Renderings

Rendom Thoughts

2007-07-18T04:00:00.000-07:00

is my new blog. I can't access this blog from work, so I looked into Wordpress. I really like it a lot better than blogger.

Sorry its been so long - promise to keep up and add lots of pics.

Here's the new blog:

Rendom Thoughts

The Girls at work

2007-04-23T15:09:00.000-07:00

Me and all the girls I work with spent Saturday at the Easton Shopping complex in Columbus, Oh. It's about 2 hrs west. I swear every third woman I saw was pregnant. But I had a great time. Laughed a lot, ate great food, lots of window shopping. The only thing I did buy was a case of Two Buck Chuck from Trader Joes.

Pics from Kerri's Shower

2007-04-10T11:40:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics from Kerri's shower in Baltimore last weekend. We drove down from Philly for the day. Dan went to McGurk's in Federal Hill while I attended the shower. It was at Amicci's in Little Italy. The BEST baby shower food I've ever had. House salad with the house dressing was the best italian dressing I've ever had. It was a nice shower. I actually held it together fairly well. Only teary eyed a bit. This was balanced by having to sit next to the most annoying woman. She went on and on about how she only knew Kerri a few short months, but that she was so glad, what great parent's they're going to be, blah, blah,blah. Shut UP already. By the time it got to me I just siad "How I know Kerri and Dave? I've been her friend since we were in 2nd grade". Nuff said.

Where did spring go?

2007-04-05T15:09:00.000-07:00

Here are a lovely bunch of spring photos from around our house and woods from the past week or so. It's been sunny, blue skies and pushing 80 degrees. The top two pics are from this past Tuesday. Today its been 30 something with snow squalls. What the heck? They say it will be colder for Easter than for Christmas! (quoting my friends father) Oh, I have a water bottle tucked into my shirt - not a tumor. Go WVU.

Ned's Obession with Burying Treasure

2007-04-05T15:04:00.000-07:00

At Christmas my parents got Ned a stuffed Candy Cane toy. Which he promptly ran outside with and buried that instant. We hadn't seen it since. One nice sunny evening last week, I looked over to see him gutting something. Apparently he felt it was time to bring out the Candy Cane. He did a fine job of pulling almost all the stuffing out of it. Then he realized I was watching him, so he ran back into the woods to re-bury his booty. He hasn't brought it back out since.

Surgery went OK!

2007-04-05T15:01:00.000-07:00

On the Monday after our great weekend, I had my laparoscopy. It actually included a hsyteroscope as well. The night before I woke up sobbing. I dreamt Dan left me at the hospital. I don’t know why, but I was fairly anxious about it. I wore my jammies to the hospital. Might as well be comfortable. I got checked in, changed into a gown and robe, then given a bed. They started my IV and then let D come in and sit with me until I went in. They added a sedative and some antibiotics to the IV. Oh – they had taken blood as soon as I got there to make sure I wasn’t already pregnant. So getting the sedative meant I wasn’t. Bummer. I started feeling woozy pretty quickly. Then they came to take me away, gave D a kiss and they wheeled my next door into the operating room. I told Dan it was like the opening scene from ‘Police Story” (I think I got that wrong - I mean the tv show with Leslie Neilson) I was expecting to go down a roller coaster any second. (thought that was funny) The OR was really modern. Transfer me to the table, strapped my arms down and started even more sedatives. I remember feeling confused. Then they jammed the gas mask on and the next thing I know I was waking up. I barely felt sore. I also woke straight awake. Glad for that. I felt tired, but I wasn’t groggy. I sat right up and they gave me ginger ale. I felt my belly and it hurt, but not bad. I had a feeling they weren’t in there very long. The surgery started at 9:30 and I woke up at 11ish, so it was pretty short. I got myself dressed – they said D couldn’t come back there. BS. They said the called him to get the car, so I got in a wheelchair. I have no glasses at this point. As we wheel past the waiting room, I can see his fuzzy shape in the distance - I realize he’s still in there! “hey! He’s over there, no one called him!”. Stupid nurses. So we just went to the parking garage. He told me the Dr. came out and told him that they didn’t find anything. I look perfectly normal. He took a tiny bit of endometriosis out, but it wasn’t anything. He also tried to get all the gas out. He really must have, because I haven’t had any gas pain.

I was so worried about how much pain I would be in afterwards. I got home and slept a few hours. But I told Dan, I don’t think I can sleep all day. So I read out on the deck. Both days I had off for the surgery and to recover were gorgeous. Sunny and almost 80. The second day I felt good again. So stupid me mopped the kitchen and hardwood floors and shined them. By 4pm my incision was killing me. But that’s it. As long as I take my giant Motrins I feel fine. My belly is all bloated, and it looks like they put a vacuum on me to suck out the gas. I have a big round bruise below my belly button that looks funny.

Its just a real bummer that once again I’m being told I’m perfectly normal. We go for a follow up with our local Dr next Monday, (get to see pics of my innards) then we don’t see the specialist until early May. Not sure what he’ll say next. Maybe an IUI with lots of Fert drugs? No idea. Then last night I had to shop for baby stuff for my friends shower I’m going to this Saturday. Not fun. I can’t wait to see K, so happy for her, but dread the shower. I can only do the stiff upper lip stuff for so long. Ugh. The stress and confusion. What’s worse, pretending its ok, or knowing people are trying to pretend for your sake?

Well anyways, we’re going to Philly this weekend to visit Dan’s family. We haven’t seen them since Thanksgiving. It’s been way too long and we can’t wait to see them all!!

Flowers at Phipps!

2007-04-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

View from 36th floor towards downtown

2007-04-05T14:57:00.000-07:00

Random Shots of the Nationality Rooms in the Cathedral

2007-04-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

Inside the center of the Cathedral of Learning

2007-04-05T14:51:00.000-07:00

24 Hour Mini-Break in Pittsburgh

2007-04-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

Dan and I figure out that not since our honeymoon have we actually gone away somewhere together – just the two of us alone. We’ve gone on group ski trips, family beach vacations, visited family, etc. But not alone. Just the two of us. In a hotel. We were hoping to go to Las Vegas this spring, but even if we used frequent flyer miles and hotel points, we really couldn’t afford it. So I decided I – we – needed a mini-break. I told him to keep last Saturday open, and that we’d be spending the day in Pittsburgh. Little did he know ( ha – we just watched “Stranger Than Fiction”) that I had booked us a room at the Marriot for the night. So it wasn’t just a day, it was 24 hours.

We left around 12 by the time we dropped Ned off at my parents. As we headed into town – me navigating – I said, “just head toward Magee” (the hospital we go to for fertility treatments). He looked at me and said “tower of learning!”. Yep – I told him if he guessed things correctly throughout the day that I would tell him what the surprises were as we went.

It’s actually called: University of Pittsburgh Cathedral of Learning . You can’t miss it in Pittsburgh. It’s like the Washington Monument sticking up where ever you look. So we’ve always seen it and commented on it. Figured it was high time we actually checked it out. We got a sweet parking spot right in front. The tour was $3 I think. They give you an ancient hand-held cassette tape player with a key attached to it. Oh – back up. Once inside, its just like a ancient cathedral. I’ve only been to St. Paul’s and the National in DC, and it was very similar. Big, huge arching stone walls and curved archways. Huge fireplaces, giant wooden doors with iron cross-bolts, flagstone floors. Pathetic to say I know – but very Hogwarts. And it was filled with big old tables with students studying. It actually serves as a building of classrooms and libraries. The first floor has almost 20 classrooms. Each classroom was decorated and designed by different ethnic groups that had emigrated to Pittsburgh. The college invited them to take part when the building was being constructed. So back to the tour – you get the player, a map and a key. You go around from room to room, unlocking this big old doors to see what treasure is inside each room. Each room was completely diff from the next. Scotland was great with wood beamed ceilings and benches, wood paneled walls, with big stone fireplaces and the names of famous Scots engraved throughout. Greece had marble floors and 4 huge marble columns and a round study table. The Nordic countries had pitched wooden ceilings, with lots of painted. Decorated wood, lots of flowers and natural motifs around. The best room though was China. Bright red walls, an ornate red and gold ceiling with a giant dragon on it, grey granite doorway engraved with cherry blossoms. A statue of a dog on each side of the door when you left – if you touched it and made a wish it comes true. (mine did). Dan about freaked in this room - I was taking a pic of the ceiling when he yells out ‘dharma wheel!’. Engraved in the granite under the chalkboard was indeed the dharma wheel with the ying and yang symbol in it. Freaky cool.

It took so long to go thru all of those classes that we skipped the rest on the third floor and went to the observation deck on the 36th floor. Really amazing views of Pittsburgh. It was a very pretty day as well. At one point, looking down Dan says ‘hey, is that an arboretum?’

Yep – that’s our next stop:Phipps Conservatory . Again, the parking gods were with us and we got a great spot. We were starving so we split a wrap and had a beer in the outdoor café before we started inside. It cost $9 a person. (still have a hard time paying for things like this when everything in DC was free) The spring flower show was on, so along with seeing lots of great plants, flowers and just the overall smell of spring – there were hoards of little old garden club ladies. It was really enjoyable. The desert room was my favorite. I always like the succulents. Oh, and the orchids were great. I’ve never wanted to grow them, but they were beautiful. They had a huge new addition that was a Thai forest. Spent millions on it. Actually thought it was kind of lame. You can only look at plants for so long though, and it was time to move on. Check in was anytime after 3 and it was getting close to 4.

On the way up I made Dan stop and buy a bottle of wine. I told him I had someplace special in mind to drink it. That’s where we were headed next. I’d never been to the Waterfront area. It’s a big shopping, restaurant, movieplex area. You basically get to Carson street and the South Side and keep driving up river. Its in the Homestead area. We pull into the complex and I tell him to make a right into the Courtyard by Marriot hotel parking lot. Huge surprise! He just kept driving around – he was stunned. And very happy. We checked in and I made him stand in the hall while I checked the room. I wanted to make sure we got the correct room. This was the last surprise of the weekend. I splurged and got a room with a river view and huge Jacuzzi!! Who doesn’t love a Jacuzzi?

Only problem is we almost killed ourselves right away. We both jumped in with a glass of wine. The water was so hot that after at most 15 minutes we had to get out. We were parboiled and lightheaded. My heart was coming thru my chest. Not so smart. The tubs need to come with a gauge like they have for babies – if the rubber duck turns bright pink the water is too hot.

We eventually made our way out to dinner at Cheesecake Factory. We could have tried something more adventurous, but we had a gift certificate. And the food is great. We of course had enough left over for dinner the next night. After dinner we headed to what is quickly becoming our favorite bar, Piper Pub. Only place I know I can get Strongbow cider. Yummy! While we were hanging out, I overheard the couples next to us talking and mention ‘jesuit’. I nibbed and asked if they went to WJU. They did, ‘oh, so did he – pointing to D’. So he ends up talking to two people who went to Jesuit. One of which who married a Brit and lived in England for 4 years. Lucky girl. We didn’t stay too long because we had to drive back to the hotel. I think we were asleep by midnight. How sad is that? Getting old. But sleeping in the next day with coffee, a newspaper, flatscreen tv, the river floating by, and nothing to do, was great. We need to make sure we get one of these weekends in at least once a year.

Red Stick

2007-03-28T06:25:00.000-07:00

Hello from Baton Rouge, Louisiana!

I'm in the hotel lobby killing time as my plane doesn't take off til 3:45, and its 8am. We were told we'd have morning meetings - but we didn't. And all the morning flights are sold-out. It's not worth waiting to get stand-by - because the BR airport is so small, there is nothing there if you're stuck for several hours. So after I post this, I'm heading over to Barnes and Noble to kill even more time. Get a Chai, maybe buy this months bookclub book. The way its going I'll have 600 pages killed in no-time.

It's been a great trip. Anytime I get to come down here to our corp headquarters its a great experience. They know how to host in the South.

They put us up on a Suite hotel. I had two bedrooms and a jacuzzi tub, and kitchen. Which is nice, but odd. Just seemed like expensive over kill. But the hotel is across te street from corp and has a nice, free breakfast available each morning.

The weather has been great. About 80 degrees, blue skies, and the humidty hasn't been that bad. Lots of flowers out everwhere, and littel geckos everywhere you look. I had a big albino one waiting for me on my door. Big= 3 inches. And no - didn't take my camera. I need to get a really small, cheap, pocket digital to take on trips.

