So Where Am I At With My Health

                                                                 Everyday is a brand new day,
                                                                everyday is a journey.

A soul occupied with great ideas 
 best performs small duties;
 the divinest views of life penetrate
 most clearly into the meanest emergencies;
 so far from petty principles being best 
proportioned to petty trials,
 a heavenly spirit taking up its abode with 
us can alone sustain well the daily toils, 
and tranquilly pass the humiliations of our condition. 
J. MARTINEAU.

When it comes to my health, my cancer journey, things are basically at a stand still. As far as I know, I am still in remission. All year long, I have been denied any cancer screenings such as a Petscan or a Ct. Scan by my insurance company. Granted that it is a new insurance provider from my workplace. I still expected to have my cancer screenings at least once a year, because I have a recurrent carcinoma.

In fact, my entire cancer team has changed. My Oncologist has moved away to Indiana to a private practice. Two of my chemo nurses have retired for good. The scheduler/receptionist has moved into a new position. My attending nurse has quit. Even the Lab personnel are different. They also have placed me in a new category from an active patient to a survivor. Something new for me to think about for sure. I am a survivor. Everything is new and different. I know nothing about the people attending to me now. It felt odd and out of place at my last oncologist visit.

I've had to come to a peaceful place and accept the fact that my health basically rests in the hands of God Himself. No longer do I show up on a regular basis for screenings. I don't even know when my next appointment will be. This is totally new to me. They took labs from me for a CA125 and a thyroid check. Still, no one has called me back with the results. I am a bit disappointed since my last cancer team spoiled me rotten with great treatment.

You know that change can be a good thing. Maybe, there is something new for me in my life. We never know what is truly behind every corner or every door until we come face to face with it. I still plan on doing all that I can to stay healthy. Diligence is key and so is nutrition. Honestly, I'm not too worried about the future. If I get to live awhile longer, that's great. If I should die a lot sooner, then I will be in Heaven. Either way, it's a win win.

Have a blessed day everyone.

A Year Ago

                                                                    Everyday is a brand new day,
                                                                    everyday is a journey.



Life is a sheet of paper white
Whereon each one of us may write
His word or two, and then comes night.
Greatly begin! though thou hast time
But for a line, be that sublime
Not failure, but low aim is crime.

—James Russell Lowell.

One year ago, I was contemplating starting a YouTube channel to kind of be an extension of my cancer journey. I figured that I have written about it on my blog, discussed it on my chronic illness group and used the Ministry as therapy.  Might as well speak about it now. What I didn't envision was how hard it truly would be. So much goes into it. I was totally naïve and thought about quitting many times.

At that same time, I was texting with my older brother back and forth. One day, I just texted to him that maybe we should visit our old man. Now, we never had a good or bad relationship with him, because there never was a relationship at all. I have no idea where it came from, I can only believe it was the Holy Spirit. So a year ago, we were on our way to seeing him for the very first time in 35 years. 

I have thought about my year in reflection many times. So much can happen in 365 days! If you are going through a horrible Season, trust me, it will change within the year for the better. Or at least, we hope so. Something will be changed. 

This has been a very challenging year, not something I expected. Regardless of the fact that I have cancer, my life is pretty content. I don't have many of the issues that others are facing. For this reason, the opposition I dealt with was a total surprise for me. I guess, I have been pretty spoiled. I also have learned so much from my ordeal and actually feel like I have grown up! 

This a may not have been an easy year, but the rewards in future are definitely worth the struggle now. How would you rate your year? Where were you a year ago?

Have a blessed day everyone. 

Reflections On Clutter

                                                           Everyday is a brand new day,
                                                           everyday is a journey.


Though hearts brood o'er the past, 
our eyes
With smiling features glisten;
For lo! our day bursts up the skies,
Lean out your souls and listen!
The world is following freedom's way,
And ripening with her sorrow;
Take heart! 
Who bears the cross to-day
Shall wear the crown to-morrow.

--Gerald Massey.

I knew that one of my biggest struggles in living tiny would be clutter. I just have way too many interests and they all reside in one room. I have written of this many times and I have struggled folks, really struggled with clutter!

I've always said that when the time came for me to move into my tiny dwelling, I would only bring what I could fit into my car. My must haves consist of yarn and books. Everything else is debatable. Absolutely no furniture will be coming with me. Well, maybe only my favorite chair. I'll fit it in somewhere.

I'm pretty good about clutter, except in one room . . . my bedroom. That's because I've never actually had a bedroom. It has always been a multi-functioning room serving also as an office and a craft room. At times, my room resembles a disaster area with boxes in every available space. I would love a separate room, a real craft room.

I think I would like a real bedroom or at least a space meant only for sleeping. I also want a large bookshelf, preferably one from ceiling to floor. I've always wanted one like that. I may want to live tiny, but I don't want to live cluttered. That's where minimalism comes in. I can keep the clutter out in the rest of the house, but not in my own room. I also need a pantry for my food. Or at least some shelves where I can store extra food storage.

I don't think of clutter as having tons of stuff, I think of clutter as messiness. A litter of things all over the kitchen table or cocktail table. If I can't see the shelf or the counter top, it's clutter.

 Right now, I am trying to overcome the clutter by organizing things into boxes or containers. That helps tremendously with keeping the clutter down. No matter how many times I go through things, it stays neat and clean for awhile. Not much time goes by without the accumulation process happening once again. What do you do to keep down the clutter?

Have a blessed day everyone. 

Just Share It: Dr. Ben Carson

                                                                               Everyday is a brand new day,
                                                                               everyday is a journey.



