All Things EARTH... part 2

[laurspag]

Lauri!! I have been wondering where you got off to. I'm so hm glad Anita was able to contact you. We've missed you.

 

I am so sorry to hear about your cancer and surgery. That is so much to go through. I am so thankful that you are doing well.

 

I am a firm believer in being very proactive about health. I have been getting mammograms since I was 39. I had a colonoscopy at 48 or 49. I go for all my yearly checkups. Your advice to us is good.

 

And I'm so happy you are going on a cruise soon. You certainly deserve it.

 

We all give and take. We are friends here. We offer each other a tremendous amount of support to one snother. Please keep in touch with us!

[awhfy]

Lauri! Thank goodness for fiber cystic breasts! Glad you're doing well & on road to recovery.

 

I'm a 33 year survivor of cervical & endometrial cancer (& I got Pap smears every 6 months cause my Mom took DES. I had gone in at 4 months due to a major trip (if I'd waited till 6 months I wouldn't still be here. Mine was found by a great NP (who is always in my prayers) that "just didn't like what she saw". I had a total hysterectomy at 32 (on my bday).

 

Don't ever not listen to that inner voice!

Melody

[MJC]

Lauri, thank you so much for coming back and sharing your story. We missed you, and an abrupt departure from the EARTH girls is always a bit worrisome. I am so happy to hear that you're doing well and getting a much-deserved vacation. Sending you virtual hugs and wishes for smooth sailing going forward.

[GulfSurferGirl]

Doesn't my arm look huge? lol.

 

I like you already! I run most days and surf a few others, but middle age has its own ideas; when I spread my arms wide, I look like I am wearing one of those high tech squirrel suits. I guess I either live with it or take up base jumping.

 

:)

[lah66]

Thank you everyone!

 

Melody, you are so right...you have to be your own advocate and listen to your gut...when I found the lump I was in the process of changing PCP's. I called my new one for an order for a diagnostic mammogram and she said, "Why don't we meet at your normal scheduled appointment in 6 weeks and we will talk about your mammogram history and go from there". UH, NO. Totally unacceptable! I actually had to go outside the hospital system I work for to get my care expedited. But, I have received amazing care, have had incredible results, and have the best plastic surgeon that is going to reconstruct my breasts over the next few months. By our cruise in late October, my reconstruction should be totally finished and I will be able to wear strapless outfits! No more dealing with expensive, armor lined bras to make the old girls look good! Basically they build an internal bra with your pectoral muscle and additional collagen, so you never have to wear a bra again, strange right?

 

Thanks for your support

Lauri

[awhfy]

Lauri, & you now have a new PCP too, right? Never wear a bra again, some good cones of this! Melody

[Joby]

Hi Lauri,

 

Passing along my hopes and prayers for a full and speedy recovery! Glad you had the backbone to follow your instincts. You go girl :)

 

Kim

[awhfy]

Didn't get too many pictures with the allergic reaction. Here's some

[awhfy]

Here's a couple moreMelody

Edited May 12, 2016 by awhfy

[awhfy]

& the last of them. Melody

Edited May 12, 2016 by awhfy

[awhfy]

The last picture is the beach in From Here To Eternity. Melody

[aoknkentucky]

Lauri, I'm so glad you listened to your gut and thanks for coming back to let us know. I've wondered about you. I had my total hysterectomy at 36 and it was the right decision for me. I would have never thought I needed to be grateful to be fibrocystic. Thanks for that new outlook. I have a friend whose reconstruction sounds similar to yours. I envy her ability to wear whatever she wishes with no thought of underpinnings to keep everything pointed in the right direction. Best wishes for the rest of your journey.

 

Melody, what a trip you had. It doesn't sound like the way I would prefer to see Hawaii, but I bet it wasn't what you signed on for either. Glad everything is better now. Thanks for posting the pictures.

