Murphy's Law @ Work

I have the first installment of what I am going to call, Murphy's Law @ Work!

We all know who Murphy is, the guy who basically said if it can happen it will at the most inopportune time one could image, that guy. Well, he is at work all the time, here is my latest run in with him.

So, I am out of town on an overnight business trip and I packed relatively light, with TSA restrictions and baggage fees one night really did not warrant checking luggage. I am staying at a very nice hotel, I checked it out before hand and notice free wifi (love it and thank you) and the standard hair dryer and iron in every room. Sweet, perfect no problem then I can do my hair and all is right in the world. Not so fast, all was not right. Oh no, Mr. Murphy was hard at work.

That is right, he knew it was a big day for me. He also knew that I did not sleep very well the night before either (his doing I just know it, more on that later). When he saw the opportunity he struck, and not in a good way. I am getting ready for my very big day and I go to do my hair. Now the hair dryer was not a standard stuck to the wall hotel hair dryer since it wasn't on the vanity in plain sight. So, I figured it must be in the drawer, logical I realize that now but I was tired and to be honest stressing just a touch. I looked in the closet, since in Denver it was hanging in a nice bag marked Hair Dryer in gold stitching, but I did not see it. I did however find the iron, super I don't need the iron I need the hair dryer. I search some more and come up empty handed, I had no choice honestly. I picked up the phone and called the front desk and when the nice lady answered I said, "Hi, I am not sure if it is because I am tired, stressed, or blind but could you tell me where I might find the hair dryer in this room?" To which she promptly replied, "Well its in the closet behind the iron." I was dumb founded, thanked her for her time and hung up, walked to the closet. Yes sir, wouldn't you know it there it was, curled up nicely and tucked in the dark closet behind the iron.

I could not believe that Mr. Murphy could be so cruel, yes life lesson learned, always bring a flashlight and look behind the iron for the hair dryer. But seriously, it really made more stress for me than was necessary, funny none the less but seriously not so much all at the same time. In the end, my hair for the most part looked pretty good and my very big day went pretty fantastic. Still not liking Mr. Murphy but that part of the story will be for the next installment of Murphy's Law @ Work.

Things have been going pretty good here for the most part, stay tuned on that news. That is it for now, peace out!

My Dates Book

Yes it's true I finally finished my perpetual calendar. I really need to say that I am in love with every thing Tim Holtz and this calendar certainly proves that. Second, the Bind-it-All totally rocks, if you like to make books or albums then look into this tool--I agree with Tim it is a must have!

I created this perpetual calendar so that hubby and I could keep better track of birthdays, anniversaries and other yearly events that we tend to forget. Seeing that I now have a nice pattern for it I may make some of these as Christmas gifts.

Supplies, Materials and tools used:

Chipboard

Canvas paper by Canson

Bazzill Cardstock

Bind-it-All Oring (altered)

Bind-it-All

Dermal Tool--to distress the Oring

Provo Craft Alphaletterz

Spare Parts Silk Flowers

Ribbon

Spiral Clip

American Crafts Rubons

Archival Sepia Ink

Mica Magic Copper Ink

Stampin' Up! Calendar Stamp

Stampin' Up! Occasions Collection

Autumn Leaves Months Stamps

Studio G Month Stamps

Recollections Splat Stamps

WRMK Stamp Bunny

Personal Signature Stamp

MSE Sentiments Stamp

Tim Holtz

Ranger Distress Paper

Ranger Distress Inks

Ranger Distress Crackle Paint

Idea-ology Corners

Idea-ololgy Mask

This was a really fun project to make. I used pictures taken from each month to add a personal touch to each month, then put that with a piece of distressed notebook paper. I used the notebook paper to write all the important dates down. Matted with a piece of Bazzill cardstock and then added it to the canvas paper that was inked all up with yummy Distress Inks.

If you have any questions just let me know. I hope you enjoyed the project, until next time from the Bunny Hole, peace out!

Refresh!

I know it has been ages but here I am with a little update.

Health:

Well things are going much better lately. It took some time to get completely up to speed and back to work full time, but I am back! Once I had the endoscopy done and they determined it was only muscle spasms life got better--well and the medication helped too. So, still getting stronger and healthier, even am down to my lowest weight in years and feel darn good about it.

Work:

Well work has been crazy, as always with the fiscal year end. Not to mention the fact that the University of South Carolina Gamecock Baseball team won the World College Series so they are National Champs. I will say what a way to kick off the July 4th weekend. The annual AALL conference has come and gone, and as usual it was jammed packed. I will say Denver was AWESOME and getting to hang out at Mile High Stadium was very cool--I can punt a football almost 40 yards!! Enemy territory for sure, but what a blast. I already miss my colleagues from other schools, I so wish we could see each other more often than once a year. So, I guess it is time to look forward to Philly in 2011!

