Maw Maw's thoughts: October 2011

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Welcome to the “It’s All About Catitude” Blog Hop in honor of National Cat Day, October 29, 2011, and our furry little felines hosted by Barbara http://barbarab3.blogspot.com/. The theme of the hop is “It’s All About Catitude” and 19 crafty ladies have come together to create some purrfectly adorable projects in honor of National Cat Day and our furry little felines. If you came here from Inga Inga http://mommahobbit.blogspot.com/ , then you are in the right place. But if you happened to end up here, then you will want to go back to the beginning at Barbara’s http://barbarab3.blogspot.com/ and hop along with us as you don’t want to miss any of the meowy purrfectly frisky projects. The hop will run for two days, October 28, 2011 and October 29, 2011. So please be sure to check back each day to see what new project each of our talented ladies has in store for you.

It’s All About Cat Blog Hop Lineup:
1. Barbara B. http://barbarab3.blogspot.com/
2. Crafty and Green (Tina) - http://craftyandgreen.blogspot.com
3. Haidee http://created2bunique.blogspot.com/
4. Janet S http://ladyluvbug.blogspot.com/
5. Vicki http://scrapbookingcreationsbyvicki.blogspot.com/
6. Linda T http://www.lindascreativity.blogspot.com
7. Lisa http://handmadewithlove-lisa.blogspot.com/
8. Jamie http://myamusinglife.blogspot.com
9. Gill http://scrappincreationsbygillm.blogspot.com
10. Princess Penelope. http://thescrapbookingqueen-princesspenelope.blogspot.com/
11. Gina http://californiascrappin-gcinderella21.blogspot.com
12. Inga http://mommahobbit.blogspot.com/
13. Vicki R - http://mawmawsthoughts.blogspot.com/
14. Yvette L. http://gammascreativecorner.blogspot.com/
15. Wendy T.http://www.gilbyscraftster.blogspot.com/
16. Julie K- http://jk-littlebitofbling.blogspot.com/
17 Lynda B. http://memoriesintyme.blogspot.com/
18. Shannon M. - http://www.purplelionpaper.com/blog

Barbara's Grand Prize Blog Candy for this Blog Hop is the Cricut Cartridge Create A Critter. She will also have a little daily grab bag blog candy and will pick the winners on Monday, October 31, 2011.

Rules to be eligible for her Blog Candy:
(1) You MUST visit each blog and leave a comment on every blog in the hop each day
(2) Leave a comment on her blog
(3) Become a follower at "Craftin’ with Barbara”
(4) Name of your furry friend(s) [Dogs included]

MY DAY TWO POST:

This is my Grumpette or Grumpy for short. She was the only cat I knew that could growl and purr at the same time. I say "was" because in 2010 at the age of 16 I had to say goodbye to my friend. Devastating to say the least and I cannot think about her even today without tearing up and just sighing at my loss.

Grumpy thought she owned the place. She slept on top of my dryer because she did not want to be near my dogs. But if I sat in my recliner it was only a matter of minutes until she took off running from the dryer , across my table and then to my recliner where she took her position on top of my chest. There she stayed until I had to get up for some reason. Every now and then she would smack me and hiss and I would have to set her straight but for the most part I was the only one she went to. In essence, she was MY cat! I still have a hard time when I go to do the laundry and she is not on top of my dryer. Goodness this is painful..

..thanks for stopping by today, I look forward to your comments.

Now, hop on over toYvette L. http://gammascreativecorner.blogspot.com/ and see the beautiful creations she has made for the hop. Please be sure to stop by tomorrow and hop along with us again to see more crafty creations. Remember, to adopt/rescue a little furry feline friend.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Whom Shall I Fear Blog Hop Oct 28 -31

Scroll down to reach the It's All about Catitude Blog Hop

Every month we choose a theme with which to honor Christ and become closer to Him. We then create a project to reflect that theme and boldly post it on our blogs so that the whole world sees that even our talents belong to Him! This month's theme is Whom Shall I Fear. Won't you come join us and be inspired?!

Fear is a crippling thing. I like to think that fear and worry are sins. You might think that is harsh but for me they are things that show a lack of faith. I know that bad things happen to good people but I also know that God has given us promises. You may recognize my layouts from another hop I did about Melanoma but it is perfect for this hop. Just the mere sound of the word CANCER and fear is struck in the hearts of man.