 

Laurie, huge--schmooge. I have those same feelings about my arms, but I'm trying to learn to accept myself--even the parts I'm not happiest with and my arms definitely fall into that category. My arms help me get out of bed in the morning, brush my teeth and get me where I need to be every day. Without them, I'd be handicapped for the life I'm glad to lead. I don't mean to come down hard on you, and you may have meant this much more lightheartedly than I read it, so I guess I'm saying all this mostly for my own benefit. Sorry, if I seem rude or harsh, but I'm trying so hard to accept what I need to change until the change actually happens and you've made such great strides to being healthier. I am envious and I think you should be proud of your accomplishment. Rant over. I keep thinking--what will be worse, big arms or flapping skin? At my age, I'm afraid that's my only two options. The thought that my extra arm skin will magically disappear is probably a fairy-tale. LOL

 

Well, Anita. Lands sake, woman! You do have an enormous amount of upheaval going on. I guess I can quit holding out hope that my dream of a fall cruise for the FIRE/EARTH ladies will materialize. I will continue to send prayers and positive thoughts for you and your family.

 

Margaret, take good care of our Anita. Dang it, but I wish I could sit in on those get-togethers. There's no telling how much good info I could absorb. IF I could sit still and keep my mouth shut long enough!

[Sailor_Sally]

Melody , Very nice pictures ! You look like you are having fun despite the allergic reaction .

[laurspag]

Melody, your pictures are great. Allergic reaction or not, you look like you had a great time! Hawaii is on my bucket list. I'd love to go there someday. Right now, we are thinking that Alaska and Hawaii are our retirement cruises, in that we will be better positioned to take more than one week to travel. Both of these are places that I don't want to rush through!

 

Lauri, I'm sure you would have rather not gone through any of this, but the reconstruction is a nice thing. I can't imagine life without a heavy duty bra like I have to wear, lol!

 

Now, my arms....well, you've summed it up perfectly! I'm healthy, much more fit than ever, and I can get up and use them each and every day. I may not like them, but they are way better than they were. And sometimes, we just can't pick where our weight decides to migrate to. For me, it's the arms and boobs! :eek::eek:

 

The funny thing is, in addition to the elliptical and cycle, I spend time with weights whenever I got to the gym. Well, it's mostly Nautilus. That has done wonders for my shoulders, and my lower back, where those love handles were. Er, still are, just smaller!

 

I feel better than I have in so many years. I feel so incredibly blessed. And with what so many people are going through, any problems I may have are peanuts in comparison. Like you, I truly believe in accepting who we are.

 

Life is good!

 

Just 23 more days til vacation. But who's counting? my WHBM order should be in tomorrow or Saturday, so I can see how that went. Sunday, my daughters and I are taking a little shopping trip to the Waterloo Outlet Mall. It's about an hour away.

 

Monday is my birthday. My husband asked what I wanted, and I said an extra trip to the gym. Really, they spoiled me rotten for the Mother's Day Weekend! And I'm sure I can have a glass of wine when I get home.

[laurspag]

I spent most of today doing things like laundry, ironing and a few errands. Now I'm just relaxing a bit with the dogs, since I'm the only one home. It's graduation weekend for my husband. So in addition to working Monday through Friday this past week and next week, he gets to work the weekend too. 12 days in a row...it's one of the reasons we have often cruised around now. It's a well deserved break for him. However, we aren't going until the beginning of June this year. He left around 5:00 AM today and should be home around 10:00. Long day!

 

My White House Black Market order came in. The cinnamon color is absolutely delightful. I like the ankle jeans a lot, and the top. I debated on the dress, and ended up ordering one that I thought would be ideal for multiple functions. It's okay, not great. So for that reason, I am going to return that dress. But there are a lot of things there that I like. And just like Sally said, they do have sales. right now, I have a coupon for $50.00 off $100.00, plus a $20.00 reward perk from the previous order. With careful shopping, you can get some good deals there!

