Blah, Blah, Blog: Summer Pickles

I think about this cancer all the time. Sometimes I wish I had an answer as to why I got this cancer. I know I didn't cause the cancer. All the good psychotherapists tell you, you didnt cause this to happen." Nobody is that good, they say. And yet, what could I have done differently? That is a really slippery slope. I wont go there. I dont go there. Honestly, though, I go there. What should I have done? Theres a lot riding on this. My husband, my daughter, my son....I dont know if I would change the experiences of this last year. Certainly, I would change the cancer to something more exotic, more curable. But I have learned more about myself, more about my family and my friends, I have learned that I am surrounded by wonderful people, people that have helped me and my family and shown me true, true love. It has been a humbling and glorious experience. I am a blessed and lucky woman. I choose to view this as a journey, as a chance to make changes in my life. I am so thankful. I almost died last year. Sometimes that reality comes into focus and I think, "I have today!" I am thankful for each day. I still get mad at my kids and impatient with the dogs. I forgot Tuesdays are trash and Wednesday recycling. Laundry piles up, bills need to be paid, errands to be run and the dishwasher emptied. But those are the days I get, days I might have missed. So the frustrations of my life before cancer are vague memories. The frustrations of life today are just that, frustrations that happen and are gone. I dont hold on to anything negative anymore. That is the optimist in me. I choose to hold on to the positive things that happen, and if they happen to be negative, I do my damndest to make them positive - and I am usually successful.I feel an increasing sense of peace regarding my diagnosis and my future - mostly because I dont know what that future holds! We are born and we die, we dont get a choice in either. I feel prepared for whatever happens because I have had such a wonderful life until this day.At our house we say, It is what it is, we can't change yesterday, we don't know what tomorrow will bring, so we have today. I say that to myself every morning and every morning I choose to live. I know is may seem simplistic or maybe too goody, goody, but I just dont want to live any other way. I just dont want to waste any of my days being depressed or sad. I hope for many more years, but I will just take what I get, what each day brings me.The reason for all these musings is that I woke up today, took the dogs for our walk, and saw the beauty of the day, felt the warmth of the sun and realized, I am O.K., I am O.K. I am starting to let go, I can move forward. It is going to be alright.Always hopeful....MaggieSee full article here (link)



Can you guess what these are?If you guessed that they are weapons of mass destruction, my kids would say you are right.However they are actually a cucumber, a variety known as Lemon Cucumber. Frankly, your belching issues are your own.By the end of the summer, when we have had it up to here with cucumbers, and so have all our neighbors and friends who have been “gifted” A girl can only eat so many cucumber salads.But I do make good pickles. Julie’s Pickle Recipe, for normal or odd cucumbers. cup white sugar1 tsp celery seed¼ onion, chopped or sliced in rings4 cups cucumbersMix first 5 ingredients together well, until sugar is dissolved. Pour over cucumbers and onions in a bowl. Ya dig?(Some notes: slice the onions and cucumbers in whatever shape you want –
See full article here (link)