Tomorrow is the big day!!!!  I have training all day where lunch is provided.  I can pretty much guarantee that I won’t be able to eat much (if anything) provided, so I packed!

Here’s everything I’m eating tomorrow until dinner:

Salad with grilled tofu, quinoa salad, balsamic vinegar (for my dressing), string cheese, cucumbers (from the garden), hummus, watermelon, apples, and overnight oats (to eat in the morning before I go).

All packed up:

Shaun got a turkey and ham sandwich and chips. Plus overnight oats too.

We’ve been BUSY this weekend.  My aunt and uncle came to visit from Bakersfield.  Here’re some fun pictures.

Breakfast with the lions again!

Meeting a Walaby!

(great camera skills, eh?)

Feeding the giraffes:

The zebra!

The butterfly exhibit:

Just being freaking cute:

Silly Daddy/Uncle Shaun:

Wish me luck!

I’m a day late but I have a VERY good reason and it’s the reason I’m thankful today (and yesterday and EVERYDAY).

Today I am thankful that Lucy did not glow yesterday!

On Tuesday, Lu had her 3 year old well child appointment (early) because she needed some vaccines for school.  Our doctor (who is also a good family friend) asked if I had any other concerns.  I brought up how her arms were splotchy.  At first I thought it was uneven sunscreen application, then I thought it was a reaction to Eczema but I wanted to check with the doctor to make sure.

He looked, and looked, and looked, and looked at it.  He then told me that it could be one of three things. 1. Eczema reaction, 2. Bacterial Infection (which can be fixed with some cream, or 3. Vitiligo (which cannot be cured and is something she has to deal with for the rest of her life).

His first recommendation was to take a wait and see attitude and to recheck it in a few months.  As he looked at it more and more he decided that he was “almost certain” that it was Vitiligo and since it’s a very cosmetic thing and that she was a girl, that he wanted her to see a dermatologist sooner rather than later.  He warned me that it could take up to 6 weeks to get in and that there was really nothing that could be done but that he wanted a specialist’s opinion.

Vitiligo is an autoimmune problem where all the pigmentation in certain areas of the skin goes away and turns white.  The most notable person to have had it is Michael Jackson.  It can be mild or severe and when severe all the websites said it was “disfiguring”.  It would make her more susceptible to other autoimmune issues but otherwise is not harmful.

So this is not life threatening but it IS life altering and I freaked out.  I have cried more in the last few days then I have cried in a VERY long time.  All I could think was that Lucy was going to be different and ridiculed and made fun of. I was different and ridiculed and made fun of as a child and I grew out of it (I was really tall and mature at a very young age-I haven’t grown since I was 10 and I had purple lenses in my glasses due to dyslexia). I grew out of all of those things but still hold the emotional scars.  It broke my heart to know that Lucy would go through that herself and that it was something that would always be there and that she would always be different and looked at funny*. Believe me, I am so thankful for a healthy child but I was just so sad for her.  I didn’t want her to have to go through that her entire life.  It just felt like such a struggle that I didn’t want her to have to endure. I KNOW that everyone around her would support her and make her feel comfortable in her skin, I was just worried and a very upset Mama Bear.

Thankfully, the dermatologist was able to get us in immediately.  That sort of freaked me out since I knew that it normally takes a long time to get in but I took the appointment. When the nurse led us back she said that we had been the talk of the office because Lucy was so young to have Vitiligo.  I freaked out even more.  The dermatologist came in.  Did an exam and then took us to a completely dark room and shined a black light on Lu.  Apparently, Vitiligo glows under a black light.  LUCY DID NOT GLOW!

The dermatologist was very happy to report that she most probably did NOT have Vitilgo and that she was just having a reaction to her eczema.  There is still a chance that she has it (and it’s in the very early stages) but it’s not likely.  If it gets worse, I am to take her in and we go in for a recheck in 4 months.

I almost cried tears of joy and hugged the derm I was so happy.  If it was Vitiligo we would have dealt with it but it was such a relief to hear that it was “just” Eczema.

Lu now has a new skin care regime.  She gets CeraVe lotion twice a day, a shower/bath up to once a day with CeraVe cleanser (we were only giving her one once a week because of the Eczema-which the doctor said is a myth) and after the shower/bath we slather her in CeraVe (we’ve already been using the CeraVe).  We also need to be sure to be VERY liberal with the sunscreen.  Sunscreen is Lu’s number one irritants that cause the Eczema and I’ve only found one sunscreen that works (Nature’s Gate) that I can’t get in Boise and have to order. She recommended Cetaphil’s new sunscreen and gave us a few samples.  I really hope it’ll work for Lu as it would be so nice to have easy access to sunscreen!

