Challenges for Challenging Times!

What a week! That might be my new catch phrase.  But really more like, what a month.  The Hamel house has been in the throes of medical stuff all month long! Just as I am recovering from surgery and returned to work yesterday, Patrick came down with some sort of cold virus and The Man had to take him to the urgent care last night! Good news, young P doesn't have the flu. Bad news he is on steroids to curtail his uncontrolled coughing.

 Side note: if you have any surgery that is done through your belly button, I do not recommend wearing pants with a button and a zipper on your first day back to work. Learn from my lesson. If possible wear a flowy dress- no belts!

If the current weather forecast holds, in a few days I can crack a window opened during the day and try and get some of the sickness out of our house. I don't know about you, but I am really looking forward to March!

As you all know, I love to read and I also like challenges.  Lucky for me, my public library is doing a 20 in 20 book challenge! I just found out about it and so I am quite behind.  I need to read from the categories listed above  by the third week of March. Eek!  Anyone have any good suggestions for a Classic Children's Book or the Classic book by a Female Author?

I spend time during my surgery recuperation reading Moving Forward and it's a great memoir. Karine Jean-Pierre has that can-do spirit I love to see in people. Spoiler alert- Karine is also a runner!

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent and while I don't go to church; I do still enjoy a good Lent. This year I am giving up nothing! Nothing I tell you!  I've given up enough over the past year. Instead, I'm going to use Lent as a reason to focus on cleaning out all the drawers, bins and closets in my home. Spring Cleaning in increments of 15 minutes per day, join me!

Best Day Ever!

This past week was quite long for me.  Tuesday I got to experience a colonoscopy prep. Not because I was having a colonoscopy but because Wednesday I was scheduled for a bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. (BSO)

I have to tell you that colonoscopy prep, which you will all be lucky enough to have one day, was in my opinion worse than a day spent having a Taxol chemo treatment. Yes, you read that right. Worse than a day of chemo!

Wednesday I had my surgery. Talk about a long day.  I almost died of starvation prior to the surgery and then after surgery when I finally had sustenance - Belvita crackers- I was immediately nauseous.  How rude!

On the plus side being very hangry prior to the surgery and pukey after the surgery did help keep my mind off the pathology report.  You see because I have the BRCA 2 gene I'm high risk for some cancers - namely breast and ovarian.  Well, we know how the risk of breast cancer turned out. 

The point of the BSO was to remove my tubes and ovaries tout suite to reduce my risk of ovarian cancer.  Ovarian cancer is sneaky, while you can have tests like a CT scan, an MRI, or an ultrasound- all of which I had in July and August- even when they come back all clear- that does not mean that you don't actually have cancer.  The only way to be sure is to have your fallopian tubes and ovaries taken out and viewed under a microscope. 

I did as much research as a non-scientist could do to try and reassure myself that I was not likely to have ovarian cancer. I even tried to get my Medical Oncologist to tell me it was not likely I'd find out I had another cancer.  However, she wouldn't tell me what I wanted to hear. Booo. She did tell me that if they found cancer I'd have to have more chemo. Good times!  I was like NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, not that!!!!!

As you can imagine, I spend a good deal of my mental energy on keeping my spirits up.  The thought of another cancer and more chemo was very, very stressful.  I couldn't wait to get the surgery over and I hope that maybe my GYN could give Tom some reassurance that everything looked good.

However, all I got was that one ovary looked fabulous and the other looked a little funky and that pathology results would be back by Monday. Ugh ugh ugh.

Thursday was spent by me sleeping and stressing. I have an app on my phone for my medical stuff and I kid you not, every 15 minutes I was on there looking to see if new test results were up.  I did this even though I know they don't automatically post pathology reports.  Those results were only coming to me from a phone call. 

I'm stressing out just writing about my waiting game. On Friday morning my phone rang and it was the hospital, I jumped on that call with high hopes, and it was just nurse follow up. Which is great, don't get me wrong, I appreciate that they were checking in on me. I hung up that call and tried to bury myself in something good on Netflix, but I could not concentrate and kept checking my phone and trying to figure out if I could find anything from Dr. Google.

Finally and also earlier than Monday I got the call. 12:23pm on 2/21.  The doctor herself called. She had THE BEST news for me!  The pathology was all clear.  I was so happy, she was so happy.

Best Day Ever!

Got a Minute?

I need opinions! Last year shortly after the one year anniversary of buying our house, right when I was ready for a year of home improvements, I found out I had breast cancer and all my fun plans were put on hold for an exciting year of really getting to know our medical system inside and out. It was a real nose-to-the-grindstone just get through each day time for me. 

Fortunately, I am here now, 'new year, new me' and I"m ready to live my best Pinterest life. Too bad I don't have buckets of cash to fund that life. My Pinterest life is going to need to be done on the cheap. We are talking DIY and clearance endcaps. 

This is what I need opinions on, I'd like to put a big plant here in the corner of our master bedroom.  Anyone know what sort of big plant would thrive in a second-floor bedroom with three big southern-exposure windows? The plant needs to be inexpensive to purchase and easy to maintain. Our bedroom furniture is a weathered wood beachy style and I'd like the plant to fit in with that style. 

So what do you think?  It's a great spot for a big plant, right?  Once I've found the perfect plant, it will be time to crowdsource a name for my new pal!

Happy Sunday! 

xoxo

Hey There, Whatcha Reading?

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I suddenly realized the month of February is just about half over and I still needed to listen to one more audiobook in order to complete the audible challenge and earn a $20 gift card from Amazon. What to do? I previewed a few books and one caught my ear. Our Little Lies is read by a British reader with the most delightful accent--so I downloaded it. Audible.com has icons you earn for various feats and this book earned me the marathon badge because I could not stop listening.  I had to know how this book ended!

If you choose to read it, make sure you block off quality time.  Don't start reading at 8pm on Sunday when you have to work the next day! You have been warned!

Our Little Lies by Sue Watson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The first third of the book is such a slow-building rise of tension that it is almost maddening. You think you can rely on the narrator, but she doesn't even know herself. Layer upon layer you wonder, will she wise up? Will she believe herself? As the roller coaster starts down its steep incline, you can't stop reading this book. You really need to have time to stop everything else in your life and finish it.

