Birthday in Wisconsin

I'm sneaking this one in and back-dating it to when it should have been... I've been meaning to post on it for awhile but a lot has happened recently and I didn't get around to it until now.

I had a wonderful birthday weekend. My actual birthday was spent on the road for 8+ hours. I got up early and went to pick up the rental car. I had reserved a "Ford Focus or similar" but when I arrived they had none of those available so I got a free upgrade - to a Ford Mustang!! It was a 2004 and a very nice car to drive. It very much enjoyed cruising the highway at 80 mph! There was a little bit of snow that I drove through to get home, but not too much. We loaded up the car and were able to leave fairly on time. I had hoped to leave at 11am but considered us as leaving on time if we left no later than noon. Since we left at about 11:30, we left pretty much on time.
We drove through Chicago at rush hour unfortunately, but we weren't too delayed by that. Our biggest delay was actually before Chicago, when it took us about half an hour to go 3 miles! Due to construction on the left lane and the right lane being exit only, three lanes went down to one at that one spot, so the traffic was backed up while everyone tried to merge in to the center lane.
Once we got into Wisconsin it was pretty much a straight shot north and an uneventful trip. When we arrived at the town where my aunt & uncle live, we went straight to the high school as my cousin was playing the tuba in the pep band that night for the basketball game. I was able to sneak past the ticket-takers and get into the gym to see her playing her tuba, then my aunt saw me and we went upstairs to the balcony where the band was and stayed there to listen until they were done playing. Then we went back to the house and unloaded the car and waited for everyone to get there.
Since it was also my cousin's birthday (hence the reason I chose that particular destination for my birthday trip) I knew that she would probably spend most of the evening with her friends, and I was right. She and her friends arrived at the house about 20 minutes after I did, the pep band committment lasting only until the beginning of the basketball game. Her friends were nice enough to sing "Happy Birthday" to me, and my aunt had made me a cake which my cousin had decorated, and we had some of that. My uncle stayed at the school to watch the basketball game, so it was quite a while before he got back. My cousin and her friends spent the evening in the basement hanging out and Jon & I went to bed before they came back upstairs.
Saturday Jon & I took another road trip. He and I are both NASCAR fans, and his favorite driver (Matt Kenseth) has his fan club headquarters in Wisconsin. It was 2 hours from my aunt's house, so quite a trek considering how much driving we were already doing that weekend, but we went anyway. We had a good time and very much regretted having forgotten our camera! I didn't get to see my cousin at all on Saturday because we left before she got up and she was gone babysitting before we got back and we went to bed before she got home from babysitting.
Sunday we didn't do much. I talked to my aunt, and Jon talked to my uncle. We looked through some photographs, and my cousin's boyfriend came over to see her and hang out some, so I got to meet him. He is a nice boy, and in training to become a fire fighter so he left when he heard that there was a fire nearby, hoping to be able to get involved with putting out the fire. After watching the weather report on television and checking a few online weather sites, we decided that we should probably get going since they were predicting that snow would start falling soon and we wanted to try and stay ahead of it. So we packed up the car and left. We stopped at a Cracker Barrel for lunch on the way home (Jon had never eaten there, but I assured him that it was much yummy) which delayed us a little since it is a sit-down place, but had no other delays on our trip home. We did, however, defy the sense that a trip home always seems faster than the trip away, since the trip home seemed to take much longer than the trip there. I suppose the time change had something to do with it since it was an hour later at home than it was at my aunt & uncle's house.
We are hoping to go back in late May when the weather will be pretty and Jon is out of school, allowing us to possibly go during the week and see my cousin in either a band concert or a soccer game or both.

Yay!!!

I'm going to have company this weekend. My "sister" and her hubby & daughter are coming, as well as another good friend, to spend the weekend. I haven't seen any of them since November or before, so I'm geeked to get to see them.
Also, I am so happy that NASCAR season is here again!! Yay! I hope Rusty Wallace does really well this year. He's my favorite driver, but this is his last year racing so I hope he is able to go out with a great season. I asked Jon for a "Rusty's Last Call" coat for my birthday this year.
Another reason to be excited: I'm going to Wisconsin for my birthday!! Finally, Kelsy and I will be able to celebrate our birthday together! I've only been wanting to do this for 16 years (she's turning 16 this year).

Well, gotta go work on cleaning. My house is NOT currently ready for a 16-month-old to invade!

Yesterday

Yesterday's post relates how I feel about some people on FF who are report-happy.

