7 Year Itch?

Nope, I've got my own Cortizone-Ken! (get it, like Cortizone-10! HA! Seriously, I can't be the only one who laughed.)

Well, I was especially lazy last week, and so I will now make up for that laziness by 1st - explaining why I was so lazy and 2nd- presenting you with a FABULOUS Post about my Love for Ken Wheeler.

So, I had a lipoma removed on Monday. I've known about this pesky little fatty tumor for about 6 years now. I discovered it on our 1st anniversary trip. You see, I was trying to impress on of our nieces and I said something like "Hey, watch this, I can pick up Uncle Ken" and then I proceeded to lift my husband off the ground. You may be asking "What does this have to do with a Lipoma?" Well, just hold on, and I will tell you. Lifting my husband, who is a tall but skinny man, off the ground was not a very smart thing to do- and I hurt my back. Should have known better, I know. Well, a few days later, I was laying in bed and my back hurt, I rubbed my hand along my back and found a Huge, HUGE, GIGANTIC lump. It was one of those moments where you think "Why has no one ever told me that I am a hunchback before?" And then you wonder "What the HECK is this lump?" So I spent a good amount of time during the following days wondering what that second head growing off the back of my body really was. I finally decided that I hadn't hurt my back lifting my husband off the ground, but rather, I had a huge cancerous tumor in my back that had infiltrated my spine right at the same moment that I lifted Ken into the air.......and that I didn't have long to live.

When we got home from our trip I went into the Doctor, I made Ken come with me because I was sure I was going to receive a horrible diagnosis. The doctor touched the lump and said "That's a Lipoma. Don't lift your husband off the ground, you will hurt your back" He is a smart Doctor. He told me what a Lipoma is, a bunch of fat that likes to hang out in large groups, i.e. tumors, they are benign and pose no risk to your health. The Doctor then recommended that I wait until I had all the children we intended to have, then go in and have some liposuction to take it, and any other fat I wanted gone, out, tuck the tummy a little, wait 6 weeks and go on a CRUISE! I thought this was a fantastic Idea. But over the past 6  years I've lost a little weight, and the Lipoma didn't get any smaller, so I could see this lump on my back every time I passed by a mirror (I fully admit that I may have been the only person who noticed, but I did) and it also seemed to like to cozy up next to a nerve and it sometimes hurt- SO- I decided to have it taken out. I asked a General Practitioner about taking it out a couple of years ago, and she said she could do it in her office but upon later inspection she decided it was too large and that a surgeon would need to remove it.

And so, on Monday- our 7th Anniversary- Ken and I went to the Out Patient Surgical Center at Alta View Hospital and I said goodbye to my Lipoma. It was a good thing that a Surgeon removed it, because it was even larger than he had expected it to be. We were thinking Lemon sized, and nice and rounded- but it was flat on the bottom and looked more like a half an Orange. I was under anesthesia the whole time and so I just have to believe the Doctor. The incision is pretty much unspectacular, but I found myself unable to do much but lay on my back for a few days after the surgery. We are blessed with great neighbors who brought a few nights of dinners and who offered to play with kids at the park and generally took good care of us while I was out of commission. One side effect that I found completely odd was that I felt a little depressed. I was able to work through that AND NOW I am looking forward to a 2 day Anniversary Trip with my sweet Ken! YAY!

SO- that' is why this post is a week late- and here is the post you've all been waiting for! "7 Year Itch?"

Oh, Look at us! So Young, So In Love! I've told the story before about how our friendship turned into Love, I won't tell it again (not fully) But I have a different story to tell today. One about relationships in General- and why I think I lucked out.

So, years and years ago, Three friends were sitting on a couch. Two were Girls and one was a Boy (well, were were in our mid twenties, so I guess he was a Man by then) The ladies were discussing how horrible it was that all the skinny girls got dates and no one seemed to want to date us. We decided that we were going to do what it took to get fit (i.e. skinny) and we were not going to date ANYONE who didn't want to date us when we were fluffier. I turned to the Man Friend and told him about our plan. He didn't seem too worried about it, after all, we were friends and he wasn't too interested in dating us- not that we weren't perfectly wonderful girls. Ho-Hum, life went on, I think I did lose 5 or 10 pounds and as the story goes, that Man Friend figured out his mistake. (i.e. if you intend to marry your best friend you probably ought to date your best friend :) A few months later Ken and I took this cute picture- see the ring?

