I am excited and anxious for 2018.

I already have two fun trips booked, and a second cruise in the beginning stages of planning, a couple of house projects we plan to finish and my newfound love of riding the SunRail to and from work.

My mom is also meeting with a team of oncologists this week to schedule surgery to have a tumor the size of 1.5 cantaloupes removed from one of her ovaries. They think it is most likely benign but one of can cancer markers was slightly elevated on a test. The marker could have been elevated for reasons other than cancer, but there is still a chance that my mom and our family will have more than a mass removal surgery to work through in the coming weeks and months. Obviously we are hopeful that her surgery will go as planned, and when they test the tumor it will be benign, and her recovery goes smoothly. It's a hard waiting game we're playing right now.

For now, I am planning to take things one day at a time, simplify when I can, spend time with my family, squeeze my dog, and pray for the best.

I hope 2018 ends up being just as good as 2017, full of fun new memories and adventures.

Happy New Year!