Nancy's Surprise

She did it, she really did it. Nancy has been saying that she was going to get her hair cut short - as you can see, she did it today. It looks adorable!! I think this is Nancy's retirement haircut. Don't you think she looks ready to enjoy life as a retired person? By the way, June 14 is her official retirement date. I hope you are ready for a party to celebrate with her. Oh, did I mention how cute she looks?

Oh Canada!

Nancy and I have enjoyed the company of our friends Adrienne and Blair and their children Mattie and River for the last couple of days. As many of you know, they moved back to Winnipeg about a year ago so that Adrienne could start her job as Director of Sport Psychology at the Canadian Sport Centre of Manitoba. One of the reasons Nancy and I chose our current house was to have the space to entertain and have lots of company. So please make plans to visit us! Of course, we don't cook much or clean much, but we do enjoy good conversations and lots of laughs.

Happy Anniversary to Tim and Jody - It's not their baby!

Tim and Jody are the godparents to Joey and Kelly's son, Sam. This photo was taken in late January when Sam was baptized. I was a little worried that some of you might think that Jody and Tim had a baby without telling us! Well they didn't, so don't worry. Some of you might be unaware of two interesting facts about Jody and Tim: 1) I am Jody's favorite aunt, and 2) Tim has switched his allegiance from the St Louis Cardinals to the Kansas City Royals. Tim, do you already have a new powder blue Royals shirt?

Happy Birthday Shout Out to Susan Scott

I love this photo of Susan and her daughter Lilly because it epitomizes the 'wonder' of how Susan sees life. Susan has the unique gift of seeing how things might be and sharing that with others - that is why I love this photo. It shows Susan's visionary side as well as how she communicates her ideas. Susan is the director and co-founder of Leadership Studies and Programs and a good friend and mentor to me. This photo was taken as she announced to the LSP staff and students that we had enough money to move forward on a building for Leadership Studies. Happy Birthday dear friend!


Candi, Susan and I have been friends and colleagues for several years. It just seemed appropriate to post a photo of the three of us on Susan's birthday. This photo was taken last July when I still had eyebrows, but had lost the hair on my head.

Historic Day for Leadership Studies and Programs

We celebrated the groundbreaking today for the NEW Leadership Studies building at K-State. Can you believe it? A new building at K-State and it is for a minor - it truly is a miracle that we will have a brand new building two years from now. For those of you who don't know much about Leadership Studies and Programs (LSP), we offer an academic minor in leadership studies as well as leadership development through programming efforts. The minor was established in 1997 with 13 students, now we have approximately 1400 students enrolled in our program. We have been housed in two houses - literally houses - on the edge of campus as well as in the Foundation Building on Anderson Avenue. For you oldtimers, the Foundation is the old Farm Bureau building. The NEW building will be located just north of King Hall or just east of Schellenburger Hall. And for those of you with a good memory of campus, it will be located just north of the big fork. The building spot is now a parking lot - before you go crazy about that - we did not get to pick the location. It was assigned to us by a university committee!! Many of you know the issue of parking on a college campus is always a challenge and K-State is no different. I can't wait to see a beautiful new building in that spot.

Susan Scott introduced Mary Lynn and Warren Staley as the lead donors for the building.

When the K-State band played the fight song, we all stood in honor of the purple and the white! Mary Lynn Staley, Matt Wagner (LSP student and former student body president), and Ruth Ann Wefald felt the K-State spirit.

The finale to the ceremonial groundbreaking festivities was the turning of the first shovel of dirt. Of course, we had to import dirt because of the asphalt in the parking lot. Left to right: Casey Carlson (she represented the first LSP class), Ella Todd (current LSP ambassador president), Susan Scott (director and EVERYTHING that is LSP), Mary Lynn Staley (lead donor for the building and inspiration), Warren Staley (husband to Mary Lynn and former CEO of Cargill), and Bob Shoop (senior scholar and everything else that is LSP). There were others who turned dirt, but they didn't make it in my camera s hot.

Warren and Mary Lynn Staley (former K-Staters and lead donors) and Ruth Ann (wonderful woman and great K-Stater) and Jon Wefald (president of K-State)

Cancer Update - Actually there isn't much to update

Nancy and I met with Dr Sharma at the Cancer Center in Kansas City on Wednesday. It was a fairly uneventful appointment - of course, that is good news. My blood work was good with the exception of vitamin D deficiency. I have taken mega doses of vitamin D, but I am still needing to work on getting that level up a little more. The other issue is that I have been having neck/upper back pain. Dr Sharma thinks that is one of the side effects of Femara, it can cause joint pain. It has been significant enough in the last several weeks that I am taking ibuprofen daily and a pain pill several times a week. Of course, that neck pain is also my reason to get in the hot tub daily, if not more. Have I said lately how much I love that hot tub?

Dr Sharma also wants me to start exercising regularly and too loose weight. Imagine that! She suggested any form of exercise that I can do regularly. Nancy and I have been walking the dogs at the local dog park. We usually walk 30 - 45 minutes and it is up and down hills. I will probably start going to a fitness center to do weight bearing exercises as well. I guess lugging my body around is not weight bearing enough!

My next appointment will be a bone mineral density test because Femara can cause bone density issues. Then on July 16 I will have a bone scan and ct scan of my chest and abdomen. I would have loved to had the scans today - I think we all want reassurance that the cancer has not returned. So now I will have to wait a little longer for that assurance. This is something I will have to live with - the fear or thought that the cancer will return.

BIG NEWS - I have not had a pop in three days. Why? I am trying to feel better, so I thought that might be a way I could contribute to my overall health. Those of you who know me well, know that giving up pop is a huge step for me. The cravings have been significant, but so far I have survived on drinking tea to get my caffeine buzz.

Love to all,
Mary Kay

K-State's Relay for Life

The Leadership Studies and Programs' ambassadors (LSPA) participated in the K-State version of Relay for Life on Friday night. The event had to be moved from outside at Memorial Stadium to inside at Ahearn Fieldhouse because of the cold temperatures and high winds. The students were spelling the letters LSPA in this team photo. Thank you ambassadors for participating in this important event. You can 'click' on any photo to see a larger version.

My friend, and former Russell Countian, Todd Wells is the faculty adviser to the LSPA group. Todd is wearing his Team Mary Kay shirt that the ambassadors had made in December. The back of the shirt reads - Beat Cancer. Now you know why Leadership Studies and Programs is such a great place to work.

K-State students Brett and Eric posed with me and my luminary sack.

My friends, Candi and Bernard, are both cancer survivors and walked the survivor lap together.

Nancy has been with me for each and every step of this cancer journey - and she was there Friday night to support me.

We have had our share of cancer at Leadership Studies in the past few years. I documented the evening with a video camera - I hope to create a short video of the event after I get a little training in movie making.