LIFE BEYOND CANCER......

My life seems to be returning to normal.....a new normal.  I don't think about cancer as often any more like I did at first.  Oh, I never forget it....but I can feel I'm moving beyond cancer at last!  It has changed me, however, and that is why I refer to my life now as my "new normal".  In my "new normal" I take the time to take better care of myself and I also live life to the fullest with lots of "firsts"!  Cancer has taught me to "live out loud"!  :=)

TASTE OF HOME

Well, look at this!  My sister and I got in the newspaper again....this time it was the local newspaper and our Red Hat sisters were with us!  We are such celebrities...lol!

We all had a great time at the Taste of Home cooking school here in town.  I told Larry to go pick himself something up to eat while I went and leaned how to cook for him.  lol!

Here we all are in a group picture we asked the reporter to take of us.  A few couldn't make it.  One of our sisters opted to go on a cruise with her husband instead of this event....imagine that!   LOL!

Here's a few others the Tribune took that night.

And look what I won!  This was one of the dishes the cook made that night......Taco Casserole....and I won it...yay!  Yes, it was yummy!

I had my supper already made for the next night.  Larry said it was a little spicy for him, but he ate it!  Makes you hungry just looking at it, doesn't it?  :=)

Isn't this a great picture of mother and daughter, Ruth and Linda Morrow.  Ruth joined us, but she's way too young for a Red Hat.  She had a pink cap with her, but didn't have it on when I snapped this picture.

After the cooking show, we went to Applebees for dessert!

Oh, and did I tell you that I, THE QUEEN, visited the PRESIDENT?  LOL

SUMMER WEATHER GOT HERE EARLY!

I had to go shopping for some summer clothes sooner than I expected!  Who would have guessed it was going to be 80 degrees in March!!!  All of my summer clothing from last year are size 18/20 and my old capris fall off of me and are so baggy!  So, I went and got me a couple of new pair of capris....size 14...yay!!!  I'm so happy to still be at a size 14.

And here's a side view so you can see how natural my foobs look!  They don't FEEL natural YET!

And look how fast my hair is growing now!  I'm actually thinking I'm going to cut it like it was back in January!

Like this...what do you think?  I'm seriously thinking of getting it cut this short!  I just wanted to grow it out a bit first to see what the curls/waves would look like.  But, I really, really liked it SUPER SHORT!!!!!  It sure did grow fast since January, didn't it?

MY FIRST PEDICURE!

With the warmer weather I also dug out my sandals and realized I needed to go get a pedicure....my VERY FIRST one! 

Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!  Yes, I take my camera EVERYWHERE.....lol!

LOL...yes, I have hairy toes and BIG veins!  Ick!  But look how beautiful my toenails are....lol!

And while I was at it....how about a manicure too!

Yep, I have juicy veins in my hands too.  Must be why they like to put IVs in my hand...lol!

And look at the pretty flower she painted on my thumbnails!  One of these days I'm going to get a funky color like lime green or bright orange!  I had been trying to paint them myself at home, but to honest, I'm not good at it and they chip off immediately!  So, if this lasts me 3-4 weeks, it will be worth it to just let them do the job for me!

LUNCH MEETING WITH MY THIRTY-ONE ROOMIES!

I was so happy to meet up with my Thirty One Conference roomies.....Amy and Vicki!  I've talked with both of them on facebook and the phone since then.....but we hadn't seen each other since the conference last July!

Here we were last July! 

And here we are just yesterday!  Wow, what a difference 8 months has made, right?  Of course they look great in both pictures, but I was pretty sickly in the first one.  I had just finished my chemo a couple of weeks before the conference and was two weeks away from my masectomy.  I look at these pictures and realize how sick I really was.  I'm glad I took pictures all through my journey....I can now look back and them and see how far I have come!  Amy and Vicki both met me when I was sick and bald....so they had never really been with me when I wasn't sick!  It was soooo good to meet up with them again and we are making plans to have a play day in my stamp cave!  Can't wait!!!

Speaking of Thirty One....my business is going great after jumping in and turning it around in February.  At the end of this month, I hope (and plan) to be promoted to DIRECTOR...yay!!!  This has been a goal of mine since I signed up to be a consultant!  I am so excited!  And what's really neat is.....Us roomies, Vicki, Amy, and I will all be Directors at the next convention in August!  Vicki has already promoted and Amy and I should promote by the end of the week!  How cool is that?  None of would have realized last year that we'd be going back to the convention as Directors this year!!!  That's a big accomplishment!  With taking almost a year off from my business, I am shocked at how fast it has turned around for me and that I'm actually on track to be a DIRECTOR!  I always said...."in God's timing"!

SPINAL INJECTION

Well, today I went back to Dr. Chambers....the Orthopedic Surgeon....as a follow-up to the spinal injection I had.  The pain in my buttocks and leg let up for two weeks after the injection, but it returned (mostly in my buttocks...a little in my leg).  It was so awesome to be pain free or that two weeks....and a dissappointment that the pain came back.  But I have heard people have to get these injections repeatedly....even just weeks apart.  So when he asked if I would want to choose to get the injection again, I said yes!  It helped and may help longer the next time, so I told him if it doesn't hurt for me to get it again and might possibly help....then I'm ready to do it again!!  So, he's making the appointment for me and I should be doing that again in a couple of weeks.

Well, that's pretty much my update for this time.  Until next time....enjoy that sunshine out there!!!!

Cindy