I met my OB/GYN specialist, Dr. Buchanan, on Thursday.  Love her.  You know how some people just immediately impress you with their presence?  She was calm, yet confident.  Knowledgeable, yet understanding.  And here's my favorite:  she is all about instant, immediate, stress-eliminating information.  She is my new best friend.  O.k., o.k., I know you want to know what she said (but I'm just saying if you need a new doc... go see her!).  What we are dealing with here is a corpus luteum.  It's actually a corpus luteum with an attitude.  (Could Miss Gulch be a more appropriate name?)  If you read the link, you know that every month one of these is created... and will go away on its own if you don't become pregnant.  And NO!  I am not pregnant... this particular cl just decided to hang out for a while and get everyone all excited.  Except for Dr. Buchanan.  Did I mention she's calm and awesome?  So... I am going back at the end of May for another exam, ultrasound, and (here's my favorite part!) a same-day/right after the ultrasound appointment with Doc B to look at my pictures and discuss it all.  Yay!  So I'm waiting again... but informed waiting I can handle.

So let's celebrate by making one of my all-time favorite things:  LEMON PUDDING.  This is one of those naturally gluten-free recipes that I've been having since I was a little kid.  Pie has been my favorite - even more than cake - for as long as I can remember.  There were many birthdays (last year, in fact!) when I had pie.  If my Mom makes it, she goes all the way and does the meringue and everything.  That's my favorite favorite, but sometimes a good bowl of pudding will do just fine.

Start out by boiling 1 1/2 cups sugar, 1 1/2 cups water, and 1/2 tsp salt in a large saucepan.  While it is heating up, prepare all the other ingredients to have at the ready... once this thing is in motion... you need to stay right with it!  What I have here is 1/2 cup water and 1/3 cup cornstarch mixed together; 3 egg yolks mixed with 1/2 cup lemon juice; and 3 tbsp butter. When the pot is boiling like this add in the cornstarch and STIR The mixture will become thick and sorta clear Take this OFF THE HEAT.  Then you want to s-l-o-w-l-y add the lemon/egg yolk mix while stirring, stirring, stirring.  And once it is all yellow and beautiful, you return it to the heat, stirring constantly until it bubbles again.  Now take it back off the heat for the last time... and add in the butter.    Keep stirring until it is all incorporated and immediately serve yourself a bowl of it.  Mmmm.  Warm Lemon Pudding.  YUM!  Another thing my Mom used to do was use a little less cornstarch and make a thinner sauce out of this and serve it over warm gingerbread.  Oh man!  Now I have to find a good GF gingerbread recipe!  Anyone have a good suggestion?

Besides the warm, sweet, tangy goodness that takes me right back to childhood... there are some things I really like about this recipe.  The first thing is that people ask me all the time... "You can't have wheat!?  What in the world do you eat!?"  And I'm sure they have visions of me eating completely bizarre foods like locusts and grass.  So this is a delicious answer.  I don't eat grass... I eat lemon pudding.  And lots of other normal foods.  And along that same vein... I can share this with all my gluten lovin' friends and they don't feel like I have sprung some funky grass-dessert on them.  This is good!  This is nomal - have some!  This recipe unites the gluten-laden with the gluten-free.  I have even promised my friend Laura a complete lemon meringue pie lesson.  So, Laura:  Here's the pudding part, you have to come over for the meringue part!

The other thing I really like about this recipe is that it creates minimal mess: That's not bad, right?  And see?  Before you know it... it's all cleaned up!

So I hope you enjoyed my little slice of childhood deliciousness... and make sure you thank my Mom for such a great recipe!

 I had surgery on Wednesday - and I was awake for the whole thing!

O.k., so you've heard me refer to the stupid lump on my head... it turns out that it's another cyst!  I first noticed it about 9 years ago while sitting on the couch watching t.v. after I had put Lea to bed.  I was rubbing my head and noticed a small lump... I figured it was just a zit in a totally bizzarre location... but after much pushing, picking, squeezing (you KNOW you would have done it, too!) it stayed firmly planted on my head.  The stupid lump.  It grew so slowly I hardly paid much attention to it.  I would remember it every now and then and try to convince it to leave... but there it stayed.  The stupid lump.  Hairdressers would ask if I knew I had a lump on my head every time I got a haircut... doctors said it was nothing to worry about and to leave it alone... but it kept growing.

So when I was getting that tune-up about a month ago now, my doc referred me to a surgeon to have him take a look at the stupid lump.  And unlike all the previous docs that came before him, he agreed that it needed to go because (and I quote), "I sure wouldn't want it on my head!"  Hey, thanks doc!  Way to make a girl feel cute!  He scheduled the surgery... and yesterday, I went to the outpatient surgery center to have the cyst removed under local anesthesia.  You know what?  It was almost a fun experience!  I loooooove medical shows - real ones on Discovery Health - not ER or Grey's Anatomy or any crap like that.  So I was the star in my own show.  It was amazing how much fuss they made over my stupid lump, but it was really cool to be awake and see what goes on, how the doctors, nurses and assistants interact, and how amazing the technology is that keeps us all healthy and well.  After about an hour and a half at the outpatient center, I was on my way home with a few stitches and a tube of antibiotic ointment.  Here is where the stupid lump used to be:

But see?  I look fine from the front!

My mom felt sorry for me and made me this awesome dinner of pot-roast and veggies:

The amazing thing is that there has been very little discomfort at all.  I haven't needed any pain medication or tylenol or anything!  I felt so good that Lea and I went to the Ferguson Center to see a live performance of Martin Short!  But I couldn't have people seeing my nasty matted hair that I'm not allowed to wash until Friday... nor did I want someone with a cold sneezing on my fresh new wound.... so I wore a hat.

I would rather look like a beach-going crazy person that have people thinking that I don't wash my hair and pick zits on my head.  You won't tell, will you?