I’m Baaaack! I want to apologize for going so long without a blog post. I have had to ration my energy and the blog fell down a few notches on my priority list. I do feel guilty when I run into y’all in the halls at school or at church or the grocery store. I am often asked about the blog and when I will post an update. You have all be so faithful with your prayers over these challenging months and I am grateful.

Just to get you up to speed…

The big surgery was a success and I am officially cancer free. The recovery wasn’t so bad from that one. In fact, it was exponentially easier than I expected… even the surgical drain.  I’m a pro at that now! It did take a while for my energy to return and my doctors imposed restrictions for about 5 weeks, but I had virtually no pain from the surgery and no complications.

I had to wait a minimum of 3 months before we could do the 2^nd phase of the reconstruction, a shorter out-patient procedure. That fourth (and hopefully final) surgery was done about a month ago. The recovery from that “little outpatient” procedure wasn’t as quick and easy as I had hoped. Without going into graphic details I will just say that liposuction is not for the faint of heart and was the worst part of this procedure which involved lipo and fat grafting. It is really amazing what they can do in the field of plastic surgery these days!

Overcoming the fatigue and brain fog that comes with 4 surgeries in 6 months has been challenging but over the past couple of weeks I have felt more like myself than I have in a long time. I have been able to work out again and my energy is up to a more normal level. It is time to move on from this and focus on family and Christmas.

Moving on…

Now what? What is normal anymore? I don’t really know, to be honest! I will confess that I squeezed in some political activity between surgeries, which was both stressful and exhilarating at the same time – the reason I love campaigns. We have enjoyed Josie’s competition season and watched her grow as a gymnast this fall. We have been in the throws of nightly rehearsals and call times for Elijah as he performed in CTG’s Christmas play. I am thrilled to be back volunteering at the kids’ school again – my happy place. Our halls are now decked and ready for Christmas – indoors and out. Ah, that’s normal!

Elijah on stage in the role of Charlie in CTG’s “Best Christmas Pageant Ever”    📷: Addison Riddleberger

Fresh Eyes…

The hustle and bustle of the season and our lives in general is our normal and I welcome it with fresh eyes and a fresh perspective. The Christmas baking didn’t get done and it still may not, but that’s ok because the trees are up. I didn’t have time to get little favors for all the kids in Josie’s class this year, but that’s ok because we did get the gifts for the kids at the Newcomer’s School. The family Christmas card didn’t happen this year, but that’s ok because we have had some awesome family time watching our favorite Christmas movies. In the past I would have beat myself up over all the things that didn’t get done. I would have worn myself out trying to make everything perfect and sacrificed the truly important.

Sweet Snuggles ❤️

My hope for all of us this Christmas season is that we will treasure our time with our people. Enjoy the hustle and bustle and busyness but let’s not get so caught up that we are too stressed to focus on the important. Even tonight, as I finally sat down to work on this long overdue blog post, I was a paragraph in, and Josie came bouncing in all cozy in her jammies wanting to snuggle. In the past, I’m embarrassed to say, I would have made her wait until I was at a good stopping point. Not anymore. Nope, we snuggled right up and talked about silly stuff that was on her mind. Priceless!

The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”  ~Luke 2:10-11 a caption

May the Lord richly bless you throughout this season and in the new year.

Merry Christmas!

*Originally posted on “The Hogbloggers” site in December 2015

© Elizabeth Smith 2015