCC Color Combo #110. If you haven't visited Sami's blogs, you don't know what you are missing!
If you have read some of my previous posts, you might understand why "Want to Fly" is so special to me. It is a constant reminder of the incredible courage that my daughter has demonstrated every single day as she travels her life journey to become a butterfly - a confident beautiful woman - in spite of incredible obstacles.
My wish for you, my friends, is that you find the courage that you need to overcome the obstacles that you face in your life. I know that my faith in God's unbounded love for me, as shown to me through the love of family and friends, sustains me through the tough times and makes the good times even better. I have been so very blessed with restored good health, and am now back at work to teach the last week of summer school, before three weeks of break. Take care, my friends, and find joy in the little things of life.

I know that I have done one of these before, but I have been playing with the technique and really like this one better. I used plastic wrap scrunched up to put on the ink, mixing each one in with the next for some nice blending. The stamp set is The Angel Company's "Anchor to the Soul", which is one of my favorites. This particular verse has brought me great comfort and peace through some tough times over the past few years. I made this card for a swap with my fellow Angels. I used a mask with the stamp, then colored the image with my Copics. I framed it with blue CS cut with a Nesties frame. and added a few brads. I am entering this in Samantha's Being Blue Blog Hop. If you haven't visited Samantha's blog at Scrapmaster's Paradise, you are really missing out on a lot of fun and an amazing young lady filled with energy, creativity, and fun!
I am healing nicely, although I will be seeing my primary care physician tomorrow for what appears to be a little infection at a couple of my incisions. Other than that, I am feeling good. I have one more week off of work before I go back. When I get back I only have one week of class then three weeks off before the fall semester.
Last week, my sister came for a visit for a few days. She lives in Wisconsin, and drove down just to see me. I was so happy to have time with her. We managed a little time for fun, even went to the Oz Winery in nearby Wamego. What an amazing little place! They make their wines right on the premises, and they are wonderful. The wines have such cute names as "Squished Witch", "O-E-O", and "Drunken Munchkin", just to name a few. You can check out their website here.

Yesterday was a really tough day for me. And it had nothing to do with my (now no longer an issue) cancer. Yesterday was a day that most people would see as a joyous celebration. It was my granddaughter's first birthday. Precious Addison is the daughter of my only son and his wife. They live just a mile from us, but I haven't seen Addison since October 1, 2010. That was the day that I sat in my son's living room as he and his wife (she did most of the talking - he was choked up) informed me that we would no longer have any contact or be a part of their lives. The reason? Because they believed that I was an unrepentant sinner. They had been praying for me for over a year and I refused to change my ways. And what was this horrible sin that was responsible for the rift? I was (and still am) the president of our local Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).
For those of you who don't know, PFLAG is an amazing national organization devoted to education, support, and advocacy for families, allies, and members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. At this point, I am not going to get into the morality of being in the LGBT community. Suffice it to say that I am a Christian who is active in an open and affirming church. I believe in the equality and dignity of ALL human beings.
I got involved in PFLAG in October of 2009 after my oldest child, then 26 years old came out to me as transgender. The child that we had raised as a son told me that he was really a female trapped in the body of a male. This precious child who had been deteriorating into depression, anguish, and self-loathing for about 20 years suddenly gave me a reason for what I could never understand. It all became so clear to me. The past two years have been amazing, as I have watched the child that I thought was my son (Brian) become my beautiful, confident daughter Bree (confidence is not a term that I would ever have used in the same sentence with Brian).
But transition is long, difficult, expensive, and agonizing. The hormones, hair removal (when she can afford it and find someone who can/will do it), and eventual surgery are an ongoing endeavor. When I was diagnosed with cancer, I told Bree that she was my hero. That what she faced, and had already accomplished with courage and dignity, were far more daunting than anything I might have to endure. In addition to all of the physical and medical challenges, Bree also has to face the scorn, shunning, and possibly worse from those who would judge her as immoral or worse. And, sadly, most of those people claim to be Christian. Their hatred is proclaimed to be love and they say that they are just doing what the Bible tells them to do. And leading the pack are two of Bree's siblings. Her brother and sister will no longer acknowledge her existence, and we are not allowed to speak her name in their presence or in front of their children. And then her brother carried it one step further by cutting all contact with us. Our other daughter does not approve of what Bree is doing, nor does she embrace Bree, but she is civil to her (although she won't say "she" or "Bree").
My husband is completely supportive, but with his own array of chronic health problems, is mostly on the outside of the drama. I, on the other hand, have become very involved in the fight for human rights, equal rights. In addition to being Flint Hills PFLAG president, I am also on the Board of Directors of Kansas Statewide Transgender Education Project (K-STEP). I have spoken at numerous rallies and City Commission meetings as we fought for equal rights. I am a mama tiger, and I will fight for the life of my child (and, yes, my child is an adult; and , yes, I am fighting for her life).
Well, that was a lot of background. If you are still with me at this point, I will get back to the birthday. Yesterday, Addison's birthday hit me hard. The last time I held her in my arms and kissed her cheek was eleven and a half months ago. The last time I saw her was ten months ago. And now she is one. I bought her a little gift and made her a card and I called and left a message for my son to ask permission to drop the gift off. He actually called back - he usually doesn't. He waited until after Addison was in bed in case I asked to see her. I didn't. He met me at the door and I handed him the gift and the card and casually asked how the day was. He said that they went to the park. I know that they probably had a party with his in-laws, who also live in town. I thanked him for accepting the gift. That was it. He didn't thank me or ask how I was doing (we had left phone messages after my surgery and path reports, so he knew I was okay; and he did actually call my husband on Father's Day, so we had spoken briefly). I came home and sobbed and my husband and two of my daughters were there for me.
And now you know why getting cancer just wasn't that big of a deal for me. Just another bump in the road. And why I am so very thankful for the multitude of true friends that hold me close when I am down. And I count my stamping friends (even those of you whom I only know through your blogs) among that beautiful group. And my church friends. And my PFLAG friends. And my wonderful siblings, dad, and step-mom, and my husband's father and siblings. And the list goes on. And if you made it all the way through this post, thank you and God bless you.I promise you some more fun and creative posts in the near future.

