Menu Plan Monday – Jan 17-23

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I won’t lie…my menu plan last week didn’t work out how I, well, planned.  Not letting it bother me though because the reason I menu plan isn’t to make me stress out over whether I’m following the plan exactly but to avoid coming home with no idea what’s for dinner.  So here’s what’s on tap for this week.
Creamy Chicken, Bacon & Tomato Pasta
Chili (already made and in the freezer!!)
Chili Mac (using leftover chili)
Buffalo Chicken Spaghetti
Homemade Pizza
Grilled Cheese/Quesadillas
Freebie Night
What do you have planned for the week?

Grownups!!

No, not the movie.  Although we rented it last week from redbox and it wasn’t too bad.

We bought a dining room table today!!!

Dining

For the past five and a half years, we’ve been eating on a little card table and folding chairs.  Totally fitting for my basement apartment when I was living by myself after college.  Now that we’re 30 years old and have a kid, it was starting to feel a little pathetic.  When we saw a Groupon deal offering $200 of furniture for $40, we jumped on it.  And today, with rambunctious toddler in tow, we got ourselves a grown up dining room table!!

Something about all 3 of us being able to sit and have dinner comfortably makes me feel like I’ve got things a little more together.  Except for the fact that our first meal on the new table was Taco Bell drive-thru….as Puss in Boots says in the “Shrek the Halls” (which I don’t think we’ll ever stop watching nightly), “I have shamed myself”.

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Have you ever had a defning moment that would seem silly to someone else???

Scarred

I have scars.  I have a scar on my nose from when I went face first into a glass top coffee table as a toddler.  I have a scar on my arm from a silly fight on the school bus in elementary school.  There are probably more that I’m not even thinking of.  They are all either in spots that are easily concealed or that I can’t physically see.

But there’s one scar that I can’t avoid.  Its the scar on the back of my hand from my melanoma excision.  Its been almost 8 months since the surgery and the scar is still red and quite visible.  I’ve browsed the drugstore and looked up natural, alternative remedies to minimize it but ultimately walk away with an “eh, I’ll worry about it later”.

Just writing about this scar is somewhat awkward for me.  In terms of cancer, mine barely counts.  It was classified as stage 0, caught before it spread any further than that one little mole.   So who am I to talk like I survived some battle with cancer?

But that’s not what this scar represents.

When I look at my hand, I see the possibility of a completely different outcome.  I feel lucky, grateful, relieved.  Had I not seen my dermatologist that day, that melanoma most likely would have continued to spread and the nightmare might not have been over with a simple, outpatient procedure.

My scar speaks to the value of early detection and the importance of taking care of yourself.  Do self-exams, see your doctor regularly, know your risk factors, be aware of your body so you know when something’s not right.

What do your scars say?  Do they tell a story?  Teach a lesson?  Make you laugh or cry?

This post is linked up to Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop.
Mama's Losin' It