Well, this is going to be a bit rambly.

You’ve been warned.

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Last week I was silent. I spent about 90% of my week in the hospital getting a whole bucketload of tests done. I was sicker than words can possibly describe, and just barely hanging on. It was horrible. However, Friday I had my scan (which I was mentally and emotionally ramping up for all week). My doctor showed up so I wouldn’t have to wait for the results. I had an ultrasound of the cancerous area done before the scan, and then the scan. I waited about five minutes (the longest five minutes of my life) before my doctor was ready to talk to me. He summed up the whole scan with, “Well, Sarah, after five years you’ve finally made it to the other side.”

It’s surreal. After five years of this stuff hanging over my head, I’m finally in remission. My kids now have a mom who had cancer instead of has it. I still kind of feel like I’m dreaming the whole thing, but this huge wave of relief is almost overpowering me, and I feel like I’ve lost about 900 pounds in the past few days. I’m also exhausted. Not the go-to-sleep kind of exhausted, but the kind of exhausted someone feels after they’ve fought a battle and won it.

Whew.

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I’m spending this week catching up, and Christmas is happening, so there won’t be much happening here until after the holidays. I thought I’d post this update, and either later today or tomorrow, I’ll post my most anticipated books list. Then I’ll probably go quiet so I can enjoy my first cancer-free round of holidays in five long, long years.

In other news, I’m interested in who is watching The Expanse on Syfy. Any thoughts? Have you also read the books? I’m enjoying it quite a bit, but I’ve also read Leviathan Wakes three times. My husband, who hasn’t read the books and knows nothing about them, is enjoying the show, but he finds it pretty confusing and occasionally hard to follow so I have to explain things a lot.

Today we went to see The Force Awakens. For a little history, I literally have never seen anything Star Wars in my life. Everything I know about Star Wars can be summed up with these three facts:

1. Darth Vader is a bad guy. He wears black and breathes heavy.
2. The force is mad mind juju.
3. Light sabers are things.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I actually ended up LOVING the part I saw (more on that later). I’m pretty excited to read/watch more Star Wars and learn more about the universe. I thought the movie was pretty easy to follow and pick up on, even knowing absolutely nothing about any of it. It’s obvious that knowing some of the previous details would fill in some gaps and complete understanding, and I’m sure the nostalgia factor makes it even more enjoyable, but from my newbie perspective, the movie was fantastic (the part I saw of it, anyway). I want more. (And I never thought I’d ever say that about Star Wars).

Why I said that I love what I saw is because of an incident in the theater where our safety was threatened and we ended up leaving early, at about the halfway point. The movie theater comped us a bunch of stuff, so we are going to see it again tomorrow – today, by the time you read this (and hopefully finish it this time). The moral is, guys, please don’t be assholes. The movie theaters are crowded, and everyone is excited and happy. This was the first time I’ve ever left a situation because my safety felt threatened and I thought physically bad things could very easily happen because a stranger completely lost control of himself. I appreciate the movie theater for taking care of us, and I appreciate the cop who was there and made sure we stayed safe. So this is a gentle reminder, folks, please keep yourself under control during this season. And stay safe. People are crazy, and you never know who has a hair-trigger temper.

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To sum it up:

Last week I was quiet, and this week I get to say, “Yay remission!!!” Also, don’t be dicks in movie theaters.

Stay safe, and have a happy (insert holiday/event you may or may not celebrate here).