December 10 – Had a bit of a pity party for myself
today. Harold hunted down where I could go to get a flu shot so I spent
the day going there, getting a ticket then going back 6 ½ hours later
to actually get the shot. The pity party came in after the shot when I knew
I was there because I am now considered high risk because of having diabetes.
I am here to tell you – Do everything in your power to not contract
this disease. It is really, really crappy and it is for $#%^&^^&&
ever!
I bought myself a gift today to celebrate my one-year breast cancer survivorship.
A very beautiful diamond cut gold breast cancer ribbon symbol charm to
wear on my gold chain. It certainly has special meaning to me and I think
it may open up conversation about breast cancer when someone notices and
comments on it. To date, there have been 3628 visits to the BC Journals
site. In case you have forgotten how to get there or how to send someone
there the address is http://margotclark.com/BC
Remember the BC must be in capital letters.
December 11 – I just read something that I would
like to share. It tells all for me. I don’t know the author and
I saw it in a magazine as the insert of a frame that was for sale. They
were selling the frame not the words and the words were the best thing!
If anyone knows of the author, please let me know.
“When you come to the edge of all the light you have known and
are about to step out into the darkness, FAITH is knowing one of two things
will happen….There will be something to stand on or you will be
taught how to fly.” I think this tells my story in one sentence
– I have been taught how to fly!
December 12 – Made an appointment to get my hair
cut. You are probably thinking, “And…………????”
Well, it is the first time in a year and a half that I have gone to get
my hair cut (aside from shaving all of it off and Harold and I did that
in the garage!) so this is another milestone for me. I actually like to
cut my own hair and have been doing it since June when it started to get
a bit shaggy looking, but am limited in ability as to how stylish I can
get. I am taking Sassy Simone with me so Mary can see if she can get my
hair to do anything remotely like that. I stopped in to see her (Mary)
and since I have last seen her, she has lost 170 pounds! She was very
beautiful and stylish before so now she is absolutely stunning! We will
have lots to talk about when I go. She said she quit eating sugar and
got a personal trainer!
Speaking of wigs, Sophisticated Sophia (the platinum blonde wig) has
gone to live with my friend Ann, the wonderful lady who gave me the name
Brenda Braveheart when I was facing chemo and was so afraid. I had to
go to Indiana on a business trip last week and all the people there have
seen me in my various personas so I took all the wigs with me and they
were all trying them on at the end of the last day. We were all laughing
because some just did not fit the personality of the person trying it
on but when Ann put on Sophisticated Sophia we all stopped and said, “Hey,
you look great!” Ann had just said she was going to get a wig for
running errands and I cannot wear Sophisticated Sophia any longer as my
own hair is too dark and it shows. Ann is blonde so no problem. It came
to me then that I would like to have Sophia go home to live with Ann since
Ann played such a big part in how I felt about facing chemo. By her giving
me the name Brenda Braveheart, it put me on the offensive in the battle
against my breast cancer and treatment instead of being on the defensive.
A major turning point!
December 14 – Just read something that I would
like to include in this journal. A woman wrote that she was always amazed
and inspired by the faith, hope and joyful resolve of cancer survivors.
She says that maybe it is because they realize that while cancer can damage
the body, it cannot cripple love, destroy friendships, steal eternal life,
or triumph over the human spirit. I would like to add that I know of some
great people who will not be cancer survivors but demonstrate those very
same qualities so I think that it is dealing with the cancer, whether
you survive it or not, is what make you strong and makes you appreciate
life.
December 17 – Well, the rest of my wigs (except
Sassy Simone as I need her on Tuesday) are going to visit a dear friend
of mine who is going through chemo and radiation and of course, has no
hair of her own anymore. Sassy Simone can go visit my friend next week.
It will do the girls good to go visit someone else for a while!
I am having trouble ending these journals. I am so very connected to
them that it is hard to let them go. I believe I will continue to add
stuff but don’t know in what format yet.
December 21 – Got my hair cut! Ooooooooooooooooweeeeeeeeeeeee!
I am gorgeous! It is short, spiky, messy, funky, volumized and waxed!
