Thursday, September 13, 2018

TIME FLIES - WHEN YOU ARE HAVING FUN


It is hard to believe that four years have whizzed by since I last posted.  
They have been a Gift from God, in my mind.  

In August of 2014, I was diagnosed with angiosarcoma which 
is a rare blood vessel cancer, that occurred after
radiation on my left breast following
a lumpectomy in 2007.

We were sent to Brigham & Women's Hospital/Dana Farber
in Boston, in November, 2014 for a second opinion.
Their recommendation was the removal of all radiated skin.
The expectation was that if I consented, 
I would have a normal life expectancy.
Praise the Lord, it has given me four precious years.
We have been living them to the fullest, 
and thank God for every quality day of our lives.



One of the exciting things I have been doing in the last fifteen months,
is writing my memoirs,
GRANDMA RITA REMEMBERS 

My daughter, Kathy, gave this opportunity to me as a 
Mother's Day gift in 2017.
Each week, Storyworth.com
sent me a question as a story prompt.
I was free to answer their question, or create a story of my
own choosing.  I did some of both.  Their questions got me started
and then when I was impatient for their next question, I would
create my own story.  For example, I decided to include:
OUR FAVORITE FAMILY RECIPES which consumes
thirty pages including some collage photos of the real special items.
I have included an image of Bing Crosby's letter
thanking Mom for sending him, his Mother's recipe that Mom
cut out of a magazine in the 1940's for
Corned Beef Patties.

The published book arrived this week.
Even though I wrote it, and know every word in it,
I cannot put it down.  I am so thrilled to see it in print.
I did not keep track of the hours I spent at my computer, 
writing, editing and rewriting
 to fit the page limit of 480 pages,
but I do know that it took over my free time, 
cut out my Quilting hobby, and kept me up
til all hours of the night when I was on a writing roll.

It has been just as exciting as making a quilt.
Less costly from the standpoint of a year's subscription for this online
experience is only $79.00, 
versus the price of quilting fabric
beginning in the range of $10 to 12 a yard these days.  
The last time I purchased fabrics for a quilt, 
I spent close to $100, for the fabric,
and another $125 to have it machine quilted.

Mixed in with the joy of writing the above book,
has been the fun of joining an on-line photo club.
It is another subscription deal that costs $79.00 per year.
www.pixoto.com/ritagoebert 
is my site.
I have entered over 600 of my photographs in competitions and challenges,
ranging from Nature; People; Places; Things.
Many of my photos were taken during the 30th Wedding Anniversary 
which was chronicled here.
Since I take pictures almost daily, I have something new to 
enter whenever the topic presents itself.
I have also been known to go out and take pictures
to fit the Challenge.
To date, I have received 800 awards, with Nature
being one of my most successful catagories.




It feels good to be back on BlogSpot.  Please give me some feedback, 
so I will know if it is worth the time to post here.
As you may have guessed, I am experiencing 
"Withdrawal Symptoms" after
the writing of my book,
and this is the closest to it that I have.

Rita
ic