Us - in our neighbourhood magazine!

Well... honestly I'm not even sure where to start with this one. I've frequently reported how I tend to find myself in interesting situations at the most interesting times. Today is no different! And now Mike and I are "in it" together 😁 

We have landed on the cover of a magazine! We did submit ourselves to this - after several months of viewing non-local families being featured in our residential-neighbourhood magazine available in print and delivered to our mailbox monthly, we decided to put our voices to task and contribute to the local publication and share our family story to save the reading masses from random United States etc. family features from flooding our mail. 

Simply enough, we contacted the College Heights (Prince George suburb we live in and love) magazine publisher Best Version Media to submit our story for local interest coverage. Lo and behold, they said "Yes! Fill out this questionnaire and we'll feature you!" And here we are. 

Mike Allan and I wrote every word of this article together:

(I'm pretty sure this supports my BC Citizenship application!!)

Words cannot express how grateful I am for this incredible man with whom I now share my life - he is my dream come true, literally! Mike - amazing human, my partner, I love you. 💖 I am SO grateful we are on this crazy path together. Your openness in sharing your cancer journey - and your life journey - with me is something I cherish deeply, identify with, and will always protect and hold dear. 

***

There is no link to a digital version of this article, so you'll have to bear with us on reading the pdf version scanned from the paper magazine. We are still giggling (and snuffling) over this whole thing, and are grateful for the many people who responded to our call for extra copies so that we can share the print magazine with our kids and family members. Thank you College Heights community - this is what it's all about! 

Please also note - our sweet sphynx cat Archer has the centrefold of the magazine, Save Your Skin Foundation is our chosen feature charity, and there is an honourable mention for my long-time pal Reese, the eternal blog dog 🤎

SO much love xoxoxoxo

Recent Media - it's still a family affair

For years Claire and Cass were by my side for awareness events and opportunities when we would share our story about how I was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma, and how it went from there for our family. Especially with Save Your Skin, we did many video and print advocacy pieces, often making the trip from Meaford to Toronto to meet with journalists and crews, SYSF staff, the La Roche-Posay team - anyone who would listen, really! - to raise the profile of skin cancer and the importance of early detection. The three of us were a melanoma-awareness-posse! And we had some great media hits in addition to my guest blogging for HuffPost, Her Magazine, Yahoo Canada, and others.

Claire and I on CTV News - Melanoma Monday, May 2016

In recent years the girls have taken a well-deserved break from that scene, and I placed all of my own advocacy and media attention under the Save Your Skin banner. 

Well... fast forward to the last two days - and Cass is now on CTV News as well! I've woken up at balls a.m. (stay tuned for more on my move from the centre of the universe Eastern Standard Time to Beautiful British Columbia Pacific Time LOL) to hold interviews with a couple of lovely media providers in Ontario to speak about the Sty-Lives (Styling Hair & Saving Lives) program.  And Cass, recently graduated from Marca College of Hair and Esthetics and now working at a swanky salon in downtown Toronto, jumped on board to help share the message. 

Early Monday morning we bravely prepared for a zoom interview together with two Physicians on CTV News Sudbury, and I'm proud to say Cass nailed it! She has a very firm grip on how to be successful in her chosen vocation and she works toward that goal every day, while maintaining her beliefs and bringing her personal experience to the job as well. Cass is an advisor on the Sty-Lives initiative, helping us shape it to be relevant to the Hair Professionals perspective. Of course she is also passionate about the program as it brings full circle our family's desire to increase melanoma skin cancer awareness. 

Enough of my talking about it - how about I just show you the interview recording!  :-)  Click here to watch:

The written article is also located at this link, though the video at the top hasn't yet been updated to our interview (at the time of this blog posting). An excerpt:

Toronto hairstylist Cassandra Richardson joined the initiative for a very personal reason, her mom is a skin cancer survivor. Richardson said she’s ready to help anyone who sits in her chair.