Is there a twist? More than one--and then one big one. I'll be surprised if you figure it out before it happens.

The only issue I had with this book is I thought the villain got some undeserved redemption at the end.

If you are looking for a thriller you can't put down, get this book ASAP.


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You Know What is Super Annoying?

Not being able to talk! That's the new phase of my almost-over cold. I have laryngitis.  If I speak, I sound terrible. I don't feel terrible, but obviously my vocal cords disagree!


I sound more like Bowie when I attempt to speak. It's been rough answering the phone at work, but I'm healthy and I can do all the other aspects of my job so there is no reason to take off work, especially since I have to take off for surgery next week.

Do you realize how difficult it is for me not to be able to yell at The Man?  He can't hear me talking half the time when I am able to speak! How is he to know when we need to leave for work if I am not yelling, "five minutes! we have to leave in five minutes to catch the train!"

And the kids, I can't do my usual questioning of how school is going and make my jokes. Parenting teenagers means bugging them and making them laugh. I can't do either right now.

Poor P keeps asking me if I am ok.  What a good kid. Then I have to croak out, "I'm fine, I just can't talk." Then he says, "What?" as he takes out an earbud. Then I give him a look and shake my head. Then he says "Are you OK? You look upset?"  Then I have to re-croak, "I'm fine. I just can't talk."

I can't even communicate properly with the dog.  Over the last year, I have mastered a special no that I use to get Bowie off the bed when he jumps on it. My no has been very effective up until now.  However, the last few days my no sounds like a Peter Brady voice-changing impersonation, and Bowie isn't falling for it.

Sigh.  The only silver lining I can find is that the laryngitis is great distraction keeping me from getting worried about surgery next week. It's always nice to have a more mundane temporary annoyance to focus one's energy upon.

Yesterday Nothing Bundt Cakes was in our lobby peddling their delicious bundt cakes.  I purchased a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake. I ate the whole thing and it was scrumptious.  I regret nothing!  

Then for dinner, I made steak which is a real rarity in our house; we have red meat about once a quarter. Since I couldn't have a conversation with anyone while cooking, I tried my hand at plating food instead. 

You can't see it here, but that steak has a nice crust and is deliciously rare inside. 

Happy Valentine's Day !!💕💕

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Colds and Flu Woe Woe Woe

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OMG I'm so tired of having a cold.  I suppose I should be grateful I have not gotten whatever Dear Daughter and Oldest Child had since they spent a fun 24 hours vomiting. I hate puking. Hate it!

For the record, guess how many times I threw up during chemo? Zero. Anti-nausea drugs are amazing.  This morning Middle Son texted me from upstairs to let me know his stomach hurt and he thought he was going to throw up. I googled symptoms of appendicitis and I think he is in clear. Which is great, last place he or I want to be on a Sunday afternoon is an ER. Ugh.

Blech, cold medicine. These look innocent but they are hard to swallow. The package said they are smaller than they used to be and I shudder to think how bad they were before.

 Also, my cold laughed at these pills. 

Valentine's Day is coming up on Friday and I set a little goal for myself. This week I'm going to make sure to wear something shades of red every day of the week. Friday I think I might get a dozen Krispy Kremes for the kids or maybe I'll go to Nothing Bundt Cake for me! 

Keep your fingers crossed that this cold decides to leave me ASAP and I'll keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't head over to your house!

Xoxo -Victoria

Guess Who's Done With Radiation?

Yes, you are correct! Today was my last radiation treatment. I hope to not ever need to repeat the experience. If you were to see me, you might be disappointed that I don't seem thrilled.  I am, it's just that I am still dealing with a stupid cough from a dumb cold.

Rest assured, should you or a loved one ever need radiation, the most trying part of the experience will likely be just the day in day out drag of it all. Fun radiation fact, nurse Hope told me today that radiation continues to work in your body for two weeks after you finish treatment.

I would like to take a moment to brag. Today, the technicians told me- and it was not for the first time, that I have amazing skin and in fact,  technician Theresa said my skin hand held up wonderfully and she has only seen a handful of patients that looked as good as me by the end of the treatment.

I said to The Man: "Apparently my body is made to really ace cancer treatments." He looked at me like I'm a few cards short of a deck.

Would be very nice if my body could also like not allow cancer cells to hang out and build themselves into a mass again. I've already committed to doing my part through eating healthy, regular exercise, and not taking up vaping; I just need my biology to also commit to staying cancer free!

Treated myself to a celebratory Mug Cake courtesy of  Becky McNeill in one of my Snoopy mugs. 

Now 12 days and I'm back at the hospital for a preventative Bilateral Salpingectomy  What a February, eh?

Happy First Friday of February 2020!

When NyQuil Doesn't Work.

Much to my dismay, February has begun with me having a cold. I blame The Man, he had it first. Then again, his illness started off with a fever and body aches. I have the traditional runny nose, scratchy throat, and coughing. BMO was sick last week and was better quickly so I should stop blaming The Man and put the blame squarely on the kids.  Dear daughter is also home sick today, yes it is definitely the kids' fault!  

Typically when I have a cold I take NyQuil and enjoy a decent night's sleep. This time around NyQuil is not working and neither is DayQuil. It's just coughing, coughing, coughing. Can't work when all I do is cough and sound like death warmed over.  Not what you want to hear when calling a professional office!  

Radiation Fact of the Day: If you should happen to have a cold during radiation treatment, your treatment carries on. Which is my preference anyway. This is my last week of treatment, you bet I'm going to drag my hiney there! 

Today and tonight I'm switching from my old tried and true NyQuil to Tylenol Sinus Severe. Let's hope it works, if not tomorrow I'm going to try a shot of whiskey and a tablespoon of honey. 

At least my abs are getting a nice workout from all this coughing! And the weather isn't great, I suppose if I am to have a cold in 2020 might as well get it over with in February. Summer colds are the worst!  

Did He See His Shadow Or What?

According to my Aunt who resides in the keystone state AKA Pennsylvania, Punxasutawney Phil did NOT see his shadow.  Early Spring!  Or maybe not, here in Chicagoland the sun is shining for the first time in 183 days and so any local groundhogs definitely saw their shadows.

