Another Saturday

I really love Saturday mornings. I always feel so darn ambitious. Chris has had to go in to the Y each Saturday to oversee lessons. This gives me the whole house to myself. My usual routine involves deep cleaning.. ie vacuuming up all of the dog hair from the past week. I am seriously wondering about the feasibility of shaving them. :-) Not really, but hey they shed A LOT!

Threw the ball for Romeo for a little bit. The yard is pretty torn up thanks to his big honking feet. I just love this photo of them. He is such a beast and would absolutely love to be outside 24/7. He thinks that my only purpose is to play with him of course. Good thing he's cute. He finally laid down a few minutes ago and is sound asleep.

Went over and hung a shower curtain for my grandmother. I just love that woman. She is an amazing and strong person. I really can't believe I have been so blessed to have a close relationship with her my entire life. Each time I visit, I get mad at myself that I don't make more time for her. She won't be here forever, and I need to cherish every moment I can.
I have to take Patches to the vet this morning. It seems that we can't go more than 2 weeks without somebody needing to see the vet! She has bad allergies and she has chewed her back feet raw. She now has two open sores... And she won't leave them alone. It is usually this time each year that we have to put her on steroids. Fun Fun!

We are meeting a group of my coworkers to go apple picking this afternoon. It should be great fun. We are going to the orchard where I went growing up as a child. Another one of the great memories I have of my grandparents. I am hoping to take some great photos!

I really planned to get some scrapping done this morning. Instead I sat online reading blogs. Thanks Heather for getting me addicted! :-)

Infertility Sucks!

I haven't really posted much at all about our infertility issues. I have to rant today. So if you have no interest, stop reading right here. :-)

I am in the process of getting the final test done before we make our final treatment decisions. We are planning to do at least one more fresh IVF cycle with the new RE. I need to have a biopsy done and a test called e-tegrity completed. This test looks to see if the lining is missing a protein that scientists believe serves as a "glue" for the embryos. If it is missing, that would finally give us some answers as to why we have had so many "perfect" cycles end up in a negative or a chemical pregnancy. So you would think things would be simple to get this test. WRONG! Not with my body.

We tried to do this process in July, but we were out of town and the scheduling just wasn't going to work. So I took the crazy pills... aka clomid for nothing. Of course I could have gotten pregnant on my own you say... not going to happen with this body! So we went back in August... big cyst on my ovary thanks to the nasty meds. So on birth control for a month. Here we are in August. Took the stupid crazy clomid again and am supposed to be using the OPKs. They have to be used between 12 and 2. Real convenient for a teacher! So I am watching for the big color change which means that I will ovulate. See, the test is only valid if they know for sure that I have ovulated. And since my body has issues doing that on its own, we have to use the clomid to move it along. Big problem is that I don't always ovulate on clomid. See... nothing is simple with me. Nothing at all.

So in this morning to see what is going on. Not much it seems. You see... going in for an ultrasound means that I must leave my house by 5:30 am and drive over an hour. Then pray for light traffic to make it to school before 1st period. So again... not easy. Back to the ultrasound.... nothing brewing on the right. The left ovary has some activity, but nothing that is mature yet. So no ovulation for me yet. That means I have to keep peeing on the damn OPKs and return to the office on Monday. Lucky me. Another 4:30 wake up call.

So I am bitter today. It seems that there are pregnant people EVERYWHERE! I went to get my makeup done at Ulta. (I wanted to try the Bare Minerals.... LOVE IT) Of course the make up tech that I get... PREGGO. Figures. Some days I just think that the world is just one big cruel joke. Why the hell do we have to go through all of this? It just stinks and isn't fair. I want to yell and scream. But I don't. I go on with my day. Of course I have the occasional evil fantasy of tripping every pregnant person I see. (I would NEVER do it... please know that!)

Quick scrapping update... did some cards as a gift for my friend. Here is my favorite one.


I used up some scraps and I have a drawer of stamped images that I use for cards. I love that I can just pull one out and have an instant card! I am trying to get more things done so that I have last minute gifts if I need them. It seems I have quite the reputation for creative gifts, so I have to have some on hand when I forget! :-)

Off to the Y to work out with Chris. Maybe sweating will make me ovulate.... UGH.

