Since our son Ryan had his life-saving Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant on this day 21 years ago, we consider it a birthday of sorts. Yes, we celebrate on August 16, his birthday, but Ryan’s “other” birthday (today) with a new marrow that manifested in Ryan’s body in less than 100 days between November 3, 2004, and March 1, 2005, is also celebrated. We are still grateful for the selfless act of Scott Harris of New Jersey, donating his bone marrow and a lot of his A+ blood for

My quilt guild, the Southern Comforters of Bowie, Maryland, was at it again with programming. And, in the process , I Won a Movie Night Raffle Basket! I also secured items for a huge food basket for the basket raffle with the help of my Just Sew Bee 🐝 mates, and Jane McKinley. Yesterday, my guild hosted a Quilters Showcase event, including our guild challenge, a robust handcrafted boutique, our raffle quilt, and raffle basket prizes. Since we do not host an annual quilt sho

Taking Care of Business - Last HS Soccer Games with The Lady in the Soccer Suit - Done! Queue the Bachman-Turner Overdrive song, Taking Care of Business …Every Day! Ha! Our house was a buzz of activity yesterday, as we had technicians from HVAC and plumbing taking care of business. We even got a new toilet in the primary bedroom for taking care of our “other daily business, ahem!” Another pleasure is receiving a paycheck with a T-shirt quilt pickup - always a good way to tak

This is Part 2 of yesterday's post, Part 1, on learning to quilt. Before diving into that, I'd like to share that I learned to crochet in 1976, the USA's bicentennial year. This was my mom's solution instead of my desire to learn to quilt and produce a quilted flag for my 8th-grade project in Social Studies. The bicentennial year of 1976 was a significant milestone in our country's history, celebrating its democracy. and a big deal. And while my mom taught me to crochet (not

Besides writing, quilting is one of my life’s passions! I started quilting in 1987 and never looked back. Fall in Ohio, with crisp days and long black shadows, seemed the perfect time to learn what I’ve always wanted to do: quilt. With Hubby Bill working long hours in accounting, and me working a 9-5 job for the state of Ohio, and training for marathons (no kids yet), I decided to dip my toe into the world of art in quilting, and have loved this choice for myself for over 38

It was great sitting in my hot seat to finish Part 2 of Ohio in October and the writing of the HOF dinner last Friday at Bowling Green State University. I still have one or two other posts from that weekend that I will get to soon. But today is a milestone day! It's been 29 years since our son Ryan Tomoff was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) - Pre B cell with Central Nervous System (CNS) involvement. Ryan was two years and two months old. Olivia was 4 years

Running Into the Past at Bowling Green State University When the invitation went out a couple of months ago for Bowling Green State University’s Athletic Hall of Fame Dinner and Awards Night, I was all in. Hubby Bill was also interested — a rarity since his blood runs green as an Ohio University Bobcat alum, not orange like a BGSU Falcon! But due to other priorities, Bill couldn’t make the trip, and I, along with several teammates from my era, turned it into a girls’ getaway.

Ohio in October: Six Days, Countless Blessings My mind is overflowing with gratitude for six days on the road last week, where I’ve had the chance to visit many wonderful people — a college roommate on Kelleys Island, Cross-Country teammates in Bowling Green (including two Olympic Gold Medalists!) for a Hall of Fame Event, and family and friends in Cleveland with catch ups and dinners out. It was a great solo trip to the Midwest, and my heart feels both full and rested. Somet

Not only is the story of this town from 1699 to 1780 and the beginnings of a revolution to start a new country, but I’m also intrigued by...

A great respite from reliving parts of our lives and a cancer-fighting family, as I articulated during September's Childhood Cancer...