This last week I've been having trouble with my server.

I'm in the process of moving things over to blogspot. Yes.

I've got things copied over from November 2008 to now. Manually. Yes. You heard that right. I requested them to send archives of a couple months to me on Friday but still haven't received a thing in my email.ARGH! This manual business? It's a slow process. I've been with blog-city for 4 years + 304 days. A LONG time. Lots of info. Before I was at blog-city, I was at another place for a year and a half. So over 6 years of blogging. For just me. Hard to believe. 

So if you'd still like to keep up with me head on over to http://gracegoesthrulife.blogspot.com

Yesterday, I had my much anticipated appointment at the Women's Imaging Center.

Since the Hubs attended the Bear's kindergarten graduation, he scheduled it so he had the entire day off. This way I could go to my appointment and not have to deal with having a neighbor or someone watch the kids. It definitely gave the Hubs an excuse to take the day off.

The Hubs and the kids actually dropped me off and picked me up from the place*. It was nice. This way the Hubs would have my car (much roomier than his little coupe) so that he could go and run errands with the kiddos. 

Little did I realize that my appointment, which I thought would only be an hour, turned into TWO full hours. But as I was there, it didn't seem to be that long. There was a quietness about the place. After I changed into the white cotton robe, I sat in the waiting area reading a magazine. I was the only one in the waiting area and I read the magazine in total silence!

Anyway, what they ended up doing were the four regular mammogram shots first. I had my first mammo almost two years ago so I was due for another full set. The technician who performed yesterday's mammo was the same one who did my first one. Yes. I remember. I was definitely squeezed into the machine. It's not like I'm huge or anything (a C-cup) but mine are not the perky, manmade kind that stick out from my body at a 90-degree angle. You know what I'm saying? But we did a horizontal and a 45-degree shot of each breast. 

The technician then changed up the "paddles" for the more intense shots. Yes. The technician changed out the parts that would squeeze me. This 2nd pair of paddles? Squeezed me even more. Yeah. More. This way they could get a limited and focused view of the area in question. I had another horizontal and then a 90-degree shot of my right side. All I did during it was breath like nothing was wrong. That's how I get through the uncomfortable feel. Acting like nothing is awry. 

I was then asked to go back to the waiting area so that the radiologist could review the shots. I got to breeze through another magazine.  But this time there were about 6 other ladies in the waiting room. It didn't seem very long when another cheerfl technician (dressed in bright green scrubs) called me back. 

"Okay. So now we'll be doing the ultrasound in this room here."
"Excuse me?"
"Didn't they tell you we'd also be doing an ultrasound?"
"Uh...no. No one mentioned anything about it."

In my head, I was thinking ultrasound? What? Did they think I was pregnant? It soon became clear that she was going to do the ultrasound on my breast**. Duh Grace! She put the gel on my breast and looked around.

"Okay. We're done."
"Okay."
"I'll go get the radiologist and let her know that we're done here. She'll come in and let you know about the results, okay? We'll keep the gel on here in case she wants to take another look."

So I lay there with the gel on my breast waiting for the news about what's going underneath my skin. 

Y'all? I'm okay. 

The radiologist looked at the mammogram taken yesterday and compared it to the first set that I took and saw that nothing had changed. The ultrasound confirmed that there was nothing going on.

I am ever so relieved. All this anticipation. All this stress that I've been having. But it's kind of a relief knowing that I've been pretty good about getting this portion of my body checked since I turned into this new decade of life. 

So for those of you who haven't taken the time to get yourself squeezed and taken a mammogram, please go and get it done. If it's as clean as a whistle (which we all hope each and every time), then everything is great. You did NOT waste your time. I'm sure that you've been going for a yearly exam since you were a teenager and getting a PAP to ensure that your internal female parts are healthy. So put the same kind of focus now on your breasts. If you go every year or two and then they DO find something? You'll know that the discrepancy is something new, which means you've caught it early. Which means you've got a better chance with any treatment. 

Now I can start summer vacation with a lightness in my heart and my mind!

And so last night after dinner? I did take the kids for ice cream at Cold Stone. It was delicious!

* And for those of you who thought it was weird that the Hubs dropped me off and picked me up? I think that was his way of "being there" for me. He didn't want me driving home alone if I'd received bad news. Isn't he great?

** A breast ultrasound is used to show the entire breast, including the portion closest to the chest wall that is hard to study with a mammogram. The breast ultrasound is used to verify if a breast lump is filled with fluid (equating to a cyst) or if it's a solid mass. 

