Flashback Friday

Just for fun, I thought I would post a photo of me and my babies from awhile back . . .

2002 to be exact



Some thoughts:

Boy, I sure look tired! And I still am.

WOW - Eight years have gone by really, really fast.

Little did I know at that time how soon our lives would change.

I miss those "baby" days.

I have the cutest kids in the whole wide world.

I cannot imagine my life without them.

I am blessed.

Breakfast for Dinner

Stacks of pancakes with butter and syrup, cheesy scrambled eggs with bacon or sausage, French toast stuffed with cream cheese with fresh fruit on top. Our family loves having breakfast for dinner.

We have pancakes for dinner so often that my mom often asks me, “Is it pancake Thursday this week?”

But we didn't wait until Thursday this week. Instead, we had breakfast for dinner on Tuesday. I even fancied it up a bit by making three kinds of pancakes - plain, chocolate chip, and cranberry pecan. We also had bacon, and some fried eggs, too.

Why do we love to eat breakfast for dinner so much? Because it’s easy. It’s a quick meal to make, most of the ingredients are on hand, and the kids gobble it up. My son’s record is thirteen pancakes in one sitting (and he’s just seven years old). Sometimes even my husband makes the pancakes, and he cleans up, too.

When I am really tired and maybe not feeling that great, the kids will eat cereal for dinner. The hubby, too. Can you imagine? But it’s OK because the kids (and the hubby, too) wake up happy and healthy the next day.

A year or so into my journey with chronic illness, I read a book called, “Cereal for Dinner – Strategies, Shortcuts, and Sanity for Mom’s Battling Illness” by Kristine Breese. The book is an excellent resource for ALL moms, not just moms like me. It discusses how to balance taking care of yourself while taking care of your family. It describes the author’s experience with sudden illness, and includes the stories of 18 other mothers who have faced sudden or chronic illness. The book encourages women to ask for help, to lower their standards if necessary, and to know that they can still be terrific mothers even though they cannot compete with the “Supermoms” of the neighborhood. It is a book I choose to look back at every now and again when I need some guidance along my way.

But here’s another mealtime secret I would like to share. Sometimes when we are feeling especially lazy or just tired of cooking altogether, we will have ice cream for dinner. Yippee!!!

Shhh – don’t tell grandma, or the gastroenterologist.

Feeling blue on a white day

There is no other way to say it.

I am feeling sad today.

I am sad because I just learned yesterday that the scarring on my lungs appears to be getting worse.

I am sad that I just found this out after having some testing done at the beginning of December.

I am sad that the doctors seem to be taking a nonchalant approach to this latest development.

I am sad that there is a huge snowstorm in the Midwest, and that I had to cancel my appointment with the ear, nose, and throat doctor because of the weather.

I am sad that I couldn't get another appointment with this doctor until the end of the month.

I am sad that I still have a hoarse voice, and wondering if it will end up being something serious.

I am sad because my 83-year old mother-in-law just left this morning with my sister-in-law for a four day trip to someplace warm and sunny.

I am sad because a trip to someplace warm and sunny would be wonderful for me, but difficult for me to organize and manage.

I am sad that even a trip to the grocery store, to church, or to the kids' activities is hard for me to manage because of this horrible disease (yes, I said horrible!) Especially in cold and snowy weather.

I am sad that I most likely will not live to be 83, nor 73, nor 63, and maybe not even 53.

I am sad that I am sad because everyone wants me to be positive.

It's hard to be positive when I am feeling like this.

So for today, I will simply be sad.