A Bump in the Night

This past Sunday night, I was sitting on our sofa watching a movie and wondering why my upper arm seemed to hurt. I reach up to my left armpit to try to rub out the muscle when I felt the bump. There was a rock hard lump about the size of a pea in my left armpit. It startled me so much that I went upstairs, woke hubby, and asked him to feel it. He said he couldn't feel anything. I tried to see if I could see anything in the mirror, but it just looked like my normal armpit. Since there was nothing I could do at 10pm on a Sunday night, I went to sleep.

I woke Monday morning, and the lump was still there. I decided I would call the nurse hotline provided by our health insurance company. The lady was really nice. I could hear her typing on the computer to get further information. She advised me to wait a day and see if it was still there. I decided I needed a second opinion, so I went to Google.

The internet is a horrible place for medical advice. I typed in "lump in the armpit" and immediately got a thousand hits on cancer. The lymph nodes are located in the armpit region, and a lump may indicate a built up of cancerous cells. All of these sites seemed to scream BREAST CANCER at me. I was scared out of my mind, so I called my regular doctor for a same day appointment.

I arrived at the doctor's office at 2pm. I have to doctor check the lump which was now harder to locate because the swelling had gone down. Basically, I rushed to the doctor and spent $121.00 for nothing. She said it was too close to the skin surface to be a lymph node. She suggested it may be from shaving and would probably go away in a day or two. She was right - the thing was halfway gone when I got to the doctor's office.

I felt like an idiot, but I guess it is better to be safe than sorry. I think next time I will just listen to the healthline nurse and wait a day. No more Dr. Goggle for me.

My Obsessive Nature

I have a tendency to become obsessive over fictional characters. I have no idea why this happens to me, but it does happen with an alarming frequency.

My latest obsession is the Twilight book series. I had heard so much hype about the series. I knew several people at the office were reading it and several of my Facebook friends were making comments about it. I also found out my sister-in-law was reading the series.

The four book series chronicles the lives of the citizens of Forks, WA. It is basically a story about great love that transcends the human world to a world of magic and mystery. I fell hard for the first book, Twilight, and the two lovers Bella and Edward. I read this book in the car on our way to Florida for the Disney Half Marathon. The book was wonderful, unique, and amazing. I finished it between the trip down and the trip back.

Last night, I was reading the final saga, Breaking Dawn. I have become so obsessed with the story, I stayed up past midnight reading. I still have about half the story remaining (each book weighs in between about 620 pages to 754 pages). I could not sleep after reading the big bombshell. I finally fell asleep for about 2 hours, then continued to toss and turn for the rest of the night, still thinking about the story. I can't seem to get it out of my mind. I have been thinking about it all week, trying to guess what will happen next and how the series will end. I feel a little crazed as all I want to do is read. I am trying to decide if I am a loser or if the book is just that well written.

I am so glad to have a wonderful friend in the office who had been able to talk to me about the books, as well as a great friend on Facebook. They have helped keep me partially sane during this process. I will be glad to finish the series, but I think I will miss the characters. I don't think I will miss the obsession. I will be very glad to let it go and move onto the next book that I can read like a normal human being.

Of course, the DVD version of the movie comes out in about 2 weeks...

Oh, motivation, where art thou?

I have had some problems with motivation lately. I have not been able to wake up on Thursday mornings for my runs. I don't know if it is the fall weather, the darkness, or the lack of sleep, but I have failed to run for two weeks in a row. I have maintained my running on other days, but Thursday has been blown off.

I have also had problems getting to work in the morning. I don't want to be at work, so I am constantly about 5 to 10 minutes late. Luckily, my employer is not a clock watcher. As long as I am getting my work done, they don't hassle me for the time. Thank goodness!

Well, I better find that motivation again soon. I am doing my second half marathon on November 2. Worse than that, I am doing my first triathlon on Sunday. Yes, Sunday, as in 2 days from now!! Guess when I did my first swim to prepare for the race? Last night. I guess I have at least some motivation...humiliation is great motivation.

They control their own destiny

It's up to them now. The Canes MUST win the next (last) two home games to make the playoffs. They have lead the Southeast Division for all but 14 days since the beginning of the season (October).

I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to jinx it. I am going to the game tonight. I may be sick.

Most Wonderful Time?

So, it's December - the most wonderful time of the year. It is wonderful, but it is also tough. It seems that I am constantly running around and doing things. First, we decorated the house. Then, I sent out 75 Christmas cards. I seem to be at the mall all the time, and I am still looking for presents. I am wrapping gifts in the evening and in the morning. Tonight, I am dropping off gifts to mail to Boston at the UPS store on the way home, then we are going grocery shopping for our party. Bill and I will spend the rest of the time to Saturday evening cooking and cleaning. I still need to finds gifts for two of our nephews, Bill's parents, and Bill. On top of it all, it is year end for my company and our auditors arrived today. Luckily, they will leave on Friday. Then, we have our holiday potluck for work next week, a council holiday dinner for JLDOC, and more shopping.

I love Christmas. It is the most wonderful time of the year. I am really looking forward to my 5 day vacation, though.

Is It Me?

Do you ever have something happen where you just have to shake your head and wonder if crazy thing only happen to you?

I had the weirdest thing happen yesterday morning. Tuesdays are recycling pick-up days in our neighborhood. We happen to have 2 recycling bins - one that came with the house and one that we got when Bill's old office closed. We never put out 2 bins though. We can usually fits all our stuff in one bin. Well, I put out both bins Monday night. Bill asked me if we were supposed to have two bins, but since they were both full, I put them out.

So, the morning rolls around and the truck comes by to pick up the recycling. I was going to go out and get the empty bins, but the truck was still there. I waited a few minutes, but they never left. I decided to just go ahead and get ready for work. After my shower, I heard noises outside. The truck was still there!! At this point, I was beginning to wonder if the collectors called the recycling police. "House with two recycling bins - get the police here fast!"

I decided just to wait it out - I didn't have to leave for work yet anyway. As I waited, I began to fear far worse things. What if a serial killer was prowling the neighborhood last night and decided to drop body parts in our bin? What if the collectors were supposed to stay and watch the house until the police arrived? OK, I was reaching. I figured that if body parts were found in a recycling bin, it would take less than 40 minutes for the police to arrive. So, I had to go ask what was going on.

It turns out that the truck had broken down. Yes, it was stalled at the end of my driveway! I am pretty darn sure that I was the only person on the street still at home who needed to go to work. Why did it have to break down so that it blocked my driveway? I had to call work to let them know I would be late. I was having a hard time believing my excuse for being late even as I saw the truck blocking my driveway. It sounds so far fetched! That's when I began to shake my head and wonder if these things only happen to me.