Remember last month when I mentioned I was visiting my doctor?

The topical ointment that she prescribed to me worked. I no longer felt the endless itchy sensation on my breast. No more waking up in the middle of the night fighting the urge to scratch in that hazy daze of sleep. That definitely was a relief. 

But today? I go in for a mammogram. This is a "just in case" verification for us to know if something is going on underneath my skin. 

First on today's agenda though is going to the Bear's kindergarten graduation. Yes.

Yesterday was the kids' last full day at school.

We'll all attend the graduation and then zonk at home. I'll head on over to the testing site around lunchtime and be back (hopefully) within an hour. 

It's going to be a lazy Wednesday. I'm so thankful that the Hubs will attend the Bear's graduation AND be with them while I go to the testing site.

To celebrate the start of summer? We're going to get ice cream after dinner tonight. Yes. It's over 100 degrees so ice cream will be fabulous. Cold Stone here we come!

As a sidenote...LilSis and Shorty took some recent photographs. They're trying to capture the last month before their first little wee one arrives. Here's my most favorite shot that they sent. 

"OWWW!"

Hmmm...I couldn't quite figure out which child said it as I sit at the front of the house in the den. 

"Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"I bit my tongue....again."

So my daughter has figured out that when she bites her tongue? Which is a weekly occurrence. Unless there's blood or a chunk missing that I've got no sympathy. 

It's 9:15am.

I've been up since 6:15am. 

I didn't need to be awake that early. But I automatically woke up. 

Since I woke up?

Took the trash to the curb.

I took a 30 minute walk this morning. 

I took a leisurely shower.

I put on some make-up. 

I drank a HUGE cup of hot coffee along with a cinnamon-raisin bagel.

Brought the trash bin back into the garage.

Swept the front walk.

Now I'm on the computer ready to log into work. 

In about another hour and a half I'll be headed out to pick up the Hubs and the kids. 

Yes. They are scheduled to arrive before lunch. 

[sigh]

I've missed them a lot. But I have relished in my time alone. The quiet. The clean house. Being able to do whatever I want without having to think about anyone else.

The most irregular thing I did? Walk around the house naked. Yes. N-A-K-E-D. No. I didn't do anything kinky. For those of you who color your hair at home, you know that you have to rinse out your hair pretty thoroughly when your "time" is up. Instead of rinsing in the sink or bending over the tub to rinse my hair, I just hop into the shower. Typically when I color my hair I just wrap an old towel around myself, put the solution on my hair, and wait for the color to set. Then it's into the shower I go. I don't like to deal with taking off clothes while I've got that dye on my hair. No sense in ruining clothes, eh? Anyway, yesterday while I was waiting for the color to set I walked out into the kitchen [giggle] and started a pot of coffee. It was SO weird to do. I just stood there stark naked waiting for the coffee to finish up. 

But my time alone is almost done. It was nice. But I'll be happy to hear the voices of my loved ones fill the house once more. 

------------------- updated @ 1pm -------------------------------

Everyone is home. 

The kids are happily munching on some lunch.

The Hubs is safely tucked away in our bedroom taking a much needed nap.

I've got a load of dirty laundry started in the washer. 

The loves of my life are now home safe.

Yesterday after I dropped the Hubs and the kids off at the airport, I headed out to the baseball fields.

Why since the Bear wouldn't be playing?

Because it was our team's turn to do the snack bar and I thought it would be good if I'd give up a couple hours to helpout. The Hubs had actually paid more money during registration so that we wouldn't have to help out do anything extra timewise. But since the Bear wasn't going to be playing and they needed some volunteers, I thoughtit would be the "best" way to spend my time that morning.

I actually ended up spending three hours at the snack bar instead of the 1.5 that I was designated for. I was signed up for 7:30am-9am, but someone didn't show up for the 9am-10:30am shift. So I stayed and hung out.

I ended up having a good time. The assistant coach's Mom was also helping out yesterday and she is a total bundle of fun. We ended up laughing a lot and working well together.

Can you believe that we ended up starting the grill at 9am? Yes! We had a couple requests for cheeseburgers at 9am. NINE in the morning! I guess these people felt hat a cheeseburger was just the same as a breakfast sandwich, eh? But we started the grill and got the burgers out in about 15 minutes. Yes. It was a gas grill. 