And of course – red! Mary has cut my hair for years on and off and
I really wanted her to be the one who gave me my first hair cut after
it all grew back in. Remember when I started losing my hair I put it all
in a baggie? Well, I now also have my first “haircut hair”
in an envelope! We swept it all up and Mary wrote out a card like she
does for all first haircuts and it has the date and her name and the words
first haircut! When I went to pay her, she would not accept the money.
She said, “Not this time, not the first one.” Well, we hugged
and we both cried and it was very emotional and it was wonderful. She
said she felt honored that I had come to her for such a momentous occasion.
I will remember that kindness forever.
December 28 – Well Christmas and all the parties
and get-togethers are over for another year. Much better this year. I
put up all my decorations and cooked and everything was so nice and normal!
Jen took care of Christmas Eve and just family came for Christmas dinner.
Fairly quiet except for my two year old great nephew running around. Children
do make Christmas fun.
I, Grateful Greta, gave Harold, Jennifer and Martha a very special gift.
I donate regularly to the Susan G. Komen Foundation and found the most
amazing thing on their website. Everyone knows of the pink ribbon for
breast cancer awareness and survivors. Well, now there is a pink and white
one where the ribbons lie side by side and it is a Co-Survivor’s
Pink Ribbon Pin. The info says, “As a breast cancer survivor you
know the importance of a support system better than anyone. You probably
have Co-Survivors – family, friends, doctors or colleagues –
who were sources of support and inspiration during your journey, from
diagnosis to treatment. We understand these people are important and therefore
the Komen foundation has launched a campaign to honor Co-Survivors. The
Co-Survivor pin incorporates the pink ribbon intertwined with a white
ribbon. The pink ribbon is the universal symbol for breast cancer awareness
and the white ribbon represents the Co-survivor. This pin is a nice gift
for the Co-Survivor in your life.” To say they were emotional gifts
is an understatement. Jaime will be here on the 14th of January and I
will present hers then. It is, indeed, a very special way to thank someone.
If you are interested, visit the website at www.susangkomen.com and go
to Support the Cause then to Gift Shop and then to Pins. .
Had a progressive tea party yesterday with two of my dear friends. We
started out at Patte’s house for lunch and tea and then progressed
here for desserts and more tea. What fun! We were together from 11:30
until 7 o’clock! Talked the whole time! We decided next year we
will begin at breakfast and end with dinner! How nice to feel so good
again!
December 31 – What a day! I was running last minute
errands and was on my way to the grocery store and have to pass by my
house to get there and about a block before my subdivision I got held
up in traffic because of a really bad accident. We were all there for
two hours and I watched the helicopters land to pick up the critically
injured people. They landed in the road about 20 feet from my car! When
I first realized what had happened, that it must be really bad to stop
traffic both ways on the road (and it is a four lane road), I just at
there and cried. I thought my heart would just break. One person died
instantly (the one who caused the accident) and two others were airlifted
(parents of an eight year old girl who was awake and aware of what was
happening) and that child will remember that forever. The police finally
had to get all of us to back down the highway for a long ways so we could
get out of the way so more emergency vehicles could get up to the accident
since the helicopters were blocking the other side of the road. I ended
up going to Jennifer’s because I couldn’t get to my house
from the other side either. I ended up going to Jen’s for an hour
or so and then on to the store. By that time they had moved the vehicles
and opened up the road again. Harold and I were going to go out to eat
but by the time I got home from the store I was exhausted form the whole
episode and he was not feeling much better (he and our Sheriff’s
Deputy neighbor went down when they heard the crash to see if they could
be of any help until the emergency vehicles got there) so we decided to
just stay home with each other and be safe!
I didn’t make a bunch of New Year’s Resolutions this year,
I just made a vow with myself to be happier. The thick blankets of fear,
anxiety and depression seem to be lifting and dissipating finally, and
I am feeling like myself more and more. Thank heavens! Anxious Annie,
Fearful Frieda and Depressing Deena were just not fun companions at all!
They have way overstayed their visit!
Photos this time are of the gorgeous guest bathroom that is finally complete!