Hi All,
Thank you for stopping in. I hope to have some cards to show you in the next day or two. I haven't had much creative energy lately. I am now one week post-op, and I guess that I felt too good. So I overdid things a bit. And I paid the price. I am virtually without pain at all, so I forget that I still have a lot of healing to do on the inside. Well, I went out and did a little grocery shopping with my daughter, and didn't pay attention to restrictions on lifting. Then I cooked dinner. I still don't have pain, but something very weird happened, and it wasn't on any of the lists of things to watch for. Fluid started running out of the tiny incision in my belly button. So, yeah, that is weird. And it scared the heck out of me (and any desire to do too much). Off to the ER, which is a busy place on the 4th of July in a city where you are allowed to buy and shoot off almost any kind of fireworks). The ER doc was very nice (and the nurse and student nurse were real eye candy - so glad to see more men getting into nursing). The ER doc consulted my local gyn and I guess the belly button fountain isn't that unusual after a surgery like mine. I guess that it is the clear part of blood (or something like that), and it is present when there has been some sort of injury (or surgery) internally. It should be reabsorbed, but wasn't, so it leaked through the nearest opening - the incision in my belly button. There didn't appear to be infection so they cleaned it up, put on a huge bandaid, and sent me home. I will call my doc in the morning (my local doc, because my surgeon is 100 miles away). Sorry if this is weirding you out, but I wish that I had known before that this could happen. So now I am insisting that my family treat me like a princess. They take their cues from me, and if I am doing things for myself they let me.

I am doing a happy dance and am overwhelmed with joy. I feel so richly blessed by God's goodness. I just spoke with the nurse from my gyn-onc's office and got the official word - the cancer was completely contained in the uterus and they got it all. It WAS stage 1 and is now a part of my past. I am so happy and so grateful. I know that my life will never be the same as it was before, and for this I am so very thankful. I don't want to take life for granted.
Of course, I still have to heal from my surgery, but even that is going very well. And my husband is really stepping up and working around the house. My family is pampering me, and for the first time in my life, I am letting them! And I am getting plenty of rest. Well, that is about all for this wonderful update. I am going to take a nap and then do some stamping (always good for the spirit). Thank you for checking in on me and for sharing my joy. I will keep all of you in my prayers as you negotiate the twists and turns of life.

