Adventure is Out There!

I've decided to share some awesome feminist quotes, works, art, etc. every Friday.  This week, I'm featuring a passage from the novel,  Shipped by Angie Hockman . First, I will share my thoughts on this novel.  Let me just tell you... it was deceiving. At first glance, the premise sounds like a simple enemies to lovers plot, with a paradise backdrop. In reality, it was an earnest, heartfelt and raw relationship that blossomed between long distance coworkers who challenged and irked each other, into something much more. The fiery tension between the main characters, Graeme and Henley, is more competitive than outright hostility or animosity, which was a nice change of pace. They challenge each other, force one another to dig deep and work harder.  This book is also about the struggle women face in the workplace. This is an all too honest and accurate portrayal of how women already begin starting to climb the cooperate ladder with weights strapped to their ankles and a...

Before I begin this story, I need to remind you, Reader, of something very important.  Anxiety is different for everyone and your experiences may be the same as mine; it may be vastly different from my own.  It may vary by situation, it may cause reactions in different manners.  That's all OKAY.  Remember that, alright?  My sister, mother and I recently went to a David's Bridal location to try on bridesmaid dresses.  I feel that David's is the most affordable, convenient option for my bridesmaids who are scattered from Boston to Brooklyn to upper New Hampshire.  I had already picked out a color (a soft sage green) from the selection available on the website and had a general idea of the style of dress I wanted.  I also knew that I wanted every girl to feel great in whatever she wore that day so I had settled on the idea that each of them could choose what style she felt suited her best, as long as it was in the same color as everyone else. The sto...

It's been almost a year since we moved into our Cozy House.  So much has changed in our little home! Our adventures have kept us close to home due to the current state of the country.  Bobby was diagnosed with an immuodeficiency; basically his body isn't making antibodies so I now have to administer a weekly subcutaneous injection.  I like to call myself his nurse and while it is wonderful to be able to perform the treatment at home, I still hold out hope that in a few months or even a year his body will begin producing its own antibodies and we can stop the injections. We are still as vigilant as possible when it comes to exposing ourselves to other people or environments outside our home.  We attempt to sanitize everything as much as possible, but we aren't perfect.  This past year has had its challenges like it has for everyone else in the world.  For now we are relatively healthy and safe, and we are grateful for that. My only surviving grandmother is s...

Hope everyone is staying home and flattening the curve! If you're able to, I urge you to please, please, PLEASE stay home. For all of our sakes, please stay home. My fiance has respiratory issues so he is at high risk for contracting COVID and I am immunocompromised so I am also at risk. I really only leave the house for absolute necessities like groceries and I make sure to sanitize the carriage, keep my distance from the handful of other shoppers when I go at 8AM on Saturday, and I wash my fruit and veggies thoroughly when I get home.  I've been exceptionally fortunate that I haven't had any symptoms in the year and a half-ish that I have been dealing with this diagnosis of cancer.  Recently I started having some lower back pain.  It began as a dull pain or stiffness, and now it's a sharp, battering pain that flares up about once every two weeks or so. It doesn't give me any warning, however.  It's not as if I slept wrong in a strange position or lifted an ...

People don't like things that make them feel uncomfortable.  As humans we appreciate things that fit neatly into boxes, tied up with a bow, clearly defined.  Life is a culmination of black, white, grey and every combination in-between.  Sometimes that grey matter is feeling sad, and I am here to tell you that IT'S OKAY. It's okay to feel sad.  It's okay to feel sad in the same way that it is okay to feel happy about the first sip of coffee in the morning, or relieved when you walk through the front door after a long day, or devastated when a loved one dies.  It's okay to feel sad without a specific reason why, too. It's important to let yourself feel anything and everything.  At the end of the day, the most important part is how we cope with it.  Allow yourself to feel what you feel, and then acknowledge that this is the way you're feeling.  If there is a reason why you're feeling anxious at work, maybe break the tasks into manageable bites....

Well kids, it's officially been one year since I was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma.  My life hasn't changed that much.  I got engaged, I dyed my hair back to a normal color, we made an offer on a house... For those of you just joining our program, I have: a cancerous tumor on my right kidney, a cyst on my left kidney, a fatty liver and an ovarian cyst. I get ultrasounds and multiple tests every few months to ensure nothing has changed; they call it "watchful waiting".  It's incredible frustrating and doctors can be simply terrible about giving you all the information.  For a while I had no idea which ovary had the cyst and I didn't realize it until another clinician asked me. It's been quite the year but rather than focus on the negative, I'd like to reflect on the year and the lessons that have kicked my butt.  Here are a few things I have learned: 1.  Internal pelvic ultrasounds HURT.   It's a rod with a camera on the end that you ins...