Before you see it though, I have a story to tell. It begins some months
ago when we noticed that there were tadpoles in my fountain on the patio
after the hurricanes. Instead of cleaning it out we watched them every
day to see how they developed. Did I tell you we have a family of frogs
who live on our patio in a hanging basket and a couple of them will even
be still while Harold tickles them under the chin?????????? Well, just
as the fountain frogs all hatched and leaped off the edge of the fountain
into their brand new world and I was going to clean the fountain we noticed………more
eggs! Soooooooooooooo we left the frog nursery alone again. We were thinking,
“Now this is a lot of frogs!” They are tree frogs with the
suckers on their feet. Now fast forward a week or so. Harold goes in to
use out beautiful new bathroom and yells at me to come quickly! I run
to the bathroom and ask, “What’s wrong?” He says to
look in the toilet. “What???????” He says “Just look!”
So I lift he lid ever so carefully and …………………there
is a frog sitting sown in the water in the bowl of the potty!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A BIG frog! I look at Harold and say, “How did that get there?????”
He looks a bit baffled and says, “I am not really sure, maybe it
got in there while I had the toilet out on the patio before I installed
it, but that was months ago!” He reaches in and scoops up the frog
and we turn it loose in the garden. He told me the poor thing had chemical
burns on one leg. Well of course it did! I had just cleaned the potty
a few days before with toilet bowl cleaner! Now I am wondering if we are
going to have mutant frogs lurking about! We have live here for seventeen
years and never once had a frog in either of the toilets! A week goes
by and things settle down. Right before Christmas I am running errands
and stop by the house to drop some stuff off and decided to use the pretty
potty before I left again. In I go, lift the lid and…………..another
frog! Down goes the lid and out the door I go! I wrote a note for Harold
letting him know we had company again and also asking “Where in
the $^*%% are these things coming from!” I leave to finish my errands,
he comes home, reads the note, groans, goes in to get the frog out of
the potty, again, and this time the thing gets away from him and he has
to chase it around the bathroom! He finally caught it, put it out in the
garden and wiped down the bathroom! When I got home, he told me that this
one also had burns on its leg. Could it be the same one? I mean what are
the chances of that happening! Up on the roof he goes to do some detective
work. I mean two frogs in a week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He checked the vent
pipe on the roof. Well…………it has been cold and
since we have such a population of tree frogs I guess they were hunting
someplace warm and when he shone the flashlight down the vent pipe there
were at least three frogs looking back up at him! He said there was also
a dead one that had just barely made it out of the vent pipe. I guess
they lost their grip and fell down the pipe and were trying to find a
way out via my potty! He put a screen over the pipe so no more could get
in but…………..those three can’t get out either!
A few days later, you guessed it, another frog! I had to start telling
guests about the “problem” because can you just picture what
would happen if an unsuspecting guest was “using the facilities”
and if all of a sudden something cold and wet leaped out of the potty
and stuck it self to their bum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean, the mental picture
that brings to mind! My friend Karan, says I need to put a sign on the
potty (beautifully painted of course) saying “Beware of frogs!”
It has been a week now and no more have shown up. Of course, we all check
carefully before using that bathroom! Now you can see the pictures! One
is looking in from the hallway and the other was taken though the window
looking in. Note the back of the door, we are quite proud of that. Another
is of the ceiling. I cut out the flowers and pasted them to the ceiling
before the crown molding was installed to look like they continued to
grow out from underneath the molding! We are most proud that we did it
all ourselves. Every single thing is new, even the door hinges! Are you
impressed? Just call us the Designing Duo!
On that happy note, I shall sign off.
Have a Happy Healthy New Year!
Love,
Margot - as always, Perky Polly - keeper of the Perky Twins, Anxious
Annie, Fearful Frieda, Depressing Deena, Grateful Greta, Sassy Simone,
Sophisticated Sophia and Brenda Braveheart, one half of the Designing
Duo and I am still Ravishing Red-headed Spiky Messy Funky Real Hair Rita!
After reading through the updates, if you have any questions please email
me