LIKE A ROLLING PIN

My vacation officially started at 6 am today. I'm not smiling or anything.

Went to breakfast for our weekly Friday morning "Breakfast Club" (original, huh?) meeting at the Yakkity Yak Diner. Had my usual, a Belgian waffle with ice cream, strawberries and whipped cream. Lots of mediocre coffee but good conversation.

I had a bone density test and "chest area" ultrasound done after breakfast. George (my doctor- of-the-female-concerns-type) wants to see if my bones are strong and dense, if not he wants me to start taking hormones. I had a long talk with my bones on the way there as I do not wish to start growing a beard and acting all butchy. (Kidding- but I do not want to start taking hormones...) I had a new "area of concern" show up on my mammogram last week and as usual, had to have a follow-up ultrasound. I've had numerous "areas of concern" over the last few (few??? try aboot 15!!!) years and usually have mammograms every 3-6 months, depending on what shows. Well, today the tech took a l-o-o-o-ong time and performed a very thorough study of my mammular regions (!) and kept turning on the heat-seeking missile thing that shows your heat index or whatever. There was pretty green and blue and then some yellow and orange and then a lot of red. I was getting concerned. I've talked with this tech at length on numerous occasions and know not to bother asking questions as she has this big long speech prepared which basically amounts to "I'm not at liberty to divulge that sort of information. Your doctor will discuss the results with you at his discretion, blah,blah, blah." So she's typing and clicking and frowning and admiring her handiwork in the internal picture-taking arts and I'm laying there with my life skimming through my head. Don't get me wrong, I am far from an alarmist. I have had everything possible done to many, many areas of concern. Biopsies with needles, biopsies with scalpels, lumpectomies, aspirations, ... and after a while you learn not to panic. So I don't. But for some reason today I had a bad feeling. So when I was told to "get dressed and have a seat, I'll be back..." I did, and when she was gone for what seemed like forever and she had the doctor (not George) who read the results with her, I'm like, *gulp*. Poopy was in the waiting room and I was waiting for the doc to ask me if I'd like him to join us for the Big News.

She didn't. While she was situating herself in the chair, I'm looking around, a bit nervously. There are a pile of magazines on a table and I'm seeing a bunch of silly celebrities' faces all grinning at me, most with their beautiful healthy breasts hangin' out all over the place... What's going through my head is Maddie and Julian and what if I'm not around for their ball games and proms and dance recitals and I'm starting to get really mad at my stupid breasts.

"Mrs R.," the doctor says to me. "I've had some time to go over your ultrasound and I don't see anything there that indicates a strong area of concern. You have a lot of cysts, granted, but there has been no major change in the last several studies. I'm rather confident in saying that you can probably resume your yearly mammograms and continue doing your monthly self-exams. And, of course, please contact us if you notice any changes."

Exhale, Linda.

So the world looks all nice and rosy to moi once again. Even though I've been instructed to "Cut back on the coffee, for crying out loud" by the technician. I'll do that right now...

So, in a few hours I'm meeting "The Girls" and we will be making the last (sure!) of our plans before our vacation next month. In case you missed it, four of us who have all turned fifty *cough* this year, are going to Martha's Vineyard for consolation and relaxation. I have some errands to run on the way and we're meeting at the Mall and having lunch (and plans) at Ruby Tuesday's. Think I'll have some of that Spinach Dip maybe. And a Margarita? We'll see.

When I get home from the Mall, the JuJu Clan should be here. We are going to celebrate Easter, Madeline's birthday and JuJu's birthday. Bedtime will probly be shortly after the festivities, as the 3 elder JuJu's will be getting up way early, like 4 am to catch their flight. They will be vacationing, courtesy of the late Walter Disney, and I will be making Merry with Little Miss Madeline all week. I couldn't be more excited. We are going to have such a very good time. We probly should include Poopy, too, don't you think?

Okey Dokey, Hokey Pokey. I have things to do. I wish you all a good weekend and I'm sorry I don't have a trivia question for you today. Give your brains a rest. I will do the same.