MOHS
I made it through MOHS surgery yesterday! They had warned me the procedure could take up to 6 hours, but I was out of there in 3.5 after 2 rounds of cutting, which was much better.
(I suspect they treat it like a Disney World line – underpromise and overdeliver!)
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Later on I was less cheery as things started to ache but the good news is that there was minimal hair shaving (I think they had to cut off some tiny baby hairs in the very front but that’s it).
I finished this book while there and it was SO GOOD. I can’t decide if this one or Sky Daddy was my favorite so far in 2026, which is somewhat hilarious as they are VERY DISSIMILAR BOOKS, but both SO GOOD.
This one just made me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I took pictures of some of the pages because I liked the quotes so much! A few of my favorites:
“In a world where you don’t know what will happen next, I just do what I can right now.”
“The days go by far more happily when you have something to dream about. It’s not always a bad thing to have a dream, with no plan for ever carrying it out . . . but if you need to know what lies beyond the dream, you need to know.”
“. . . just as every day is equal in value and no less important than all the others.” (Obviously I immediatley thought of Jenny here!).
Anyway! Highly recommend, and now I will go back to Yesteryear. I think May will be the month my reading volume comes back (possibly with a vengeance). This makes me happy!
(Upcoming) Travel Notes
Hawaii planning is DONE including rental cars, airport hotels where needed, and pretty much any excursion or experience that needs booking in advance. I wrote everything in my Hobonichi to see what it looked like and WOW. It was a lot of fun just to think about it all.
The only thing I haven’t done was to get really granular on which beaches to visit, or specifically which trails to check out at Haleakala (Maui) or Waimea Canyon (Kauai) — but I think those can wait.
I did formally decide against joining everyone in the surf lesson but they assured me I will be able to watch, so that will be great.
I am now going to mine this book list and add to my summer picks!
On the other end of the travel spectrum, we’ve decided to table our Costa Rica trip until 2028! Next spring already has a ton of stuff (family wedding in CA; Boston Marathon; Williams 25th reunion in early June), and the kids’ spring breaks don’t line up (this will likely be the final year for that). Plus, A really didn’t love having a trip smack in the middle of gymnastics competition season. I felt like I was trying to squash it in there, and I mean — it’s a YEAR away! I’m sure there will be even more on the calendar that I don’t know about yet.
There are only a finite number of PL days (and a finite # of $ we can spend on travel, let’s be real — we prioritize it, but the budget is still not infinite) — so we’re going to skip it in favor of another long summer trip in 2027. (Currently eyeing an Italy/Switzerland combo – Florence –> Lake Como –> Alps –> Zurich).
And then in 2028 when everyone has the same break (and there are hopefully fewer spring events) we can do CR!
Am I the only one thinking about 2028 travel? LOL. I’m just so happy to have my kids at an age where we can plan more elaborate trips and have them truly be fun! Also, as much as I love adventure I also cherish my “repeat destination” trips (Montana! Keys! Amelia Island) AND it’s also so great to visit friends (like my girls’ trips, or our Pacific NW stop on the way back from Hawaii this year). Planning to continue to balance these desires even as we expand our horizons.
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I took a break in the middle of reading this post to get What You Are Looking for is in the Library on Libby. If it and Sky Daddy are contenders for best book of the year, then it’s a must read. OF COURSE THEY ARE DISSIMILAR since no book could be in any way similar to Sky Daddy;-) I’m taking a train trip next week so something tells me that there will be a lot of reading involved. I’m currently reading Yesteryear and enjoying it, and I’m also in no hurry to finish it.
The thing about travel is that once you start the list of places to go just keeps getting longer…
Glad the surgery went well, Sarah!
My husband is the travel planner and I think he IS thinking about 2028 already. We have a lot of big trips lined up #retirementlife
Sky Daddy is SUCH a good book!
I also paused reading this post to download Library to my kindle! Looking forward to it. I did NOT love Yesteryear — I thought it was ham-handed and sloppy, tbh. So now I need a palate-cleanser.
We are thinking about 2028 travel for sure! We actually do not travel very much, but we really wanted to go to the Olympics in LA — only to discover that tickets, when we had the opportunity to purchase, were really prohibitively expensive for our family of 5. We pivoted and are planning a California National Parks trip that summer with some friends. We’re excited to go back to San Francisco (where we spent our honeymoon) and hope to get reservations at French Laundry while we’re there too.
Enjoy Hawaii! I have only been there once and it was a short trip, but I’ve been wanting to go back ever since.
also had a moment thinking about Olympics but realized a) yes, tickets seemed $$$$$$$ and b) it’s going to be SOOO crowded and I think I’d just rather . . watch on TV!!!! (we are considering maybe going to the gymnastics qualifying meet if that’s any easier, but also might just be easier to enjoy at home)
Yay! Glad the surgery is over. And- I’ll be rushing to my library today to get that book. I like Birchie’s comment- yes, no book is going to be like Sky Daddy (ever!) This one sounds really good.
Right now all we’re thinking about is weddingweddingweddingwedding! Funny that our “big” adventure of the summer is to Valparaiso, IN (why couldn’t they get married in Utah or somewhere interesting? ha.)
So glad the MOHS went well, and that there was no need for intensive hair shaving. It must be such a relief to have that procedure in the rear view.
I am not yet thinking of 2028 travel, except in the vaguest sense. My husband’s and my 25th reunion will be that June, so I’m guessing that will be a trip for us, and I’m hoping we can get back to Europe then as well. For 2027, we are tentatively planning a return to Big Sky, so we need to start thinking about accommodations. Where do you stay when you go there?
