MIDDLE-AGED WOMEN 40-60ish

Good to see everyone doing okay. 

Very quickly, I won this Mother's Day contest for my Mom, she is a survivor too, and this sweet lady saw my little post and send me an IM. Get this, she has the exact cancer I have, her sister has M.S. just like my sister, her name is the same as my sister's, her Mom and my other sister have the same name, and our DH share the same name. Freaky!    So we have exchanged phone numbers and I am going to give her a call today. She had her first Chemo. on Tuesday. I've tried to get her to come here and look around but so far I don't think she has. I think back to when I was doing chemo. and don't know what I would have done without this site. How do I encourage her without sounding like I'm giving her a brush off? 

PauldingMom, that is so amazing. I love things like that. Since you have already told her how much this site helped you, the perhaps you could share some of the amusing stories since everyone needs cheering up especially during chemo I'd imagine.

Most of the time, the Real Housewives shows focus on frivolous fun, especially fun the average woman isn't having because it's prohibitively expensive. So they might gloss over or even skip a breast cancer treatment festival of "fun."

Share the pain in my junior-high heart: I am chaperoning a ridiculous band trip with my high school freshman daughter's band. We're going on a fun-filled four day trip: San Antonio for a competition and Six Flags, and then we're spending two days in Corpus Christi at the beach. We leave at about 2 am this Saturday morning and return at 11 pm Tuesday night. I'm pretty much a professional field trip chaperone, and while I often use inappropriate language when discussing the Texas school system in general (Every Child Left Behind), I must say they know how to do a field trip.

This particular field trip has ominously unscheduled blocks of time during our stay in condos at the beach. The idea of my freshly-15-year-old daughter hanging out with only light supervision in the company of many older band boys was kind of horrifying, so I signed up to chaperone. A good friend decided to go because I was going. We spend a lot of time together, and our daughters are in the same little circle and chose to room together for the trip. Originally, the plan was that chaperones would be in pairs and have a "family" of kids that they supervised together. My friend and I were going to be a pair, and hoped to have my daughter's group and perhaps another group of kids as part of our group of 12. But then they apparently didn't get enough chaperones, so now the families are ONE chaperone and 8 - 10 kids. The kids choose the chaperones. And this is where the "junior high heart" reference comes in.

My daughter and all of her friends signed up with the other mom, my friend. I so far have a small and odd little group of upperclassmen. Logically, I know that this is actually a GOOD thing, because my daughter is in good hands and I will not be the one giving her a hard time about applying sunscreen and putting on some clothes, for goodness sake! We're only with our "families" for the beach/pool portions of the trip - about two days of it. But on some level, I feel like I "didn't get picked." How pathetic is that? My group so far is looking easy - small, and one of the kids is the band council president, who is the picture of responsibility and positivity. It will probably turn out that one of the other kids in my group is her boyfriend, and I will spend the entire time trying to keep track of them as they try to sneak off and do carnal things. I just need to work harder to get rid of this stupid feeling - it's like when you're the last one picked for a team or something...

In the grand scheme of life, this isn't a big deal. It's awesome that I am here to go on this trip, and that we can afford for me to go, and it's going to be a lot of fun, as long as no one has a major injury or ends up pregnant. So I suppose I need a big slap in the face...

Elimar, you have a interesting point. Vickki's daughter did have the neck biopsy, and was actualy pretty mature about it.

All I can say in my defense is that my husband got me into these shows. There is not that much on tv we both like, so at least it gives us a little escape. I lay on the floor and do my PT exercises while we watch. I passed Bethanny on the street once BTW, she looked pretty but not that friendly.

There used to be some cute pictures of the OC wives on Komen Orange County's twitter page.

KLEENEX-Honestly, did you think your 15 year old would pick her own mother? She's 15!!! the last thing she wants to look like is a mommies girl in front of all her friends. Bless her heart, she's probably as torn as you are. Sounds to me you will be close enough and yet far enough away all at the same time. The perfect combo. for both of you. 

