Meanwhile in Tennessee, we are having our fourth snow day of the week (so that makes for a full week off from school, including MLK Day on Monday), and our street is still basically a sheet of ice. Yesterday the temperature was just above freezing for a few hours, but since it was accompanied by heavy cloud cover and freezing rain, that really didn't help matters. The next time we're supposed to get above freezing is sometime on Monday, so god knows how long it will take for all the roads to be drivable again. In my 15 years here I've never seen snow/ice shut the city down for this long!

Wow!

The weather is completely different here than it was for decades too. We always had drought from November through April, but it has rained every couple of days or so, sometimes in huge quantities. The tiniest little raincloud turns into a storm. The surf temperature isn't too bad at 76, but it should be chillier than that in January. The surf was over 100 over the summer in the keys, which has done so much damage to the reefs. Weather is whack, yo!

Oh wow, Kate! I was just saying the fact that it hasn't gone above freezing here is actually helping things after our little snow and ice the other day -- the sun has been out, so between that and salt, the streets and sidewalks are nice and clear.

Meanwhile the drought here in SELA is so bad cypress trees are dying all over town. It’s warmed up today but back to a high of 45 tomorrow, so I’m leaving up all my Jerry-rigged extreme weather measures.

Hi Kate! Good to see your pixels. That is crazy for Tennessee.

Laura, don’t leave us hanging - how did the swimsuits go over?

I’m now three for three ending the work week with a migraine this year. I left at lunch yesterday. I need to find a new job fast, this isn’t working for anyone anymore. I’m half tempted to see if I can get a Mardi Gras job and make some quick bank. My therapist thinks that’s a bit impulsive. She spoils all my fun.

Laura, don’t leave us hanging - how did the swimsuits go over?

They absolutely loved them. My son happened to have a shirt with him that was a perfect match and while we were out and about going to the dog park and out to dinner a number of people remarked on the awesomeness. His friends last night loved it too. Since hers is a 2 piece she wasn't wearing it out and about, but it is also super cute for the pool and beach. Picture of son from my FB page - [link]

So last night I had the breast MRI that I'm supposed to have six months after my mammogram every year since they found suspicious cells when they did my breast reduction. Well, now I have "a 7 mm x 10 mm x 10 mm oval, heterogenous mass with irregular margins scene in the lower outer quadrant of the left breast in the posterior depth," and they want me to come in for a biopsy, and I'm terrified. I have messages into my primary care provider and the care navigator at the hospital, but no one has called me back yet, and did I mention I'm terrified?

That is very scary, Susan. Sending all the ain't nothing to see here ~ma. In the meantime while waiting for a response, a reminder to not see Dr. Google. Also!! Call her back ~ma! It seems you never get anything but recordings.

Susan, yikes! I hope you get some comforting answers soon.

My son happened to have a shirt with him that was a perfect match

I clicked over and totally laughed out loud. Perfect indeed.

I dropped my car off this morning, ran into a friend at the coffee shop, walked to therapy, then walked to the library and took a streetcar back home. Now I’m walking around the corner to a bar for king cake and possibly a spontaneous dance party. I am doing my damndest to undo what this work week did to me. It was really not good. There has been scream crying and intrusive thoughts while holding a (very old, actual silver plate, totally dull) knife.

UGH. Turns out my primary care doc isn't in today, so the clinic was holding the fax from the hospital for her to look at on Monday. They suggested I message her on Spruce (the app they use to communicate with patients) and I said I had but hadn't heard anything, so the front desk was going to send her another message.

This is a clinic that has like 5 or 6 doctors/NPs on staff, but they can't just have another doctor send in the referral--she has to see it. I don't understand this at all. All I want to do is A) talk to someone who understands what's going on and can kind of give me parameters to help me cope until I know more, and B) get the first available biopsy appointment so I can get definite information and start any treatment needed ASAP. Why do they make this so hard?