I'm Baaaaack.......and I have a baby and thyroid cancer.

Like the bubonic plague, but nicer, I return after a few years of nothing.... Well I was busy. We had some deaths, a pregnancy, and a birth. Lots of smiles, and a few tears, and just life in all its messy gorgeous glory. It kept me from blogging, and frankly with a baby I can't promise I'll blog alot, but I'll at least peek in every now and then.

But now, I'm back. In 2 days I will officially be a stay at home mom. In 3 days I'm having my thyroid removed because of a cancerous nodule. And that's really why I'm back. I have googled and searched and found very little about being a mom, having thyroid cancer, and life post-thyroidectomy. Yes I read all the research articles and all the medical journals I could find. But there were very few people talking about what it was really like after surgery, and what life without a thyroid is like. So I figured I'd share my journey in case anyone else is looking for stories as they experience life with thyroid cancer.

Let me say this:



I am scared.


Scared that there will be some complication, scared that the cancer will be bigger than they think, scared it will hurt, and just plain scared of the unknown.

But I know that no matter what happens, I will be me. I will plow through and handle whatever happens. I'll try to make the best of it, and I'll probably succeed.

but....

for right now, I'm scared of the unknown, ya know?

making crabapple sauce

OR......... how to waste a few hours..................

Everytime we walk the dogs we walk by this really neat crabapple tree, and for the past 2 years I've been thinking about trying to make crabapple sauce.

So this year, we finally tried it.


We picked the crabapples, washed them, cut out the bad spots and put them in our dutch oven with a little bit of water so they didn't scorch. Cooked them, covered, until soft.

Don't they look pretty? They smelled good too.

Once they were soft enough I used my ricer to mush 'em up good.

PS...hot apple mush burns....

Then back in the dutch oven they went, and I cooked it down to a good consistency, and added my sugar. It tasted pretty sour and bitter, so I added more sugar, and more, and more, and more..... pretty much I added more sugar than apples....... nothing helped, it tasted awful, so it all went in the garbage! YUCK

The only good thing was, this was a test batch so I didn't pick a ton.

So.... I discovered those crabapples up the road, are not so good for applesauce....

five finger shoes OR hideous frog feet shoes

Today Aaron and I drove out to Evans on the Common in Townsend, MA and bought our very own Vibram Five Finger Shoes . The lady at Evans was super nice and helpful with picking the right shoes and the right size. They are not sized like regular shoes so it's important to try them on before you buy them.

Aaron got the nice neutral black KSO,while I got the slate colored Sprint

If you like to be barefoot, but worry about sharp objects and hygiene check these out.

I know, they look kinda goofy, but who cares?

These shoes are supposedly just like being barefoot, but with some protection. Basically the idea is, our feet were made to be barefoot, and all of those pointy heeled shoes force our feet to be what they aren't. Which in turn can cause back, knee, and foot problems. I always think of it in terms of back braces. If you wear a back brace, the brace supports you and your muscles do less work and atrophy. The same thing happens in your feet. The shoes provide all the support and your muscles get weak.

We plan on slowly working our way into wearing these alot of the time, and Aaron wants to run in them. The Plan: take your time, do it slow, listen to your body.

I'll update when we've been wearing them for a bit, and let you know how it's going.

FYI this was all Aaron's idea..... I think he's coming to the crunchy side. =0)

Updated here and here

 at some point about 2 months after buying them, the seam on my big toe gave out. It was a very simple fix with a needle and thread. Aarons however are going strong with no signs of wear.

Picking berries....

Still no word on The House.... still waiting....

So no Thankful Anyway Thursday post, I don't even want to think about the stresses right now..

When we bought this house there were some wild black raspberries on the side of our shed, and we decided to keep them and nurture them a little bit. So we trimmed them and fed them with a little organic fertilizer.

They are coming into season and boy am I glad we kept these guys!! This is their best season out of the last 3 seasons we've had them!! 

There were a ton of ripe berries, so I spent some time picking berries while Roxie hung out in the yard. I left some on the top for the birds, and some on the bottom for the rodents. I of course forgot a bowl, so I used my shirt...

They ended up in a  fruit salad, along with mango, orange, watermelon, grapes, and blueberries.. YUM