Throwback Thursday: The Scottish Swede

I'm the kid on the left. (Ha!) I'm probably about seven. I don't know for sure, though.
That was a LOOOOONG time ago! My mom sewed these cool clothes for me.
It was one of my favorite outfits.
To this day, I love to listen to Scottish people talk. 

Wordless Wednesday: Hello Iris Bloom

Whew!

Dodged the "come in for more tests" bullet. My mammogram came back normal.

Yes, I am relieved.

Now I can plan my summer flowers with no surgery or chemo caveats. Look out, plant store. I will be spending a pile of cash this weekend!

And speaking of "plant store," it was just too nice outside last Sunday. I HAD to plant something. I know I said I'd wait until May 17, but warm days just have a way of messing with your head.

Besides, my husband fixed the pond and filled it up, and with a newly refurbished pond, you just have to make it look pretty. And, it was Mother's Day.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who decided they couldn't wait. The parking lot was full and the cars were lined up down the street. The lines to pay for those flowering purchases was equally long, but amazingly, I didn't choose the slow line!

I could have gone crazy, but I restrained myself and purchased a smattering of starters. I still have 24 pots to fill and a plethora of petunias to purchase.

With no freeze warnings in site, I'm planning to throw a few seeds in the ground tonight, too!

Whew!

Waiting this time around

I never thought about it, until today, but this year I'm having a little heartburn (literally) about the results of my yearly mammogram. This is new territory for me; the fear, I mean.

I had the mammorgram last Friday. Of course it was only on one breast, because well, to be Captain Obvious, I only have one. (My husband wonders if this means the mammogram is half price! I kinda doubt it, but it did make me giggle.)

I didn't think about it at all over the weekend, because my mom and dad visited on Saturday and my family treated me to a wonderful day on Mother's Day. But as THIS day wears on, and I spend time alone with my thoughts, I realize that I am a little stressed out about the possibility that I will get a call like I did last year, rather than the nice little letter saying "Congratulations, you don't have any suspect lumps."

I have gone over the scenerio in my head a few times. I still remember the feeling I had when they called last year. First, my whole body felt like it was on fire. Then, a sense of disbelief overcame me. It was almost like "What? Are you SURE you have the right person?" Then came the "Big C" realization and how, contrary to what you thought, it doesn't skip you just because you don't have history.

But now the Big C and I have history, and although I have tired to make peace with it, at times like these, fear rears its ugly little head.

This time around however, I suspect if I get the call as opposed to the "all's well" letter, my first reaction will still be the body on fire thing, but my second reaction will be anger. Anger that I didn't have the surgeon remove both breasts last year. In fact, it was one of the first things I thought about AFTER last year's surgery: "Why didn't I just have them remove them both?"

So I wait. And try not to think about it.

Flower for Friday

Jacob's ladder and the dragon fly

I don't often say
I like my own photos. I'm not a very good photographer. Generally speaking, the photo that I see is always much better than the photo that I take. With this one, I was pleasantly surprised. Yeah, the flowers aren't stellar, but the dragonfly perched on the plant makes up for the somewhat dismal flowers. I also like the depth of field. It almost looks like I did it on purpose! But really all I did was point and shoot, because I figured that was about all the time I had.

Flower for Thursday

Isn't this an awesome flower? My daughter did it in an art camp last summer. 

Flower for Wednesday

St. Francis and flowers.