Day 4 - Favorite Book

As you might have guessed....these are my favorite books:

I ADORE these books......I think Becky Bloomwood is my soul mate!!!

Day 3 -Favorite Television Program

Like sands through the hour glass so are the:

I have been hooked in Salem since I was a young teenager (wait...maybe this is where my dramatic nature comes from.....hmmmm).  Yes, some of the story lines are absurd.....Yes sometimes I can care less what is going on and fast forward through most of the show!  But as long as that hourglass is still dropping the sand...I will be watching!!! 

Here are my honorable mentions:

Real Housewives of New York

Real Housewives of Orange County

Bethenny Getting Married

Day 2 - Favorite Movie

Here are the movies that I love (that have helped to mold me into the wonderful yet slightly over dramatic person I am today)

Fools Rush In 

 Beauty and the Beast

Steel Magnolias

Armageddon

 

Day 1- My Favorite Song

I don't even know where to start with this.  Almost every time I hear a song, I love it and add it to my favorites.

Remember?!?!? I wanted to be a singer.....

Here are my favorite songs:

Favorite love song- Faithfully by Journey



Favorite oldies song- Moon River by Andy Williams



Favorite dance song - Maria by TKA



Favorite song to cry with- Ave Maria by Beyonce



Favorite make me smile song- Haven't Met You Yet by Michael Buble



Favorite song where I don't know all the words yet (after listening to it for many many years!): We Didn't Start The Fire by Billy Joel



Favorite 80's hair band song- Wind of Change by Scorpion



Favorite driving/singing song- The Rose by Bette Midler

30 Day Blog Journal

I went to one of the best blog's ever...Daneen's blog over at His and Hers Infertility and saw this 30 day blog journal!  I LOVE this idea!  I think I will start tomorrow! 

Day 1 - your favorite song
Day 2 - your favorite movie
Day 3 - your favorite television program
Day 4 - your favorite book
Day 5 - your favorite quote
Day 6 - 20 of my favorite things
Day 7 - a photo that makes you happy
Day 8 - a photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 9 - a photo you took
Day 10 - a photo taken over 10 years ago of you
Day 11 - a photo of you recently
Day 12 - something you are OCD about
Day 13 - a fictional book
Day 14 - a non-fictional book
Day 15 - your dream house
Day 16 - a song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 - an art piece (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc)
Day 18 - my wedding/future wedding/past wedding
Day 19 - a talent of yours
Day 20 - a hobby of yours
Day 21 - a recipe
Day 22 - a website
Day 23 - a youtube video
Day 24 - where I live
Day 25 - your day, in great detail
Day 26 - your week, in great detail
Day 27 - my worst habit
Day 28 - whats in my handbag/purse
Day 29 - hopes,dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 - a dream for the future

Enjoy my friends!

Oh The Things I Learn From Bravo TV!

I can't help it...I am so wrapped up in this Real Housewives franchise.  It all started last year when the hype about the Jersey group was ALL anyone could talk about.  I turned it on and in seconds..I was hooked.

After Jersey, I watched OC....

.....after OC...NYC! 

Now I am all about anything Real Housewives!!!  I am looking forward to the new cities they are bringing on....truth be told though....If there was a Real Housewives of the Homeless....I would watch it!

The name really cracks me up....THESE ladies are REAL Housewives?!?!  Being a housewife myself, I thought it was all about slumming it up with your cleaning clothes and getting down and dirty with the dust bunnies.  All until your man is on his way home and you have to transform into the fabulous bride he married. 

Being a housewife is a little like being Cinderella huh? 

Now that I know that housewives are actually supposed to hire maids and nannies....I had it all wrong!  Instead of spending the day cleaning, doing laundry and cooking....we should be getting our hair and nails done at the spa!  My "favorite" over the type housewife....Alexis from the OC- who has TWO nannies for THREE children and insists on having to go to the spa for the day to relax when things get just a bit stressful (favorite is so in quotation marks....I actually can't stand her...Not one nanny but TWO?!?!  Raise your own kids!!)

Sign me up for this lifestyle please =)  I can't believe I have wasted four years of possible sun bathing and bellini's for a clean house and cooking....Oh the humanity!

Parental Pet Parade

In our quest to become AWESOME parents...my husband and I decided to buy a hermit crab (missed that blog post? you can read about it here).  We have our sweet little Spidey. 

