What's In Your Medicine Cabinet?

I was tagged by Katrine, she actually wanted to see what is inside my medicine cabinet. Really? I'm not that interesting. In my medicine cabinet, well I have medicine. Sorry Katrine, no nipple cream!



What's in your medicine cabinet? I tag:
Rachel
Nicole
Rose Anna
Marne

Happy 4 week Birthday Baby

I have a great blog...but for some reason I can't post it-a problem with the Html? So here are some cute pictures of my sweet baby Henry on his 4 week old birthday.

Three Years Ago

This is what I was doing three years ago today:

Finishing up my last Chemotherapy Treatment.

After 42 weeks I was "done." Whatever that meant. I, in the words of Freddy Mercury, "wanted to break free," and I couldn't be discharged fast enough. For some reason in my mind I thought that "this was it," I was done with cancer. But here are two facts that have become very clear to me over the past three years.

1. Cancer is real and there is no escaping it. It is still such a huge part of my every day life. I guess back in 2006 I thought that as soon as chemo was done then cancer was done, but boy was I wrong. Not only does cancer still effect my life emotionally, but physically and financially as well. Dan and I had a wierd since of de ja vu while I was in the hospital having Henry. It was too much like being in the hospital for chemo. I guess every time I think that I am over cancer, it comes back to bite me in the butt, in one way or another.

2. Secondly being a cancer survivor brings with it a huge burden of guilt. Obviously I have been very blessed with my treatment and recovery. But unfortunately most people who are diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma have a very poor survival rate. I feel so much guilt seeing so many children affected by cancer, so many children that die from cancer...and yet I was spared. Lately I have also been thinking about all of the animals that have been used for cancer research. I don't know for a fact, but I can make a pretty good guess that some animal- a rat, a rabbit, a monkey, was used to test the chemo drugs that I would take. I feel such a sense of gratitude for those animals that were sacrificed so that I could live. The guilt can be crushing sometimes.

But I suppose I should be grateful. I have been so blessed in these past three years. So blessed.

An Ode to the Andersons

Oh Andersons where did you go?
You left the sun for some snow.

It's been awhile since we hung out,
It makes me sad it makes me pout.

What fun we had back in the West,
Of all our friends, I liked you best. [No offense everyone else:)]

I miss the yaps of Buddy and Bandit too,
And our trips to the dog park with all of you.

Playing American Dream was our favorite game,
but playing it without you is quite lame.

Oh Andersons I miss you so-
and that's why I wrote this stupid ode.

Why Does Money Matter More Than Family?

While Heidi and I were taking birthing classes we stumbled across this frustrating info in a parenting magazine:

"Give birth to a baby in France and you can count on at least 16 weeks of paid leave to cuddle and bond. Have a child in Norway and you get 42 weeks at full pay. Sweden promises 390 days at 80 percent of your salary. So how much paid leave does Uncle Sam guarantee America’s moms? Try zero, zip, zilch.

That’s right, the United States may be the world’s richest nation, but we’re also one of only 5 out of 174 that don’t mandate any paid maternity leave. Three others are poor countries (Papua New Guinea, Swaziland, and Lesotho); the fourth, Australia, at least guarantees a full year of unpaid leave, plus a small lump-sum payment to all new mothers. We can’t even match that: The US Family and Medical Leave Act merely requires employers to offer 12 weeks of unpaid maternity leave, and the rule applies only to companies with 50 or more workers.

Only 52 percent of companies surveyed with 50 or more employees offer paid maternity leave – and most pay only partial salary. The result: Only 32 percent of first-time American moms with jobs take paid maternity leave, and only 43 percent use paid leave of any kind.

Our government’s unwillingness to provide moms and babies this time together has consequences: In a recent UNICEF study of child well-being in developed nations, the United States ranked in the bottom third. Incredibly, when it comes to infant mortality, we rank a low 33^rd among 195 nations."

During President Bush Senior's administration the "Family and Medical Leave Act" was brought to him three times and he vetoed it all three times citing that it would cost American businesses too much money to allow employees to take time off, and remember, he is a Republican, the political party that stands up for the American family. Yes, nothing says family values more than forcing an employee to go to work after a baby enters this world or when a loved one is dying of...oh, I don't know, let's say cancer...no, brain tumor.

Ironically the "Family and Medical Leave Act" was one of the first pieces of legislation Bill Clinton signed into effect in 1993 and one of the most popular laws passed. Clinton noted in his autobiography that of all the changes he made while in office this is the one that people express their gratitude for the most. Hmm, I wonder why?

But the lack of quality family time is not limited to just major medical events. Last spring Expedia.com did a study and found two things, first, Americans are given fewer paid vacation days than most other western nations, and second, Americans are not using the vacation days they are given. In fact, Americans leave approximately 460 million unused paid holidays a year. Here are the comparisons...sorry, kind of small.

