Girl’s Weekend

 

 

Hi Everybody, Joycie here. Mama is once again very busy with work, so I will be guest blogging for her today.

I wanted to tell ya’ll about the great “girls weekend” we had last weekend.

 

 

My Aunt Gail came to visit for the ENTIRE weekend. On Friday, we went shopping – and I got lots of pretty new fall dresses. Then we met Daddy for dinner at Ruby Tuesday’s. He was late – so we ate appetizers – well the grown up’s at them, and Mama fed me tiny bites of the cheese biscuits.

On Saturday, Nana, Aunt Gail, Mama and I went shopping … and once again I got lots of pretty fall outfits.  Then we came back to the house where I played and played with Aunt Gail…

She sang silly songs to me, played patty cake, and horsey.

 

We even swang on the porch swing. I had a great time with my 3 favorite ladies. I hope we can do it again soon.

 

Bigger Picture Moment: Celebrating Life

There are only a few days remaining in October. As the calendear changes, the world's focus will likely shift from Breast Cancer Awareness to the upcoming holidays. But not for me - because each day I see a living reminder of breast cancer.

My cousin Tammi, who I have mentioned in previous post is a 2 time breast cancer survivor. She is also my co-worker. And each morning, as we chit chat at the coffee maker, I offer a silent prayer of thanksgiving -- that she beat the odds and defeated breast cancer.

This month, I have blogged about Tammi's story, what I have learned about breast cancer, and what we as women can do to fight this dreaded disease. This week's prompt for Write Pink is to write about how this month's posts have changed you, or about a breast cancer survivor you know and love.

Instead of retelling Tammi's story, I will simply tell you that the above picture was taken moments before Tammi and I mailed off our registration for the 3 Day for a Cure 2011 Walk in Atlanta.

When Tammi was diagnosed she dreamed of walking to one day celebrate her remission....and it was my vow to walk in her honor. Next October, we will due it together -- a celebrate of life, a celebration of family, and a celebration of VICTORY!

Wordless Wednesday

Monday's Meals

Between my work schedule, training schedule, M's farm work, and church responsibilties, we often find ourselves stretched thin. There are many nights that we do not sit down to eat supper until nearly 9:00 p.m. On those days, I am grateful for one thing:
My crock pot. I love the fact that I can put a meal on in the morning, it is ready when I walk in the door after work -- and can stay on the warm setting if we can't eat until much later. For the next few Monday's Meals, I am going to share my favorite crock pot receipes. This week it is:

Easy Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Ingredients:

2-3 pound pork tenderloin

1 - 12 ounces can of diet coke/coke zero/diet pepsi

1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce

Directions:

1. Trim excess fat from your tenderloin and poke several holes in it using a fork.

2. Place pork tenderloin in your crockpot and cover with the diet coke and bbq sauce.

3. Cook on low for at least 8 hours.

4. After 8 hours, remove pork from crockpot, shred and return to the crock pot. Allow it to continue to simmer in the pot until you are ready to eat.

*M says that the meat gets more and more tender the longer it stays in the sauce mixture. We are usually able to get a few meals out of just one tenderloin. If you prefer your bbq sandiwches to be saucier, you can just add more sauce when you prepare your sandwich.

7 Months

 

Joycie,

You turned 7 months old on October 5th.  With each day that passes, you are becoming more independent – almost toddler like – and less of the tiny infant that we brought home from the hospital. Per the usual routine, here are your important statistics for the month:

• You weigh 17 pounds and are 28 inches long.
• You are still wearing size 2 diapers because you have absolutely no waist.
• You are wearing clothing in sizes 6-9 months.

Last month you were practicing your M and B sounds. But this month, you are using words. You routinely say Mama, Daddy (although it comes out Da-DEE), and Ba-ba (which have come to believe is your word for bottle). You have also said Uh-oh, Nana, and Papa.

You are an accomplished sitter, and have stared trying to pull yourself back up when you tumble over.  While you are not yet crawling, you are beginning to get up on all fours and rock back and forth. Mama is fairly certain that you will only crawl for a brief time, as you already try to pull up when you cousins are standing around.

Daddy and I have had to buy you new toys as you show no interest in the toys that are designed for your age range. Instead, you prefer playing with Lacey’s baby dolls, London’s pom-pom’s or Trevor and Trenton’s trucks.