There is a healthy hardiness 
about real dignity that never dreads
 contact and communion with others
, however humble.
—Washington Irvin

Today's Just Share It is a little bit different from the others I have posted. For one thing, it's a video interview. Secondly, it deals with diversity, growing up poor and racism. Dr. Carson shares his story with us and what he has learned, the good and the bad. It's amazing how some people can turn their story around for the better and others struggle with it. It has always fascinated me why that happens. It is not a judgment call, but I am intrigued by it. I hope you will take a moment and watch this video interview. I hope it is an encouragement to you as you write your own story. Enjoy. Just follow the link below. It may help to click on it a few times.




https://www.prageru.com/video/the-candace-owens-show-secretary-carson/

Dr. Ben Carson, the 17th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, joins Candace in the studio this week for a very special episode. Secretary Carson shares his personal story of growing up in poverty to becoming a world-renowned brain surgeon. He also discusses overcoming racial prejudice and the importance of education.


Have a blessed day everyone. 

You Know You're Getting Old

                                                    Everyday is a brand new day, everyday is a journey.




Every one must recognize the
 splendid work which has been
 done by women in social and
 educational fields.
 And it will, I believe, 
come more and more to be recognized
 that in some respects women are
 specially fitted for government and
 for official-municipal life.
—Sir Oliver Lodge.

 You know you're getting old when you get excited at the prospect of sleeping in an extra hour.

You know you're getting old when the perfect night involves watching Netflix in your pajamas.

You know you're getting old when you're constantly begging for a foot rub.

You know you're getting old when you need to sit down all the time.

You know you're getting old when you don't care who sees you in your moomoo and messy hair.

You know you're getting old when you don't want to clean, cook or do laundry for anybody.

You know you're getting old when you trade in your stilettos for flip flops.

All of these things have been quite frequently done by me. I am enjoying growing older which may surprise many of you. I mean, who wants to get old, right? Well, no one, but there are certain privileges as we age. Just refer to the list above. 

Someone once said to me that we become a certain age where we don't care what anyone thinks of us. We become very comfortable with who we are underneath our skin. Absolutely true! After all these years of struggling to find myself and my role in life, I do like me. I have accepted myself inside out and it doesn't matter if others have not.

What is your favorite thing about getting older?

Have a blessed day everyone. 

It's Hard To Do Nothing

                                                Everyday is a brand new day, everyday is a journey.



Let me go where'er I will,
I hear a sky-born music still:
It sounds from all things old,
It sounds from all things young,
From all that's fair, from all that's foul,
Peals out a cheerful song.
It is not only in the rose,
It is not only in the bird,
Not only where the rainbow glows,
Nor in the song of woman heard,
But in the darkest, meanest things
There alway, alway something sings.
'Tis not in the high stars alone,
Nor in the cup of budding flowers,
Nor in the redbreast's mellow tone,
Nor in the bow that smiles in showers,
But in the mud and scum of things
There alway, alway something sings.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson.

My plans for the week were actually to do nothing. Have you ever tried to do nothing? It's pretty hard. No matter how much you try to be idle, something always seems to fall into your lap.

I'm actually kidding. Since I really cannot do anything in my room until further notice, my plans were to be spent crocheting. That's it. Then my car ran out of gas. I figured since I was on the road already, I should pick up a few items from the store. Since I was on the road, you know. Then I thought, I might as well go to the bank for some quarters. That's how it began, very innocently. Next thing I know, my whole morning was gone!

I think it's very hard to do nothing, because one doesn't know how to be idle. If you have spent majority of your life juggling all your extracurricular activities, it's very difficult to sit down and stare out the window. Not that anything is wrong with that, I love a nice scene. My parents both get up at crack of dawn every single day even though they have been retired for years. It is in them and they can't do otherwise. 

I remember years ago watching a program on television that conducted a small experiment. There were two people in separate rooms both watching a show. They were trying to see which one of the adults was burning more calories. You're probably like what! Yes, both were sitting on the couch, but one of them actually burned calories while sitting there. They kept fidgeting constantly, hence burning more calories. 

That's how I feel about doing nothing, a constant fidgeting! Some people make doing nothing an art form and others don't even know how to begin. That's the beauty of living life in a diverse world. Each of us has been made completely different from the other, but yet we have one thing in common. We all were made by our Heavenly Father. 

Have a blessed day everyone. 

A Glass Half Full

                                                              Everyday is a brand new day,
                                                                everyday is a journey.



The solitude of life is known to us all;
for the most part we are alone,
and the voices of friends come only
 faint and broken across the impassable
 gulfs which surround every human soul.

— Hamilton Mabie.

People often say to me that I am a person who is very positive and one who sees their glass as half full. For the most part, I make a great effort to appear to be just that. Yet, there are days where I am filled with despair. I can feel the weight of the world upon my shoulders. Have you ever felt so utterly and completely alone? As if no one understood you or held the same beliefs as you. I want to be around people who believe what I believe and have the same moral values. Don't we all?

I think we all have days like that and although we may spend some time wallowing in our misery, we try our best to get ourselves out of that pit. The misery pit is not where we want to remain for too long. Remaining positive takes work and effort on a daily basis. Everyday I walk into work with a smile on my face and try to greet the people I encounter along the way. It doesn't matter how I truly feel on the inside, I am determined to get through that day unscalded. 

Work used to be such a huge obstacle for me to overcome ever since third shift has been eliminated. This new change that followed took me over five years to conquer. I didn't care for the shift hours nor the people on it. It felt like an alien world and I wondered how two shifts could be so opposite. Aren't we working for the same Company? 

I am not sure when the change for the better actually happened. Was it a new boss? Or the next one and the one after that? Lord knows, I was blessed with some great bosses on this dreadful shift. Each new one even better than the last. Whatever and whenever the atmosphere changed, my heart broke free and my glass became half full. 

Nowadays, it isn't a hardship to go in everyday. The smile isn't forced and the conversations are real.

Have a blessed day everyone.