The reason for the trip was to participate in a focus group to talk about our hottest product - digital billboards. They only invited about a dozen people down for it, and it was really a bit of an honor to be selected. It was just SO great to be involved in a discussion with such a great group of people, from such various backgrounds. Best part - we went off into smaller groups for a quick project, then had to present it to the larger group. I got to present - and it was just such a nice feeling to get up and talk in front of a group of people that are exctited about what you're saying and giving you feed back. Loved it - and really made up for the 8th grade fiasco. Affirming moment.

EVERYONE who works for our company, I just can't say it enough - are such good people. Anytime a group of us gets together its like a friggin family reunion. Laughs, hugs, food and drink all the time. Its just been a great work experience.

Well I need to log off - the guy sitting next to me is having printer trouble - and is about to throw his keyboard.

colossal waste of time

2007-03-22T14:40:00.000-07:00

Wow. The last time I spoke in front of a large group of people it was adults. Before that it would have been college students. Today I had to speak in front of about 60 8th graders. So prob 13-14 years old?

It was 8th Grade Career day for all of Belmont County schools. What idiot thought 13 year olds needed career guidance? arg. I got all the kids who said they were interested in "visual arts". The room they put me in was an old art gallery room. They had all the gallery lights on - so it was almost 80 degrees in the room before all the kids get in. As soon as I got a look a them I could just tell they could give two shits what I was going to say. I just ripped thru it as quick as i could - any questions? 4? good - ok - now leave. They just sat there in the overpowering heat with glazed eyes. The room smelled like old, sweaty sneakers after about 3 minutes.

Never again. I told the organizer thanks for the great speakers gift of a tote beer cooler (!) but that I wouldn't be doing it again unless it was for Juniors in High School at the youngest. I talked to two other speakers on my way out who said they had the same experience.

The BEST photo of Ned

2007-03-15T13:50:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post this. It's just the BEST photo of the World's cutest dog. Look how cute he is the way he's sitting with his tail straight out. Too bad you can't tell he probably smells like deer poop right then.

Great Storm - Bad Dreams

2007-03-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

Last night we had a great storm roll in. The temp was nice and warm - around 60, and we stood out on the deck to watch the storm approach. It was dark out, and really cloudy. The lightening was awesome! It lit up all the clouds - the entire sky. And some of it was really thick lightening, not just the skinny scraggly kind. We started counting the blasts against the thunder to track it as it got closer. You could start to see the rain down in the valley approaching. Then it got really loud. D said 'that's HAIL'. I was actually afraid it might have been a tornado - they always say it sounds like a train. We ducked inside just as the hail started pelting down. Most of it was about the size of a nickel - so pretty big. But it didn't last for long. It just turned into a huge downpouring rainstorm that lasted all night. Our hill road was not in good shape because of it. A lot of wash-out occured. Which means we really need a road crew meeting soon.

After working out, doing laundry and watching LOST (great episode bwt) I fell right asleep when I went to bed. Only to wake up around 3 crying from an awful dream. Yesterday day at work I found out a girl who works in one of our Missouri plants husband was killed in a car wreck over the weekend. He was 35. I had met her at last year's conference and really liked her. Talked to her alot and swapped a lot of emails with her about movies, etc. She always talked about having fun with her husband, just got the impression they were a good couple together. I just felt awful for her. It was really upsetting. I just kept thinking about what I would do I anything happend to D. It was just a horrible train of thought I couldn't break out of. So later, I had an awful dream. I was in the hospital and they kept telling me he had died. But I couldn't see him to get proof. (It didn't help that on LOST they had a hospital scene) But the dream just kept on and on and everyone kept telling me the same thing, but I couldn't get to him. It was just awful. I had to kick Ned out of the way so I could hug D while I fell back to sleep. I need to have a good nights sleep tonight. I hate it when I have upsetting dreams because they always seem so real!

Words

2007-03-14T12:17:00.000-07:00

I was just thinking about this, because I used this word again and realized I use it alot somehow... "Procreate". I like this word. And not just because of the whole fertility thing.

My favorite curse word is "Clusterf*ck" because it usually describes a situation of great annoyance pretty accurately.

The word I hate the most - 'empowerment'. Hearing it makes me cringe. It's over used and something about hearing women say it or use it in a sentence like "kick-boxing gives me a feeling of great empowerment" blech.

Another word I like is "t-shirt"
1) because it has a childhood connotation for me and 2) I just bought four new 'fun' t-shirts at Old Navy. Gotta love a $4 t-shirt made in Peru.

this wknd

2007-03-11T20:44:00.000-07:00

I've lived here three years and only just now found a new trail to hike, and its the best one yet! I've heard neighbors mention it, but I could never findit. D told me where he thought it was, and today - it was so sunny and nice out, in the 60's - that Ned and I took a long hike and found it. It's nice because the two trails we usually hike are either the old farm road or the gas line. this new one is actually a trail thru the woods. It was very pretty, very quiet. Ned went off three times after deer or bunnies. I just hung out and relaxed and enjoyed the woods and waited, blowing the whistle every so often, until he ran back. He's so good, he always comes back. It was just so nice and sunny and warm out. Nice to walk out in the woods. A few hours later we took another walk with D out the gas line. I don't know how Ned has that much energy - the dog just keeps running!

I cooked alot this weekend. Sunday I made Cashew Chicken (new dish for me) and Saturday I made a big curry. Later Saturday we met friends and their kids out to go bowling. We had a great time. I stink at bowling, but I really want to do well. The ball kept scraping the skin off my thumb when I threw it. Gave me a blister. I didn't do too badly, but still - glad our friends brought their kids, so we had an excuse to use the bumpers heehee.

Friday we went to a party at a friends house. She used to work with D, and her husband still does. She's the kind of person that I get along with so well, and I think we both realize we have the potential to be really good friends, but she's really busy with finishing her degree, and they're little boy has been diagnosed with autism, so she doesn't have much free time. She's very cool though - I really like her.

Along the friends line - looking forward to Kerri and her husband coming to visit next weekend. It will be nice to have them here and get to see her and catch up. My other friend Jodi got to get away for the weekend and visit her best friend in Seattle. I'm so happy she got to get away and have fun. Very jealous, I'm sure Seattle was great! and she needed some time for herself. I can't wait to hear about her trip. I also still miss Gitte. I has a dream about them moving all over again. It was pretty said. Funny thing is D said he had a similar dream last week. I just think about them and the trip over a lot. They leave today for SA for a month. I hope I hear from them while they're down there. My friend in Roanoke's plans for adopting from Vietnam are moving along so well that we've started planning a baby shower for her. Very excited for them.

Other than all that, I repotted some plants, paid bills and re-did my budget this weekend. Not terribly exciting. Its midnight and I'm posting - which means the time change - daylight savings Spring forward - has my internal clock all messed up. I''m up and wired. But then after a few days of posting, I'll probably go dormant again and not post for weeks.

Bad Magic

2007-03-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

Ugh. We rented "The Prestige" Sunday night. We hadn't rented a good movie in a while and I was really looking forward to watching something really enjoyable. We almost got "The Departed" but neither of us were in the mood for that much death. I can' t remember the name of the other movie we wanted to get, but its the one with Will Ferrell and he hears Emma Thompson's voice as she writes his story. We should have picked either of those two over "The Prestige". It wasn't that good at all. I figured the entire movie out about a half an hour into it. It wasn't that hard. I'm trying to think of the last time a movie really threw me a curve that blew me away - that I couldn't see coming. Probably "Fght Club" or "Mmento" ? I love figuring out puzzles, but you don't want to figure out a movie that soon, then sit thru the rest of it while they unveil it to you. The acting was pretty bad as well. I can def say I have the hots for Wolverine, but as soon as Hugh Jackman takes off the scruffy beard, he loses all appeal. I do like Christian Bale and Michael Cain, but the script was just bad.

We did rent "The Illusionist" a few weeks ago and really enjoyed that. It kept you intrigued, the acting by Ed Norton was pretty good, and the way it was filmed helped add to the the interest of the film. Of the two magician movies it was much better.

I'm trying to think of the last few movies we've seen or rented, but can't think of any. We went and saw "Casino Royale" after Christmas, and we both thought it was great. I didn't like the Bond girl though, D did. But I honestly can't think of anything else we've rented or watched - so nothing has really made an impression. Oh wait - I saw "Happy Feet" if that counts.

Movies I'mlooking forward to: Pan's Labyrinth. Too cool to come to our local theater. Are you kidding - subtitles? No way anyone here would watch it. And by the same director - really psyched they've started filming "Hellboy 2" with the entire cast returning. Love that movie. We still need to rent "Babel" and "the Queen" when it comes out. That's one thing about my surgery - I''m going to make a list of movies I want to watch that D wouldn't be interested in to watch as I recover. (I'll probably end up watching reruns of CSI and Star Trek NG).

80 20 Rule

2007-03-09T12:21:00.000-08:00

If you google the 80 / 20 Rule, you'll find tons of information. Most of it applying this rule to business, marketing and software development.

I don't know where I first heard of it, but it has always stuck with me. I think it might have been when I learned about the Golden Ratio? Not sure. Anyways - this is a weird bit of sharing. But the 80 20 rule is one of those constant things that runs thru my head. Like a bad song. Not everyday, but close to it.

I think of it almost every morning when i get ready for work. I wear 20% of my clothing, 80% of the time. It applies to a lot of my daily life when I break it down...

I cook 20% of the dishes I know how to make - 80% of the time.
We eat out or go to 20% of the restaurants/pubs we know of - 80% of the time.
I call or email 20% of the friends I have - 80% of the time.
I watch the same 20% of the tv channels available - 80% of the time.
I don't think websurfing applies, because there are so many - but I read the same sites often - it probably applies somehow.

I'm sure there are more applications to my daily life. That's really all I had to say about it. Just sharing an oddity I guess.

The Monkey's off my back

2007-03-09T11:09:00.000-08:00

Here are two pics of the wall hanging I've been working on FOREVER. If I actually added up the hours I worked on it - it probably would have only taken me about 2 weeks to complete if I had just sat and finished it. But I only worked on it in spurts, so it dragged out over almost three years. It started as wanting to create something for my friends kids to hang in their room, that they could take with them. They usually move around a lot and needed something decorative and mobile.

I ended up being really pleased with the final results. And everyone has made such a fuss over it, that I'm going to do two more this spring - smaller wall hangings, and actually get them done quickly. I was thinking about trying to get several done - maybe 6-10 different scenes, and maybe creating a website to see if I get any nibbles. Apparently parents buy stuff like this for kids rooms and people charge a fortune for it. The next design is going to be a tall, skinny design of a cross-section of the ocean, showing all the sea life, for yet another friends nursery. I'll keep you updated on how this goes.

NED!

2007-03-09T11:07:00.000-08:00

Here are a bunch of pics of Ned, the World's Cutest Beagle, starting with this embarassing shot at Christmas.

The men in my life

2007-03-09T11:06:00.000-08:00

napping ned

2007-03-09T11:04:00.000-08:00

world's cutest dog

2007-03-09T11:00:00.000-08:00

We've been keeping his hunting collar on him. It looks kinda red-neck, but it makes it so much easier to see him in the woods. This was taken when we had a snow-day a few weeks ago and we all got to go home early.

Baton Rouge bound

2007-03-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

I found out last week I've been asked to take part in a small focus group at our Corporate HQ in Baton Rouge later this month. Apparently only a few people were asked. It's kind of an honor. Pretty excited about it. But then I like getting to travel anywhere I can. Rack up those frequent flyer miles and hotel points. I go at the end of the month right before my surgery.

Interesting stuff i've read lately

2007-03-09T09:30:00.000-08:00

My favorite Geico cavemen are getting their own TV show. It will be awful.

I listen to PRI's 'The World' every evening on the radio. When I miss it, I catch up and listen at work. Here's an interesting article I listened to today. It's one of those things that seems very interesting to me, esp. since my friend is from SA, but I have not idea what to think about it. Whether it's a good thing or bad thing. Nice song though, even though I don't understand the words.

I really like Eddie Izzard. He's also starring in a new tv show on FX called "The Riches". I hope its good - it looks like it could be.

I love any story about Giant Squid.

This is the kind of story I stumble upon - and shouldn't read. I've now had a bad dream about it.

backlog

2007-02-27T08:44:00.000-08:00

This is how long it's been since I've posted....I almost forgot my password. Life has just been busy so far in 2007. I have so many pictures and stories to post, it'll be Easter before I post Christmas. Literally.

So what have we been doing?