"I’m very passionate about prevention and early detection so this really means a lot to me in the fact that you can absolutely change someone’s life by simply doing your job," she said.

"It’s so easy with the instructional video that Miranda sent. Like it’s so easy to tell someone that 'you have a spot on your head, you should get checked out.' It doesn’t have to involve anything  more than that. Just that simple step of telling that person that it exists is just one step closer to saving their life."

Adding, "It’s just so easy. There’s just no excuse not to do it as a hairstylist."

Atta girl Cass!  #ProudMomma

In addition to the above coverage, Global News Radio 640 Toronto picked up the story on Tuesday, and I had the privilege of speaking with Kelly Cutrara about Sty-Lives and skin cancer detection. Check it out here:

The recent story of hockey fan and medical student Nadia Popovichi who alerted a Vancouver Canucks equipment manager about a cancerous mole she spotted on his neck while at a game has gone viral and is helping to highlight the importance of early detection.

I'd like to say thanks to these media networks for sharing news of the Sty-Lives program, and I am happy to report that registration from hair salons across the country is growing very rapidly!  I'll keep you updated on the progress, and in the meantime please feel free to share this link and video with your Hairstylist or Barber:   

https://saveyourskin.ca/sty-lives/

Thank You!

Blast from the Past

A few weeks ago I had major surgery - unrelated to cancer, not to worry - and I can't help but notice how the whole experience took me right back to 2014 when I got a diagnosis of advanced melanoma. If you know me from those days you will remember my tales of traumatic surgeries, bizarre post-op procedures, life-saving immunotherapy treatments, and all that goes along with. 

It is a head space that a cancer patient may endure for all or part of their journey, or they may go in and out of it as the situation strikes - our "Cancer Companion" as my therapist called it. When your Cancer Companion taps you on the shoulder, you may need to sit with them for a while, work through it, maybe hear them out, maybe tell them to piss off, but they will choose when they may leave again or come back. Might as well keep the kettle on the back burner as you never know when they could drop in for tea.  

My cancer companion has found me here in my new home in northern British Columbia, where for the last few months I prepared to have a full abdominal hysterectomy.  One benefit of regular CT scans for surveillance of melanoma (I have been N.E.D. for six years but will be monitored for life to check for recurrence) is that things can show up that one may not have know about otherwise.  I have had some trouble with my "lady plumbing" for a couple of years now, nothing too crazy, or concerning enough to look into - I kind of assumed it was just related to peri-menopause. My Mom seems to get a particular chuckle out of telling me that I am "at about that age." Thanks Ma LOL

But when my new GP reported that I have lots of fibroids in my uterus, and we cross-referenced that with my ongoing situation of low iron/hemoglobin which has led to anemia, it seemed like the time had come to investigate further. I had been having some new tummy pains on top of the monthly aggravation, and some early steps to helping the anemia did give me more energy, so I agreed to a consult with a Gynecologist.  45 seems like a good time for a tune-up, right? 

I'll spare you the gory details, but the Gyno did her exams and biopsies, and gave me a thorough and much-appreciated presentation on my options for remedying a fibroid uterus.  Given all my variables a full hysterectomy sounded like the right option. 

So I signed the consent forms, remembering all the paperwork I filled out to take part in the clinical trial at Sunnybrook in 2014, and sat back to relax until my year-long wait for a surgery date would come to fruition (thanks covid, for the extra delays in our health care system).  On my way out of her office, the Gyno commented that if I was to end up in the hospital or have a blood transfusion to let her know, as that could shorten my surgery wait time.  

Weird, I thought... why would I have to have a blood transfusion?   And went on with my day. 

Fast-forward a month from that time, to a night in early November. I was having a particularly tough time with my "cycle," and was taking a new-to-me drug from the Gyno to help with that. Apparently weird reactions or allergies to random drugs runs on my Mom's side of the family, and I ended up in the emergency room at 3am with the most severe abdominal cramping I have ever experienced. Like - worse than be in labour with and give birth to TWINS bad.  