I heard some sad news on FF yesterday, that someone who was a member of FF unexpectedly died, leaving behind a sweet DH and 8-month-old daughter. I went and found the thread her husband had started and left a post expressing my condolences, knowing that someone is collecting all of the well-wishes into a scrapbook for the husband & daughter.
Well, that post got reported!! Somebody was hunting through my signature looking for something to report. It's the only way possible, because what was reported was a hidden link to the blinkie site that I get my blinkie calendar from. Nowhere does the calendar indicate that it is a link. You have to be looking for it to find it.
I was very upset. I leave the safety of my Buddy Groups to post condolences for someone, and it costs me not only being reported, but my signature got erased as well. I have to rebuild my signature, and I had to contact the FF community manager to find out just what was wrong with my signature in the first place, since the two PMs I received said nothing about what I did wrong (neither mentioned anything about links). It was very frustrating and hurtful to me that I did something nice for someone and got reported for it.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

It's said all good deeds are looked at with an ice-cold eye
If that's all good deeds are, maybe that's the reason why
No good deed goes unpunished
No act of charity goes unresented
No good deed goes unpunished
Sure I meant well but look at what well-meant did

from the Broadway Musical "Wicked"

Johnny Carson

I just heard that Johnny Carson died this morning. He was 79. I can remember staying up late occasionally to watch him on the Tonight Show, and I remember watching the very last show he hosted, back in 1992. I was in 9th grade.
It's a testament to how well loved he was that I found out from a special news report on ABC, the competitor to the channel he was connected with, NBC.

Home alone

I really don't like being home alone. I can deal with it, but it is hard for me. I've always been a people person, and don't like being alone at all.
Jon had to go to his brother's house for the weekend. I understand why, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. He's getting something fixed on his car (the one I fixed the door handle on) and he's talking to his dad about the runaround the insurance company is giving us for the car that will be totalled.
To top it off, it snowed last night and today. Snowed a lot. I had to blaze a trail out of the driveway to go to work this morning, and blaze a new one tonight when I got home. The wind is really blowing a lot so it's drifting really high. I am hoping and praying that I will be able to get out of the driveway again tomorrow evening when I have to go to work again! Today I got out at 8pm and tomorrow I don't even go in until 6pm. I'll be there until nearly 11:30, so hopefully the driveway won't be a big mess for me. Luckily work is very understanding about snowstorms (some people no-call/no-showed, but they won't get in trouble for it) so if I have to call in tomorrow it won't be a big deal - except for the money I'll be missing out on.
I hope when Jon gets back we are able to pick up our snowblower from layaway... we could really use it right about now!

I did it!!

I changed the door handle on the driver's side of the car!
After taking a hair dryer to the door, it mysteriously came open. Turns out it wasn't truly frozen after all, but something inside, in the mechanism, is bent. This is on the passenger side, but the driver's side door has been broken for almost 2 years and we've just been dealing with it because the passenger side always worked. The passenger side is the one that we thought was frozen shut, but as it turns out wasn't frozen but bent. This is bad, since if we can't get in at all we can't use the car.
After the door opened (and it only opened the one time, the first time I managed it), I opened up the driver's side door and we went about the process of jump-starting the battery. Jon was fiddling with the door, trying to figure out what the problem is and why it wasn't working. It seemed to be working just fine, so why it would no longer open from the outside was a mystery. Even looking inside the mechanism didn't help much, since moving the handle made the mechanism move.
Once the battery was charged and the car was running, we went to a parts shop to see how much a new door handle would be. It was more than we wanted to spend ($40) but worth it if it means that the door will work. Then we came home, and I took the old handle off and put the new one on! It was such very cold work, by the time I was done I couldn't feel my fingers or my legs. Jon helped some, but that is one of those types of jobs that a second person is more in the way than helpful most of the time, so I mostly did it alone. But I wanted to, I had said I could do it (my exact words were, "how hard can it be?") and I wanted to do it.
And I did it!! The driver's side door opens like a dream now, it's never been this easy to open, even before it was broken.
Also, opening up the driver's side door allowed us to see that one of the rods in the door is supposed to be straight, and is bent on the passenger side. Now that we know what the problem is, we are going to go easy on the door and not even try to open it from the outside. Especially now that the driver's door works so well. I'm so excited that I fixed it, even if it did make me so darn cold.

This is just cruel...

There's a new ice cream store in our town. It's called Cold Stone Creamery and it is really yummy. They make all of their ice cream in-store daily. And you can mix in different items ranging from fruit to candy to nuts. There are even no sugar/no fat options. It's really good. I love it, and I've only had it twice. You get a lot for your money, it's worth what you pay for it. If I had the money, I could easily eat it every day.