• out of nowhere I've received alot of freelance work
• my mom's been sick and in the hospital for about a week
• my dad's had some tests run
• went to DC for a long weekend with my Dad to sightsee, Air and Space, the Mall, etc
• visited our friends in DC two weekends in a row to help see them off as they move back to the UK
• finished painting a wall hanging for said friends kids that I've dragged out over 3 years to finish (would've taken 2 weeks if I had just sat and done it)
• work has been busy and will be getting busier as we add new products to our inventory
• finally went to the Fertility Clinic in Pittsburgh, had the initial meeting and we've both had all new tests done, now we have to wait a month to be able to get in to see the Dr. for the results.
• spent a lot of time creeping up and down our hill as winter finally really showed up and made driving hazardous for days. Plus it's been freezing, burned almost all of our woodpile
• started bookclub for the year and had 2 great meetings so far
• hosted a Body Shop party and scored a ton of free products - highly recommend doing this

There's more, but I can't remember all of it - cuz its been so long. I need to fit this in a bit more often.

A low-key New Year's

2007-01-01T09:21:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a long hike out the farm road with Ned. It's a grey, windy day that keeps looking like its going to rain. So far it hasn't. We had a really good walk. We've been training Ned to come to a whistle. We got what is supposed to be a really good 'dog' whistle from Cabela's. (the second time i've ever been in there. The guy working the hunting dog dept. - yes it has it's own department - came over and asked what kind of dog I was training. When I said 'beagle' you could see his interest drop by half, then when I said we don't hunt with him, he just walked away. Sorry I don't own a retriever - jeesh) It's a bright hunter orange whistle and supposedly you should use it with caution around human ears. We've done very little actual 'training' with it. We just started blowing it three quick blasts. He came running to see what the sound was, and we gave him a piece of salami. To him this is like caviar. It's stinky, salty and tastes wonderful. Ever since then, he just seemed to take to the whistle. It's pretty awesome to be out in the woods, let him wander off for awhile, then blow the whistle three times and see him come flying out of the woods or brush. The only time it seems not to work is if he is really seriously on the trail of something. If he has a fresh scent trail, nothing will get him off of it. Those are the times he comes home when he's good and ready. The whistle works about 80% of the time so far. I just think it's really cool. Sometimes you blow it and just have to wait awhile. He might be pretty far away and it takes him sometime to get back to you. But you can usually hear him coming.

This morning's walk was a good start to the New Year. I woke up feeling anxious, like I needed to be doing something. Getting out for a walk helped. Except now I'm not sure what I'm doing this last day of my vacation. I could: pick the turkey caracass apart and get it ready to make turkey noodle soup, work on painting my mural, vacuum, do yoga, cook something, iron, or watch a movie. What to do what to do....or I could continue to procrastinate and post this blog...
W
I could tell you what we ended up doing last night! I had dinner with my parents - pork loin, mashed potatos, suarkraut (spelled?) and gravy. Very yummy. Then met Dan back at home. He was watching the Eagles win (thank god) at the local dive wing bar. We had planned on watching movies, maybe playing some darts, and just sitting around drinking and staying in. But a friend called and said she was having some people over until 9 and that we should stop by. We had thought this group of friends was going to Michigan for New years, but that fell thru for them. I knew Dan wanted to get out, so we stopped by for awhile. I'm glad we went, it was fun. She served a Belgian, rasberry lambec that was really yummy! I usually don't like raspberry OR sweet drinks, but it was very ephervescent (sp?) and different.

The idea was that the crowd was going to leave around 9pm to go to a party at a cabin up at Oglebay park. I didn't want to go. Just wanted to finish the night at home with Dan. But we got talked into going for awhile. Apparently the party was being hosted by a guy we vaguely know, but others in the party knew well? When we got there it was POURING rain. They had lined the road leading to the cabin with luminaria. It wasn't a big cabin, and when we walked in it was packed. It was catered. White table linens, gourmet food set out buffet style. Cabin filled with family. The 'we have so much money we dont work and are borderline crunchy granola in really expensive outdoor clothing old school wheeling type of way' family. They own half of Wheeling. Don't get me wrong, they're really cool people, it's just I immediately got the impression that someone in our group had heard that a party was being thrown and assumed it was a kegger, band, everyone hang out party. Uh no. It was obviously a family/close-friends kind of thing. I looked at Dan and said we need to get out of here. Another girl in our party felt the same way I did and she made the move to leave as well. When we left I don't know if the rest of the group stayed or not. I was glad to get home though. We cooked up some snacks and went downstairs to play darts. By the time we finished it was almost midnight. We popped the champagne and had a toast to "us" this year. We then started calling all our friends to wish them well. We also stood out on the deck and watched as several homes up and down the river set off fireworks. I love champagne and had a few glasses more. Dan started to nod off, and we were probably asleep by 1am. It was a nice night. Just what I wanted for New Year's this year. Here's to hoping for a good 2007!

Julie's Suet Recipe

2007-01-01T09:18:00.000-08:00

This is the recipe for suet that Julie Z posted on her blog. My dad was looking for it. I haven't made it yet. I want to try it soon though. Hoping it might bring in a new variety of birds. Although we do have one new addition - a brown creeper has been at our feeder tree the past few days.

1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup lard, 2 cups quick oats, 2 cups yellow cornmeal, 1 cup flour

Goodbye 2006

2006-12-31T12:04:00.000-08:00

This morning we took our last hike out the access road for 2006. I'm having a bit of trouble with today. This is why I'm actually glad we're staying in tonight and celebrating quietly with a bottle of champagne, some snacks, a little Yahtzee and Ned. I know I'm supposed to be happy and looking forward to the New Year and a blank slate. But the thing about New Years Eve, is it's starting to become the night we continually make a toast and say "this is the year of making a baby". Again. and again. 2007 is the year I turn 37. I hate that. The age of 36 has come and gone, 4 IUI's and emotional exhaustion later and still no baby. And 36 is 'the year' everyone makes a big deal about. Plus I know that 2007 is going to be the year of fertility clinics, lots of emotional ups and downs, financial worry and baby worry. Woofriggin hoo. I should be excited, but its a bit more like dread. I could also be suffering post event disorder, everything is quiet after Christmas, so I'm being all dreary. Plus its cold and rainy now. So to get it in perspective, I'll do some lists:

Events from 2006:
4 failed IUIs
We lost April
But we gained Ned
I started Accupuncture
We had a great Christmas
we traveled a lot for our summer vacation
we spend a lot of time with friends
we spent a lot of time around our house and garden
we found out our friends are moving back to England
but we found out our friends in England are getting married this year in the states!
Dan started a new position
I seem to be getting more freelance gigs

Things to look forward to in 2007:
Ned gets nuetered - good for us, bad for him
We're supposed to go on a trip in March to Vegas or California, just the 2 of us
Starting working with a fertility clinic & getting pregnant
Maybe visiting our friends in England in spring/summer
A big wedding of our friends in the Fall
Another big year of gardening
Hopefully bookclub keeps going
Finding a new yoga instructor or organizing my own class

I have a feeling if I was in a happier mood, I'd have more good things to look forward do. Right now I'm kinda just looking forward to this evening being over. But also looking forward to probably getting good and drunk with my husband.

Oh, and I do have one New Year's Resolution: to cuss less.

Picture Posting problems

2006-12-31T11:55:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to post my Christmas pics, but having difficulty. I'm on Dan's work laptop with a phone card, and the connection speed doesn't seem to be good enough for uploading pics to blogger. I keep trying, but it will have to wait till I get back to work next week. I have a bunch of great ones to post!

Dan with Pia and Ned (Neddy)

2006-12-31T11:43:00.000-08:00

Best Christmas Ever

2006-12-31T11:17:00.000-08:00

Christmas has come and gone. Our house is now quiet, all of our guests have gone home. I had really high expectations for this Christmas: it was our first actually celebrating in our house, not traveling away to visit, the first time in many years to get to celebrate with my parents, and our friends Greg and Gitte and their children were spending it with us.

My OCD kicked into high gear about two weeks prior. We had the house decked out this year! More lights outside than we've ever had - which doesn't mean it was tacky, just that we actually had some. We made a huge wreath for the side of the house (which Ned freaked out about and barked at for a few days) and had lights all around our deck. We got the BIGGEST tree we've ever had - 10 foot! Frasier fir. Also the prettiest tree we've ever had. Even had to buy more balls it was so big we needed more ornaments! We also had to make our table bigger. Our tiny 4 seater from IKEA just doesn't hack it for entertaining. I took one of the bad doors from the remodeled back room and taped it to the dining room table. Then covered it with our good holiday tablecloth - it looked great! really - you couldn't tell. It was nice to actually have room on the table and not be eating touching elbows.

We had a few parties, Friday before Christmas we had a nice get together - about 20 people. Very mixed crowd. You always end up having to entertain the odd balls, and not getting to actually hang out with the people you wanted to. But it was a good time. Dan got a keg a Yuengling in for it. Always nice to have good beer easily accesible for the holidays. After Christmas we had a small gathering as well. Jodi and Neeta came over. Which means I was in heaven. I had four of my closest girlfriends in the same room at once. The only thing they all have in common is me, but they all get along great. I got a great photo taken of us all that I'll post.

Saturday G&G came in. I was so looking forward to just spending as much time with them as possible. Dreading them moving back to England in the spring. I think my parents were also looking forward to seeing them and their kids. I think they had a great time. I just really wanted to give them a great last Christmas in the states to remember. I think we succeeded. We had so much food in the house it was ridiculous. I finally broke my fertility diet and ate my weight in cheese!! mmmmmcheeeeese!

We had Christmas dinner Christmas eve, this way Christmas day was just spent relaxing, eating and napping. Christmas day it took us 2 full hours to open all the presents. G&G brought a lot from relatives, and my parents went way over board this year and bought us way too much. Dan's big gift this year was a huge shop vac. He loved it. Ned made out as well, he got lots of chew toys in his stocking. I was a pretty lucky girl myself. Dan seriously made up for zilching on my birthday. He got me a pair of Frye Boots. I've been wanting a pair for years, and just assumed it would be awhile before I ever got a pair. They're the kind of thing you have forever. They're prefect too, plain, brown, tall, square toed cowboy boots. I love them! I also got "Donnie Darko", lots of stocking stuffers, a cool shirt from Australia, jammies and a sweater. Not bad. But to be honest, I just loved having my house full of family and friends. I loved it loud and chaotic and messy. As OCD as I am about cleaning and pickingup after everone, and as exhausting hosting is, I hate it when everyone leaves and the house is quiet again. Christmas is when I wish we had kids, especially to pass traditions down to. This Christmas my best gift was spending it with everyone I love.

Are you gonna let me out or what?

2006-12-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

Neddy Boy

2006-12-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

I haven't talked about Ned much lately. He's been so good lately. He just has such a funny little personality. He's all grown now. After the holidays he needs to go and get snipped. We - I - keep putting it off, but it needs done now. I don't want him out making babies.

We've just about quit using his crate altogether. He hates it. It's the only place in the house he'll make a mess or have an accident. He sleeps with us at night now. HUGE mistake on my part, but at least he doesn't have an accident in the night now. We've kept him in the kitchen during the day a few times, and he's been an angel. Doesn't even get into the garbage. So I think that's it for the crate. Probably put it in the basement when we finish cleaning this week.

He's taken to burying things. It's his mission. Last night I couldn't find one of my slippers. Eventually found it when I went to bed - under the pillows. He buries things in corners, under beds, under blankets, in the dirty clothes basket, in closets. It's really funny to watch him. Used to he would let you watch, but now he's just like April, if he sees you watching him bury something, he picks it back up and moves it somewhere else. He has stuff buried all along the side of the house in the mulch. I think he goes out and checks it every morning.

He's also incredibly chicken-shit. Anything new - that wasn't there (anywhere) 5 minutes ago needs howled at. He freaked when D out a spot light in the yard to uplight our wreath. First he barked at the light, then he stood and howled at the wreath itself. D cut up some fallen trees at the edge of our yard, Ned flipped out and went and howled at them. He hates the laundry baskets. He was in the basement once when one of us rolled one down the steps, he's hated them ever since. Slinks out of the room when we fold clothes.

He licks. A lot. He licks so much he gets lazy and stops mid-lick with his tongue still on you, stuck on you, then he gradually pulls his tongue off. He likes to sleep on your head. Like right across your face or neck. You have to roll him off.

We took him to Roanoke with us and he had a great time with the dogs there. Here are a few pics of Ned from the trip....

