Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is rapidly becoming my favorite holiday, not just for the delicious food or the wonderful company, but for the spirit behind the day.  Thanksgiving is celebrated "as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year" (thanks Wikipedia).  Maybe the timing of my diagnosis has something to do with it, but man, this is sentiment I can really get behind.

If there's one thing this past year+ has taught me, it is that I am truly blessed.  My life, for the most part, has been relatively stress-free.  But when tough times came and I needed it the most, love and support came pouring in from all directions.  There are so many things in my life that bring me joy:  my family, my friends, my house, my dog, my town, my hobbies.  So today, I will whole-heartedly give thanks for the blessing of the preceding year, warts and all.  And even though it's a non-traditional harvest, the love and experiences that I've gathered in the last year are also incredibly deserving of thanks.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Cancer Quilt - Part 6: The Top

Motivation is a really funny thing.  It took me a lot longer than I had anticipated to finish this quilt top because 1) I kept getting distracted by other projects that for various reasons needed to be done sooner, and 2) unlike where we used to live, there isn't a quilt shop just down the street where people will oo and ah over your finished project and encourage you to pick up the next one.

But the top is now done and enough with the words already, right?  You want pictures:

I recently read an article talking about the warrior language that so often accompanies cancer, and pulled out a quote that pretty perfectly describes my feelings towards my cancer:

"For me, cancer arrived as an unwelcome lodger, parking itself in the back room and demanding attention. ... Eventually the time came to invite my cancer to leave.  She has left the place in a bit of a mess, and I'm conscious that she has kept the key.  Still I'm hopeful that in due course all I will be left with is the rich memory of time spent with a stranger I never expected to meet."

Although I didn't have the words to say it before, this quilt is how I decided to take care of that unwelcome lodger.  There was no battle ground, no war zone - just a part of me that needed a little extra care and attention to get back on the right track.

I love it, and can't wait to see how it looks once it's all quilted (once I figure out where to take it ...)