Scenes from my living room

Forgive me, I am not in a blogging mood tonight.  A few weeks ago I got a scratch and dent camera for 1/2 price and when we went to Denver my sister "fixed" the settings on it and it is coming out super blurry.  I was playing around with it tonight and think I managed to "re-fix" some of the settings...but here's whats going on in my house on this lovely Wednesday:

J and Artimus are watching TV.  Mus is enjoying a nap.

Toby is laying right in the middle of my homework (you may notice the top book is J.A. Jance's newest... that is not my homework, I was sneaking some reading time in).  Winston loves having his picture taken.

Winston and Maggie snuggle up in the storage room.  Please forgive the green paneling and old bed/comforter.  This is the garage sale pile and the last room to be re-done in our house!  Our whole house had green and blue paneling and J has fixed everything but one room!!  

As you can see, we are just hanging out around here.  Tomorrow I hope to be more blog-inspired especially since a new friend nominated me for a blog award that I can't wait to fill out!  

The bidding has begun!

Awhile back I posted about the wonderful auction that the Williams family is hosting for Jonah's first birthday (read more about it here).  It has officially begun and runs through the 27th.  100% of the profit goes directly to DebRA for EB research and care for families.  I strongly encourage everyone to check it out...I have just placed my bids- there is everything from gift cards to kitchen stuff to blog makeovers!  Plus you are helping out a good cause!

Reader, work, dogs and a whole lot of waiting

Today will be a jumbled post, bear with me because that's where my mind is at today!  I am loving ICLW, reading everyone's stories and knowing that when I feel so stressed out and fed up- other people do too!  Since I don't have any IRL friends who have gone through this journey (unfortunately I have an IRL acquaintance who I just learned had two miscarriages) I sometimes wonder if I am crazy.  Turns out I am not, so that's always good to know!!
So, on to the beginning of this week- does anyone know a good blog reader program other than Go*gle Reader?  I have had the hardest time with this stupid thing- I get postings days later than they are posted, I delete blogs and all the sudden they come back, I hate it!  If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear what you use! 
I love going back on Mondays- it seems like everyone wakes up on the wrong side of the bed.  My personal favorite was an email this morning from one manager to my boss asking why I had done something a certain way.  My boss sends a three paragraph response about how if I would have just looked in the system, I would have done it correctly and I wasted 18 hours of operations time this weekend, etc, etc, etc....So as I am reading through all this back and forth when I first arrive this morning, I think, hm....this doesn't sound at ALL familiar.  So, I go look in the system, as my boss so strongly suggested, and find that by a simple click of our AUDIT button, I wasn't the one who did this, it was done on a day I was out of the office and another person entered the incorrect information on my account.  Let me tell you how much I had to hold myself back from responding, Had YOU looked in the system as you so kindly suggested, YOU would have seen that I was not involved in this situation!  Or on YOUR calendar of our days out...Ya know, anything before firing off an nasty-gram first thing on Monday morning!
Sheesh!
Oh and since I threw it out there, I am going to comment on my dogs.  My husband started out with a yellow lab (Maggie, 13) who has hunted her entire life with him and his brothers.  I started with my baby Toby, 5 (shelter baby, looks like a fox-coyote mix, fastest dog I have ever seen) and my Winston, 3 (found wandering the street baby, some kind of boxer mix).  Three was fine, we were good!  Then came Zeke.  J's mom worked at a doctors office and one of her patients found out he was terminal.  With a wife and three young kiddos at home, he needed to get rid of the four puppies they had just purchased.  We started out watching one for his brother who subsequently went through three other dogs (no, he didn't kill them, he decided a week later he didn't like one for whatever reason, gave it away then somehow ended up with another).  So, months turned into years and our little Z is now two!  He is a yellow lab also.  Then, as I was driving home from work mid-December of this year and wondering what all the honking on the highway exit to my house was, I see a little boxer, skinny looking pup running in the road looking absolutely terrified.  I finally coaxed him into the car and got him home.  We put up signs, called the humane society, the radio stations, everything we could think of.  We took him to the vet to be sure he was OK to be around our dogs and they told us that he was not in fact a pup, he was probably over a year and had been out in the street for awhile.  He was sick, skinny and terrified of everything.  The decision point came when one night J went to take a shower and he sat outside the shower curtain (but still in the bathroom) and cried the whole time.  J was hooked after that- so then came Artimus (or Mr. Mus or Mus-turd as I call him!).  Yes, we are the weirdos with five dogs and I know that some day in the future we will have a beautiful blend of kiddos with their own unique stories to go along with it.  We need a bigger house before that day :)


