valentine's day Happy Birthday Mama Jetplane

Happy 50th Birthday to the BEST mom in the whole wide world....yes I may be a little biased but OH WELL... She is wonderful.

She was a young, single mother with 2 kids and a nasty ex-husband that refused to pay child support. She is a devout Catholic, breast cancer survivor who loves to cook, garden, and lay out in her pool with a wine cooler (yes my mom loves her a wine cooler). She is a hell of a lady that prefers to wear heels and jewelry no matter where she is going. That's my mom and I love her....even though she refused to accept I had straight hair and made me get perms...in the kitchen sink.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Thank you for putting up with me during my teenage years, I was quite a handful.

Thank you for taking me to the New Kids on the Block when you had the flu.

Thank you for showing me how much love can come from a single mom.

Thank you for allowing us to attend private school, dance lessons, play sports, etc. on 1 income.

Thank you for paying for my college education.

Thank you for making the best Halloween costumes.

Thank you for being a shoulder to cry on when I felt the world around me falling down.

Thank you for attending every one of my dance recitals, contests, and pageants.

Thank you for reminding me to not let stupid boys get me down.

Thank you for showing me what a strong woman is.

Thank you for teaching me how to cook.

Thank you for driving to Indianapolis with me to pick out my first apartment and loaning me furniture to fill it with.

Thank you for showing me how one can go through so much and still remain positive.

Thank you for every single thing you have ever done for me and my lil brother.

Thank you for being our mother.

Love you.

valentine's day My Life in Pictures....

Hello all...I am still crazy busy so I thought I would give you a very quick (like a nanosecond) review of the 2 weeks I spent in the Midwest.

ALOT occurred in those 2 weeks, if you follow me on twitter (which you don't have to but if you want to, its totally fine with me...because in all honesty, I'm on twitter way more than the blog...and I tell you way more...probably too much, on my twitter...anyway I digress)

For those of you that don't know, my mother had her reconstructive surgery about 3 weeks ago now. valentine's day This is what Siteman looks like at night... NO ONE ANYWHERE, actually that's what it looked like when we got there at 5:30 in the morning too... Her surgery was 16 hours long. More to come on that...

valentine's day While I was in the STL I got to meet up with this 2 wonderful ladies from Mrs. Everlasting and fellow mil wife, Running in Stilettos. Love them... I felt bad because I was really sick during this time... But we had a great time, and 2 glasses of wine always make me a happy girl...especially when I'm highly medicating... I hope to see them again next time I'm in STL.
While in STL I stayed with my cousin a couple of nights. This is her dog Simon...he hates me. He growled at me the entire time. I attempted to win his affection with food...it kinda worked but not really... The entire time there I sang to him... "My name is Simon...and I like to do drawings..." Bonus points if you know what that is from...he was named after that character...While out grocery shopping with my cousin we stopped off at the petstore since they were having adoptions. I met this lil guy, he was missing a toe on one of his paws. He was the calmest doggie ever. I fell in love with him. I texted the Mr... he said NO WAY... I almost cried when we had to leave...

After almost a week in the hospital, Mama Jetplane was released and we headed home to Southern Illinois where my family resides.

valentine's day I was subjected to taking out my Mom's dog Hank in the rain... he has to wear a raincoat...no worries, he enjoys his raincoat but not the rain.

Since I was around, I got to attend my college roomie's baby shower. It was so great to see her and my other roomie from college. Miss those girls so much.

And attended an Ugly Sweater Party at a friend's house... I was really upset because my sweater was not ugly enough. I didn't know about the party and had to run to the Dollar General for a sweatshirt. But hey I still had a great time...

I became even sadder when my antler broke...

While at home I also got to meet up with 2 other wonderful bloggers... We had a great time together, and figured out that we literally know TONS of the same people...it is such a small world after all. Is that good or bad???

Nina and Mandy are just as sweet as you would except them to be...

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So there is a quick snapshot of the 2 weeks back at home. I promise to give you more info on Mama Jetplane later this week...

I'm off to Pcola tomorrow afternoon for a work trip...sad that Mr. Jetplane can't come with me, everyone else is bringing their spouses, correction bringing their wives..BOO...darn flight school... oh well... At least I'll get to sport my new Tory Burch dress to the holiday party!!

valentine's day Hang in there...

