I am thankful for friends who can make me laugh when I am stressed.

As I prepare to leave the country for South American I have been working on getting all my medical check ups done for the end of the year. Last week when I left my mammogram appointment I smiled and said, ” Happy Holidaze! Nothing personal but I hope I don’t need to see you all again until next year!” After a week of them trying to reach me I finally got a call saying, “Miss Freese we need you to come back in for an examination of your left breast.” I replied with, “sure, I will come back in early 2020 as I am heading to South American next week.” The lady on the other end of the phone said, “no, how about tomorrow or the next day? ” I hesitated and eventually agreed to rearrange my schedule. AS soon as i hung up the phone I called a few friends and asked if they had ever had to go back in for another check up after a mammogram and most of them have had to for one reason or another so I was not really worried. Okay, that’s a lie I was still worried! My friend Mado said, “hey I will clear my schedule and go with you.” I replied, Not necessary but yes please.

They gave me a nice warm purple top to put on that ties in the front and then sent me to another waiting room to wait. When I entered the 2nd waiting room I looked around one lady stood out more than the rest you looked super stressed so I smiled at her and said, “Hey nice shirt. ” She looked up at me and laughed and said its the same as yours. I promised her that I would send a memo to the head of staff that requesting different colored shirts for our next visits as we all felt like we were at prom wearing the same dress!

Once in my exam room I was asked to expose the left breast and to lay down. The tech helped poss me. I told her that I felt like I was posing for a painting. She asked me if I was always so funny. I said of course not. You can’t really tell from this photo but they had me on my side with my left arm up over my head I felt a bit sexy with my left tata out.

The appointment went longer than planned poking , prodding ,ultra sounds and then a radiologist same in and did it all over again. When they left the room to get another doctor to come in I got up and took a photo of the computer screen which is the original mammogram.(my naked left breast)

After an hour the specialist looked at me and said , “you are borderline abnormal.” OMG! I started laughing and told them all to tell me something I did not already know. I was successful in making them all laugh as well! I have to go have another ultrasound in 3 months and then again in May. For now I am thankful that I had a great day and I made a few people smile and a few more laugh. I am hoping they will take my advice on ordering a variety of tops for us gals to wear in the waiting room.

A part of myself goes into to each piece of my work , it may appear to look strong but in fact it is delicate. The same is true of me.

I was feeling a bit foolish and alone today. I went to the post office to mail a letter and this made me smile!

“It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.”
– Eleanor Roosevelt

About Eleanor Roosevelt

Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was a powerful political figure in her own right, crusading tirelessly for humanist causes. She was born in New York in 1884 and was orphaned young. After Franklin was struck by polio, she acted as his eyes and ears. She was central to the creation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which she considered her crowning achievement, and wrote numerous essays, including a long-running column called “My Day.” She died in 1962.

“Courage is very important. Like a muscle, it is strengthened by use.”
– Ruth Gordon

About Ruth Gordon

American actress Ruth Gordon is best known for her roles in Harold and Maude and Rosemary’s Baby. She was born in Massachusetts in 1896. At age 19, she moved to New York to pursue acting; she performed in plays for the next 20 years. She and her first husband, Garson Kanin, wrote five film scripts for Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, including Adam’s Rib, which was based on the writers’ own marriage. She died in 1985.

“Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told: ‘I’m with you kid. Let’s go.'”
– Maya Angelou

About Maya Angelou

American poet and author Maya Angelou is best known for her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. She was born in St. Louis in 1928 and grew up in rural Arkansas. Due to her activism, Martin Luther King asked her to take a leadership position in his organization. In 1993, at President Clinton’s request, she wrote and performed a poem at his inauguration. She has also directed films and appeared on television. She teaches at Wake Forest University.

After giving up my metal workshop I found a new way to be creative! I love painting with light!

“If one scheme of happiness fails, human nature turns to another; if the first calculation is wrong, we make a second better.”
– Jane Austen

About Jane Austen

Jane Austen (1775-1817), the British writer whose sparkling, socially incisive novels remain extremely popular two centuries after her death, is best known for Pride and Prejudice, which she called her “own darling child.” She started writing solely for her own family, and her novels, including Sense and Sensibility and Emma, were initially published anonymously (or “By a Lady”). Nevertheless, she won fame later in life, and she earned the high honor of burial in Winchester Cathedral after her death in 1817 at age 41.

“The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men.”
– George Eliot

“Trust your hunches. They’re usually based on facts filed away just below the conscious level.”
– Dr. Joyce Brothers

About Dr. Joyce Brothers

The popular American psychologist and advice columnist Joyce Brothers first found fame by winning The $64,000 Question game show. She was born on October 20, 1927. Her influence, through a daily newspaper column, radio and TV shows, and more than ten best-selling self-help books, has made her one of the ten most admired women in America, according to a number of polls. After her husband died in 1989, she wrote her most personal book, Widowed, delving into her own grief. She lives in New York City.