Over the course of the days and weeks, we have seen a great deal of this little crab's personality.  He is a true hermit.....doesn't like anyone watching him or around.  Only comes out at night and will hide if he sees or senses you around....

This crab is just like my husband!

So I thought that I was going to be the "spoiler" out of the two of us.....however I have learned that my husband is WORSE than I am.  First Spidey needed more toys...then a bigger cage....then better food...

Somehow in the process of this...we acquired a fish.  I HATE FISH!!!! The smell of fish is repulsive.... won't even eat it!!!  It really all started when I was a child and we got this big fish tank.  We went to the store and bought two angelfish and two catfish.  I was so excited to have those fish in my room ....I woke up in the middle of the night to a scene of MURDER.  The catfish (those mothersuckers) ATE the angelfish's eyes!!! There were my beloved angelfish lying eye-less in the bottom of the tank....I SCREAMED!  Our tank disappeared very soon after that!  (A sincere thank you to the ass in the pet store that didn't bother to tell us that those fish couldn't be put together!!! TRAUMATIZED ME!  I'll be sending you my shrink bills!)

So my husband went and got this fish when I was away.  I was angry ....until I watched the thing.  The fish is so fiesty....if you put your finger near the tank...he starts flipping out and trying to break through the glass. Definitely has an attitude about him and won't put up with anyone's crap.....

The fish is just like me!!

Of course....my husband needed to get him a better tank...more decorations and better food for him too!

So apparently, this wasn't enough for us because yesterday we got another hermit crab.....a real teeny tiny baby one.  So small....His name is Captain Jack (in regards to his pirate shell that he will be growing into!)

So here's the thing....I fear that my house will turn into a zoo if we do not have a child soon.   Hear that God?  I've already started building Noah's Ark so I think it's time you give us our baby!

BLOG CONTEST: What's Wrong with This Photo?

One of my favorite things about living in New Jersey is ALL the diners!  There are tons of them!  We have a great one right across the major road by our house. 

We took my sister and nephew there for dinner tonight.

My nephew (who is only four) orders his kids chicken fingers meal and it comes with a juice, he chooses apple juice.  When the waitress came back, she gave him a cup with a lid and a straw. He seemed content...nothing about it....

...Until I looked at the cup....WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IS THIS PICTURE?!?!  

Combined with this on the other side:

We all sat at the table trying to figure out what was going on with that picture.  I understand it's a Greek diner and maybe it's a famous Greek work of art (seriously...serving kids their juice in that cup?!?!)...who knows?!?  What I do know is there can be some funny captions for that picture...

Here's the contest....for the next week, you can post your funny caption of the picture as a comment on this blog post.  Next Saturday, we will pick a winner.  A sweet prize will be awarded to the funniest caption! 

Bring it's time to bring the funny!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

 

Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life...love gives us a fairy tale!

July 15 2006

IUI 6.2 -The Candy Land Edition

So this morning I had IUI 6.2!  Can I just start by saying that I have never been so tired in my life?!?  I was walk-into-the-wall-almost-fall-off-the-toilet tired!!  Tired but excited!  I get to sleep in tomorrow!!!!

We got to the office and I see the Dr. Ouch is listed as the doctor.  I am sitting in the waiting room and who comes running in the office...DR NOOB...obviously late..which maybe if he didn't slick his hair back to the point where it looked greasy and nasty he wouldn't have been late! I mean seriously I think he is auditioning for the role of The Fonz in a movie...YUCK! 

Dr Noob + my IUI= Lord help us all! 

My stomach seriously fell.  The man didn't do such a great job with my ultrasound.  There was a lot of um....fumbling....so the idea of him doing an IUI for me...seriously worried me (as it truly should have!)

So we get in the room and I am still secretly praying that by some form of god he wouldn't come into the room....Maybe he spilled coffee all over himself and needed to go home and change...Maybe his cat ran away...ANYTHING to keep him away from my Candy Land! 

Speaking of Candyland..Here is Dr. Noob:

He isn't fat by any means....that's not why I chose this as his character.  Gloppy is probably the size of the amount of hair gel this guy uses....gloppy.....hair gel....get it?.  ANYWAY...moving on......


Dr. Gloppy Noob is escorted in by Dr. Ouch!  My husband immediately turned to Dr Ouch and asked "You aren't doing the procedure today?"  Her reply was no...he is.   The sound of her voice made me nervous.  I should have ran out pantless at that moment!

