Blessings Abound, Part 2!

TONIGHT'S WINE: Cupcake Vineyards 2012 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

(*Note - I do not drink wine every night, and as noted previously, I am far from a connoisseur. However, I'm learning about it, and on blogging nights that I am enjoying a glass or two, I'll let you know what I'm drinking!*)

Where was I? That's right, I was giving thanks for the wonderful news that my mother's breast cancer is officially in remission. She's not done with treatment yet; there is radiation ahead, along with several months of Herceptin infusions and five years of oral medication. But "remission" is the key word we were waiting to hear, and "remission" is what we've got! Hallelujah!

Although we were not together for the best of reasons - a family member with cancer is rarely cause for celebration - my family was together. The bonus to this terrific Friday is that I got to spend time with my amazingly awesome nephew. I have two fantastic sons of my own, but I also have three absolutely adorable nephews (yes, all boys - not sure what's up with the X chromosomes on the male side of this family, but having lots of little dudes around is FUN!). My brother's super cool two year old was in attendance at the doctor's appointment, and any time spent with him is wonderful time. He is completely gorgeous as well as a total genius, and I'm not in the least bit biased. ;) We went out to breakfast, read books, played cars, and I left that day loving him even more than I did before, if that's possible! 

So! Great medical news, quality time with the precious nephew...and the weekend was just getting started. Did I have a wonderful friend's 40th birthday to celebrate that night? Oh yes. The fun was just beginning...

Blessings Abound!

Wow. Just wow. It is very rare to have a weekend like the one I have just had. Rare and amazing and beautiful and life-affirming. I'm putting this weekend in my mental bank and I am referring back to it every time I have a down moment. I have no doubt that the memories of it will lift me up when I am feeling sad or negative.

This weekend started Friday morning with a visit to my mother's oncologist. Hard to imagine that a terrific weekend would start with a visit to a cancer doctor, huh? I'll give you a little bit of background. My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer at the end of August 2013. I have never been more in shock in my life. She had a completely normal mammogram in January 2013, and she found this lump herself mid-August. In those seven months, she had grown a tumor the size of a golf ball. Needless to say, this cancer was classified as aggressive and fast-growing. Although our family has a history of just about every kind of cancer you can think of, we have absolutely NO family history of breast cancer. It is nothing short of a miracle that this tumor was in a location easily found by my mom, and that she did not put off having it biopsied. She began aggressive chemotherapy treatment on October 1, 2013, and it was not lost on me that this was the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. She lost her hair. She suffered through horrible mouth sores that made swallowing nearly impossible. She was hospitalized for a fever that, thankfully, was not indicative of infection but easily could have been. She completely lost her appetite, yet she gained weight because of the steroids she was on. She also smiled through the whole ordeal and never had any doubt whatsoever that she was going to come out the other side of this thing, happy and healthy. She was blessed with angels on Earth at the hospital, beautiful and compassionate nurses and doctors who knew she would be okay. She underwent a lumpectomy on February 27, 2014. And Friday morning, her oncologist declared her in complete remission. No sign of the tumor, no cancerous cells in the surrounding tissue, no cancer in the lymph nodes. My mother, father, brother, aunt, sister-in-law and nephew were all there to hear this amazing and fabulous news. According to my mother's doctor, she is in a very low-risk category for this cancer to recur. Although he says you can never call a breast cancer patient "cured," he wants her to believe in her heart that she IS cured. So that is what we are all going to do. I've never felt so much like celebrating in my life. My mom and I are nothing alike. We have wildly different styles, ideas and passions. But she is my everything, and I am not sure I realized that before we went through this experience together. The idea of losing her stopped me in my tracks. I am almost forty years old, but in regards to my mom, I am still a child and cannot imagine a world without her. Hopefully it will be a long while before I will have to. I love you, Mom. I am so proud of you and your fight and your courage. I am so grateful that you are going to be okay.

Long post, and this is just regarding Friday morning!!! The weekend continued in epic fashion! More to come later...thanks for hanging in there with me. :)

So Proud :)

My younger son had his "America the Beautiful" play at school today. He was Neil Armstrong in the Parade of Patriots. I am insanely proud of the job he did. He has always been very outgoing and friendly, but I was blown away by his confidence onstage. I really see performing in his future. I'm sure there's absolutely no bias in my opinion, either. :) Always enjoy the special days at his preschool...I'm going to miss that place next year. It's been a great experience for him. 