37 days is the apparent limit

2006-12-14T07:55:00.000-08:00

Kind of having a miserable day today. My cycles are all messed up. Last month it was a 21 day cycle, this month it was 37 days. When we decided to just drop everything and try to quit worrying about getting pregnant, we also figured I should get off of the glucophage. I was only on it to begin with because the Dr. thought 'might as well'. I guess between being off that and my accupuncture, my hormones are out of synch. What sucks though is when 32 days went by with no sign, we took a test. It was negative, which we pretty much expected. But then yesterday was 36 days and still nothing. We thought there might be a chance we tested too early, so we were going to test again this weekend. Until I got my period this morning. Day 37. Sucks. I knew I wasn't pregnant, it's just it sucks when your body decides to f with you. I was really looking forward to all the money I was going to save at Christmas this year in presents. Everyone was just going to get a gift box with a note inside that said we were pregnant. Now I actually have to buy gifts...grrrrr.... hate to shop.

And I had been putting off calling the clinics this month. I'll start calling later to have them send info. We're comparing Columbus to Pittsburgh.

Oh well. At least we know now for this month and can get on with shopping, decorating and celebrating Christmas. I'm really, really, really looking forward to it this year with our friends coming to stay with us and my parents coming up and being with them as well this year. And as usuall, getting my period means I get to drink a nice big glass of wine tonight.

Christmas Scent Bags

2006-12-14T07:51:00.000-08:00

I hand these out to just about everyone at Christmas:

1 Gift bag
1 ziplock baggie
1 orange
1 apple
1 lemon
3 bay leaves
3 cinnamon sticks
1/4 cup whole cloves

Spices in the baggie, everything in the gift bag. Make a recipe tag and attach to the bag with pretty ribbon.

Recipe:
Fill a quart size pan with water and set to simmer on your stovetop. Throw in all the spices and half of each fruit. Just let is sit there and simmer and your house will smell like Christmas. You can add a bit of water to it as it boils down. Careful not to scorch the pot.

My Christmas Traditions

2006-12-14T07:34:00.000-08:00

D has been out of town for a few nights, so I've been decorating the house for Christmas this week in the evenings. Last night I followed up on one of my favorite Christmas traditions - watching "White Christmas". I usually watch it by myself as D can barely take old movies - but that's ok. I watched it last night while I finished stringing cranberries on floral wire for the tree garland. SIX bags of cranberries later it's finished, and looks great. Anyways, watching that movie always makes me feel good and gets me in the holiday spirit. I love old movies and how elegant and polite people seemed to be back then. Although I'd hate to do it myself everday, I loved how women wore skirts and gloves and hats. And everyone knew how to dance. I'd love to have a party, just once, where everyone came 'dressed' not just jeans, sweaters and a six-pack of OM. But I'm rambling....the thought was having watched the movie was one of my traditions. I have a lot of them that seem to be just 'mine'. One of the things that makes me want kids is to be able to pass them along. I thought I'd list out some of them that I can think of.

• tree garland - stringing either popcorn or cranberries while watching a holiday movie
• always have christmas candles burning
• put out the nativity set my grandmother Huggins made us
• hang all my old childhood ornaments along with new ones
• open one gift Christmas eve
• always do stockings
• stockings should have those little foil wrapped chocolate santas in them (my mom did that)
• Hide the christmas pickle ornament in the tree (got that from my friend Gretchen's family)
• make a huge breakfast Christmas morning
• the dog always gets a stocking and a bunch of bones
• take time Christmas day to relax and read a book for a bit in front of the tree
• make Baklava, oyster crackers and mom's cheeseball
• hang jingle bells on the front door
• somewhere you always have to use the big colorful outdoor lights from the 70's because my dad always did and to me that's christmas
• mulled wine
• make Christmas scent bags to hand out to just about everyone

That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure there's more!

Getting ready for Christmas

2006-12-11T09:36:00.000-08:00

After traveling the past two weekends, it was so nice to wake up in our own bed this Sat. But it doesn't mean we had a relaxing weekend.

My office holiday party was Friday night. It was great this year. The place, the food, everything was really good. Last year we started making it a casual event, and everyone seems to have so much more fun that way. This year before we all swapped Secret Santa gifts, we all played Christmas pictionary, which was hilarious. Esp. when people really can't draw. Someone had to draw a 'fruitcake" and ended up drawing something that looked like a dead brown chicken with its feet in the air. The feet turned out to be 'candles'. After the party we had a few drinks at Wilson Lodge with a few people who stayed - we had a good time.

Saturday and Sunday though we took a beating. We spent Saturday shopping for stuff for the house - outdoor decorations mainly. We also got the tree Saturday. We went someplace different this year. I was tired of paying way too much(for trees I didn't even like) from the place we'd been going - Fisely's - even if it was a family tradition. So this year we went to another, smaller, locally owned tree farm and ended up with a 10' Frasier fir. This tree is perfect. Not only is it the largest tree we've ever had, it's the prettiest. It's gigantic. We had to buy more lights. We have cathedral ceilings, and had to put it on the high end this year. Usually we only get about a 6' tree. So far we've only got it in the stand and in the house. Both going much easier than in past years.

Tonight we're going to put the lights on it and decorate it. That just leaves a few decorations around the house and we're done. Oh, I didn't mention the outside work we did.

After we bought everything Saturday, we spent Sunday putting up lights. Usually we don't do much - this year it looks great! Very Christmassy (is that a word?) We like to call the house a Christmas Mullet = party in the back, classy in the front. In the front we made a huge, gorgeous wreath that is on the side of the garage as you drive up to the house. It has a spotlight on it. Then we have two small 3' trees in the pots on either side of the garage door, with lights framing the garage. Then on the front porch we have another small lit tree and a wreath. I may add lights around the door if I have time. Everything out front is white lights and elegant. In the back we ran the old-fashioned big, mulit-colored outdoor lights from the 70's around the deck. I love it because you can see the lights on the deck from just about anyroom in the house through the windows. Its all getting very festive.

After we got all that done, we vacuumed, scrubbed and polished the great room. We still have the kitchen floor to do. And I need to clean the bedrooms and bathrooms - but I'll get those done this week. Dan's going away a few nights, so i'll keep busy doing the drudgery.

It's next weekend that will be awful. We've had to wait til the last weekend before Christmas to do our shopping. ugh. We're going to Robinson in Pittsburgh, and I want to get there early, so we can get as much done as we can before we're tire and grumpy, then hit a bar for a few drinks before we go back out and finish up. I just know the traffic will be horrible.

Roanoke

2006-12-11T09:30:00.000-08:00

This is the view looking down at Roanoke from the Valhalla winery. A few weekends ago we visited our friends Lee and Jon who live in Roanoke. We hit the winery for a few hours that Saturday. It was a small winery, but very good. We did a small wine tasting, then split a bottle and cille dout, enjoying the view.
We had a really good visit. We took Ned with us, and he spent the entire time wrestling with their three dogs. They have Guiness -a black lab - the Alpha dog who didn't really play, just air-humped Ned now and then to put him in his place; Brody - a golden lab, who didn't really like Ned until the last day, and Sampson, the Dalmation who loved Ned. Those two would not rest, they wrestled or raced or played tug of war without stopping. Ned was soaking wet the entire time from the bigger dogs putting their mouths around him. Little Ned has a lot of spunk which I love - he just kept dishing it out to the big dogs.

2006-12-11T09:27:00.000-08:00

The winery had a nice outdoor patio with a fireplace, lots of chairs. We lucked out and got there on a really sunny day so we could hangout in the sunshine and enjoy the wine.

View out over Roanoke from the winery

2006-12-11T09:26:00.000-08:00

2006-12-11T09:25:00.000-08:00

Hello December

2006-12-01T07:30:00.000-08:00

where did November go? I've either been busy or not interested in posting lately. Here's what's up in life in a brief, bulleted overview:

• for no reason I have the song 'Birthday" (Bjork/Sugarcubes) in my head. I had this on tape. I really like her voice and one of these days I want to get the soundtrack to the weird indy flick she was in

• been in a really good mood. Due primarily to saying "fuck it" for awhile to the fertility stuff. (again) Had a bit of an emtotional breakdown mid-November. Our 4th IUI didn't take, and had this feelingof let's hurry up and just get another one done. Brokedown, re-thought it. Decided to take a few months off of thinking about it at all. Also what my accupunturist told me to do. Still staying on my no wheat/sugar/dairy diet - but did take up drinking again. I missed the red wine. Made up for it over Thanksgiving.

• skipping the local Dr. and will be researching whether to go to Ohio State University in Columbus or Magee Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh for a Reproductive Endocrinologist.

• Thanksgiving in Philly was great! Had very relaxing days with D's family. His mom had so much food it kept falling out of the fridge. She fed us well! Played street hocky with the kids and went to see "Happy Feet". Baba - it was as cute as it looks in the previews. Great upbeat soundtrack as well.

• highlight of holiday was my brother-in-law hooking us up with free tickets to see The Who. I've always wanted to see them. Had a huge crush on Daltrey in High School. Had a few of his less then great solo albums. Damn he's still hot for a 60-something. But they sounded great. And really friggin loud! great stage show/graphics as well. Heard all the songs I wanted to hear.

• Little Ned is doing great. gave up on crating him at night. He now sleeps in bed with us. He never has an accident when he sleeps with us - but always pees in his crate at night. He hates it I think. He got a bath at 10 pm last night. Was covered in deer poop. Roll alllllll around in it. gross.

• going to Roanoke this wknd to visit Lee and Jon. Saw them last at 4th of July. They're in the process of adopting a little girl f/ China. I'll have to find their blog and link it at some point. Really looking forward to visiting, just wish it wasn't another 5 hour drive. But it will be fun. They have a city market square that is very European and is filled with people, shops, lots going on. They do a "Dickens" of a Christmas with Mulled wine stands, chestnuts roasting, etc. should be cool.

• as soon as we get back I've got to clean the house for Christmas and start decorating. And we'll get our tree next week as well. And shop. Not sure what I'm going to do about holiday food this year. I can eat a cheeseball by myself usually. Going to be hard to avoid dairy and wheat for awhile. I'll just drink more wine....

• planning on starting an offical office in the house first of the year for a freelance business for myself. I've been getting more and more work lately and got a permanent gig that will be a nice steady side income. Might as well get all the tax breaks we can from it.

• Pics - have a bunch to post - just haven't been inspired to. Maybe i will when we get back from Virginia.

• this time last year I was excited and getting ready for my trip to England. I would love to be able to go there around Christmas every year. Can't wait til we go this year - just not sure when. Late spring early summer hopefully.

So there's the update!

zziiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnngggggggggg

2006-10-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

Whoa!
Just got back from my second visit to the accupuncturist. (that is such a long, hard word to type) This time I layed on my back. One in my head, two in each wrist, one in each ankle, one in each foot arch, & in-between the toes - but then she put three in a line down from my belly-button to above my pubic bone. whoa. As soon as she put the first one in I felt something like an electric pulse shoot out of my belly down my left leg. Then the next two the same strong electric pulse, but it felt like I had to pee. TMI - sorry. But it really felt like it was doing something. Weird, warm feeling. Then when she came in to twist the needles "to stimulate them" the same weird pulsing feeling. The one in my left arch still tingles. She said it was good - that was the sensation she was looking to achieve.

She also talked a bit more about an article she just read from Germany. More and more practices, including Pittsburgh, are incorporating Accupuncture with their IVF treatments. It's increasing the success rates about 20%. That's a lot. Especially when you consider how cheap AP (there, that's easier) is compared to IVF. Might as well do anything to make it work. We're not doing IVF, but it can't do anything but help our IUI's.

I don't know if it has anything to do with it, but I am really hungry right now. And I already ate lunch. Oh, and I've got the little dots again. This time in my right ear. A bit harder to deal with as that's my phone ear. Have to remember to switch ears to use the phone.

This whole trip to try and get pregnant just gets stranger and stranger. I've also eliminated dairy products and wheat. And most alcohol except a bit of red wine on the weekends. As much as I love cheese, I miss the alcohol more. But it's really not that hard to give up. When ever I think about wanting something, I just think about all the time & money I've/we've spent trying, then it's easy to turn away from the giant glass of cabernet.

Can't Wait for this Wedding!

2006-10-19T11:52:00.000-07:00

I just got an email today from our friends in Devon, UK.
They're getting married about a year from now in Pennsylvania, where she's from. The Deleware Water Gap area. (beautiful there - it's in the Pocono Mts) They set up this really cheesy - she said it not me - wedding website that is actually great! Seeing all the pics in the photo album, just make me realize and remember how much freakin fun it always is to be around these two, and what great friends they have. Their wedding is going to be so much fun. We're all renting cabins at the resort, which should be beautiful in the fall. I'll get to see her this Christmas, and we're planning on going over to visit them this summer.