When my husband Jim was diagnosed with Melanoma he literally beat the dashboard all the way home. Slammed on the brakes, hit the gas pedal..I thought I was going to die just because of his behavior while driving that car. But when someone tells you that you have Stage 4......Stage FOUR cancer and that cancer is Melanoma the mind immediately turns negative and believes the worst. Quite frankly I don't know how I would have handled it had I not had my faith to fall back on. Oddly enough I never felt it was a death sentence but then again it was not MY cancer. We were referred to an oncologist who specialized in this kind of cancer and the day we met him I knew we were going to be OK. He had pioneered a process of following the path of the drainage to the lymph nodes by using nuclear medicine. It was injected all around the wound and then images were taken showing it's path. His mole was on his left shoulder so you would think that it would drain to the nodes under his left arm but that was not always the case so to be certain this procedure was done. They removed the sentinel node and a couple close by to test. Only the first node, the sentinel node, the one that stands guard for the others, had any cancer in it and it was just the tip.

The mole itself had been removed in the plastic surgeons office so Jim still had to undergo surgery around the area to remove any potential cancer tissue. Originally they were going to have to take a skin graft from his leg to cover the shoulder wound area. Having worked construction his upper body was very strong and they decided to make about an 8 in incision instead of a smaller one..That would allow them to close the wound without having to do a skin graft, thus preventing possible infection. All of this was 14 years ago and praise God , Jim is still here and still cancer free! After the surgery he went into a study program and was chosen to not have to take any medicines or any treatments and his Melanoma was downgraded to a Stage 3 allowing us to be able to keep our insurance.

I am going to post my layout now and if you click on the pictures you should be able to read the journaling detailing our story.

Fear can be a crippling thing. It can control your life in ways you really don't want. Am I saying I am never afraid or that I never fear anything? Not at all..Me and heights still don't get along very well! LOL But I believe that the Bible is the spoken word of God and it is full of promises for me to lean on. It really is amazing how calm I was through all of that time. Our Oncologist was a Christian and he prayed with us at every visit, every procedure as did his nurses and staff. It doesn't get much better than that kids.. Yep God is good and I have no need to fear.

Here is your list of blogs to visit:

Nana http://www.mypapertreehouse.blogspot.com
Marjolaine http://twelvestonesscrapbooking.blogspot.com/
Vicki - http://mawmawsthoughts.blogspot.com
Carolyn - http://messmuddleandfun.blogspot.com/
Zeni http://www.scrappyzeni.com/
Dolores - http://scrapperinnewyork.blogspot.com/
Tammy- http://www.fromme2upapercrafting.blogspot.com
Wendy http://wendyscrappings.blogspot.com
Christel http://onescrappinsista.blogspot.com

I hope that you can find something along the way in this hop to inspire you, drive you, give you hope..Just know that God is good and relying on Him is the answer to getting through your fears.. Next you will visit Carolyn at http://messmuddleandfun.blogspot.com/.

“IT’S ALL ABOUT CATITUDE” BLOG HOP October 28 & 29

I apologize that the lighting was not good here. This layout is on a really soft baby blue. This is my Grumpette or Grumpy for short. She was the only cat I knew that could growl and purr at the same time. I say "was" because in 2010 at the age of 16 I had to say goodbye to my friend. Devastating to say the least and I cannot think about her even today without tearing up and just sighing at my loss.

My home burned in 1994 and I lost three cats. Again a devastating turn of events. It took months to get the house back together but as soon as I moved back in I was searching for a cat. Not to replace the others but to help fill the void. While shopping at a barn sale I saw a litter of kittens and there she was. Very distant in her approach, careful to not show any emotion or attachment but something drew me to her. Home she came whether she liked it or not and when she saw my three dogs she was NOT impressed! LOL

Please stop back tomorrow so see another layout of my cherished and sadly missed friend. I will tell you more about her Catitude then..thanks for stopping by today, I look forward to your comments tomorrow.

Now, hop on over toYvette L. http://gammascreativecorner.blogspot.com/ and see the beautiful creations she has made for the hop. Please be sure to stop by tomorrow and hop along with us again to see more crafty creations. Remember, to adopt/rescue a little furry feline friend.