Appreciation game! Play along if you like. My turn: Here are 3 things I appreciate right now…
1. Finishing up inventory/organizing of bingo cards – with my darling friend and efficiency officer, Sarah. She is REALLY, really good at systematizing processes!
2. Real in-person encounter (from 10 feet away) with Katie & Cina. It was so good to see their faces! 💜 Plus they dropped off bread from Great Harvest Bread.
3. Watching Ida invent fun as she set up an obstacle course for herself, stripped down to her skivvies, did some VERY bendy stretches to warm up, and then ran the obstacle course. So. Much. Love. ❤️
Your turn! What are 3 things you appreciate right now?
Thank you all so much for your encouragement and patience. I appreciate you! As you know, my own health issues are the inspiration for this project — so YAY for inspiration, but BOO for my health issues slowing me down. 😉I apologize both for the lack of communication and for the delay in getting your rewards to you.
Happily, I am having a good weekend and making a lot of progress. I am hoping to get the cards into your hands during November. I will keep you posted!
While you’re waiting, here’s a little behind-the-scenes look at our process. (This is just what happens after we’ve decided how many types of sets, how many cards per set, how many iterations of each card, and what kind of binding and packaging to use…)
1. The Template! Sarah starts us off by designing a template for the cards that includes our logo, website, instructions, and layout for the squares. I am SO grateful to her for doing this. She is a fast, decisive, and brilliant designer. I am so lucky! We use her templates to complete everything we send off to the printers.
2. The Spreadsheet! Next I choose all the items I’ll use for the bingo squares (thank you to those of you who shared your ideas!). For the Chemo Care Bingo and Chemo Care Buddy Bingo sets, I have a total of 110 options.
Once I’ve entered those details into my spreadsheet, I label each option as an Action (such as Hold the door for someone), Observation (Spot someone wearing mismatched socks), or Experience (Score! Offered crackers.). There are a few goodies I include on multiple cards because they’re especially fun or effective (like Smile & make eye contact with 2 people), so I label those as well.
3. Divvy the Goodies! There are 24 squares to fill on each card. I print the spreadsheet and select 5-7 Actions, 8-11 Observations, and 8-11 Experiences for each card.
4. Populate the Template! Next, I write those options on blank paper templates. Once I have rough paper sketches for each card, I go back to the computer and copy and paste those goodies into Sarah’s InDesign template. During this process I tweak the choices more to give me a nice, even balance to all the cards.
Steps four & five….lots of scribbles, edits, and rearranging!
5. Tweak the Cards! At this point I print the cards so I can see how each one will look. This stage has a lot of back and forth with pencil copies and printed versions. At this stage, I rearrange squares on the cards so that each up, down, or diagonal Bingo! will include a variety of options (action, observation, experience). Every card must include at least 2 smile or laugh-type options, and I like to vary the line length. Finally I double check to make sure I haven’t included things like 5 coffee-related items on one card!
6. Polish! At this point, I go back to Sarah’s template and enter the “final” goodies for each square. I print and double check for content, spelling, consistency of language, and placement on the card.
Then Sarah takes over. She does all the design work that makes the cards easy to read and use — and she proofreads again for any errors.
7. Proof! Proof! Proof! Once we get to this point, we are almost ready to send the cards off to the printer. I send pdfs to a lovely group of smart, trusted friends who proofread the cards one last time. And sometimes make an awesome suggestion for something we didn’t think of!
8. Send to the Printer! When we’re happy with our content, we send it off to our printer who does their magic stuff, returns another set of proofs for me to approve and then produces the cards.
Whew!
As of today, I am in the midst of step 5 for Chemo Care Bingo and Chemo Care Buddy Bingo cards and step 1 for the Happy Brain Bingo cards. As we get closer to your delivery date, I’ll keep you updated on the progress for each of the 3 new sets.
For those of you with people starting chemo soon, we made some sample copies so you could have cards right away. You can find those here: Chemo Care Bingo Samples
Thank you, again for your patience and for making this project possible! You are amazing!
