Sunday, October 7, 2012
Lucy continues her personal story about her fight with breast cancer.
This is the second part of Lucy’s story about her battle with breast cancer. You can read the first part, her diagnosis, here. It’s funny how our perception of time changes according to the events we’re expecting; or dreading. The weeks prior to my mastectomy were filled with a battery of pre-op testing, but they went quickly. Even though time flew, silence became my enemy. If there was no noise, the silence would envelop me like a steel cloak, weighing heavily on my heart and mind. Even though I tried to be upbeat, those moments of solitude allowed the fear to creep into my mind. Cancer was a well-trained, aggressive opponent, with fear as its general and death as its ally. I was one person. I had no control over what was going to happen…
Sunday, September 16, 2012
The Brunette Lucy discovers that regardless of what fairytale classics like Cinderella would have you believe, mice and humans can not co-exist.
Even though I enjoy summer, I’m a cold weather fan. By September, I’ve had about enough of high heat and humidity. When fall comes around, I usher it in with unmitigated glee. Of course, like everything in life, nothing is perfect. As I prepare my house for the winter months, little field mice are packing their bags as well, in search of their winter home. My house, apparently, has a neon “Holiday Inn” sign with a perpetual flashing vacancy sign, beckoning mice from all over the town. I know this is going to sound weird, but I’m torn about having them in my house. They carry diseases, get into our food, and leave disgusting mice poop in their wake. But like most moms, I read the children countless stories about adorable miniature mice …
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Lucy discovers that when determining if something is junk or treasure, the item's beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
It’s natural for every generation to think that the generation prior to them is clueless. They think they discovered everything from sex to music and that parents have gone through life perpetually befuddled. What they don’t know is that we invented cool; they’re just imitating it. And as the saying goes, everything old is new again – and likely worth a whole lot of money. If you don’t believe that, you haven’t noticed shows like PBS’s “Antiques Road Show” or “American Picker.” People are discovering treasures in their attics that they’d considered junk. Growing up, if furniture wasn’t made within the last 30 years, it was considered old. Now they call it antiques. And people pay a lot of money for it. I’ve got an old desk that I paid …
Sunday, July 29, 2012
In Lucy's house, no one can find anything - most times.
Sometimes I’m amazed that my children can clothe themselves in the morning. I say that because half the time, they can’t find a matching pair of socks, and if they had wanted to wear a certain shirt, it’s gone missing. After searching for all of, oh, maybe one second, they begin to bellow, “Mom, where’s my other shoe/shirt/socks/brush/head?” In fact, my best friend, Michele told me the other day that nothing is ever truly lost until Mom can’t find it. No truer words were ever spoken. For example, up until a few years ago, we’d owned a restaurant. Matt’s a brilliant chef, and his specialty was soup. He was often teasingly referred to as the “soup Nazi.” When I was in his commercial kitchen, I had no idea where things were. The refrigerator …
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Lucy finds that buying a slenderizing swimsuit isn't for the faint of heart.
No matter your weight, women get freaked out whenever it’s time to buy a bathing suit. I’ve always hated buying one, even when I was young and had no body issues. But, we’re getting ready to go on vacation, and the last time my current swimsuit was in style was the early 80s. First thing I did was to thumb through women’s magazines, looking for what’s fashionable right now. I came across article after article counseling that once I had figured out my body shape, they had tips for the best bathing suit for me. I saw straight-shaped, pear-shaped, inverted triangle-shaped, and several other body types. Problem was, I couldn’t find mine – outta shape. Armed with ideas, I headed for the mall. I chose the mall because there were several large …
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Nothing good happens when Lucy is on a quest for the perfect crust.
Like most Americans, I love pizza. But when I was younger, I lived out west. We didn’t have pizza shops on almost every corner in Colorado. There were some, but they were few and far between. Until Pizza Hut moved into my area, I was forced to get my pizza fix sitting in a huge room, surrounded by children and arcade games, watching an overgrown animatronic mouse leading a band with only one volume – loud – in the kiddie kingdom of Chuck E. Cheese. It never entered my mind that three kids later, I’d have attended enough of the overgrown rodent's establishments that its theme song haunted me in my nightmares. The thing about pizza, however, is that for such a simple food, there are hundreds of thousands of ways to make it. I prefer thin …
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Lucy thinks Dads these days don't get the credit they deserve.
Today is Father’s Day, and as usual, the kids scrambled to find a way to show Matt how much they love him. Of course, they made him a cake, and I’ll make him his favorite dinner. Still, the kids have been scratching their heads, because they’d like to find something to give to the dad they love so much. The problem is, Matt’s one of those guys who says he doesn’t want or need anything – and means it. He’s also the type of man who networks and barters with his friends. He has a friend for just about every conceivable service one could imagine. So saying we search everywhere to find a gift for him is an understatement. One year, I came up with a brilliant idea. Like many men, Matt likes beer. So I bought a beer making kit, complete with hops…
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Not all children are angels in public.
We’ve all seen them; children whose parents have the ability to tune out while their children are misbehaving. Honestly, misbehaving is a mild word for kids running through a restaurant, knocking over chairs and bumping into tables, sending plates flying. Yet their parents keep on eating as if nothing is going on. The funny thing is, if you point out their miscreants’ behavior, you’re nasty or hate kids. And why is it that they’re almost always out in restaurants or in movie theaters when we’re trying to have a nice evening? Years ago, Matt and I went to a theater and the family behind us had brought all five of their manner-impaired imps. We knew it was going to be a difficult evening right off the bat. I’m guessing that the parents …
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Lucy finds out that sometimes our advice is remembered - whether we like it or not.
As parents, we’re constantly giving advice. Some out of sheer rote like, “don’t speak with your mouth full” while others are more tailored to each child. For example, our son, Dakota, was born with a series of life-threatening birth defects (collectively called Pentalogy of Cantrell). One of his defects was an omphaloceale, which means his stomach never closed; his intestines and part of his liver grew outside his body. The doctors were able to sew him up, but it left a huge, one-inch-wide scar running much of the length of his torso. He also has a cleft sternum and no navel. As he grew, we’d go to beaches where it was obvious he was different. It soon became obvious to him as well. We told him over and over that he was a brave boy and …
Sunday, February 26, 2012
How many times has the lure of the grocery store caused you to buy everything in sight?
My friend, Ann, said that she went to the store for chips and milk, but ended up spending $120. It started a whole discussion from several women who reported the same thing. I can’t tell you how happy I was to know that I’m not the only woman to suffer from this condition. I excel in keeping a list of things we’ve run out of; I even bought neon-colored paper so that the list would be noticeable. I’m proud to say I have rarely left the house without it. Unfortunately, the problem isn’t taking it; it’s keeping it and sticking to the items on it. After watching TLC’s “Extreme Couponing,” I decided my next trip to the grocery store was going to be well-planned and thought out. My goal was to collect and clip coupons to put in an organizer. I …
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