1st visit to the Accupuncurist

2006-10-16T09:12:00.000-07:00

So I went to the accupuncturist for my first appointment this morning. It went really well. (I guess, considering I've never been) Met the Dr. Very nice. She's from China, has an accent, but not strong. We got along very well. She was super sweet. We talked about everything I've been doing. She seemed to focus on the fact that I was on the Pill for over 10 years. That my body's never got back to a healthy norm after that. She said she's had about 10 women come in for Fertility problems - 6 of which got pregnant. Several had already done IUI's and IVF.

She went over all the notes I had to fill out, then looked at my tongue (said it looked good) then asked if I liked cold or hot foods, and took my pulse, several times from both wrists. Then came the needles. For this first time I layed on my stomach. I had 17 - 20 needles I'd say. She started with one on the top of my head. She said to help my stress. (I'm thinking it better be a huge needle.) As she went along she would ask each time if it hurt. I couldn't feel them go in - except for one on my back that really pinched. After a few minutes it went away. Even the ones she put between my toes didn't hurt. I layed there for aboiut 10 minutes with a heating lamp on me. Then she came in and I guess twisted the needles - said she was stimulating them. She did that one more time. It didn't hurt. Then she came in and showed me what she was going to do next. She had what looked like a packet of gum, the sealed kind you pop out, but instead of gum it looked like individual packaged round seeds. Smaller than a bb pellet. She peeled each one off and stuck it in my ear. She said to tell her when it was tender. She put four of them in. They're to keep pressure on certain points constantly. I'll keep them in for 5 days. It's just one ear. Next week it will be the other ear, and they'll stay in for 7 days. You can't really see them, and I can't feel them.

I'll go back once a week. For this month, I'm just going to do this. Next month I'll combine this with another IUI cycle. I don't know why, but doing this makes me feel good. Like I'm taking control of it, even if it's just a bit. Instead of going to the Dr, getting scans, getting a shot, doing a procedure and waiting. With this I can read about it and understand it, and work on my diet, mental state, do exercise and yoga. Hopefully it will all come together.

Oh, Here is the book I've been reading: Fertility Wisdom

The day after

2006-10-11T11:29:00.000-07:00

Last night we went out to dinner with some friends, another couple. Jodi and I lived together for 2 years after I got divorced in '98. Her and her husband are always a lot of fun, so dinner was a constant struggle to eat and drink without choking or spitting it out. We ate at the Union Grill in Washington, Pa.

Right when we pulled up, we had just missed a big car crash at street intersection. We got there right as the ambulance, police and firetrucks pulled up. One car was missing it's back end, the other car had driven up and along the sidewalk and hit a tree. Looked pretty bad.

We had potstickers for apps, then D and I had steak salad. The steak was a bit like shoe leather. Not the best I've had. The company made up for the food. Somewhere in the restaurant where I couldn't see her, there was an older lady, singing. She was with a group of girlfriends and it must have been someone's b-day, becuase she kept singing in that hi-pitch, watery, older woman voice. Like six times. I was afraid they were going to get her to come over and sing to me!

Overall it was a nice day. I got a call from Kim in England - yay! Great to hear her voice. (I'm going to have to get Skype hooked up by Feb) I got lots of cards and Jodi got me a pretty necklace. I didn't get the X-Men dvd I so badly wanted, (the dig had to come) but I'll wait and get that online cheaper.

Tonight it's grocery shopping, cook a curry and watch Lost. Tomorrow night is a "Pampered Chef" party at Jodi's. I never buy anything, she knows this - why do I need a $25 garlic press? But it's fun to go. Friday I leave work early for an overnight in Columbus, Ohio with two girlfriends at Easton Town Center. I do a lot of window shopping and carrying their bags. I can't keep up with them with all the buying - it's crazy.

It's also supposed to get down to 50 degrees during the day Friday - with a chance of FLURRIES!! It's still October!! It's 70 today. This is people-get-sick kind of weather.

That's it for today. I may not post again until next Monday - have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday to Moi!

2006-10-10T08:55:00.000-07:00

Today I turn 36.
I've been dreading this for a year. 36 is the year all the fertility books, etc list as a turning point. So I thought I'd be really miserable today. But I'm not.

The thing is, I still get excited about birthdays like I was 12. It never gets old. I can't wait to see what I'll get. Even if it's a book or a bar of soap. Birthday to me is BIRTHDAY. It was too ingrained into me as a kid. Like Pavlov's dog. Birthday equals sugar and happiness. I have a feeling I'll be this way about my 67th birthday as well.

I could be down about being 36 and still baby-less. And maybe tomorrow I will be. But today I'm in a really great mood with lots to me happy about. Here, let me list them:

• This month includes; a trip to Louisianna, Oglebayfest, my b-day, Girls wknd in Easton, Lost premiere, X-Men DVD release, bonfires, Halloween, pumpkins, tree colors change, fall walks
• I still don't look my age - more important every year
• My husband is my best friend
• Little man Ned - always makes me laugh
• I have a wonderful family
• diggin my new Yoga class
• feeling upbeat about Accupuncture/T. Chinese Medicine appointment
• I have wonderful friends
• I have a great job
• I have an awesome house
• my beat up Rodeo kicks butt in 4wd
• Fall colors are wonderful this year
• my 7 homegrown pumpkins
• mulled wine
• going out to dinner for my B-day with friends tonight
• Lost Wednesday
• Girl party Thursday

Off to Baton Rouge, La

2006-09-30T15:11:00.000-07:00

I've worked past 7 all week, and right now it's 6:05 on Sat and I'm at the office. It's been busy at work, but it's been extra busy because I'm going to be gone three days next week. It never fails, any time I have to leave it seems like I suddenly have so many extra things to do on top of my normal workload. But I'm really looking forward to the trip.

It's a design conference for all the Art Directors from all the plants across the country. About 180 people. Corp is doing it as a way to give us a break, get to meet each other, and decompress. While we have several great speakers lined up - diff CCreative Directors from big city agencies coming in to talk. As well as lots of break out sessions. I'm actually co-leading one. Very excited about that. I'll also find out if I made the cut for a national corporate design team. It would be a big deal for me. Extra money and chance to actual work on exciting projects, while working with other designers for a change. Not sure what my chances are of making it.

There's going to be lots of eating and drinking though -lots of southern hospitality. A fish fry one night and a cajun dinner the next. I think it's going to be a really good time. All the other AD's have been emailing each other all last week about it. It will be nice to put faces with names on email.

In other news -started a new yoga course this morning. Its concentrated on posture and opening up your hips. It's a 6 week two hour class. So far I really liked it. And I'm taking it with a friend which is nice for a change.

More interesting though is my appointment next week. I'm going to see a traditional chinese medicine accupunturist. (yes EM, finally taking your advice, been meaning to email you about it in more detail) More on this later, but it all started with this book I picked up.

Gotta go meet D for wings for dinner. Back next Thursday!

Off to Philly

2006-09-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

We're off to Philly for a long weekend. This will be Ned's first long car trip. This will be interesting. Really looking forward to the weekend. Haven't seen D's family since July. It will be good to see them and get away for a bit. So far we have planned: hanging with the family, a birthday party, kids soccer matches, pizza, cheesesteaks & beer Friday night for dinner, walk along the Deleware Canal...so far.

I can make Sushi!

2006-09-20T06:28:00.000-07:00

Why haven't I tried this before?!?
I had been craving some sushi. I used to be able to get it any day I wanted when I worked in DC. The Whole Foods up the street had a sushi station in it. The week before we moved back to WV I ate so much of it I didn't think I'd ever want it again! The closest place to get any around here is all the way up in Pittsburgh. Well, I had also just finished reading "Memoir of a Geisha" (good book because of the detail, historical info but washed out ending) I knew a bunch of girls that had also read it this year, so decided to invite them up to watch the movie version. Figured this was a good excuse to try and make sushi. I had a couple different recipes that were all basically the same. I found it really funny that our local Krogers actually had all the ingredients for it. Seafood wraps, pickled ginger and wasabi. I expected them to have a good layer of dust on them - but they didn't. huh - maybe more if this stuff gets made around here than we realize?

Anyway I made the rice before I went to work yesterday morning. Then put the rolls together when I got home from work. I couldn't believe how easy it was. I just made California rolls - nothing too exotic. I could have eaten the entire jar of pickled ginger yummmmmy. And the wasabi was really strong. We kept laughing at each other trying to breath thru the fumes after we ate a bite. My sinuses are clear now. The girls that showed up all really like shushi so they gobbled it all up and said it was great! yay me! One girl is a flight attendant and has gone to Japan many times, and said it was pretty close. She said she wanted to make Goya? (spelling) dumplings but didn't have time. I did get some steamed dumplings, but they were more Chinese style. Considering they were from "AmeriAsian Buffet".

The movie btw, was a let down. We had to turn the volume up soooo loud just to hear the voices, that when they quit talking the music was blaring. And the movie itself was just kind of bland. I thought even if the movie was boring the visuals would be great, but the whole thing wasn't that interesting. Another case of the book being better than the movie.

Side note - the person responsible for introducing me to sushi lives in Thailand - check her blog out to get some insight to what's going on with the coup over there.

Stacking wood to clear the mind

2006-09-18T08:44:00.000-07:00

Third time wasn't the charm it turns out. Found out Saturday morning, just in time to go to my parent's to run my garage sale. (I made $70 selling basically junk) I was doing really good. Wasn't letting it get to me. We'll take a break this month cuz I 'll be on travel, do a fourth in November.

Then my friend callled Sunday afternoon. Off the pill a month and got pregnant. I'm sooo happy and excited for her. I'm so glad it was easy for her, she is my age, and for her not to have to worry about anything. I want to be able to share her experience, it's only fair for her. But it crushed me. I just feel so tired. Not. Fair. So last night I helped Dan stack wood for almost three hours. Nice mindless, thoughtless work. Felt good. And I'm glad I got to help him, he's been busting his ass to get a lot of wood in for the winter. Problem is we finished, and I could use another load of wood to stack.

My Own Private Lumberjack

2006-09-13T06:33:00.000-07:00

This is what Dan did aaaaallllll weekend. (except for football on Sunday) The small pile in the foreground is what he split by hand. Then our neighbor brought over the hydraulic splitter. That thing is great! I don't have a photo of it, but the pile of split wood is now HUGE! it's at least 6 feet tall, and we still have more to split. I don't get involved until it's time to stack it. Then I'll help.

We will be warm this winter for sure!

Slimey Salamander

2006-09-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

Here's the little guy that popped out of one of the log's Dan was splitting. It must have been in a rotten hole or something. Dan yelled so I grabbed my camera to get a pick of it.

We looked it up online, it's a Slimey Salamander. Had really cool spots on it. I put it in a tupperware container and took it down to our neighbor's pond to let it go.

This is why we live here.

Lunchtime chat

2006-09-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

At lunch today I actually got out of the office and walked around our sad little mall, looking at clothes, checking out prices, just escaping for a bit. As I walked into a shoe store to browse, my cell rings and its a girlfriend. She's out of town and having lunch with a client. A client whom apparently tried for 10 years to get pregnant and who's Dr. has come up with a medical miracle to cure "un-diagnosed infertility". So she, the girlfriend, thinks of me, calls me and then puts this woman on the phone to tell me all about what she went thru.

I know the girlfriend is concerned for us, and only did this out of the kindness of her heart. But it really pissed me off. This chic is telling me to get on the pill for three months, then go on Clomid, then after follicle scans do an in-home-insemination kit. IN-HOME?!?! This is what her Dr. has come up with on her own. How the f*%# does she know what my problems are? And she said everything preachy like I was an idiot. The kicker - "how old are you?" Almost 36. "Well, the older you are the harder it will be for you..." Yeah, no shit honey. They asked if I was writing all this down? "uh, no - I'm in the middle of a shoestore". She sounded put off - like why wasn't I writing down the secret to Col. Sander's Chicken Recipe? I said I was really glad they called - could they write it down so I could run it past my Dr. That would be great. She also offered to send down all the drugs she still had. !!!! It was a sweet offer because I guess they were really expensive drugs, but I don't like the idea. People taking each others Vicoden creeps me out. Oh, she also asked me if I was on clomid - no, I don't need it - I ovulate regularly. "But do you know that? Did they do tests?" & "oh, they just told you you don't need Clomid because some insurance doesn't cover it"..Uh no we're all out of pocket - I just don't need it. (at least not yet) It was just hard to justify to a perfect stranger over the phone what I'm doing. It's not like we're aren't already worried about everything to begin with.

I don't know how to balance this. On one hand I like to vent on my blog, but on the other hand, I don't want people discussing my fertility so perfect strangers can give me advice and talk to me like an idiot about my own issues. And keeping in mind the friend who started this really was trying to help. It's just a touchy thing. Especially the week I'm trying NOT to think about it. OY!

