January 9, 2010
I’ve officially been de-swined.
Lol, just kidding…but yes, I did decide to get the H1N1 vaccine, and just got back from getting it at my local CVS Minute Clinic. The nurse was a doll and did a much better job with the shot than the lady who did my seasonal vaccine. And just in case it’s not clear by the fact that I got the shot, I just want to say a big THANK YOU to everybody who posted and commented with their opinion. Although vaccines make me nervous, I do believe in their importance, and I’m glad that I did it. And I’m glad that I did it now because apparently it takes two weeks for the antibodies to build up, so by the time our embies are ready to snuggle in for the long haul, they’ll be protected. 🙂
In other news, S (and my little bro) are mid-demo upstairs as we speak. Ugh! 😉 We’ve decided to try to get re-appraised to see if the work we’ve done on the house will counteract the terrible housing market, and enable us to refinance while the rates are so low. S decided that before that happened, he wanted to re-do the walls in the future baby’s room. Since we’ve moved in, that room has just been a catch-all for extra boxes, tools, just crap in general…and got worse during the bathroom remodel. S had to bust into the wall that backs up against the bathroom, so the room was just a MESS. Before an appraiser comes in, we’re pulling down the plaster and horsehair, adding/replacing the insulation, drywalling, plastering, and painting. I’ve even decided that we’re going to paint the walls the color that I want to use for the baby – one more thing that I’m throwing out into the universe. 🙂 Although it’s going to make things MUCH harder if this IVF isn’t successful, I’m operating as if we WILL be pregnant by mid-February. I even clipped an advertisement for a prenatal exercise class that restarts every six weeks. 😉
So with that said, today I am thankful that my husband is a handy, non-procrastinator ;-), that I didn’t kill him for making a mess in my newly clean house this morning, and that we’ll be seeing two of our best friends tonight for a fabulous night full of Chinese food, keno, and mai tais!
July 7, 2009
Penny for my thoughts…
I’m sure many of you have noticed that I haven’t mentioned anything IF-related in quite some time. For weeks now, I’ve had all kinds of conflicting thoughts bouncing around in my head – I’ve decided it’s finally time to get them out before my head explodes!
I still haven’t seen AF, nor any sign of OV, and I’ve kind of been pulling an ostrich – burying my head in the sand and trying to pretend like everything is alright, or at least that it doesn’t bother me. Since we went on a “break” from IF treatments (about nine months ago), I’ve had to force myself not to think about “trying” as much – which is hard for someone used to tracking cycle days, hormone levels, drug dosages, etc!
Some days I don’t think about it at all – which is a really nice break mentally and emotionally – but other days I feel SO guilty, like I’m being selfish and just wasting time. Logically, I know that’s not true – I’ve been eating better, doing acupuncture, and taking herbs – all things that are helping to make my body more ready to be pregnant. It’s so hard though – time just goes by so fast and it’s hard not to feel like I should be doing something more actively. I have to keep telling myself that “actively” pursuing treatments didn’t actually work any better – it’s been about a year since our last failed IVF treatment put me in the hospital – and that the acupuncture still might work.
S and I had a long talk (while driving up to my cousin’s wedding ;-)), and agreed that we’d continue as is through the end of the summer (I couldn’t start anything back up yet anyways – still have so many more out-of-town weddings!), and then will pursue another round of IVF. Everything is made more challenging, of course, by the dreaded M-word. Money. My company was supposed to change insurance plans, to one that covered IF treatments at 100% (a law in MA), but again, managed to find the loophole that allowed them to avoid that. So…I have a new plan with a $5K maximum (not even enough for one round of IVF), which means S and I have to do some serious SAVING.
However, we are also planning to renovate our bathroom in early fall (desperately needed – I told S that I’d delay the next round of IVF so that I have a nice new bathroom for me to do my shots in, a new tub to take warm baths for my aching ovaries, and a new toilet to puke in once we finally get pregnant! :-P). So saving and paying for that has to come first, which means IVF goes on the back burner again.
I really think I’m okay with it though…saving and planning (my favorite thing to do, can you tell? ;-)) for a while will enable us to get through the busy summer time and then pursue a second opinion at a new clinic (something I’ve been planning to do for the past year). Then, when we’re financially ready to start back up, everything else will be in place. Plus, we’ll be shifting into winter clothes so I’ll be able to hide my medicine bloat belly. 😛
I just have to focus on one day at a time, and try to remember that I will be a mother, someday.