Oh well, at least January has finally ended. Don't get me wrong it wasn't terrible.  It wasn't great either. Do you have monthly goals? Did you make New Year's Resolutions?  How are you hanging in there?

Here is how my January went:

1. First and foremost, 80% done with radiation!  Wahoo! My skin looks red like a sunburn but it isn't peeling so great news.
2. I ran every day of January.  I hit my goal of running a long run of 6.5.  I raised money toward my goal for Imerman's Angels! 
3. My goal to blog 2-5 times per week was achieved.
4. I listened to 2 audiobooks and read 3 books so that meets my goal of 5 books for the month.
5. I tried two new things! 1. I attended a phone bank and made calls for Abdelnasser Rashid for Cook County Board of Review and 2. The Man and I went to CONEX the Conservation Expo.

Here is where I fell short: I wasn't able to make it to three events I really wanted to go. For one, I was too tired, two, The Man was sick as a dog with a nasty cold and three I didn't get the book of the month from the library until the date of the monthly library book club (#3 was poor planning on my part!).

Overall I give myself an A- for achieving my January Goals.

Another meal from the workshop,  two thumbs up from The Man! Chicken Enchiladas

Here is what I'll be up to in February -- reminder all -- we have an extra Saturday in February. Plan something fun for that day!

February Goals:
A long run of 7.5 miles
Dinner with Friends x 2
Blog 2-5 times per week
Create my first DIY Pinterest Project: A coffee bar!
Try 2 new things (still working on what that will be)
Lastly, have a very uneventful laparoscopic preventative surgery and celebrate being done with medical interventions for hopefully ever. (not including routine tests)

Welcome to February 2020!  Today is the same forward and backward 02022020!!

The End Is Near!

I enjoy that the phrase 'the end is near' can be positive or negative. For the purposes of today,
 it's a good thing.

The end of me driving through the gauntlet to go to radiation will be over a week from tomorrow. What is the gauntlet?  Its afternoon traffic on 95th Street where people don't use turn signals, think switching lanes in the middle of an intersection is cool, and too many people aren't paying attention when the light has changed and I am behind them.

Every day I see a few almost-accidents.  I thought I was done with my mini-rant, but before I leave the subject. Every single trip I have to stop for emergency vehicles, this isn't the rant yet, every day there are emergency vehicles going up and down 95th street--because there are two hospitals in a 2-mile stretch. And every day there are foolish drivers that turn in front of ambulances/police or fire trucks. I mean come on people! 

Okay, I'm done now, back to the good stuff. The end is near for January! It's been a long, long month. Yesterday I got my Valentine's Day leggings from Aldi and as you can see, I'm ready for February! Personally, I'm not a fan of February either, but I'm making an effort this year to appreciate the shortest month of the year. If you love February, please let me know your secret. Maybe it is copious amounts of chocolate?  I could give that a try... 

A couple of things about this picture. 1. #nofilter 2. #nomakeup and 3. my hair was still wet from a shower so you can't see the wavy curl of it. I supposed I could take another picture but #idontfeellikeit.

The end of our streak of cloudy days is near, hopefully, Sunday will be as advertised on my app: Sunny and 51 degrees. That is a Super Sunday! If it is that nice, I'm visualizing myself going on a nice long 7-mile run. #Goals! 

Only 8 more to Go! And 8 Soup Recipes!

You guys, by Friday at 5:00 PM. I'll be 80% done with radiation and I will have a literal handful of treatments left!

Today being only Wednesday, I have 8 left and completely coincidentally an e-mail from Williams-Sonoma popped into my inbox sharing 8 awesome soup recipes.  If I was a food blogger who made money from blogging about soup, I might try to make a recipe a day for the next 8 days.  However, I am not and also--who would eat that much soup.  Additionally, not having a giant freezer prevents me from making a soup a day and freezing it.  Finally, that's too much of a cooking commitment!

These are the super comfy and soft Aldi Christmas leggings. They are the best, they are like velour.

One of the soups does look amazing and I have everything except white wine and Gruyere cheese on hand to make that soup.  The name says it all, Onion Soup with Bacon, Winter Herbs and Guyere Cheese!  Again, coincidentally, the two needed ingredients are available for a low cost at Aldi, where I want to go today anyway and get those $7.99 Valentine's Day-themed fleece leggings.

Here are the super comfy and soft Aldi Christmas leggings. They are the best; they are like velour.

The stars are aligning for me to make this soup.  I'm sure it is rich in fat and calories, but also it's cold outside and life is too short not to try a decadent meal once in a while!

I feel at this point I have done a great job talking myself into making the soup.  While I don't have time today. I will have time  tomorrow.  I already have another freezer meal defrosting to whip up tonight. It's a stir fry like the picture below except for variety I'm adding rice instead of noodles tonight.

Keep your fingers crossed that Aldi has some leggings left by the time I get there tonight! Yes this is the highlight of my week, as you can tell. 

Happy Wednesday! - the last Wednesday of January 2020!  Do something nice for yourself!

How Are You Doing On Your 2020 Goals?

Did you make some goals or resolutions for this year?  It's a new decade! Exciting times and also loads of doom to focus on globally. Any who...

I am trying to keep my goals simple and specific.  One goal I have for this year is to do or try two new experiences each month.

To that end, The Man and I went to the Conservation Expo at our local high school earlier this month.  There I picked up lots of information from various groups with activities we can try this year. I'll be following up on some of the opportunities to check out wild spaces near us to visit or volunteer when the weather slides out of winter and spring begins.  :-)

For my second new experience this month, I'm really pushing myself out my comfort zone. I'm making calls for a candidate running for my congressional district.  I did postcards and now I'm going to actually speak on the phone. That's big. I don't like using my phone to speak to people, I highly prefer texting.

I should just start each phone call by saying, "Look I am actually calling you and I highly dislike making phone calls, so this shows you how much I believe in Marie Newman for District IL-03."

Our primary day is St. Patrick's Day and this is Chicagoland, so everyone needs all the reminders to go to the polls--esp. before commencing with the green beer drinking!

There you have it, my second new thing for 2020, phone calls for candidates! On the plus side, I can make the calls from home and it also helps me with my full year goal to be involved with  local government.

Anyone else out there have goals to try new things in 2020?

Focusing On What I Can Control!

