New Year, Break, Cancer, and Cheetie

It is a New Year! I am excited for this year and the hope and freshness that a new year brings with it. Self care will be my focus this year as it is something that can slip to the wayside quickly when I am taking care of other things; other things meaning EVERYTHING ELSE. I ended 2017 and began 2018 with an intention and focus on exercise. I ran 6 miles to end the year and hiked six miles to start 2018 anew. It felt good, really good. I spent New Years Eve with friends and family. My family played games and had a lot of yummy treats. There isn't anyone I would rather be with more. 

A beautiful hike with new and old friends on South Mountain. It was a perfect day and a challenging hike. 

My break was filled with friends and these two are ride or die.....Love them. 

Another ride or die friend.....who sat with me for FOUR hours. Yes. FOUR HOURS while I basically had the back of my ear skinned. A note to my Briggs Fair Beauties.....get your skin checked. 

My Dear Briggs Beauties,

We sunbathed, we ran, we laid on the beach in Rocky Point until our skin blistered. We played outside on Slip N' Slides and sprinklers and spent hours at the public pool. The sad news is we were all the Irish girl in the back and now I am paying the price. 

I had a sore on the back of my ear that would not heal for about a year. It was grossing me out so I finally went in to see what was the deal with it. Skin Cancer. YUP. So if any of you gals in my fambam have scaly spots, or a spot that won't heal....get it checked. Luckily, mine was not life threatening but they took the skin on the back of my ear down to the cartilage. They had to go in three times. It was not fun and ironically I kept going to my happy place in my mind...the beach at Rocky Point which probably was what ended me up in surgery in the first place! I'm not sure what I thought the recovery was going to be like. I think I thought I would just skip out of there, heal up and be on my merry way. NO! The recovery has been very uncomfortable and I wish I hadn't waited SO long to get it checked. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad. They had to leave the wound open, no stitches and no skin graft due to the location. So I have been going in every two days or so to have the bandage changed. It is a good thing I am not vain....because I look pretty ridiculous. My Mom hugged me when she saw me like, you poor, poor thing. It's true. So case in point...please have your skin checked my dear cousins. This could be you and a huge thank you to my little sister who braided my hair tonight since I have to go back to work tomorrow looking like Evander Holyfield. At least my hair will be done. I can only wash it just before I go back for a bandage change. Awesome. Dry Shampoo is currently my best friend. For the record I am going to tell my second graders that I went into surgery to get bionic hearing so they can't whisper anymore and pretend like I can't hear them because I now have the hearing decibel of a cat or a dog. I can't wait. 

After Sunday dinner games with the family. Mom made Grandma's sweet and sour chicken wings tonight. Soul Food. 

Snuggle Buggle...watching The Flash on Netflix with my baby girl. 

If you know Ellie..you know she has had a love for big cats her whole life. My Mom won this huge life sized cheetah stuffed animal we lovingly call Cheetie at work. My Mom gave it to Ellie yesterday and she promptly buckled it in. Then, today we faced Cheetie looking out the window and when we pulled up next to cars we would roll the window down. The result was a lot of laughing from us and people in other cars. 

Loving life...XOXO-The Sunny D