Its been a crazy week...my mother is good, I am still sick.


Sorry for my lack of updates, please don't give up on me....I'm just in a thick drug induced fog and now I'm trying to work from my parents on my lap top and cell phone...this won't be good...plus my "T" key on my laptop doesn't want to work anymore...FML.


Thank you all again for all your love and support...you all are the bestest!! (yes I know that's not a word, but I use it anyway!)

valentine's day Pug Friday - Sick and Tired Edition

Hello ALL... and Happy Pug Friday.

1st off, THANK U all for your love and support this week. You all have been wonderful, I'll post an update soon...hopefully.

But Mama Jetplane is doing well, we had hoped she'd get out today but that's not going to happen. Yesterday was a bad day for her. I'm still sick and on top of it someone developed a migraine last night and may have lost her whole Thanksgiving meal due to an onset of sudden nausea...yes it has been a glorious week.

In honor of this...I bring you this week's pug picture.. enjoy!!

Picture found here...

valentine's day Long Ass Day

I'm currently sitting at Siteman Cancer Center in St. Louis. My mother is having her reconstructive surgery from her double mastectomy. The surgery will last 12 - 14 hours. She will be having her top 2 abdominal muscles removed and those will replace the breast tissue that was removed. All positive thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.

Before we left the hospital this morning, my mom gave me her wedding ring, its currently on my middle finger of my right hand. Its a very weird feeling to be wearing my mom's ring. It strange to look down and see it on my hand.


Oh and to top it all I am sick as a dog. I started getting sick yesterday evening and woke up this morning at 5am and couldn't breathe and could hardly swallow. I've taken some meds and drank 3 cups of hot tea...I'm finally starting to feel alittle better but still look like a hot mess...

But enough about me....

Thank you all for your kind words and prayers for my mother and family.... I deeply appreciate each and everyone of you. The kindness of strangers is amazing... love you all.

valentine's day Did Someone say GIVEAWAY?

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Mama Jetplane visiting this week, I am having a giveaway.

Earlier this month I blogged about the great Breast Cancer Awareness products you can purchase with proceeds going to various programs. I commented on how much I loved a particular scarf, the Warriors In Pink Scarf.

Well I ordered it...correction, I order 1 for me, 1 for my mom, and 1 for you my lovely readers.So the giveaway goes a little like this...

1. You will receive 1 entry for a comment on this blog.

2. You will receive 2 entries for being a follower.

3. You will receive 3 entries for tweeting this giveaway (@mrsjetplane).

4. You will receive 4 entries for blogging about the giveaway.

And just because I love you...you may get a couple of lil extras in additional to the scarf.

Here I am spoting the scarf last weekend out to the movies. It cute, cozy, and the proceeds go to a great cause.

The Giveaway will end a week from TODAY on October 29th! Hurry up...what are you waiting for....

valentine's day Support the Cause...and be CUTE at the same time

I will be completely honest, I go out of my way to purchase items that support charity organizations and specifically breast cancer awareness. I recently purchased tulip bulbs at Walmart ($5/back) due to a portion of the sale going to Breast Cancer Awareness.

But sometimes you want to be able to 'wear' your support and still be cute, right? Well here are a couple of items that I have my eye on.

Top 3 can be found on found here at the Susan G Komen site. The tank is New Balance.

And below is a scarf that I HAVE to have from Warriors in Pink via Ford Motor. I have purchased several items from Warriors in Pink for myself and my mother.

The scarf is $38.00 and can be found here.

The 2009 scarf is woven thread by thread to achieve a richly layered look of custom-dyed yarns that highlight the Warriors in Pink® symbols. Versatile for any season and multicolored to go with many soft colors in your wardrobe. Dry clean only.100% of net proceeds ($30.50 each) goes to Susan G. Komen for the Cure®.

Have you seen any great items... share the wealth...it all goes to a great cause.

valentine's day Today is...

The start of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

As some of you know it has touched my family twice, first my maternal grandmother and last year my mother. Unfornately my grandmother passed away while I was in high school but, I'm happy to say that my mother is now cancer free. She will be having her reconstructive surgery in November.

I hope to share important information about bresat cancer and a little more about our story over the next month.

valentine's day Happy Birthday Mama Jetplane

valentine's day

Today is my mom's 49th birthday! Yes, I have a young mom and a fabulous one at that. She is a wonderful woman that is not only a cancer survivor but a survivor in general.