In other news, I am extremely crabby and wish that my blood draw was tomorrow.  I hate waiting and am no good at it.  I am the crazy person who will have a slight headache and webMD it only to decide that I must have a rare brain hemorrhage or certainly brain cancer.  My overactive mind is definitely not a good thing when I am forced to wait for something!  
Hope everyone's week is going well, at the very least- Monday is over with!  Yay!!

ICLW: An Intro

Well, this is my first ICLW and I guess the proper thing to do is an intro.  Welcome to my blog- I am a married gal living in KS, born and raised in CO.  My husband and I are the weird people with 5 stray dogs who have become our furbabies.  We were married in 2007 and have been TTC for a little over a year now.  We have done 6 clomid cycles and one IUI.  I work at a hellacious job which sometimes makes me laugh and sometimes makes me cry.  I am a late bloomer, just finishing my degree which leaves very little time for my poor husband.  Luckily he is a good sport about it and eventually I might be done with school!  Anyways, that's the super-interesting story, can't wait to read all of yours!  

Weekend Wrap Up

Hi Friends,
Hope your weekend was fun!  Friday night I had a ticket to go with a friend to the Reba McIntyre and George Strait concert.  She got the tickets on craigslist and I didn't exactly know where our seats were...boy, that was a learning experience!  I wouldn't say that I am afraid of heights but sitting at the very top row of the new arena was not an experience I ever want to repeat!  I felt like if I sneezed I might tumble down the whole 3.some miles to the ground (no kidding, they are doing an American Lung Association Run/Walk on the stairs there, three point some miles from bottom to top!).  Anyways, the sound was not great and we couldn't see the screen because of the ceiling light beams, soooo the concert was kind of a bust.  But, important lesson learned, NEVER pay for seats in that section again!  Saturday was a whole lot of nothing, I was really bummed this weekend reading some of my IF blogs of those that received their BFP's or saw the second pink line- bummed because in each post I read there was also fear and a cautiousness.  I think about the many stupid girls at work who had an "oops" pregnancy and never thought for a second about caffeine intake, cramping, miscarrying or anything else that seems to be a constant for those who have gone through IF or experienced loss.  It's just not fair!!  I know, life isn't fair either but for some reason this weekend just hit me really hard and I really had these girls on my mind this weekend.  
Anyways, other than being bummed on Saturday, we went to my BIL's house that he shares with his girlfriend.  They were really fun and cooked steak and crab for us and we watched The Stepfather (weird...not something I would have picked, overall not awful...).  Today has been the usual homework mad-dash and dreading going back to work tomorrow.  The bright spot is that I actually started meal planning again, it kind of got lost in the shuffle.  I have been using Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld which I think is an awesome way to get extra veggies and not taste them.  I have some cauliflower and spinach scrambled eggs with whole wheat toast and a grapefruit ready for the first half of the week!  Yummy!  I have meatloaf with butternut squash and spaghetti and meatballs with carrot and spinach puree on tap for dinner this week.  I like not having to figure it out as I am running out the door to make it home from work, so it will be good to get back to a pre-set meal plan!