Read some breaking news alerts about the Coronavirus.  It's really disappointing that this is a novel virus and not just a fancy way of saying you drank too much beer and have a hangover.

I may need to reallocate seven minutes of worry today from cancer to the coronavirus.  Where is my worry time most effective?  Oh yes, that's right.  Worrying doesn't have any actual power to do anything except possibly raise my blood pressure.

So as always, it's best to focus on what you can control.  One thing *I* can control is the answer to the question: "What's for Dinner?"  Yesterday I toiled away at a freezer meal workshop and now I have ten meals prepped in my freezer.  Okay technically it wasn't a toil, and I actually have only 9 meals left because I cooked one last night.

This was my first attempt at a homemade pot pie.  It's Chicken Broccoli (and ample tasty cheese)

This is what it looked liked prepped. Becky McNeill coordinated the event so we used Tastefully Simple products, this was a nice shortcut option. 

And here it is golden brown!

What I learned is that when you make a pot pie in a disposable foil pan, you should put the pan on a cookie sheet when baking or it's difficult to take out of the oven and you will likely break the top crust like I did here.  My smiley face is a little cracked!

I also learned you should let the baked pot pie sit for a while before you cut it or it will probably look like this on a plate.  But I was hungry!

I sprinkled paprika on top.  Paprika goes well with chicken/cheese and broccoli. I give this dish 4 out of 5 stars-would recommend- will make again!

I was pretty tuckered out last night but this will make dinners for the remainder of my radiation a breeze. I think we are going to do another workshop once spring arrives and prep meals for the grill.  I loved grilling out, especially since The Man is Griller in Chief.  :-)

Let's talk about January in Chicago.

First and foremost, it usually lasts eight weeks. I know the calendar says it's only 31 days, but it feels like at least 60 days. AT LEAST.

Granted this year we have had a mild January to date, not much snow, temperatures during the day more often above freezing than below.  However, it's still cold, most often cloudy, and makes your bones weary.

January is not a time to roam these crowded streets with bare ankles, this is for sure. And yet, I see many of my fellow people, wearing cute shoes and sporting naked ankles.  Apparently, no one had a Grandma to tell them, "Wear heavy wool socks in January!  Don't you know that 70% of your body heat escapes from your ankles!"

What? Your Grandma didn't say that about ankles?

I want to say to these slightly short pants-wearing people, "Aren't your ankles cold?  Are you wearing no-show socks?  Don't you find that once you start walking, those little no-show socks slide down off your heels and get lodged in the arch of your foot making you not only cold but also uncomfortable?

I tell you what, you will not see my ankles until April.  It's all boots or low rise gym shoes with fuzzy socks between now and then. In fact, I just picked up a couple of new Valentine's Day fuzzy socks at Walgreens yesterday (2 for $3!).

Fuzzy socks are one of the best inventions of this century.  As I make my way through radiation, I try to wear a different pair each day. Since I have a hospital gown on, my socks and shoes are the only unique fashion features that the Radiation Therapists and Nurses see, so it gives us something to discuss besides the weather.  As I established at the beginning of this post, January stinks and who wants to talk about that when we can discuss how cute my fuzzy socks are and where did I get them?

Next week the Aldi Aisle of Surprises is featuring Valentine's Day! There should be a treasure trove of new socks for me to check out and most importantly, I want to get my hands on a pair of Valentine's Day-themed fleece leggings. They are the softest, most comfortable leggings around and they are only $7.99!  While Supplies Last!

Happy Thursday!

I officially am over 1/2 of with radiation therapy!!!

How Do Sudoku Puzzles Even Work?

As I mentioned previously, if you are an audible.com member and you listen to 3 audiobooks between now and March 3rd, you get a $20 amazon gift card. 

So far I have listened to two books.  I have a third partially listened to, but ah, I'm just not really in the mood for it.  It's a fantasy book, first-person male wizard or demon, I'm not quite sure because it's not grabbing my attention. I'm thinking I may use my last credit to buy a different book. I'd like to get a good thriller with lots of chapter cliff hangers.

And speaking of books and reading, my library is having a winter reading contest.  Woo Hoo!  I participated in the one over the summer and didn't win anything. The way it works is you get a ticket for each book read and you can put your raffle ticket toward various prizes (like gift cards).  Keep your fingers crossed that I win a gift card- Starbucks or Target would be great, but I am flexible and would be happy with any prize.

IS this contest an honor system contest?  Yes, yes it is.  I could definitely lie and get extra tickets, but I am not some sort of jerk that would lie about books read! So wish me luck, I have maybe time enough to read 1-2 books per week. Could I read more if stayed off twitter? You raise a very good point!

That being said audiobooks count so I can listen to a book this week and double-dip in these two reading challenges. 

Today I started this cozy mystery that I got as a Christmas gift. The main character has a Soduku column in the local papers so there are Sodoku puzzles in the book. I am trying to do one and it's not going well so far. 

Please keep in mind that this next statement is mostly facetious.  It's too bad I'm doing radiation right instead of chemo.  Sitting around during chemo gives a person plenty of time to read.  Silver lining right there. 

Happy Tuesday!

More Plant-Based Meals!

This is the year The Man is also on board with my long-standing idea for this household to consume more plant-based meals.  It's better for our health and the environment. 

He has good timing. Over the last few years, our local grocery stores have substantially increased their plant-based alternatives for meat and dairy.  Personally, I have not met an alternative cheese that I like, so at this time I have no plans to give up real cheese.  A while back I gave up yogurt because I figured out through some trial and error, that the greek yogurt I ate after working out was the cause of my major stomach upset.  Like there was a time where I was beginning to worry I had an ulcer or stomach cancer. Yes straight to the worst-case scenario!  Turns out I just can't digest yogurt.  That's weird right?  It's supposed to be easier to digest than milk.

In any case, I give two major thumbs up to Silk Oat Yeah.  It's creamy and has a mild flavor like regular milk but it has much less fat.  It is lacking in protein compared to regular milk so you have to keep that in mind. Overall it is my new favorite fake milk option. Top of my list used to be an almond/coconut blend, which is good as well but Oat Yeah is the closest to cow's milk.  Only downside with Oat Milk is if you can't tolerate Gluten.  Some oat milks are certified GF, but most are not. 

