Mom, when you were little....?

I haven't participated in Wendy's Life is Funny carnival lately.  Come to think of it, I guess I haven't blogged much lately either.  Oh well.  This may date me, but it's still kind of funny.

My son simply LOVES to listen to stories about when I was a little girl.  Come to think of it, I really loved listen to my mom and dad's stories as well.

He also LOVES watching cartoons from my generation....Flintstones, Jetsons, Popeye, etc.  His favorite happens to be the Smurfs (which also happened to be one of mine as well).  So, I've let him tape a few episodes on our DVR so we can watch them together.

Oh, aren't they just adorable?  I remember wanting my own real life Smurfs.  I would keep them under my bed.

I'm not sure if my son thinks I'm older than dirt, or just born in the stone age.

After I all, I guess cartoons look much different today than they did back then.

So yesterday morning, we were driving to school.  He had his thoughtful look on his face.  I asked him what he was thinking about.  That was a mistake.

"Mom?  Were the Smurfs in color when you were a little girl?"

"Uh, Yeah, buddy.  They were still blue way back then."

"Definitely blue."

Worst part?  He was totally serious.

I'm not about to show him the Brady Bunch.

Love,
Kelli

First Days...

He may not "officially" be my baby for much longer, but he will always be my baby and first love.

And he started the 4th grade today!

And check out the hair?  We worked really hard on that hair!

And a walk down memory lane.  Here is 3rd grade!  Not quite sure what was going on with the hair that day.  Must have been windy!

And second grade...I seriously love that he still had the remnants of his baby cheeks!

And the first grade!  Funny observation...this is the same location as his 3rd grade pic a few above.  Check out how much he grew!

Oh, and I can't forget his first day of Kindergarten/Montessori.  Yes, that is a fake smile and real tears in his eyes.  What a total cutie!

Love you buddy!  Let's have another really great year!

Love,
Mom (Kelli)

Update Part 2

I guess this is really Part 3, rather than Part 2.  Although it is my second day of updates, although day 1 had 2 parts to it.  I'm confusing myself.  Basically, if you haven't read yesterday's post, I suggest you do first.  Just so you understand everything in order.

For those of you that don't have time to read yesterday's post, here's the primer:
Part 1:  I got a new job (within the same company) and I'm super excited about it.  The outlook is bright!
Part 2:  My mom's cancer is being woman-handled by a new great doctor and some serious treatments.  The outlook is even brighter!

OK, now that that's settled.

Moving on.

So, I'm not sure that anyone that actually reads this blog (with the exception of maybe 4 people - Mel, Ben, Aunt Sharon, and Lana, you are henceforth forbidden to answer) knows exactly how old I am.

Let's just say that I'm older than 35 and younger than 40 and leave it at that.

So, I'm not quite sure how to say this.  So maybe I'll post a pic.

Now, I have been accused on more than 30 occasions of being dramatic.  I can assure you, though, that I'm not being dramatic here.  In fact, I was in a bit of a shock...considering that my son is almost 10!

So there is my other "update"! 

Very exciting stuff and y'all are the first to know.  Except of course my husband, best friend, and parents.

I promise I don't have any other "surprises".  But definitely looking forward to getting back into the swing of things again now that I'm feeling less "blechy" :).

God is good!

Love to all!

Kelli

Update

So, CLEARLY it's time for an update!  This is very long, but I promise it will be worth the read (especially part 2)!

I've had a rough few months dealing with lots of different things, but I tried to remain steadfast through the whole thing.  I wasn't in control, and I couldn't control His plan. 

I have a 3 part update for you, and I'll share the first 2 parts today. The second part is so great that I just want to give it air time.  God is good!

Part 1:
I've "alluded" a few times over the last 8 months or so, that work was not necessarily going the way I had expected.  Please don't get me wrong.  I work for an amazing company.  The company is global and on the large side.  I've been here for 11 years and had about 6 or 7 different roles within the company.  I've been in my most recent role for awhile.  It was a training and development role, and I really feel like it's what I'm meant to do.

In January we had merged with several other similar groups from other areas in the company.  I was very excited about all the opportunities and stepped up to take a different role with in the group.  I'd be working for someone else (let's call her Stephanie).

I had worked with Stephanie in the past on special projects, but never as a manager/direct report.  I'm not going to belabor this point, but Stephanie thought I was great.  I was excited at first, but quickly realized that Stephanie and I weren't meant to work with each other.  She was beyond super creative, but couldn't manage to get work done unless it was already done by me first. 

I managed to keep a good working relationship with her, but when an opportunity came to move to a new role within the company?  I jumped on it.  Fifty job applicants and three interviews later, I was offered the role.

I just started my new role (which takes all of the great things that I have loved over the last 3 years - INCLUDING SOCIAL MEDIA, PEOPLE!!! - and I get paid to do them).  Best part of all?  I got to leave my previous role on great terms AND I get the opportunity to work with a great team with a much bigger scope than I've had in the past!

Can you say exciting?!?!?!  God is good!

Part 2:
When I was going through the interview process, I was really struggling because my mom is still sick.  I haven't posted too much on here, but here's the lowdown:

 - Mom has Stage IV breast cancer and this is her 3rd time battling the cancer
 - the tumor is under her left arm and is inoperable
 - She was given Herceptin (the new miracle drug for breast cancer) and it has paralyzed her left arm completely.
 - In March, we found that the cancer had spread to her bones near her spinal cord.  If this spreads to her spinal cord, she could become paralyzed.
 - There are also spots on her liver and lungs (that may or may not be cancer) that the docs are watching.
 - Her doc has pretty much told her that there's not much sh can do, and that if she wants to remain on Herceptin for the "rest of her life" that "might" control it.  Read:  her doc has pretty much written her off.

I have a few friends that read my blog (when I actually write something), but for those of you that don't know my mom.  She is one spunky, opinionated, spirit-filled woman and wasn't going to take to this "news" lightly.

First thing she did was get a second opinion and a new doctor!

He agreed with all of the findings, but didn't agree with the prognosis.  They were going to fight this and fight it pretty hard.  They combined a new kind of chemo (for the tumor under her arm) with radiation treatments (for the bones, liver, and lungs).  This has been hard watching mom go through all of this.  Really hard.

But God is good!

After all of these treatments they performed a new round of scans.  You ready for this?!?!

 - The cancer in her bones?  Completely gone!
 - The spots in her liver?  Completely gone!
 - The spots in her lungs?  Completely gone!
 - The tumor under her left arm?  Still there.  But!  the tumor has gone down in size a tiny bit AND it's gone down in activity level almost to the point where it is considered inactive!

She's going to go through a new round of chemo to put the final death nail into this stupid tumor, but we fully are expecting her to go into remission!

My spunky, opinionated, spirit-filled mother is beating Stage IV breast cancer!  You go mom!

God is good!

I do have one final update for you, but I wanted to let mom's fabulous news hang out here a bit.

Miss you all!  I promise to not remain a stranger!

Love,
Kelli