Here's the cruel part:

It's right next to Curves.

Football & Window film

It's been a football day. We had to go to the store today, and even though we got up late (around noon - so nice) Jon wanted to hurry up and go so that we could get back and not miss too much of the game (Minnesota vs. Philadelphia). I have no preference, since the team I like (Green Bay) is already out of the playoffs. Jon really doesn't like either team, but he dislikes Philadelphia more so he wanted Minnesota to win. Sadly, they lost. Right now we are watching a different football game (Indianapolis vs. New England) and this time he does have a preference - he really wants Indianapolis to win. We shall see.

We have also been doing some cleaning - I cleared off the dining room table. I want to keep it cleared off, so we can eat there. I don't like our current habit of eating in the living room. Sadly, my table is already covered again!! But, it is covered with something that will soon be removed - window film. We are just now finally getting around to covering our windows with film to keep the drafts out. We covered the dining room window between football games, and we will be doing the bedroom windows at halftime. Once we're done with the windows, the stuff will be put away and my table will once again be clear.

I need to get busy scanning photos. I wanted to make this scrapbook for my mum for Mother's Day last year, but ran out of money. Then I decided it would be a Christmas present but again, no money. So it is now her birthday present but it's not done! Her birthday was last Wednesday (12th)! AAArgh! It would help a lot if I could get to our scanner a bit better. The scanner is connected to the desktop, which is in the office, and to say that the office is cluttered is being very nice. There's not even a path; you have to climb over things just to reach the desk. I've asked Jon if I couldn't move the scanner out here to do my project, but he really doesn't want me to do that. I'm still trying to wear him down on it though. We almost never use the desktop because we can't get to it very well, so why shouldn't I bring out the printer/scanner so we can get some use out of it?

More Automotive Frustrations

I really do detest cold weather. I was born and brought up in warm climates, where the coldest it gets (on average) is around 40 degrees (Farenheit). When I was six my Christmas dress was a pinafore-style dress, with straps across the back and a bib front. We were in the Phillippines that year. I've lived in Michigan for 11 1/2 years now, and I still am not used to the cold. I don't think I ever will get used to it.

Our "good" car, the Grand Prix that I used to drive before Jon's car got crunched, is having door issues. It already had door issues, because the door handle is broken on the driver's side and that door will only open from the inside. But for the past three days, because it's been so very cold, the passenger side door has frozen shut. We are paranoid about breaking the door handle (understandably - these are weak handles) and therefore simply pulling on it is out. We tried the hot water thing, which works to an extent, but leaves you still with a frozen door because it is water after all. I even sprayed windshield de-icer into it, which helped last night but not this morning.
All this fighting with the door has left me very sore. My arms ache from trying to find new ways to pull on a door. My back aches from the pulling. My head aches from listening to Jon complain about the stupid car. All this aching leaves me tired, more tired than before (and I was already quite exhausted for some unknown reason).
I sure hope it warms up soon... this is getting ridiculous. According to weather.com, our 10-day forecast shows that the highest it will be for the next 10 days is 29 degrees, and we will have to wait over a week for it to get that "warm". Ugh.

Darn Thermometer

Well, my thermometer failed me this morning. I always temp and then put it away, coming back later when I really wake up to check my temperature so I can input it onto my chart. Today when I went back to check my temp - this is what the screen looked like: --.- Like I can enter that as a valid temp. Sheesh.

I need to pick up the house AGAIN.... it's so frustrating. The front room was shiny clean on Sunday, (Sunday!) and now it's cluttered again. I feel like I'm never going to get it all together.

I think it's also time to take down my Christmas cards. I love them all, they're gorgeous. But it is about time for that set of doors to become just doors again and not a showcase. They'll be a showcase once again come the end of Febuary, and then again in April, and November. Any time we get cards that's where they go.

I'm trying not to feel disheartened by our lack of success in ttc. We've done better with intercourse timing this month (week?) but I think we both need something of a break. I'm really trying to hold out on TAB until April or May, but the reality of it is that it will probably be emotionally better for both of us to stop trying so hard for awhile. The stress is really getting to us both. I had a meltdown over the holidays because I was supposed to be O-ing and we couldn't get any privacy to have sex! I still can't believe it. And as it turned out, it was a moot point since I still haven't O'd. It appears that Clomid will not work for me on CD 3-7. It was good on 4-8 and 5-9, but 3-7 has done nothing for me.

Two more days....

Well, it's actually three. My test day is actually Thursday, but I'm planning to test on Wednesday morning with FMU if I don't have AF by then. My chart is looking really good and while I don't have much hope thanks to our crummy BD timing, I know that a test on Wednesday morning should be fairly accurate.

