I'm a mom too!

So today I entered another phase of my life. I have a middle schooler and a high schooler. I think I'm in shock, or sad, or proud, or happy. I really can't tell what all these feelings are but here I am. I am cutting watermelon in an empty house because I dropped the 11 year off at the pool with a friend and the 16 year is taking a nap because she is one busy teen. My family loves watermelon. Up to this point in my life I refused to buy watermelon because it is messy and I'm too busy to cut it up. Well now my 16 year old can drive to the store and buy her own watermelon (this is the 2nd one this week). She promised she would cut it up but she fell asleep. I however am sitting in this empty house (teen is here but it still feels empty) cutting up this damn watermelon because I have just entered this very bittersweet stage where I want to cut the watermelon because I can't nap with my teen or swim with my pre-teen. So what do I do? I cut the watermelon for them becaus...

So M has an all day event today. I took a personal day from work before the schedule was out. Her main event isn't until 4:30. She insisted that no parent goes to the 10:30 event. She was singing a song I've heard with 150 girls. I thought sweet, I don't want to spend the entire day an hour away either. I will enjoy my day, come to 4:30 event, get some R&R AND kill the mom thing. I'm amazing. 10:45 that morning the facebook posts start coming in while I was in my recliner playing candy crush. Oh here comes the mom guilt! So many thoughts ran through my mind. Gotta love facebook. Then I realized, that I am just a mom doing the mom thing my way. Three years ago I was fighting for my life, but also learning life lessons. I am here, I am great, and THIS is a wonderful thing. I am lucky to be doing this mom thing MY way. I need R&R to do this mom thing. Everything in moderation is MY way and that is OK. My girls are great despite my slacker momming. WE are OK. I enco...

Here is my brainstorming post about what I decided to do about it. I think I have it!  Sun.- Recipe options Chicken taco bowls Baked potatoes  Barbeque chicken  Stir fry Chicken and rice casserole  Megan's Pinterest Board-Easy recipes  Tacos Spaghetti  hot ham & cheese  Mon.- soup, sandwiches, fruit Tues. - Teacher service Tex-Mex Chicken casserole   Wed. - Subway Thurs.- Frozen mac and cheese Fri.- veggie pizza Sat.-???? Take all day to figure this out and end up with take-out 

1 week post gallbladder surgery update: Healing is going as expected, journaling details for my timehop. Day 1: Didn't get into surgery until 12:30, they kicked me out at 4:00. I was not ready, very sleepy and nauseated. Day 2: Happy that I felt like eating and feeling better than Friday evening. Day 3-5: Pain going down each day, pretty much gone by Day 5. What was left was if I stretched too far. Some sharp pains in the side but they aren't so bad. Day 6-7: Still taking it easy, careful not to stretch too far or sneeze. Digestion, not good but not bad either. Hopefully this continues to get better. Most of all this just happened so fast. I went from having some sharp pains around Christmas time, ultrasound, HIDA scan (that showed chronic gallbladder disease). Sharp pains mostly went away but surgery was scheduled so I went with it. Yes, surgery was easy compared to what I've been through but I'm still wondering if it was the...

New Year Resoulutions....the reason I make them is because there is no other good thing to do in January. That being said I haven't made any since  2013  and I miss them. I'd rather call it new habit January though and try to focus on one main one. This year's main habit it good for my pocketbook but not so good for many of you. My new habit is not going to any direct sales parties, especially for me. An exception will be Lularoe for my kids.  They need some leggings but I need nothing. So sorry DS friends. I have to do this for me. We are saving for Florida 18, Branson 18, and New York 19. Plus you were all right, High School IS expensive. Also can I please go to the doctor less. I DO want to celebrate that I had a healthy year and did NOT max out my out of pocket insurance!! (for the first time in 4 years). I only had ONE MRI, and THREE mole removals (2 expensive ones). Good vibes for no mole removals in 2018 along with a good MRI.  Oct. 2018! Also if we could ...

I have 2 sayings my friends have heard me say many times 1. Never say never and 2. Pick your Poison (carefully, LOL) So we are trying something new that I said I would never do. Traveling out of town to a dance studio J chose. She is ready for the challenge and I’m ready to support her. Where she leads, we will follow. She is ready, we are ready to support her.   Most extracurriculars are expensive and intense. Gone are the days of $30 6 week programs. Extracurriculars are often an entire year commitment. Gone are the days of trying everything. Everyone wants their activity to be your #1. Music, dance or sports, pick your poison. It’s all expensive. Pick two poisons, multiple it by number of kids, go crazy, see you in the asylum. :)   Anyhow, we have no idea if this is her right fit or how this is going to go but are excited to find out! Photo credit goes to the internet My 2 cents on when to quit/change, when to push and when to leave alone. Quit-if...

Reading a skin pathology report. In my search to find the answers to these questions I have noticed that it is VERY hard to find the answer the answers in layman's terms so I am going to take a stab at it. Disclaimer--I am not a doctor. I'm just a patient that has had 24 skin biopsies (give or take a few). I've been very confused in the past.  What is the difference between benign, dysplastic/atypical, and melanoma? Benign=not cancerous/malignant Dysplastic/atypical=in between benign and cancer Melanoma=cancer Are their different kinds/stages of dysplastic nevus?  Yes there are many kinds (I have no idea how many kinds but your path report should show you) and stages (for lack of any better way to describe this). This is how I see severity in my brain.  Benign-you are GOOD! Mildly dysplastic (you will see the words mild atypia or mild somewhere) -ALMOST BENIGN Moderately dysplastic (look for the word moderate)- SMACK DAB IN BETWEEN benign and canc...