Feeling Creative again

So I was in a little creativity drought. I spent most of last Sunday cleaning out my scraproom so I could actually create. I also had a shift in thinking about some things in life, so I have found more mental "space" for my own creations as well. I am trying to create some albums, canvases, etc, to have on hand as last minute gifts. I have even thought about selling some items through school.... we'll see.

Here is a paper bag album I finished tonight:

I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. One of my coworkers has a birthday tomorrow. Trying to decide if I am going to give her this one or if I am going to make one for her. Leaning towards making another one tonight.

Didn't go to work today. I woke up with a scary pain in my chest. I don't think it was anything serious, but it was scary at the time. It started about 4 am, and didn't let up by 6. I decided to make the call then. I went back to sleep and ended up staying in bed till 11. Maybe my body just needed the rest. Who knows. I am so grateful to have a great friend who was able to do my lesson plans for the day and take care of my kiddos. Thanks Beck! :-) I am still a little achy tonight. Hopefully it will all be good tomorrow.

So I haven't worked out since Monday. I was doing so well. I WILL go tomorrow and Saturday. Chris has to work Saturday morning, so that will be my motivation.

Off to create something for tomorrow...

Crazy Weekend!

It was a crazy weekend! I was pooped after the first full week of school, so Friday night was pretty much me snoozing on the couch. Saturday I felt like doing some deep cleaning that needed to get done. Chris was up and out of the house by 7, so I had the house to myself. Of course, my canine companions always make cleaning fun! I vacuumed and dusted the living room... the kind where you actually move everything and get into the little crevices. Was feeling pretty good so I decided to take the dogs out for a run. The LOVE to play catch in the backyard, so I took them out. Since Romeo is a Lab, he will chase that ball anywhere... into a moving train.... or into a hornets nest!

We have a large brush pile in the back that is waiting to be burned. (Haven't had the time when it was wet enough to do it!) The ball rolled deep into the pile and in went Romeo. He came tearing out a moment later with hornets all over him! He was stung just a few weeks ago, so I was freaking out about him getting stung again. I managed to get him away from the hornets and into the front yard. Threw on decent clothes and threw him into the car and off to the vet we went. The vet estimated that he had between 10-20 stings, but we aren't really sure exactly how many. We caught it in time so that he really didn't have too much of a reaction at all. He got a shot of benadryl and another of cortisone and it seemed to do the trick. We got home and I realized that one of the hornets must have crawled into my shirt and that I had 3 stings myself. They didn't hurt until I saw them! LOL. So I took benadryl myself, called Chris to come home and then lost the rest of the day into a benadryl induced dreamland. So much for getting the house cleaned! I still have two nice welts on my arm. Hoping they will clear up soon. I am getting tired of telling the story.

Sunday I cleaned and went to the store. We had my family over on Monday for Labor Day and for my mom's birthday. We also celebrated my uncle's birthday. We had a great day, spent the day outside in the yard. It really was a perfect afternoon. We played Bocce Ball and my 6 year old niece was a natural. Turns out that they played it in PE last year during Kindergarten. Who would have thought? Once everyone left, Chris and I just sat on the couch and spaced out. Too much fresh air and sunshine, I think! LOL.

Mom's present was a hit. It is a series of altered canvases with photos of all of the kids. I really like the way it turned out. I have some individual scans of some of the canvases. Here is the one of Chris and I:























Had to go back to work on Tuesday. Staff Meeting last night, then Open House tomorrow. So tonight I am doing whatever I want to do since Chris is at a meeting and won't be home till later! I suppose I will have to entertain the puppies for a little bit. Wouldn't you think Benadryl would make a puppy lethargic? Not this one!

First week of school... DONE!

I made it through the first week of school. I forget just how exhausting it can be! I am just not used to being "on" for 7 hours a day. :-) I am sure it will get easier as my body adjusts. I really do LOVE being a teacher and really enjoy my students. Many of the students that I have this year are ones that were with me last year. I already have a good rapport with them, so that makes jumping into things pretty easy!