I've got this huge dip on 9 dpo that is something of an anomoly for me. My temp usually fluctuates a bit during the 2ww, but I have never had such a strong drop that lasted only a single day. What's also strange about it is originally I entered it as 97.8, which is what I thought I saw on the thermometer (through blurry eyes at 8am). The next day when I temped, I saw that the previous day's temp was not 97.8, but 97.3! It's easier to see the previous day's temp because the thermometer lights up when I first turn it on, but the light does not stay on nor does it come back on until the next day when I turn it on again. So, since the temp was different and easily explained as to why I would have read it wrong, I changed it.

Well, I'd better get back to making Christmas presents. I need to find out just what we've already got, so I can try to find a way to get the ones we still need. It's going to be tricky, but I'm sure we'll find a way somehow.

DH is complaining now because I typed that whole last paragraph without even looking at the computer screen, let alone the keyboard (I was looking at him because he was talking to me). First he flicked me off, then called me a showoff... I just think it's funny.

Anyway, back to the presents!

Jon's Car

Poor Jon. He's got a love-affair with his car. Sometimes I think he loves the car more than he loves me (okay, I'm just kidding - but he really is obsessive about that car). Well, on Saturday, someone decided that it was a little too pretty and decided that a car that is 10 years old should look a little less nice.
The car was parked on a street in Midland, outside a friend's house. Jon, Brian (his brother) and Nick (the friend) were in Saginaw at the mall, doing some Christmas shopping, when Nick's girlfriend called. "Somebody just hit Jon's car." Jon talked to the police on the cell phone, and the officer agreed to wait around if Jon would come back. So, the guys all came back from Saginaw and had a chat with the policeman and checked out the damage on the car.
The woman (who did stop and wait for the police to arrive but had left by the time Jon got there), had been speeding (approx 45mph in a 25mph zone) and said that she never saw Jon's car until she hit it. I'm wondering how it's possible to not see a parked car half a block away while you speed up, but that's just me. She was also possibly impaired (drugs or alcohol) or she could have just been very distracted - she had three kids in the car. Nick's girlfriend (who talked to the woman) said that she seemed to be on something.

We talked to our insurance company and they told us to get an estimate. The first place Jon took the car wouldn't even look at it!! The guy kinda glanced at it and said, "There's too much damage, we can't fix that," and just left it at that. And that was a dealership! So we're thinking that we are going to have to total it out. But, after talking to the insurance company again, they said that they don't deal with the place Jon took it to originally and to take it somewhere else. So that's what we're going to to tomorrow. Even if the insurance decides to total the car, they still need an estimate of how much it would cost to fix it. So tomorrow I get to carefully drive the damaged car across town to the place for the estimate, and then take it to work. Basically I just have to pray that the car doesn't break further since we're pretty sure there's something wrong in the axel now (it clunks really bad when turning).

That's it for now!

Exhausting but Fun

Well, tonight is Opening Night for our show, "Oliver!". Last night went okay, but it wasn't a preview performance like we expected it to be. It was supposed to be a performance for some public school kids, and school was cancelled yesterday! So no performance, just a dress rehearsal.
It's going well. I'm really tired because it is a lot of work to put a show together. And, it takes a lot of time out of my life as well. But it's okay. I enjoy doing it, and it's a good distraction from this whole TTC business.
Today I'm hoping to make some Banana Bread to take to the theatre for everyone to snack on. It's odd timing, a little too early to eat dinner (and I at least wouldn't want a full meal on my stomach right before I perform) but we get very hungry by the end of it. I'm going to go ahead and cut the bread before leaving home, so the peices are small and manageable and less likely to get on the costumes (we're not supposed to eat in costume, either).
Off to bake!

Ouch!!

My little sister had to move back home with our Mum. Today I was helping her move some things when I punctured my hand on a rusty nail that was sticking out of her pampazaan chair. It hurt A LOT. And, bled quite a bit too. My mum insisted that I needed to have a tetanus shot, since it's been 12 years since I had one. I didn't really want one (I'm not a big fan of needles), but I agreed because the nail was gross, and because my sister didn't get that chair brand-new but from a yard sale. So basically, who knows where it's been.
But, since the puncture is right below my finger, in the fleshy padding at the top of my palm, bandaging it up means that my finger is always partially straight. Funny irony - it's my middle finger. I feel like I'm flicking people off sometimes because I can't close my hand. I've got to keep it covered and moist (with antibacterial ointment) until it heals. I'm also supposed to soak it 2-3 times per day and wash it with warm soapy water several times daily.