Play:

I already have my parking space and season tickets for Gamecock Football! I am so ready for some football! I have started using Twitter so I have been following a lot of Green Bay Packer related tweets and that has me so longing for kickoff. Thank goodness training camp is only a couple short weeks away. I have also been trying to scrap some, seems I took a little break for a while. I just finished my perpetual calendar book, and I have to say I love the Bind-It-All 2.0. I am also quickly becoming addicted to anything Tim Holtz, I find myself drooling on his website especially now since the CHA sneak peeks are showing up. I will say his embossing folders are so nice and leave such a great impression. Did I mention I cannot wait for my next scrappy trip with my peeps, yep watch out Lancaster, SC because we are coming!!

All else:

Not much else is new here, always busy it seems. The family is doing well, mom is having surgery on her foot again so hopefully this will fix it for good now. My brother is crazy as ever and the first chance I get I am going to go see him--hmmm maybe early August will have to look into that. Looking forward to a possible trip to Disney in October as well, should be fun, I so want to go to an amusement park and just be a kid!

Not much else to report, hopefully I will have some projects to post soon need to get my scrap on! So that is it from the bunny hole, peace!

One Month Out

So, it has been a crazy month since my surgery. I am getting stronger everyday, which is very good. I am also able to eat more which is good as well, however, I don't mind the size I am now! I want to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, cards, flowers, and chats--they have all helped me get through this difficult time. I go back to the doctor in a couple weeks so I should know then when I will be returning to work.

Lots of stuff has been going on, Mom went home--I wish she didn't have to but she really needed to have her foot fixed. That went well and now I am sure it is hard to stop her. Dad is talking about coming down to see me before I head back to work but that is still up in the air. Grams isn't doing all that well, so we are waiting on that. It is so hard to be this far away when stuff like this happens. Oh, and did I mention my in-laws are in Hawaii! They were in the process of being evacuated when they called. Other than all that--things are looking up.

I believe I may have finally found a new scrappy home--almost a full year after the collapse of my former scrappy home. Thanks to Nutter I found this place and last night had an absolute blast chatting it up with everyone. Seems like such a fun group, those scrap gals really know how to make a girl feel welcome.

I am actually scrapping right now, so hopefully the next post will be full of scrappy goodness (a girl can dream!) Again thanks to everyone for everything! Well that's it for now, peace out from the Bunny Hole!

My Health!!

I guess I best update everyone as to what has been going on with me health wise for the last couple of months. And it is probably best to start from the beginning.

In June I started experiencing some stomach issues, I figured it was due to the stress of all the budgeting things going on at work combined with my Fibryomyalgia. The problems continued into July which I then attributed to year end stress and my two almost back to back trips. Things never really got better and they really started getting bad over November and December. I tried a few over the counter things the first of the year and when they did not ease my discomfort I finally made a doctor's appointment.

At my doctor's appointment my doctor took one look at my abdomen and ordered an Ultra Sound on the spot. She initially thought it was Fibroid Uterus, and set up an appointment with an OB-GYN. My initial appointment was Friday, January 8th. I received a call from my doctor's office and the radiologist ordered a CT scan of my abdomen that Monday, January 11th. The CT scan was done and the next day I was meeting with the OB-GYN. At this appointment my hubby and I were told that there was a 21 cm or 8 inch bowling ball sized tumor on one of my ovaries. They did a blood test to check for cancer and we set up the operation to be done January 26th, the Tuesday after my scrapbook retreat. We waited three long days for the blood tests, which came back as negative for Cancer--much to our relief. Fast forward another week.

I had my pre-op appointment on January 25th, and then went to the airport to pick my mom up. The 26th I was at the hospital at 6 a.m. for my surgery. We knew what the worse case scenario would be, other than cancer would be a full hysterectomy. The surgery was scheduled to take about a half an hour. Well, about an hour or so in they moved mom and hubby from the main waiting room and told them that the O.R. cancer screening was inconclusive and that they would be taking both ovaries and my uterus. This was very scary for them, as they were told if it was cancer I would be immediately started on Chemo. The entire operation took over two hours. I came too and just knew that all my girl parts were gone, this is very sad for me but the upside is that I am alive and the rest can be worked through. We waited one full day, much better then the original three days to hear the two best words, NO CANCER. This still makes me cry, and I know all my family and friends waiting for the results did a collective sigh of relief on the 27th of January at 4:50 est. I would like to thank all my friends and family for all their thoughts, prayers, and positive vibes it has helped me and my husband deal with this situation more than anyone will ever know. I also want to thank my doctors and nurses for their care and compassion, I had the best team possible taking care of me and for that I will be forever grateful.

I was able to come home from the hospital on the 29th of January, and let me tell you my dogs and cats were more than elated to see me. I probably have two dozen staples going from my belly button to my pubic bone, actually looks like a zipper. The incision is so large because of the size of my tumor. The main tumor was about 25 cm across, and the CT scan only showed what the doctor called "the tip of the iceberg." The main tumor had encased my one ovary, and from that tumor another tumor the size of a nice sized cantaloupe was growing. In all the tumors weighed 6 1/2 pounds, and was full of a mucus like material. But again the biggest blessing was that there was no cancer.

So, now I am home and on the road to recovery. I will be home on medical leave for the next four to six weeks. I will be working from home some, but will mostly be concentrating on getting my strength and health back. My inners were so squished that it is going to take some time for my systems to fully recover, but they will recover. I go in on February 2nd to have the staples removed and for a check up. I have a long road ahead of me but I know that I can do this.

