a peek inside the fishbowl

The girls had lunch with Mark while I went to the doctor’s. Almost exactly a year ago I was dealing with this. It had returned again, but worse this time, and I was going to get it looked at.

He prescribed something topical, and gave me some instructions, and as we were chatting I casually mentioned a spot on my forehead. As he turned to look and I could see the fun factor suddenly drain out of our conversation.

“Do you spend lots of time in the sun?”
“Uh, it’s not like I sunbathe,” I said. “I have kids. We’re outside all summer.”
He was looking closely at it, at me. I explained how sometimes I accidently scratch it and it kind of flakes.
“Do you wear sunscreen?”
“Yes, but I don’t think I get it all the way up there.” The spot is right next to my hair. And now that I have bangs, they flop overtop of that part of my head. Besides, who wants sunscreen in their hair?

He told me it might be cancerous. Maybe he used the term pre-cancerous. (Why don’t I take notes?) He dabbed it with liquid nitrogen. (And by dabbed I mean pressed down on it with a Q-tip saturated with the stuff.) It hurt, but I didn’t complain. He’s going to get me in to see a dermatologist. It’s a six month wait. But here’s the kicker, it could be nothing, just plain sun ol’ damage. In the meantime I’m to wear an SPF of 30 every day.

Faaaaak.

I walked around the grocery store in a bit of a stupor while I had a prescription filled. I bought some second-rate sushi and ate it in the car. It was cold outside, but the sun was so hot that I had to roll down the window. 

Later the same day we went to our local library to participate in a science workshop. The kids were going to be making slime. The lineup to get in was long. The guy leading the workshop was late. All I wanted to do was get out of there. I left the girls to their slime-making and went upstairs to look at some books for an hour.

The rest of the afternoon was an unhappy blur. There is more, but I’ve promised someone else I won’t talk about it now. But I will. Soon. Let’s just say something has changed for one of us, and that it wasn’t expected.

We had dinner at Monkey Joe’s near Westgate. They make a great pizza, but my mind wandered unhappily.

Seven is a big deal. Seven is still very much a child, but one who is growing into herself more and more each day. Seven is bright colours and soft fur. Seven is sticky lollipops stuck in the hair and scratched knees. Seven is dancing and singing and jumping without worrying what others think. Seven is unicorns and fairies and wishes on faraway stars. Seven is sunshine and rain.

Seven is special and cannot go unnoticed.

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Here are the results of today’s creativity THUS FAR.

First up, Emma and Sarah’s cupcakes (er, at least the ones that made it home):

And here is the project I tried out, DIY felt fortune cookies (!):

Pretty nifty huh? They’re also very easy for kids to make. I originally got the idea from here but made a couple of changes. I cut the felt into smaller four inch circles (using the mug in the photo as a guide), and doubled up the floral wire by folding it in half over itself and twisting it around. I’m pretty pleased with the final result!

Now I’m off to make some chicken stock and do some Actual Paid Work.