Bring on the King Cake

This fun surprise was sitting on my front porch this morning! Happy Fat Tuesday!!

My BFF, who really knows how to have a great Mardis Gras in NOLA, sent it.  To quote her, "King cake is addicting....Great with any beverage."  Thanks Vern!  Love you!

  

Scanxiety Survival

A lot of people have been asking me how I survive scanxiety.  Everyone is different....but here are some ideas I have picked up over the last three years.

Give yourself a certain amount of time to think about it...no more.  For some, you won't let your mind go there at all until the day of the test....others  need a week to process it.  Do what works for you...just remember that the worry is only allowed to visit---not move in.

Remind yourself that you have great healthcare...you are in good hands.  And remember that there is great research going on all the time.  There is always always always hope.

Distraction is an effective coping mechanism.  Distraction is not denial...it is a temporary escape. When it gets to be too much....distraction can be very helpful.  Big T is head of the distraction committee at our house....and he knows his job begins the week before the test.   

Pray.  It works.  I don't know how it works, but it does.  Ask others to pray for you.  Pray for all of the rest of us going through the same damn thing.

Think about all the people praying for you.  I like to focus on my grandmother, who I was especially close to growing up, and who I know is now in heaven praying for me.

Be gentle with yourself.  This is difficult for everyone.  Just getting through it is a victory!

C is Golden

Today this sweet baby turns 24!  For C, it has always been all about the cake.

Happy Birthday, C!

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NYC Scanxiety

Friends, Big T and I have been doing a little traveling over the last week.  First we went skiing in Colorado with the kids (more on that later) and then we headed to NYC for my yearly checkup.  We stayed here...it was nice, but I wouldn't pay for it again.  The room was European small.

Do I look a little freaked out?  I always tell myself to be grateful that I have access to such incredible healthcare.

I also  light a lot of candles at St Pat's.

 Then I dutifully drink the stuff...and pray.

Big T makes a herculean effort to distract me while we wait for those lab and scan results.

I love the American Museum of Natural History.  

Big T loves the MET....

The Lexington Candy Shop, near the MET, is an original, old-fashioned soda shop...voted the best milkshake in NYC... Big T was not convinced.  

I always want to eat at Gramercy Tavern, because I love the food and the flowers.  We ate at the bar this time, which has a slightly different menu...still divine...and C, the cookie plate is still amazing.

This was at the end of the bar....

This was behind us.  Gorgeous. 

C told us about this place....lunch was delish with impeccable service!  

Big T still rates Norma's number one for brunch...but my new fav is Sara Beth's.  Go, get the Eggs Benedict (or the lemon ricotta pancakes), thank me later.

If you want French food, and you didn't plan ahead to get into Daniel's, this place is pretty darn good.  The Tarte Tatin was perfection.

I actually lost weight on this trip....

The weather was beautiful for a "stroll" (read: jog) in Central Park....

We also checked out the High Line....a bit anticlimactic,  but the view of the Hudson River was lovely.  I am sure it is better in the summer when everything is blooming.

I stopped here for flowers....

...because what mother doesn't love flowers?  

I am so grateful to report that I had a clean CT Scan.  Three years is a critical point for colorectal patients. I am very grateful to have made it this far, and I pray to keep moving forward in faith.  Thank You, God!

Bake On

Big T's favorite dessert is my Grandma's Apple Dumplings.  These are pretty amazing:

1 Pie Crust  (Trader Joes!)

6 Apples

Cinnamon

Sugar

Sauce:  1 cup sugar

2 cups hot water

3 T butter

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Peel and Core the apples, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar

Cover the apples with pie crust.  Place in a glass or ceramic dish....(there are suppose to be six apples in here....but I only had 4 and was too lazy to go to the store...)

Combine the sauce and bring to a boil.  Pour sauce over the apples.  Bake at 375F for 1 hour.  Your kitchen will smell amazing.

I promise you...these are incredible.

 Serve warm with ice cream.

Voila.  Happy Husband.

Thank God for Sons

I spent the weekend with M up at Benedictine College.  It was our last Mother-Son event,  it was a grand and glorious affair, and it was definitely worth fighting for.

We were having so much fun dancing, that I only snapped one photo of M with his best mate.  I am just so grateful for M's amazing undergraduate experience and the stellar friends he has made at this small liberal arts school on the banks of the Missouri River.

Friends, I will say it again, where does the time go?  Just yesterday he was in pre-school...

Confessions of a Prayer Warrior

I wish I had told my kids how I prayed for them as they were growing up.  I am not quite sure why I kept it so quiet.

I want them to know that the rosary is not just for safe journeys on long car rides...that it is a daily habit for me, with an extra decade always added at the end for my children...and  when all else fails, the repetitive mantra that is the rosary can be quite comforting.

I wish I had told them that while I sat in this chair waiting for them to come home on  Saturday night, I was praying for their safety and for good decisions....

...and while I sat in the stands watching and cheering, I was also praying for safety and good sportsmanship.

Whether they were taking a big test, having surgery, or interviewing for their dream school, I was praying for grace.

I should tell them that this little book, with its binding long since worn away, has been my nightly companion for over 26 years...because how else will they know the comfort that can only come from prayer?