In 1979 at the ripe ol age of 19 she became pregnant with me. She married my father on NYE in the Catholic Church in 1979. And lil ol me came out in June 1980 followed by my lil brother in May 1984. Unfortunately, my parents marriage was not the happiest and my father wasn't the best father or husband for that matter. They were separated and we moved back to live with my grandparents in Illinois around November 1985. I remember the timeframe only because I started a new kindergarten and there were Thanksgiving decorations up in my classroom.

My mother was 25 years old, married, divorced, with 2 kids, and no job. She's a fighter, a go getter, and the strongest woman I've ever known (besides my grandma).

She fought tooth and nail to work and provide for us as best she could and luckily we had the love and support of my grandparents who allowed us to live in their old house rent free (which was next door to my great-grandparents).

She met my stepfather while I was in 5th grade and married him when I was going into 8th. We moved to his house and his hometown when I started high school, which caused ALOT of drama. But she tried to help me through it as best she could. My grandmother, also had breast cancer, passed away while I was in high school and my mother's world was changed forever. She was only girl and youngest in a family of 4 kids and she was now to be the glue that would hold her family together.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in Sept 2008 but thankfully she is now cancer free. She is preparing for her upcoming reconstructive surgery this fall.

She is the best mother in the whole world and I'm so honored to call her my Mom.

Happy 49th Birthday Mom!

Love you and miss you...

valentine's day Follow Up Post About the Lady Doctor

First and foremost, thank you for the sweet comments about my mama. For those of you that haven't read my blog long, my mom was diagnosed in August/Sept 08, she chose to have a double mastectomy before Thanksgiving. Luckily, the cancer was Stage 1, nothing in any of her lymph nodes they removed. Thank you GOD! She is awaiting her reconstructive surgery which she postponed until after the summer since she'll be laid up for quite some time.

She doesn't have to do any radiation or chemo, we were very lucky.

Breast Cancer runs in my family, my maternal grandmother and my mom both have had it. My mom took the BRACA and tested negative for it. I asked my doctor if I should take it. She said that she didn't think I should because if I tested positive they would want me to immediately have a double mastectomy and hysterectomy and I would have insurance issues for the rest of my life. I could be a carrier and got it from my biological father, and it doesn't mean I will get cancer. Ovarian cancer does not run in my family. Also my grandmother we believe got cancer post-menopausal and my mom pre-menopausal, so even though it runs in my family, it doesn't necessarily mean we pass the gene.

OMG its so confusing and scary to think about....

I started talking to her about my mom and how I don't think I now how to do a proper breast exam. I told her that prior to my mom's surgery she asked if I wanted to feel it. I couldn't really feel anything... CUE THE TEARS... they started flowing and the Dr. didn't really comfort me at all. I even glanced over to the box of tissues in the corner of the room thinking she'd offer one...ummm... no. Instead this cute, middle aged, southern, blond, Dr showed me how to do a proper exam and assured me that its much harder to feel a growth on someone else other than yourself.

I then asked her, "How do you know if you have dense breasts?" She told me that I have smooth breast... yeah go me... she told me most young women won't have dense breasts and that some women's feel like they have popcorn in them.... Huh? Which makes it even harder to feel for growths.

We discussed my fears of breast cancer, worrying about my ability to get pregnant, worrying about getting off the pill and having to live with my ridiculously horrid cramps, and a little bit of everything else.

She told me to start taking folic acid at least 2 months prior to trying to have a baby. She also wanted to me to check with a general practice physician to determine if I need any vaccinations. Has anyone had vaccinations before getting pregnant? I don't think I've received a vaccination since going into college.

So that was my emotional visit to the Dr. I swear whenever I have to talk about my family medical history I cry. Its this uncontrollable thing... the eye doctor, my general physician, and the gyno... yeah I can't control it.

My mom is great... she's cancer free and we're just awaiting her reconstructive surgery. I adore my mama but I have inherited all her issues... migraines, bad eye sight, painful menstrual cramps,and my ugly lil toes. But I love her just the same...

valentine's day Totally lost my sh-t at the Lady Dr. Today...

Yeah you read that right...