The assistant coach's Mom also was there helping out. And she is a total bundle of fun. I definitely had a good time. We had a couple of other parents helping out so we had enough folks that worked well together. We laughed quite a bit and were able to get to know each other better. 

What's funny is that once our players and their siblings figured out that we were at the snack bar, they would come by more frequently than normal. 

Can I have a cup of water?
How much is gun? Can I buy a piece of gum?

I'm just glad that I was able to help out. A couple people on the baseball board came by the snack bar and were actually surprised that our team had so many volunteers. AND that we were all laughing and having a good time. 

Now how has your "snack bar" experience been? Was it fun? Chaotic? 

I can't stand it when people from work do not clearly state their wants/needs on the emails they send out.

What the heck do you want?

If you were here? You'd probably hear me say that phrase at least once a day.

I work for a virtual company. This is my 3rd virtual job since I got back into the workforce. So I'm pretty keen at organizing my work, figuring out what I need to do and how I need to request things from others. 

These other people that I work with? This just may be their first real experience with working with a virtual company. And it's pretty clear who is new to the game. 

Just because we can't SEE you? We can tell if you're doing your job. Especially if what I need to do hinges on you completing your work. There are a couple folks that I need to email when THEIR workload is backed up. Which means I'm backed up. And I totally dislike being backed up on my work. I don't mind a 2 to 3 day delay on you completing your work. It's when the information has been sitting there a WEEK or more that I get all hot and bothered. 

Then there's the guy whose team of four can't seem to get things straight. I'm having to deal with the fall-out. Just today I got blamed for something that was "active" in one sytem when apparently it messes up with this guy's team's system. Umm....no one informed me specifically that I needed to modify my workflow. That's all I need. Don't give me two paragraphs of mumbo-jumbo.  Give me one clear sentence saying to NOT click a certain flag. Is it really that hard?

ARGH!

I just watched the reunion for the New York cast of "Housewives".

Oh my good golly y'all!

That new chick Kelly? She's crazy. 

I guess she's been pulling some strange stuff all season. You see, I watched maybe two episodes from the whole season. I watched the reunion just to get a sense of what happened from all the episodes that I failed to watch. Apparently, I missed a TON of drama between Bethenny and Kelly. Well? Kelly and all the other ladies actually. I can't believe I'm saying it but Alex actually looks "normal" this season because Kelly came on board. Jeesh!

I was trying to keep track of what Kelly was saying and she really doesn't make a whole heck of lot of sense. I understand why the other ladies were making references to "Kelly Time" and "...on this planet..." Kelly even zinked the Countess! Wowzers!

I won't be surprised if they don't ask Kelly to participate next season. 

What do you think?

But one thing? WHY oh WHY do those ladies have to wear such SHORT dresses? 

I have to say that I'm starting to feel anxious.

Why?

Because the Hubs and the kids will be gone this weekend. 

G-O-N-E!

Yes. They'll be flying out around 7:30am on Saturday. They'll be flying in again around 2pm on Monday. 

Did you calculate the time away?

I'll be without them for over TWO days!

Should I feel bad that I am giddy with happiness?

It's going to be like my one and only mini-vacation before the kids start summer vacation.

Summer vacation around here?

Starts Wednesday. Next week.  Yeah....

So I am already trying to get summer plans finalized. 

I've got summer swim lessons scheduled out.

We've got a trip to see my family and old friends planned.

I may start working on a 2nd trip out to visit my family -- after LilSis has her baby.

We have one weekend planned to visit with the Hubs family. 

I've got places in mind to take day-trips to with the kiddos, since they're not going to any summer camps this year. 

We've also got a big Disneyland trip planned. Just me and the kids. 

It's going to be BUSY. So this last weekend alone is going to be nice. 

Now when do YOUR kids get out of school?

Have you got your summer plans finalized?

I mentioned the other day that I took a whole slew of photos of the Bear's team this season. And that I'd uploaded the photos onto a secure site.

Here's what I wrote to the parents:

Hi parents!

My name's Grace and I'm the Bear's mom. Since the season began I've been snapping photos of all the kids in action. I've finally uploaded the photos onto one location so that you'd be able to copy and share these photos with your family/friends. I think you'll actually need to set up an account on "insert photosite" to see the photos but I didn't want to post the pictures up on an unsecure site that anyone could view. Please enjoy these action shots of your little baseball players. I'll continue to add photos to the album from upcoming games.

I don't know about you but if another parent did this? I'd send them a nice thank you note for their effort and for sharing. And I've actually have received two responses from the 12 emails I sent out.  Yeah!