We go back in four months for a re-check but right now, I am very thankful for “just” Eczema!!!

*I realize (and my husband has pointed out) that my reaction to the diagnosis of Vitiligo was a bit dramatic.  It’s not really that big of a deal but I think as someone with my background of body image issues, it just really hit home and made me incredibly sad for my little girl.  I, by no means, think that anyone with Vitiligo is a freak or “disfigured” but I know that some people DO and that’s what I was reacting to.

I can’t believe that I haven’t been home on a weekend in 5 weeks.  Even though it was all fun stuff (vacation, camping, etc.), I cannot tell you how nice it was to have a weekend at home with nothing big on the agenda.

Friday night we had a BBQ at Megan and Luke’s for Megan’s Mom’s birthday.  It was HOT that night but we still had a blast.

Playing Frisbee!

You can see Lu’s new haircut in these pictures:

There were flowers from Megan’s garden that I arranged. Arranging flowers is not my strong suit but I thought these turned out really nicely.

We had a HUGE salmon!

Everybody enjoying the feast!

Porter’s Gramma and Lucy hanging out:

Fireworks!

And Lu’s reaction!

Porter’s initial reaction:

Lucy continued to love them:

Porter, not so much:

Then we had musical entertainment!

And then last but not least, “cake” for the birthday girl.  Megan got this recipe out Sunset and it was for grilled strawberries and angel food cake.  It was apparently delicious.

On Saturday, Lu and I went to the Farmer’s Market with Lissa and Tessa, then the park and then out to lunch with Shaun at the Crow’s Inn.  He was on the way back from an epic mountain bike ride and liked the restaurant so much that he called us to join him for lunch.  I’m glad we did (but I didn’t get pictures).

On Sunday I attacked the garden or as Shaun lovingly called it, “Chelsea’s Jungle”:

Most of that is weeds!

In the middle of weeding, I took a break to get some pictures of Lu.  She picked out her entire outfit.

It was finally done!

It looks so much better, don’t you think?

Lu and I harvested some veggies-the garden is about to EXPLODE!

Lu LOVED everything that we picked:

Then, later, to beat the 100 degree heat, Daddy and Lu ran through the sprinklers!

What a FUN weekend AT HOME!!!!

I’ve been very absent from the blog-sorry!  The last few weeks of work were insane and now I’m a free woman!!!!  Can you believe it?  No more Microsoft!  Ever since being done with work I haven’t really been near a computer.  Which is just…strange!  I spent the last 8+ year in front of the computer for 8+ hours a day and now, nada.  It’s very crazy.  With my new job, I won’t be in front of the computer at ALL during the day so I’ll need to figure out if/when I’ll blog.

Also with the new job comes lunch packing.  I’ll have to pack my lunch, Lu’s lunch, and Shaun’s lunch every day. I’ve been toying around with the idea of posting what I pack on a daily (or maybe weekly?) basis to give other Moms/Gluten Free/Wifes/etc. ideas.  I have to see what my schedule shakes out to and then decide but right now, that’s the plan.

I can’t believe how BUSY I’ve been.  The 3 weeks in between jobs was supposed to be like a Staycation but it’s been more like a Chorecation.  I’m on the go and busy all.day.long.  Craziness.

Oh and my house is falling apart around me-that doesn’t help.  In the last month we’ve had 20 feet of sprinkler line replaced, our entire piping in our laundry room replaced (after 2 leaks), our refrigerator replaced (our old one just died-the butter was melting inside of it), and our A/C is broken.  There’s a big gaping hole in my laundry room ceiling (from the pipe replacement) that needs to be fixed and another electrical issue that also needs to be fixed.  Thank goodness we rent!

Father’s Day Camping:

“Breakfast” with the Lions at the zoo.  We ate, the lions played:

Feeding the Giraffes:

On the plane to PA.  Daddy got Lucy-fied:

Sticking stickers is serious business!

PA!

Camping!

Caught up!

I’m thankful that I’ll NEVER EVER EVER have to travel for this job ever again!  I’m done in 3 days and boy am I ready!

I had to go to Richmond on the tail end of my Pennsylvania trip and yesterday was supposed to look like this:

4 am-wake up
4:30 am-leave for airport
5 am-arrive at airport
6 – 7am- Flight to Chicago
9:45-12:45- Flight to Boise
1 pm HOME!

