Four Red "S"s (Or: What NOT to have Printed on your Airline Ticket)

Recently my mother began reading my blog. I know - I've been writing it for almost three years, and she just got on board. I think that says a lot about how blog readership is built. Oh well - I'm glad to have her as a fan. She has been enjoying the blog, and recently told me her favorite post to date has been my husband's crazy story about Tijuana. I chuckled and said, "Yup, that's one of the craziest stories that I know of where I actually knew the person involved." My mom looked me in the eye and commented, "I know another one. Why haven't you written about your trip to Philadelphia?"

Right. That story. I had almost forgot about that story. I suppose if I can share my husband's travel nightmare, I should probably share mine.

The Catacombs of Rome

I am a morbid person, but not in a bad way - at least, I don't think. I am a morbid person in a 'historical fascination' way. I think graveyards are interesting, and went through a phase where I did grave rubbings or photographed really old or unusual headstones. I used to do cemetery tours as part of my museum job when I lived in Lethbridge, Alberta.

I like stories about how famous people died, or learning about the places they were buried at. When I went to Seattle, we had to make a special trip to visit the grave site of Jimi Hendrix, one of my favorite musicians. When I took my Junior High students to Paris, I convinced several of them to accompany me to the Paris catacombs to check out piles of bones.

Celebration Time - Vegas, Baby!

It's time to celebrate! The good news is in - I am cancer-free!

Got the news last week from my doctor - all my December tests came back negative. There's not a cancer cell left in my body (and believe me, they freaked me out when they literally gave me a full-body MRI scan). I am healthy as a horse, and ready to reproduce! Watch out, world, soon there will be a whole troupe of "Wrabbits" ready to explore the world!

Euro Disneyland Paris: A Surprise Trip to France

My parents, who are in their fifties and are just now starting to become world-travelers, recently returned from a trip to Disneyland. They went with my sister, who is 24-years-old, and had a total blast! I was inspired as I flipped through their photo album, viewing pictures of them hugging Eeyore, dancing with Jack Skellington from Nightmare Before Christmas, and jumping the line of 500 small children to get first dibs in a picture with Mickey Mouse. Close to retirement, new to travel, my parents are excellent examples that it is never too late to start crossing items off your bucket lists!

A Dose of Perspective

Some of you may not know that I began writing "Down the Wrabbit Hole" after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer. November 2009 was a bit of a shocking month for me - my husband and I had decided to start a family, and I went into the doctor's office for an annual physical. While checking my lymph nodes, the doctor noted that I had an "abnormally large thyroid".

This abnormality turned out to be three 1.2 - 1.8 c.m. cancerous lumps wrapped around my thyroid.