You have developed quite an outgoing personality. While at the Georgia Tech game last week, you threw yourself from Mama’s arms into the arms of the security guard. Then you promptly gave her a big, wet kiss.  As we tell everyone, you are a happy, content, loveable, easy going baby.

Love,

Mama & Daddy

Write Pink! Kimberly's Story

My first cousin is a 2 time breast cancer survivor. After watching her heroic battle with cancer, you would think that I would be a breast cancer expert. But I am not. In fact, I am so uneducated that I do not even know to give myself a proper self-exam.

For this week's Bigger Picture Moment, I decided to do some research - after all knowledge is power. I went hour reading various documents, articles, websites, and speaking with breast cancer survivors and my own doctor. Here are a few of the interesting (at least two me) things that I learned:

- Women in there 30's have a 1 in 229 chance of developing breast cancer. By age 40, the chance increases to 1 in 69.

- My diet can be a factor in increasing/decreasing my risk of breast cancer. Some studies have found that a diet high in saturated fat may increase breast cancer risk, but a diet high in monounsaturated fat may lower breast cancer risk.

- Diet is not the only lifestyle factor that can have an impact on my breast cancer risk. Exercise has the potential to lower the risk of developing breast cancer by 20%.

- A lump in my breast my not be the only sign of potential cancer. When performing self exams, I should be looking for the following changes:

1. Lump, hard knot or thickening
2. Swelling, warmth, redness or darkening
3. Change in the size or shape of the breast
4. Dimpling or puckering of the skin
5. Itchy, scaly sore or rash on the nipple
6. Pulling in of your nipple or other parts of the breast
7. Nipple discharge that starts suddenly
8. New pain in one spot that doesn’t go away

The most important thing that I learned this week is that this is my body. And because it is MY BODY, it is my responsibility to do all I can to educate myself about breast cancer. Then I have to put that education into action.

What new information have you learned about breast caner? How are you going to put your knowledge into action?

Making the Important Connection

I am a social media junkie. Each night, I come home, turn on my computer and read blogs, change my Facebook status, tweet to a few friends, and spend hours IM’ing. Social media has allowed me to stay conneced with family and friends who are not nearby. Given my hectic schedule, social media allows me to share glimpses into my life with out committing a lot of time.

However, in my bigger picture moment, I came to realize that social media was harming the most important relationship in my life, my relationship with M. Thursday night started out as so many others. M arrived home from work, we loaded up the diaper bag, grabbed our gym clothes, and headed to my parents house to drop the baby off. We arrived at the gym and I went to pull our gym token out of the console – it wasn’t there.

That set off a firestorm of frantic searching (by me) but to no avail. The token was not in the truck and without it we were not going to make it into the gym. By this point, I was beyond frustrated, so when M suggested we go home rather than get fellow gym goers to let us in, I snapped “Fine, just do whatever you want. Forget that I need the workout to distress.”

It was a long, silent ride home. Once home, I turned the house topsy turvy - determined to find the token – certain that if I had not lost it, my evening would not have turned out so poorly. After 30 minutes of looking, I found the token, in the pocket of the jeans I had worn to the gym the prior week. Excitedly, I went to our workout room to inform M of the good news. The sight I found broke my heart.

M was sitting on the weight bench, head in his hand, shoulders sagging. He was hurt – and there was no doubt as to who had inflicted the pain. I knelt in front of him, resting my head on his knee and with tears in my eyes and throat, I whispered “I’m sorry.”

Those simple words opened up a lengthy dialogue, in which M shared that he often felt ignored in the evenings. As he said, “You find Facebook and blogging more interesting in me.”

I assured him that was not the truth, but that he often came home and turned on the television, becoming so engrossed in the show that I felt neglected. So I was turning to Facebook and blogging to fill the void.

But Facebook, blogging, My Space, and twitter can not replace honest conversations with my husband. Myth Busters, Sports Center, and The History Channel are a poor substitute from laughter shared between M and I. So now I have a new rule for myself – no blogging, Facebook, or twitter after M arrives home. That’s our time.

How’s is working? Last night, M arrived home, we stretched out on the floor, conversing about our day, a mock wrestling match ensued, which resulted in M chasing me thru the house while I laughed hysterically, and Joycie looked on in wonder and amazement.

And it was way more entertaining then any television show, blog post, or Facebook game.