The Big Squeeze

I am 43 years old, and I have never had a mammogram. My mother had breast cancer 3 years ago. You'd think that I would run right out and have one. But, no. The stories that abound of how awful mammograms are, and how much they hurt, scared me off. Even more so than my mother's diagnosis. Ladies, let me tell you: it wasn't bad. The technician was quick and efficient. I was in and out in 15 minutes. Literally. GET A MAMMOGRAM! Also, a little word of advice from my good friend, Deanna (who is going in for a second mastectomy today--good luck, I'm praying for you): do self exams often!

towels

After the Sunday morning rush of getting ready for early church, I went around and gathered up the wet towels...18!! Why, why, WHY do my girls go through so many towels??!

Have you ever Googled yourself?

Okay, admit it. We've all done it, right? Googled ourselves. Tonight, I started off trying to find my brother-in-laws' travel blog, so I googled him. That led to a google of Steve, which in turn led to a google on yours truly. When I googled Steve, I came across this fun newspaper article. When I google myself, I find that there is a Karen M. out in Las Vegas that apparently has a pretty good thing going on in the Real Estate business. It's a little creepy and weird to see my name out there having a life of it's own different than what I know. I just hope it knows that my life is way better, and I have a cuter hubby. And cuter kids. So there!

that's my mom!

Verlaine C. Van Horn

My mom was born in the 1930's to a german mother (Lutheran) and a sweet, kind-hearted father (Catholic) who adored her. She was the only girl and the youngest of three children. Her parents owned a little grocery store in Bellingham, WA and worked long hours. My mom was quite a bit younger than her two brothers, and they were long gone from home by the time she hit high school. She was a social butterfly who attracted many wonderful friends about her. In fact, to this day these friends keep in close contact with each other. Their high school group got together last year for their 50th high school reunion and many of the surviving class mates made the trip to attend the celebration. My mom was a songleader, on the yearbook staff and rode on the Blossom Time parade float. She was quite the curvaceous blonde bombshell in her day. At one point she she even went to divinity school to become of nun!

She married her high school sweetheart and had several kids in quick succession (she was Catholic, remember), but the "sweetheart" turned out to be an alcoholic bum and she soon found her self to be a divorced mother of three. In the Catholic church, that is just not done. But remember her lovely friends? Well, there was quite a few who watched out for her and she soon found a great job working on the Western Washington college campus where she met some other friends who introduced her to a nice young man named Ted Van Horn. He was two years younger than her, but he took to her (and the bonus package of three children) and never looked back. His parents loved her just as quickly and before she knew it, she had an adoring husband and family.

These same friends soon invited Ted and Verlaine to the Stake Center to hear a young man speak about a mission that he had just completed. When Ted and Verlaine heard the words "Stake" they thought it was "steak" and kept wondering when the meal would be served! But they loved the message of this young returned LDS missionary, and wanted to know more about the church that he represented. Ted was on board %100, but Verlaine took her time studying the doctrine. She met with her priest, who told her she was going to hell because she was divorced. That is what clinched it for her...no God would have wanted her to stay in that marriage to that bum. They were soon baptized and a year later they were sealed in the LDS Salt Lake Temple by (then apostle) Spencer W. Kimball.

Ted and Verlaine soon welcomed a baby boy into their home, followed by another boy, a girl (that would be me!) and three more boys. If you are counting, that's nine kids in all. So much for the little catholic girl who wanted to become a nun!

My mom loves beautiful art work and music, can talk to anyone and become a fast and life long friend with them, and she has a special spot in her heart for the Farmer's Market and all things "granola." She loves pottery and hand made beaded jewelry. And Chocolate. She can not tolerate morphine and she hates to be put under. She is a breast cancer survivor. She has been know to "dumpster dive" for treasures. She is really good at writing and sending love notes. She is a flawless proof-reader. Life has thrown her a lot of "doozies" but it has not beat her down. She remains one of the most positive and happy people I know. She is not afraid to be herself.

And obviously, from the picture above, she really doesn't care what people think. It was raining hard, she didn't want to get wet, so she was inventive with a Bounty bag. Waalaa! (oh, and her left over lunch is in a t.p. bag)