*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!

dear monday, today I hit the gym early and got in a good workout on my ankle. I hope it's making a difference. I practiced the harp for a bit and then headed to Farmington for my radiation oncology appt.  I had to wait a while.  It gave me time to think about how grateful I was that I was sitting in the room in my current situation rather than the situation I was in the last few times I sat there. God is good.

I met a new resident. I am up to about 34 strangers now.  Everything looked good but Dr. Cannon wants me to have a baseline MRI in six months and then every two years after for up to about 7-8 years.  He told me to be very vigilant.  He said the return rate is about 4-5%. Whew.  I told him Dr. Poretta was worried about the tumor being the aggressive kind that likes to return but he said to just be vigilant. No worries there!  The nurse was super nice and told me how happy she was to see me in normal shoes and walking. I couldn't agree more!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...get your MAMMOS!  It's too risky not to!  I thought I would be the last person to get breast cancer! 1 in 8 women WILL get it!  Mammos don't prevent breast cancer but early detection can SAVE YOUR LIFE!  Make an appointment right now if you haven't! STOP reading and call and get one scheduled!

Still recovering from this ↓ on Thursday!  LOL But, it's worth it!  

I then headed to a few stores and tried on some sparkly bell bottoms Sarah found. They didn't work.  I did some shopping and then met the Sistas at Ligori's for dinner.  I got ripped off. Long story.  

We then went to the Terrace Playhouse for Mama Mia. Not too many were dressed up. Me and Dawn were the only Sistas. Party poopers! But not too many in the crowd either. That's okay.  

When we sat down I turned around and told the women behind me sorry in advance because we might be disruptive and they were SO happy to hear that!  They said they were so excited to have fun people to sit by!  They were more excited than we were and so fun!  I shared my microphones with them since I had 12. They were very happy about that. They were so fun!  We got lots of pix with them and with the Sistas. Probably a good thing we were all on the back two rows.  We were by far the loudest peeps in the audience! But it WAS a sing-a-long so we sang-a-long!

I wanted a photo with the lighthouse in the background.  The girl that took the picture missed the entire lighthouse (two photos on right).  And it was so pretty too. Oh well.
It was a fun night!  We sang and danced and got into it. Love Mama Mia and Abba songs!  I love my friends that love it too!  But seriously, who DOESN'T love Abba?

 With the cast ↓

 Fun night! The look on Dawn's face!  She cracks me up!

dear tuesday, today I got up super early and practiced my harp and then headed to my lesson. It went well, but I really need to work on my technique and form. We spent a lot of time on that.  I ran some errands and my lunch was Costco samples. I had a facial in the mall at 2:00 and it felt so good!  I loved it but the guy tried (very pushily) to sell me $2500 worth of cosmetics! Seriously!  He was not backing down. I am not sure how I escaped but I did!  

I headed to Logan to check out some couches Haylie saw on FB ads and I am glad I did because I bought one!  Mine is falling apart!  It has tears in it and in such bad shape. I am soooo excited!

I love it!  And I got a killer deal!  Another lady wanted the same one but luckily I was there first because she has to wait until February to get hers. I met McKay at Old Chicago (a new restaurant) and it was so packed we had to wait for 30 min for a table. But it was great food. It was fun chatting with him.  He is a great kid.  And so cute. 

dear wednesday, today I hit the gym early.  I hope things are improving. I think they are! 

I had an ortho appointment. I haven't been in almost a year. He had to replace my bottom retainer.  We chatted for a bit.  I headed home and got some things done around here. I got busy trying to find early Black Friday deals. It's so bizarre some stores are doing them now.  I ran a couple errands in the afternoon. I hurt my back at the gym today and so I went upstairs early and got out the heating pad. It helped. I went to bed pretty early because I could not keep my eyes open. 

I'm worried about Mr. Cat.  He has been throwing up a lot lately. I wonder if I should take him into a different vet to see if they can figure out what is wrong. Poor thing.

dear thursday, it felt so good to get some good sleep finally!  I still woke up at 4:30 a.m. but it was still good to have got more than six hours.  I headed on a walk. I ran into Haylie's cute grandma!  She is adorable. I just love her.  I came home and did some early Black Friday shopping. Or at least put things in my cart.  I had big plans to get a lot done today, but didn't happen.  Headed out to Disney On Ice with Sarah, Carson and we picked up Kyla in Centerville.  We got great parking.  Last time I came I had crutches. Glad that wasn't the case today!  It wasn't too chilly either. We were invited to the Influencer pre-show which consisted of a craft (paper airplane) and meeting Mickey and Minnie.  The food was just chips and boxed drinks. I was famished and so inhaled some Sun Chips and mini cookies.  

We then met Mickey and Minnie.  And then went to our seats. I went on a search for dinner that wasn't going to cost $12 each. I found some large pizza slices for $7 each and cut them in half. They were enormous! 