Art and the Animal Exhibit

2006-09-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

Last week we were invited to the opening of a new exhibit at the Stifel Center. It's called "The Art and the Animal". It is on a national tour and we're lucky enough that somehow our little local art gallery managed to snag it. The tour is sponsored or put on by the Society of Animal Artists.

It's really amazing. They brought so many incredibly beautiful pieces. It's hard to walk through and select one you like the best, but mine was the pig statue below. Our friend is the Marketing Director of Oglebay Institute which the Stifel Center is part of, and because of her we (work)helped out and donated some billboards for the event. And we snagged the invite to the opening. Sweet!

Lots of local VIP's, politicians, media, etc, but also great eats and drinks. Plus anything at the Stifel is fun. It's such a great old mansion.

Two favorite pieces...

2006-09-08T10:44:00.000-07:00

This charcoal chimpanzee really stood out because of the motion. The chimp looks very sad. It's really well done.
This pig just makes me smile and laugh. He's great!

The Stifel Home/Galleries

2006-09-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

Stifel's gallery is really very nice. The building is the donated home of the Stifel family. Old Wheeling money. They owned a textile mill. Stifel calico was quite famous at one time. I've worked part-time jobs here off an on throughout school. I taught batik classes and children's art classes, then I ran the Christmas gift shop for two seasons. I also did a gallery internship. I learned a lot about running a museum, but I actually learned a lot more about the house and it's history. It's really unique. And beautiful.

2006-09-08T10:33:00.000-07:00

Big Ouch

2006-09-05T07:27:00.000-07:00

Sunday we had our third IUI procedure done. First time - no pain. Second time, uncomfortable. So I was really unprepaired when once the procedure started it hurt like hell. It was a very brief pain, but almost peel me of the ceiling pain for a few seconds. Then I cramped afterwards a lot more than before. Memorable quotes from the PA who did the procedure:
• "maybe that's a good sign (the pain)
• "all it takes is one good sperm" (duh)
• "hopefully one will stop and ask for directions" (what?!)

I went home and slept for 3 hours. We ordered pizza and watched "V for Vendatta". Which I thought was a really good movie. We both did. Very enjoyable, good story. Hugo Weaving's voice and delivery was great. I liked that they never took his maks off. D said just one more movie that proves Natalie Portman is a good actress and that the script and directing in Star Wars was deplorable.

To continue taking it easy, I woke up Monday and watched "MatchPoint". What an awful movie. The main character is horrible, the actor is such a feminine, pouty, seemingly vain guy. I've seen him before, but I really detested him in this. Maybe that was the point. The whole movie was about infidelity and murder. Not exactly calming to the nerves. Thought it would be better. blech.

Then later that night I made a huge pot of curry and we watched the Star Trek marathon. It was the final two-part episode of NG. Actually the whole weekend was a Trek marathon. And a CSI marathon. Awful to admit that I watched a lot of both over the weekend. Or had it on in the background while I did chores or worked around the house. My favorite NG episode is "Inner Light". It's probably not good that 1) I have a favorite 2) I know it's name 3) think that the idea of a Prime Directive, if we ever actually needed it, is a great concept.

At some point over the weekend we also watched "Munich". Not the greatest uplifting list of movies huh? It was good, but neither D nor I really liked it. It started out historical then went nowhere. It felt like the whole purpose of the movie was some political agenda on Spielburg's part. It wasn't unbiased. Even the bit they added to maybe show the Palestinian view, still seemed biased. Overall, wasn't that great a movie. Thought "Syriana" was a far better film on chaos in the middle east.

Apart from having the IUI and watching movies, we didn't do much this weekend. Just took it easy. D played golf with dad, I puttered about and cooked, ran a few errands. So now once again - we wait for two weeks to see if I get my period. Like I said, doing my best this time not to think about it so much.

Kindness

2006-08-30T10:29:00.000-07:00

I was getting the magazine Body + Soul. I didn't renew the subscription, it was ok, but kinda weak. I think I'm gonna get Yoga Journal instead. Reason I mention it, I was reading an article in the last issue. It was in the "Holistic Dictionary" section. Each month was a different letter. I guess this way they know they have a page of copy for 26 issues. The letter was "K" for kindness.

The article was about just being kind. Kind to yourself, kind to others, thinking kind thoughts. Reading it really got to me. I had spent the weekend around at least one person who was seething with anger and general grumpyness to the world. I was struck by how unkind all her actions and words were. And how it was making me feel awful. Sucking the engery out of me to even be near. It made me realize how often I might have unkind thoughts about others in my head, yell at some idiot while I'm driving, just walk around with mean thoughts without even realizing it. Stupid things like, "why is that moron driving so slow! - and then realize it's a little old lady. Instead of thinking she shouldnb't be driving - thinking how cool it is she still has enough energy to get out and go where she wants to at that age - how I hope I do too. And gossip, trying to just pass along the tidbits that are good about people, not the crummy ones. ok - the driving might not be a good example - but you get what I mean.

How that all adds to my general stress. I'm tense enough as it is. Being around unkind people sucks the life out of you, and if you get in the habit of being mean yourself, it sucks the life out of you even more.

So be nice to people. You'll feel better.

Third times a charm we hope

2006-08-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the first follicle scan for our third IUI attempt. All looks good so far. I go back again tomorrow. I'm thinking I'll probably have the IUI Friday or Saturday. Which is good as its the weekend and I can rest afterward. This is the first weekend in awhile that we have nothing scheduled, or anyone staying here. It will be a nice change. Finish things in the guestroom and spend time on our neglected garden. Take long walks with Ned.

I'm going to try and ignore this IUI. See if after we have it, I can attempt to forget it happened. Not think baby thoughts everyday for two weeks. I'm really gonna try.

Dr. Update

2006-08-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

Sooooooooo....

I went to the Dr. Thursday morning.

I know I was worried about my blood test results, but I guess I didn't realize how tense: I woke up with one of the worst headaches I've ever had. It was right above my jaw and ear. I must have been grinding my teeth all night. My neck muscles, down my shoulders, even the top of my head hurt. I took 2 advil, drank a cup of coffee, which I've been off of for months, and then took a Tylenol. It finally went away.

You know how in movies you see patients meet Doctors in their offices when it's to discuss results, or learn they've got cancer? I don't think that actually happens in real life. I had to go to the normal patient room and sit on the extra chair while he sat on the wheelie stool. But that was ok, I didn't mind, it was just something I thought of later. ANYWAYS, the first thing he said was that my blood work was fine. As of this test - I've got good eggs. Meaning I've still got a good reserver and they're of good quality. As best they can tell from that test anyways.

We went over everything we've been doing, and long story short - he said if it were he and his wife, he'd continue on with the IUI's. Most affordable method, and that we may need to do as many as 5-6. He's really nice, very understanding. I really like our Doctor. He's got a good, dry sense of humor too. Said fertility is the hardest thing he has to work with, and not get discouraged or give up. So we'll start again next week with scans and a third IUI.

I just wish I could have my memory erased after each procedure so I don't think about it for two weeks. Just have D remember to say 'hey, maybe you should take a pregnancy test". That way too, when I get my period it wouldn't be a big deal, just another period. They should work hypnosis into the therapy.

Guest Room: Before & After

2006-08-25T13:53:00.000-07:00

Scroll down thru the photos below to see the transition. Once we get the furniture back in and I hang some things on the walls, throw up some curtains, I'll post another pic.

2006-08-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

At this point we had already torn up the carpet. I don't have a photo of the nasty worn down multi-level many shades of blue carpet. It was just nasty. Here I've started to go around and prime all the woodwork and area near the ceiling. You can see where there had been a chair rail. you can also see the particle board floors.

2006-08-25T13:49:00.000-07:00

Even after we patched the walls while they were still blue, we had to do even more patching of tiny holes, uneven areas once the primer was one. It needed two coats of primer to cover that awful blue.

2006-08-25T13:48:00.000-07:00

Painting is all done, ready to start on the floor.

2006-08-25T13:47:00.000-07:00

Floor is just started to be put down here...

2006-08-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

2006-08-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

"why are you standing in the closet?"

Floors done!

2006-08-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

Last night we finished getting the floor down. It looks so good! We just stand in the doorway and look at it. With all the colors so much lighter, the room looks huge now. While D cut some of the more detailed pieces, I got all the quarter round cut. Tonight I'll install that and do all the touch up painting. All that is left is to hang the doors and put the vent covers back on.

In the meantime, I've got two tables and a chest of drawers to sand, prime and paint white. I'm trying to find a crappy old full-size headboard somewhere that I can sand and paint white as well. My dream would be to get a twin size day bed with a trundle to put in that room. That way two people can sleep in there, but not take up a bunch of space.

Tired of thinking about it

2006-08-23T06:34:00.000-07:00

Ever since Saturday I just feel tired. I've been really busy, at work and at home. Which is good, keep me occupied, but my face feels tired, my head feels tired. All I think about constantly in the back of my mind is all the fertility issues. I went and had blood work drawn on Monday. It's the cycle day 3 set of blood work tests. They test my FSH and Estradiol levels. The FSH should be low. If it's high it means my "good" egg count is low and my ovaries have to work harder to produce more FSH to get them to drop. (that's a very basic description)

I go tomorrow morning to talk to the Dr. about the test results and what to do next. I wish Dan could go but he has training to give that morning. I just hope the Dr. doesn't say I have bad eggs. I guess it's a pretty small chance, I'm not that old, but still, I'll worry about it until I talk to him.

Oh, btw, the woman who drew my blood, was a bitch. You walk into a small waiting room with no windows to another room or monitoring system. There is one door to another room marked "Lab", with a sign on it that says "Do Not Knock". There doesn't appear to be any means for the person in the lab to realize there is anyone waiting in the "waiting" room. No bells went off or anything when you walked in. The lab door opens, and the Lab Lady points to the older gentleman waiting ahead of me. She can't see me where I'm sitting so I say, "by the way, I'm here as well." Very pleasantly. "So which one of you is first!?" I said, "He is, I just wanted you to be aware I was here". 15 minutes later he comes out, she motions me in. Says not one word to me, other than "make a fist". Takes my blood, I get up, walk out. I realize she may not be exstatic to work in a tiny windowless room, by herself, doing nothing but drawing blood. But it doesn't make me feel any more comfortable about how the blood is being tested. I hope she's just the labor, and not the brains.

Ned at the Party

2006-08-23T06:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Ned at the engagement party last weekend. That's us with Lee 'n Jon, our friends from Roanoke. Lee is in love with Ned. I had to check her luggage before she left to make sure she didn't take him.

You can see the stage set up behind us. It was on a flatbed trailer. The used old billboard vinyls I gave them to create a canopy, and put up twinkle lights. It actuallyy looked cool. Very hillbilly.

The band, GreenSky Bluegrass, was great. I'd only heard their cd once before we went. They were alot of fun and really included the audience in everything. The did a cover of a Journey song that was pretty funny. They seemed to really dig Ned as well. They asked what his name was from the stage, then yelled out "Ned, where's the squirrel!?" Then made over him during their break.

He got lots of attention at the party. He also gave lots of attention at the party. There were a LOT of dogs there. All on leashes. Almost all spayed females. My dog is a horndog. He would not leave the girls alone. It was embarassing. Even worse was one female dog, Dixie. She kept backing her butt up into his face. We watched her do it several times! In the end I had to pick him up and walk around with him. He'd collapse in my arms, but at soon as I got tired and put him down, he'd lunge right for another girl.

The party was a great time. Out on Ridge No 2 in Marshall County, WV. It was a beautiful night. Preceded by a nasty thunderstorm that had horizontal rain, thunder, lightening, the works. We had about 4 of those picnic, easy up, cover tent things. People had to hold on to them while we were under them for cover or they would have taken off in the wind. It was crazy windy. But it was also a lot of fun. As soon as it stopped, the food was ready, everyone dug in, and the band started their second set. We got to see a lot of good friends and laughed a lot. I needed that. That's a big ol glass of sangria in my hand. I thought I would have drank a lot more, but I didn't. That's really all I had. I'm glad we went, it was a great time. And our friends had a great party to celebrate their upcoming wedding.

Well that didn't work.

2006-08-19T06:23:00.000-07:00

This morning was cycle day 27. Wouldn't have been expecting a period until tomorrow or Monday, but woke up with soaking pajamas. My best, favorite, brand new jammies to boot. Really, really, reallllllllyyyy sucks. It just makes me so tired. You want to be excited, but you constantly restrain your emotions, yet you can't help day-dreaming about how exciting it would be to tell people the good news. And you have all that time after the procedure to wait and keep all that under control. Then you get your period and you do the same. You don't want to get too upset, you don't want to let it bother you too much. Then you worry about now having to pay for one more procedure. It's just draining. And we really felt strong about this one.

