Month: December 2021

Good morning all. I’m currently cozy, enjoying my new favorite view. Sometimes I sit in the Pumpkin Chair. Other times I like to just look at it. Not even kidding. This weather has just been crazy, from unseasonably warm temps to high winds and even tornadoes. At our house we just had high winds and rain, but I know close to home there was hail causing some concern and power outages. I decided to just let my deck tree stay down yesterday as the winds continued to blow and pick up in speed. Mike told me that while I was at work last night, the rain came in sideways and the tree was drenched. He just walked through the room and said…”You know, if it stays cold today (yesterday 75, currently 34) that tree might freeze and have real icicles on it!” Truth! We typically have 25-30 members at my […]

Productive day yesterday finishing up Christmas shopping. Have you ever shopped to fill 19 Christmas stockings??? I feel like I’ve been shopping to fill stockings for dayzzzzzz…lol. I spent the evening making a list of what I still need. Each year, I grab plastic bags, one for each stocking, and write with a sharpie each persons name on a bag. Then I fill them so when it’s time to actually fill the stockings, everything is already separated. It also helps me see what I still might need, or if I’ve overdone a tad. Which is usually the case. The girls have too much to fill the stocking and I draw a blank on what to get for the males. In the end, it always comes together just fine. More Good News! Squeezing in one more doctors appointment before the end of the year. I went to see a pulmonologist yesterday […]

I had an appointment with my oncologist yesterday afternoon. She said that since I’ve stopped taking the Tamoxifen, there is really no longer a reason to see me. It was recommended that I take it for five years, and after four years, I’m done with it. She wanted to make certain that I understood the risk of stopping a year early, and the benefits of taking it for another year. I feel comfortable stopping it a year early and I’m ready to move forward. I’ve had many conversations with other breast cancer survivors around Tamoxifen and alternative estrogen blockers. While this drug is recommend for breast cancer patients with estrogen receptor breast cancer, (the cancer cells feed off of estrogen) some can take it with mild side effects, and others not so much. My body feels like I’ve aged 50 years. While developing osteoarthritis the last few years, my oncologist, […]

We had such a fun impromptu December weekend with friends. I have felt a tad disconnected to some of our friends after Covid. It’s been hard to reconnect with everyone. At a spur of the moment Happy Hour on Friday, a spur of the moment Saturday night was suggested and we had so much fun! Then on Sunday at 11:00 I reached out to friends to see if they wanted to come over and watch the game at noon since they usually have us over to watch games. We could not have pre-planned a better weekend! I loved that our Saturday night out had no agenda. We were winging it. We met at a friends first and got caught up before heading out. First stop out, the Boulevard Brewery downtown. We had Jake and Jordans rehearsal dinner there years ago and it has changed so much. It was more of […]

Happy Saturday! Enjoying a cup of coffee on the deck. I made this mug for my grandma. Tess found it over Thanksgiving and I’ve been having coffee in it since. It’s a tad chilly on the deck but the sunshine, a blanket and hot coffee are making this the perfect way to start my Saturday. Checking in to say “Hello!”, then out the door to do get in a walk, do some grocery shopping and a little Christmas shopping. This is the menu that I came up with for the week. I almost always make enough for two meals, so this will get us through the week just fine. Some easy favorites. Betsy Zucchini Soup, 40 Aprons Egg Roll in a Bowl, Apple Pork Sausage. Activity Yesterday was a walk along with a 20 minute core workout. Breakfast Coffee with Almond Milk Lunch Leftover skillet. Chicken sausage, bell peppers, onion, […]

The temps here are crazy warm, so Frosty may melt, but he’s here! It took me a minute to get back to my daily schedule after four days of playing with friends, but I am back at it. I was back to coffee for breakfast and two meals a day on Tuesday, but seemed to have a hard time getting in veggies, a blog post, or even a trip to the grocery store. Also, Frosty is on a time schedule and needed my attention. Just finished up these additional two and now Betsy can add the finishing touches. We had fun and think they turned out pretty darned cute. I’ve been telling Mike that I wanted to paint the front door and the trim around the two side windows black for about 6 months. After playing this morning on the computer just a bit, I’m going to buy paint. Does […]

This road trip to Branson, Missouri the first weekend in December has become an annual thing and it is SO much fun! These girls make me laugh so hard. I always offer to drive and I don’t think I’ve ever had so much entertainment while driving. One friend drove in from Houston and met us there and via a few phone calls, the girls entertained her as well. The entire weekend was filled with laughs, good food, funny stories, games, more laughs, memories made (selfies and pictures galore!) and lots of love shared from these ladies. This was a great airbnb find for a girls weekend. Open kitchen to cook while still being able to chat with everyone. Fireplace that we were able to simply flip a switch to turn on and enjoy in the evenings without worrying about any wood. Two bedrooms upstairs, three downstairs. A wooded backyard and […]

Good morning from sunny Kansas. It’s December 2nd and it’s going to be 70° here today. Isn’t that crazy? The hubs is planning a golf afternoon and I’m looking forward to a long walk outside after I enjoy this coffee outside on the deck. Is it unseasonably warm where you are today? I’m headed out of town tomorrow for a long weekend with a few girlfriends in an Airbnb. We have a few fun things scheduled along with lots of relaxing and catching up. I’ll be back Tuesday to talk all about how successful I was in eating healthy, enjoying my fake beers and getting in long walks while on a girls trip. Recovering from the sugar consumed over Thanksgiving and the two days following has not been worth it. I really felt like crud. I plan to have a great weekend with friends, but also be mindful of what […]

You know what that means, right? It’s time for your monthly self breast exam. I never thought that after having a double mastectomy, there would still be a need to do a monthly self breast exam. Because there is no guarantee that 100% of the breast tissue can be removed, there is a chance of recurrence and self breast exams are more important than ever. Since my mastectomy I have actually found two lumps that sent me back for a mammogram followed with an ultrasound. Such a stressful experience but I have received an incredible amount of support from my breast surgeon for staying on top of my self breast exams and knowing my body. One lump ended up being a small cyst that feels like a hard pea, (it’s still there and honestly it kinda freaks me out) and the other one ended up being fat necrosis (dead fat), […]

One of my high school friends, Betsy, is always making something. A bench, a table, cute signs, shelves….you name it! Several weeks ago I sent her a text telling her we should make this snowman sign I’d found. She agreed that it looked like a fun project. I also requested a tray. I gave her the dimensions, the color and told her I wanted an “F” on it. She finished it this week. Isn’t it cute? It’s exactly what I imagined for the living room to set on the sectional to sit my coffee on in the mornings. We are still working on Frosty’s finishing touches but we’re both super happy with how he’s turning out. My gift to myself yesterday……playing over at Betsy’s house. I love a good craft day! Activity 40 minute strength training. She’s really switching up the workouts for me and I like that! Breakfast 1 […]