Author: robin

Breast Cancer Free!

- robin

It has been a long week. I just cannot seem to get past DRs appointments and tests. My phone just beeped with a reminder about an appointment, NEXT Friday. (It drives me MAD!)

This week I had a diagnostic mammogram. It is an extensive mammogram for people like me. Each year I am nervous as a cat getting breast cancer tests. Being diagnosed twice is enough…The anxiety during this time, is off the charts.

Photo: Nervous cat

During and after my surgeries and treatments….no one ever suggested a Breast Cancer Group to me. I found out recently that that every patient should be informed of “groups” where you can share difficult things that you have in common. I believe that every woman going through this needs someone to talk to. ( I found a DR on my own and went to see her often)

The good news is, I am breast cancer free. The mammograms from this week have been read and I am done for ONE YEAR! (Remission is a happy word) I am happy, but still nervous, not sure the dread will ever go away completely.

The point of sharing all of this is..

  1. Please get your mammogram, for me.
  2. If you know someone who has gone through breast cancer treatment, is going through treatment or just in remission, reach out? It would mean the world to both of you.

I would like to thank the friends who stuck by me and supported me when I was struggling. It meant so much to me then and means the world now.

Have a wonderful day.

Love you beyond the moon.

Me

A Zoom Wedding

- robin

Yesterday, I received a fun text message from one of my favorite cousins. She asked how we were doing and then asked if she could send me an email. (she did not have my address as they were “out of town”…The email was for a zoom meeting…. a zoom wedding!)

I love the idea of a wedding for immediate family and zoom in others. I would have considered it in 1977 if it was available.

Photo: Jami dressed in the ladies room of the Rockwall Courthouse on her wedding day.

Many years ago, I managed a flower shop in Tennessee. When a bride came in, I always sat with her for hours as we prepared her order. I was also the wedding director for the shop. That meant that I would go to rehearsal, then follow up on the delivered flowers and stay for ceremony. Managing a wedding party was not an easy thing then. From watching TV shows now, it looks even worse.

Weddings are very personal and says so much about the bride and groom and their families. I still adore weddings, everything about them. I’m not sure if that is a woman thing, a floral designer thing or just a Robin thing……I love how weddings are unpredictable and filled with joy.

Photo: Lauren’s veil flew away during the ceremony

Larry and I are thrilled to be included today via ZOOM…we cannot wait to experience our first zoom wedding….now what to wear? (JK)

Love you beyond the moon.

Me

Full Circle

- robin

Last night, Larry and I had the pleasure of going to our granddaughter Matilda’s first band concert. We travel about an hour to where Matilda lives….and it was simply a beautiful day and drive to North Texas.

Photo: Matilda and clarinet

We had wonderful seats for the concert and how amazing it was to be sitting there as these middle school kiddos performed.

My mind kept going back to our daughters first concerts. Lauren played the trumpet and Jamison played the clarinet like Matilda does. My parents, Lauren and Jamison’s grandparents always came to their concerts, just like Larry and I did last night. I almost felt them there with us.

It was the most amazing full circle moment for me….and I loved every moment of it. Good job Matilda. You are awesome.

Love you beyond the moon.

Me

The Slippers

- robin

A few months ago, I purged clothing from my closets. I purged old things then. Now I am purging the good things that I do not need any longer. This sad. There are dresses from Horchow/ Neimans and vintage-like coats that I made (oh the 3/4 length sleeves!) There is quite a pile of goodies on the guest room bed.

The UGG slippers that Larry gave me 10 years ago are on top of the pile. Of course they are in bad, bad shape but someone will love them. I know that I do.

Photo: The old UGG slippers

If you know me at all, you know that I love poems….look what I found! An Ode To Slippers!

They wait patiently beside my bed
Agreeable twin sentries, ready for duty.
They know me so well – the darkened imprint of heels and each toe worn into the
balding fleece.
They are the first thing my feet search for in the morning,
Grounding and protection for my midnight shuffles to the loo.
They are the comfort I seek when I return from the day’s labors,
The ones I turn to as I cast off heels, polished leather, buckles and laces.
They carry the stains and flaws of familiarity- a splash of iced coffee, a drip of
toothpaste,
The teething marks of a puppy now grown.
They have logged hundreds of miles but rarely leave home, these slippers of mine.
Once I forgot and wore them to choir practice.
I sang well that night.

by Margaret Faeth

Thank goodness my favorite granddaughter Matilda, gave me a new pair of slippers.

Photo: Vionic slippers!

The new slippers are now out of their cozy box. I wonder what adventures I will share with them?

Love you beyond the moon.

Me.

A Hitch Night

- robin

One summer a long time ago, our teenage daughters wanted to watch “blood and guts” movies at the movie theater. Larry and I did not agree with the vibe of those movies so we implemented the Hitchcock Summer. (1994-ish)

They had never seen a Hitchcock movie before then. Each week for the entire summer, Larry and I introduced them to a new Hitchcock movie and they loved it. They still talk about the movies of that summer and what was their favorite.

Fast forward to 2022….at the Angelika Movie Theater, every October they have “Hitch” movies all month! We went last year and loved it and made sure we had tickets for this year.

Photo: Hitchcock Movies

Last night, Larry and I went to see our favorite Hitch movie. ROPE! The theater was full and the movie was wonderful. They have colorized the movie beautifully. It was only 1 hours and 20 min long but I did not mind as it was wonderful to see it on the big screen. PS: Jimmy Stewart was perfection!

