I feel like I have a lot to do today, but I can't seem to focus on any of it. I've actually been feeling this way for most of the week, which is why I couldn't even manage to put up a post or two. I thought today would be better given that the men who have been working on our house for the past month have finally finished. It was better for a little while this morning long enough for me to wake up and get up at 6:30 to have a calm breakfast before working out at 8. After class, I ran errands! I was feeling really productive. That is, until I sat down at my desk.
So here I sit, wondering if I actually started the dryer when I transferred the jeans about 45 minutes ago, slightly annoyed at my lack of focus and annoyed that the washer and dryer are two stories below me. My tired legs from today's workout urge me not to make the short, yet long trip downstairs but the laundry strewn about the room argue that I need to start a new load anyway.
With life at full steam this past month, it's kept me distracted. Did you know that I'm putting on my big-girl blogger-pants and going to a conference tomorrow? Well, I knew that, but you wouldn't think I knew it. Of course I had totally forgotten about the things I had to bring and had to buy them last minute. One of these being business cards. DUH. How could I have not known that I'd need business cards. I could have easily put something together and gotten a crap-ton of cards for next to nothing with one of the many promos here on the internetz, but no. I had to scurry around photoshop and Staples.com and pay thirty-freaking-dollars for 100 full-color, yet matte, one-sided cards that I could pick up from the store. They turned out okay.
Anyway.
Jamie and I have a lot of time-management challenges ahead of us between our own work, a new project we're working on together, getting the house back in order now that the reconstruction is done (I predict a lot of "spring cleaning"), and figuring out when we're going to get back into fertility treatments (that we were supposed to have been already back into by now.) My biggest challenge will be not letting all of this overwhelm me.
I'm feeling confident that Monday will be the start of a new normal after a short readjustment today and this weekend. I need my normal back.
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Showing posts with label Uncategorical. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Uncategorical. Show all posts
May 10, 2013
Apr 29, 2013
The Great House Flood of 2013
Once upon a time (or three weeks ago, today) I ventured out one late afternoon (two Mondays ago at 4:15pm) to meet my dear husband after work to lavish ourselves at a fine local clothier (Burlington Coat Factory). It was a day like any other for this stay at home (to work) wife; I (was supposed to have) worked out in the morning, then showered (in the afternoon). I spent the day (considering) doing laundry and washing (some of) the dishes.
Pleased (to be getting out of the house), I shut the dog in his crate (to protect him of his suicidal tendencies) and left the house. Everything was in it's place (where we set it down instead of putting it away) when I embarked on my journey. Nothing could have hinted to what we were to discover upon our return (but the title is a pretty solid hint for you).
Jamie quickly unlocked the front door and through to the garage to shut off the water. It was at this time that I realized that there is no waterfall in our living room and everything appeared dry. Confused by the sound of an Amazonian downpour, I ran upstairs to investigate. A quick glance to the kitchen sink confirmed that it was not the culprit. By the time I turned the corner to check the guest bathroom, Jamie had gotten the water shut off.
A large area surrounding this bathroom had no standing water, but the carpet was thoroughly soaked. I looked inside to find that every inch of this bathroom, from floor to ceiling, was dripping. I looked up and saw a hole in the ceiling and immediately concluded with my husband upon his joining me upstairs that a pipe had burst. He immediately got on the phone while I trekked back downstairs to see if I could go for a swim in our garage.
With the door open and the water having already rushed out, there was still quite a bit of standing water on the floor. The ceiling on the back half of the garage was dripping so constantly that it was like rain. The photo below is only a fraction of the damage.
After an hour or so, we finally got a plumber in our house to assess the damage. What he found was that there was no pipe in the ceiling that even existed in that area to burst, but upon further investigation, found that it wasn't a pipe at all. It was a $15 part to our toilet: the water supply line that bends from the wall to the tank had broken and shot an estimated 100 gallons of water up at the ceiling, creating the hole that we found.
The next day we found exactly how much the water had affected. They set up fans and dehumidifiers in the house and planned demo for the following day. The second floor bathroom, where it happened, had to have the toilet and sink and mirror taken out and the lower quarter of the drywall torn down; the drywall in the guest bedroom closet and near the walls of the door had to be torn down about a foot off the ground; the first floor bathroom had to be mostly gutted; and about half of the garage drywall had to be torn out.
