As Promised, A Lengthy Update

I'll try to condense this as much as I can, but as you know I like to blabber so if you click away before you get to the end, my feelings won't be the least hurt. :-)

The snow - we got so much snow that I was off of work for 4 DAYS. I took 2/5 off because I didn't know when everything was going to start and the last thing I wanted to be was one of those people you see on the news stuck in 18 miles of traffic and about to pull their hair out. The Federal Government shut down for 4 days and our office follows their schedule when it comes to weather closings. Then it snowed...and snowed...and snowed. We got about 2 feet. BJ and I took turns shoveling since we only had the one shovel. We started Friday night at 10:00pm. We went back out at 10:00am Saturday and then again at 1:00pm. Each time we shoveled about 5-7 inches off the driveway. Our neighbors came outside and were sort of making fun of us because it was still snowing and we were shoveling and wasting our time. HA! They even let us use an old beat up snow shovel because they were just staying all warm and cozy inside while we worked. I went out Sunday morning at 9:00 and finished the last few inches on our driveway. The sun was out and it was melting the last of the slushy ice...we had a black driveway! I was so happy with myself. The neighbors came out and we let them use our shovel since we were DONE. I was inside by 11:30 chilling on the couch and ready to watch a fabulous hockey game. Then of course it snowed like a maniac again on Wednesday...another 8 or so inches to get rid of. BUT...I was able to get out and get another shovel on Tuesday before it started snowing again. I was out there again shoveling on Thursday. Poor BJ had to work which meant poor me had to do snow removal by myself. He can just drive over that stuff but I can't and won't if I don't have to. Plus, I can't be getting my clothes and shoes messed up in the deep snow, not to mention the Little Guy and I don't want to slip on the ice going in and out of the house. So shovel I did.

Getting Sick - Superbowl Sunday we went to the neighbors (since we couldn't drive anywhere else) to watch the game. I started feeling a sore throat...the same kind BJ had the previous week. It was full blown Monday morning. I'm so congested and tired and just plain BLAH. I'm much better now, but I'm still very congested and my voice is still sounding clogged. So I was out there shoveling in the blizzard which didn't help, but it had to get done, you know?

TTC - My body, as you know, is struggling to get back to some sort of normalcy. I had anticipated ovulating on Sunday and doing the deed on Saturday. I even convinced BJ to hold off until Saturday because I was sure that I'd get the positive opk. Have I ever told you how frustrating my body is? I didn't get the positive that I was after in the morning or the afternoon on Saturday. In fact, the line was so light that I thought I wouldn't get a positive until Monday. And that, ladies and gentlemen, would be a "normal" cycle. BJ and I couldn't help ourselves Saturday night...there's something romantic about being dead tired from shoveling snow and cooped up in the house with nothing else to do. And of COURSE I got my positive Sunday afternoon. DRATS. With more shoveling and feeling sick and hanging with the neighbors to watch the Big Game Sunday night and rushing the Little Guy to bed at just after 10:00, we didn't do anything. Bummer. I definitely O'd on Monday which was CD12 and I am happy about that as it's much closer to a regular cycle than I have had in a while. AF is due to show up Tuesday. I had some ovarian cramping/pinching on Sunday leading me to believe that I have a cyst. I also had some similar feelings yesterday on my right ovary. Well, not really my ovary, it was just left (if I'm looking down) of my right ovary. Not sure what that might mean. I'm hoping that it's not a sign of more cysts...like I'm developing more than just one each month. Man, these are times when I really miss being wanded. And who would have thought THAT was possible? I'm actually starting to feel like AF is coming. I'm hoping that she stays away and that we got lucky with a Blizzard Baby but I'm not getting my hopes up too high.