Warning: SLIGHTLY GRAPHIC- DON'T READ IF YOU ARE RELATED TO ME =)
 
He asked me to scooch down to the point where my behind was like hanging off the table.  Weird request number one!  This is my sixth cycle of IUI's so my twelfth total.  I have never been positioned like that.  So here I am with my Candy land board just hanging out for the two doctors and nurse to see. 

I figured that this guy graduated medical school...so the speculum shouldn't have been a problem right?  WRONG!  The first one felt like my insides were being ripped...tears were coming out of my eyes.  Onto number two....didn't work again.  Dr. Ouch had to leave the room to find another one.  I seriously looked at my husband and shook my head.

This isn't rocket science people! I'm sure my husband could figure how to put the garlic press/salad tongs looking thing in....

So finally we have the speculum in....and then ...DR. Gloppy Noob can't find where to put the soldiers.  I COULDN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP PEOPLE.  After toying around for what felt like 50 years but was probably 5 minutes (he obviously must have gotten stuck in the Molasses Swamp...You lose a turn), Dr. Ouch (my new hero) literally pushed him out of the way and completed the procedure herself.  After it was complete...you could see in her eyes how bad she felt as she was asking me if I was ok. 

My IUI 6.2 should have lasted about 5 minutes...instead it took about 15!  AWKWARD! 

Dear Universe, I firmly believe that I have paid my dues for getting pregnant...so make that happen k?

Fingers crossed...I'm feeling really good about this one =)

IUI 6.1

This morning I decided to get pregnant!  That's right biology...BRING IT!

I did it folks....I FINISHED my injections!  you take that needles!

Today was the first of our sixth round of our IUI's.  Tomorrow is the second.


The best part...I don't have to wake up early at all this weekend for an appt!

Dr. Meteorologist was the one who did the IUI this morning.  He was so cute.  He loves to talk....but I couldn't understand much of what he was saying.  This is what I did hear:

"Let's make this heat wave a memorable one"
"I'm ready to send the soldiers in"
"Stay hydrated"

Totally funny.  I was trying so hard not to laugh.  I really love so many of those doctors...Oh there are two new ones I need to tell you about: Dr. Martha Stewart and Dr. Noob!

Dr. Martha Stewart did two of my ultrasounds..during the holiday weekend.  She is very very thorough!

Dr. Noob...oh boy....He did our ultrasound yesterday.  He is the new doctor to the practice and HAS to be straight out of med school!  He has NO idea what he was doing (there was another doctor in there with him to help him)!!!  I'll spare you all the details...it was uncomfortable and awkward.  Noob!

So this morning I noticed a couple walk in.  They looked like they were floating on air.  In their faces you saw excitement.  She had her paperwork with her.  I was SURE this was their consult appointment.  They looked all like this:

Confident, Happy, Hopeful.....(and not in a crazy psychotic way like these two above).  I marveled at this couple.  My husband and I were this couple....one year ago.

A year changes a lot when you are doing treatments for infertility....No longer are we that confident, happy, hopeful couple that first walked into that office.  As a matter of fact....I think we look more like this now:

Disheveled, Tired, Worn Out (but not drunk and certainly not arrested....and I would LOVE to promise you that my hair doesn't look like that sometimes....but seriously...it might!!  I CAN promise you that I WOULD NEVER let my husband wear that shirt....ever).


So here we go...entering the two week wait.  Neuroticism in the house!

To My Dad, Who I Will Always Treasure-

      

I had the cool dad when I was little!

The dad every little girl could wish for.

The creator of Dave's Disco (a dance party which was held at every family gathering, where my dad would put music on and dance his heart out with the kids!)

The man who worked nights and would once in a while wake his daughters up out of bed to go for a ride in his truck while he did some work.

A dad who thought nothing of getting packed up in the middle of the night and heading for a spur of the moment vacation.

These are things I will always treasure. 

As I got older and I began to mature, the fun dad I had when I was little turned into the disciplinary dad that is every teen's worst nightmare.  A dad that wanted to know where I was at every minute (Could anything be any more annoying to a teenager?!?).  A dad who insisted on me studying and doing my homework (I would have rather been shopping!).  A dad who dragged me out of some sticky situations, mortified me in front of my friends, and would give me the silent treatment which told me I went too far!

These are things I will always treasure.

I was never given the option of going to college.  It was always "where are you going?" instead of "are you going?".  I was always taught to stick up for myself and my beliefs.  I was taught about treating people with respect, never to judge someone from the way they look, and that hate is truly a four letter word.