It would be the best if I could get paid for endorsing Oak Milk, alas I'm just a random person on the interwebs.  That being said, Oak Yeah from Silk- very good.

So if you are like my family and trying to reduce meat in your diet, an easy swap is to use meatless meatballs. The meatballs here tasted enough like regular frozen meatballs that with some tasty sauce and yummy noodles no one could tell they weren't actually beef meatballs. I am a big fan of all the varieties of Barilla, protein plus, whole wheat, gluten free- they all quite good.  The protein plus ones are great with the meatless meatballs.

For this dinner, I didn't point out to anyone in our house that the meatballs were plant-based and I didn't hear any complaints.

Next to try on my list is to make a stir- fry with tofu.  I make veggie stir fry somewhat regularly, but I'd like to see if I can manage to add some tofu- I'm thinking with Honey Teriyaki sauce.

One thing that I learned doing Noom is making SMART goals. I need to work on quantifying how many meals per week I want to make plant-based. This way I can track my progress. I should also keep track of what plant-based substitutes taste the best to me.

That being said this is the goal for 1st Quarter 2020:  One plant-based meal per day. 

Two down and Three to go!

That is two weeks of radiation down and three weeks to go. Side Effects?  It's hard to tell if I am fatigued in January.  I find January itself fatiguing.  Too much cold and dark for my tastes.  Now to be fair to this particular January, we have had mild for Chicago temperatures with most days at or above freezing during the day.  Nevertheless, cold is fatiguing even when it is not cold enough to snow.  

Today for fun I was trying to convert how much radiation I get daily in the about 10 minutes of laser-blasting compared to a vacation in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.  What?  You didn't know Chernobyl is a popular tourist destination? It is, in fact, popular, especially now that HBO has aired an award-winning drama about the nuclear disaster.  

Since the area has had little human exposure for several decades, nature has flourished and it is quite beautiful.  Can you eat fruit and vegetables grown there?  I mean, you could.  There is a fantastic documentary called The Babushkas of Chernobyl about these little old ladies who were forced to leave their homes in the wake of the disaster and how they snuck back to their villages and were allowed to live out there days in the exclusion zone. Their ties to the land are so strong they would rather die than leave the land. 

I was bummed to learn there are several different scales used to measure radiation so what I thought would be quick Google search was not quick and I don't have my answer.  Lucky for me, I will see my Radiation Oncologist on Monday and will be sure to ask her. 

Happy Friday!  Snow is piling up outside but it is supposed to rain tomorrow and I am very glad I don't have to go to work in the morning. 

One Of My Projects For 2020

One way for me to find joy in everyday life is having projects. What is more fun than a To-Do List?  Not much I tell you!  To that end, this year we are working on making our backyard into a great place to hang out, and even more importantly a great place for pollinators to hang out!

On Saturday, The Man and I went to Conex (Conservation Expo) and we picked up info on getting a Mason Bee Box. So that's on my master to-do list for March and then in April, we are going to get a rain barrel, May for Mother's Day I want another raised bed to double our garden.  My plan is one raised bed for veggies and one for herbs.

Then for the people,  we need three things:  1. a hammock, 2. twinkly lights and 3. one of those pop-up pools.  I have decided 2020 is the year of backyard paradise!

Also the year of old lady pool parties, every Friday this summer my backyard BYOT (bring your own towel).

At the Conex we picked up a Rosemary plant in a cute crochet planter, right now it's keeping the crocuses company and when The Man gets around to putting together my baker's rack. The bakers rack is part of my future coffee station.  The coffee station is my winter Pinterest project--stay tuned there will be pictures. 

Boo It's Monday

Since I write this blog as a digital journal for me I long ago gave up trying to write titles that drive clicks and social engagement to my little blog. Even so, I find it quite difficult thinking up titles for whatever I ramble on about, as you can see from the title used here.

Today I began week two of radiation.  I did a bit of a disservice to myself today by reading about radiation-induced sarcomas following radiation for breast cancer.   I did this because I saw an anecdotal report that people who are BRCA 1or 2 *might* be more prone to this. Yikes. Is the internet my friend? Not today!

During the treatment, the nurses said to relax my shoulder.  My shoulders were probably up around my ears from reading the aforementioned radiation-induced sarcomas articles.  In any case, it's very difficult to simultaneously relax your shoulder and hold your breath at the same time!  It's like trying to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time, except much harder. Try it!  Take a breath, hold it, now try to relax your shoulders- not easy.

Tonight I was updating my planner for a few upcoming events I didn't know the kids had, and I saw this:

An excellent reminder is it not?  Happiness is a choice.

My Best Advice for Sunday Nights

How is it already Sunday night?  The weekend really flies when you work Monday through Friday. This is just another reminder about how my 4-day work week program would be the central plank of my imaginary presidential campaign.

But anyway, my best advice for Sunday nights is to take just 10 minutes and go over your upcoming week. Check in with your calendar and see how the month is going. This can help you to keep plans, make sure you remember what auto pays are coming out before your next paycheck, and maybe help you avoid forgetting that school ends early on Tuesday.

I like to look at my week ahead, then review my current month and lastly plan out quarterly - with a loose framework, more of a goals focus.  I used to get much further out with goals, but last year cancer told me a thing or two- so right now I'm not thinking about retirement or five years from now or really anything past 2020.  I guess this is a good thing? be present in the moment?

Just think this time last year, I was feeling sad, pondering what I would do with myself when the kids were gone.  Ha!  Foolishness. As someone probably said, don't get ahead of yourself worrying about something that is over 1/2 a decade away--unless it's climate change, then don't just worry - do something.

Gel Pens and Stickers are integral to my planning.  Got the big box of pens for Christmas from the Hubs, I'm sure he found them on sale- he loves a good sale!.  I got the stickers w/a coupon at Michaels and my planner is from Aldi! Yes, Aldi!  The Aisle of Surprises is home to all kinds of good stuff! 

All the wise organizers will tell you to use a different color for each person's schedule in your family or to signify different activities (gym, tan, laundry,etc) and it seems like a solid plan.  I do not. I just use whatever color I feel like using at the moment and overall my goal is to make my calendar as colorful as possible. I don't want my life to be too organized!

Happy Sunday Night!

Where Is My Medal?

