A couple of weeks ago marked 14 years since my last radiation treatment for breast cancer. Praise the Lord, I'm still here. Back then, we had 3 teenagers (well, 1 was a preteen). There was a point when I wondered if I'd get to see any of them grow up, much less get married or have kids. Thankfully, I've been able to watch all 3 of them finish school, get married and have babies. I now have 14 grandchildren (some were bonus babies) and two more on the way. I am blessed.

I cannot tell you how glad I am to still be here! I don't get around to Xanga much anymore since getting on Facebook, but there are times when I still want and need my Xanga.

Here's a recipe for pineapple upside-down cake from scratch. This one also comes from my old USDA Homemaker's Cookbook - it's probably my favorite cookbook in my house because so many of the recipes are super easy and good. The cookbook also suggests using peaches or apricots in place of the pineapple. I haven't tried those yet.

PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

• 5 Tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 6 drained pineapple rings (or 1 cup drained chunks)
• 6 maraschino cherries, halved (optional)
• 12 pecan or walnut halves
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1¼ teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup milk

Melt 2 Tablespoons of butter in a 9-inch round or 8-inch square cake pan over low heat. Sprinkle brown sugar over butter. Arrange fruit and nuts in sugar mixture. In a small mixing bown, mix 3 Tablespoons of softened butter with granulated sugar. Add egg and beat until creamy. Add vanilla. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt thoroughly. Add to sugar mixture alternately with milk. Spread batter evenly over the fruit. Bake at 350° F (moderate oven) 30 to 40 minutes. Loosen cake from sides of pan and invert on serving plate. Allow to cool 5 minutes before removing the pan.

Seriously considering returning to Xanga on a regular basis. Facebook is just making too many changes for my comfort level. One of the reasons I left Xanga was I was spending too much time here trying to keep up with my friends posts. I had originally gotten mad at Xanga because they made changes that afforded non-paying members benefits I got from being paying member, but then they have also added things to help me keep up with my most favorite friends here. Problem is, most friends have also jumped to Facebook.

Sooooo, keep watching. You may see me back here on a more regular basis.

I know, because I have a hard time saying no.

Relay For Life is in 3 weeks. We have a fundraising garage sale this Friday and Saturday for it and I'm nowhere near ready for it. I'm planning on taking most of the day off tomorrow to get set up. All of the proceeds are going to the American Cancer Society through our Relay For Life team.

I'm excited about Relay For Life because this is the first time in the 10 years that I've been going that I've actually managed to put a team together. My mom, two brothers, a daughter, granddaughter, several nieces and nephews are all coming in from out of town to participate with me. We are going to have a lot of fun that night. I'm so thankful they are making the extra effort to come and help me celebrate 10 years of being cancer free.

It will also make 10 years of being on Xanga, later this summer. I found Xanga as an outlet to express my feelings about cancer, and then life in general. Like with most of us, Facebook has taken over my online social life and I just manage to get by here every now and then to peak in.

If you are a Xanga friend and you are on Facebook, too, look me up over there www.facebook.com/debbie.doty and let me know your Xanga handle when friend me.

Don't forget to do those monthly self breast exams and get those mammograms. Early detection saved my life and it may very well yours, too.

I realized this morning that it has been nearly 7 years since by diabetes diagnoses. I was talking to a newly-diagnosed diabetic yesterday, and we were discussing the signs that led us to believe we had a problem. The doctors believe I was diabetic for years before we discovered it. I was showing many of the signs, but they were brushed off as side effects of cancer treatments. So, in hoping to help someone else out, here are some signs that you might be diabetic:

