It's Party Time and an Update!!

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It's time to Dare to Share! 

I'm sorry I missed the party last week.  Since my surgery was changed from Thursday to Monday, at the last minute we decided to go visit my kids and friends in Michigan. With everything going on with my visit and my Monday surgery, I did not post the party.  I took this picture of me earlier in March. I like this picture but you can actually see the nodule in the picture.  Eek!  Thankfully it is no longer there, and I got the news today that the final check was all clear.  Whew! There were not spots of concern.   My surgery on Monday went pretty well with just a few minor complications in recovery. (my BP and oxygen levels were too low)  Once I was back to good levels, I was released to go home.  I have been feeling pretty good considering, and have had minimal pain because my neck still has some numbness.  The hardest part of the recovery is having a drain line in my neck. I have almost accidently pulled it out a couple of times. Ouch! The good news is that the fluids levels have gone significantly, and it will be coming out in just a few days. I am looking forward to  getting back to my regular schedule again.  

One thing I have missed this week is going to the Dollar Tree to post about new finds and hauls.  If you are on social media and would like to follow along you can find me on Instagram at mydollartreelife. (If you used to follow me before on my old account, unfortunately I had to start a new account not that long ago.)   I am also on TikTok at Pamspartyplanning.

I have been working online a bit this week, since I am off work from the daycare/preschool for a week and a half.  I have been working on some new treasure hunts for my Etsy Shop. While recovery time has not be that fun, I do like that I have forced down time to do things that I don't usually have a lot of time to work on. My busy self is not used to sitting still this long. :) 

Now that you know what I have been up to, I would love to hear that you have been to.  Link up and HAVE FUN!  

 

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Let's Dare to Share!

 It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It's time to Dare to Share! 

 Happy Friday!  

I hope you had a good week. It was Spring Break for me at the the daycare.  We did not go on vacation, but we did take a day trip to Indiana to turn in paperwork from when we hit that pothole a few months ago. (You can read more about it here.)

We saw some fun sights along the way like the Eureka Fudge Factory in Richmond, Indiana. If you have ever seen the original Fudge Factory in Eureka Missouri, the factory in Indiana is a new smaller location.  They are in the process of some adding some outside attractions, but you can still find a lot of great goodies inside. 

During the party last week, I asked if you were able to see the planets align.  While I was not able to on Friday night, we did see them on Saturday night.  It was definitely cool to see especially with the app that shows you where all the planets are. 

My thyroid surgery is coming up next week.  I am so ready to have this nodule removed.  It is definitely pushing on my vocal cords now, and my voice is very raspy.  While I am not thrilled to have surgery,  I know I will feel so much better afterwards. I will be nice to have my energy back.

   

Are you doing anything for St. Patrick's Day?  I would be celebrating with our friends in Michigan, if it was not right after my surgery.   If you are looking for something to do with your kids, I have a fun St. Patrick's Day Treasure Hunt in my Etsy shop. 

Well now that you know what I have been up to, I would love to see what you have been doing so let's get this party started!  Link up and HAVE FUN!

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It's TIme to Dare to Share!

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share! 

Life has been back to normal for me this week.  I worked a full week at the daycare. I have been feeling pretty good, and my thyroid has been acting normally. (maybe my nodule knows it's not going to be there much longer! LOL)  This upcoming week the daycare will be closed for Spring Break, since we follow the local school schedule.  D and I  hope to maybe go somewhere for a few days, but we do not know where yet. 

Were you able to see the planets in a line tonight?  I wish we were able to.  It is completely clouded over where we live, so we are not able see any of it. 

We still have a few weeks until St. Patrick's Day, but with March beginning this weekend, Spring is also right around the corner.  Several years back I made this easy bunny cake. It was not that hard to make, and would be cute to serve for a variety of occasions. You can see how to make it here on my post, How to Make a Bunny Cake.  I have not yet made any Easter crafts or treats for this year, but hope too while off work in the next few weeks.  

