1. Cancer is mean.
I remember when my mom called me and told me the news. I was standing in the kitchen of our condo. "Your dad has cancer." Shock and a lot of tears. I was pregnant with his first grandchild which put some pressure on him to be strong and fight hard. He did. Not only did he make it through remission, but his doctor told him that he has no more a chance of getting cancer than someone walking by him on the street.
Well that son of a bitch cancer has decided to return. A cyst in my dad's leg that was "nothing to worry about" is actually a lymphoma tumor. This time when my mom called to give me the news, I was mad. I felt like the scene in Mulan when her father is asked to serve in the Imperial Army (again) and Mulan steps in and says "no, he has already put in his time". My dad has already put in his time. I know he will once again be strong and fight hard...this time he has
four grandsons to keep up with.
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| Daddy's girl |
2. Routine.
I tried to set up a new routine with my daily life this week. For some reason I started feeling so overwhelmed so I thought I would change things up a bit. For example, I kept my computer in the bag when we got home from school. For some reason, I feel that it is necessary to keep working after I leave work (i.e. there is no such thing as part time). So when we get home from school I am in such a rush to get the boys off to rest and nap time so I can get back to work. Not this week. Before rest and naps we did puzzles, watched T.V., played with the sticker book (oh the sticker book...this could be a post on its own). I also did the house work before getting out the computer. This includes laundry, getting dinner ready, etc. It has made for a much more productive week.
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| Dinner a Love Story, Baked Chicken in Creamy Tomato Sauce...YUM! |
3. Listen.
I teach middle school students. On Thursday, I took my class out to play capture the flag (it was a team building lesson). One of my students became enraged that I called the game and declared the girls the winners. He told me he hated me, he said I was sexist, he took another students shoe and threw it across the field in a violent rage. Clearly he has issues. My first instinct was to send him strait to to the principal's office. That kind of behavior is not acceptable and he needed to be put in his place. The mama bear in me decided to take him away from the situation and try to talk to him. I asked him if he wanted to talk about it and he started to sob. I know that this young man needs more help then I could ever give him, but deciding to listen was the right thing to do.
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| Wip on the other hand did not want to listen when I told him it was rest time...clearly he needed it that day |
3. Stretch.
I am running in the mini marathon next weekend. Yes, I have trained. I also have started getting a weird tightness in my hip area. I tried to do yoga with the boys...it was a bust. They would much rather read books. I did however take a yoga class and clearly stretching is what my body was telling me that I needed to do!
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| Are you watching the teacher? |
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| Yoga is not their thing |
4. Bake more.
The boys enjoy baking. I enjoy the end result. They love the idea of "helping". I stopped in Fresh Market and picked up Pink Lemonade cake mix (adorable). I heart Fresh Market. Every time I walk in that place I feel like they have completely marketed the store for me. Each isle is set up so perfectly, the candy display is gorgeous, and I even enjoy buying meat (makes me feel like I am stepping back in time). OK, enough of my Fresh Market obsession. We had the best time whipping up this cake...I need to bake more with these little guys.
5. Change is good.
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| This was my inspiration |
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| This is how much of my hair is gone |
