long time, no write

time flies when i am working and having fun. here we are with another week already rolling along, we are almost to the half way point. seriously loving that.

our long weekend was a good one, highlights included:

playing with the trains at our favorite saturday morning stop, after finishing cinnamon rolls and gluten free banana bread

planting flowers in the sunshine with mema. very fun. last year i was too sick to plant many flowers, so my mom and malena planted flowers in the two planters on our back deck but we didn't plant flowers anywhere else. this year my mom planted flowers on our front porch too since i can keep up the watering, etc. it is nice to have some more flowers around the house this year, i missed having color all around us last summer. a little bit of healing.

eating lunch outside on a sunny day. can't beat that. hello, sunshine (and sunscreen).

qt at the park. checking out the ducks. having some slide time. checking out this fire engine. swinging. all fun.

you knew there would be some frozen yogurt. so good. i am hungry for it just looking at this picture.

hanging out with our friends, including our red-haired one called elmo.

deciding which ponies to bet on with dad at the races. go for the longshot, they are always worth the bet. it was nice to be at the races (a semi-annual family tradition) and not feel like hell like the last two times we were there. the picture below was me (with my go to hat in those days) and my dad last year, i was feeling rough but forgot about that for a moment when our horse came through with a win.

loved the weekend, missing it already.

today i went to see an allergist to see if some of my problems might be related to food allergies (other than my celiac disease). as a sidenote/rant, i really sometimes hate having celiac disease, like yesterday when i got really, really sick from somehow getting gluten in my system. ugh. what a waste of a good afternoon and then trying to recover the last part of the day. but i only let myself get frustrated on occasion for a minute and then i quickly buck up and get over it. related to how i have been feeling lately, i will see how it goes the next couple of weeks and then will maybe see the doc who diagnosed my celiac disease to see if there is something internal going on. i will probably also check in with my counselor. but i need to take a breath before making yet another appointment.

when i was filling out the paperwork for my appointment today, i had to circle "cancer" on the list of medical conditions i have. i think that was the first time that i have had to circle that on new patient paperwork since i was diagnosed. it was one of those moments when i realized i will now have to circle or write that word everytime i fill out new paperwork for a doctor. just another reminder it is never that far away. not that i need the reminder.

when i met the doctor today, i took my coat off and he looked at the scar on my left arm and immediately said "there has got to be some great story about a bike fall or a climbing fall that caused that scar that you can tell me about." i said "i wish, but not that great of a story". he didn't ask further, i think that he made the connection since we had already talked about my melanoma diagnosis. to break the ice on that awkward moment i told him that having scars all over was just part of my new drill and that it was better than the alternative so i coudn't complain (though you all know that sometimes i do, but i try really hard to make that the exception rather than the rule).

i have a bunch of sidenotes to share, but will save those for tomorrow.

happy wednesday peeps - i can almost see friday (and it is looking good), how about you?