BCCTWB

May is coming to an end and the month, as predicted, has been full of all the feels. Excitement > Exhaustion. Happiness > Anxiety. Change obsessed > Maintain normalcy driven.

Frankly, it’s just wild times. One year of being the most bad ass bitch I’ve ever been (which speaks volumes considering the other badassery that has been necessary), has me feeling a combination of proud and annoyed AF that it’s already been a year. (Uh, did anyone know “badassery” was a webster dictionary level word? Really thought I was making that up, I guess I’m not as clever as I tend to give myself credit for…)

As I’ve traversed through this wild period of time, it feels incredibly important to highlight what has been an immense and borderline unmanageable (in a good way) level of support and love around me.

The only fortunate circumstance tied to my cancer is that the vast network around me has provided support – emotionally, physically, situationally; provided good juju; lent their ears to my venting needs (special shout out to my hubz, siblings 👯‍♀️👶🏻, vent crew 💪🏼, Dr. TDoh, the cousin club, soul sisters 🧿, WA auntie, work EB, BU mommas, @bobbygtattoo & Amber too, etc. etc.); distracted us and our children from this garbage (5 Centennial!!); random hellos and quick chit chats from people I haven’t seen in YEARS. Every one of you has earned SO much good karma that you should be playing the Lotto more frequently. Just sayin’.

Aside from the day to day, there have been a couple of things this month that have quite literally blown me away. Mother’s Day weekend there was that charity walk that I felt was incredibly important to participate in, and (aside from the traffic) it did not disappoint. The powerful this-is-a-big-deal/fuck cancer vibes were intense and overwhelming. But in a good way. Aside from all my medical care it made me feel like I was doing something important. Something that contributed to the research into how to rid the world of this nonsense. There were hundreds of people there, including the BCCTWB crew with our 4 toddlers, 5 dogs, and matching tees.

As a part of the walk, an 11 year fighter who seemed to be in similar circumstances spoke and I connected in a way that few others have done for “me” (he was giving a speech, we never met, but what he said hit home HARD). I don’t know how else to explain it, but it was amazing and I think this walk will become a new in May I rock the shit out of gray staple.

In addition to the walk and general month of May support – I had a super cool experience speaking with an incredibly kind big man on the non-alcoholic beer campus. Since my craniotomy last September, I’ve become a Sober Sally. And I don’t say that to trigger, piss off or comment on anyone else’s habits, but those of you who have known me socially over the years understand that this is QUITE the change for me. The docs have said I’m allowed to dabble in a glass of wine now and then, but that’s really not my jam (only one glass?!) so I’ve opted to dive into the NAs (non-alcoholics).

Prior to all of this, Ryan and I had dabbled in NAs because all of my pregnancy months over a handful of years left me craving a beer replacement. Athletic Brewing beers had become a quick favorite, and we kept them around to enjoy whenever we didn’t want a shitty wake up the next day.

Bill – if you’re reading this, I want to again impress upon you (and your employees) the value of your outreach, kindness and swag which included my new fave “Fancy Like” (Applebees, on a date night).

If you’re wondering how this all came to be, Bill used to work at the firm where I work, so I used that as a non-creepy way of introducing myself when I sent a thank you card to him. His products are the reason I’m able to maintain my non-drinking ways. For real.

Also, because that dude (I renamed the Universe from that guy to that dude. Just FYI for those who hear me refer to him…) is obsessed with connected experiences, when I’d heard back from Bill, my sister-in-law had an OMG moment realizing that her upcoming half marathon (woof) is being sponsored by Athletic Brewery.

THEN, as if that wasn’t enough, a bunch of people from my team at work had a fun(ny) happy hour trivia sesh. When we went to grab our trivia sheets, we realized that the shindig was being sponsored by Athletic. Which was another “you’ve got to be kidding” connection post my email chat with Bill.

DOUBLE THEN, because my coworker should try out for Jeopardy (no offense to everyone else but we all know Kate the Great was our MVP), we won the trivia! And because of the sponsor, the prize was a bunch of Athletic beers and koozies (a very well known addiction of my husband and I).

Anyways. You’re all amazing. This month has been full of really cool up’s and a few emotional downs, but the up’s and all the amazing people have outweighed the downward spiral potential. So thank you.

Keep it up since you all keep me up.

All the love and wishes for an enjoyable three-day – we already had an awesome WWDPD (what would Don Ponge do) pool party yesterday and plan to have some crazy splash toy fun with the girls later today.