Someone bald her eyes out today, sitting in a paper dress, in front of her doctor. Its like I can write about my mom being diagnosed with cancer, but when I verbalize it, OMG I become a mess.

Lady Dr.... not that supportive.

Anyway - more info to follow later. Also I have several questions for the ladies out there?

1. BRACA anyone?
2. Do you take Folic Acid before getting pregnant?
3. Did you get any vaccinations before getting pregnant?

Need to discuss...

valentine's day Happy Mama Day

valentine's day

Good Morning to ALL.... Unfortunately I'm 10 hours away from my lovely mama today but she's in my thoughts. She's the best mom a girl could ask for.

valentine's day Bad Catholic...

Yes, I am going to admit that is what I am. I have every intention of becoming a 'good' Catholic or whatever that means, but I'll be honest, I haven't been 'good' for some time.

I was raised in a fairly strict Catholic home. I attended Catholic School 1-8th, which was one of, if not the best, thing that created my educational foundation. I attended church regularly during the week and on the weekends with my mother or grandmother.

In high school, I wanted to go out on Saturday nights so I went to 1st Mass by myself, in order to appease my mother. I will admit, I did sleep in my car one morning in the church parking lot, instead of going. But that only happened once.

Since my grandmother died, church has always been different. Every single holiday I attend Mass with my family, my mother cries... and I don't be a tear, I mean full on cries. Every holiday - Easter, Christmas, Mother's Day, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday.... every single one. And when I sit in church it reminds me of that, I know that's a horrible excuse for not attending Mass (so no reprimand needed).

The Jetplanes where married in the Catholic Church, the church that I attended as a young girl (prior to moving due to Mama Jetplane getting re-married), the church my mother's entire family went to school at, and the church my grandma attended every Sunday for early mass. I did this more for my mother then for me. Mr. Jetplane is not religious, but has agreed to have our children be raised Catholic (which is rather impressive to me). I wanted to get married at a vineyard, Mama Jetplane wasn't having that at all.

Am I happy that I got married in the church? Yes, I feel my grandmother's presence in that church.

After my mother was diagnosed with cancer in the Fall, she delved back into her religion. While I pray on a regular basis, I still don't attend Mass. I don't have a real excuse other than pure laziness and complacency about my faith. I was angry at God for giving my mom (the most wonderful person in the world) breast cancer and I begged and prayed that he take the cancer away. He listened and heard our prayers, because my mother's cancer was Stage 1 and since she chose a double mastectomy, she has no need for chemo and/or radiation. We were very lucky. My mother knew her risks all along, my grandmother and great-grandmother had breast cancer, she was pro-active and that's what saved her.

But all that being said, you would think that would encourage me to go to Mass again.

So today, on the beginning of Lent, I'm going to start to evaluate my faith and find my way, so to speak. I want to raise my children in a Catholic home, I believe faith is important in a child's upbringing, no matter the religion.

Wow, I got really deep this morning. Excuse my ramblings, its just something that I've been feeling for some time and it all came out this morning in some form or fashion.

valentine's day Fitting it all into one...

I have a lot of lil things say so I'm making them all fit into 1 bloated post.

1. Mama Jetplane visited her doctor on Tuesday and all looks good. They have started the hormone regimen and now are awaiting her bone analysis and her BRAC analysis. She also continues to get injections into her spacers that stretch out the skin for her future reconstructive surgery.

2. Mr. Jetplane is doing well after surgery. He had his follow up visit with his ortho surgeon today and he's looking good. He has ALOT of physical therapy but has already started.

3. I am so excited television is back - GG, Nip Tuck, 90210, One Tree Hill, Grey's... Yeah!

4. My friend J, who is a former college roomie, sorority sis, and bridesmaid is getting induced on Sunday. She has wanted and felt like she would have the baby on 1/11, she might just be right. Can't wait to see her lil girl. Its crazy that my friends are starting to have babies. We are getting old... almost 30 (yikes!)

5. I'm taking inspiration from Preppy Nonsense... I have to stop buying stuff. I've spent alot of money in the past month or so.

6. That being said here's my BCBG dress I just bought during my lunch hour this week. I love the collar. And I also ordered this and it should be on my door step when I get home tonight. Amazon had quite a deal, too bad I already bought the first book, but it saved me a lot of money. I have to read all the books now.

But after this, I'm not buying anything more this month that I don't "need".