Also, if you wouldn't mind, I have an appointment Wednesday morning and I can't stop worrying about it...I would appreciate a prayer or two!  Of course, I will be wearing my lucky socks from my friend Meg (hey, even though it's only a blood draw, the socks can only help me, right?) so I know everything will go well :)  

Birthday Post

We just got back from my birthday dinner at Hu Hot (yummy...I cannot describe how much I love that place!) and while there came up with an excellent marketing idea for them.  The Hu Hot wristband.  Make a plate, eat, go out and run errands, come back and make another plate...LOL Their food is so delish but so filling!  Then we went to the bookstore (my favorite place!) where I found a couple of books on clearance!  Yay!!  Now back home and I am about to fall asleep (lame!) but thats ok, more fun to come this weekend when a friend and I head to the George and Reba concert on Friday.  Wahoo!!  Hope everyone is having a happy Wednesday and a special birthday shout out to my friend Lou who also shares this wonderful birthday!  Happy Birthday buddy!!


Ok, I do just have to share one story- my minor in college is in organizational leadership which means I have a lot of leadership and development classes.  For one particular class we have to discuss a book called Life Entrepreneurs (I would not recommend this book, btw, I was not a fan!).  We got put into groups and discussed much the way a forum or chat board works.  So I post my overall review of the book as 80/20 and state that it is hard for me to find inspiration from people whose lives and circumstances I would already consider "extraordinary" such as the guy who started Clif bar and went on from their to redefine the way that the company was run.  I mean, these are not ordinary people overcoming things, these are CEO's, rich people and the like coming up with good, successful entrepreneurs and how the rest of us can apply that to our lives.  I did not directly attack anyone or anything in the book.  Here is the response from a group member...you tell me, is this a little much? 

My personal thoughts are that you have to make time to pursue what you want.  whether that is making time for the gym, for quiet time, for socializing, I feel that you have plenty of time you have to prioritize.  I have a 30 hr per week job, an 11 year old, a husband and I find that if I plan things I can get what I need in to my routine.  I believe it would be the same with this books message.  Honesly I would start slow, maybe take a leave of abscense from work and see where I end up.

My husband works full time, but then comes home and is on the computer or lazing around and I understand he needs downtime, but not 5 hours of it.  I personally tell him to relax and then make him a plan to do something with me for 30 minutes or plan to go to the gym after work.  Honestly I think people make excuses.

If your first thought after reading this is how poor the grammar and spelling are for a 600 level college class, fear not- I HAVE THE SAME ISSUE!  I don't understand how most people made it to college in the first place.  Anyways, my response to this (officially) was nothing but unofficially?  Ummm...I work 50+ hours a week, take 15 credit hours of upper level IT classes AND run a freakin house hold.  Please, come here for a week and tell me that you see where I can take time off??  Oh and taking a leave of absence from work?  NOT POSSIBLE- that was kind of my whole point.  In the real world, that isn't usually an option!

Argh!  So there is my vent for the night!!

The trip to Denver and an Award!

Ok, this will be a super-long, “two posts in one” catch-up from our trip and my first ever blog award!  Yay!!  I will start with the blog award, I want to thank JRS whose blog has been an inspiration and a positive voice to look forward to!  Winner of the award are supposed to tell 7 things we don't know about you, nominate 7 new blogs and send a link to them so they know they won the award. Make a copy of this award and link it to your site.

7 things you don't know about me:

1. I am originally from CO (ok, some of you know that) and now reside in KS where my husband was raised. 
2. Together my husband and I have 5 dogs- we have a soft spot for rescue furbabies. 
3. My dad and I are both extremely double jointed.
4. I love, love, LOVE to read and have an entire shelf of “to be read” books.  Currently I am reading the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series by Laurell K. Hamilton and Darker Domain by Val McDermid.  Along with a bunch of inspirational type books for school (yuck)!
5. I am an avid scrapbooker, want to learn how to sew and quilt and love to craft almost anything.
6. I am super competitive and somewhat of a perfectionist.
7. I broke my back when I was 18 and changed the whole course of what I had planned after high school.  Oddly enough, at the same age J shattered his leg, twice, which led to a change in the course his life was taking (he was enlisted in the Marines the second time). 