Poor Mike - my loving partner and reason I moved here to Prince George - not an ideal time to introduce you to this fabulous man, but I digress... Mike sped me to emerg (he happens to be an epic race car driver, actually) and advocated for me when I was unable to speak (Mike is also a melanoma survivor - he takes no guff!). 

An hour or so in, bloodwork assessed, morphine running through veins, x-rays inconclusive, I was able to speak to the doctor while we waited for an emergency CT scan. She said my hemoglobin was dangerously low (hhmmm where had I heard that before..?) and she wanted to give me a unit of blood while we wait to see if I would need some sort of surgery or procedure to deal with this mystery lower-abdominal pain.  

A blood transfusion? Must admit, that freaked me out. Not only did I feel that those are only for people in accidents or emergency situations, I was a bit weirded out by the thought of having someone else's blood given to me.  If you recall, I have always been a supporter of blood donation and always wanted to give it - but it never occurred to me that I would ever be on the receiving end. 

I'm happy to report that they were very careful about the procedure for this, testing my blood again for some sort of matching criteria, blood type etc., and then giving me a special green band with a code to match the labels on the pint that would arrive soon as my new gift. I was nervous but grateful. 

Long story short, two nurses arrived and read my bracelet codes aloud and triple-checked the green card on my new blood, it went in via IV for an hour or so, I had my CT scan (which was also inconclusive), and I was sent home.  The mystery pain had disappeared, and I was repeatedly assured that nothing on the xrays or CT showed any masses or problems that could be related to melanoma, which I was pretty confident was right as I had just had my melanoma-surveillance scans a few months prior.  As far as I know the pain was caused by my weird and apparently uncommon reaction to the tranexamic acid. In any case it was gone, and I was home, exhausted, and with a couple days off work to recover. 

One result of this however, was a phone call to my Gyno to let her know I had had to have a blood transfusion, and a subsequent iron infusion, so.... poof that got me on the emergency surgery list and I was scheduled for mid-December.  *gulp*  Surgery, full on. The goal of this hysterectomy is to get rid of the fibroid uterus, and with it any chance of random crazy pains, but also to stop the extreme monthly loss of hemoglobin and give my body a chance to fix the anemia.  

So here I sit, 3.5 weeks post-op, comfortably tucked in and recovering well in the grand scheme, pampered by Dr. Mike. Can't help but have some mega deja vu though, after a major surgery with all that time to stare at the ceiling between pain-med-induced naps I couldn't help but remember all that I/we went through years ago.  And I have the exact same feeling of that in-between and frustrating phase of starting to feel better but still not being quite up to snuff... no driving, reduced work capacity, etc. This surgery requires a full eight weeks recovery, no heavy lifting and all that stuff.  No snow shoveling either - bad timing with this PG winter! 

While I rest and recover, figure out some adjustments in my career (more on that later), and reflect on "life after cancer" I find myself here, blogging.  Hello old friend!  If you only knew how much credit you deserve for getting me through 2014-2016 wowww... you are amazing. I think of you all the time but never give us time to spend together. Well guess what - 2022 is our year. :-)  

Might have to re-name this blog to "Menopause, Melanoma, and making it to my Maserati"  haha!  But we shall see... and of course I'll keep you posted.  My desire to share (bitch about) medical experiences is never far from the surface, and of course has served as a perfect segue back into writing here on my blog.  Thanks for reading! (apparently I have not lost my long-windedness)

And thank you to my gorgeous grown-up girls who have been a huge support from a distance.  It was weird for us to be so far apart during this recent hospital event, when they were so entwined in the past. But they are excelling at their exciting Toronto lives, and we are always connected by skype (yes, people still use that), TikTok, and bank account haha.  They connected with Mike too - I suspect they warned him of my post-surgery whiny-ness and consoled him by text, though he is a champ caregiver and claims I was angelic and wonderful. Ahh love... 😇 😍  Thank you Mike 💖

