Welcome ICLW'ers!

Man, oh man...this week comes up quickly every month, doesn't it? I love ICLW! It's a chance for people in similar situations to find support and advice and just plain good understanding all the way around. You can learn a little about me on my side bar and from reading these posts here, here and here. It's been a long, bumpy road but basically I am still baby-less. And it sucks. I go through bouts of depression. It usually happens just before my period starts when my hormones are going wacky anyway, but of course it's not limited to just those times. I have a family history of depression. It helps to come here and get it all out so I highly recommend that anyone that is just a reader considers starting a blog. This world is amazingly full of supportive, smart, wise and just plain REAL women. And I love that.

I'm going to list some things about myself that some people may not know:

1 - I'm a Taurus. I have the temper and stubbornness to prove it. I have always loved being a Bull in the Zodiac symbols. I think my strength and determination comes from my bull-headed-ness.

2 - I'm a die hard hockey and football fan. I have always enjoyed sports but these 2 are by far my favorite. Hockey players are real men. They get gashed above the eye, go in for stitches and come right back and play their hearts out. I love a good save by a goalie. As much as I may dislike a team, I usually admire the hell out of their goalie. Football is great, too. I love a great pass by a quarterback as he's being tackled...and most of the time they just jump right back up and keep going. These athletes are amazing to me. And I have seen the hit Jagr took from Ovie yesterday about 10 times...I can't get enough of it!

3 - My favorite color is purple. I have a few purple shirts and 2 pairs of purple pants. As much as I love the color, nothing in my house is purple. I always choose the purple/lavender playing piece in a board game and I pick out the lavender Easter M & M's first to eat. And I just noticed that I have a lavender box of tissues on my desk.

4 - I went to 13 schools in my 12 years of schooling. I think it has helped me to become a well adjusted (chameleon) person. I can usually fit in to any situation or if I feel like I'm not fitting in, I can sit on the sidelines without anyone noticing me.

5 - I love scrapbooking. I took up this hobby in October of 2008. I love sitting and working on a lay out and sorting through pictures and organizing stickers and looking at my pretty paper. It's quiet and relaxing. My only problem is that I was supposed to have a baby by now to scrap about. That weighs on me quite a bit. Especially since the room I'm using as my scrapping room was supposed to be the nursery.

6 - I have healthy teeth. This might seem trivial to some, but for me it's something to be proud of. My mother and my oldest brother have bad teeth. My grandmother had bad teeth and my dad has had his share of teeth problems. Being out and about I see other people's teeth and some of them make me cringe. Mine aren't perfectly straight or perfectly white, but they are healthy and I have no fillings. A funny side note, I actually wasn't sure that I could pursue a relationship with my husband when I first met him because he had a bad tooth. The thought of kissing someone with a cavity like that grossed me out. I know I'm strange, but teeth are important to me. And I fully support any health care bill that will cover dental care for this country. I don't think any child or adult should be turned away from the dentist. I consider dental care a must. I actually read a story about a boy that died because he had a bad tooth that allowed bacteria into his blood stream. I was horrified. His parents couldn't afford to get the tooth fixed. How does this happen in this country? Oh, and my husband's tooth was fixed before our wedding. :-)

7 - I'm on CD26 today. AF should be showing up tomorrow. I had a 26 day cycle last cycle and that was my norm before my failed IVF. My temperature hasn't fallen low enough yet for me to think that my progesterone has dropped. However, I never had a big gap between pre and post O so I can't say for sure. I'm 14dpo today as well. We didn't time things great, but there's always that chance. I haven't seen any spotting yet, either....not one faded drop. I'm not nearly as grouchy as usual, but I'm still pretty quick to get annoyed. I'm not feeling as gassy (TMI, I know) as I usually am before she shows either. Nor do I feel as weepy. I hate that I'm starting to wonder if we got the job done. I know better than to travel down that road, but of course, hope likes to screw with me. The boobies are a little tender and that is something that comes and goes each cycle so I can't put any faith in them, either. I will not spend money on a HPT unless she doesn't show by Thursday. I don't keep them in the house. Too much temptation that always leads to tears. Plus, those suckers are expensive.

So that's all for now. I'd like to welcome any and all readers and hope that you have found this online venue of support to be as fabulous as I have!