So.. a year ago today, I tried to carry on in "business as usual mode" as best I could. I was in limbo. Waiting for the radiology reports to be written. Waiting for a call back from the surgeon's office. Waiting for an uncertain future. These earliest days are the hardest part of the cancer journey. So much uncertainty. As a physician, I am all too familiar with this. So, I didn't tell. Very much not my normal nature, but I didn't want to scare everyone unnecessarily. I did tell a small group of online friends (hi pukesters), which includes one of the gang at my local scrapbook store, so they knew as well. Otherwise, it was just my husband and my sister.

Looking back, I wonder how I got through that day. No answers. No plan. No nothing. Just the knowledge that I had breast cancer. No idea if it had spread beyond the breast. No idea if that nagging pain in my hip was metastatic disease of just the result of having started a new exercise program a few weeks prior. Just an all around lousy time.
It was a Wednesday. I usually spent the third Wednesday of every month at my local scrapbooking store, Scrapbooking Moments in Time (SMIT) in Bound Brook, NJ. Dana had forwarned Pat, so it was a totally shock when I mentioned this in passing. Having the store as a place to go, a place made special by the people inside, gave me, once again, the escape I needed.
But, I can't go there today. As a result of the recent storm, it was under 6 feet of water, along with the rest of Main Street. There are photos at this link. SMIT is a special place. It's like Cheers, a place where everyone knows your name. It's only been a few days, but I already miss being able to pop in. So to Pat, Dana, and the gang.... you are in our thoughts and prayers!

In their honor, I thought it was time to share a little scrapbooking here again. :) Can't share my newest Boxer stuff until it's posted on their website, but I can start with the new papers from my other design team work, Scribble Scrabble. The third one is with papers from Sweetwater Express, but features my nephew, Marco, one of the most content babies I have ever seen.