Now, 7 blogs that I would like to spotlight and give an award to are:

1. Sheryl- a new bloggy friend who always posts the most delicious recipes.

2. Megan- also a bloggy friend who is hilarious and such a good person.

3. Erin- yet another bloggy friend who is so sweet and so, so nice!

4. Lori- a bloggy friend who is TTC as well and stops by with encouragement.

5. Autumn- another TTC friend who always has a kind word.

6. Finessa- a bloggy friend who has a wonderful cooking blog.  Her Tater Tot Casserole was A-MAZING!      

7. Kristen- an IRL friend who is getting ready to welcome her 2^nd daughter!  

So.  The trip to Denver.  Some things turned out like we planned, some, not so much.  We arrived Friday morning and spent the morning with my dad.  Then we went and met my mom and sister while my sister had a doctor’s appointment we strolled around old Littleton (the old downtown part).  I used to buy dance gear down there and there are a lot of fun shops!  We found a spice shop and got some vanilla sugar (yum) and a sweet shop called sugar rush that was just precious!  So fun – all the old candies from when we were kids, plus everything from tables to egg timers to hats decorated with pink and cupcakes (J loved it).  Then we headed to Melting Pot, whose website specifically says “No reservations needed for lunch time.” Riiiiiiight.  So we get there and the hostess asks for our reservation and we tell her what the website says and she says, huh…yea a lot of people have said that but it isn’t true.  But we can try and get you in.  Well, they did not get us in, at least within 30 minutes and by this time it was 2pm and we hadn’t eaten all morning (except for the trip to 7-11, more on that in a minute) and so we left and decided to head for C.B. Potts, a brewery in town instead.  That was ok, definitely not as good as Melting Pot, but, oh well.  So the 7-11 trip- I had heard on the Ryan Seacrest show (which I hate, btw but it is the only channel I get at work) that Nicole Richie and Joel Madden had designed these specialty coffee mugs for 7-11 and all the profits went to their children’s charity.  So we go to 7-11 specifically to get these mugs and lo and behold they are PAPER mugs.  Mugs is too strong of a word.  Paper CUPS.  Stupid!  So we ended up getting some blackberry lime slurpees (miss slurpees!) and string cheese to tide us over.

Then, the best part of the trip- shopping at the outlet mall!  I have mentioned WORK AT HOME MAFIA before, she posted a 20% off Coach outlet coupon- so guess where we went first?  OMG it was a madhouse.  We saw three people trying to steal (they were caught before they made it out, the old fake stroller no baby trick did not work for them!) and found some a-mazing deals!  Although I might have spent before I thought (no way, right?) so I may have to re-evaluate what I purchased.  But, I will say everything I found was initially 50 – 60% off list price then 20% off that!  However, the best deal of the day was had by hubby!  He went to the Calphalon outlet store and was looking at some santoku knives (he is a gourmet chef, by the way…he is awesome).  Anyways, so the first knife he found was list price 129.99 and outlet price 79.99.  Then, he picked up the package to inspect it and saw a sticker for 39.99.  He checked every other box and that was the only one! So he snagged that.  The cutlery was all an additional 20% off as well so he picked up a combo set that was marked at 49.99 and looked on the wall where the samples were and the sample set was marked 29.99.  You guessed it, he walked away with both the big knife and the set for less than the marked price of one of them!  Wahoo!  The gal even commented- gee I guess I better check those prices!  So, the rest of the trip wasn’t very eventful (shopping or Denver!) visiting with family, playing some Rummikube…the usual!  I did get my Einstein’s so that was awesome!  Here are some pictures:

Me and my sister

Forgot about this- we went through old toys, this is my baby from childhood, my sister is demonstrating the baby holder and how cool she is!

My mom and her dog, getting beat by J at Rummikube (we all got beat...)

Learning Tetris, my sister was the champ!

And we're off...