I kinda watched RHW for a while and thought that it would be cool when they came to Atlanta. Wrong,  what a bunch of nuts. I hope I never run into any of them. If I do I will know I am in the wrong place and need to leave. Who in the world has a married boyfriend that they call Big Daddy. Really??? 

Oh Kleenex.you brought so many memories back for me.  I too was a professional band chaparone.  We took a bus trip from Chicago to Gatlinburg TN for a four day trip.  Assigned seats.  And since I was the freshman mom they but me towards the back where some of the not so nice boys and girls were sitting.   Then 2 yrs later we went to Hawaii.  Yep, lots of fundraising for that one!  9 hrs on a plane with teenagers.  But that was better than the bus trip.  The kids seemed to behave better.  You would think that Hawaii would be beautiful in March.  NOT NOT NOT.  It rained every single day.  We had about 2 hrs of sunshine the entire time we were there.  The beaches were closed due to the sewers overflowing.  Diamond head was closed due to mudslides.  The local newspaper called the rain  of "Biblical Proportions"   Ah........the memories.

Navy

Its very funny now.  Mostly because I get to tell the story about DH.  The only band thing he ever chaparoned was the Hawaii trip.  It just seemed like a good idea (to me)  That he should go on the trip too.  And since I knew I would have a group of girls to chaparone he would have a group of boys to chaparone and not just be a ride along guest.  Well, the first night we got there, after room checks and head counts were done he was exhausted.  It was midnight in Hawaii.  We were in our room unpacking and he starts to get ready for bed......and I stopped him.......he just couldn't believe that the night was not over until the evening chaparone meeting was done.  And this night the meeting started at 12:15 am.  Poor fella FINALLY understood why I came home from marching competitions, contests and parades exhausted with the look of a wild woman with her hair on fire!

Even tho it sounds like I am complaining and I guess I sort of am, those are some sweet memories when my son was in Jr high and high school band.  I am glad I took the time to do all that stuff.  And now he is a grown man.  Married, about to be a Dad himself and serving our country.  Yep, all worth it for sure.

Navy mom - great story... all the chaperone stories are wonderful. i'd love to do that but so far my kids don't want me to come. Not cause they don't like me I think it is more cause they might feel like they would have to check on me or worry about me so when my ex can go he does and I get to hear all the stories at least.

Kleenex,

I also was a band chaperone mom!  Started w/band camp in my oldest child's freshman year and ended with the third child's Disneyworld trip.  Our band director never put moms with their kids, took the emotion out of it, that's for sure.  I loved chaperoning the older kids, in our band the older kids helped keep the younger ones in line.  Fond memories.  We definitely had our share of problems, like the time the principle of the school had to fly home from Washington DC with three freshmen who created much trouble.  Ahh, the memories.  Have fun on the trip.  Enjoy.

Meece and smitlme, I'm getting the creepy crawlies just reading these conversations!  I am so freaked out by bugs!  (or INSECTS as my h.s. biology teacher always corrected me - I finally told him - I was a smart a** 15 year old - that they were not insects, they were bugs because they BUGGED me - I'm surprised he didn't fail me)

NavyMom-You really don't want to know, but you can google it!

Ok Sorry I asked  and even more sorry that I googled........worse went to youtube!!!  A curse it is to curious.  Just glad I have never seen them ugly buggers in the midwest!

Navy

We interrupt this slug-fest.

(My daughter bought a banana slug sweat shirt when we were in N CA for a wedding.... that's my only experience.)

Anyhow, back to the news:

Just saw on FB that Barbe's birthday is on Sunday!!!

Start the weekend celebration, now!!!!

It's time for a p-a-r-t-y!

xx00xx00xx00xxx

I'm still feeling creepy-crawly!  Makes the June bugs we have in Michigan look pretty good (YUK).

That cartoon is too funny! How on earth do you find these things ? Or even know how to post them - very funny!