My niece M had her first gymkhana of the year yesterday. She won 6 ribbons. Way to go! Yesterday was also graduation day for my brother's 2nd oldest. My brother home school's all of his kids so there's no formal ceremony. I considered going but the thought of being in the car for 6+ hours just wasn't very appealing. My oldest nephew's girlfriend also graduated from high school yesterday. My siblings' children are really starting to make me feel old. I'm starting to think I'm going to die an old spinster. But, that's fitting for the crazy old cat woman plan.

Did I mention how gorgeous the weather was for my personal 3-day weekend? Friday was the best. Around 12:30 I had to pick D up at the train station after his interview. We came home, he changed, we watched the rest of the funeral services in DC and then he said, "Wanna go to Bertucci's?" Didn't need to twist my arm. There are a few Bertucci's around us, but the one we went to has patio seating, so we got to sit outside for lunch. It was just perfect. Went to Barnes & Noble afterwards and browsed through a bunch of stuff before heading back home. D got the new book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series. He's finished reading it already. I got the Schwarzbein Principle. Since my dad was diagnosed with diabetes last fall, my mom's been following this book to the letter, and has been on my case to get a copy of it for myself. It's taken all this time for my dad's body to get back under control, but he said it's worth it because he doesn't have to take insulin. He's doing very well with it. Some things still make his sugar skyrocket, but overall he's doing so much better now. I'm barely into the first chapter but plan to read more tonight. Sox are off tonight so I won't be preoccupied. :)

The trainer called last night to let me know she didn't get her occupancy permit and can't open her new location until she does. When I saw her last Wednesday she said she was going to have it on Friday. Not sure what happened. So while I was on the phone with her I told her I was going to take a break from the weight training, as we discussed, but wanted to do the circuit training. She said, "Well, we should work it so that you're still doing weight training twice a month..." blah, blah, blah. I already told her I need a financial break and SHE was the one who suggested I take a break from the weight training, so I'm trying to figure out why she's trying to get me to keep doing it. She then said, "You can think about it this week - I'll give you a call on Friday." Ummm, I've already thought about it and have already made up my mind. Sometimes I don't think she listens.

I neglected to mention that vacation hell didn't really come to an end last week the way it was supposed to. I can safely say today was as back to normal as we've been in a while. Vacationer #2 (typically my favorite co-worker) came back to work last Tuesday. She was in for about 5 minutes before she said, "I have to leave early today, won't be in tomorrow and am calling in sick on Friday." Excuse me? I was pissed because I'd decided the night before I was going to take Friday off. My exact response to her was, "You've got to be f***king kidding me." Her leaving early on Tuesday and not coming in Wednesday were understandable because a good friend of her family passed away and she was helping with the wake and funeral. But Friday she was going to call in sick so she could get ready for a party on Saturday. WTH? This woman takes off more time to get ready for parties than you would believe. So I told her I'd planned on taking Friday off and she said, "Well, that's all right because I'm calling in sick." No, it's not all right. At that point I wasn't sure if I was going to request it or just call in sick. If we both called in sick it wouldn't have been fair to sorority girl because a) that would leave her alone to deal with any and all customers that came in during the day and b) she already had permission to leave early on Friday. So, she got a little snippy with me and said, "Well, go ahead and ask for it off, then. I don't care, I'm still going to call in sick." Okely dokely! So, to keep my hands clean, I requested Friday as a personal day. I wasn't going to deal with the drama if we both called in sick. Not worth it. Not my problem she's a poor planner and couldn't take a day of her vacation to get things ready for her party. Sorority girl told me this morning that she didn't call in sick on Friday but wasn't happy. And she didn't talk much to me today. Ha!

Oh yeah... Thursday's appointment. Well, I had to get a mammogram. And since I've been pms'ing, I was very sore going in. Hurray. Thank God for Advil. Anyway, I've found a very small spot and haven't mentioned anything to any of my family yet because I don't want them to freak out. I want to know what's going on before I say a word about it to them. I've read a few things that have calmed me down about it. I'm still concerned, but I'm not freaking out. Trouble is, the place I had the mammogram has been hounding me for prints of the first one I had back in the mid-90's to compare Thursday's to. I've told them 800 times I don't even remember what doctor I was seeing at the time, much less where I had the mammogram done, and I'll be darned if I'm going to call my mother and ask her if she remembers because that's going to leave the door wiiiide open for her to flip. I'm not going to do that to her, so read the damn prints now and tell me what the hell is going on.

Jackasses.

Incidentally, yesterday was the 7th anniversary of my Aunt's passing. She was about my age the first time she discovered a lump. She went into remission twice. The third time it came back, it was so aggressive that she passed away within 6 months. Her oncologist told us all, no matter our age, to start getting mammograms every year. The doctor I had at the time ok'd it, but every doctor since has said, "Oh, you're too young." I say, "No, you don't understand how aggressive it was." When I see my primary this Thursday I'm going to tell her I want them annually and I will spit, kick and scream if I have to.