Man-o-Man yesterday was a long day for me! Good thing it was Friday. If it had been a Tuesday and I still had the rest of the workweek ahead of me, I might have cried.  I had scheduled to do a Secret Shop after my radiation.  Wouldn't you know that the one day I had a time-sensitive errand is the day that the radiation appointment took literally three times as long as usual? 

I made it to the secret shop with about 20 seconds to spare and then the shop took just under two hours. Ideally, it would have taken  40 min. So that was longer than expected. 

But then we get to the real trying part of my day.  I went to Jewel at 6pm on a Friday.  That's just crazy. The worst time to go!  Busy and all the carts were wet because it was raining. Wait, there is more. Then Jewel was sold out of all the really good 3-day specials that were the basis of my grocery list and the whole point of going to Jewel over Aldi.

Nevertheless, I persisted. I was home by 8pm. Long day.  I would have skipped the grocery store if not for the looming "Winter Storm Warning." I was freaking exhausted.  The fact that I don't like the family to put away the groceries because they don't know how to do it the right way really worked against me. I plan to spend the weekend recovering from my very long but not bad Friday.

In all honesty, it's a delight to complain about simple things like a lack of $1.99 ground turkey.

5 radiation treatments down, 20 to go.  The universe smiled upon me this morning when I was greeted by 5 crocus buds about to blossom.

Over 10% Done!

It's only Wednesday.  Doesn't it feel like it should be Friday already?  Even though I am only working half days during radiation, I am still prone to whine about working five days in a row. 

If I was running this country, we would have higher taxes and in exchange, we would have healthcare for all and free public college - and trade school training.

Businesses would participate in robust training/internship programs for their employees and would get tax credits for that-- we would be leading the world in green energy innovations and best of all -- a four day work week model. Some people might Monday thru Thursday, other people might work Wednesday thru Saturday.

While I'm at it, add to my platform, 1 year paid parent leave -- and in my country that would mean 1 year paid leave if you had a child or adopted a child as well as if you had an ailing parent and wanted to care for them. Dual paid parental leave options.

We could totally do all this if we wanted to make it happen. Think of all the worry and stress that would disappear if people didn't have to worry about healthcare and college costs. Plus the worry and stress families having juggling that first year with a baby or the last year with a parent.  Plus think about how the Earth would flourish if we embraced alternatives to oil and gas. 

And those sweet, sweet 4-day work weeks.

In any case, I'm over 10% done with radiation. After Friday I will be one fifth done. Yippee. 

Big Milestone Today

Seven days into the new year- heck the new decade- and I've already lost a pair of gloves.  This is why I can't have nice things. This is also why The Man got me four pairs of cheap $1 gloves for Christmas. Now I have 25% fewer gloves to make it through winter. 

I think we all know that by February 29th, leap day, I will be down to one pair which is actually made up of two different colored gloves and at least one of the two gloves will have a hole in the thumb. This would be, as they say, par for the course when it comes to me and outerwear accessories. In case you have not guessed my track record on retaining gloves or scarves long term is not great. 

I need glove clippies.

Lucky for me, today's weather was warm enough that my bare hands didn't suffer too badly.

Heard anything good lately?  I have been listening to the album Bubba by KAYTRANADA on Spotify--the free version because I am trying to cut down on monthly service fees in general. Good stuff it makes me feel like it's the first Saturday in June and the sun is shining and I have Monday off work. Two earbuds up!

Looking For Answers to Life's Big Questions?

The answer is usually to drink more water.  No, really it's true.  Stressed out?  Have a glass of water?  Want better-looking skin or hair?  Drink more water.  Tired?  Drink a cold glass of water.  Hot flash? Drink a cold glass of water.  Mad at your spouse?  Have you considered...a nice tall drink of water?

It's true though, water cures many ills and prevents even more. 

Today was treatment #1 of 25 and guess what I did?  Oh yes, I made sure to drink extra water before the treatment and more water after it was done. Hydration, a healthy diet, and regular exercise are the name of the game during radiation therapy--and pretty much all the time really!

How was radiation? You can't tell when the actual radiation is going into your body, so obviously it doesn't hurt.  I think that the machine should have sound effect options. I would have liked it to make the sound of a Tie-Fighter laser-blasting as the radiation was beamed into me. 

That would make the whole radiation experience more exciting.  Alas, it's pretty quiet and kinda boring just laying their all alone, on a table waiting for voices to come in over the intercom letting me know when to breathe and when to hold my breath. Boring does beat painful, so I will take it and I will hope that the next 24 treatments are as uneventful as the first. 

Happy Monday!

Sunday is for Soup: January is for Joy

I don't like winter.  I will admit snow looks pretty and a day off work due to a blizzard is a nice way to break up the monotony of a workweek but other than that I'm not a fan.

However, winter is a quarter of the year and I don't want to spend 25% of my year crabby.  I have done an excellent job of achieving 100% crabbiness for the 25% of the year known as winter in the past; and now that I am nearly a full 50% of a century years old, it's time for a change.

Therefore one of my goals for January is to find the joy in January.  Today is day 5 of January and here is what I've come up with thus far...

When I am out for a run and it snows the snow makes everything quiet and muffled like I am alone in the midst of everything around me.  It also cushions my fall when I slip on the ice I couldn't see. 

Lucky for me so far, so far this year it's been mild and the snow isn't sticking around for more than a day on the sidewalks.  That fact helps me enjoy winter.  The gloomy grey sky is like a blanket blocking out the arctic air keeping our temps above freezing during the day. 

A cozy blanket of clouds is better than a blanket of snow!

The smell of a wood-burning fireplace is an unmitigated plus in my book, so that is nice and also during the winter it is much easier to stay home and not feel compelled to go out and do stuff. Winter is also when I regret not buying a car with a remote start.  As you can see my quest to find the joy in January is a work in progress.

One thing I do know is that winter is a good time to try new soup recipes and a bowl of flavorful soup is a joy.  This week another soup from Real Simple Magazine.

I made a few changes. I used 1 lb of ground pork and 1/2 a lb of ground turkey. I didn't have mirin so I used pinot grigio and I used 3 tablespoons of grated ginger. 1 tablespoon in the meatballs, 1 tablespoon sauteed in the pot and then 1 tablespoon more when the soup was done. I also added a splash of oil when the soup was done because it needed a little something more and toasted sesame seed oil was the right little something.  Lastly, my grocery store didn't have baby bok choy so I cut up 1.5 full-size bok choy like you would cut celery.  (see below)

Happy Sunday!