Now that you know what I have been up to, I would like to see what things you have been up to as well, so let's get this party started. Link up and HAVE FUN! 

 

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It's Party Time! Let's Dare to Share!

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It's time to Dare to Share! 

Happy Friday!  I hope your week went well.  I have been back at work this entire week, and feeling pretty good. I'm not sure if there is something to it, but ever since I had my biopsy a couple of weeks ago, my thyroid symptoms have been better. I hope that continues for a few more weeks because I now have the date scheduled to remove the nodule. My surgery will be in mid March.  I was told it will be outpatient unless there are some complications, and that I should be able to go back to work about a week after the surgery. I'm not feeling nervous yet, but that could possibly change as the time gets closer.  

If you are a long time follower, you may remember Kyle.  Back when he was a teenager he created recipes for a series on the blog called Cooking with Kyle.  He will be graduating from college with his second degree this Spring. We are very proud of him.  These days he does not do too much cooking for himself, but he does enjoy going out to eat when I visit.  

Are you starting to think about St. Patrick's Day?  Can you believe it is only about three weeks away? If you are looking for some ideas on what to do, a few years back I made these cute Leprechaun treat boxes and shared some games in my post Leprechaun Treat Boxes and Games.

Do you have any fun plans this weekend? I will be attending the 1st birthday party of one of my students. 💗 I met her when she was only 2 months old. I have loved watching her grow and change over these past several months.  

Now that you know what I have been up to, I would love to see what you have been up to.  Link up and HAVE FUN! 

 

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Let's Dare to Share!

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share! 

 I remembered it was Friday night this time! I have some updates from my last post.  In my post on Monday, I shared I had a thyroid biopsy last week, and I was waiting for the results.  Since I was out of my routine for several days, I totally forgot last week's party.  This week I am beginning to get back to normal.  I am back at work, and I am also visiting my family and friends in Michigan this weekend.   On Tuesday I found out my biopsy is benign.  Then on Wednesday, I saw the ENT oncologist.  As I predicted in my last post, they are going to remove the part of my thyroid with the nodule, due to it's large size.  If we don't remove it, it will continue to grow. It is already beginning to push on my vocal chords.  Another issue is that even though it is benign now, there is a higher chance it could turn cancerous at a later time. My surgery will be sometime in March, the date to be determined soon. I have been feeling pretty good now that I know what my next steps will be.  

I feel like I dropped the ball on Valentine's Day, but now it's onto St. Patrick's Day.  Even though the year seems like it is already flying by, I am ready for winter to be over. 

Well it is getting late, so let's get this party started. Link up and HAVE FUN!! 

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Out of My Routine

 

    As you may have noticed I missed posting the Dare to Share Party this week. It was not intentional, but because of my biopsy this week, I was out of my usual routine.  When I am out of my routine, it is easier for me to things like when it is Friday night. 😲  I had my biopsy early Thursday morning. It seemed to go well, and they got six good samples. I had a great team doing the biopsy, which made the experience easier.  I was extremely tired afterwards from not sleeping much the night before, and my neck was a bit sore.  I ended up sleeping most of the day on Thursday.   On Friday I scheduled to work. I was feeling pretty good, so I got ready for work.  When I got there, I found out my boss took me off the schedule, so I could have another day of rest.  While not working Thursday or Friday was good for resting, it was not good for my normal routine and muscle memory. D and I went to dinner Friday night, watched some TV, and then went to sleep.  On Saturday, I had plans with a good friend of mine to visit a Galentine's Day market, and get some dinner. (you can see what I ate in the photo above, it was really good!)  It was not until the middle of the night last night that I realized I totally forgot to do the Dare to Share Party post on Friday.   In this case, I am going to blame my thyroid brain.  It really does exist. I did not have the results of my biopsy yet.  I will find out Monday or Tuesday. I am a little nervous, but overall calm about what the results will be.  The Dr who did the biopsy did say most nodules are benign, so the odds are in my favor.  On Wednesday, I  have an appointment to see the oncologist ENT.  Even if we get a good report about the biopsy, there is a very high chance we are removing the nodule due to its extremely large size.  I will keep you posted. 