March 25, 2009
Before and after
As promised, here are some before and after photos of the floors – finally!
Before…
And AFTER…
(Disregard the random pile of shoes, towels, and Bailey…but look at that floor! Like glass, huh? 😉 )
March 17, 2009
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Hi all, sorry I’ve been M.I.A. for so long! Things are still crazy, so just a quick update… The floors are done, they look fantastic, the supposed dust-less sanding really was (!), and my folks are still speaking with us…so all in all, an unqualified success!
We’re having some friends over tonight for dinner to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. It will be super fun, but a bit bittersweet. Each of the two couples has a sweet little girl (one is 1 and one 2), and while I love spending time with them, I always leave wondering when it will be my turn. When will I have my own sweet little baby to spoil and dress up in gaudy Irish gear? 😉
March 5, 2009
We\’ve been robbed!
…well not really, but it sure looks like it! For the past three days, S and I (well mostly S) have packed and moved everything out of our living and dining rooms, that we just set up less than a year ago!
We\’re getting our floors re-finished today, and for the next 3-4 days, we\’ll be living with my parents across town – me, S, and Bailey. We are very lucky that my folks live close enough (and are generous enough!) for that to even be possible, but I\’m still dreading having to live out of a suitcase from now \’til Sunday…and that\’s not even mentioning the fact that I haven\’t lived with my parents in over five years. 😉 I\’m sure we\’ll have some good stories by the end of the weekend. Wish us luck!
February 2, 2009
The hazards of home renovations
S and I bought a house in May – a little colonial built in the 1920s – and moved back to my hometown outside of Boston. The house definitely needs some updates, so we’ve been working on it little by little, and have managed to survive the renovations – thus far! People tell you that renovating a house will be hard on your marriage, but they don’t tell you that some days you’ll want to throw your partner out a window!
Last Saturday was one of those days. I had just finished cleaning the house in preparation for some friends coming over, when S walks upstairs from the basement with a trowel in one hand, and a bucket of joint compound in the other. For those of you who haven’t experienced the joys of plaster work, let me try to explain the dread I felt at the sight of this bucket of plaster.
Plaster is a necessary evil when working on old houses. Our walls are made from plaster mixed with horsehair and must be either repaired with more plaster or completely torn down and replaced with drywall. In an effort to maintain the “charm” of our house, we try to repair what walls we can. However, when the multiple layers of wallpaper come down in preparation for painting, the wall either comes with them, or reveals a hole previously hidden for half a century. So “fixing” the walls entails painstakingly filling these holes, layer by layer of plaster.
The plaster itself isn’t the problem, it’s what comes between each layer…sanding and…plaster dust. Plaster dust is a creature unto itself. Even when we cover and tape doorways, etc., the dust manages to cover every square inch and sneak into every little unguarded crevice. The last time we did plaster/sanding, I found plaster dust in my closed kitchen cabinets! And the best (worst!) part is that it takes multiple applications of plastering and sanding, so it just doesn’t make sense to clean until everything is completely done, which means you basically need to live in filth for a few days. Not my cup of tea…
So we (…well, S) just did the walls in our entryway, stairs, and upstairs hallway during our Christmas vacation, and we just recently managed to get everything clean again. That was after 5 or 6 separate cleaning attempts AND a full deep clean by a cleaning company! So last Saturday, S decided he was going to do some “touch-ups.” All I could picture was our friends arriving to a sandstorm in my living room…and I knew I had to nip it in the bud.
Picture 5’4″ me with my hands splayed across the opening to our hallway…”No! You CAN’T plaster!! I won’t LET you!!!” …S patiently (gritting his teeth) and telling me that if I don’t get out of his way, he WILL move me. LOL!! After much back and forth, I let him by, but once he put his materials down to go get the second load, I threw his trowels OUT THE WINDOW!! …And then promptly got in my car and went to the grocery store. Needless to say, there were some words when I returned, but since S refused to get the trowels (on principle!) the work was stalled until I returned…just long enough that he wasn’t able to plaster before our friends came over. Crisis averted!! …Or maybe just postponed for another day…?
Life by the Day 