Wake me up when Pinktober ends: Part II

So here's a little hodgepodge of things I thought I'd share with you, my dear readers, while I procrastinate the other writing I should be doing right now. 

1. Since Tuesday's celebratory post, I've received some much better suggestions on how to identify the fairly major milestone that is an awesomely cancer-free year. 'Cause Cancer Birthday just doesn't sound quite right. So instead...

Happy 1st Suvivor-versary Day!

or

Happy 1st Survivor Birthday!

But, hey, it's my first time around at this so what the heck do I know? Wait 'til this time next year. I'll have this thing down solid. And speaking of having it down solid...major, major, major high-fives to an awesome young lady we know who has done just that! Congrats on 21 years free of childhood leukemia!

2. Remember that article I shared with you a couple weeks ago? It's been picked up by the Baltimore Sun and shared by the fine folks at Stupid Cancer.

3. And finally, how do you know when it's entirely time for Pinktober to be over with for another year? When you're driving to work and see this license plate.

And your first thought is... BRCA positive??? Why on earth would you announce to everyone on the highway via your license plate that you're positive for the BRCA gene mutation and are predisposed to breast cancer???

Happy...ummm...birthday?

I have officially been cancer-free for 365 days!!! And while out celebrating tonight with the fam, our waiter - Phil - asked if there was a special occasion  for our get-together tonight like a birthday. Well... yeah, I guess it kinda was like a birthday. There was family and cake and candles and gifts. Sounds like a birthday to me. 

Family? Check!

Cake? Check!

So I got to wondering how other people have celebrated an entire year of being foot-loose and cancer-free. In case you're curious, too, here are a few results you get when Googling "how to celebrate 1 year cancer-free". 

• You get oddly specific greeting cards commemorating the occasion.

• You get a list of 20 Ways to Celebrate Cancer Survivorship. With suggestions like:

1. Get a tattoo
2. Plant a tree
3. Organize a blood drive 

•  Then you come across some really well written blogs like this one. And this one, that also includes this comic.

"A Year in the Life of Cancer"

So none of that does much to help answer Phil the Waiters question. But, a birthday? Sure! Why the heck not? Happy 1st Cancer-Birthday to me!

Pink Ribbons and Pink Slips: Day 13

Lucky number 13. What's so lucky about it? you ask. What's lucky is my forlough only lasted 4 days and I've been back at work for a week. Allow me to recap...

Last Saturday, we were partying the night away, celebrating the wedding of these two fine folks.  When, low and behold, our SECDEF had had about enough Congressional foolishness with this shutdown. Shortly thereafter, they passed the Pay Our Military Act, which called my butt back into work bright and early Monday morning. If only ol' Chuck could do something about the rest of the Congressional foolishness. 

Awesome wedding, y'all. You should totally get married more often.

And now I've got to do a little bragging about the good kind of pink ribbons. Today my oldest brother, niece, and her beau participated in the ACS's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer. If there's one cancer organization you support this year, let it be the American Cancer Society. They don't play favorites when it comes to cancers ('cause there are no "good" cancers, they all suck!) and I've had the benefit of their programs and services first hand.

How awesome are they?!?

Really hoping that is far less permanent and painful that it looks.

Aaaaaannnnnddddd...remember that Chicago Tribune article I mentioned a couple weeks back? <drum roll please> It's been published!

Click HERE for the full article.

Pink Ribbons and Pink Slips: Day 2

In the true nature of The Big "C" Can Suck It!, I feel a certain obligation to point out the ridiculousness and hilarity of this overlapping Pinktober and Government Shutdown. Of course, my inner social worker won't let me not pass on some good resources as I come across them. Starting with this handy dandy fact sheet on how and when to file for unemployment insurance benefits for my fellow Virginia furlough-ees. So this new mini-series I've titled "Pink Ribbons and Pink Slips" will (hopefully) be helpful, definitely be irreverent, and maybe even a little entertaining. Starting with this...

Is that a young, adorably disheveled Chris O'Dowd? Aka my other pretend boyfriend?

So what have I been doing with myself as I officially approach hour 24 of furlough (our offices were shutdown at noon yesterday)? If you've followed this blog for any amount of time, you already know the answer to that question...

Sick of this meme yet? Yea, me neither.

Wake me up when Pinktober ends.

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Wait...the federal government is shutting down today AND it's the start of Pinktober? Talk about the double-whammy of suck! In lieu of the ever-present pink ribbon, this year for Breast Cancer Awareness Month I've decided to adopt a logo that I think better represents the suck-fest that is cancer. I think this is a better fit...



Yup, kicked its ass.

Don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't appreciate the pink ribbon sentiment. It's just a little inaccurate. For all of it's fundraising and awareness-raising, the ACA still predicts over 232K new cases of breast cancer in 2013 and almost 40K breast cancer deaths. So, instead of the pink ribbon and, well, pink everything else in the Northern hemisphere, try this on for size this month.