House - BJ and I went looking for curtains Saturday. We returned a pair and headed to JC Penney. We looked around for about 10 minutes and found a pair almost exactly like the original pair that was too short. The don't carry the longer length in stock so they have to be ordered. No biggie. Yeah, right. There was one lady behind the counter and she was busy helping a 96-year old woman pick out a mattress pad from the catalog. The lady had 35 questions. We waited in line for about 15 to 20 minutes. I told BJ that I would come back Monday by myself to order them. We headed to Lowes to get some other things we need/want for the house. We picked out some nice bathroom lights, picked up a bunch of energy saver light bulbs and bought a ceiling fan for our bedroom. I'm so delighted. BJ put the fan up the other day and I really like it. We still can't seem to find one we like for the living room, though. And we still need hardware for the kitchen cabinets. We were done spending money Saturday so that will have to wait another week or two. I went back to JC Penney Monday to order my curtains. I stood in line for another 20 minutes with one person in front of me. UGH. I finally get up there and tell her exactly what I want and get all the info in the computer only to be told...wait for it...they are on BACK ORDER...until MAY 28! Can you believe that? I ordered them anyway because they were on sale and I NEED these curtains...I WANT these curtains...THESE curtains are going to be the death of me. Well, I may have exaggerated that point, but I think you might understand what I mean. Now my mission is to find a new comforter set for our bedroom. The one we have is 3 1/2 years old and very neutral and very bland. I need to dress my bed up a little and now is time to do that. I mentioned before how picky I have realized I am and this is no exception. I will write more about this and our other house issues later...you've suffered enough.

Valentine's Day - BJ and I have never been big on this day. It's a nice day but it also marks the anniversary of his father's death. However, he never fails to get me a small token of something. We didn't make it to the dance we wanted to go to, but in the morning he pulled out 2 envelopes from our kitchen drawer. I gave him the 2 mini-albums that I had made him with family/couple pictures. He really liked his albums and said that it was better than me buying him a card. The cards he gave me were very sweet. One was a bit mushy and let me know how much he needs me in his life. I need to know that sometimes because he is so self-sufficient that I sometimes wonder if he'd really be inconvenienced in any way with my absence or with a stand-in wife. :-) The other card was humorous look at our relationship. And it fit us perfectly. It stated many things that he can "sometimes" be...stubborn, lazy, grumpy, thinks he's the boss etc...and then the thing that he "always" is is in love with me. It made my heart swell. Not just because it was sweet, but because he obviously recognized himself in that card and it gave him an appreciation for what I put up with from him. :-) We chilled together all day and it was very nice to be with him.

That's about all for now...my hands are tired of typing and I'm sure your eyes are hurting from reading. It's nice to be back to a routine but of course now I have over 100 posts to read from all of you. I'm looking forward to it, though...I've missed you!

I'm Still Here, I'm Just a Slacker

I'm so behind on everything...reading, commenting, posting...all of it. I just wanted to drop a line to let everyone know (because I know you are waiting with baited breath) that I'm ok and still here. I've been snowed in and sick and sick of being snowed in. I have a hard time typing on my laptop at home because I much prefer my ergonomic keyboard at work, so while I was home I didn't post a thing. My first day back at work was Friday and I was way too busy to even think about posting anything. So now things are getting back to normal (or something like that) so I will be updating everyone with a very lengthy (as you know I'm long winded) update on what's been happening around here. I'm also going to figure out if I can split my blog by adding a tab or something to separate the TTC stuff from the everyday chatting (complaining) that I am wont to do. :-)

I'll be back (read that with an Arnold accent and it's much funnier) with an update soon! Thanks for sticking with me!

CD8 - Getting Close

My body is telling me that ovulation is near. I will be POAS of the opk kind in a little while to see if it will be happening tomorrow. I noticed the watery cm this morning and my hormones, while not raging, are waking up for sure. Of course this would all happen when we have the Little Guy starting tonight through the weekend. It's always more difficult to get the job done when he's here. I know that sounds crazy because people have been doing the deed for centuries with kids in the house. The way things normally work at our house is that BJ and I flirt and tease each other usually starting in the kitchen while making dinner. Those things lead to other things while we're watching TV and then things usually end up happening, you know? When the Little Guy is at our house, those opportunities don't really present themselves as well. We are too afraid of getting caught. We put him to bed at 9:00 on school nights so it's still a little early and we just end up with a quickie when we go to bed at 10:00ish. On the weekend, his bed time is 9:30 which means that we are very worried about being heard in our room so things don't usually happen. When he's not at our house we do what we want and then just go back to watching TV and chilling on the couch. Can't do that with the Little Guy there.