The saddest part about this whole thing is that, "Despite these statistics, Americans do see value in vacation, with more than 39 percent reporting they feel more productive and better about their job upon returning and 52 percent claiming they feel rested, rejuvenated and reconnected to their personal life." 53 percent feel more connected to their family as a result of the paid vacation.

So what on earth prevents families from spending this valuable time together? Money...nothing but no-good, home wrecking, filthy cash. The study found that 18 percent of US adults have canceled or postponed vacations because of work and 29 percent say they feel stressed about not working during their vacation. Furthermore, 24 percent report they check work e-mail/voicemail during their vacation.

Let's be honest, it's not worth it, and I'm just as guilty as the next guy. But when our time is finished here on earth what will we think about the most and wish we had done more of, the money we made or the good times we had enjoying God's planet? To finish here is a picture of me standing in front of a buffalo and Heidi sitting next to a goat.

Seriously? Will it ever end with these two?

I swear it never ends with the dogs. Just before Christmas Bentley's ears got infected again with yeast. It is quite sad actually, because it is very painful for him. Needless to say it cost us $140 bucks to get his ears checked out and to get his prescription filled. Merry Christmas Bentley.

And then a few days ago we were out at the dog park when Myla got SPRAYED BY A SKUNK! I swear! It has been almost a week and after two baths and a tomato juice soak she still stinks!

She was very confused at what was going on. If you look close you can see the tomato juice on her.

It looks like a murder scene. Myla did enjoy licking up all the juice.
....

She wasn't the only one who got a bath that night.
Don't you just love his face...simple joy.

Oh, to be a baby.... O.K. I am turning into the crazy mom that I swore I would never become. I am posting pictures of my baby in every post with nothing real substantial to talk about. But isn't he adorable?

He is taking after his daddy.

Regrets

I don't have a lot of regrets in life, in fact I used to be the kind of person who would say, "I have no regrets," because everything in life is a lesson, and every regret teaches us something. As the New Year has quickly approached, and perhaps because of a major life changing event just happened in my life, I've been thinking of the things I wish I would have done differently. Coincidentally, these regrets could easily be transformed into my New Years Resolutions (but don't hold me to that.)

Regret #1: NOT FOLLOWING MY GUT [ie. not listening to the Holy Spirit.] From simpler things like taking a particular route home, to helping those in need or volunteering for an event, to more complex issues like sharing the gospel-when your heart says 'go' but your ego says 'no'...listen to your heart.

Regret #2: NOT WRITING IN A JOURNAL: Maybe it's this technologically advanced era that we live in, but between blogs, facebook, and emails it seems that I have opened my heart and expressed my feelings to the world wide web. However, I have never consistently kept a personal journal, and considering all that I have been through in the last five years or so, I really wish that I would have.

Regret #3: NOT TREATING DANIEL LIKE THE KING THAT HE IS: Sometimes we joke that I just married Dan for his good looks and family fortune, but however I chose him I am so lucky that I did. Not only is he extremely smart, funny, and brutally honest, but he has proven himself time and time again how faithful and devoted he is to me and our family. I have a tendency to forget how awesome he is, and I regret that I don't shower him with love and affection every day.

Regret #4: NOT PUTTING FORTH MY FULL EFFORT: I have always been blessed with the ability to do a job with half the effort and still come out pretty good in the end. For example I was (and still am) able to slide through school not really studying that hard and still receive A's and B's. Imagine what I could do if I actually applied myself! My piss poor effort applies to every aspect of my life including being a wife, a friend, a church member and a student.

Regret #5: NOT PRIORITIZING MY PRIORITIES [ie. not using my time more wisely]: How there are days that I'd rather watch (dare I say it) Judge Alex instead of calling my friends or family, I don't know. I do regret not connecting more with family and friends during my free time. I've had days that instead of flipping through the TV stations I could have been scrapbooking, studying, volunteering myself in service or heaven forbid reading. And yes its O.K. to veg out on the internet every once in a while, but there has to be a line drawn, and unfortunately I cross that line far too often.

And no post would be complete without a picture of Henry so...

Congrats Stuart Smalley

Aw, Al Franken. I grew up laughing at your lowbrow humor on SNL and now you’re the junior senator from the great state of Minnesota (at least for now pending some divisive court cases). How neat is that…right? America, you gotta love it! The funny thing is that Heidi and I always talk about stupid pictures people take that surface later to hurt their professional career but this man illustrates that there are exceptions to every rule.

Regardless of your political affiliation or opinion of this funny though crude Harvard alum the whole election is a testament to the urgency that everyone turn out to vote. Out of 3.5 million votes cast in Minnesota Franken won by 225 votes. In other words the best selling author and comedian won the election over his opponent by 0.000064 of a percent! So next election get on out and vote, you never know how close it might be.