I am now resting at home. My surgery was yesterday, and I cannot say enough positive things about the daVinci robot for surgery. I really feel good, and will have to force myself to not overdo it. Unfortunately, some of my family has a tendency to allow me to overdo it (i need to stop making things look easy). I am sitting here just 30 hours after surgery, looking at two baskets of laundry and thinking that I should fold it.
So, about the surgery. The news, so far, is really good. My surgeon said that, to the naked eye, they got all of the cancer, because it appeared to be confined to the uterus. I will not really breathe a sigh of relief until the pathology report comes back in about 3 days (ovaries and lymph node samples). I am very optimistic, and am sure that it will be good news. But I am also prepared if the battle isn't over yet. Either way, I feel so incredibly blessed and thankful. I know so many people who aren't lucky enough to get cancer-light! And there are so many other struggles that people face. I am humbled by the blessings that I have received, especially the beautiful family and friends that I have.
Until later, I wish all of you the best that life has to offer, and I thank you for stopping by and for your prayers.

Hello Friends! Last Saturday, I spent the entire day stampin' with my Angel Company friends. We sure had a lot of fun. We always laugh a lot and share our joys and sorrows. It was wonderful therapy, and helped to relieve my mind about my worries. When we share our struggles, everybody helps to carry the load a little.
Surprisingly, I also got some card-making done! I have so many wonderful friends and family helping to carry my burdens that I made some thank you notes to have on hand. These little toads are from one of my favorite TAC sets (now discontinued - Boo Hoo). The DP is from Hip Hop. I've shown you the inside, too. I also made a couple of birthday cards for my granddaughters. Adelyn will turn two in couple of weeks, and her cousin Addison will be one, just three days later. The ladybugs are from a discontinued set, and the chickie is from a set called Cupcake Cuties. I colored the image with my Copics. I hope that the girls like their cards. The last card is for my bff Caren. She continues to amaze me with her strength, courage, and love of laughter and mischief. She is a breast cancer survivor, and has been through a lot. And she believes that each day is a gift to be enjoyed and reveled in.
I have spent the last couple of days wrapping up my classes and preparing lessons, quizzes, and tests for my substitute. I plan to take four weeks off to recover from surgery. I have also been keeping myself busy cleaning and decluttering and getting caught up on laundry. Keeping busy keeps me from getting too nervous and anxious about the days ahead. Also, I want to come home to a clean house, and the only two choices I had for that were either to clean my house, or go to someone else's. I am still keeping that as an option (LOL).
Just a couple of days left to wait, and I will be in Wichita. Surgery is first thing Monday morning, and it will be a long morning - but not for me, because I will get to sleep through it all!
I will update when I can. I thank you for the love and prayers. You just don't realize how very you mean to me.

Hello Dear Friends. Thank you all for the thoughts, prayers, and love. I draw strength from all of you and feel so very much at peace with my world. I am continually reminded how very blessed I am. I spent last Saturday laughing, visiting, and stamping with my Angel friends. I will try to post some pics of some of the cards I made.
Today my husband and I drove to Wichita to see an oncologist. It was an incredibly beautiful day, and some of my dear friends (thanks Diane and Caren) texted me love and encouragement and laughs as we drove. It made the trip much easier (2 and 1/2 hours can be very long if you are a little nervous about what awaits). My sweet friend, Caren, texted me a wonderful quote that she turned to in her battle against breast cancer several years ago. Caren is one of the strongest and most positive people I know. Here is the quote:
"Promise me you'll always remember...
You're braver than you believe,
and stronger than you seem,
and smarter than you think." - Christopher Robin to Pooh
Now for more about our visit. Everyone in the doctors' office was wonderful, and we really liked the gyn-onc. She was straight forward and listened and treated us as if I was her only patient. She thinks that we caught this little monster early (if this isn't enough reason far everyone to see their doctor for regular check-ups, I don't know what is - I had no symptoms). She also said that I am an excellent candidate for robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery using the DaVinci robot! I am so excited about this! It is state of the art and far less invasive than abdominal-incision surgery, which is the general protocol for endometrial cancer.
I will have surgery first thing Monday (6/27) morning. If all goes well, I will be released Monday evening or Tuesday morning (hospital stay for abdominal hysterectomy is typically 4-6 days). So my spa stay is shorter than I had planned! After my appointment at the gyn-onc I was able to get all of the preop lab and tests done at the hospital. I had a great nurse (with a delightful sense of humor) guide me through the process, and fill me in on all of the benefits of my "complete spa package" (like these cool compression boots during and after surgery to prevent blood clots). During the surgery, they will sample the lymph nodes and find out the stage of the cancer. Whatever it is, I know that I can handle it, with the help of God through my family and friends. And I don't intend to take things too seriously, either.
Once I get home, I am sure that my hubby and the (adult) kids still at home will cater to my every whim. Hah! That is a joke! Actually, I have been working very hard to make sure that everything is ready for me to take a vacation. I have a sub for my summer school classes, and have all of the notes, quizzes and tests prepared for him. If all goes well, I will be back in class for the last week of the summer session.
Stay strong, all of you, and turn to your friends and share that strength. You will never know how much you mean to someone else.

