It ended with pizza & beer.
Today was a bit of a roller coaster kind of day. The beginning wasn't that much fun because of a doctors appointment, but the end of the night was a blast with dinner with friends.

I've been waiting for this doctors appointment for weeks & I had been thinking about scheduling the appointment for months. A few months ago I found a lump. It's on the right side & it's pretty tender. When I found it, I didn't think much of it because I couldn't think of it. There was (is) so much going on, the last thing I wanted to deal with was a lump & additional worry about what if I had cancer. So, my brain didn't even process it. My train of thought was, Oh. It's a lump. And that was it.

Months went by (maybe two) & the lump was still there. It wasn't getting bigger, but it was becoming increasingly tender. This made me worry. I got on the phone because logic finally kicked in. DUH. Things don't just go away if you ignore them. The first doctor I called had a waiting list & wouldn't even schedule appointment for me, regardless if I had a lump. The next doctor I called could get me in three weeks later. I figured I've waited this long, I guess I could wait three more weeks.

I went in this morning & waited 45 minutes in the exam room, dressed in the paper "vest", listening to the clock tick, tock, tick, tock, trying to not fall asleep on the exam table. The doctor finally came in & we talked about The Lump. After completing the documentation about my history (why do they need to know that my parents are drug addicted alcoholics? What does this have to do with me & The Lump?), she began the breast exam.

There is something there. She documented it as "10 o'clock, 1 cm mass or thickening of tissue, irregularly shaped". She's quite confident that it's not cancer & that it's fibrocystic breast disease, but I'm supposed to get a mammogram & ultrasound to follow up & make sure that's the correct diagnosis.

Relieved that cancer is not on my list of worries, but curious because now I have to go in for my first mammogram, the rest of the appointment went well. We left & went shopping, so I could get ready for the tasting party later in the day.

I came home to cook & clean like a crazy person. I was hosting a tasting party with about 7 or 8 friends coming over to sample the recipes before I submitted them for the contests. I made a double layer pizza; raspberry glazed burgers with an asparagus spread; white cake with peach-pear glaze, sprinkled with almonds & pears, topped with cream cheese frosting & more almonds.

The party was a blast. The food turned out great (I have to add more raspberry flavor to the glaze) & a couple of the moms brought wine & beer. It was fun to eat, drink, chat & laugh as the kids ran around having fun too. Logan was having so much fun with his friends, it was unreal. He was laughing hysterically as he played with Little M (one of his favorite friends). At one point, they were hooked arm in arm, running from the living room to the back deck. It was so, so, cute.

Then to top it off, Logan decided that he was going to throw dirt on himself like a little baby elephant. The boy has blond hair, but it soon turned a dark brown as his scalp was covered in dirt. It was one of those times where he was taking advantage of "party time" & all I could do was just laugh. And so did everyone else.

Not so great pictures, but you get the idea. First is Logan eating a sick to make Little M laugh. Second is a close-up of the dirt covered kiddo.