Good news: I don't have cancer!

So, around the time Brittney and I took engagement photos, this weird lump surfaced on the side of my neck.  You may have seen it.  Most people didn't say anything when they saw it -- out of some sort of courtesy, I suppose -- but those closest to me never hesitated to voice their distress.  I remember Matt saw it during a trip to Idaho and immediately said, "What the heck is that thing on your neck??!" followed by a series of pokes and prods.

My mom and Brittney tied for the most vocal.  My dear mother told me religiously to "get that dang thing looked at" while Brittney subtly hinted at my early death and her apprehension at raising Calvin after my premature departure.

If you haven't seen it, check it out:

Notice the artful diagramming.

I had plenty of reasons not to go get it looked at but, when the stars aligned and I ran out of excuses, I decided to see a doctor.  The first doctor sent me to a dermatologist who poked and prodded ("Four years??  You've had this for four years??  Why didn't you come earlier!??") and decided it was totally harmless and "purely cosmetic."  He told me I could leave it alone or get it cut out.  I flirted with the idea of leaving it but I knew the grief I'd get from my mom and my wife, so I scheduled a surgery.

Fun fact: novocaine injections actually sting a little and I counted twelve novocaine injections into my neck to remove this sucker.  They made a small incision, pushed the thing out and stitched it up.  Simple.  They asked if I wanted to see it and, as they were handing the vial to me, started joking and laughing between each other about the last lady who wanted to take a picture of it to "put it on the internet somewhere."

So, sorry I didn't take a picture.

Stitches:

Looking again, those sutures are pretty awful.

And semi-healed up:

It is really bright out this morning.

So, basically, I traded one lump for another lump.  The last lump was smooth but big, and this one is gnarly and small.  Two days later, I got a call from the pathology lab telling me it was cancer-free, which finally gave the supporting women in my life the relief they needed.  I still wish I had a picture.

In other news, we finally landed just the right job, which was cool.  More on that later.

Trick-or-Treating with Calvin

This year was the FIRST TIME Calvin went trick-or-treating!!! Last year, he was going to go with us dressed up as a tiger...but then he got Hand Foot and Mouth Disease and he was prohibited from interacting with others for at least 10 days. We were so bummed for him...but we certainly made up for it this year! 

We dressed up as The Batman Family! Calvin wore Jake's original batman costume that Lisa made for him when he was 2. How cool is that?! The only thing that didn't survive over the years was Jake's cape. Apparently he wore that cape ALL THE TIME and it was ripped to shreds. So, it was up to me to make a cape for Calvin. Feeling a little inadequate for the job, I did the best I could! I think it turned out just fine. Once Jake heard I was making Calvin's cape, he REALLY wanted a cape made for him, too. But not just any old cape...A HUGE, LIFE-SIZE replica of Batman's actual cape. Yikes! Talk about feeling inadequate. But I did the best I could! So, since Jake and Calvin had capes, I had to make one for myself, too! Those will be fun to have for years to come. 

We tried to explain to Calvin how Halloween and trick-or-treating works: everyone dresses up in costumes, knock on doors, says "trick-or-treat," the person who answers the door gives you candy in your bag, and then you say, "Thank you!" Calvin didn't quite get it, but he caught on quickly!

There he goes! Jake's trying to push him along. Calvin was pretty hesitant at first.

But after he trick-or-treated at the first house...

...He was excited for more!

The Justesen kids helped show Calvin what to do.

Uncle Chris and his girlfriend Brittany joined us for the fun.

Calvin was having SO MUCH FUN going from house to house collecting candy.

...Until Jake and Uncle Chris introduced Calvin to the SCARY side of Halloween. Calvin didn't like the scary looking costumes at all.

From then on, Calvin only wanted to be near his Mom and Dad.

After all that trick-or-treating, we thought Calvin would want to eat his candy...NOPE! He just wanted to play with Drayten's toy cars. We weren't surprised.

Calvin had A BLAST trick-or-treating for the first time. He'll definitely remember how it goes next year.