Here's the first response:

Great shots, Grace.  Thanks so much for doing that! 

Nice right? Just a simple note. And I totally appreciate it.

Here's the second response:

Wow!!! Wonderful  pictures!!!!  Thank you so much!!! I have to ask, do you do photography? You captured a great season, we sure had an awesome group!!  

This one cracked me up. Do I do photography? HA! That comment tickled my funnybone so much. I just have a regular digital camera - Canon Powershot A720 IS - that has some zoom on it. When I do take photos I just take a bunch of photos. And odds are? I'm going to get a couple good ones in the bunch. 

The Hubs and I just had a snippety moment.

Honey? Is your garage opener in your car or in your purse?

He was in the family room getting ready to go outside.  I was in the den working.

I got up and walked five feet to my purse.

Well? Where is it?
I don't remember. I'm checking my purse!

That little moment? It was like twenty seconds.

He couldn't wait another ten seconds for me to check my purse before he snipped at me. DANG!

It's like does he want any old answer? Or does he want the right answer?

Me?

I'd want the right answer.

So men? If your wives don't answer within ten seconds of your question? DO. NOT. SNAP. AT. HER. Because you'll end up with a fuming wife...like I am now.  [sigh]

And maybe if he'd get the wall garage door opener fixed then we wouldn't have to rely on our little openers to get that darn garage open! AHHHH!!!!

----------------- 15 minutes later ------------------

We've made up. 

I went outside to check on him. 

Why?

Because he's changing the battery in my car. 

I bought a new car battery this morning because it's been about 2 years since my 2nd battery died. Also, when I've been started the car for the last week it's kind of seemed to take a little longer to get started. You know? 

It was a good thing htat I did go out there. Because the Hubs was having a little trouble getting the battery out. He couldn't quite get this little screw-on thingy off the battery. I got the owner's manual out and encouraged him a little. He finally fit something on top of it and was able to unscrew it. I helped him by holding the attachments out of the way so he could take out the old battery and then put the new battery in place. 

So this evening squabble lasted just a smidge of time. Fifteen whole minutes.

What's the funniest? Is that I went outside AFTER I'd showered.  I was in my plaid pajama bottoms and a short-sleeved t-shirt. And I had no qualms about being outside. Even with my neighbor across the street in his own garage working on his car. Hey! I was covered, right? 

All the kids on the Bear's baseball team know who I am.

Yesterday I had been in the field and taken a bunch of PHOTOS of the kids warming up. I was walking off the field when I heard the Bear yell to all his buddies.

That's my Mom!

Like all the kids didn't already know that I'm the crazy lady who always is snapping photos of the kids in action.

Truth be told. What I enjoy most about going to the games is encouraging them. I like to cheer. I do. 

Good job!
Run!
Go!
Good running!

I'm vocal. And I'm  not just vocal when it comes to the Bear. I don't know. I'm just one of those people who cheers for all the kids. Sometimes I don't remember their names quickly enough either. So? I just say their position instead of their name. 

Good job catcher!
Good stop pitcher!
Good teamwork!

One of the boys totally cracked me yesterday."Z" was walking up towards homeplate for his turn at bat.

Z! Go hit that ball hard!

Without breaking his stride. The kid looked directly at me and winked. He WINKED. Like he was saying that he'd heard my request and that he'd smack that ball for me.  And you know what? He did hit it and made it on base.

The kids on the baseball team are good kids. There's one that I don't particularly enjoy. But the rest of them I do enjoy. They really are good kids. They try hard. They work hard.

When I cheer for them? I LOVE seeing their eyes light up. It's like they can't believe that another kid's parent is watching them and giving them positive feedback when they've done something good. I found out that the Coach's kid "W" is finding it tough to be on the team. His dad is riding him pretty hard to do well. The one time that the Coach pitched for a game, W didn't hit the ball. But the very next game when the assistant coach pitched, W hit the ball every single time. So when I cheered for W on Saturday when he got to homebase? He looked over at me as he walked towards the dugout.

Did you see what I did?
Yup W. I saw. It was a good run, eh?

He was all smiles. And it was great to see him smile. He's a good kid.

But like I said. I think they're all good kids. And best of all? They ALL have fun while they play together. And hopefully I've captured their fun in the photos I've taken over the last couple of months. Over the weekend I uploaded all the team photos onto one location and sent the link out to the parents. This way they can enjoy seeing their little baseball player in action. 