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It's Time to Dare to Share!

It's Friday, night and you know what that means.. 

It's time to Dare to Share! 

As you can see I was quiet on the blog this week.  I had my ultrasound early Monday morning, and did not get great news.  They found two nodules on my left lobe. I had only one on that lobe several years ago. It is still there, and looks like it did not change too much in size, but there is also now a much larger nodule to be concerned about. That second nodule is almost the same size as the lobe itself.  The rest of my thyroid looks okay, but it is recommended I get a needle biopsy on the large nodule very soon. After my results, I was called on Wednesday by a head and neck oncology Dr to come in the office to determine next steps. Having a nodule as large of mine is at higher risk for cancer. It also grew pretty quickly, and is starting to push on my vocal chords.   While there is a chance it is not cancerous, there is an extremely high chance they will take out that nodule due to it's large size.  My appointment is next Wednesday, so I will know more then. 

I wrote a post about this when I was first diagnosed with my thyroid issues years ago. I am going to reshare that post here.

Thyroid issues and autoimmune diseases are becoming more common especially in women.  While my thyroid stabilized for quite awhile, changes in my hormones, age and a change of meds could have contributed to the growth of the nodules.  I have a list of facts about thyroid cancer on my linked post that I had forgotten I posted until now. If you have any questions about your own thyroid health, be sure to ask/see your Dr.  While the thyroid is not that large, it has a very big affect to your body. 

Now that I bummed everybody out, let's turn the mood around and start the Dare to Share party. Link up and HAVE FUN! I tell you to have fun at every party, so why stop doing it now. :) 

  

 

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It's Party Time! Let's Dare to Share!

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share! 

Well as you know, Monday was the National Championship game, and it went my team's way. Yea!  It was quite an interesting night. We had to go out to watch the game since we do not have ESPN, but it was extremely cold that night. (-10)   We started at one restaurant where we had dinner.  We found out while we were eating that it was going to close at 9 pm. They turned out to be okay, because we were able to stay until halftime. We ended up at a 2nd restaurant to watch the 2nd half, but we were still full from the first restaurant.  We did end up getting two appetizers and waters. (I had three glasses of pop at the first one!) The second half of the game was fun to watch, and worth eating way too much food that night.  

Wednesday was so cold where I live that all the schools in the area closed, because morning temps were in the dangerous range. I wish I could say I used my day off to create fun projects, but instead I was doing online training most of the day.  When you are in education you have to do a certain number of training hours every year or so.  I have procrastinated on completing my hours, so now I need to get all my training done this next week.   I am also going through some health tests this week.  I have had thyroid problems for years, and lately my thyroid has become swollen.  I can tell by how I feel that it something is not right.  I am tired a lot of the time.  I had my blood levels checked today, and will have an ultrasound early Monday morning. Hopefully I will know what is going on quickly.

Can you believe Valentine's Day will be in just a few weeks?!  I have quite a few classroom valentines and other Valentine printables in my Etsy shop. Soon I complete my training I will be adding a few more listings. 

Once you have your class Valentines ready, you will need a Valentine box to put them in. A few years back and I shared how to make an Unicorn Valentine Box using Dollar Tree items. I still have that box somewhere around here. :) 

Speaking of Dollar Tree, I have been posting my Dollar Tree finds, hauls and DIYs on my Instagram (Mydollartreelife)  and Tik Tok (Pamspartyplanning). I would love to see you over there! 

Now that you know what I have been up to, I would love to see what you have been up to.   Link up and HAVE FUN!!  

 

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Let's Dare to Share!!

       

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share! 

Happy Friday!   This week was the first week that we started to have a regular routine. Last week we had a few snow days and then more snow over the weekend.  That snow is finally starting to melt only to have the the blast of arctic temps starting later this weekend.. Brrr! I will be off of work on Monday for MLK day but we may be off on Tuesday depending on how cold it gets.  I posted a picture of my dogs because it is very rare to sit together like this for a picture.