I tried it

I saw this meme on a friends FB page:

I laughed and scrolled on, and then last night... 

The kids love Martinelli's sparkling apple cider. It's a bottle cap top. If you have to refrigerate it, you are on your own because it has no cork.  If you are like my hubs and drink the cheap staple wine sold at Walgreens known as Looking Glass Wine,  well those corks do not fit either.

Guess what does fit in the Martinelli's bottle?  You guessed right? Something that is always in our fridge!

Note. Right after I took this picture P. came in the kitchen and ate half of the cork. LOL

Happy First Weekend in 2020!  Cheers!  keep that fridge stocked with bubbly AND carrots! 

Just Me Talking About My First Friday in 2020

How did you spend your first Friday in this new decade? I had a groovy time this afternoon hanging out in the Radiation Department of my hospital.  Today was the dry run for my upcoming radiation treatments.  I am happy to report both my doctor and the nurses said I am very good at holding my breath.  I credit all the running I do.  Is this a skill I can add to my resume? 

Why holding my breath? It is supposed to help move my heart and lung away from the beam of radiation. This technique is called Deep Inspiration Breath Hold.  Very zen sounding. I'm all for whatever I can do to keep my heart healthy-- especially since I had chemo and that can impact the heart.  Like the cancer isn't bad enough!  Insult to injury and all that.

It would be great if I could zone out and listen to a book on the audible app while I am laying there with the machine moving around me, but I have to listen to them tell me when to breath, hold my breath, and most importantly when I can stop holding my breath.  So no listening to a book.

Today I spent one of my credits on a thriller that takes place in Australia.  The bad guy is killed right off the bat, so now the question is what all went down prior to his death.

I've been a member of Audible off and on for years and now is a really good time to be a member. They have a special where if you listen to 3 books between now and March 3rd, you get a $20 Amazon Credit. Then I can use my $20 Amazon Credit to buy some paperback books. You can join Audible anytime this month and get in on the deal. If you are already a member you don't have to do anything, it's all tracked through the website.

Noom was the best app I ever bought

If you listen to podcasts or watch TV you've probably seen ads for the app Noom. Last year their ad campaign was basically, Noom is not your mom's Weight Watchers.  I have news for you Noom, my mom never did Weight Watchers, but I  did after Anna was born and it worked short term. 

By March of 2019, I was ready to make a change in my diet but I wasn't sure which way to go.  I knew that in the past a diet that makes some foods forbidden never worked  out for me past the first two weeks of food restriction. I knew a keto diet, which seems to have been very popular with people on my social media, wasn't going to work for me. I also didn't want to do Weight Watchers again because in my experience I was good at cheating the system. This was obviously stupid and hurt no one but me, but that's the reality of it.

I did some research, read some reviews and completed Noom's online evaluation. Noom gave me a price for 4 months of their program and I decided the price was decent, but I wanted to line up my two week free trial with my paycheck. So I waited another week and then I joined.   Because I am someone who likes to get my money's worth from goods and services I purchase, I followed every step of the program. I weighed myself daily, I logged all my food, I read all the articles, and followed all the instructions therein.

And it worked. I lost 43 pounds over five months and I have kept it off for five months. Theses days I am in the healthy BMI range. 

But wait there is more to the story!

You have to consider that I started Noom in March and then in May I found out I had cancer. Now I had a serious reason to continue Noom or a great excuse to throw in the the towel. I decided to stick with Noom and now my goal was not about feeling better about wearing a swim suit. Now I needed to get down to healthy BMI before starting chemo.  According to the research I read, a healthy weight and regular exercise and the best things you can do to avoid cancer. Among the stress of shitty diagnosis and a major surgery, I reached my goal, and again I was at a turning point.

 Food and chemo don't really mix.  Either your taste buds have gone on strike or you a flirting with vomiting.  Eat healthy? exercise?  Ha!  A great time to give up on using Noom- or a really good time to use Noom as a major tool in my arsenal to slay chemo.  I chose to slay. :-)

 I completed chemotherapy without gaining weight and I exercised,either walking, running or riding a stationery bike,  almost every single day ( I skipped about 7 days over five months). The gentle nagging of my notifications and the curriculum  Noom provided was a life saver for me in 2019.

I didn't know what I was in for last year, and I am very glad I had Noom to help me get through some very turbulent times.

Want to check out Noom?  This is my referral link.

New Decade, Who Dis?

Well as you can imagine, I didn't participate in the look where I was in 2009 and look where I am now in 2019 retrospectives that were on Facebook and the like.  In 2009 I had more hair and boobs. Now an inch of hair and the boobs. Welp. It beats letting my boobs kill me.

Anywho... New Decade and I'm still here. In my head, I picture myself at 32. I think far too often as if I am not yet a grown-up and that middle age and retirement are thirty years away.  Turns out, that this year I will be half a century old.  I've already lived longer than many people and I'm much closer to retirement age than my high school years.  Wild how time goes by slowly and far too fast at the same time.  How can I be almost fifty and have two kids that are over 18?  It happened so fast and so slowly at the same time. 

For today, the sun is shining, I'm still here and I think I will go for a run.  Later I'll have another bowl of my soup from yesterday and read a book that I got for free for being a member of the Between the Chapters Book Club run by Kensington Books on Facebook. 

My Goodreads book goal for 2020 is 50 books. Get it?  50 years 50 books?  I love numbers tying into my life and my goals. 

Happy New Year. 2020 is going to be amazing (that's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

My year kinda sucked, how about you?

I was planning to write loads of posts in 2019.

Instead, I wound up having cancer and getting to experience surgery, CT scans, MRIs,  and chemo. Chemo is terrible and not that bad at the same time. I was lucky in that I didn't have terrible side effects. For what it's worth, if what you know about cancer and its treatment is derived from TV or Movies rest assured, it's really not like that, of course in TV and film they usually kill off all characters who have cancer which is clearly suboptimal. I do not want life to imitate art in this case.