I know it sounds like I'm complaining about him being there. I'm not. I'm complaining about yet another obstacle in the baby making adventure. I LOVE having him with us and I wish he lived with us all the time. That might actually be easier in some ways. We'd have a routine and could plan better. He's a great kid and I wish he were mine. I also wish that he went to bed at 8:00 when I'm ovulating. :-) That way, there's more time for him to fall asleep and be oblivious to what we are doing and we wouldn't have to wait until so late to do our thing which sometimes doesn't happen because we are too tired by then. Maybe ovulation will hold off another day and we can send him out to play in the snow while we have a romp. I know, sounds raunchy doesn't it?

We are supposed to get 16 to 24 inches of snow beginning tomorrow mid-day through Saturday night. I won't bore you with how much I'm dreading it. I grocery shopped last night so we are set for food and stuff. Basketball will be canceled again as will the make up game from last weekend. For an indoor sport we sure are getting snowed out a lot. One good thing is that we won't have the make up game on Sunday so I'll be able to watch my hockey game Sunday afternoon! Yay!

Our new neighbors moved in Tuesday. The chatty and nosey couple have arrived. I'm sure we will get the chance to hang out this weekend in the snow. I'm actually kind of glad because the Little Guy will have 2 kids to play with in the snow. BJ is supposed to get a sled today so he can pull them around on the 4-wheeler. Should be fun and a great opportunity to take some pictures.

I hope that everyone that is affected by the snow storm has enough food and supplies and that no one loses power. It's pretty when it falls and it's fun to play in, but it's scary to think about the folks that lose power at home and have no way of getting anywhere. Be safe out there everyone.

Update - the opk is negative but there is a slight 2nd line...think that means that O day will be Saturday. Will have to find a way to sneak in some BD'ing tomorrow night. AND there are no more snow shovels in our town. Great. We only have 1 and that makes for slow progress. Maybe the new neighbors have one we can borrow...hey, they borrowed jumper cables before they even moved in. I guess we really are neighbors now that we are borrowing things from each other. And you know what, it's not a terrible feeling. I might actually like having neighbors.

I've Had Enough of Snow

Now that I'm an adult and I have to commute and shovel snow, I don't like it as much as I did when I was a kid. That should be no surprise to anyone. When I first moved to this area, we would have a few instances of snow each winter. The longer I live here these instances have been slowly decreasing. We usually get a dusting or maybe 2 inches and some sleet and freezing rain. Which is no fun either, by the way, but it's more of a "functioning" event.

As you know, I had lots of plans last weekend as far as shopping and returning things. The forecast kept changing every time I watched the news Friday evening and night. It snowed...a lot...again. Not as much as last time, thank goodness, but enough to ruin my plans.

On Saturday afternoon, I shoveled our driveway (about 4 inches) while BJ played on his 4-wheeler. He gives me heart attacks so I had to stop watching him. The snow was very light and fluffy so it was easy to shovel. We came in and not long after we did so we heard another 4-wheeler outside. One of our new neighbors (we haven't met them yet) had someone staying over that brought his ATV that had a plow on the front of it. He knocked and asked if we wanted him to plow our driveway but BJ told him that it didn't really need it right now.

Sunday morning the sun was shining and I was ready to go out and shovel another 4 inches of snow. BJ woke up very sick. He's still sick. Nasty head cold with chest congestion. I was on my own. We both have 4-wheel drive vehicles so the snow was not really a big deal to drive over. However, I don't like re-driving on packed snow because it turns to ice and 4-wheel drive is nothing when you're on ice. As I was shoveling Sunday morning I heard the distant roar of the other ATV and thought I had been saved. Not so much. The young man (punk as BJ called him) was just loading his plow up to leave. Didn't even bother to ask me if I wanted help. Little old me out there all by myself and he just ignores me. Oh well, today's youth, what can you say?