With all the snow we had last week, I shared my Snow Day party with fun activities to do and snacks to make with your kids when you are stuck inside.  

Do you plan on watching the National Championship game on Monday?  I am! If you have followed me for awhile you know I am a huge Buckeye fan.  I set us this this football table while ago.  I am thinking about setting another one up this year for the game but since we do not have ESPN we might have to go out to watch it.  GO BUCKS! 

I have a few new things I am working on that I hope to post soon.  With Valentine's Day coming up and our annual work Candyland party, I have some new candy themed projects to watch for.  

Now that you know what I have been up to, I would love to see what you have been up to.  Link up and HAVE FUN!! 

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It's a Snow Day!

Are you in the part of the country that is affected by the large storm crossing the US today?  I am.  It started yesterday, and it has been snowing for the last 24 for hours. I am not sure of the total accumulation where I live, but I think it's around 10 inches or so.  We were lucky enough that the ice/freezing rain portion of the storm went to the south of where we live.  Almost all of the schools and daycares, and many businesses are closed today. It's possible that we will have another day off tomorrow as many of the roads are still covered with snow. The plows have come through, but the continued snowfall and blowing snow have covered them back up. 

Some of you may have noticed that there was no Dare to Share party this past Friday.  That was not intentional.  Have you heard of the saying that the week between Christmas and New Years Day you lose track of time, and eat a lot of cheese.  Well that kind of happened to me just in the few days after New Years.  I spent New Year's Eve with my friends at the dance in Michigan. On New Year's Day we visited some family and friends, and then headed back to Ohio to watch the Rose Bowl. (Go Bucks!) In the days after New Years Day, we rested, babysat our grandbaby and lost track of time. It was easy to do since we were both off of work, and not in our usual routine.  Early Sunday morning, D asked me if I had done my Friday night blog post.  It was then that I realized that I TOTALLY FORGOT to post the party. Oops! The party will be back this upcoming Friday, as I will be spending this week getting back into my routine, and going back to work.  

Now that you know where I have been lately, I thought I would share some of my favorite snow day activities in case you are  having the same weather I am. 

How to celebrate a snow day

 

Build an indoor snowman

Make snowman pretzel treats

Make sweet snowflakes

Build a marshmallow snowman

Enjoy your snow day! 

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Let's Dare to Share!

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It's time to Dare to Share!

I hope everyone is having a great holiday week.  We have had a good week with a few not so good things mixed in.  We have not celebrated with our grand baby and her parents yet, because the three of them have been sick this week. While she is too young to realize what Christmas is yet, it is kind of disappointing she is sick for her first Christmas.   The other not so great thing happened early yesterday (Dec 26th)  on the way to visit my family for a Christmas visit.  About 40 miles from home at 8 in the morning, we hit a very large pot hole on the interstate.  It was not visible so we had no idea it was there until we hit it hard.  On the side of the road we saw a white car  already on the side of the road, and wondered it they had hit it too.  We drove about a half a mile farther when our car started acting really weird, and we heard that dreaded thump, thump, thump sound  Then low tire pressure and other warning lights came on. Luckily there was an exit very close by, and we were able to get off the highway to a safe parking lot nearby.  While we were trying to figure out what to do, we saw a tow truck towing the other car we saw on the highway.  It turns out she had hit the pot hole too, and told us to call the sheriff to make a report.  We were told we were the 7th car to hit that same pot hole in 24 hours!  We also found out from the sheriff that because of the severity of the pot hole and the amount of damage it was causing, we could possibly be reimbursed for any damage caused. We called the transportation department who emailed us forms and told us there was a crew on it's way to fix the hole.  In another stroke of luck, a dealership of our brand car was less than a mile away.  We had our car towed to their location.  We found out they had to order a new tired and rim for out type of car, and check to see if there was more damage done to the car.  Since we were not able to get our car fixed while we were there, we rented a car and continued on to my mom's house. Hopefully we will be able to have everything resolved, and can pick up the car on the way home in a few days.