Re-group, restore, and re-charge

This summer has been exactly that of the title of this blog: a few months to re-group and recover from an unexpected turn in the roller coaster of life, restore my faith in others - and in myself, plus re-charge my batteries via some changes in pattern.

afternoon siesta in Cuba, just sayin'  :-) 

I am happy to report that I have achieved all of the bucket-list goals I set for myself in the spring, and I have many loving friends and family members to thank for the support along the way.  Life is crazy enough without adding the post-cancer dynamic to it, but with the love of true friends it is possible to get through.  Knock on wood, my health has been great - energy great, losing weight, have full confidence for another good CT scan in September.

Last night the girls and I celebrated a huge milestone with a bunch of new friends; the end of summer vacation brought the last shifts of their summer job(s).  They have worked hard all summer at a high-end restaurant in the next town over, as the resident "Aquatic Technicians," working three nights per week each sweating their asses off in the dish pit.  

There were many times they dreaded going to work and feared the pressure and fast pace, but they stuck with it and buckled down with the team and "dumped it every night!" - I quote the Executive Chef's compliments of them last night LOL  There were several times we all thought they might quit but nope! They persevered, and they are now basking in the glow of a job well done and the power of sticking with a well-laid plan.  This accomplishment is in part to the credit of the Chef's team in the kitchen, they are an inspired group of young entrepreneurs who welcomed the girls with open arms, taught them well, and supported them when they needed it.  This respect in turn earned the girls' desire to do a good job for them and to pitch in extra when the team needed it.  

All summer I watched this transformation in the girls, from anxiety and trepidation to full-on confidence and a lift in understanding of the working world as they experienced what it is to be part of a team that values their effort.  They were inspired - as the rest of the staff are - it was contagious, and as a result it has provided them with a plethora of fun memories of stinky dishwater and singing chefs.  :-)  I am one proud Momma.  *I may or may not also be slightly relieved that our six-night-per-week 10pm drives to Thornbury are over* LOL 

We made lots of memories in addition to work; one notable experience was seeing Green Day in Toronto, now ranked as my favourite concert of all time.  We also traveled a bit, the girls to a friend's cottage, Canada's Wonderland, several shopping trips to the city, and my long-weekend getaway to Cuba.

  

Yes, Cuba.  I, the eternal skin cancer patient, went to sunny Cuba in August.  It's not what you think, rum-soaked resort life beach pool sun sun sun, no... there was some rum LOL  but I got to drink it in the home of friends of my traveling companion, with whom I had previously traveled to Cuba in 2008.  We wanted to get away for a weekend this summer just the two of us, a girls' weekend - and as we priced hotels etc. in the likes of Niagara, my Cuba-expert friend suggested for the same price we could buzz down there for a few days.  And so we did, staying in the city of Moron, at a hostel, living the local Cuban life - and enjoying the local Cuban food (which is amazing, and a FAR cry from what is served at Cuban resorts).  

We went on horse-buggy rides to tour the city, relaxed on the balcony, went to a friend's birthday party, ate avocados and mangoes unlike the puny imports we have here, had carefree afternoon naps (in our blessedly air-conditioned room), generally just took a step back and chilled out... we laughed, we cried, and we talked non-stop, as has been our talent since we met in grade eight.  :-)  It was SO good to re-connect, I really needed that time with my buddy, and I came home feeling strong and empowered, refreshed in exactly the way I was hoping this trip would do.  (more pics below)

This trip is actually the start to a busy few months of travel plans in my household, I am happy to say.  I have always loved to travel and wanted to do more of it, but with the setback of the last three years I thought I was grounded, I had sort of written off my plans for world travel, staying home with young kids and a career taking most of my available energy.  But.... intrepid as I am... I have somehow landed myself in the wonderful position of being invited to travel again, and I am repeatedly proving to myself that I can actually do it.  

