I’m just putting this out there because right now I’m a little creeped out. Remember me posting this and later this, well I got the reports back today and apparently the little sumpin’ sumpin’ I was feeling in my lovely armpit didn’t show up on the mammogram or ultrasound. I have been referred for a second surgical consult. The biopsied lump is still there, apparently stable and very visible since the surgeon left a marker. But, the oddity that I felt couldn’t be captured on either test, but I can still feel it. I’m telling myself it’s nothing, probably another fibroid. The consult isn’t for another two weeks, so I have plenty time to make myself crazy. I promised myselfRead More

I have this little mini vay-cay coming up next month. Being that it’s a purely selfish trip on my part ~ having nothing to do with work or family ~ I’m trying to find ways to finance it with little or no damage to the household budget. I have become a scrounger. I’ve been digging in my luggage-sized purse for loose change, emptying the ashtray in my car, pulling out couch cushions, rifling through my desk, and pilfering the stack of nicely rolled coins on the dresser in my bedroom. Today, I’m cashed it all in to seed my fun money account. I took the whole bag of coins, and it was at least 20 pounds of mint, to myRead More

Today was the day that I went for my annual ‘knead and squeeze.’ Instead of just going to the local med center for my mammogram as I normally do, I opted to go to a private radiologist. The nurse at my gyno’s office recommended this one. The difference is that she performs digital mamms which are supposed to be more accurate, but I still had the Sisters flattened to a width of about 1.5 inches… and with my size Ds… there was a lot of squeezing going on. The ladies that performed the mamm and ultrasound were great. The first technician warmed up the plates on the booby mashing machine with a heating pad, making them all toasty. The gelRead More

I’ve been very distracted lately. There have been some staffing turnovers at my office and some of it directly affected me. It took a few weeks, but today the shuffling was, for the most part, finally complete. The results were both good and bad. Good – (depending on how you look at it) my department head decided to follow her heart to pursue a different career path and turned in her notice. (Bear with me Hope, this will make sense.) Bad – she was my friend and had been very supportive of me ~ generous with her praise and performance evaluations. She had in the past gone to the mat for me, to secure raises when others in my position may not haveRead More

I almost hate to admit this, but the Great Wake Up War was a bit of a wash this morning. It did take three alarm clocks going off at 15 minute intervals, but I didn’t have to resort to an arctic blast. I was really looking forward to using my Super Soaker… it was all so anti-climactic. With the invent of these new water heaters, I couldn’t even freeze him out in the shower by flushing the toilets. Dangit! I don’t know what I’m more aggravated about: the fact that I’ve been fighting the morning wake up demons for so long or that the boy was more than capable of getting up on his own all along. I think someRead More

Spent a good portion of Sunday afternoon tackling an out of control backyard. I was embarrassed to show how bad it had gotten. It actually had taken on the look of a savanna. The grass was easily a foot tall in some places. What usually would have been a 45 minute job dragged out to almost 3 hours. I had to re-mow every pass twice, sometimes three times. I bagged the clippings and dumped at least 20 full sacks of grass. (For the earth friendly among you ~ yes, I added all of this to my compost pile.) This is what you can expect when you take on a marathon mowing while only wearing flops. I will be using anRead More

When I wrote in a recent post about how a couple of old friends found me through my blog I was surprised by some of the reactions. I know that part of the fun of blogging is the mystery of it all, the intrigue of perhaps creating an alter ego or finally letting your true self emerge, but I was unprepared for how closely some of you want to guard your true identity. Of the two friends who showed up on my blog doorstep: 1) I initiated contact, leaving my blog URL on his MySpace comments. I had just given up on getting any response when he finally showed up in my comments. 2) The post that led my cousinRead More

When my son was six months old he was severely burnt. He spent two weeks in the Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital burn center, then another two weeks there when it was apparent his burns were too deep to heal on their own and required skin grafts. Three summers ago he was accepted into the Shriner’s Children’s Hospital burn program. Our local Shrine Temple transported us to Galveston, Texas at no expense to us. They paid for our travel, our hotel, our meals, and all of WK’s medical expenses. When the doctor’s there said they could perform the surgery the same week as our initial appointment, the Shrine Temple paid all our expenses to stay an additional two days, then paid againRead More

I finally made it to Valdosta… after being lost in Thomasville for a freakin’ hour! It was like being sucked into the second level of hell. No matter where I turned I could not find my way out of town. I cussed that wretched city so bad – dropping multiple f-bombs and several shits – that children will feel the curse for years to come. I think I might have warped my steering wheel. The windows actually began to vibrate at one point. I exaggerate… only a little. For future reference, MapQuest and Rand McNally directions… SUCK! Also for future reference, always ask the man in uniform for help. At my most desperate moment, I saw a fire station. IRead More

I love my family… I really do. I love them more than I ever thought it was possible to love another person. I would die for each and everyone of them, without question, without hesitation. But, as much as I love them… there are days when I don’t like them very much. This was one of those days. A day when it seemed that my loved ones were putting forth a herculean effort to Get. On. My. Last. Nerve! It usually happens when I have some time for myself, but they believe they have a task that is much more important and that I MUST drop everything to do this one thing for them. It doesn’t matter what it is,Read More