So I'll just keep busy. Our friends came to stay for the weekend last night. We didn't get the bedroom done, so we let them stay in our room. We slept on just the mattress on the floor in the unfinished room. Everyone but me has someplace to be this morning, so I'm going to paint the quarter-round and the doors - add another coat. Maybe go to yoga. Go to the store to get the stuff to make what we're taking to the shindig today.

We're supposed to go to an all day Engagement party. It's out at a friends family's property in Marshall county. On a ridgetop with a gorgeous view. Green Sky Bluegrass, the band that won Telluride bluegrass competition will be playing, a cook-out, lots of food and drinks, people, dogs. We're taking Ned. Should be a great time. Except it supposed to rain. All. Day. That could be bad and messy. Hopefully for our friends it doesn't. They're really excited about this party. They're haivng it in lieu of a reception as they are getting married in Oz next year. Jacinta is from Melbourne. Excited to know she'll be living here for awhile after the wedding before they move back there permanently. She's cool and wants to be in bookclub.

Back to the period. Something I'm having trouble letting go of: I had a friend get shitty with me last week - out of the blue got mad because she thought the fact I made a comment about knowing about the bands at V-fest meant I was super cool and she wasn't. Which was not what i meant at all. She then reamed me out about how I have no clue what it's like to have kids, etc and how she doesn't have time to be cool and know about music. It was actually pretty mean. Ya know - considering and all. That I would give Dan's left nut to have a kid and never know jackshit about the latest bands. I may not "have a freaking clue" about kids, but this friend has zero concept about worying about money. I get so mad when I think about what she said, then think about how worried I am about how much this is all costing us, whether or not we will ever get pregnant, what the f will we do if we have to adopt, how the f would we pay for that - while she's worried about picking out furniture for her Second Home. While caring for her two beautiful daughters. She was in a bad mood, or having a bad day or something when she sent the nasty email, I don't think she meant to be as mean as it came out. I don't think she meant or realized how it would hurt my feelings. It's just sometimes she lives in a completley different world than I do. I need to let it go - I need to not be mad about it. But when you get your period and need to be mad at someone or thing, this is what I'm focusing on. And being mad just makes me tired.

Just the floor

2006-08-16T06:09:00.000-07:00

Last night I got three coats of paint on all the wood trim. This was difficult to do as Ned kept either wanting to crawl into my lap, or kept bringing me his Teddy and almost dropping him in the paint. Somehow he got paint on his ear.

We changed out all the electrical outlets with new white ones, and used the table saw to trim down the size of the doors. Tonight I need to touch up the paint, just a few spots here and there and prime & paint the quarter round and doors. I could probably get that all done tonight. That would leave us with just having to lay the floor Thursday night. I don't think it's going to be that hard to do. Especially if that's all we have left. We'll probably wait to put the quarter round in Sunday. I also have two tables and a chest of drawers to paint, but they can wait til next week as well.

On a totally unrelated note - the village of High Wycombe where I stayed in England last December was on the news for being a location that had bomb making supplies found in the woods there. Weird to know where they mean.

Absinthe Green

2006-08-15T12:41:00.000-07:00

This is what I'm going to name the color of the room now, as it's apparently making me crazy. I went and bought a new gallon of paint in yet a different shade of minty sage green. Slapped a two foot square sample on the wall, waited for it to dry, and decided I hated the new color - actually quite like the original green. This could be the first time in my life I've had problems picking out paint color. And I've painted a LOT of rooms. Very frustrating. But I do think I like what we've got now. Pretty sure. We'll see.

Last night I put one coat on all the trim work, need to put a second quick coat on tonight. We're also hoping to start laying the floor down tonight as well. I felt really good, listening to music, had a few sips of a beer (need to buy O'Douls tonight) was painting away. Around 10 pm though I got really sick to my stomach. Hope this is a good sign. I had to lay down on the cold basement floor while I watched Dan chisel out the hardware notches on the new doors. It eventually went away.

Remodeling

2006-08-14T08:22:00.000-07:00

We started remodeling/redecortaing - whatever - our guestroom Friday afternoon. We got all the carpet, pad and tack strips up, patched the walls. Saturday we went to buy supplies and had people over that evening.

Sunday I primed everything twice and Dan painted the ceiling. I got the room completely painted with the final color - and hate it. I wanted a light mint/sage green. It only looks that way in very certain light. Mostly it looks like radiation green. The color seems to glow out of the room. I've tried to talk myself into it, but I can't. I've got to paint it a different color. So that's what I have to look forward to tonight. Painting that quickly so I can start painting the trim. So we can start laying the floor as soon as possible. sigh. Lots to do.

Prime and Paint quarter round, two doors. Switch electrical outlets to white, install ceiling fan....

2006-08-10T10:38:00.000-07:00

What has been keeping me so busy this summer....Baby StuffIUI number one didn't work. Which was ok. Not unexpected being the first one. It wasn't for naught though, we found out a lot of info during all the scanning, etc. That was June. We had to skip July as we were out of town when we could have tried. This past Sunday we had our second IUI completed. We're feeling better and better about it. I've been on glucophage the entire time, and it seems to have made a difference. Everything (follicles and lining) were in much better shape for this time around. I just have a good feeling about it in general. Something else that has made it all more bearable...we found out that our insurance is actually paying towards our scans as diagnostic. Even a little bit of help is great - considering we were planning on it all being out of pocket.

How about a friend emailed me some info about PCOS, she's had to deal with it as well. She told me to drink lots of water as it will dehydrate you and your kidneys/back will hurt. How come she knew this but my doctor's office looked at me like I was nuts, and didn't say anything about it? It went away, but at least now I know what it was from. I do drink lots of water though, so that's good.

The waiting part is bad. I try not to think about any of it. Then I spend more time trying not to think about how many days I have until I would get my period. 10 days btw. So I've started, well actually decided to get off my butt and FINISH a project to keep me busy. A YEAR ago I started wall hanging/mural for my friends kids room. I got it sewn and the background painted. The animals have been all sketched out on paper the entire time. I have books of animal images, a book on how to draw animals. I have tons of paint, brushes, etc. I just never had the desire to get going on it again. To be honest, I think I was worried I'd start and just F it up. So I dove right into it Monday. It looks freakin awesome if I do say so myself. It's a safari, so it shows the grasslands with Kilimanjaro in the background. Giraffe, ostrich, lion, rhino, elephant, gazelle,zebra and cape buffalo. So far the ostrich, zebra, and gazelle are done. The Rhino is almost finished, just need to detail his face. Tonight it's the giraffe and the elephant. They aren't cartoonish, but they also aren't super realistic. Somewhere in between. I'm trying to get it done by Friday. If not, then I have to move the project to the basement to complete it. Dan wants to start tearing up the bedroom to finally remodel it. New paint job, paint the trim white, new doors, new carpet, new light fixture. Buying the carpet has been what's kept us from doing it. It's expensive.

I need to post pics of the garden. I think it looks great, D thinks we've had a poor harvest. We've probably picked 12 dozen cucumbers so far. And three big bowls full of peas. The beans didn't do that great, and the tomatos are late. We'll have a ton of 'mater's, but they are only just now ripening up. We've been fighting the cuc beetle ongoing. One zuchini plant has sucumbed. The remaining plant and the two squash seem ok. The cucumber plants look like they're starting to get a bit of wilt though. The eggplant are just now starting to show fruit. We didn't get a second harvest from the everbearing strawberries like we expected. The carrots and onions are doing great. So are the herbs. And my favorite - we've got 5 pumpkins so far. Expecting more by fall.

Around the house we haven't done as much - ok - NO landscaping like I wanted to. I haven't had a ton of energy this summer. I'm wondering if it's the glucophage. But we painted the deck, looks lots better.

And of course we've got Ned. He's been great. Such a good boy. He's pretty much house trained. He does have an occasional accident in his crate. And the other night he pee'd by the door. But it was right in frontof the door - so he knows to go to the door. He basically gets to run around outside as much as he wants. I seriously need to work on walking him with a leash. He's ok, but doesn't do it often enough. He still freaks out at little things. Like if something is in the yard or driveway that wasn't there the last time he went thru, he will freak out howling and growling at it until someone comes and shows him it's ok. He still loves his teddy, His new thing though isn't fetching it. He brings it to you because he wants you to swing him around on it while he holds on with his teeth. We do it so he's toes are just touching the ground so he doesn't fall far when he lets go. His tail is wagging like crazy the entire time he's going around.

I really, really, really need a vacation. I wanted to go to the beach so badly. For a full week, sat to sat. Not just a few days. Doesn't look like we'll get to. Even if we can go someplace just for a weekend it would be good. I need a get-away mini break weekend at least. Use up our Marriot points.

We've had lots of people come and stay with us this summer. This coming weekend is our first free weekend in a long time. We're just staying home and trying to enjoy our house in its summer glory while it's still summer. Fall is almost here. I'm already thinking about Oglebayfest and fall sweaters.

2 am

2006-08-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

Here we are, 2am, sitting on my yoga mat, waiting for AAA.

PNC Park

2006-08-09T14:28:00.000-07:00

Two weekends ago D's cousin and his new wife came to visit us for the weekend. They like to go to diff ballparks around the country. Once they realizedhow close we lived to Pittsburgh, they decided to check out PNC Park. We had a really good time with them, and the park is amazing. Not a bad seat in it, with a spectacular view of the skyline.

But the day we went was just such a long day. I had been out of town in Florida at my brother's. Dan and his cousin/wife picked me up from the airport, and went directly to Station Square for late dinner. Rode the incline. Went to the ballgame. Went to the Southside and bar hopped, had a blast. I was Des. Driver. Around 1:30am I was like - I'm getting sleepy, and I have to drive your drunk butts home.

As soon as we got on the highway I noticed my headlights seemed dim. Then my dash lights seemed dim. Halfway home I looked down the the gauges were pulling an X-File episode on my and flipping up and down all over the place. I was waiting for the mother ship to appear to abduct us.

So it's me - with a carload of sleeping drunk people. I said - "hey! Wake him (D) up! It took forever to get him up and realizing what was wrong. "itsh nothing baby - keep going". So I keep going, and the lights are getting dimmer, and dimmer. Now the gauges all say we shouldn't be moving, and yet we are. We are approaching the last rest stop before the WV line, just 3 miles away from our exit to go home, when the lights fail. I said "I'm pulling over" 'nahm nah - Keep going! itsch alright!". So the car actually loses power as I pull over. At the end of the on ramp for the rest stop. And we're driving a black Rodeo. Dan pops the hood and starts messing around, I'm freaking out he's going to get hit. We call AAA, and Dan pushes/coasts the car back down off the highway onto the ramp berm. Much safer. And then we wait. It's like 3 am when the AAA arrives. We get a jump and he follows us to our exit. This is because he couldn't tow us and take 4 people with him. Apparently the jump was enough to charge the alternator. It got us to the end of our driveway where it died again. I was so glad to be home. Longest day ever. It ended up being a completely dead battery. Oh - and the next day ti was funny, we were talking about what happened, and I was like - "yeah - YOU said keep going! We had NO lights" Dan - "And you were going to listen to the DRUNK Guy!?!" It was actually pretty funny.

Seaside Park, NJ

2006-08-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

Our summer vacation this year entailed a lot of traveling. We visited friendsin Roanoke, then spent the Fourth in DC, then met the family at Dan's uncle's beach house at the shore. It was great to see everyone and get to relax a bit at the beach. It's taken me awhile to get used to "the shore" beach experience as opposed to the South Carolina beaches I'm used to going to with my family. But I've come to love it, and look forward to going there every year. (I still miss Myrtle though)

This year for something new, we took the ocean kayaks out into the bay. I really enjoyed it. What a great workout! I thought it was a lot of fun, I think D just did it to make me happy. I love going down to the beach really early before the crowds get in. Usually see some dolphins. I missed it, but a few fishermen said one morning they saw a whale moving down the shore, tail came up out of the water and everything! That would have been cool. I've never seen a whale in the wild.

Big Pie

2006-08-09T14:16:00.000-07:00

This is the largest pizza I've ever seen. We had Dan's niece put her hand near it for size reference. We got it when the whole family went to the "Heights" - Seaside Heights, NJ for the evening. It was great to get New York style pizza for a change.

The "Heights" is several large piers built up with amusement rides, carnival type games, skee-ball, and junk food restaurants. Really loud, smell of food frying, great people watching. Love to people watch at the heights. You don't see that kind of mix of people, hairstyles, clothing styles in WV on a daily basis. Highly entertaining.

