LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT ME

I have been diagnosed with Melanoma (skin cancer) 3 times in my life.  The first when I was 14, and the last when I was 26ish.  It never really bothered me, because I was so young the first time. I think at 14 most people feel pretty invincible.  I continued to lifeguard my way through high school, and teach swimming lessons- always with a beautiful tan.  To this day I love my skin when it is tan.  I like the way it looks and what it does for my complexion.  I didn't care much (or understand) about the consequences of my beautiful skin.  I just cared that it looked good.  In the past few years, my feelings have changed.  I guess all the "old people" in my life are right. Wisdom comes with age, and once I reached my LATE 20's, I started to earn me some smarts.  I began to care- a great deal- what it meant to have skin cancer.  I began to understand that the doctors weren't always going to be able to just cut it out.  I began to understand that this could kill me.  I realize this borders on dramatic, but coming to these conclusions was a bit emotionally dramatic. I am not an "I" anymore.  I have become a "WE".  And WE need me to stick around for awhile.  Let's pause for a moment to think of Dale with the hormonal teen aged versions of Pyper and Elle .................................................................................................................Yeah. I think I'll double up on my SPF's and UVA's and UVB's.  I like the direction that my life, and my family, is headed.  This post, however, is about to head in an entirely different direction.  I sometimes find that I will start to jot something down- and all of the sudden I realize how emotionally invested I am in what I'm saying.  For instance- this was not suppose to be a sappy, I love my life and would like to keep it, post.  It was suppose to be a, I need to find a really good artificial tan lotion, post. Hmmmm.  Anyway- I really do need to find something that works well.  I may understand that lovely sun bronzed skin is not worth the price it would cost me- but I'm still all about not sharing my pasty white skin with the world.  So if you have a recommendation for a killer (no pun intended) fake tanning lotion- LET ME KNOW.  If, however, your recommendation is Avon- that is what caused this whole rant.  I used it on Sunday.  Yikes.   Oh yeah- another thing that comes with age and wisdom is wrinkles.  Elle oh so tactfully pointed out that I have them. So now I am on the hunt for a new skin care regimen.  I guess my daily dose of soap, water, and baby magic lotion from Crew's diaper bag, is no longer cutting it.  So I could use a little advice there too.