Now we are to get more snow/rain mix tonight into tomorrow morning. All during the commuting times. Can't wait. And the even better news? We are expecting another significant snow Friday into Saturday. I swear I'm not meant to get new curtains and hardware for my cabinets. :-) We already have a basketball game to make up and pictures to reschedule. We are looking at another snow storm this weekend. I'm tired of it. I'm ready for Spring.

On the TTC front, I'm hoping that BJ gets to feeling better soon so that we can get one BD in before I'm fertile. Otherwise the timing will be off and things won't happen the way I need them to. The period was very light again this cycle. I love that change in things. Still had some cramps and leg pains but other than that I hardly knew I was on my period. I have a feeling the doctor is not going to call me back after the message that I left last week. I have a regular ob/gyn appointment scheduled for the first week in March so I think I'll talk to my regular doctor about some Clomid. I don't like beating dead horses so I don't know if it's worth calling him again.

Oh, and my SIL is out of the hospital as of this morning. She's doing much better and we are hoping that she can heal the rest of the way at home. They had the mold inspectors come out today and they do have a bit of mold in their sunroom so that has to get taken care of. Although the hospital doesn't believe that is what caused or causes all the illnesses in the family. Either way, it's good to get it out of the house.

Last Day of Work Until January 4!

Yay for a long break! I haven't had a long break at all this year. I've taken a day or two here and there off, but I haven't had any real TIME off. Until now, that is. Today is my last day of work until January 4 and I couldn't be happier. Plus, the office is like a ghost town so there is plenty of time to get caught up with blogs and personal business. :-)

The new house is coming along slowly. You would think that being snowed in over the weekend would have yielded a lot of results as far as unpacking and organizing. You'd be wrong. We woke up Saturday morning to about 6-8 inches of snow. We had breakfast and BJ drank 2 cups of coffee. It was time to head outside to start digging. We were out there for about 2 hours taking turns shoveling. We had to take turns because we were not smart enough when we bought the snow shovel 2 years ago to buy 2. It was so disappointing to see our foot prints nearly filled in after those 2 hours of digging. We needed a break. And who wants to unpack and organize after spending 2 hours shoveling snow? Not us. We went back out a few hours later and had even more snow to shovel. Another 2 hours out there and we were wondering when it was going to stop. We decided not to shovel in the dark and to clean off the deck so that we could grill up some pork chops. We cleaned and swept the deck off. BJ came in and got the meat ready and we decided to have some potatoes with the pork chops. By that time...all of 40 minutes maybe...there was almost another inch on the deck! Good grief, as Charlie Brown would say. Sunday morning before we even ate breakfast we were out there again, shoveling. Finally we had blacktop and it wasn't covered 10 minutes later. The snow stopped about 10:00 Saturday night and I think we got about 18-20 inches...depending on where you measure.

The best part about the snow storm was that this is the first time I've been able to sit on my couch and watch the snow fall out of a big window...it was beautiful. And to have the fire going and the tree lights on...it was definitely a nice way to spend the day. Aside from all the exhausting shoveling.

We met the people that will be living across the street from us. Not sure what to think of them yet. The woman asked me if we had kids and I told her that BJ has a son and she asked "how old?" I told her 8 and she said, "oh that's a good age....no babies." Her husband then said, "yeah, she's fine with anything over 3 or so." WTF?? We had a long conversation with them out in the cold. They have not been having a good experience with their builder so it was a lot of bitching and complaining. I will have to give them another chance when things aren't so stressful for them.

My phone line at home has not been fixed yet. That means, no phone and no Internet. I had to go to the library Monday to use the computer. Very frustrating. I need to call the phone company again but I'm so tired of them telling me that it's on the schedule to be fixed. DO YOUR JOB!! Would they want to be at home with no phone service for this long? I don't think so. What if I have to call 911 for some kind of emergency? Yes, we have cell service at this house, but that is SO not the point. I need my Internet! I'm going to be home for over a week...do you know how many blog entries I will miss??? AARGH!