1. Frequent urination. This is one most people are familiar with. Your kidneys are trying to flush out the extra glucose in  your bloodstream, causing you to have to urinate more often.
2. Increased thirst. Another symptom most people are familiar with. Because of the more frequent urination, you get dehydrated faster, causing you to be thirsty more and to have a dry mouth.
3. Unexplained weight loss. Yeah, this never happened for me. I just ate more to make up for the fact that my cells weren't getting enough glucose for the energy.
4. Increased hunger. As I said above, this one I had. Again, it's because your cells are being starved of the glucose they need, either because your pancreas isn't making enough, or in mose cases of Type II diabetes, your cells have grown resistant to the glucose and aren't accepting enough of it.
5. Foot pain and numbness. I was having foot and leg cramps, especially in the middle of the night, before my diagnosis.
6. Slow-healing wounds. These can be as little as a small cut or a bruise that heals very slowly.
7. Frequent infections. Both yeast and bacteria multiply when blood sugars are high.
8. Blurred vision. At the time of my diagnosis, I was just thinking I was needing new glasses. Some days they seemed fine and other days they were really blurry. The blurry vision is especially prevalent with the rapid changes in blood sugar that occur with uncontrolled diabetes.
9. Mood swings. I went through terrible mood swings for years right after my cancer treatments. The doctors blamed it on anxiety from dealing with the cancer at first and gave me a stronger anti-depressent, and then they blamed it as a side effect of the Zolodex they were giving me to shut down my ovaries. It turned out to be from the extremes between high and low glucose. I still have days when my mood swings quickly, especially if my sugars drop very low, but this doesn't happen very often since I started controlling my blood sugars better.
10. Acanthosis nigricans. (Say what???) This is a fancy doctor term for skin changes due to high glucose levels. The skin in soft areas like the back of your neck, crook of your elbows, behind the knees, under arms, groin, etc., because a darkened color with a more velvety texture. I had this sign, too, especially on the back of my neck along my hairline, but it got blamed on a skin rash that I get almost every year when the seasons change from hot to cold or back. This is more common with darker complected people, especially blacks and Hispanics.

Only two more weeks until Thanksgiving. I cannot believe it is here already. I'm not ready for the Christmas season yet. My heart is ready to celebrate the birth of my Lord and Savior, but I'm not ready for all of the commercialism that comes with it. I feel like I get engulfed by that commercialism every year because I own a retail store front. No matter how hard I try to avoid it, the busy-ness of the season overwelms me. Please be in prayer for me as I struggle with keeping my focus on where it belongs this holiday season.

On a more upbeat note, only two more weeks before I get to see my mom and siblings. YEAY!!! I love having a family Thanksgiving with them. It's been over 18 months since I've seen most of them, so I am REALLY looking forward to the visit.

I have been thinking all week about how this Pastor Jones in Florida is not acting how God commanded Christians to act. Today's devotional, while written well before Pastor Jones stepped forward, addresses just this topic. Of course, the author of the lesson knew today would bring many emotions forward, being the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Romans 12:14-21 says:

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. ¹⁹ Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,”^[a] says the Lord. ²⁰ Therefore

      “ If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
      If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
      For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”^[b]

 ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

As I was reading this myself, the first thoughts that came to my mind were about this hick pastor's threats to burn the Quran today, but then the spirit led this back to my own heart. My own soul struggles on a more personal level with someone whose "evil" deeds, while shielded as being saintly to some, breaks my heart. I've tried forgiving this person, even though they have not asked for forgiveness, and then they do something else to drive that knife back into my heart, or at least open the old wounds. It's much easier to forgive someone who repents. It's much more difficult when they don't even recognize or acknowledge their sins.

Please pray for me as I continue to struggle with this. Please pray for the other people involved. I do not have to go into detail for you to pray about this. You can just pray to God that He knows the situation and His will be done. Please pray that this Pastor Jones and his congregation, and others like them, are moved by the Spirit to change their ways and show love instead of hatred. Please pray for the families of the victims of 9-11 as they very publicly are reminded every year of the tragedy that took their loved ones.

Thank God that Jesus Christ died for my sins, and that He does not struggle with forgiving me whenever I fall into sin again.

I absolutely love this commercial. I've watched it over and over and still get a great laugh out of it.