Taking Care of Myself

I took Kate downtown to school and then turned right around and came uptown to the doctor's office and as I strode through the shiny lobby, I caught a look at myself in the mirror and said, "Who is that woman? That woman looks incredibly pulled together with her good hair cut, chic green quilty jacket, appropriate heavy silk scarf and carrying only two small bags. Efficient and intimidating.

OMG that must be me. But I started my day at 5:15 am this morning taking the dog out in my dog walking costume which is a nightgown hidden under a coat and hoping that I have on two shoes of the same kind. I no longer use an alarm clock because mostly I can wake up without that sudden jolt of noise and start my day. But then i fixed Kate her breakfast and she didn't like the taste of the milk and so i had to do it again because maybe the milk was spoiled. And then got shot down when i suggested a quick dinner of spaghetti before her Chinese lesson when she pointed out that she has been eating spaghetti bolognese for breakast for several days. and then mys most severe critic volunteered that she didn't think I did a good job with time management.

Frankly I didn't have time to kill her -- bad planning of my time -- and so I was able to arrive at the dreaded mammogram appointment looking totally like this other woman I described...Who was she" ME! ME! ME!

The Mammogram mill was crowded as usual. I arrived at 8:00 am to get a jump on my own appointment. Please don't get me wrong because these doctors are very very efficient but it takes for ever. Please fill out the same forms you filled out last year, park your coat in a closet, allow yourself to be herded to another area when you swap your clothes for that pink robes -- open in the front, dear -- and when you are finally able to leave, they say: Checking out? Hell yes. I left at 10:00 am a full two hours after I arrived.

This year the form has a new another question in addition to the the normal age, birth date address, anything different, etc. It asks how would you like to be addressed. This year I ran into a group of 4 friends who schedule a reunion to have mammograms/sonograms/whatevergrams on the same day every year. One of them asked to be addressed as Queen. Love that. These friends have time to talk, dish about their husbands, their portfolios, their children and wait for each other to finish this marathon medical adventure. Then they all go to see Stuart.

That would be Stuart Weitzman, the shoe shop, down the street.