Let's go back to the fans for a moment. We had about 15 machines running in the house, 24/7. Because of the dehumidifiers, we had to keep the windows closed so as to not affect their job. These machines create so much hot air, the house was miserable. When it came time to demo, the house was 96 degrees. While already concerned about our electric bill, we were told we could keep the air conditioning on but set somewhere in the 80's to keep it livable.
On the following Friday, just as we were about to walk out the door to head to New York, we're told by the guy checking the fan progress that now our water heater is leaking. I, of course, started stressing out; we had a plane to catch! To keep any more disasters at bay, we had the water to the heater and the gas turned off while we were gone.
The guys still needed access to the house while we were gone to manage the fans, so Jamie's brother Mike was kind enough to let them in when they needed. On one of these occasions, they found that, oh hey, guess what, the HVAC unit is also leaking. We had a lot to come home to.
So, to wrap this long story up, it's been deduced that all three of these leaks were caused by our water pressure being too high. And because of this, three weeks later, we're still dealing with the aftermath. Yesterday they finished the drywall, today they're puttying, tomorrow they'll texturize the walls, Wednesday they'll sand it. Hopefully it can get painted and the bathrooms can be reinstalled by this weekend and then maybe we can get back to normal. Oh, but wait, there's still the issue of the carpet, which needs replacing.
(I just really want to not have to walk up to the third story every time I have to pee.)
Luckily for us, none of our personal belongings were affected by the water. Oh, and if you're wondering, yes, this is going to cost a shit-ton. We rent, though, so it's not coming out of our pocket. Hooray for that.
Pleased (to be getting out of the house), I shut the dog in his crate (to protect him of his suicidal tendencies) and left the house. Everything was in it's place (where we set it down instead of putting it away) when I embarked on my journey. Nothing could have hinted to what we were to discover upon our return (but the title is a pretty solid hint for you).
 |
| This was from that day, and has been the first and only time he's ever climbed into one of these boxes. It must have been a very unclear sign. |
[If I may, I'm going to just start telling you what happened now in a not-so-clever way, because those first two paragraphs were exhausting to write.]
Jamie and I dug around Burlington Coat Factory for a while trying to put together an outfit for him to wear to a wedding that weekend. While doing so, we had been asked via text to join our buddy Jarrod at a local spot for happy hour. There must have been some kind of cosmic imbalance in the universe on this day which had caused us to pass and head straight home after the disappointment that was the BCF. Come to think of it, that shopping trip was the only time we had ever left that store empty-handed, so we should have known something was up.
We drove home, Jamie leading our two-car caravan. Only an hour since I had left the house, we pulled up to the garage. Jamie clicked the clicker to open the door but it stopped about a foot off the ground. He looked back at me in my car thinking that this had become a game of Clicker Wars, but I just shrugged. Then we noticed it: the rushing river (this is only kind of an exaggeration; it was a lot of water) flowing out from under our slightly-open garage door.
My first thought was that the washer, which lives in the garage, had gone haywire... but then I remembered that I had only considered doing laundry that day. My quick thought was interrupted by a panic; what the f'k do we do!?
The garage door was stuck, so we drove off in opposite directions to park our cars and sprint to the front door, Jamie only beating me by a second or two. In this second, after having discounted the washing machine option, I imagined a waterfall in the middle of my house. See, the kitchen and dining room are on the second floor, and overlook the living room below so I thought that maybe I left the sink running? But then I remembered that I didn't even turn the sink on before I left.
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| Artist's rendering, except not-Christmas. |
A large area surrounding this bathroom had no standing water, but the carpet was thoroughly soaked. I looked inside to find that every inch of this bathroom, from floor to ceiling, was dripping. I looked up and saw a hole in the ceiling and immediately concluded with my husband upon his joining me upstairs that a pipe had burst. He immediately got on the phone while I trekked back downstairs to see if I could go for a swim in our garage.
With the door open and the water having already rushed out, there was still quite a bit of standing water on the floor. The ceiling on the back half of the garage was dripping so constantly that it was like rain. The photo below is only a fraction of the damage.
