Knee Deep Blog

What Is Your Belief About Cancer Reoccurrence? - 2 Year Update

The other night I had an intense dream about a conversation with a cancer psychologist; who probed my beliefs about cancer potentially reoccurring.

I have to admit that I woke up somewhat disturbed. What did I really believe about cancer and the possibility it would reoccur?

It's been a good two years since I finished 9 months of treatment. Each month brings more life post breast cancer. Yet every three months I go in for my quarterly check up filled with blood tests, my visit to the oncologist is often the same set of questions, review and physical check in. It's also generally filled with an hour plus wait in the oncology department where I see many, although I only really notice the women, in various stages of pretreatment, during treatment and post treatment. This keeps my own cancer memories fresh.

My heart is filled with compassion for those I can tell have been recently diagnosed. You can always tell because there is extra hand holding, nervous glances towards others, especially the bald heads, and sometimes consoling of one women by multiple others. They are just being exposed to the new language, the language of cancer, oncologists, treatment, chemo, radiation, support, education, etc.

Video Views Raise Money for Susan Komen Breast Cancer Research

Here's an easy way to help raise breast cancer research funds - simply watch a 4 minute video.  Aftrer watching I decided it's been quiet far too long on Knee Deep Blog.  Long enought that my mom can officially say she too is a breast cancer survivor.  Breast cancer has marked three generations of our family in a row.

136 former cheerleaders (some of them breast cancer survivors) got together to do a dance routine to benefit "Susan G. Komen for the Cure" (Breast Cancer). When they get 5 million views on the video, United Healthcare will make a $50,000 donation to the Komen organization. Their goal is to get 5 million hits, which will lead to $100K raised, but United Healthcare will donate ANOTHER $50,000 at 8 million views!

Please can you take a moment to watch the video - and, just as important, pass this link onto your network of friends, family and colleagues? It benefits a very important cause!

Thanks for helping!

www.KomenPhiladelphia.org/Video

Just Published My First Article On Forbes Women

Woo hoo, I just published my first article on Forbes Women - a fun day!

Floods and High Water Kids Jeans: When are they too short?

Eli is one of those tall and thin kids which means he often wears flood aka high water jeans. It's not because we don't care rather he doesn't like when the waist band of the pants is higher which is what happens when they are kids slims with the additional elastic pull tab.

Routinely my eyes are rolling to the top of my head when I try my best to get him to wear pants that fits and he refuses, throws a fit, grabs his favorites which he says are extra comfy.  Unfortunately they are also 2 to 3 inches above the ground and known and floods and high waters. Trust me I'm always secretly giving away clothes - and kids continue to grow so it's always an issue.

About a month ago he asked me what it means when someone says you have "floods" - at seven this isn't in your vocabulary.  I explained the concept of high water pants and floods.  He nodded, to indicate he understood and it was the end of the story.  He didn't ask if he wore floods or even notice that he was wearing them at the time.

Learning to Cook - Eli's Kid Friendly Sushi Dinner

Learning to cook could really be learning to cut - Eli's Kid Friendly Sushi Dinner.  Last week was the very first dinner that Eli has come up with the idea, prepped and gloated over.  It cracks me up that for him sushi has nothing to do with raw fish, but I took care of that for the adults.

Eli and Olivia are still on their learning to cook energy which I rather enjoy.  The night before the dinner we talked about what we would have, made a shopping list, and brought Curran (age 5) to help Eli (age 7) shop.  I "simply" monitored the list and all that entered the cart.

Curran was clear he wanted tapioca for dessert, but I couldn't find it so strawberry mochi balls and lime popsicals did the trick.