The show was good but we had some big heads and Mickey Mouse ears in front of us so thankfully no one sat to the right of us and we moved so Kyla could actually see. She was so cute and has never been to anything like that.  They did Toy Story, Little Mermaid, Cars and Frozen.  The kids loved Frozen!  It was fun!

dear friday, this morning I should have gone to the gym but I would have been too late and so I went and walked at the high school and did my PT there. My phone was way off and so I have no idea how far but I am hoping on at least four. Maybe five?  Came home and cleaned out some drawers and worked on the computer and then tried to get our phone/TV/internet deal lowered to no avail. I worked on Christmas and my closet and got a lot done. Sarah made dinner (my turkey divan recipe) and it was yummy.  I had Mama Mia the movie on while I did my closet and I was still in the ABBA mood and so I went up and watched Mama Mia 2 after dinner.  Love it!

dear saturday, today I woke up at 4:45 .am. This daylight saving's time is for the birds!  The early birds, unfortunately. Ugh. I got up and worked on some Christmas gifts on Shutterfly. I got in a walk around the high school and found a few coins. I also drove by our storage bays.  They are coming nicely.

Dave and I had a morning reception at the church.  I loved their book signing idea.

I practiced the harp and then did some more on my closet and then waited for my mom to arrive so we could go to the matinee play at the high school, but she never did. I called her and she hadn't even left her house. She forgot.  Yep. So I had Sarah and Carson pick her up at Maverick on her way back from SLC. I went alone and they arrived almost an hour late.  Sarah got hit by a flying chair in Riverdale and it damaged Sky's car pretty bad but they were okay.  Whew. Cars can always be fixed. The play was Newsies. They did a great job but it wasn't Carson's style and he was bored. My mom was too. 

Added all four because there isn't one where everyone looks good and half are blurry when they do. I need a new phone just for a better camera.

We went to Old Grist after and ate some sandwiches and then I took her home and got my Dad to go get her car at Maverick. I wasn't sure I trusted her to even drive that far. She probably shouldn't be driving any longer. Her license expires in January but not sure she can pass the test.  We shall see.  McKay was home all day because he has three huge tests next week and he is here to study his brains out. Love having him around. And so does Carsolito!

I saw this the other day.
Dave and Carson were watching a football game together. It was so cute.

dear sunday, today was a gorgeous fall day.  It's much warmer than it was three or four weeks ago.  We headed to church.  We got a new choir director in Primary...Brian H again.  The kids will love him. Primary went well.  I had the CTR 5's sitting by me because their teacher wasn't sitting by them. They are cute.  We only had two Sunbeams in class. Pat taught.  We came home and I rested for a bit. I was so tired. This waking up at the crack of insanity every day is getting old!  Did I mention I hate daylight saving's time?  Ugh. I wake up about 4:30 a.m. every single day.  We had ham and funeral potatoes for lunch.  Yum.  I got one of my blog weeks caught up (the busiest one!) so I was happy. I really need to get the calendars done asap!  Everyone and their dog is already putting up Christmas decors.  The only reason I would is to save me the stress and time when things are already crazy busy.  But I'm too crazy busy right now, so it probably won't happen.  I can't believe it's almost Christmas again!  Feels like we just ended it three weeks ago!
Bryce stopped by for a bit with Brinlee. Liam was sick. 

dear random, Dave had this little guy working his keister off the other day.  He is a hard worker.

Sarah got a new wig for her character company and tried it on Carson. I had to hurry and snap this photo before Sky found out. haha

 Carson's Christmas list.

It says Chemistry lab. LOL

 I am pretty disappointed in how short my hair is! 

I knew she cut a lot off but when I wear it curly...HOLY!  Not sure it's ever been quite this short! I wanna cry because it doesn't grow fast anymore.

GROW! Please grow!

A few of Bryce and Haylie's photos...

My friend made this sign. I ordered one for a Christmas gift. I think it's so CUTE!

This was on FB.  It hit home.  It truly is how it feels at times. And probably always will.

Imagine you're going about your day, minding your own business, when someone sneaks up behind you...

You feel something press up against the back of your head, as someone whispers in your ear.

"Sssshhhhh.... don't turn around. Just listen. I am holding a gun against the back of your head. I'm going to keep it there. I'm going to follow you around like this every day, for the rest of your life."

"I'm going to press a bit harder, every so often, just to remind you I'm here, but you need to try your best to ignore me, to move on with your life. Act like I'm not here, but don't you ever forget... one day I may just pull the trigger... or maybe I won't. Isn't this going to be a fun game?"

This is what it is like to be diagnosed with cancer. Any STAGE of cancer. Any KIND of cancer. Remission does not change the constant fear. It never truly goes away. It's always in the back of your mind.

Please, if you have a loved one who has ever been diagnosed with cancer, remember this. They may never talk about it or they may talk about it often. Listen to them.

They aren't asking you to make it better. They want you to sit with them in their fear... their sadness... their anger... just for the moment. That's it.

Don't try to talk them out of how they are feeling. That doesn't help. It will only make them feel like what they are going through is being minimized. Don't remind them of all the good things they still have in their life. They know. They are grateful.

But some days they are more aware of that gun pressing into the back of their head and they need to talk about it. Offer them an ear.

❤Sherry McAllister❤

dear quotes,