Ok, enough griping. I wrapped the gifts for BJ's family last night and it wasn't that many but I was so tired of wrapping when I was done. I'm going to wrap the Little Guy's gifts tonight and BJ's as well. I still need to get a few stocking stuffers but other than that, I'm done. I'm hoping to feel more Christmassy once the presents are wrapped. It's been hard this year with moving and not really having the time to decorate the way I want. Plus, I keep thinking about how I should be 5 months pregnant right now. That is the really hard part. I'm missing my lost embryos. I know that sounds silly, but I can't help it. Bedroom #4 stares at me every time I walk passed it. It's completely empty except a few things in the closet. It should be the nursery. I think it will get easier to deal with once the Little Guy gets his bunkbeds and we move his bed into that room and make it a real guest room. I hope it gets easier.

In case I don't get Internet while I'm on break I want to wish all of my blogging buddies a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year! And may we ALL get our 2010 BFP's sooner rather than later! Hugs and kisses to you all!

What is That I See?

I think I have started spotting. Not sure really. I know that must sound ridiculous since I know my body so well. What I have spotted in the undies is not quite the color of regular spotting...and it's not quite at the "pace" spotting should be. So therefore, I'm not quite sure what it is other than to say it's a smidge darker than regular CM. Hmmm. My educated guess is that I am indeed spotting. But I'm trying to hold out hope. I can't base my theory on my temperature because I woke up at 3:30 this morning. I didn't temp because I had only been asleep for 4 hours and I usually temp around 5:45-6:00. When I did take it at 5:45 (after laying there trying desperately to sleep) it was 98.5. I don't believe it but I kept it anyway. We'll see what tomorrow morning brings.

I have spent my day on the phone with the phone company and the satellite company trying to get phone/internet and satellite at the new place. I was on the phone for an HOUR trying to get things straight. Then I called the electric company. They tried to charge me the security deposit of $150 because I haven't had an account with them in the last 2 years. Crimony! I gave the girl my social...wouldn't you think if the same first name but a different last name showed up she would ask me about that before assuming it WASN'T me? And if the names don't match, then don't you think she would have double checked the social number? Ugh! I'm so tired of utilities right now. I only have one more to go but it's going to wait until tomorrow because it's almost time to go home and I have no idea how long they will keep me on the phone. Unreal. I'm glad my boss was out today or else BJ would have to deal with all of this and he has NO patience for this kind of thing.

We went to the new house yesterday because the cleaners had been there and we wanted to see it all sparkly clean. It's absolutely beautiful. My breath was taken away when I stepped through the doorway. I don't have time to post pictures today (I know I keep putting it off) but I will do a post of just updated pictures very soon. I love how everything flows and the colors just blend together so nicely. It's hard to believe that we will be moving in on Friday. We decided to put the tree up in the office instead of the dining room so that anyone that drives by can see it. The only thing in the room will be the computer desk so we will still have lots of room in there. We are just hoping that the weather holds up. We can deal with the cold but are really hoping for no rain. We ordered our washer and dryer Sunday. Ouch...that hurt the credit card a bit. We went with Maytag Bravos and we really hope we made the right decision. Through all of this, that has been the toughest thing. We are so scared of spending money on an appliance like that and having it break or disappoint us in some other way. And wouldn't you know, after 3 months of research and FINALLY deciding on this pair, they can't order the washer. WHAT?? So we asked if we could have the floor model...they agreed and said they'd take 5% off. We were happy. It's not like they actually USE the appliance while it's on the sales floor, right?

We had snow Saturday...it was lovely to watch. Big, fat flakes falling down from the white sky...it was like a Christmas card. Now it's just cold...blah. I hate the cold. I think it's here to stay until Spring. I actually feel like we have kind of gotten off easy so far with the temperatures so I guess can't really complain. Who am I kidding? Of course I can complain. I hate the cold.

Keep your fingers crossed that the stupid period stays away. I really want to get an early Christmas miracle.