And the scar

My pathology report came back positive for malignancy.  The good news is that the positive growth was very small, they got it all out and it hadn't spread.  No follow-up needed.  If I stop and think about the "could have" I get a little panicky but really I just feel nothing.  Some of the ladies at church did tell me that there is some magical lotion I can get which will made the scar fade.

And now, because I'm still recovering and haven't done any real thinking in days, here is a little photo dump. Luckily spring has come to New York and I'm almost convinced that we can be happy here.

With some of our favorite friends at the bronx zoo.
Yes, those are baby prairie dogs and they are WAY cuter than grown up prairie dogs.

Claire and baby Dora resting in a turtle shell

Oh that carousel

Claire met her first street performers on Saturday.  She was captivated

Can we please ignore that dress?  It was a hand me down and  she's already too big for it (yes, you can see her panties hanging our the bottom) but she LOVES it.
Me on the other hand?  Not so much.  The dryer might have to eat it.

What New York lacks in tulips they make up for in daffodils--in mass.  

Claire is not actually talking to this lady.  She is singing "Animal Rescuers.  To the rescue my friends!"

I wish you could have seen her when I let her take her shoes off in the playground sand.
It was like coming home.  She cried when we had to leave.

The subway ride home was somewhat less magical  than that walk in the park but Noah had peed though his diaper (hey good parents) so it was at least full of chub rolls.  No, that's not a double stroller.  What can I say?  We're a class act.

How do you know it's spring?  Saltwater Sandals.  You know what makes them even more lovely?  Coupling  them  like with the fancy socks grandma bought when she was here.  Nothing says church-ready like this combo.

Wait Watchers

This article is fascinating (and horrifying).  HALEY MORRIS-CAFIERO is an artist (who also happens to be overweight).  Her current project is capturing stranger's reaction to her in public.  I can't believe that she is able to capture these moments--her assistant is there with a camera in public shooting and people....well...they are just kind of jerks. Luckily, as I mentioned, her assistant is capturing it all on film and you can see just the kind of reaction that Haley (and other overweight women) is faced with everyday.

Lately

So I somehow stopped blogging. I think it has something to do with the fact that the hubbs works is gone for 12 hours every day. In our San Diego life he was only away from us for 9 hours everyday and we saw him at lunch. And now there are two kids and 12 hours and seriously, at the end of the day I have nothing left. No witty banter, no thoughtful editorials. Nothing.


So here are some pictures

So Long Thyroid

Yesterday I had my Thyroid removed. Turns out pregnancy sent my body into orbit and just after Claire was born I discovered that I had a growth on my neck. At my last ultrasound it was 3.5 inches across. Now if you think about it 3.5 inches of not-necessary material jammed into your neck starts cramming out necessary items like your arteries. So it's gone now. Just like that and I am convalescing in bed while my mom folds laundry.

The scar unveiling is next Tuesday though I will peak your interest by telling you that doctor said it was bigger than even he expected and surgery took twice as long as he was planning. Nice

Technologically Inclined

I've unlocked my iPhone.

All by myself.

Feel free to be dazzled by my technological prowess.

Or you can just feel free to be dazzled by how actually reading several articles on the internet and referring to them every 2 minutes can let anyone perform basic technological feats.  I also thought that unlocking your phone was somehow wrong and you'd get in trouble for doing it.  WRONG.  If you're not under contract AT&T actually does it for you and all you have to do is back up and reboot your phone.  It's totally legit. (Be warned that I have not yet changed carriers {which I plan on doing this afternoon} so we are in no way out of the woods on this operation.)  Hopefully by this time tomorrow I'll be paying $30 less per month on my phone bill).

The reason I am switching carriers is entirely economic and is pretty much summed up by this article from the NYT.

Just a Few Books

Recently I read this book and it was so fun.  

The book is built around a teenage girl who is saved by reading--mostly Science Fiction (SF--I had to look it up when they used that abbreviation in the book.  I know, I'm clueless) and it was so fun.  On the plane back from Utah the gate agent pulled me aside and told me that he had moved the person  next to us so that we could have the whole row to ourselves (which literally brought me to tears).  Noah and Claire were both very well behaved and I had two whole hours to read.  This was a major bonus because I was in the throws of Among Others and possibly could not have put it down even if I had wanted to.

The best part about Among Others is that she talks about a million books that I have never read and my "to read" list has grown leaps and bounds.  Luckily, this overachieving reader made a pinboard of all of the titles mentioned in the book.  I have The Charioteer requested from my local library and hope to pick it up at story time this afternoon.

Among Others is not going to win the Pulitzer prize but it did make this NPR list of the best books for the omnivorous reader (I also plan on reading the other books on the list because they all look awesome).

Speaking of Pulitzer Prize winners I did recently read a book that should win it.  The Round House by Louise Erdrich was one of the best books I've read in a long time (It did win the National Book Award last year so I'm certainly not the only one who loved it).  Erdrich is one of the best modern novelists around.  Her books deal with the Native American experience but I hate to call her a great Native American novelist because that makes is sound like 'she's a great Native American novelist.'  She is a great Native American novelist but she is also one of the best any kind of novelists around.  

So.  The Round House.  Read it.  You'll love it. 

Happy Easter

I had to speak in church on Sunday.  One of the tricks of not having a paid minister in your church is that it means that you all take turns getting up in front and preparing a sermon.  One of the major tricks is that sometimes it's your turn on Easter Sunday.

After I had finished my talk (which fortunately was only 10 minutes long) Noah started crying so I took my two babies to the nursing mother's lounge (there is a nursing mother's lounge in ALL Mormon churches--it's one of the prices that you pay when you urge your congregations to "multiply and replenish the earth") and rocked them while the service finished.  In the nursing mother's lounge there is print of this painting (which is by my favorite religious painter).

While I rocked my babies and thrilled in the calm that follows speaking in front of an audience I was just so thankful.  So thankful for this beautiful life and for a God who loves me.  It would be a lie if I didn't say that I am also thankful for Spring which, even now, I can feel melting away the worries of a long cold winter.