Market Square - Roanoke

2006-08-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

A ferw pics of the Market Square area in downtown Roanoke. It's a wonderful thriving area with tons of shops and restaurants, all local stores - no chains allowed. They have permanent market stalls set up and have people selling all year round on the weekends. I really liked this area! Very cool. BTW- that's my friend in the sunglasses.

The Horse I Grew Up With

2006-08-09T14:05:00.000-07:00

When we were in Roanoke in July I spotted this in the window of an antiques shop. One of those times when you get slammed with memories from you childhood in just a few seconds.

This is identical to a horse that was located outside of one of the grocery stores in the town I grew up in. I showed this to my parent's and they think it was outside of K's Foodland, but I think it was in front of Riesbecks Foodmart. I remember the color, the reins, the feel of the metal rivets which were diamond shaped. I rode this thing for hours. Mom would give me quarters and I'd sit on the horse while she shopped. I didn't even care if it actually moved, I just loved sitting on it and daydreaming I had a horse.

Side thought here - this was back in the days when you could leave your kid outside of the grocery store and not even think about someone snatching them.

Anyways, this just brought back a lot of memories.

Lots n lots of Neddy Boy

2006-08-09T13:46:00.000-07:00

I'm back

2006-08-09T13:45:00.000-07:00

Before I post what's been going on in life this summer...here's some Ned.

test

2006-06-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

My side bar isn't showing

On to round two then

2006-06-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

Woke up to my period this morning. So the IUI didn't take then. Bummer. I'm upset, I did cry a bit, but I'm ok. Not too bad actually. We just do it again. I called the Dr.'s office this morning. They're to call me back andlet me know when I'm supposed to get bloodwork done this week. We're supposed to leave for vacation soon, and we'll probably be gone when we would be starting the next set of scans. So July might not happen. We'll have to wait until August. I need a vacation too badly to pass it up. Plus I want to see D's family. Miss them.

But Dad, I've never gotten Poison Ivy...

2006-06-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

but I've got it now. Not bad actually, but I definitely have it. It's either from scrambling up the banks thru the weeds while we were fishing (but that was severaldays ago) OR it's from two nights ago when I was scrambling thru the woods looking for Ned after he chased his first rabbit, and going thru the woods several times to get him from the neighbors. I think the stuf on my arms is actually from carrying him. Dad siad he thought he got a bit from holding Ned as well.

But it is weird. I really can't remember ever getting it. All the years of being in the woods with Grape Ape and handling her, never had any come off her fur onto me, or just from the plants.

Last year weeding around the garden I even crushed some in my hand to see if I'd get it. Nothing. And YES - it was poison ivy. This time I've just got tiny little red bumps. Pretty spreadout, and they aren't itching. Glad I got the gene for fighting PI. My brother gets it awfully bad. I rememember him in high school with his forearms wrapped in gauze because they were just solid blisters. And he had to take medicine, and it itched horribly.

Wouldn't it be awesome if the reason I was open to getting it was because I'm pregnant and my hormones are messed up and somehow I got it? That's how warped all this infertilty stuff makes you. You get excited about poison ivy.

Tonight btw - I took three of the glucopage pills. My back didn't hurt yesterday or today. Wanna make a bet it does tomorrow? If it does I'm staying at two pills.

Latest Ned story: I had every Harry Potter hardback but the 2nd one. I finally got around to ordering one really cheap second hand online and it came Monday. Tonight he tore the dust jacket off and did good number on the spine. Oh well. I'll tape the cover back together and write a note in it about what happened. Then maybe 80 years from now a grandkid will read it and someone will tell them about Ned.

Fishing On Father's Day

2006-06-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

From the time I was a very little girl I've gone fishing with my father. It's always been a special thing that we've done together. Over the years we have so many funny stories from all of our fishing outings. They usually have to do with our mishaps, not so much actually catching fish. As happens to all of us, as I got older I didn't get to go fishing with Dad as much as I would like. I thought it would be fun for both of us if that was what we did for Father's Day this year.

I packed a special lunch of toasted Rye bread deli sandwiches, Dad's favorite really unhealthy potato ships and Pepperidge Farm cookies. Trying to beat the heat, we left at 7 am and thought we'd fish til 1 or 2pm. We headed out to Piedmont Lake in Ohio which has always been our favorite lake to go to. There are many family stories associated with that lake. A favorite being that our Grandparents honeymooned there in a tent. Also, we got April from someone who lived out by the lake.

We had a great day of fishing! We started out fishing for crappie and bluegill. It was probably a little too hot for it. We probably went 2 hours before we found a hole where they were biting. Which of course was a spot the fishfinder said there weren't any fish. Stupid sonar. But I caught two bluegill and dad caught one bluegill and one small, small-mouth bass.

We motored over to the other side of the lake and fished a bit longer and took a break for lunch in the shade. The lake was really pretty. Clear water, blue skies. Not too many boats, but a nice amount of people out. After lunch we trolled a bit.

I like trolling, as you're seeing a lot of the lake, usually getting a nice breeze as you go along, and sometimes you catch a fish. I personally have never caught a single fish trolling. At least that I can remember. I have no luck with it. But. I don't know how long we'd been going along when dad cut the engine real quick and yelled "I got one!" Bending his pole pretty good too. So I reeled in as quick as I could and grabbed the dipnet. Dad said "grab your camera and get a picture of it coming up to the boat!" (From longtime family experience of the big one getting away right as you pull it in the boat) It was giving him a good fgiht, making it fun. I did get a few shots of it coming up to the boat, and on the deck. As soon as we got it in the net it did throw the lure, so it could have been a close one. It was 27" just under keeper length. You'll notice in the photos below the gill got Dad good on the finger - there's blood dripping on his left hand.

After we let him go we continued trolling with the sunshade up on the boat. It was getting pretty hot. The next thing I know, Dad's cut the engine again and is reeling in a fish. He caught a small Walleye. Which he would want me to clarify was a TRUE Walleye and not a hybrid. Its the top photo below in the "small fry" section. We trolled for about another hour and called it quits. Just getting too hot to fish. But we had a really great day of fishing. Glad Dad caught a few nice one's for Father's Day!

The "Happy Father's Day 27in Muskie"

2006-06-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

The small fry

2006-06-19T08:22:00.000-07:00

Bit of shopping

2006-06-19T07:14:00.000-07:00

When we lived in Rockville one of my favorite things to do was shopping after payday. Not a crazy haul of things we didn't need. But wake up Sunday, go to Rio, get a Starbucks, meander in B&N for as long as I like, then go to Target to buy all the toiletries and cleaning supplies, etc we needed. Maybe go crazy and buy myself a shirt.

Last night did a bit of that. But at K-mart. I love our K-mart. I haven't stepped foot in a Wal-Mart in 2 years. I hate everything about it, not just the corporation, but ours in particular. The people, the lines, the narrow aisles, the crowds. K-Mart is always empty, and the selection and prices are great. How long it will last, I have no idea. But last night I bet there were maybe a dozen shoppers in the store. It was nice to just meander around and look at stuff, and then come home and have new stuff. I felt better. Why does shopping make you feel good? Not always the "shopping" part, but the "having new stuff" part?

weird feeling

2006-06-19T07:09:00.000-07:00

I just have this weird feeling I'm not pregnant. I go back and forth each day with this. The hard part of the waiting to see part is all the mind games you end up playing. My skin breaks out and I think 'ooohhh, that's a sign" no, probably just stress. But I feel like I usually do ramping up to a period. Cranky, emotional, feel pudgy, boobs feel huge. So I think I'll probably get a period this weekend. Even worse though will be if I get it, but get it like a week late. And I don't feel good today. Super tired and my back is really achey again from the medicine.

Dang what a good day!

2006-06-15T12:54:00.000-07:00

I am just having SUCH a good day! Like - DAMN!! What a good day kind of day.
(please please please knocking on wood I just didn't jinx myself)
Last night at one point I literally felt my back relax and the pain went away. Right now it doesn't hurt at all. Hoping that it's just gone on its own. And that when I start doubling my glucophage tonight it doesn't come back. I still haven't had any of the standard side-effects so far, but I did have quite a rumbling tummy after I had curry for lunch today.

Reasons I'm having such an awesome day:
• went on a photo shoot this morning and for once actually got to work in real 'art director' capacity overseeing the shoot. It was for our local Easter Seals chapter. The photographer was a great guy, very talented. Also enjoyed working with the EA marketing girl. But it was the kids that made it so much fun. So sweet and cute. All ages, all ability levels. We were trying to get them to hold there arms out wide and say "Sooooo big!" Some would, some wouldn't...but several wouldn't stop once they got going. One little guy just walked around saying "cheese!" all morning. What a good feeling to work with the munchkins.

• having conversation with the photographer and using actual design speak with someone who got it, and talking with him about London, museums, tube etc.

• that yummy curry I had for lunch

• Listening - make that reading - the World Cup matches while I work today - and then England winning!! Nothing like leaving it to the very end and scaring us, but they did pull two goals out in the last few minutes. I wish I had seen Crouch's goal...he's such a freak. Human walking stick. But he's great! I've got my World Cup bracket up in my cube, and keeping track of how my picks are doing. Not bad so far!

• Virgin Radio playing great post-match songs to keep the spirits up
• it's payday
• hanging out after work with a girlfriend
• nice 'heyhowyadoing' call from T

Make that waiting in pain....

2006-06-13T10:30:00.000-07:00

I've had a major non-stop ache in my lower back and hip since Saturday. It started right before the IUI. As of tomorrow I'll have been on Glucophage for a week. Tomorrow I'm supposed to up the dose. I really think this is what is causing the aches. It isn't listed as a side-effect - major stomach and 'bowel' disruption/eruptions are supposed to be the side effect with a few people experiencing stomach cramps. So nothing official online states it, but I read in several forums of people experiencing back pain. When I stopped by the Doctor's office today to pay for Saturday's IUI, I asked the nurse about it. She just said she'd never herad of it, but we could stop the glucophage and see...great. Then what if if doesn't take or I miscarry? No, I'd rather stay on it. I said i hadn't actually taken anything for it. She said it was ok to take advil or tylenol. (which I thought was odd, aren't y ou only sposed to take tyelenol when preg?) So I went home and took 3 advil. It cut the pain in half, but seems to be getting better. I just hope it doesn't get worse once I start taking two pills day. Even scarier is that I'm supposed to go up to 4 pills.

...and now we wait...

2006-06-12T12:04:00.000-07:00

Well it's been a long time since I've had anything 'fertility' related to share. Last fall we had the scan done to check and make sure my tubes were clear. They are, that hurt like a bitch though. Then at that point we decided to take a few months off. I had been crying way too much about the entire idea. At the first of the year we decided to wait a few months longer, because of financial/ employment concerns. Then we were all ramped up for April and May, only to realize we'd be out of town both months during my most 'fertile' days for any procedure to be done.

Which leads to June. And boy did things move fast this month. I had my first follicle scan on the 5th. Followed by several more that week, got my HCG shot Friday and was inseminated Saturday! So now we wait. If I don't get my period we wait until cycle day 35 to take a test. That's three long weeks from now. As excited as I am, I'm trying to be realistic. Most people don't get it the first time with an IUI. It's just going to be the worst period ever though if I do get it.

But we've both decided that even if it didn't take, this has been worth it for all that we've learned. For instance...at my second scan the dr. casually mentions, "..and of course you have polycystic ovaries..." Excuse me what!?! Noone had ever told me this. HUGE news to me. The good news is I have no other symptoms, so I don't have PCOS which is the syndrome associated with having cysts on your ovaries. I just have it enough to mess with my estrogen amount. So I took estrogen for the week leading up to the IUI. And I'm also on Glucophage. I may have to stay on it for the entire time we try to concieve and are pregnant. It can have some nasty side effects, but so far I just have a really achey lower back. But I can't tell if it's a side-effect from the drug, or from laying on my butt with my hips up while I watched 7 DVD's after the procedure. The dr. didn't say to do this, but I just wanted to take it easy just in case.

So that's the latest update. Practically everyone we know, knows about this. Which will make it really hard if it doesn't work. But it's also been great to know everyone is really excited for us and crossing fingers, wishing on stars, saying little prayers.

Great Blue Heron

2006-06-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

On my way home the other day I glanced over at the pastures to see what horses were out and noticed a heron up on the fence. There is a small pond across the road from this field where I guess he was coming from. You see plenty of them around the creeks in our area, but I've never seen one up on the farm anywhere. Really cool birds. Oh, I couldn't get my camera to focus on the bird, it kept focusing on the branch in front of it.

I can sleep anywhere...

2006-06-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

...in my daddy's clothes basket...