Fuck Cancer!

Cancer - she's a bitch, I dislike her greatly to the point of hatred and I really don't "hate" a lot of things.  Sometimes she comes, sometimes she goes and sometimes she stays and wears out her welcome, eats all your food, fucks up your house and irreparably trashes your life.

Too many people I have known and loved have been effected by cancer, some have only been visited, others have taken it on as a short term lifelong companion.

All I can do is hope that peace will come to those left behind knowing that their loved ones are in a better place.

My friend Judy lost her mother yesterday to the bitch named cancer.  By the time it was discovered, there was nothing that could be done.  She was able to spend the last few months with her mom, having moved in with her.

Lena was one of those women you meet and never forget.  One of the sweetest most caring individuals I've had the opportunity to know.  And, she gave great hugs, the kind you imagine a mom would give.  The kind that make you feel loved and protected and cared about.  Judy is a very lucky women to have had her as a mom.

I don't believe that those that leave us suffer any longer, its those that are left behind.  It's just so hard to say good by rather than, "until next time".  Its easy to leave a friends or loved ones house when you know you'll see them again.  If you knew it would be the last time, you'd linger in the doorway for as long as possible getting those last hugs and last thoughts out.

I hope my friend Judy and her family can find peace and heal.  I could not be more sorry for her loss as I know what a unique woman her mom was.

Peace and healing. In time.

Rest peacefully Lena.

Update: Kitchen

Ok, its been a while since I said I'd finish up the kitchen and post a pic.

The kitchen has been done for a while but I was waiting to take pictures when it was clean. I decided that was an impossibility because never, ever is the kitchen entirely clean. I was also kind of hoping a shiny new camera would appear out of nowhere and my blog photos would be that much more interesting.  Yeah, that didn't happen either.

Without further ado, here is is, mostly finished.

Cloth panels attached with Velcro so they can come down to be washed.

The picture is fuzzy but the shelves are full of usable stuff for baking.  I need to get the power strip attached to the wall but other than that and this side is done.

Change Microwave Location (and yes, that is a VERY large bottle of Vodka - its a little  gross, so I'm slowly using it to make Vanilla)

The first day this was up on the wall it had a deeper shelf for the microwave to sit on.  It was awesome, got it out of the way but was also at grownup only height.  The girls have a step stool that allowed them to reach it just fine, but because it was still slightly too high, I was afraid that the littlest one would pull the whole thing down trying to open the door.  Aside from that, they were using the shelf itself to pull themselves up to the microwave and I just saw that being a massive future disaster.  I sill need some baskets & containers for this side to store things in.

Where the Microwave Landed

This is the new location of the microwave, kids definitely can't pull it down on their heads but it's still out of the way since this was an area of counter that didn't get used for much but stacking mail and paperwork on.  I'll probably change the shelves so the cereal shelf is just above the microwave and get more bins/baskets/containers to store things on the shelves above.  As you can see, always some last stronghold of crap that needs to be cleaned up.  Namely, my pile of crap that I'm "working on". The project in the cardboard box will be posted soon.

It may not be perfect, or my dream kitchen but it's an economical fix to make a functional space.  All I have to do is look back at the before, smile and know that it's a huge improvement.

PS: a shiny new camera has shown up out of nowhere and as soon as I figure it out, pics will be THAT much better :)