Round 56 I became so frustrated with the long double crochets that I tossed the mandala in a basket and left it for a few days. I finished the round with a few more curse words and went on to Round 57 which tidied up Round 56. It is now 45 inches around.

Beware, Tami, if you’re stitches are tight it will curl some. Helen Shrimpton did note that it will be wavy.  Mine is on one side but not so much on the other once I got my groove. And the good news is there are no special stitches in Round 9. Just lots of front or back post stitches.
And our work will be wobbly again in this section…
She said, “don’t worry, it’s all part of the grand design ”

I introduced lavender, purple and baby blue this round. Although in the camera lighting the purple looks like black. I was ready for new colors. My lilacs are blooming so I decided to give them a place in this journey, the sky was a lovely shade of blue without a cloud in it on the day I began that round. The deep purple represents the lovely flags on the irises. I love the spring time blooms.

I’ve been working on my short story Death and I. My short story is fascinating thus far because I have it from the woman’s point of view and from Thanatos point of view. The story has evolved into two stories, not one. I worked on it for 15 minutes today, Theresa. This writing to be more productive challenge will be an eye opener for me, it’s been quite a while sine I’ve sat 90 minutes straight without interruption. I know I need too. There are too many things distractions and my writing is suffering dearly. I don’t think I managed to get 5 hours out of the whole week. 😦   But, excuses are like assholes, we all have them.

“We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”
—Ernest Hemingway

“The road to hell is paved with works-in-progress.”
—Philip Roth

So, this morning I finished the baby hat I needed to get done for a friend of mine to go with the baby afghan I did back in March. I totally spaced the hat out. I saw her on Friday at the Cancer Recognition Luncheon and she asked if it was done. The afghan yes, the hat…oops. Needless to say, I whipped that hat up. I had put the blanket in the closet on the shelf because we had company in April visiting and out of sight out of mind.

Thank goodness, I’m not using baby pink in my Mandala, I am so over that color. I’ve done 3 baby blankets for new Mommas and of course, they were all girls. I’m not a fan of pink but that is the color they wanted. Need to keep the customers happy. 🙂

Friday, was a fun day I attended a luncheon with 38 other Cancer survivors, we were being honored by the local Teacher’s Union. Mastori’s, a local restaurant, catered the lunch and the food was excellent.

It was awesome to connect with other cancer survivors and to hear their stories. We’re beating the cancer odds more and more each year. Early detection is crucial, don’t ever neglect your self-exams.  You know your body better than anyone, talk to your doctor if anything feels wrong to you. It can be the difference between life and death.

I wore a dress, totally out of character for me. The funny part of the dress thing was I rubbed my leg and realized oh shit, totally forgot to shave my legs. Thank goodness, it had only been a few days since I had. 😦

I’m a jeans girl and shaving my legs isn’t a priority. to me.

No worries, my health is fine. I’m a three-time cancer survivor and it’s been 10 years since my last round of cancer. 🙂

I’m simply sporting my summer do, I don’t like sticky hair when I’m working outside so I cut it right off.  I discovered after chemo how easy it is to shower and go and it’s become a summer routine. Though this year, I did decide to go really short. What can I say, hair today, hair tomorrow… it grows back very quickly so by July I’ll be back to needing gel and a straightener because of the unwanted curls.