There y'all have it. Scary I know but it has turned out so much better than it could have. I try not to dwell on what could have been or on what I will lose out on, my life is more important than any of that and I am focusing on that. Please remember my parents, siblings and husband in your prayers, as they need as much strength as I do to get through all of this. I am thankful to all my friends and family for their support. I will do my best to keep everyone updated on my recovery, I may even post some before and after pictures (I know I will be scrapping this one for sure.) I want to add, for those of you who are dealing with cancer in some way my thoughts and prayers are with you, I may not have had cancer but I know what it means to survive and that is the best gift your family and friends will ever have. So keep fighting, someday a cure will be found, until then stay strong and remember I will always be in your corner.

With heartfelt thanks and bunny hugs peace out from the Bunny Hole.

2009 Recap!

Well 2009 has come and gone and I guess in the grand scheme of things it was an alright year.

I got a lot of scrapping done and even have my scrappy hole in pretty good order. I love looking around the room and seeing all the colors. I have made some new scrappy friends and look forward to cropping with them in the near future. I have also branched out and tried some new things. My favorite scrappy community decided to ditch the community all together so I really do not have a scrappy cyber home. I really miss all the fun we had, the late night chats and the cyber crops, hopefully in 2010 I will be able to fill this void.

I was able to go up and visit my parents and family twice this year. Once in July when I showed up and surprised my mom on her birthday. That was the best, sneaking through the house talking to her on my cell phone. The look on her face when she saw me standing in her bedroom door talking to her on the phone was priceless. And I do believe she even lovingly called ma a little sh*t! Dad and I got her for sure. On this visit I was able to attend my Grandma's 90th birthday party as well as see cousins and family I have not seen in years. It was really nice reconnecting with them. The second time was in September, no surprising anyone that time. The purpose of my visit was strictly football, Green Bay Packer Football that is. Dad and I went to the season opener against the Bears, what fun it was to win in the last seconds of the game--whoo hoo go Pack go! I was also able to participate in the Second Annual Poo's Ride for Autism. The 100 mile loop was a beautiful drive, I had a lot of fun. So totally different then the other Poker run I had been on.

I was able to enjoy another season of Gamecock Football. My friend Sam and I went to all the home games, we have so much fun tailgating and people watching. Ok, not all the home games, she missed the first one, and I sold the Clemson game tickets, but otherwise. I was able to get different seats this season so I moved across the field to the home side, hurray!! I will say it is odd yelling Game instead of Cocks at the game! LOL My seats are pretty good, not far from my parking spot, and the family that sits with is AWESOME. Its Grandparents and their two grandchildren. The Grandma reminds me of mom when she is watching football, hearing "take his head off" brought back so many memories. The Gamecocks had a pretty good season, we were so close to beating Florida and Alabama we could taste it. The Florida game was just CRAZY too, and it was the only loss at home all season. We even BEAT Clemson this year!! Bowl bound we were, to the PapaJohns.com Bowl (seriously). Too bad we didn't show up for this game, reminded me the game against Arkansas--you have to show up to win boys. But, beating Clemson in the Palmetto Bowl works for me. So, here is 2010 may it be the year of the Gamecocks in the SEC!!

I had another wonderful information filled time at AALL in Washington DC this year, and again met a lot of wonderful fun librarians. (Honestly we are a crazy bunch in large groups, trust me!) The first night I was at the right place at the right time for supper, as I was able to enjoy networking with some Directors (rubbing elbows with the big wigs). Who knew that the Director of the Duke Law Library was from Marshfield, Wisconsin and a huge Packer fan? I know crazy. We had lots of fun, sitting on the bench outside the hotel people watching was a good time. The West party was again way fun, and way to short, so afterwards I went with some friends to a Salsa club, very fun. Let's just say the Cab Driver was not enthused when I asked him if he was going to ask us general knowledge questions on the way back to the hotel. Cash Cab it was not, and he was no Ben Bailey, I will say maybe that last Limon and 7 was NOT the best idea. The closing party, was somewhat of a drag! The band was horrible, everything they played was at least two beats too slow--we are librarians not little old people walking with canes and walkers (this statement is in no way meant to be mean towards this group of people). Needless to say, when a room full of librarians are heckling you that is not a good sign. At least the music they put on during their brake was something we could dance to, and we did.

What else, oh I went to the NinJa Concert with my friend Bev this summer. Hottest day of the year but we did not care Nine Inch Nails and Jane's Addiction was well worth every bead of sweat. We went for her birthday, surprised her with better seats then she thought she was paying for. It was an AWESOME show, my third time seeing NIN but my first seeing Jane's and it was so cool. I didn't think I would get to see them since they had broken up, but the original band was together for this tour. It was so awesome! Hubby and I and another couple also went and saw Steven Lynch who is a signing comedian, omg FUNNY! We had a great time and hopefully we can do something like that again real soon.

Other than that not much has been going on, I know I am looking forward to 2010 and all it has in store for me and my family. I hope that you and yours have a wonderful 2010 as well.

I will try to update a little more often and post some creations. For now, peace from the Bunny Hole.