Our Kid Friendly Sushi Dinner Menu Included

  Salmon (baked for the kids)

Yellow fin tuna (sashimi for the adults)

Unagi (cooked eel with sauce it is in the bottom left of the picture)

sushi rice (with mirin, rice vinegar and a bit of sugar)

cucumbers

avocado

roe (the bright orange in the center of the picture)

Miso soup (with seaweed, green onions, and tofu or smashed brains according to curran and Eli)

lots of seaweed (both large sheets to be rolled and small 2 X 2 inch which I made "sushi taco rolls" and expertly popped into my mouth.

wasabi and soy

  The best part of this is prep was really simply - Eli did most of the chopping and put the ingredients in small bowls - so all was perfect.  I have to admit that at times Eli's knife weilding ways scared me so I opted for a less sharp knife and delighted that each piece of cucumber had it's own shape and size.

The toughest part for Eli is that Curran who is usually a master of the kitchen only wanted to play with legos - so Eli spent 20 minutes of prepping coming up with ways to entice him into the kitchen.  He finally did it when he said that we had "brains to smash" and Curran came running in.

When Curran entered the kitchen to "smash the brains" (aka cut the tofu into a million little pieces) they used butter knives as two small boys "smashing" with knives was way too much for my comfort level.  So they got to have fun and I got to drink more wine before adding the tofu to the miso soup.

When it comes to creating the actual pieces of sushi and rolls that were consumed - all was perfect.  Nothing was premade - rather all ingredients were put on the table as pictured above.  In our house any way it's rolled or looks is perfect - as long as it's consumed.  As you can see from Eli's "sushi" it's really a big piece of cooked salmon, avocado, rice, and a little roe wrapped in a big piece of seaweed. 

Hope this gives you some ideas for your own kids "cooked" meals.

 

When I Was Little Things Were Different: Reflections at 7

In the car yesterday I had to conceal my knowing smile as Eli at 7 started in, "Mom, things have changed a lot since I was little."  I mean to me he's still little, but to himself he's seen a lot in his life and already finds what he sees as big differences.

Really Eli, what has changed?

Well, first of all when I was little they didn't have Mighty Beanz or Silly Bandz and look how big they are now.  I mean everyone knows what they are and has them at school.  I can't think about not having them.

What else has changed since you were little? I asked

Well they didn't have (Nintendo) DS or Gameboys.

They did have Gameboys when you were little but you are right they didn't have DS.

Yeah, that's right it's changed a lot mom.  And they probably didn't have TV when you were little.

Well Eli, I'm not THAT old, but when Grandma Pat was little they didn't have TV and when they finally created it it was only in black and white.

That's weird, replied Eli.

But when I was little we only had 3 stations and we could only watch cartoons on Saturday morning, I stated.

Why didn't you just rent a video or turn on your Roku? Eli asked.

You know Eli, they didn't have those - someone invented them.  I just realized there was one more thing that they didn't have when you were "little" they didn't have Roku or Netflix.  Those are new.

That's really weird, replied Eli.  Why didn't they just make them?

For the same reason they didn't just make Mighty Beanz someone didn't have the idea yet.  Yhat's how things are invented.   Someone wishes they could have something and comes up with an idea.  For example they could only watch cartoons on Saturday morning and some Mom or Dad wished they could have their kids watch cartoons on a different day.  So they dreamed up an idea and then it got invented.

This is my version of 101 innovation and Eli was very happy with it.

We continued the conversation about inventing and how things keep changing.  It was really fun.  By the time I got home I realized I could take back my knowing smile that I had in the beginning of the conversation because things really have changed from when he can remember until now at 7.5 years of age.

Interestingly I called my mom and told her about the conversation which created another conversation as she reflected back on her 77 years. 

Ideas and innovation are amazing - and I thought to myself - it would be fun to have this conversation with Eli in a few more years.

 

 

School Class Pictures - Primping at 7 Years Old

Eli's been really excited for his school class pictures and has been primping.  He picked out the background color - green earlier this week. Last night I asked what he wanted to wear - mostly out of not wanting to have a morning battle cause the item(s) were dirty - although that hasn't stopped him from wearing them for his picture.

Thankfully all were clean:

• White t-shirt with psychedelic tiger print in lime, hot pink and black - check. 
• The Shawn White plaid long sleeve shirt shirt from target in black, gray with green and blue lines - check. 
• No hair cut even though he really wants one because he wants his bangs to do the triangle thing and swoosh for his pictures - check.