I like living and I would greatly enjoy getting four more decades on this planet.  The cancer I had, better just stay gone.  To that end, I'm going to be spending the beginning of 2020 doing radiation, I'm all for doing what it takes to get my rate of recurrence as low possible and then I look toward science with my fingers crossed hoping that research going on right now will lead to treatments that will make cancer a chronic disease and not a life-shortening disease for all of us.

Cancer is a real buzzkill when it comes to having fun, making plans, and writing.  Talk about being blindsided by life- or potential death depending on how you want to look at it. Fortunately for me, now that the chemo is over and I've had months to adjust to my genetic predisposition to various cancers, I am ready to get back to life.  Rather I should say back to living and so here we are on New Year's Eve 2019.  Am I doing anything exciting? No. But I am writing, I ran three miles today and I made a new soup recipe.  Exciting?  No. Living? Yes.

The recipe is from this month's Real Simple magazine. Yes, I have the hard copy. I got a deal on a year subscription for $2- can't beat that.

Here is the soup.  It's vegan but still very hearty. The recipe calls for store-bought pesto to be added to the top along with Parmesan cheese crisps, but as you can see I skipped both of those and served it as is.

I looked for a link to the recipe, could not find one, in the magazine it's called Whole Grain Minestrone Soup.  In any case, the ingredients are in the picture above and you can see the directions below. Enjoy!

DIRECTIONS:
Heat the oil in your big pot. Add the first 5 ingredients and cook for 10 mins. Stir occasionally so nothing gets burnt -esp the tomato paste. Then add the rest of the ingredients except the baby kale and simmer for 30 or so minutes until the farro is tender. Take out the rosemary sprig and add the baby kale and simmer for 5 more minutes. If the soup is too thick add up to 3 cups of water.  I added some salt and pepper and Italian seasoning for just a wee bit more flavor.

Happy New Year! I will be focused on a year full of everyone and everything I love to do- so more time with friends and family as well as writing, running, cooking and my resolution for the year- TRY NEW THINGS!

5 Days Left, I Recommend Eating More Cookies

We have reached the point where you can count the number of days until Christmas on one hand. This is when random people will start asking you "So are you ready for Christmas?"

Most people who ask me this are surprised when I say no. I always say no. I'm never ready for Christmas. There are always a couple more gifts I could have bought, a DIY decoration I was meaning to try to make, or a new cookie recipe to bake. 

My philosophy is to be one with the not doneness of the season. I'll do what I can, and we'll see how much I manage to pull off between now and 12/26.

Christmas: It is what it is. And just to clarify, I'm not one who has gone crazy burdening myself with expectations and complicated traditions for the holidays.  I've always thought Elf on the Shelf was creepy, I don't make handmade cards, and my decorations are a pittance of Clark Griswald's.  However, this time of year there is so much one can want to do,and I find I always have too many to-dos. Thankfully, today is the day this year that I give up on my self-imposed holiday expectations and go with the flow.

I recommend giving up as the best self-care from this point forward.  I also recommend homemade chocolate covered Oreo cookies.  Sugary satisfaction at its best!

All you need to do is melt almond bark--taking care not to  liquify the bark--if it is too hot the Oreo's will separate-- and coat the Oreo in bark, sprinkle some sprinkles and let the cookies cool. 

Merry do less Christmas!

xoxo

Avoid E. Coli! Eat More Cookies!

There is a recall on cauliflower!  Oldest sons favorite vegetable is not safe?  Ack! More cookies are needed!

When I was very small I remember having a chocolate crinkle cookie and breaking a tooth.  I think what really happened was that I had a crinkle cookie and I had a loose baby tooth, memories can be misleading. In any case, this all happened decades ago and yet, I have harbored a grudge toward  chocolate crinkle cookies.

Until now! These are a great cookie to make. You can make the balls and then refrigerate or freeze them until you are ready to bake. When ready to bake just roll in powder sugar and bake in the oven.  If you want to shortcut the heck out of the cookie making, start with this cake mix. Then you only need to add one stick of butter and an egg. Or use this recipe from all recipes to make the cookies from scratch.

This weekend I got a chance to see Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse with the boys. Pro Tip: if you go to the earliest showing at an AMC theater, the cost is just over $5 per ticket. This movie was fantastic, an engaging story, fun one-liners, and visually stunning.  It is an incredible looking movie. The movie has lots of action and chase scenes, but I did not get motion sick, so that was an added bonus.  Really, go see the movie at the theater it's wonderful.  The rating is PG so you can take younger kids and the bad guys shouldn't be too scary.

Mom, What's Different About These Cookies?

Adventures in Cookie Baking Day 11 reporting for duty.

BMO has been surprisingly enthused about my cookie baking.  In the past he has had a strong preference for only two types of cookies.  He only cared for the eating of chocolate chip cookies and those Keebler cookies--the shortbread ones with the stripes.  Outside of that he's been patently disinterested in cookie consumption.

However, this holiday season he has embraced all that cookies has to offer and has tried--and dare I say, enjoyed every type of cookie I have made.  He has expanded his cookie horizons and now appreciates how much better homemade cookies with plenty of butter are compared to their factory-made counterparts. I mean those factory cookies don't even have a smidgen of trans-fats anymore!

On this the 11th day of Cookie making, I made small monster cookies.  Technically monster cookies are supposed to be rather large. So it's probably an oxymoron to call these 1 1/2 inch diameter cookies- 'monster.'

There are lots and lots of variations on monster cookies, you can make them with or without flour, with butter or with margarine (why though?).

I found and like this recipe.  It has a nice cheat, you use a boxed cake mix as the base.  Obviously I used butter instead of margarine--and because I believe peanut butter is an essential part of the monster cookie experience--I used 1/2 cup of butter and 1/2 a cup of creamy peanut butter.  I also used 1 cup of oats vrs 1/2 a cup.  Also, I substituted 1 cup of red and green chocolate candies instead of walnuts.  Basically, I really altered the recipe.  In any case.  The results were satisfactory for BMO and now the freezer is overflowing with cookies.

I still have a pound of butter, chocolate chips, mint chocolate candies, dried cranberries, and chopped hazelnuts, on hand- so more cookies to come!  I'm thinking I've got to make some more Spritz cookies since Youngest Child took all those to a bake sale and a shortbread cookie?  Decisions, Decisions.

xoxo