We stay at either the Huntley or Shoshone! It’s not super glamorous, but I feel like it’s very reasonable for where it is (walk right out to slopes) and what you get 🙂 and i loooove the pool/hot tub and the breakfast!
Love the COBAN headband — I daresay it almost looks… intentional? Channeling your inner Bret Michaels?
“In a world where you don’t know what will happen next, I just do what I can right now.” –> That’s a little anti-planning for you, Sarah, don’t you think? 😉
I also constantly fantasize about future travel. I think unless I send daughter to France for an immersion program, and possibly a trip to visit family, we will likely be avoiding European travel bc my daughter is allergic to museums, walking, being physically uncomfortable (esp. when with her parents). HOWEVER. I am thinking about Alaska, Olympic National Park, Northern CA, Iceland, and Tanzania (9 days Safari, plus 3 in Zanzibar). The Tanzania one sounds especially intriguing… but might cost $30,000 or more — eek. Maybe as a high school graduation present? This summer we are mainly doing MI travel (Mackinac so my husband can do the island swim, Harbor Springs, Port Austin). We may do a weekend in Chicago too. We will have to see. So glad I went to Vieques with my daughter this spring! Highly highly highly recommend.
I feel like our version of Europe will be light on museum and heavy on the nature/culture/just seeing how others live and appreciating all sorts of interesting little differences! At least that’s what I hope 🙂 This is why considering just cities on the front and back end of the trip and the rest in smaller areas or mountainous regions. Thought about skiing there but I feel like that would be more stressful (plus . . I like skiing here). I don’t know Vieques at all! Looking it up now!!!! I also really want to go to Iceland.
I’m already thinking about travel for 2029! I have a milestone birthday and my kids will be (possibly) old enough to withstand a bit of jet lag, so I thought it would be a good time for our first family trip to Europe. It’s wonderful daydream fodder since the trip is far enough in the distance that I can imagine away any difficulties and just gather ideas. In a couple years when I go to actually start planning, I’ll have a great starting point.
I am definitely thinking about 2028 travel! We are big fans of the longer summer trip, mostly due to the fact that my spring break (university) and my kids’ do not line up and never will, so spring break is hard for us, and we don’t like to travel over winter break because travel costs are sooo high at that time. So I like to think about our longer summer trip pretty far in advance–for 2027 we are planning an epic one, our biggest yet, which will be 2.5-3 weeks in Japan. Obviously I haven’t booked that all yet, but I have the plans/itinerary pretty well sketched out and will be ready to book the flights hopefully as soon as the calendar opens (we’re using points), which is making me already start dreaming about 2028, when the leading contenders are Iceland or Alaska, I think. Your Italy/Switzerland combo sounds dreamy. I have been to Italy many years ago and especially want to take my kids to Rome, and I’ve never been to Switzerland and would love to go there.
ooh yes!!! And what is 2026?? Now i need to know!
In anticipation of the costs/effort of the epic Japan trip in 2027, we’re doing a shorter family trip in 2026–the Badlands/Black Hills of South Dakota! We love national parks trips and haven’t done one in a couple years so the timing is good, too. And we’re also taking the kids for a long weekend to NYC in October when we all have a four day weekend.
Thank you for the inadvertent book recommendations! I just put both Sky Daddy and What You are Looking for is in the Library on hold at my library.
Your travel is impressive, in scope, planning, and frequency. May I ask where in Calif. your family wedding will be? No need to name specific towns if you prefer strong privacy—just general geography will scratch my curiosity itch.
Santa Barbara area 🙂 (But I might fly to LAX and then drive, to visit a friend in LA first!)
I feel like a lot of our travel is ‘easy’ (ie domestic, lots of repeat visits) but I definitely do really enjoy the trips we take.
Hope the recovery goes quickly! For the potential Italy/Switzerland trip – I highly recommend the Hotel Eiger Murren in Murren, Switzerland as a base for a few nights. It’s perched on a cliffside in a car-free village so the views are incredible, and is a great base for spending time in the Alps. Great breakfast buffet & dinner (a la carte) as well. Things to look into — all relatively easy: Northface Trail (hike from the hotel that you can start/end with a beer garden/playground), Panorama Hiking Trail (across the valley), biking Lauterbrunnen Valley, cable car to Schilthorn… all easily accessed by public transportation that’s half the fun!
This is awesome and exactly the kind of thing we are longing for! Thank you!
Good Mohs update! I’m tentatively planning a December 2029 ski trip to Japan:) My youngest will be 9, hopefully better at skiing, and it’s the last year my oldest will be in college so i have a guaranteed winter break with all my kids!
Oh I read Radar Girls after a trip to Hawaii. I really liked it…interesting piece of history I had never heard of before.
We are trying a bigger trip this year – adding on a 4 day trip to Alaska to visit friends after our annual trip with my husband’s parents and siblings (in Colorado). Hoping Simone does well enough with the longer trip and more aggressive time zone changes that we can start trying to do more challenging trips for her. Keeping our fingers crossed!
awwww I SO hope she does well as well!! I am excited for you! And visiting friends AND getting to go somewhere cool is the absolute best.
Ooh, we are very tentatively thinking about a Switzerland trip in 2028 so I am selfishly rooting for you to go in 2027 so I can get ideas! 🙂
So glad it went well!