by Alison

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Wear the sun screen folks!

Along with a wide brimmed hat

and Oil of Olay.

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Check out Audrey Hepburn and Kate Moss rocking the wide brimmed hats! Wearing a wide brimmed hat does not need to make one look like they just popped out of an Army Navy shop. Wide brimmed hats can be very chic. And you can bet that this is going to be my new obsession. I want the most fabulous, awe inspiring (as well as a few sporty and practical) wide brimmed hats that are out there. And yes, along with sunscreen and Oil of Olay… they offer sun protection!

So I just had my surgery yesterday and I want to tell you that although it was not a huge deal, it was not a small deal either. After the surgery I was given a mirror to look at the wound on my forehead and It looked like I was shot in the head. Thankfully, they stitched it up and covered it with a bandage and I don’t have to look at it for two days, when I have to remove the bandage and clean the stitching. My forehead is now swollen and it looks like there is a goose egg sitting underneath the bandage. It may take up to three weeks for the swelling to go down. My left eyebrow is raised due to the pulling of the stitching and it may take up to 6 months for my eyebrow to relax into it’s normal position. The scar will heal into it’s permanent state in 1 - 2 years. As far as activity is concerned, I am supposed to do close to nothing for the next week, a little more than nothing for the second week and I’m not to exercise for the next month. Whoa!!! It will be interesting to see how 4 year old Penny handles a more sedentary mom and I’m also curious as to see what my house will turn into.

So all of this is certainly endurable but it still sucks. So ladies and gentlemen and the kiddos especially, wear your sunscreen and not just at the beach! Because it’s good for you and your skin will thank you.

by Alison

my rosy fair skin

susceptible to the sun -

Basal Cell Cancer

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It’s been a tough week. Basal Cell Carcinoma is a very treatable form of Cancer. I know this. It’s not the same as Melanoma. Still, when the doctor called to say “Cancer” today I found myself a little shaken up. I could kick myself for spending the past 8 months trying out “herbal remedies” on what I thought was a persistant little rash. I could kick myself for always saying “I don’t have time” to see a doctor. I’m guessing there will be a scar of some sort and a subsequent change of hairstyle. Not bad, all things considered. But this echoes the theme of my last haiku. My mantra for the next year will be “Alison, take care of yourself.” It seems it is true. It is impossible to take care of others if you don’t take care of yourself.

by Kelly

the skin over my

knuckles is the first to feel

the burn of zero

by Alison

the creases between

my eyes have been made with love -

how much I have learned

by Kelly

it’s in the way

the air feels on my skin —

fall came overnight

by Kelly

humid like Bangkok —

my arm hairs prickle, stand up  

straws to the moisture

by Kelly

Easter comes and goes

and my spring break skin still peels —

I too am reborn

by Kelly

the sharp air of March

snaps our exposed sunburned skin

announcing we’re home