Unexpected

My pink rose, five days later and still lovely.

On Monday, the dreariest and wettest day of this past week, I was forced to leave the warm cocoon of my home and drive myself to my mammogram appointment with my orders for my yearly screening (sort of like an early birthday present from my doctor--ha!). I had not visited this particular imaging center before; there are dozens of them all over town and I usually choose one that I'll be near on that particular day.

I dragged myself into the imaging center. It was surprising. Tasteful decor and comfy reception room furnishings and coffee and donuts too. It even smelled pretty in there. I was tempted to take a donut while filling out my paperwork, but I fought the temptation. After I was whisked into the changing room, which was also quite nice, I was given a pink gown to wear and told to wait in an anteroom with other ladies. There were lots of magazines, TV airing 'The View' (of course) and several space heaters to keep everyone comfy-cozy while waiting. You could even text or check messages because everyone was allowed to keep their phones and purses with them.

The procedure itself is pretty quick and painless, with just a little bit of squishing-squashing to get the correct images. Honestly, I dread the idea of the mammogram more than the event itself.

After getting dressed again, I followed the exit signs back to the reception area and passed a table filled with snacks (granola bars, candy, etc.) which I thought was a nice touch, but passed on a snack to go. As I left the office, I was handed a single pink rose and thanked by the receptionist for coming.

I put the rose to my nose and inhaled deeply. Roses rarely fail to deliver their sweet scent. I was truly surprised and completely delighted by my perfect pink rose and this amazing boutique imaging center for women. I know I smiled all the way out the door of the office and into my car. I drove away under an increasingly-ominous sky with my perfect pink rose in the seat next to me, a tiny bit of joy unexpected.

Are You There Blog? It's Me, Melissa

My Lunar New Year Resolution: Blog More

I'm baaaaack! Have not blogged since last summer, and just once in memory of sweet Steve. I was too ashamed to blog, really, since my spectacularly short-lived 'Year of Living Creatively' experiment crashed and burned after 2 short weeks. (I actually started a Week 3 post, but never finished it. So much for living creatively.)

My "business" blogs suffered too. I did post several cakes last year on my Sweet Spot blog, but the Paper Dolls site was basically dormant, without a single post in 2011! Sorry!

But as always, I have been online night and day, even if I haven't updated my blog(s). I discovered that Twitter is waaay more fun than the new Facebook and the even newer Facebook Timeline. So I've logged in 268 tweets in about a year. My love-hate relationship with Facebook continued throughout. I teetered between obsessively checking it multiple times a day and not just caring about the 20, and only 20, friends that Facebook thinks I need to know about.

I read voraciously online. Anything. Everything. The Internet is the single most amazing invention in my lifetime and I honestly cannot remember what I did in my free time before it took over the world. I love that anything and everything are at my fingertips, literally. I think my screen time increases exponentially each year, frightening thought. All last year I had a smart phone, bought at Thanksgiving 2010 for our Christmas trip to Disney World because I wanted to use the Disney parks apps! I was slow to get started, but once I figured out everything you can do with the tiny computer masquerading as a phone, I was online "via phone" all the time. By Christmas 2011, I had to request an increase in my data plan allowance due to consistently going over my plan!

But I have missed blogging and sharing news, photos and stories with the few lovely souls who used to read them. So my Lunar New Year resolution (too late for the official one!) is to try to blog again! I said "try" because I'm not Yoda. I may not be able to post on all four of my blogs all the time (been there, done that, too much work!) but I hope to be here more than I was last year. Don't give up on me yet!