This also makes typing very difficult, so I'm not going to be around on FF much for the next few days at least. I hope to be feeling better soon.

STRESS!!!

My baby sister is in trouble with the law. It's her own fault, but I think they're going a bit overboard I think. She wrote a bad check (she didn't know it would bounce) and put off taking care of it after she was informed of it. Then, she got a letter saying that she had to take care of it or risk being arrested. She just didn't have the money to take care of it. Now, a warrant has been issued for her arrest and she can't afford bond (it's been set at $1000 according to the letter she was sent telling her the warrant had been issued). And to top it off, apparently the check she wrote to pay for the renewal of her vehicle registration also bounced, and her license plate has been suspended. So she's now driving illegally.
She is supposed to go to Georgia on Thursday to look at a college she hopes to go to. Does anyone know, is it illegal for her to leave the state? I can't seem to find out, I've been looking on the internet and can't seem to get any information. I am finding plenty on restrictions placed on the arrestors, but none on the arrestees. She's not fleeing the arrest, she's just going for the weekend.

Now, not stressful for me but any prayers you may want to offer would be appreciated.... my Chiropractor's house burned down on Friday afternoon. He's got insurance, but the family lost EVERYTHING. The house and garage were a total loss. They consider themselves lucky that it was during the day when nobody was home, since that means that everyone was safe elsewhere. I'm posting a link to the news article from the local paper, I hope it works. You may have to register with the paper to read the article, I don't remember. This is the wonderful person who is footing the bill to take my sister to Georgia this weekend. He also has paid her application fee to this college, and I believe he's pulling some strings with the college she flunked out of to get her transcripts so she can transfer some credits to the new school. This is a really wonderful family and it's very tragic that it has happened to them.

Just a short one to prove how dumb I still am when it comes to blogging....

I want to put links on my blog, too! I've read my friends' blogs, and they all seem to have a section on the side where they have links posted - links to other blogs, links to FF and/or their chart, links! But I can't seem to find where that option is. I'm such a doofus with this stuff. Maybe it's because I don't have my blog as "public" - which is because I don't want it to be found by a certain someone I know IRL.
If any of my readers (not that I think I have many) knows what I can do to get links, please let me know!!
That's it for now, though I will be back later. I just need to get dressed and get some food (okay, I don't NEED the food; I'm not about to waste away or anything) and I'll be back after eating.

Temping and such...

Well, AF has acted like... AF. Really, really heavy the first 2 1/2 days (a super-plus tampon lasted me 2 hours if I was lucky). But then, day 3, very light!! Light enough that I just had some spotting on a regular tampon after over 4 hours, so I decided it would be okay to BD. Afterward there was a bit of bleeding again, but overnight I didn't fill even half of a regular tampon, so I'm counting AF as pretty much done.

Last cycle I tried temping vaginally. It was awkward, and I truly did not notice any difference in the stability of my temperatures. It didn't help much that I missed temping several times because of getting up early (I never temp earlier than my normal time) or not being at home (I wasn't about to explain why I was sticking a thermometer there!). So, I washed my thermometer really good in hot, soapy water and gave it a good rinse in rubbing alcohol. And it's back to oral temping for me.

I'm starting Clomid today. This cycle it will be on CDs 4-8 instead of 5-9. I wanted it to be days 3-7, but we didn't have the chance to pick it up yesterday so 4-8 will have to do. I hope taking it earlier helps me to O faster. This time I was still rather late O-ing and much as Jon & I love each other, BD gets tiring when it's something we have to do that often as opposed to something we want to do that often. I'm sure you understand the difference.

A fairly decent day.

So aside from the fact that today is CD 1, and CD 1 always sucks simply by being CD 1, I had a pretty good day. The cramps weren't so bad that Advil wouldn't take them away, and I didn't leak onto my clothes at all (always my biggest fear). Also, I had no snotty customers and my manager let me spend the last half-hour of my shift on the computer, and off my feet.

I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but I auditioned for a local community theatre production of "Oliver!" and I got a part. I'm going to be a "Workhouse Assistant". It's not much, but it is something. I had been hoping for a bigger part, but maybe next time. I'm just planning to have a good time with this and not complain about what I got.

That's it for now, more later!!

Oh, one more detail...

I'm leaving the old blog link in my FF signature. Why? Because if Mandy does decide to go into FF looking for my blog again (I don't know why she would, but it's possible) I want it to look the same as it always did, and I want the link to still work if she chooses to follow it. I just want her to think I've stopped posting there, which is pretty much the truth.