Just about a week ago, my life changed forever. Really, that sounds like a profound statement, but doesn't my life actually change forever every single day? The past month has been a roller coaster of emotions (so cliche'). Truthfully, my whole life is a roller coaster. But this post is about what is happening now. I got a phone call following some tests, and heard the words that we all seem to dread, "You have cancer."
That was on Tuesday, May 31, while I was hauling a cart load of books from my old office in one building to my new office in another. I will forever remember exactly where I was at that moment. I will also remember how I felt. Surprisingly, it was more of a, "Wow, so this is how it feels to hear those words" and "Hmmm, even though they kept saying that it didn't appear to be cancer, there was always this nagging doubt".
I didn't feel mad or sad or anything, except maybe that it couldn't be, because cancer happens to other people. But I have found out over the last several years that I am "other people" (more about that in a future post). Over the past month, I had been researching like crazy, just in case. And in the past week, I learned more about endometrial (uterine) cancer than I could have imagined.
Right now, my life is kind of in a holding pattern. In some ways, nothing has changed. I am teaching summer school and just living a blessedly normal life. I feel fine. And I check the lab report that says "Endometrioid Adenocarcinoma With Squamoid Differentiation, FIGO Grade 1", just to make sure this is real. On June 21, I will be seeing a gynecologic oncologist (OMG, oncologist - why would I need to see an oncologist - that's for people with cancer...not me) in Wichita. At that time I will find out when I will have surgery. Waiting, waiting, waiting.
In a way, I can't wait until June 21, because waiting and not knowing is agony. The staging won't be determined until during and after surgery. On the other hand, as long as June 21 never gets here, I will continue to live in my "Gee, I can't have cancer, because I don't feel sick" bubble. But I am starting to get my ducks in a row. I have told my immediate family (husband Alan, and four children). We have told our parents and siblings. I have told my boss so that he could arrange for someone to take over my summer school classes for me. And I have told all of my "peeps" what is going on, because they are my friends. I know that I will need a support net for me and my family if things get rough. I have been blessed with a huge number of incredible friends, and I know that they will hold me in their hearts and pray for me. Knowing this is allowing me to keep a positive outlook, which is so important. I know that I have some tough times ahead, I am not in denial or foolishly oblivious. But I also know a lot of other things. Over the weeks to come, I will expound on some of them.
What I know (in no particular order):
- I have been incredibly blessed.
-Cancer (especially endometrial adenocarcinoma) is not an automatic death sentence.
-I am alive now, and each day is a celebration.
-I have more true friends than I could have imagined.
-I have an overwhelming sense of peace about this whole thing (yes, I have cried, and I am scared; but I know that everything will be okay - whatever that is).
-God has spent my whole life preparing me to face this next hurdle, and He will not abandon me now.
-This stuff we face helps build character, and I am apparently not yet enough of a character.
-Having a diagnosis of cancer cannot immediately wipe out my sense of humor.
-If any of your body parts are trying to kill you, it is best to get rid of them if you can. In my case, those bitchy little lady parts have been put on notice and will be evicted within the next month.
-There are worse things than cancer.
-If you pray for something, be specific. I kind of indicated to God that I wanted a break from teaching and would love a journey or vacation. I was thinking more along the lines of a cruise. I didn't mean an "Oncology Spa"!
Until my next post, pray for all of those folks who have it worse than I do. There are way too many to mention. Thank you for taking the time to share in my journey.