This morning all went smoothly.  I smiled when he wanted to button his shirt up perfectly so that there was a "triangle" near the top that showed just the "right" amount of the tiger.  The only mom push back was please wear your dark jeans (cause I'm thinking of the class picture) and not your shiny black and silver sports shorts which are also a favorite.

The hair time is what cracked me up.  Momma can you help me with my hair, it's not doing that thing.  Huh, what?

You know the swoosh.

Oh let me help I replied.

Eli has a small colic which creates a small "triangle" part in the front - so I make it more prominent. 

No mom, the swoosh, you know the curl above my eyes.  He then tries to "fix" his bangs but is getting frustrated.

How about some gel?

No, then I have to wash my hair.

Ok.

That's when I took an extra breath, smiled to myself and got it - oh yea Eli, the swoosh.  Move over there and shake your head like this.  I demonstrate and he follows.

Bingo, perfect part and perfect swoosh.

Before your picture don't try to fix it with your hands, just shake your head and it will be perfect.

I look forward to seeing the finished product.

 

Teach a Child to Cook and You Open A Whole New World

As part of a neighbor's 8 year old birthday gift I was asked to teach her how to make my famous (at least in her mind) enchiladas.  Yesterday we met up to begin our cooking adventure and I'm still smiling.

Olivia is a daughter I don't have so I love when the opportunity arrives to give some loving girl style - often for me it is through food.  I really, and I mean really enjoy cooking - the only time I don't is when I feel like I HAVE to do it versus I'm choosing to do it.

Anyway back to teaching kids to cook.  We arranged a meet up time to review the recipe, make our list of ingredients and head off to the store.  She knew she wanted to learn how to make enchiladas but filling them with things she loves. The yummy enchilada recipe is at the bottom of the post.

Get Sparked Cafe and Following Your Dream

This morning my girlfriend Lisa Fox sent an email announcing her first CD release right here in Seattle at Tula's Jazz Club on September 22nd - which by the way if you're around I hope you can make it.  It reminds me that we all have a dream that's deep inside and both how powerful it is to witness a friend follow their dream.

Lisa is the first person I met when I moved to Seattle 15 years ago and is the person that introduced me to Tim, my always adoring husband.  We often call her the songbird because she's always singing in choirs, at events, spontaneously, etc - including at our wedding which made me cry like a baby.  More importantly she's continued to follow her dream to have a professional singing career that's both gone smoothly and had bumps at other times.

I believe...

Following your dream takes knowing what you want, believing it, taking actions (both big and small) and asking for help because we can't do it alone. 

I've also been following my dream to connect women in deep, engaging conversation that makes a difference everyday - hence the birth of Get Sparked Cafe.  The next cafe is September 16th and I hope you can make it.  Join the list to get more details and upcoming cafe dates. The Cafe is free because I want to give back to my community.   Come join some amazing women!

Hope to see you at both events!

Here's Lisa live.

Regards, Michele

Carly is a really good garden dog. She barks when people come to the door. 7 year old Eli declared to 4 year old Curran.

Yeah Eli she's a really good garden dog, Curran replied.

Do you mean guard dog? Nosy mom interjects from the next room.

No mom, it's garden dog you're not hearing right! Yells Eli.

OK, thanks. - a humbled mom replies knowing when not to need to have the last word.

The Tooth Fairy Shows Up After Two Missed Attempts

The tooth fairy was no were to be seen the past couple nights and created quite a ruckus at our home.

The first night I simply forgot, after all it had been 24 days since the darn snaggle tooth came out.  It's been sitting in a bowl in the dining room waiting for Eli to decide to put it under the pillow.  He said he wanted to look at it some more, but then took no action and we all forgot about it.

When he told me he was putting in his tooth pillow I thought I hope I have cash and promptly between reading a late night magazine with a glass of wine it slipped out of my mind.  In the morning Eli was quite upset that the tooth fairy didn't come.