Hooray! I’m sending the Chemo Care Bingo cards off to the printer next week. Wheeee! 😊
I would LOVE your feedback on packaging before I make my final decisions. If you’ve got 3 minutes to spare for the survey, it’s here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6GYXSNC
Meanwhile, I’m keeping busy making the greeting cards for folks who selected that Kickstarter reward. So. Much. Fun!
Exciting news #2: Good news from heart doc!
Guess what?! There’s good news on the heart front. So exciting!
After several anxious weeks wondering what I’d learn after my recent labs and echo (and honestly, expecting to hear that my heart has enlarged even more since they don’t typically get smaller once things start to go south…) I am thrilled to report that:
1. My heart function (ejection fraction) has improved. The numbers aren’t in my chart yet and I was so excited to hear good news this morning that I forgot to ask the specifics. 😆
2. My ventricle is actually SMALLER than it was in January…by almost a centimeter (this is really good news!)
3. My kidney function is perfect.
4. Labs are all within normal range (except N-Terminal Pro Bnp for which normal range is 0 – 125 pg/mL and mine is 1,308 pg/mL. Which means I have heart failure. Oh, right! We knew that. 😉)
5. I don’t need to check back in for another 6 months… and then only for labs, device check, and clinic visit. We don’t even need to do another echo at that point.
I am over the moon with delight about this week’s news. And so grateful to Sarah for taking time off work to come with me (I was a bundle of nerves and anxiety before the appointment).
Thank you, all of you, for being the most wonderful support team a girl could want. ❤️
(And if you meant to jump in on the kickstarter but missed it, you can still pre-order the cards here. 😉)
I’m SO excited to get Chemo Care Bingo cards printed and out into the world where they can do some good! And now it’s time for me to finalize the language and format for the cards.
If you’ve had personal experience with chemo (as a patient or someone hanging out with a loved one during treatments) would you be willing to give me feedback on what I’ve got?
I want to make this game as practical, easy, and fun as possible!
If you’d be willing to provide some feedback on what we’ve got, please email me at diana@seriously-happy.com. And thank you for helping me make this product awesome!
Darling friends, if you or anyone you love has gone / is going / will go through chemo, please support / share info / do an interpretive dance about our Chemo Care Bingo cards. (And please share video if the latter.) 😆 They bring connection and fun to chemo appointments.
We are almost funded with 3 days to go. I could use your help getting word out! Every pledge helps!
PS – Plus by doing any of the above, you’ll get to join the ranks of the literally dozens of other lovelies who’ve already backed / shared info / done interpretive dances about the project. They are all stunning individuals. 😄
Join me for a game of Happy Brain Bingo tomorrow, Wednesday, June 5th! It’s a fun and easy way to add happiness, connection, and laughter to your day. PLUS, this week we’re giving out prizes! It’s a win-win-win-win situation. And it’s free!
To play, download and print a copy of the Happy Brain Bingo card and mark each square as you complete it. For even more fun, challenge your officemates or roommates or any other primates to a game and let us know what happens. We want to hear your stories!
PS – If you love this idea, please consider supporting and/or letting people know about our Chemo Care Bingo project. We’re so excited to bring some sunshine into the lives of people touched by cancer. ❤️
Minnesota is the best! (Well, for about 6 days each year…) I appreciate the sounds and smells and sights from my little walk out in Minnetonka. Yes, it’s a human-made lake. Yes, it’s in the middle of a residential / commercial area. Yes, there were flower blossoms drifting down, ducks swimming, egrets standing very still, and people laughing. Yes my allergies nearly blinded me. SO worth it! ❤️
Oh how I appreciate my neighborhood! This morning I got to drop my car off with the mechanic I’ve worked with for 20+ years and then walk back home through a symphony of sunlight, green everything, maple flowers, petrichor, and the morning calls of song birds, construction workers and school kids. Perfect. ❤️
seriouslyhappy2.com 