Instead it looked like this:

4 am Eastern Time-wake up
4:20 am-leave for airport
4:50 am-arrive at airport
5-7:30 am-watch as my flight keeps getting more and more delayed
7:30 am-get told that I’ll miss my connection in Chicago and the next flight isn’t until 12 hours later.  Get booked on a Delta Flight (instead of United) that will take me to Detroit, Minneapolis, and then finally Boise.  *Only* 6 hours later than planned, rather than 12 hours later.
7:35-fight back tears
7:45-8:30 wait for new flight
8:30-9 get screamed at to get out of the area as quickly as possible and watch as a bomb squad, firemen, and airport officials rush an area of the Richmond Airport
9-find out that a metal light fixture exploded and they had to make sure it wasn’t a bomb.  Severe electrical burning smell makes me gag. Board plane.
11:15 am-Arrive in Detroit-surprised by how nice it is.  Get lunch
1-Boarding flight to Minneapolis when everyone is told that they have to get off the plane and that we’ll be taking the plane next to us.  The majority of the plane was already boarded.  Oh and the new plane had a different configuration so we all had to be assigned new seats.
2-board the plane an hour late.
3 pm Central time-Land in Minneapolis, try to find a snack, not very successful.
4:30-About to board last flight home, when we’re told that boarding is delayed because a seat on the plane is broken and maintenance has to come look at it.
5-Board plane only 45 minutes late-this is an improvement!
8 pm Mountain time-arrive home!  Where my checked bag has miraculously made it!

*Only* 7 hours late!!!! And *only* 18 hours of travel to get home.

I was greeted by this:

All is now well in my world.

Only 3 days to go folks!!!!

We’ll be flying to PA on Thursday so I thought I’d do a Thankful Tuesday instead.

Today, I’m thankful for 6 glorious years with this guy:

We celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary on Saturday and had a really awesome, kid-free night.  Shaun’s cycling buddies had given us a very generous gift certificate to Chandlers Steakhouse A YEAR AGO and we just used it for this dinner.  It was amazing and a once in a lifetime dinner-we can’t afford that ourselves! Especially with my new gig! We even ordered a bottle of Prosecco!

If you would have told me that day 6 years ago  in Jamaica that I would love this man more today than I did that day, I would have told you that you were crazy.

If you would have told me 2 and 3/4 years ago that I would love my husband more today than I did that day, I would have told you that you were crazy.

Guess what?  I love my husband more and more every day.  Sure we don’t always agree but I know, without a doubt, that he has my back and that he loves me no matter what.  He is amazing and WE are amazing.  Here’s to another 60!

(I toasted to 60 more years on Saturday and he laughed.  I (jokingly) told him that I was going to divorce him when I was 90-yeah right!)

Our 6 year anniversary also marked our 1 year moving to Boise anniversary!  Wow, what an amazing and life changing year!

The courage I was talking about yesterday? Well I got the courage to make a HUGE life change back in April and I FINALLY get to tell you about it .

I got to send this email out at work:

Hi all,

I wanted to let everyone know that after 7+ really wonderful years on the design team that my last day at Microsoft Tellme will be July 19^th.  I’ve been given an amazing opportunity to teach at Challenger School, where Lucy will be attending this fall. 

As a little background, all throughout college I had plans to be a special education teacher but took a much needed break after graduation.  When I applied at Tellme, I also applied at a private school in the D.C. area but Tellme snatched me up first. I am very excited to be getting back to my roots and to get to go to school with Lucy every day!  Thankfully, I will NOT be teaching her class but instead a class of pre-K kiddos-no need to worry about standardized tests-thank you very much!

While I’ll miss you all terribly and can’t think of a better team of people to work with, I am looking forward to this new chapter in my life.

Thanks,

Chelsea

I’m going to chase my dreams and be a teacher!!!!  I can’t tell you how excited I am.  As part of the interview process I had to teach a group of 15 4 year olds about the short vowel rule: When there is one vowel in a word or syllable, it is usually short.  When there are 2 or more vowels in a word or syllable, the vowel is long.  Well that was old hat for these Challenger 4 year olds BUT the experience was so incredibly amazing and just felt so right.  I’ll be teaching 4 year olds and we’ll have phonics, math, science, and “imagination play” everyday. Most of the kids I teach will already know how to read and do simple math when they get to me!  I really believe in Challenger and their methods.  I actually had Lucy signed up to start there in the fall before I had even thought of applying to work there.

It’s going to be a huge shift for me but one that I am incredibly excited about!!!

Today I’m thankful for courage to do what my heart tells me is right.

More on this tomorrow

I’m thankful for this:

(That is not a double stroller-ha!)

(Lucy decided that clothes were overrated when we met up with Josh and Parish)

WONDERFUL FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!!!!