Well, at 5:00am we will be.  One might think I would be sleeping now but no, my plan to leave work early (ha!) did not work out so I did not take lunch and ended up working later than I have all week.  Sheesh!  So, our super early flight will surely improve the mood around here.  Hopefully I can sleep on the plane.  We then have a date with Einstein's Bagels (my favorite sandwiches ever!) and a plan to checkout the outlets at Castle Rock followed by birthday dinner at the Melting Pot.  Yes, I will probably gain 500 lbs this weekend.  So worth it, I miss Denver restaurants!  
So, to all my friends coming to the end of their 2ww- I will be thinking about you and praying for BFP's!  Have a great weekend!  

Jonah's EB Auction

Hi Friends,
I have been following little Jonah and his buddy Tripp for awhile now and I really, really encourage you to check out the auction that Jonah's family is holding for his first birthday to raise awareness for EB.  And of course, Jonah is a February kid like me, so I have to show some love there!!  I am sticking his button on my sidebar, the auction runs for 5 days before Jonah's birthday (on the 27th) and there are a ton of items to bid on!  Yay!  The link to the auction is:
http://jonahsebauction.blogspot.com/

I don't know what is wrong with me.

Because I am so unnecessarily angry at my husband.  There.  I said it.  I know it can probably be chalked up to PMS and/or crazy fluctuating hormones and/or stress.  I feel awful about it, I really do.  I know that I have the best husband that a girl could hope for.  He is my best friend and has been incredibly supportive during the ups and downs (mostly downs...) of this whole process.  Since last night though, he has been on my last nerve.  And you know what is completely ridiculous?  It is irritating me the most that he just expects me to be OK with everything!  I mean, the nerve!  I am acting perfectly OK, he should know that deep down, I am going to lose it (no, I am not really that irrational which is why I know this is hormone-related, I am always the calm, level headed one.  Except for now.)  Ugh, I thought venting on my blog would make me feel better but instead it is just making me feel like a jerk.  So my bloggy friends, please realize that a lot is going on right now and that I do (deep down) appreciate everything my husband does for me and how lucky I am.  But just a little part of me is angry at him that I am in KS with no family, few friends and absolutely no one to talk to about any of this.  Except the internet :)  


So as I am typing this I have Pandora internet radio playing in the background.  Sometimes I feel like God is sitting there laughing at me- and here is why: as I am typing I hear:


Where you go through life
So sure of where you’re headin'
And you wind up lost and it's
The best thing that could have happened
‘Cause sometimes when you lose your way it's really just as well
Because you find yourself
Yeah that’s when you find yourself


Ok God.  I get it.  I am being a brat and need to go focus on my stats homework and stop whining.  Thank you.  

Weekend Wrap Up

Wow, I can't believe this weekend is over already!  Feels like it barely started.  First, the topic always on my mind, today is 8 dpiui.  I feel cruddy, just a general, down in the dumps, mopey, achey feeling.  For some reason, the past three or four cycles I have developed an aversion to coffee (which if you know me, you know how STRANGE that is) about a week before my period.  Well, guess what...it happened again today.  So, as much as I hope, I have to realistically realize that I am probably not pregnant, again.  Even though I am loving me some pickles right now!  Seriously, we ordered Jason's Deli  and let me tell you, I was in hog-heaven with pickles and peanut butter cookies for my dinner yesterday! 
Started to pack for our trip and seriously tore my house apart for two days straight making garage sale piles, starting to pack, realizing I still haven't given out all my Christmas presents (February isn't too late, right?) and just generally stayed around the house and did homework (not as much as I should have, of course).  I hope my mood improves before we go visit my family next week-it's going to be hard enough as it is, let alone Valentine's Day, my birthday and another failed cycle.  Ugh.
Oh yea- and I told myself if we had one more failed cycle, I was going to quit.  The stress at my job is unreal.  However, I have put out over 500 job applications in the past three months and have received one call for a job paying less than half of what I make, which I was going to interview for anyways but the day my interview was scheduled, I received a message that they had already hired someone.  Yikes.  All I know is, I am taking 18 hours this semester, one semester (possibly two) from graduation- plus all our IF struggles, I am not sure how much longer I can do all of this.  I just have to keep hoping something is going to change some day soon!  