Flying to Montreal with Save Your Skin Foundation last September changed my life, and in the year since then I have come to realize the extent of the changes are even still unfolding.  

I am grateful beyond measure to be freshly back into the foray of international travel, Cuba was a good tester.  My next trip is for a September weekend at Whistler, via Vancouver, for a work meeting.  November I have work in Toronto and Ottawa, and in December the girls and I are going on a much-deserved (and long-delayed) vacation to the States - we are going to California!    

The pièce de résistance is in October...  I can hardly even believe I am saying this right now, but... drumroll please...  I am going to Australia!  I have the honour of representing Save Your Skin at the World Congress of Melanoma 2017 and subsequent meeting of the Global Coalition for Melanoma Patient Advocacy.  I will blog more about this in the near future; there is lots to explain, as I have been remiss in my blogging about the work I have been participating in for melanoma patient support in Canada.  My Aussie travel visa is approved, I am working on booking flights, and I will soon choose the sessions to attend at the Congress: I get to select relevant information and data to bring back to Canada from the world leaders in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of melanoma skin cancer.  Words cannot express the honour I feel for being given this task.    

So as I daydream about the summer passed and the koala bears to come, the girls are preparing for back to school on Wednesday - there is much organizing of backpacks and choosing of outfits happening upstairs LOL   Tonight we are having an end of summer campfire to celebrate our successes over the past few months, and we will renew our vow to take life one step at a time, and to live every day to the fullest.  

 Sickest taxi I have ever been in

 Casa guard dog my buddy Rosie

 Laguna de la Leche

Market day in Moron, Cuba

Cheers!  Viva Cuba

April 2008 hot messes ~ August 2017 hot messes part 2 :-)

CT Scans clear, and blue skies ahead

Two months since I have last written here - that is a record.  Not one I'm proud of, geesh, blog neglect tisk tisk! 

Has certainly been a busy couple of months, being back to work has really kicked my butt.  In a good way for the most part - don't get me wrong - I love my new job!  The people I get to work with are inspiring, caring, intelligent, and the work we do is real.  We are working together to try to improve cancer care in Canada, by way of fighting for patient access to immunotherapy treatments that many people don't know are not currently provided in our country. 

My last post was the night before the conference I helped to plan in Toronto, the IO Network Patient Leader Education Summit March 31 - April 1, 2017.  I was nervous for it; our team had put a tonne of effort into inviting patient advocates from across cancer types to meet in person, to discuss how we can all work together to help save lives.  Long story short, the meeting went well, there were two days of exploratory discussions, and a solid foundation was built for future collaboration.  I will post more about it when we launch the Network website and publish the report from the conference.

From that busy weekend in Toronto, I went directly to my six-month oncology appointments at Sunnybrook: bloodwork, CT scans, exams and consult with the Boss, and another night in a hotel.  Though it had been six months since my last checkup I moved through the routine as if I had just done it the week before.  I fell into quick conversation with my friend the CT Nurse with the twin girls close in age to my own twins, my backpack was light, my wardrobe was CT scanner-approved, and I got a good seat in the D - E waiting area at Odette. 

It was a pensive day for me, as it happened to be exactly three years from the day I first had my troublesome mole removed in Collingwood.  Three years to the day of my first surgery for melanoma, I lay in the CT machine, tears streaming... I walked like a zombie through the tunnel underneath Sunnybrook, and sat quietly waiting for my consult without any desire to read or fidget, my mind racing.

I have been struggling with many three-year milestones the last little while.  Three years since mole excision, three years since needle biopsy, three years since stage IIIb cancer diagnosis, three years since debilitating node dissection surgery, three years since I have become afraid of the sun, three years since my family has been burdened with my lot in life.  

Strange to be thinking this way, trust me I know, and it is not intentional.  Seriously - I can hardly remember my own postal code let alone random dates in April and May.... but these I remember.  