We had such a lovely evening being together, seeing one of our favorite movies and reminiscing about our daughters. Time goes by so fast….enjoy the moments of your day today.

Love you beyond the moon.

Me

A Spectacular Day

- robin

Yesterday was a spectacular day. I did laundry in the morning while worked at the sewing machine and made a new jumper. Larry was super busy with one of his accounts at work but after he caught up, it was past lunch, when we met to take a break.

We walked around the lake. It had been cloudy all day and sprinkled when we were walking. It felt special.

Photo: Bob Woodruff Lake

The summer has been long and very hot. The lake is low and the grasses are almost all dead. BUT, there was something calming and beautiful about it. We walked two miles.

Larry and I had not walked around the lake for many months. (but sometimes during the summer, would take a picnic to the park and eat in the car as the temps were 101 and higher)

Yesterday, our old friend Mr Heron was there. The low water has not stopped him from trying to find his dinner. I took the photo of him on my phone.

Photo: Mr Heron

The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae with 64 recognized species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. But This guy is still Mr Heron to me.

After our walk, we came home. Larry went back to work and I made a meatloaf for dinner.

Laundry done, a walk around the lake and comfort food for dinner. It was a spectacular day for sure.

Love you beyond the moon.

Me

Just Call Me Pam

- robin

A few weeks ago, Larry and I met a new person. He called us by name a few times during the day and then later, saying goodbye he used our names. A few days later, when seeing this gentleman, he used Larry’s name but called me Pam.

I forget a lot of things now and understand how difficult remembering names can be. I don’t really want to call him out on the Pam thing and find myself unsure how to handle this.

I think that I am going to just let him call me Pam. What would YOU do?

Love you beyond the moon.

Me

TEAM BELIEVE

- robin

Team Believe is ten years old and has gathered many members over the past years. Team believe has walked 100’s of miles in PINK walks, quarter marathons and has also auctioned off paintings and raffled quilts. It has been my honor to be part of TEAM BELIEVE.

I am alone this year in TEAM BELIEVE, but Larry is by my side…and look what he got for me.

Photo: Front of TEAM BELIEVE shirt
Photo: Back of TEAM BELIEVE shirt

He had my design made into a 2022 baseball shirt. I have it on today and plan to wear it to all of my oncology appointments this month.

Please schedule your mammogram? AND if you have any questions or need support of any kind, please contact me? Email me at………[email protected]

Many, many TV stations show mammograms and how easy they are….they never show what it is like to get bad news from your mammogram. I know what that is like and I am here if you have questions, need support or names of my favorite DRs.

Early detection can save your life.

Love you beyond the moon.

Me

Where Is Robin?

- robin

In 1995, when active in the Quilters Guild Of Plano, I hand pieced this robin bird out of fabric, It was my name tag for the meetings. Of course this photo is a lot larger than the real thing. I hand beaded the fabric and backed it with a huge pin so I could pin it on whatever I was wearing.

Photo: My name tag for Quilters Guild. Hand made by robin

After Mother passed away later that year, (1995) I lost interest in a few things including quilting and managed to get on with an edited version of my wonderful life.

So, here I am many years later and the extreme experiences that were life changing are behind me. I have re-joined the Quilters Guild again. My quilting project for this year is started and I have about a dozen hand pieced blocks complete. The next quilters guild meeting is Thursday, with one small problem. I cannot find my Robin name tag. I know that I would not have thrown it away or donated it…. Where Is Robin?

It is ironic in many ways that the name tag is missing. That Robin is long gone. Sometimes I feel jaded and a completely like a different person from the person who wore that sweet name tag. I have learned that I must follow my own heart, Let friends go away gracefully because if they really cared, they would not go, Be my own health advocate, Read a devotional every day, Kiss my husband a lot, say I love you often to the people I care about, be completely honest with myself about everything and here is the important one….always, ALWAYS make my bed each morning.

I might have lost the old Robin a long time ago. The good news is, I have found a brand new one and she is doing great.

Love you beyond the moon.

Me

Howdy Folks~ The Secret Day

- robin
Photo: Matilda and Robin with Big Tex

Yesterday, Larry and I took Matilda to the Texas State Fair. (she took a secret day off from school! with US!) Matilda had never been to the fair before and had the best time experiencing it all. Do you know that Big Tex talks? He usually says HOWDY FOLKS in a big deep voice…..and you can also have him wish happy birthday and things like that.

Photo: The Chainsaw wood carver

Matilda rode many rides and played a zillion games….but I think that her favorite exhibit was the chainsaw wood-carver. It was a great show and the carver carved this rooster in about 45 min. He was awesome! (And has wonderful carvings to buy.)

My favorite ride is The Texas Star. We did not ride it, because the line was 2 miles long. Maybe next time?

Photo: The Texas Star

But…Matilda rode lots of rides and had a tummy ache after the last one. Then we went to the Creative ARTs building to recover and be inspired by all of the amazing entries! Matilda and I are going to enter something next year. I’m looking forward to that.

Photo: Matilda with her Big Tex glass

We did not eat any food at the fair, all she wanted was a soda in this Big Tex glass….crazy isn’t it? The food at the fair is sooooo good! But Matilda wanted to to go PF Changs for dinner. AND because it was her day, that is exactly what we did.

Matilda had two California rolls for dinner! She loves sushi and we had a good visit over dinner.

She also loves her Grandfather.

Photo: Matilda and her Grandfather

These two had the best time at the fair and I love this picture. Two of my favorite people in the world.

I hope that next year we can go to the fair again. The Texas State Fair is a wonderful experience.

Love you beyond the moon.

Me