Well, once again, it has been a while. So much has been going on, and so much has changed in the past several months. I have at least 8 posts saved as a draft, where I have tried to post here, but my life as wife and mother did not allow me to finish them or edit them.
Some of my held posts are about my observations at Stone Mountain regarding neon 80's clothing and tan, a trip to my neighborhood pool, our first kid free trip (to the beach!) for our 10 year anniversary, the list goes on. I know I have done less through this blog, a tiny bit more through my facebook page, but I have shared more on my personal facebook page than before regarding skin cancer awareness. I have also talked face to face with more people, and been more confident when they challenge what I know as fact.
I have been spending more time outdoors. I have gone to the pool and sat under the umbrella and reapplied sunscreen every time that they announce adult swim. I have gone to the beach, spent the day touring a fort, wearing a tank top. I know I should have covered, but it was 100 degrees and humid, couldn't do it. I returned from the weekend at the beach with my husband, we both have a lot of Irish in us, and before my son (15) said hello he asked how we were at the beach for 3 days and didn't get any sun. I felt a little sense of accomplishment there. Last weekend we went to the lake, with the top and doors off our new vehicle, and did not get sunburned, but did get windburned on the trip on the way there and back (Ouch!)
The past few years, we spent more time indoors and outdoors we were obsessively panicked about sun exposure. When I went for my 2 year skin screen in June, I mentioned to Dr. K. that I was really hard on myself for even being exposed enough that my freckles multiply. She told me (as she removed a mole from my neck and another from my..um.. where the bra under wire sits), that I need to cut myself some slack and that as long as I am following the sun safety guidelines of protection, seeking shade, covering up when possible, and not being out in peak hours, then I need to relax and enjoy myself. Life this year has definitely allowed for that, so I am given many opportunities to practice and be an example of sun safety.
With those opportunities have come learning experiences for myself and what I can do too. I also learned firsthand that sunscreen spray versus sunscreen lotion is a very different concept. I used lotion on my and my daughters face, but then I used spray on our bodies. Snow white and I both showed that we need to be using lotion instead of spray, even though spray is so much more convenient. So now I need to find one that works well, but doesn't look funky as we sweat, which unfortunately in our 90 degree high humidity climate is inevitable..
I really want to go to Charlotte in November for the AIM for a Cure Melanoma Walk. They canceled the Scan Foundation walk this summer for Atlanta, so Charlotte is the closest campaign to us. I know I am a blip on the radar when it comes to bloggers, but I mention everyone's blogs so much as I talk to others about awareness, I think it would be great to meet everyone and graduate from saying "this blogger I follow" to "my friend". So it looked like my friend was going to go with me, but circumstances changed a little, I'm not sure but I hope she still can. The great news though is that my husband is saying he will come with me! I told him that I know it isn't important to him, but it is to me, and he said that it really is important to him too! He has brought it up several times since then too, so I am really excited.
