You Wanted To Know ... Part 2

(I apologise for this being such a long post! But it's your fault for asking so many questions. hehe)

Continuing with the questions you all asked me here and in email. Thanks again everyone for your thought-provoking questions. This was going to be a onetime segment but I quite enjoyed it. Perhaps I'll do it again. Feel free to send me questions via email if you have any questions before I bring up another post asking for questions. Be sure to mention in your email that it's a question for my "Ask Me"/"You Wanted To Know" Segments, otherwise I might answer you right away, but I'd rather keep you in suspense.

And here we go!

Questions Following Part 1:

April asked: What kind of cancer did your husband have and how did he know something was wrong?

Bear had Lyposarcoma. Cancer of the Fat Cells. He really did not know anything was wrong. He had a lump on his chest that was there for as long as we can remember. It was diagnosed as a lump of fat. Nothing to worry about. It began to grow and become bothersome, so he decided to have it removed. I can't help but wonder if he had it removed before (he could have, he decided not to because it wasn't bothering him and it wasn't that big at the time. By the time he had it removed it was bigger than my fist. I have a photo to prove it) At the time of his surgery, we still had no idea. We thought he was just having a lump of fat removed. It was after the surgery, when they sent it for routine biopsy/testing, that they discovered there was lyposarcoma. You can read the entire story on our cancer blog. The very first or second post has the timeline up to when he was admitted into the hospital in October.

April also asked: Do you have faith in a "higher power" that you can lean on that helps you get through?

Truth be told, the answer to this question is no. I don't. I'm struggling. I'm trying to find this higher power and this faith. I haven't found it yet, but I'm looking for it. I'm seeking for my place in this spiritual world, and hoping I can find it. I want it, I often crave it, I know I need it. Perhaps I'm not really ready for it. Perhaps I'm just blind and it's staring me in the face.

Questions Related To or For Emma:

YaYa asked: Does Emma have a crush on Max?

Emma answered: "Max is adorable. But Buddy lives right next door which makes smooching a little easier. Would be easier if Buddy's humans didn't have him on a chain!" Ter says: "Well if Buddy didn't risk his life running out of his yard and down the street, maybe his humans wouldn't chain him up!" (Seriously, folks, he's gotten so big, he can jump over the fence now. [Emma probably could too but she doesn't]. In fact, yesterday I went outside for a few minutes and the little boy next door told me that Buddy jumped into our yard to play with Emma earlier. I didn't see that, I bet Emma loved it!)

Jenners asked: For Emma: Why do dogs always take up so much room on the bed? Do you expand to double your size during the night?

Emma answered: The real question is why do humans take up all the room on the bed? Don't they know that we dogs are the real masters of the household? They think we don't listen to them, but the truth is they are not listening to us!

Sarah asked : Emma: woof woof, woooff?

Emma answered: woof woof woof grruff. Learn the language, Sarah, we'll get along much better that way.

Caitlin asked: Where did Emma get her name? It's such a cute name!

You can read more about Emma's story, including how we picked out her name in this post. You can also see all the posts about Emma by clicking her name here or in the archives.

Vickie asked: What type of dog is Emma?

We were told that Emma is a German Shepard Cross, but we have had many people speculate that the Shepard in her is not a German Shepard. What she's crossed with, we don't know. She is short in comparison to a German Shepard. One thought is Chow because of her black tongue. She looks big in her photos and while she's no purse dog, she's certainly not the biggest dog. I hope one day to get a DNA test on her. I saw an article about how to do that in the paper a few months before we got her. I sure wish I saved that article!

Random Questions:

Emily asked: What was your favorite toy growing up?
... and then Vickie asked: Did you have a cabbage patch when you were a kid?

Why, yes, Vickie, how did you know? My favorite toys were definitely my cabbage patch kids and really, any dolls. I wanted to be a mommy for as long as I can remember.

Susanne (blonde) Gisella (redhead)
and Darcie (the premie)

Gisella's my original cabbage patch kid. Susanne is technically my brother's cabbage patch kid, but I doubt he'll admit that now. I'm surprised he didn't get a boy one. Darcie's my premie who's original name was Dulsie.

YaYa Asked: What is your favorite color?

Lately it seems to be Brown. I like how it looks paired up with various colors.

YaYa Asked: What gets you through each day?

My pup, my friends who live in my computer. Oxygen. oh and a can (or 6) of coke.

Tina asked: What do you do for fun?

Lately, blogging, playing wordtwist and lexulous, watching movies, reading. I still work on my photography but not as much, but that will increase as the weather improves.

Emily asked: If you had unlimited time and money where would you travel?

I've always wanted to go to Australia

Jenners asked: What are your favorite books of all time?

Gosh, that's a hard question. I don't really know the answer to this. I just know I like to read!

Sarah asked: how do you really feel about my big butt?

Sarah has a memory problem. It was MY big butt that was the conversational topic a while back. Back story: Sarah and I met online in 2005 (or early 2006?) . She is a fellow bereaved parent. Her daughter passed away a few months after mine. We live only 3 hours away and we finally, and I mean FINALLY, met in person in February 2009. We got some photos taken together and I had a bag next to me and at first glance I thought my butt had expanded until I realized I was looking at my bag, and not my butt. lol. I'd post the picture but I'm not sure if I have Sarah's permission, and not to mention my butt's.

Sarah also asked a million other questions:
....your fave author?

Again, that's a hard question, but I would say probably Nicholas Sparks, Richard Paul Evans. I'm always finding more books and authors that I like, and it changes constantly.

....your most embarrassing moment?

Gosh, they are all embarrassing. Just how embarrassing must it be for me to answer this question?

Well, it's hard to think off hand but one moment I do remember is back in Junior High school... it was after classes were done for the day and my friend was way down the hall and I went to run up to her and I guess the floor was a bit slippery and I went sliding and landed right in the locker! Pretty embarrassing. I'm glad classes were done for the day so there weren't many witnesses!

.... your fave place you have ever been to?

I haven't really been to many places (vacation wise) , so I'll give you the sentimental answer. My favorite places have always been when I'm with my family. Really, home is my favorite place.

Caitlin asked: How did you lose your hearing?

I was born this way as a result of maternal rubella. I have considered doing a post about my hearing loss and if enough of you are interested, I'll be glad to do this post soon.

Caitlin also asked: What's your favorite go-to recipe?

Gosh, another one of those questions where I can't come up with just one answer. My husband and I loved to cook together and make good meals. We were always trying new recipes. This is one of the hardest things right now, I still love to eat but it hurts too much and feels like too much trouble to be cooking for one. However, I think if you look in my archives at my Menu Plans or recipes you'll see reoccurring recipes.


Whew. I think I answered all the questions. If I missed one, then just send me an email as I mentioned at the top of this post.

Thanks again everyone!