On a positive note, LOL, I just found out that we get Investigation Discovery for a whole 'nother month on our free preview.  Yay!  I am a crime junkie and love, love, love me some ID network TV!  I know I am driving J nuts- he hates these shows...but I have had my own mini marathon in the background all weekend, plus I cleared out the DVR so I can record everything possible before we lose the channel :)  I know, it's the little things!  Oh, speaking of little things, my friend Megan has a wonderful "year of charity" that she is doing on her blog and one of the groups she donated to is Fertility Socks which I think is just the neatest idea!  Meg always finds the worthiest causes, and when she mentioned this one, I knew I had to get them some socks!  So, I have a package in my purse, to mail tomorrow!  I encourage my IF friends to check them out and if you aren't an IF friend, check them out anyways and realize that yes, a pair of socks can make a difference to someone going through this!


PS:  No, we didn't watch the Super Bowl.  Thank goodness, hubby cares as little about sports as I do.  Hence the Dateline marathon!  It's like the Super Bowl for me!  

I hate the 2ww!

Can I just rant real quick?  Because otherwise I will continue my quest on google to look up symptoms which could be ANYTHING and convince myself that I am pregnant.  So, writing a blog post should at least distract me long enough that I realize what a waste of time this is!  It all started last night, I had been really wanting some salt and vinegar chips all day.  I hate salt and vinegar chips and we don't have really any chips around.  Went to the mall and got really, really hot and dizzy (thanks prometrium...you are so much fun!) then met J's brother and his girlfriend at a bar for some hamburgers and darts.  When we got our food, I started chowing down on my pickles and then J's...he looked at me and said, Uh- are you sure you aren't pregnant (I also don't really love pickles).  I told him, even if I was, I would not be having these kinds of symptoms this early, so, while I can't be sure of anything yet, I have to tell myself I am not so that when AF comes I don't completely lose it (who am I kidding, I completely lose it anyways).  Woke up this morning, same thing- pickles and/or salted chips.  So I am settling for a carne asada burrito when J returns from hunting.  And maybe some pickles later :)   
Also, as much of a pain as prometrium is, I found some really interesting information about it- namely that one of the biggest causes of low progesterone is stress and that when you have low progesterone and start taking it, you can have what seems like super-severe side effects whereas many other people have little to none.  I need to talk to my RE next week, when we initially started my progesterone was low but has not been tested since.  Wonder if that could have been one of the issues all along?  Another thing I found is that most people are prescribed 100-200 mg and I am on 600 (sure that has nothing to do with my cramps, sleepiness and hunger which I would like to attribute to pregnancy but unfortunately probably not so much!).  
Anyways- now that I have talked reason back into myself and see the disaster that my living room is, I better get to work.  We leave for CO on Thursday and J's brother will be staying here, I hate to have people over when my house is messy!  Plus I guess I better pack and all- my dad talked like our flight was at a normal-person time and come to find out that we leave KS at 5:00am and our return flight doesn't get in until midnight.  Suh-weet!  But I am looking forward to at least two hours (plane ride) of un-interrupted reading time where I will NOT feel guilty that I am reading and not doing homework/cleaning/working around the house!  

Every five minutes...

Someone else turns up pregnant and I just want to scream.  Well that and we have to start tracking our time in increments of five minutes at work.  Seriously.  So, hopefully I have a job tomorrow because I decided that after item number 180 (well, I work 10-12 hours a day, salary, with typically no lunch...how many entries does he expect???) I decided to start having fun.  Here were some of my entries for Thursday:
12:05 to 12:11  go to kitchen, get yogurt out of fridge, forget spoon.  Return to kitchen, get spoon then eat yogurt.


3:30 to 3:45 explain to shipping yet again that passes must be received as passes and fails as fails.  See entry in D2, D46, D85 and D90.  


