Soft Pretzels

Our family has an LDS church general conference tradition of making homemade soft pretzels. And dipping them in our favorite honey mustard dipping sauce. The unique thing about homemade pretzels is that you boil the uncooked dough before you bake the pretzels. And the boiling happens in water that is saturated with baking soda! So cool! That's what gives the pretzel its distinctive sour, salty, chewy taste and texture. 

We have decided that pretzel sticks are way easier to make/boil than actual pretzel shapes, so we go with that. Plus, I can fit way more sticks on a baking sheet. Here are the sticks in the boiling water. They stay there for about 60 seconds. Then you carefully fish them out and place them on a cooling rack to drain. After that, they go on a greased cookie sheet. An egg wash gets brushed on, followed by a sprinkling of course salt. Then they're baked :)

LOVE! I'm drooling right now. Not sure why, but these things hit the spot. And here's our favorite sauce. Perfect combo. But this item can only be purchased "seasonally" at Costco. So stock up! And happy conference weekend!

Science

This shirt still kills me 😂😂😂!!! We took our kids to this amazing chemistry day at the U of U over the weekend. So many hands on experiments and big science demos. We had a great time-and it was FREE! They do this twice a year, spring/fall, and we plan to go again. I so badly want my kids to be excited about science! It's so important!

Organizing Therapy

I've learned something about myself. When I feel stress, overwhelmed, or when I simply don't have control over something in my life, I turn to organizing/cleaning. I think it's my way of regaining control over something. And it puts my mental crazy into action mode, which helps. I often need to find/create order externally to calm myself internally. I've been feeling anxiety about my upcoming surgery and have found myself wanting to clean and get my house in order. Which is really tricky when the kids are home for spring break! But, I did manage to go through the laundry room cabinets.

I threw a bunch of stuff away. Dusted. Rearranged by like categories. Repositioned shelves. The works. It felt great! I guess I should just be grateful that my coping mechanism is productive and not destructive. And it's way cheaper than therapy. 

Italian Meatball Soup

This soup was definitely a hit! Everyone in my family devoured it!

I basically combined a few different recipes I found online. But the main ingredients are:

Beef broth

Tomatoes

Mushrooms

Onions

Zucchini

Garlic

White beans

Spinach

Carrots

Meatballs (of course!)

Bow tie pasta (on the side, to add per bowl)

I was in a rush, so I just used the frozen meatballs from Costco. They actually gave the soup a really good flavor. And I hate mushy pasta, so I cook my noodles separate, leave them on the side, and put a spoonful in each bowl of soup. Voila!

"Snack Box"

I have this amazing friend, Erin Boyle, who was recently interviewed for a podcast. Here's the link:

http://www.thelifebeatsproject.com/erin/

One specific thing Erin talks about in this podcast is her love of vegetables and her mission to get kids to eat more veggies. I became inspired and decided to try something myself, in an attempt to help my kids love veggies. We call it the "snack box".

My kids think it's totally exciting! They get to pull the snack box out of the fridge whenever they want, along with ranch dressing, hummus, etc. They've definitely eaten more veggies since i put this together. And it makes snack time super easy. LOVE! Thanks Erin!

Explanations

18 days to go. I finally explained the surgery to my kids. Ages 11, 9, & 7. Kids are awesome. They were so curious about the whole thing and asked really great questions. I gave them details, and (for my kids anyway) I think it was the right choice. I don't think they will feel as scared, knowing exactly what's going on. I compared expanders to water balloons, implants to big gummy bears, and drainage tubes to flexible straws :)

Some of the questions they asked were:

Will they be able to hug me. How long would I not feel good. What if the "water balloons" pop. Why can't they just put the "gummy bears" in at the first surgery. Will there be stitches. How many dr appointments will I have to go to afterwards. Why won't I be able to reach up high for things or drive. Will it hurt. How did the dr's find out I had this problem (BRCA) in the first place. I had to keep reassuring them that I do NOT have cancer!!! So grateful!

Breastfeeding is Best

Should I Get Genetic Testing?

This article is a great overview for anyone considering getting genetic testing for the BRCA gene mutation. Obviously, talk with a genetic counselor for individual specifics.

http://www1.cbn.com/healthyliving-17 

'Fresh Air' broadcast

http://www.npr.org/2016/03/14/470371943/bad-luck-or-bad-genes-dealing-with-brca-and-a-cancer-in-the-family

Heard this on "NPR: Fresh Air" yesterday. 

Monday, March 14, 2016

Bad Luck or Bad Genes?

Dealing with BRCA and

'A Cancer in the Family'

Interesting listen. I could relate to Theodora Ross in some ways, and not in others. She and her husband did not want to discuss what was going on with people outside of their family. I've not felt that way. Obviously my desire for privacy isn't huge, or I wouldn't be blogging about any of this. But I definitely respect her desire to keep things private. It's funny how 2 people, in similar situations, deal and cope in very different ways. And both ways are ok. I like to share and discuss, to a certain extent. It helps the whole thing seem less scary and helps me feel less alone. But I do have days when I just want to talk about anything OTHER than my health. The great thing is, I feel comfortable telling my friends/family if I'm having one of those days. And we change the subject :)

Waiting

I texted this to my husband today. It sums up how I've been feeling the last few days:

"It feels like someone just said "You're going to be beat up in 5 weeks. You'll feel like crap and be really bruised and it will take awhile to heal. And you'll end up disfigured and won't ever look the same afterwards. So just wait around for 5 weeks till we can get around to it. It's coming."