 A few more months and we were newlyweds, honeymooners, Giants Fans.

 Then a whole year past and we celebrated our 1st Anniversary. Were we homeless at this point? You might think that, after all we are wearing garbage bags in this picture. But no, in fact we had just purchased our home, we WERE unprepared for how misty the waterfalls in Yosemite can get in the Spring. (it was during this trip that I found the lump!)

 Oh, after 2 years of marriage we decided to celebrate our great love by Chartering a boat! Ken is an amazing captain. Well, to be entirely truthful we just rented a room that LOOKED like a boat. BUT, I do trust him lots and lots, and if I had a boat, I would let him captain it.. A few months before this anniversary I decided that I needed to lose weight (again, it's kind of been a continual thing hasn't it) and for Valentines day Ken bought me a treadmill. A few months after our anniversary I ran my very first 5k, what I didn't know at the time was that I was pregnant!

 And that's how this little guy wiggled his way into our 3rd Anniversary picture. WOW- can you believe this little boy is 4 now? I can't.

 As the years go on, there are less pictures of us ON our Anniversary, or on a trip celebrating our Anniversary, How did that happen. But here is our little family at my Mission Reunion, which was a week before we celebrated our 4th anniversary. What cuties we are.

 A year passes and still no pictures of us...WHAT? Well we did take a couple days away from this sweet boy- but the only picture I have from that little trip is of the Chandelier in our room- it was really cool looking! At this point we were pregnant with our second boy an so very excited to add to our family. We also kept J on a leash, especially when we let him ride cows. 

 Last year we not only took a trip- but we also got pictures of ourselves while ON THE TRIP! Ahhhhh, happy 6th Honeymooners :) I was getting ready for my first 10k with the intentions of running a half marathon after that and I am one blessed girl because I had a very understanding husband, "What you want to go run for an hour in 40 degree weather rather than hang out in this nice warm condo with me?" Yep. I love that Ken. Like I said, I am blessed and I know it.

So, this week we are once again off for a 2 day anniversary trip- without the kids (hehehehe, I love those kids and everything, but WOW we are going to be able to sleep in! AND take naps! AND no one is going to ask to watch Thomas or Mickey!)

And now, I will wax philosophical for a moment. My cousin asked the other day (on Facebook) "What does it feel like to when you meet your Soul-mate?"  And lots of people said "You just know you need to be with them" "You miss them as soon as they are gone and you are always thinking of them" and I disagreed. I think that is twitterpation that is "Being in Like". I totally felt that way about Matt Damon- but Matt Damon was not my Soul-mate- it's true. And so my answer was that I didn't realize that I had met him, that man who would eventually hold my heart. I didn't know when I met Ken Wheeler that he would be that Man that I would BEG GOD to let me love forever. But he was and he still is. And I have amazingly high hopes that we will be together forever. Why? Because we were friends first. Do we agree on everything? No. Do we understand each other every moment of the day? No. Do we look exactly like we did when we first fell in love? No. Things change, circumstances, people, the world, everything changes. Is this why the divorce rate is so high. People change, those feelings of twitterpation ebb and flow, sometimes that person who you thought was your soul-mate disappoints you- does that mean you shouldn't be with them anymore. I think a lot of people must feel this way, because a lot of marriages end. But I lucked out. I married my best friend. And though we look different and we are way more tired than we ever could have imagined and maybe we've seen some dreams slowly fade while other dreams took their place, but we are in this together, we are still Ken and Kate and I am pretty sure Ken would agree that We are still In Love. In fact, I really think I love Ken more today than I did back in 2005. Or maybe it's just that I understand what Love truly is just a tiny bit more.

However I look at it, I just feel lucky. I am blessed and I am going to do whatever I can to keep my friendship strong and my marriage happy. After all, I plan to love Ken Wheeler for eternity.

Ken, I love you, I truly truly do. Thank you for loving me!