Fitness Near Forty - Or, An Exercise in Futility

I have a hard time believing that fifteen months ago, I ran a half-marathon. 13.1 miles. Only took me a little over two hours. This morning I ran a little less than four miles. It took me 42 minutes, and every step was a battle. I'm getting slower. I'm losing stamina. I'm getting old, and I'm not happy about it.

I rarely, if ever, exercised before becoming a mom. I wasn't skinny but didn't have weight problems. I ate pretty much what I wanted within reason. My husband and I both went through our "fat and happy" stage after we got married, but we did a year of Weight Watchers and took the honeymoon pounds off. Two pregnancies - with a weight gain of 45 pounds each time - made me doughy and heavy-looking for the first time in my life. I enjoyed my babies when they were tiny and didn't worry about it, but as they grew, I wanted to lose weight for myself. My husband had been running, and although I didn't think I could do it, I started running with him. Running became one of the great loves of my life. For me, it staves off depression, releases stress, eases anxiety, and has the added benefit of helping keep me in shape. Never in a million years did I ever think I could call myself a runner; actually, I still kind of feel like an impostor when I say I am one. But running has been a huge gift to me.

I still love to run. I was great about sticking to my training plan when I was preparing for my half. We are lucky enough to live somewhere with a nice climate (although I have to run pretty early in the morning during the summer months if I don't want heat stroke). We have great running trails near us. Everything is set up for me to be successful at this endeavor! So why am I gaining weight? Why, why WHY???

It's so easy, and so tempting, to simply blame it on what I've always heard: that since I'm pushing forty, my metabolism is slamming into a brick wall and there's just nothing I can do about it. But if I'm being completely honest with myself, I know there is more to it than that. My mother has had some health issues over the past year (more on that later), and unfortunately, I'm one of those people who copes with stress by eating. A lot. Of things that aren't good for me. I also relied a little too heavily on those aforementioned and beloved glasses (er, bottles?) of wine to "take the edge off" during the time I was worrying about my mom. Add in the traditional holiday pig-outs and lack of exercise, and it's not hard to see why I have added ten pounds without even noticing...until the pants get too tight, of course.

I know it's not going to be as easy to drop this weight as it was when I was younger. I've got to make better food choices. That will benefit my whole family, not just me. I need to make running and other exercise a priority. I rarely feel motivated to do it, but I am NEVER sorry after I do. In short, I've got to stop making my age my excuse. I didn't run fast today...but I DID run, and that's better than nothing.

Hello There!

It seems like every year about this time, I get the urge to start blogging...and I never stick with it. I am determined to make this year different! First things first, then: a quick introduction. My name is Amy. I am a 39-year-old stay-at-home mom to two terrific, wild, challenging and hilarious little boys. Well, to be honest, they are not so little any more. They are growing up terribly fast. They are the center of my world, they fill my days with laughter and silliness, and I am blessed to be able to spend all of the time with them that I can. I love to write, I love to cook (although I am not terrific at it, but I am working on it really hard!), I love watching sports and spending time with my family. This is just my little corner of the internet, a place where I can talk about things I'm interested and that I love. I hope you'll join me!

Quickly, I will give an explanation of the blog's title. Sass, sports, and sauvignon blanc will all be discussed with great regularity here, I am sure! As my boys are getting older, sass is becoming a daily part of our lives, for better or worse. In my past life, I taught preschool and elementary school, so I'm really comfortable with little kids and love being around them! But my boys are passing the ages I'm most familiar with, and I'm entering uncharted waters as a mom. Dealing with "sassy talk" and smart mouths is at the forefront of my mind right now.

Sports are also a huge part of our lives! My boys play soccer and lacrosse, and we've dabbled in basketball and flag football. My youngest does Tae Kwon Do and loves it. We are also a HUGE sports-watching family. We are dedicated college football fans and will watch just about anybody play. We NEVER miss an opportunity to watch and cheer on our Clemson Tigers. We also love the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers. Sports bring us together, and the fact that I love them helps this girly-girl from losing her mind being surrounded by boys!

And finally, I've saved the best for last...sauvignon blanc. Delicious, delicious wine. I don't pretend to be a wine connoisseur. In fact, I've really only been drinking it for a couple of years. I do want to learn more about it, though, and am willing to do all manner of market research in this area. :) My husband and I are really considering a summer trip to wine country. I'm not sure yet if that will happen, but a girl needs dreams.

Thanks for reading along. I'm always excited to meet like-minded people, so feel free to comment! I look forward to (hopefully) keeping this blog up to date!