Not An Option

Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes!
I've been a very busy girl of late,
between my 3 girls being off from school
and me finally going back to work.
I took a 5 month medical leave because of Ryan's illness
and then 2 more months for a mental health leave for me,
as you could tell, blogging/scrapping was few and far between.
These past months have been very hard,
emotionally and physically for my entire family.
But for me personally, even after Ryan
got a clean bill of health from her doctors,
I still felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders.
I thought I should be happy that this chapter (once again)
was behind us, but I couldn't climb out of the funk.
It's almost as if I was going through some sort of a
post-traumatic stress disorder
People have said to me, "I don't know how you did it."
(meaning how did I get through Ryan's two cancer diagnoses)
Oh, how would I have loved to curl up in a ball
in the fetal position on my bed and just cry
until my pillow was soaked and my tears were dry.
But that is not an option.
Ryan has had a wonderful 3 months of no checkups,
no shots, no chemotherapy and no hospital stays.
She has had a fun-filled 3 months of hanging out with friends,
starring in her high school's musical, visiting colleges,
shopping for a spring wardrobe and cruising to the Carribean.
On Thursday, we again head to Mount Sinai Hospital
to have her 3 month scans to make sure this monster
once again stays away from my girl for the rest of her life
so she can live the life we have always dreamt for her.
I ask for your prayers, because I feel like you know my girl
and only want for her what you want for your own.
Please pray with us for clear scans because anything else
is not an option.



Now onto scrapping...
I made a page:
without a deadline,
without an assignment due and
without a photo.
Well, I added the photo after I conceived the page in my head.
Two weekends ago, #3 was invited to a movie/sleepover party,
and was more than excited to go.
But as luck would have it, she got sick that Saturday
and by nightfall she had a fever and that's when the title hit me.
Saturday Night Fever! :)
And as luck would have it again, she got sick again yesterday
and I snapped a photo of her while I took her temperature.
Poor little Erin :(
(So then I had to add the little mercury bead
on the exclamation point for the title to mimic a thermometer):



Hope you all have a great day and thanks in advance for the prayers,
Jody

Happy Easter!

From my family...to yours!
-Jody

Busy, Busy, Busy!

The Best Things

Happy Friday to you all!
My daughter Ryan had her play last night,
I bought 20 tickets for family and friends
to come cheer her on and that we did!
The best thing was seeing her up onstage, glowing.



She had dreamt of this night forever.
And sometimes, that dream
was the only thing that kept her going
while in treatment last year.
You could say many happy tears were shed
by many people who love her last night :*)



There is no feeling like seeing your child
loving what they are doing and knowing
that they were born to do just that
at that exact moment in time.
I could feel her adrenaline, her excitement
and her happiness from my seat in the audience.
From the depths of the sadness of last year,
she rose and sang like an angel
and I wept with joy for her.
And I screamed like a proud Mother for her:



Now onto scrapping,
I wanted to scrap the photo I had taken of #2
in her Thing costume from her play "Seussical"
and the Gladys Knight and the Pips song,
"You're The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me"
would stick in my head everytime I saw her photo.
Over at the October Afternoon blog,
the awesome Vivian Masket posted a simple sketch,
and well...simple is my middle name:



And I leave you with a quote that I love...
"The best and most beautiful things in the world
cannot be seen or even touched -
they must be felt with the heart."
-Helen Keller

Have a great weekend!-
Jody

Im(Perfect)

I am back today with a quick share
of my layout for the April gallery
over at http://www.writeclickscrapbook.com/
The theme of this month was to scrap
the Im(Perfect) photos that we all have.
This photo was of Erin, taken over 10 years ago.
Back then, I had a regular digital camera,
but for my hospital stay,
I chose to bring a disposable camera (!)
I think those cameras should be outlawed.
I cringe at the glaringly bad, too much light,
not enough light or blurry moments that
were captured by those craptastic cameras.
Grrrr.
Anyhow, I took the photo and literally edited it
within an inch of its life.
I lightened it,
I darkened it,
I sharpened it
and I saturated it.
Until I got it to this state.
And there is no edit button on the planet
to magically make a 10+ year old picture uncrop.
:(



As I wrote last week,
I am still busy editing the 1,500+ rehearsal photos
from my kid's drama production "Seussical".
So what do I do, but snap 250 more photos
from the actual show nights.
What was I thinking???
It was such a great show
and now we wait for Ryan's show "Guys and Dolls"this weekend!
We are excited beyond words for this one!
There has been a dry spell in between lead roles for her.
The last time was in her 4th grade musical,
so it has been a good 8 years that she has been waiting
for her turn in the spotlight.
After all she has been through,
I just know she will shine,
because she has the voice of an angel :)
She recently was the singer, Ke$ha,
store-bought disheveled blonde wig and all,
for her schools "Senior Skit Night"
and was perfect in the part:



I'll be back soon!
-Jody