In any case, I got out of the city after that round of appointments, grabbed some pad thai for the girls on the way home, and snuggled in with my puppers to rid my soul of the trauma (and vats of tea to rid my kidneys of the CT contrast dye).  A couple of weeks went quickly by, I finished my post-conference tasks and got back into our home routine of being grateful to be alive (and not dwelling on the three-year mark), plus I had the distraction of facilitating a website upgrade/overhaul for Save Your Skin Foundation. 

 

The Easter Bunny came, and though I was spoiled with flowers and chocolate, I also got a call from my beloved family physician, with the news that my CT scans were clear.  No Evidence of Disease - YASSS!!!  Onward an upward my friends!  I got another six-month pass, therefore I get to cram as much life as possible into the time until September when I go back for the next round of tests.

And cram in life I have been, as evidenced by my lack of indulgence in personal time for my favourite pastime, namely, writing.  This is a particularly busy time of year for my family anyway, with Melanoma Awareness Month being May, my daughters' pending birthday, and the end of school year rush of deadlines, events, and then... high school exams.  

I have become acutely aware of my time spent on various activities, and I have noticed a change in my personal relationships as a result.  Some of my closest friendships have morphed into a sort of shadow of what they were before, and I am powerless to change that at this time.  I have several hand fulls of single parenting and home maintenance, work hours and physical limitations, taxi-ing to teenagers' events and jobs, not to mention my long-standing love affair with quiet alone time.  I believe this will resolve itself with time - I will either get better at it, or my kids will grow up and I will have a clean, quiet, peaceful empty nest.         Love you girls! ;-P

 

In addition to lots of inspiring work-work on my to-do list, I have a few posts planned in the coming days, one being about melanoma awareness month and the efforts I am supporting with regard to patient advocacy.  I am also catching up on spring cleaning and garden work - my beloved canine has (accidentally) compounded the damage done to the flower bed closest to my front door where the driveway gets snow-plowed in winter; poor plants don't stand a chance with him running through, I think I will plant ROCKS.  

I do have additional appointments on the horizon: head-to-toe with my new Dermatologist in July, ongoing thyroid surveillance, and in the second week of June I will be at Sunnybrook to sit on a Melanoma Patient Education Panel.  Will keep you posted!  

Thank you

Guest Blog - Her Magazine - School Lunches, To Pack or Not to Pack?

I am pleased to say that Her Magazine has asked me to write for them again, and not necessarily about "just" cancer. They have published a piece I wrote last year, some of you may remember it.  It was popular and I got a tonne of response from it, so I thought their readers may enjoy it as much as my family and friends did.  It is even my kiddos favourite.  :-)  

School Lunches - To Pack or Not to Pack? 

(update 30-March-2018: sadly, Her Magazine has been retired from the internet, so the links to my articles there no longer work. To read my original blog about this please feel free to click on the link above or the image below - thanks!)

 

Natalie Richardson shares the stress of packing school lunches for her teenage daughters and how cancer changed her attitude:

Gratitude Fuels My Determination - Column - Meaford Express - Simcoe.com April 2016

My family and I have been cared for through my cancer experience by countless members of our community, and I can now begin to try to give back.  

I am immeasurably grateful for all of the messages, letters, cards, gifts, flowers, meals, rides, care for the girls, snow removal, shoulders to cry on, kicks in the ass, patience with my anti-social behaviour, support of my writing efforts - my family, friends, and community members are the most fantastic people anyone could have by their side.  

Thank you for everything!

I am pleased to announce that I have been asked to write a little column in the Meaford Express, rather online Metroland Media - Simcoe.com.  My first column is published today, woweee!  

I write all the time but I still have so much to say.  I plan to talk about my experiences with melanoma of course, but also thyroid cancer, as well as local cancer-related events or tips for caring for a cancer friend, or how to quell the crazies while in treatment... please keep an eye out for it! 