Romeo has been a beast this week.... mostly because I went back to work. I swear he is a a toddler...into everything and very demanding for my attention! Patches is having a bad time with her allergies and her paws are all raw. We have her on allergy meds so now we just have to wait for it all to clear up. It is never dull around here!

Chris will finally be able to start at the new Y next week full time. He is so excited to get started. I think it will be a great change for him. He was so stressed last year due to the tough boss he had. I think this year is already looking up! :-)

I haven't had much time to scrap this week. I am hoping to play in my scrap room a little bit today. I took all of my sister's boxes that I was storing over to her yesterday. That means I only have my crap to organize! I thought I would share a LO I did before school started. This will be a class that I am teaching this fall. I simply LOVE LOVE LOVE these papers!

I stopped at the LSS yesterday and was able to touch the new Basic Grey that came in! Of course some of it had to come home with me. It's so pretty that I don't even want to use it! Maybe that is why my scraproom is such a mess!

I am working on a frame for the secretary at work. One of the other secretaries left, and they are very good friends. I have a photo of them taken at a good friend's wedding. I thought it would be fun to put it into a frame for her. I have had it out on my scrapping desk all week. I think I am just going to make myself finish it today!

Ok... better go get something done. Just remembered all of the school stuff I have to do.... Now I remember what the dreaded Sunday feels like during the school year....

End of the Summer

Today is my last day of summer... :-( I have spent most of the week in my classroom with preperations for the year. I purged pretty much the entire room, which felt really good. I have to go back this afternoon for a meeting and then hope to finish the organizing. About 3/4 of the room is done... it is the last 1/4 that is the hardest!

I really am looking forward to going back to work. I love what I do... most days. It will be another challenging year as I will have many of the same students I had last year. But I will survive! I really love the people that I work with and really miss them in the summer. We always say that we are going to get together over the summer and we do at first. Then summer gets into full swing and we just don't do it.

I think a routine will be good for me again. Not really looking forward to the 5:00 am wake up, but it will all be good in a few weeks. My body has just gotten used to living on Chris' schedule with being up late and sleeping in. Have to switch that!

Looks like there is a light at the end of the tunnel for Chris as far as the job goes. They finally hired someone to take over one of the current Y's. We have a party with one of the families from the new Y tomorrow, so that should be fun. Sunday is Chris' godson's birthday party in the city. Not looking forward to another kids party... but what's a girl to do?

Better hit the shower... going to meet a friend for coffee and then off to get my hair cut before I head into school. I am thinking about cutting it all off... we'll see!

Puppy Drama

So this is what a puppy looks like when he gets into something he shouldn't! Mr. Romeo managed to get into something. We still aren't really sure what it is... but something didn't agree with him. I noticed that he was scratching his face a great deal, and when I looked a little closer, I realized his face was swollen. I am not sure if something bit him... or if he was stung by something. Who knows. I was a mess last night trying to deal with it all. He was really fine for the most part... he was not lethargic and not having any trouble breathing. Just itching like crazy! So we gave him a Benadryl and I tried to get a cold wash cloth on his face. Of course he thought it was a game! I was pretty worried but it was almost all gone by this morning. This afternoon he looks just fine and is as wild as ever!

Spent the last two days in my classroom trying to get things ready for another school year. Still cleaning stuff out... haven't really made as much progress as I would have liked. I got a little side tracked today, so I didn't get nearly as much as I wanted done. I did get to have lunch with the girls, which was very nice. I miss my friends from school... it will be nice to be back at work and have daily contact with them. They really are an amazing bunch of people, and I miss them greatly over the summer.

I am teaching a card class tonight at the LSS... Here are a few of the cards I will be teaching.

There are four other cards that the students will also be able to make. I am pretty happy with the way that these two turned out.

Romeo is calling me... seems he isn't used to Mommy having to be at work all day! I am hoping to take a shower before heading out to my class tonight. I just feel dirty from cleaning in my classroom all day!