My dog turned five  on Christmas, and I decided to try the viral social media photo shoot with her.  We were pretty successful, though she did rip the paper toward the end of the photos.  She loved getting all the extra treats, and being told she was a good girl.  

The day before Christmas Eve we went back to Winterfest at Kings Island again.  There are over 7 million lights, and it really feels magical this time of year.  If you are ever in the Cincinnati area, I recommend you check it out.  

 Well it is getting late, so I should probably get this party started.  Now that you know what I have been up to this week, I would love to see what you have been up to.  Link up and HAVE FUN! 

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It's Time to Dare to Share!

 It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share! 

Happy almost Christmas! I am so not ready, and have no idea where December went. Today was my last day at work until the new year, so hopefully we will get everything we need to get down before the big day.  I took the picture of my dog this week. She makes the goofiest faces that always make me laugh.  

I finally got almost all of my Dollar Tree candy diys done. I have just a couple more to finish this weekend.  I put everything outside only to have it rain most of the week.   Oh well, the candy makes me happy every time I go outside. 

I am finishing my gingerbread room this weekend. These cute little gingerbread are going to be part of the decor.  :) 

Well it is getting late, and we have a big day tomorrow so I better get the party started. Link up and HAVE FUN!! 

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It's Party Time! Let's Dare to Share!

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share! 

The party is starting just a little bit late today.  It's a Michigan weekend, and we just settled in after celebrating one of my best friend's birthday,   It has been a busy week.  I was working hard on my gingerbread sugar cookies for a Christmas event.  

  

Earlier this week, I finished my candy for my Gingerbread/Candy theme for outside our house. I did some outside decorating early the week.  We also celebrated my step son's birthday this week.  We spent an evening at King's Island's Winterfest and had so much fun.  I highly recommend it if you are in the Cincinnati area. 

Since it is getting late, let's get this party started!  Link up and HAVE FUN! 

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It's Time to Dare to Share!

It's Friday night, and you know what that means.. 

It is time to Dare to Share! 

I hope you had a very Happy Thanksgiving!  Yesterday we had our first of two with just the kids and our grandbaby. It was nice and relaxing, and we got a lot of baby time.  Tomorrow the meal will be a bigger family outing with lots of people and kids.  It should be a lot of fun as well.  

Today I went to go see the movie Wicked with a good friend of mine.  I recently bought a Wicked themed bead kit from the Target Dollar Spot, and made myself some bracelets.  They had three different kits. I bought the Glinda version, now I wish I bought all three. This would be a great stocking stuffer if there are any left.  

If you saw my post spooky skeleton hands at Halloween, I decided to turn them into Grinch hands for Christmas. You can see that post here.

I have been busy working on lots of crafts for my gingerbread/candyland Christmas trees. Here is a quick sneak peek. They will be posted very soon! 

Well it is getting late. We have a big day tomorrow with the Ohio State - Michigan game and our second Thanksgiving, so let's get this party started.   Link up and HAVE FUN! 

 

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Christmas Grinch Hands

 This past Halloween I shared a craft called spooky skeleton hands.  Instead of taking them down, I had an idea that would allow me to keep them through the Christmas season as well.  

**This post contains affiliate links 

I really like the Grinch and Grinch decor, and they hands kind of reminded me of Grinch hands.   I found all of the supplies I needed at that Dollar Tree except for green gloves.  Walmart had some, but when I started looking for them they were already sold out in my area and online.  I ordered a pair of adult Grinch gloves from Amazon.

I placed the gloves on the skeleton hands. I used my glue gun and glue the white fabric to the read fabric to look like Santa suit sleeves.  I then wrapped the fabric around the base attached to the wall.  Since my skeleton hands were palm up, it did not look right to have the hands holding a hanging ornament.  Instead I placed a red Dollar Tree ornament in the palm of his hands. I loved how this turned out and it was very easy to put together.  

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