For my first one though, I knew immediately what I wanted to say.  Thank you. Thank you! Thank you my dear generous loving community, my family and I are grateful for everything you do and have done.  There are plenty of examples around town of people helping others, and I am grateful to say I am one of them.  And I plan to return the favour!  Somehow... I will.  

Gratitude Fuels my Determination 

PS - For anyone who may be curious... this is a guest column, and as such, is an UN-paid position.  I am still employed, but remain on medical leave until such time as I am able to return to work.  All of this writing is for voluntary advocacy, hobby, and/or catharsis.  Any questions or complaints please feel free to contact me directly at natalie.richardson@gmail.com   Thank you.

Keepin' It Real

I always try to keep in mind how my blog appears to those who take the time to read it - thank you dear readers, friends, family, medical professionals, mela-homies, writers, publishers... ;-) 

Thank you also to my Grandmothery friends as well, who I know would prefer to hear my news and thoughts in person or by phone, but because they love me so much they read my blog for the scoops, as I ask them to.  Thank you all!  

With this in mind, I want to insert a little something to start the month off with my typical perspective, rather that just links to all of the other stuff.  And there will be more links... I have been asked to participate in a few cool projects that I will be blah-blah-ing about in the coming weeks. :-)

It is no secret that I am proud to be part of the #NotJustSkinCancer campaign, and I have been busy working my social media circuits to help spread the message.  

I have also been writing some guest blogs/articles for other sites - all of which will be linked from here of course.  I am happy to do some media interviews etc. as well, as it is all part of generating awareness of the #NotJustSkinCancer video, and in turn the message it was created to discuss.  

I knew it would be busy once the video launched, and I had prepared my family for a bout of writer-needs-quiet-time and that they'd be seeing only the top of my head over computer until I was done.  The freezer is stocked with frozen pizzas, just saying.  

What I didn't expect was the emotional response I/we have been receiving.  The texts, emails, facebook messages, tweets, phone calls, etc. have been amazing.  *humble thank you*

My friends and supporters seem just as shocked as I was to learn about the negative hashtags such as #SkinCancerDontCare.  

Complacency about skin cancer is scary, and crazy.  But I was there once, and not that long ago.  I get it.  

And yes, it is very emotional for me to react to the discussion in such a public way.  I want to spread the message and increase awareness about melanoma, but I still have the underlying emotional freakout every time I hear the word.  

It's okay though, that is the cathartic piece for me... that is where my passion lies right now: 

1. melanoma prevention 

2. support and friendship for those in the same boat as I

Yesterday afternoon I had a little meltdown.  Flaked out a bit, burst into tears and had to put the computer away for the rest of the day.  Scott patiently listened and poured me a glass of wine.  

I'm okay, just a bit messy over the gravity of the topic, excited about the success of the campaign launch, and a little tired.  Of course a bout of insomnia would hit me this week as well, why not!?

In the meantime though... the rest of life beckons.... 

Wednesday evening Claire delivered her speech in the French public-speaking event at the School Board office in Chesley.  She did a great job of course, this was her third speech at the Board level. I was so happy to be able to be there, as last year I missed it as I was at Sunnybrook receiving my radioactive iodine treatment in isolation.

We had plenty of time to reminisce about her speaking day at York University when she competed at the Provincial level of Concours in grade five.  This week she placed third of the six in her category - way to go Claire!  This year her speech was about what it's like to be a twin.  An identical, mirror-image twin no less.  

Cass and Claire in grade 5, when they both competed at the Board level

Another fun part of this week is that today is April Fool's Day.  Yes.... April Fools Day, and I happen to have a friend (who shall remain nameless for the purpose of this blog) who is a very thoughtful and dedicated PRANKSTER.  

