Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
The Voice
No, I am not talking about the tv show. I am talking about my voice. Rachel is getting baptized this weekend and it had brought back so many great memories from Jayne's baptism two years ago. I remember arriving at the church to practice our musical number in the primary room. I started to sing and sounded like a frog. I drank some water and cleared my throat but nothing seemed to work. Being in the 6th month of my craziest pregnancy I chalked loosing my singing voice up to the pregnancy. That makes sense, right? I was humiliated singing at the baptism knowing this was not MY voice.
Hindsight is 20/20. The next February I would discover that my voice changed due to the tumor growing in my already enlarged, diseased thyroid. After going through ultrasounds, etc for over six years you would think that I would have put 2 and 2 together, but I didn't. I am grateful that I had a good four months of obliviousness with my brand new baby boy.
As soon as I came out of surgery to remove my thyroid we realized something had changed. The doctor said he didn't think he had damaged the vocal chords, but he did have to "identify" them. This caused my voice to sound like Micky Mouse for a few months. Jayne talked to me on the phone and said, "Mommy, you sound like a sweet little girl!" Luckily over time my voice has come back, but when I sing I sound like a teenage boy going through puberty. At first the girls would tell me to sing for people like it was some kind of circus act. Now I am coming to terms with it. Singing has been such a joy in my life and I have decided that whether it sounds good or not, it's coming out. And that is very liberating! :-)
Hindsight is 20/20. The next February I would discover that my voice changed due to the tumor growing in my already enlarged, diseased thyroid. After going through ultrasounds, etc for over six years you would think that I would have put 2 and 2 together, but I didn't. I am grateful that I had a good four months of obliviousness with my brand new baby boy.
As soon as I came out of surgery to remove my thyroid we realized something had changed. The doctor said he didn't think he had damaged the vocal chords, but he did have to "identify" them. This caused my voice to sound like Micky Mouse for a few months. Jayne talked to me on the phone and said, "Mommy, you sound like a sweet little girl!" Luckily over time my voice has come back, but when I sing I sound like a teenage boy going through puberty. At first the girls would tell me to sing for people like it was some kind of circus act. Now I am coming to terms with it. Singing has been such a joy in my life and I have decided that whether it sounds good or not, it's coming out. And that is very liberating! :-)
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Life is Constantly Changing...
Jay asked me if it was time to remove our blog link from our email because I don't do anything on it anymore. I was hurt. Then I went to the blog and realized how pathetic it is. Facebook has made it so easy to share loads of pictures with family and friends without the wait and limitations of blogs, but I find that I don't have an outlet to write anymore. I think writing is theraputic. We have had so many changes in our lives over the past 18 months. So many things that I haven't slowed down long enough to process.
I think I am going to post about one aspect at a time. Today is our house. We lived in our first house for almost 7 years. The last two and a half were spent fighting with banks/mortgage companies who were obviously using the government to make money off of us. So we gave in and forclosed after a hard-fought battle. Luckily we are able to live in my parent's tiny rental home in the same neighborhood. This is the same home that Josh, Dyan, Katie and Jessie have lived in at one time or another. Lots of memories there. It's where Josh proposed to Dyan. I am determined to make lots of our own memories there.
The move earlier this month proved to be more emotionally trying for my kids than myself. I think with everything being so un-constant in the last two years I have actually learned to move on and look for the positive in what is coming. Kids aren't as resilient. We had a hard time explaining to them that a home is where your family is. If you aren't together in a house, then it's not your home. Lots of crying. Jayne would say things at the grocery store to the cashier like, "We are being KICKED out of our home!" Not the best timing to be able to handle that as kindly as I could.
One HUGE blessing in this move has been purging our lives of so much junk. We were able to get rid of a ton of our belongings at our Relay for Life yard sale where we made over $400! It was easier to part with nice things that we love when it was going toward fighting cancer. After that we took 7 loads to DI and Goodwill over the next two months. We are now at the point where there are about 12 boxes on the back porch and if there isn't a place for them to fit nicely in our home, they go to DI. I am amazed how wonderful it is to be clean and free from "stuff". I am definitely a pack-rat. This has given me the opportunity to turn over a new leaf.
My kids are all in one room and they love it. My girls are so in love with their little brother and he adores them. He also loves teasing them and being in the same room enables that.
All in all life is great. We are still struggling with all aspects of our lives and seam to barely keep our heads above water, but somehow it works out. :)
I think I am going to post about one aspect at a time. Today is our house. We lived in our first house for almost 7 years. The last two and a half were spent fighting with banks/mortgage companies who were obviously using the government to make money off of us. So we gave in and forclosed after a hard-fought battle. Luckily we are able to live in my parent's tiny rental home in the same neighborhood. This is the same home that Josh, Dyan, Katie and Jessie have lived in at one time or another. Lots of memories there. It's where Josh proposed to Dyan. I am determined to make lots of our own memories there.
The move earlier this month proved to be more emotionally trying for my kids than myself. I think with everything being so un-constant in the last two years I have actually learned to move on and look for the positive in what is coming. Kids aren't as resilient. We had a hard time explaining to them that a home is where your family is. If you aren't together in a house, then it's not your home. Lots of crying. Jayne would say things at the grocery store to the cashier like, "We are being KICKED out of our home!" Not the best timing to be able to handle that as kindly as I could.
One HUGE blessing in this move has been purging our lives of so much junk. We were able to get rid of a ton of our belongings at our Relay for Life yard sale where we made over $400! It was easier to part with nice things that we love when it was going toward fighting cancer. After that we took 7 loads to DI and Goodwill over the next two months. We are now at the point where there are about 12 boxes on the back porch and if there isn't a place for them to fit nicely in our home, they go to DI. I am amazed how wonderful it is to be clean and free from "stuff". I am definitely a pack-rat. This has given me the opportunity to turn over a new leaf.
My kids are all in one room and they love it. My girls are so in love with their little brother and he adores them. He also loves teasing them and being in the same room enables that.
All in all life is great. We are still struggling with all aspects of our lives and seam to barely keep our heads above water, but somehow it works out. :)
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Hello friends and family,
I am participating in the San Tan Valley Relay for Life this April. I am looking for people to join my team or donate to help us reach our team goal of raising $1500 to help fight cancer and celebrate life. The Relay is an overnight event (cancer never sleeps) where one member of our team will be walking the track at all times. My girls are very excited to be a part of our team. Rachel named us the "Th-ancer Fighters!" (Thyroid Cancer Fighters)Even a donation of $1 can help us reach our goal. If you have been touched by cancer or have a friend or loved one who has, please consider dedicating a luminaria. Each luminaria costs $10 and goes toward our goal. The luminaria ceremony will happen after the sun goes down. Each participant will walk a lap in silence as all of the luminarias are lit around the track. I feel like this is a cause worth fighting for. Luckily, I was able to fight a type of cancer which is the most treatable kind of cancer. However, my children's lives will always be touched by cancer. Grandparents, friends and cousins have fought this fight as well. Help us celebrate LIFE!Here is the link to our team page. Thanks!Meg :-)http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY12GW?team_id=1097194&pg=team&fr_id=43077
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