3:46 to ? Start trying to put schedule together for customer X.  After the fourth interruption (less than 5 minutes, not documented...although 4 minutes times 4 interruptions is 16 minutes) gave up.  On conference call with customer X discussed his impending maternity leave (I think he meant paternity but I really didn't want to correct him) and luckily didn't get a chance to bring schedule up.


6:15  I am leaving now.  Yes, I have been here for 11 hours.  


I wouldn't have been such a B* about it but to have someone who manages us and has never had a customer a day in his life, who came from an IT background ask "Well I don't understand what is taking so long.  You should just put the schedule together, no more than 5 minutes, correct?" Just makes me (and everyone else in the department) want to scream.  The funniest part is how petty everyone has become.  I went and bought a bright pink HUGE watch at walmart and every time someone comes over to ask me a question, I turn my timer on.  Another gal has a stopwatch around her neck and does the same thing.  I mean honestly, while the people I work with are not my favorite on a personal level, they are some of the darn hardest workers I have ever met.  To treat us like five year olds is a little ridiculous.  Hopefully we only have to do this for a week- I take a little bit of pleasure in knowing the Mr.IT didn't set up his excel formulas correctly and he will have his work cut out for him when sorting through our items!  I know, sick and wrong!!


Anyways, yet another friend (well actually my cousin) posted this on her facebook status:
"I can't believe I am going to be 27 with three kids!  Yes, we are pregnant again- I am so old!!"
All I wanted to respond with was (no, I didn't...I save my attitude for my blog!):
" I can't believe I am going to be 26 with no kids.  Yes, we have officially spent a year doing fertility treatments with no success.  It makes me feel so young!!!"

Ouch

Let me just share that I am having the worst freakin cramps ever!  I know, everyone really wanted to know that. Since I am only 4dpiui (days past IUI), I sincerely doubt it is anything to get excited about (like, say....oh....implantation cramps) but DA**.  If it is like this each cycle, I am not sure I can do it again.  I am talking doubled over in the middle of a sentence cramps.  PLUS- no advil/ibuprofen so I am just going through it.  Ugh.  
There really is no other news, other than the wonderful mood swings and hot flashes still in full effect!! Plus my super positive attitude...
But on a good note, I found an IF blog who wore socks from Little Miss Matched to her IUI and it was the cutest idea EVER so I promptly ordered myself some stars and some polka dots!  When I told J he said, Uh- those are for little kids.  Men!  Anyways, can't wait for those to arrive, at least something in this whole process is fun!!  

By the numbers

Why am I blogging and not doing homework??  Oh yea, cause homework sucks!  I have senioritis, big time.  I am still two point five semesters from graduation...feels like forever.  Although, I made an executive decision to order myself a Cookies By Design bouquet for graduation in December.  After all, how many times do you graduate college?  (Ok, three if you are me...but how many times do you get a cookie bouquet?? NONE!) 
So I had an awesome post planned for a look back this past few months at our fertility journey.  I have really been enjoying the book The Conception Chronicles and I think my favorite line so far has got to be one of the gals talking about screw a kids meal discount, if you have paid more than 20k to try to have a kid, you deserve a freakin discount at a restaurant!!  Makes me laugh when I don't think this whole TTC thing is very funny (most days...).  Anyways, as I was putting together my numbers I realized that in the past 10 months of trying we have spent almost 6k and 2k of it has been the first IUI cycle.  Yes, we are blessed to have high deductible insurance with no fertility coverage.  I mean, at least my asthma medicine is covered (at $225 for a 30 day supply of pills)! By the way, anyone considering fertility treatments should really check out Freedom Fertility Pharmacy.  I had NEVER heard of them until my doc accidentally called my RX in there.  Turns out, they are about 40% cheaper than my regular pharmacy and they deliver overnight- for free!  So anyways, back to the ridiculous amount of money we have spent so far...I then started to count up the number of pee sticks I have wasted and the number of useless gadgets/vitamins/books I have acquired thus far and all of the sudden, it wasn't a real funny post.  I know, I know, many people have spent much more time/effort/funds and still are in the same place I am.  But, it's my blog and I will whine if I want to!