My house apparently decided to dress up in an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini last night!  The wind took some of it off, but that didn't foil my villainous friends' plan LOL!!  This is what we woke up to today:

And last year on April Fools day, my car:

And a few years back:

LMAO!  I don't have any photos of the pranks I attempted to pull off on my April Fools Day friend, not that you would see anything in the photos anyway. A few years ago I "forked' her lawn - stuck 300 plastic forks in her grass - only for it to snow! and cover up all of my handiwork!  I didn't prank my friend last night, the rain scared me away.  But I wish I had!! One day I will be back...plastic forks in hand... April Fools Day can be any day my friend... mark my words.  

Thanks for the smiles and laughter my friend.  
Thanks everyone, for keepin' it real around here.  xoxo

March Break Survival

As usual March Break was a strangely busy week with various kiddos coming in and out of the house ...some family, some temporarily adopted, some small, some grown-up... ALL hungry. Or thirsty ;-) 

Ahhhh March Break.  You exhaust me.  Thankfully Scott cooks a mean meatloaf dinner, and I'm handy at the consistent munchies and veggie trays and baking distractions during the day.  Even the dog was tired afterward:

Last week was a mix of appointments and relax time, including THREE trips to Barrie.  We had an appointment with our therapist at the cancer centre, the girls had a teen night event doing a special art project at Gilda's Club, and Friday night was the night the girls have been waiting for since Christmas... a rock concert.  

Their bestie gave them tickets (Moms too, so five of us in total) to see Marianas Trench, which is a Canadian rock/punk band bordering on "emo." (Apparently teenagers assess emo by amount of black eyeliner is on the lead singer?)  Opening band was Walk Off The Earth, whom I have wanted to see since the release of their acoustic 5-people-1-guitar rendition of Somebody that I used to know by Gotye.  

I haven't been to a concert in a looooong time, and I feared I would be out of practice LOL but it seems we made out just fine (and the MOMS didn't EMBARRASS anybody).  

The music was loud and great and the energy was so fun.  I have been to many concerts, including seeing The Hip at Barrie Molson Centre also, but this was my first all-ages concert.  It was strange but still good, I likely wouldn't have allowed my 10-11 year olds to attend such a show (the language is about as "EMO" as the eyeliner) but my almost 14-year olds handled it just fine.  

Both bands were incredible, and I can say I emerged from the concert a new fan of Marianas Trench.  Adding to the phenomenal volume and cool stage stunts, there is talent and real feeling that bursts out of the shirtless rocker. 

Thankfully the other Mom played chauffeur so it was a lovely treat to be passenger and not have to focus on the road (through the scream-singing of three boisterous teenage girls to the music they had blaring).  Thanks Z and C for the fun night, it wouldn't have happened without you! 

After that raucous finale to the week I remained chill (and quiet!) for the weekend, catching up on random electronic/writing and house work I had neglected over the holiday week.  For a stay-cation in which I worried I hadn't done enough for the kids, I ended up feeling satisfied that indeed I had.   

We had started the week off with a sleepover and ladies' breakfast date with a couple of the girls' friends, and we slipped in some shopping as well as a doggie walk (mud) at the beach, plus a marathon or two of Cathedral World (the boardgame).  We baked St. Patricks Day cupcakes - please know that I should NOT be in charge of the icing, I am a better chef than baker. Cass also invented a creative new dish that has quickly turned into a family favourite: Cassi's Cauliflower and Cheese Carnivore Casserole.  The recipe is top secret, but I can tell you there is a pound of bacon in this thing! 

(that icing was supposed to be shamrock green... yikes I would have been better off to just add cocoa to it and call it chocolate!!)

Scott and I celebrated our "anniversary" on St. Pats Day, we have been through thick and thin together for five years! That is the rose he got me and the clover/shamrock plant I got for him.  :-)

Anyway, I will sign off for now as I have a bunch of thoughts to organize for a piece I have been asked to write for the melanoma awareness project I will be talking a LOT about next week.  In the meantime I will leave you with these random items that reflect my thinking at this time...

 Thanks to @youngcafighter for these 2 memes.... they fit well! 

Keep up your fight #ThyCaSista !

True that @vermont76

#NotJustSkinCancer