 

As you know, my dogs are small. One of them, Harvey, needed his nails clipped so we took him in to Pet Smart today. I am afraid to do them myself, and the cost of a "pawdicure" is pretty cheap. Plus he gets to go for a car ride, socialize, etc. Now he gets pretty nervous. When you go to the grooming area, there are other dogs, the vacuum running all the time (he is scared of a vacuum) and even the nail grinder making noise. The young lady taking care of him was so sweet an patient. She ended up sitting down on the table where the dogs usually stand and she held him in her lap to do his nails. It was so sweet.

 

It's so nice to see someone go the extra mile, you know?

 

I think I already mentioned that me and my daughters are planning a little trip to Waterloo tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. it may have been in the 70's yesterday, but it's cooling off and I hear we could even get some wet snow tomorrow, early morning. I could do without that!

[MJC]

Just a quick note from Michigan, where we had a hailstorm today and I had to wear a winter coat this morning. :eek: Two days here seems like two weeks.:rolleyes:

 

I had some time to kill so I stopped at TJ Maxx. This dress had awesome colors but look at the pattern. I thought of you all immediately and I had to stop laughing to take this picture.

[awhfy]

I had to snicker when I saw the picture, fried eggs came to mind! We had 82 & brilliant sun on Friday & 34 & mist (for the regional track meet) on Saturday. . It was pretty brisk! DGD ran beautifully 100 & 300 meter hurdles in a tank & running shorts...you can see what I wore! Melody

[laurspag]

Melody, fried eggs came to mind? I'd be like, extra large eggs, lol. A lot of times, I don't always read into the patterns, so to speak. But on this one....wow. just wow! But what a good giggle!!

 

Spring will arrive for us some say, right?

[awhfy]

Hope you have a lovely bday tomorrow Laurie!. Melody

[Sailor_Sally]

Happy Birthday Laurie !

Well after this year of cancelling two cruises .I am ready to travel again. We do have a transatlantic booked for next April but I would really like to do something in the fall . Gary is probably going to have his other knee done so I have to work around that .I also have to visit my grandkids & daughter in New York state .

[MJC]

Happy Birthday Laurie!

[awhfy]

Our Nordstrom Rack store just had its grand opening - I'm pretty happy. I picked up a pair of Eileen Fisher crepe pants & a Eileen Fisher cardigan also a blush pink tshirt & a pair of taupe crystal sandals (the latter from DSW next door). Great buys, all for under $75. Melody

[laurspag]

Thank you, everyone! I had a wonderful birthday.

 

I'm just two weeks away from vacation so I'm kind of focusing on what I will be packing. We haven't had very much warm weather here, so it looks like my shorts won't get worn til my trip at this rate. I will be rolling clothes and using packing cubes this time. I used packing cubes the last trip but I only had a few.

 

It has been busy at work so I feel like I've been there more than any place else. It has been rough going at times lately so the thought of vacation is a welcome one!

 

Sent from my SM-T530NU using Tapatalk

[awhfy]

Two weeks, I'm sure you're all ready to go! We finally have some warm weather for summer clothes. I think the snow is gone until fall. Laurie, have a great time!

[laurspag]

I ordered a few things from Dressbarn, only to realize they now had them in our local store. Lucky for me, there was free shipping! Although I didn't get a chance to go through the whole store as I just stopped in quick to exchange a dress for a different size, I did see a few earthy things.

 

I wanted to point out two dresses. The first one is a maxi, and made of a nice jersey knit that is great for traveling. There is no black in this - that is dark brown.

 

https://www.dressbarn.com/detail/tribal-print-maxi-dress/102266201/924

 

This was the dress I was exchanging. It seemed to run a bit big. There is some black at the bottom of the dress, but not much. Overall, I thought it was a nice change of pace. this too was in a great jersey knit for traveling.

 

https://www.dressbarn.com/detail/leaf-print-zip-front-dress/102685018/600

 

Since I did see a few tops, I'm probably going to stop by tomorrow. There was another dress I really loved, but the colors weren't right for me. One thing about a changing body shape - you can often where some styles you couldn't wear before. But the color...well, I could wear it, but I think the dress would wear me, if you know what I mean.

 

https://www.dressbarn.com/detail/paisley-print-halter-dress/102704147/619