The Crews Family: November 2009

So much going on lately. Some I've wanted to share and some I haven't. Seems there is always some good to outweigh the bad and bad to outweigh the good. Balance, I suppose. So here's a bit of what's been up around here:

On October 15th I had surgery to remove a milk duct and surrounding tissue from my right breast. There were mammograms, ultrasounds and a core biopsy before this. According to studies, there was a 12% chance of my having breast cancer due to the condition found on the first mammogram. I didn't want a lot of people knowing I was going through this. I told more friends than anything because they are supportive without freaking out. (thank you) Many of my family members don't even know yet and this is probably where they will learn. I'm sorry if you are offended by this. Just know that I did what I had to do for myself here. The good news is that everything came back completely benign and the condition I have carries no increased risk of breast cancer. Yippeee!!!! All I have now is a big reminder to get regular mammograms, do regular self-exams, a nice big two to three inch scar across my boob and more gray hair. Well more like my gray hair went white and some of the brown went gray. A couple of people have actually asked me if I highlighted my hair because I have a new streak towards the front that almost looks like I put it there on purpose. Nope, ahhhh the wonders of anesthesia and stress. :)

So about two hours after I found out I did not have cancer I learned that a very special woman passed away. Here name is Colvin Carter. She was a high school teacher that was very sweet and comforting to me during my year teaching at Columbia High while Patsy was dyeing of cancer. She will be very missed around this town. There were a few other things that all happened within 48 hours of me getting my good news. The balance, I suppose?

In other news, I'm going back to school. Just got my acceptance letter from the mathematics department at UF for some post bac work. I most likely will not be accepted into the master's program there because I don't have a 4.0 in undergrad math and they are, apparently, extremely competitive like that. I have a few tricks in my pocket though so I'm not counting it out completely. And in totally related news, I interviewed at the community college here in Lake City a month or two ago. I just heard today that I will be teaching Elementary Algebra there in the spring. Which is awesome because I was starting to sweat about paying for my class at UF in the spring. I will be one busy woman come January. I already have my schedule all entered into a spreadsheet with driving time included. Best to be prepared for the craziness. Morning class as teacher at Blake every day. Afternoon class as teacher at Blake on Tuesday and Thursday. Afternoon class as student at UF Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Evening class as teacher at Lake City Community College on Tuesday and Thursday. Boys will be on their own for dinner those nights! Depending on enrollment, there is a possibility of me teaching more than one class at LCCC. And of course, Blake is way out west of town, LCCC is way out east of town and UF is down in Gainesville. The good news is that I'll get to make it through a ton of books on CD. Good thing the library has a large section to borrow from. :) And LCCC just had a name change approved .... it will now be Florida Gateway College and will begin offering four year degrees. They are even starting an engineering program. I'm so happy to get my foot in the door there. I love teaching but middle school students are tough. I love teaching, hate discipline. Shouldn't have too much of a problem with college classes.

Well speaking of school .... I better head that way. Got a math and science class to teach. Lab day!