These are things I will always treasure. 

As I became a woman, I realized the value of my dad.  My father is my biggest supporter.  He always has been...even since I was little and thought I could be a world famous singer.  I would sing for him and although I'm sure I sounded awful, he told me I was great.  I learned the importance of my education from my father...who never pushed me but always held high goals for me and encouraged me to reach them.

These are things I will always treasure.

I will always treasure you dad!  Happy Birthday!!!  I love you!!

This is for you dad!

To Sir, With Love-

Those schoolgirl days of telling tales and biting nails are gone
But in my mind I know they will still live on and on
 

But how do you thank someone who has taken you from crayons to perfume?
It isn't easy, but I'll try

If you wanted the sky I would write across the sky in letters
That would soar a thousand feet high 'To Sir, With Love'

The time has come for closing books and long last looks must end
And as I leave I know that I am leaving my best friend
A friend who taught me right from wrong and weak from strong
That's a lot to learn, but what can I give you in return?

If you wanted the moon I would try to make a start
But I would rather you let me give my heart 'To Sir, With Love'

Happy Fourth of July!!

Fireworks and America and Yummy Food OH MY!

Happy Fourth of July everyone!  

Here's hoping you get your fill of fireworks...whether you watch them or create them (nudge nudge wink wink)

P.S.  I am a mess on trying to stay on top of blog reading.  My Google reader always seems to be over a 1000.  What I need to do is unfollow those useless people I am following and start following you guys, who are WAY more interesting anyway!  I have started to make my way to some of your sites.  If I am not following you and you think I should be, please leave me a link to your blog as a comment!  I'll get on top of this one day....there is just so much more pressing issues...like making sure I watch EVERY Real Housewife show =) Who else is totally loving Bethenny's new show?!? I feel like I am watching myself on TV!  Adore her!

Welcome to Injection Junction

So it is official.....I faced my fear of needles and have started injections! *insert applause*

For some strange reason when I think of the word injection....I think of conjunction junction. 

Injection Junction...What's your function?  Making follicles so you can have baby(ies). 

Ok so I might have totally ripped the concept off from a Family Guy I watched recently ...but mine is so less vulgar....


With all kidding aside.....we wouldn't even be on injections this month if it wasn't for two awesome people we met through twitter.  J and K (their names will be withheld so you all don't try to track them down and get free stuff out of them! No they are not paying your rent, buying your groceries or giving you their baby!) went through an IVF cycle at the beginning of the year.  They conceived and offered us their unused injection medication!!!  Honestly, I have NEVER been so touched by a "strangers" kindness.  People may not get or understand the power behind the connections made through twitter.  The support from the people I tweet with on a daily basis is amazing...and I have truly met some wonderful people.  J and K are the prime example! 

I will honestly never be able to thank them enough for their kindness. 

Ok but seriously enough about them.....you want to know how I am doing on my injections right?

See I have this little mission to take down infertility....and I am keeping score!

The first few nights were MISERABLE.  The needle itself really only hurt one night (and BOY do I have the bruise to prove that!) but afterward....the medication spreading in my body felt like burning.  It was not pleasant...I might have cried (A LOT!). 

After a few nights, we mastered the technique (and followed the guidelines) by letting the shot sit out for a bit before doing it.  The pamphlet says that injecting a cold medication will cause discomfort.  DISCOMFORT is an understatement.  For the past three nights...NO PAIN....NO TEARS! That's right...I ROCK!

So I am taking it like a pro...and taking one for the team (of me and my husband!). 

What I have disliked EVEN MORE than the injections (I know you are thinking what the hell could she dislike more than having a needle shoved into her every day)...is the doctors appointments...EVERY OTHER DAY! 

These aren't normal doctors appointments folks...these are "too early in the morning to function-get a coffee drip going into my vein stat- I can't believe I have a doctor in my candy land at that time of the day" doctors appointments.  My husband and I have been stumbling to each appointment.  I swear the last time I looked like what the cat dragged in (only not stinky and VERY fabulous). 

We are back in the morning to the doctors for our Day 10 appointment....which has followed the Day 3, Day 6, and Day 8 appointments.  I was told by Nurse Christmas and I quote "You have a boat load of small follicles".  I'm not sure what terms of measurement a boat load is under...but it sure sounds encouraging!

So that's what's been going on in this kingdom!  Please forgive my absence from blogging.  I promise this month will be better!

I hope you all have a boat load of fun this weekend!