Designed and created by a positive minded, Gluten-free, thyroid cancer survivor!

Friday 27 July 2012

Happy Heart

Blissful heart
Shine the day
rule the year
and have no fear
Push back the black
Hold the light
Touch the stars
& remove the scars
Love guides the soul
It knows the way
Let it lead
You'll not want
but need
Trust the path
& follow through
Hope lit by sunlight
Believes in foresight

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Time on my hands could be time spent...

with you... no, nope - that's not it. Though you can give me a call, I do have Tuesdays free.

Truth be told, come fall I will have an awful lot of time on my hands. So, possibly time to spend with you - or time to accomplish some other necessary things ;)

I am equal parts happy and freaked out about taking this time...

I'm happy to have the time to focus on being healthy and to have treatment for my thyroid cancer.

I am freaked-out for the same reasons that I'm happy...

To have to even consider taking time off to make sure I'm healthy so that I can recover speedily from a cancer treatment is crazy! How did this happen to me? Don't get me wrong, at least they found it... but really? Old people get cancer... am I old? No... but there are days, like when you are told that you have cancer, that you feel a little older... While I do feel a little older, that statement isn't really fair - cancer is not discriminatory about something so silly as age; or gender, or race, or sexual preference... I mean really if it weren't for the fact that just the word cancer causes fear - it would be a really forward thinking, left wing sort of a thing. But it's not.

Something else that cancer is not, is a death sentence.

Cancer comes in all shapes, sizes and types. Not every one is deadly and with all the new treatments and tests out there, there comes new hope everyday.

Hope - that's a big thing right there. Without hope, what point would there be. Hope is part of being positive and staying positive is worth its weight in gold. It's easier said than done, I know that. Even as an eternal optimist, I have my down days. I just make sure that glass of wine is always half full ;)

I am lucky. So far anyways. Thyroid cancer is highly treatable and based on what my surgeon and endocrinologist say, if you are going to get cancer... it's the one you want. :S Heart warming.

Anyways... I will be fine. However, there are many who will not. They are the reason we raise funds, pray and fight for a cure.

So... as I ponder the new found time that I will have on my hands come September... and having to go on EI for the first time ever in my life :S my mind turns to what makes me most happy. For me that's easy... Christmas! There many other things that make me happy, but they go without saying - my friends, family - my best friend and love of my life !!!:) They know who they are and all that goes without saying.

Anywho - In the fall, Christmas will be just a few short months away - and this Christmas will be thrifty. Thriftymas! - new term, I coined it.

Maybe I should just relax and read a book... well I might do that too. I know I will be (and have been) writing one. This is part of me being well - I keep busy and positive all at the same time. I don't plan on doing anything that will be stress or panic inducing... though I have in the past done that to myself by taking on too much. I promise I won't do that. I also promise that I won't be sitting around doing nothing... I'm not built that way. So I will focus on cooking/baking/eating healthy foods, exercise, writing/drawing, reading, and crafts! :) Christmassy ones ;) A thrifty Christmas doesn't have to be a bad one. In fact I hope it will be one of the best ones yet! and possibly the start of a new tradition.

Here are a few links to some of the crafty things I hope to get up to this fall: (I hope you enjoy them and maybe try a few out yourself!! Post pics and let me know about any crafts that you do that are just too wonderful to keep to yourself!)

A reversible bag!
http://verypurpleperson.com/2010/04/making-reversible-bag.html

Cranberry sauce, apple sauce, tomato... yum!

mld105228_1209_apron.jpg
http://www.marthastewart.com/272397/chefs-apron

5150_050410_pants.jpg
http://www.marthastewart.com/268829/drawstring-pants-how-to
http://www.etsy.com/listing/101992034/moccasin-slipper-boots-pdf-sewing

Click to watch the video... crackers are pretty easy though. You just need to save your paper towel or toilet paper rolls, have some wrapping paper or scrapbook papers and embellishments - some dollar store trinkets or goodies for inside - and some snaps. Snaps can be found at Michael's craft stores by early to late fall...

Sooo cute! http://ideasforcards.com/2011/10/30/handmade-xmas-cards-ideas/

So ya... lots to keep me busy, inspired and out of trouble :)

Talk soon!!
T

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Hear me Roar - Update

Just a little update on my article for the yet to be named (well I know what it's called, but can't spill it yet) or launched magazine that will one day... this fall or winter... feature my article, lol.
Itsa comin... trust me :)
*************************************************************
 
Hi Tara,
I'm so sorry that I've been out of touch. We've just had so many articles to work on and to be honest, yours got lost in the shuffle because there wasn't that much work to do on it! (That's a compliment btw) 
I've attached it here with very few comments and just a few cuts. Please take a look and let me know. It really is a great story and I do love the angle of 'caving to society's expectations' and how now you are in a little more of an unconventional situation and it's perfect for you. 
Also, the site will be launched in the fall but I'm still figuring out when your piece will be added. I'll let you know when that gets figured out. In the meantime, if you have anything else you'd like to submit, please do!
Thanks,
T
 
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So there you have it... she likes it, will accept more articles from me and there really aren't that many changes - which I like! Nothing like sending something in and have something unrecognisable sent back to you! I've had that happen - back in the good old days of working at the University paper... it was a real eye opener. I saw just how bad I really was... back then. I'd like to think I've improved some ;) In regard to my writing and grammar skills that is... :P
 

I'm an acquired taste. Don't like me? Acquire some taste.

 
 

Tuesday 17 July 2012

The Business of Pickwick

Now that I have that nasty business of having my thyroid removed over with (and I'm healing quite nicely and feeling well) it's time to either sh!t or get off the pot - lol. My mind (and my body) can't be still and if I'm not writing one story, I'm working on another... or reading, researching or chatting with like minded people. I love the written word and my thinking has always been that what you love, can often be parlayed into a career... where there is a will there is a way!

It's really important to know what you are getting into if you are starting your own business. Even more important is to involve yourself in something that you love and are suited too. I have spent a really long time looking and researching into the various businesses that are out there and wondering if any of them would be a good fit for me. Every time I come back to writing... that or wine.

Ever so slowly and cautiously I am working toward the launch of a publishing website... and business. A new full-time career path - maybe!! Hopefully!!



The domain names are registered as pickwickpublishing.com and pickwickplayhouse.com and I am currently doing my research into how I will model the site and the business. I'm almost there.

I hope to have more to post soon...