The team that won The Amazing Race is the one that I liked from the get-go.

I am so glad they won. 

I can see that through the race that their relationship has changed.

More even.

They visibly encourage each other now. 

And watching the dynamic of their relationship change has been fun to watch. 

I am so happy, happy, happy that they've won. 

Yeah!

This morning's baseball game was early. Earlier than normal. It was scheduled to begin at 8am. That's right! EIGHT in the morning.

We woke up like it was a regular schoolday. Ate breakfast. Headed out at 7:30am to get to the field for warm-ups. Oy! It was early. I ended up taking a stainless steel container filled with coffee with me. 

And when the game started? We had SIX kids ready to play. And the other team had seven. Just enough kids to play. Whew!

And it was a FUN game. The most fun game of the season!

It was a FAST game since there were only 6 to 7 kids at bat. It didn't drag on with the less focused kids at bat. The boys got in four whole innings. At one particular inning they had each team have two rounds at bat. The boys were able to really hear the prompts from the coaches. The boys were able to focus on their particular position in the field. Yeah! The Bear was able to play at shortstop, second base, pitcher, and first base. 

Even though there weren't a lot of us in the stands? We made a LOT of noise cheering. It was cool. And I got a ton of photos of the kids this time around. Since there weren't a bunch of us in the stands I wasn't blocking anyone's view as I walked around. 

Here's the Bear during warm-ups practicing fielding a ball. He's all twisted around!

Here is the Bear's teammate giving him a hug during warm-ups.

Here's the Bear on the pitcher's mound and his teammate at first ready for a play. 

Here's a shot of my little guy at a different angle on the pitcher's mound. 

But I was out of town over the weekend.

ROAD TRIP!

Yes. I was on the road. And this time it was just the girls. The Princess and I were on a road trip together to go to LilSis baby shower. 

Rather than take my car? I ended up getting a rental car. Enterprise was having a weekend special so I got a mid-size car. 

Folks? They tried to stick me with a PT Cruiser. 

Cute car. Yes. If I was just driving local I would have no problems with the PT Cruiser. I mean, about 4 years ago when I flew in to see my folks I ended up renting a PT Cruiser to drive around town. And it was a fun little car. But it definitely wasn't going to work since the PT Cruiser they had me inspect had NO CRUISE CONTROL. That was NOT going to work on a six hour trek to my parents house. No way. No how.

I'm doing a six hour drive. Could I get a car that has cruise control?
Sure. Let's see what else we've got.

The gal went into the office to talk to the manager and came back out. She led me to a black Pontiac G6. Let me say that the Pontiac G6 is a far cry different than a PT Cruise. Ya know?The PT Cruiser has an engine with about 150 HP while the G6 has around 250 HP. So there was definitely a power difference. Woohoo! Can you say passing speed?

The Princess was able to overtake the back seat. What she did notice was that the back seats were VERY different than from my car. In my Freestyle, she can easily see out her window. In the G6, she could look up at the sky because the seat was situated lower and windows were higher. But when she got tired, she was able to sink into the seat comfortably and fall asleep.  For a LONG time. On the drive home? She fell asleep for almost THREE hours! That is totally unheard of. Normally she'll fall asleep for maybe an hour. But three full hours? She fell asleep as I entered the mountains and I had to WAKE HER as we approached our halfway point to get lunch/gas. 

Here's the first shot I got of her with her legs criss-crossed and her head leaning back with mouth open.

Then here she is all slumped over in a heap.

It never ceases to amaze me how some people drive on long hauls. There was one particular vehicle that stayed in the left lane rather than move over to the right. Granted it wasn't too busy on the road, but still. Not only would it stay in the left lane, but it also hung out behind cars going the same speed. See? Here is the car that I captured in  my left mirror. It stayed at that spot for at least 5 miles. 

Then it jackrabbited ahead of me. 

What's crazy is that this situation happend twice. Like I mentioned earllier, the G6 had cruise control. I kept it on cruise control except when I was passing slower vehicles. So it wasn't like I was varying my speed. I ended up overtaking this "left lane lover" after it had already passed me. It then hung out on my left for a bit again and then jackrabbited ahead of me. Oy!

By the way, the party? It was a blast. Lots of food. Typical. Regular pancit. Pancit palabok. Chicken adobo. Leche flan. Kuchinta. Puto. They even had sushi. And tons of LUMPIA.

I had a fabulous time seeing my family. And a great time with my girl.