After an hour or so, we finally got a plumber in our house to assess the damage. What he found was that there was no pipe in the ceiling that even existed in that area to burst, but upon further investigation, found that it wasn't a pipe at all. It was a $15 part to our toilet: the water supply line that bends from the wall to the tank had broken and shot an estimated 100 gallons of water up at the ceiling, creating the hole that we found.
The next day we found exactly how much the water had affected. They set up fans and dehumidifiers in the house and planned demo for the following day. The second floor bathroom, where it happened, had to have the toilet and sink and mirror taken out and the lower quarter of the drywall torn down; the drywall in the guest bedroom closet and near the walls of the door had to be torn down about a foot off the ground; the first floor bathroom had to be mostly gutted; and about half of the garage drywall had to be torn out.
Let's go back to the fans for a moment. We had about 15 machines running in the house, 24/7. Because of the dehumidifiers, we had to keep the windows closed so as to not affect their job. These machines create so much hot air, the house was miserable. When it came time to demo, the house was 96 degrees. While already concerned about our electric bill, we were told we could keep the air conditioning on but set somewhere in the 80's to keep it livable.
On the following Friday, just as we were about to walk out the door to head to New York, we're told by the guy checking the fan progress that now our water heater is leaking. I, of course, started stressing out; we had a plane to catch! To keep any more disasters at bay, we had the water to the heater and the gas turned off while we were gone.
The guys still needed access to the house while we were gone to manage the fans, so Jamie's brother Mike was kind enough to let them in when they needed. On one of these occasions, they found that, oh hey, guess what, the HVAC unit is also leaking. We had a lot to come home to.
So, to wrap this long story up, it's been deduced that all three of these leaks were caused by our water pressure being too high. And because of this, three weeks later, we're still dealing with the aftermath. Yesterday they finished the drywall, today they're puttying, tomorrow they'll texturize the walls, Wednesday they'll sand it. Hopefully it can get painted and the bathrooms can be reinstalled by this weekend and then maybe we can get back to normal. Oh, but wait, there's still the issue of the carpet, which needs replacing.
(I just really want to not have to walk up to the third story every time I have to pee.)
Luckily for us, none of our personal belongings were affected by the water. Oh, and if you're wondering, yes, this is going to cost a shit-ton. We rent, though, so it's not coming out of our pocket. Hooray for that.
Apr 25, 2013
10 Questions
This is a bit impromptu, but I came across a post by Erin at Living in Yellow in which she asks herself some hard-hitters and thought I'd do the same.
1. If you could do one thing differently in your life, what would it be?
I've seen this question a lot and it's always been difficult for me to answer. I struggle with this question because I look too deeply and have trouble not considering the long term effects of changing anything in my past. Say, if I hadn't [fill in the blank], then I likely wouldn't be where I am today. If I consider wishing that I had gone off to college after high school, then ultimately I must consider that had I, I wouldn't have met and married Jamie. Anything that I've done or not done has brought me to where I am right now, and I wouldn't want to change that.
2. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I can't say for sure, but I know that I desperately hope that wherever I am, I have my husband and, at long last, a child.
3. Do you honestly want kids?
This question is only here because it's relevant to Erin's life at the moment. I couldn't think of a better question for my circumstances, so I'll just answer it: YES. (Duh. You already knew that.) I want a family so bad it hurts; my chest tightens at the thought. I'm seemingly surrounded by family and friends getting pregnant with ease and popping babies out left and right. It's been very difficult the past six months or so to manage the effect my infertility has had on me, but I'm working through it.
4. What has been the best moment of your life so far?
Honestly, it was probably my birthday in 2011. Hannah was in town visiting from Ohio and she and Jamie planned a surprise birthday party for me. I had never had one before and it was fantastic. Seeing all of the people that showed up to string streamers and blow up balloons and wait in the dark for us to come home from dinner just absolutely made my day. It was the first time since moving to California in 2011 that I felt like I had a real, solid group of good friends and that made me superbly happy.
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| Apparently, this is the only photo I have from that visit. |
I take my relationships very seriously. Anyone that I keep myself involved with is someone special to me and I am happy to drop one-sided friendships (as disappointing as that can be.) The song that I chose for this question is one that I've always attached to my closest friends from high school, but these days I connect it with anyone important to me. We played it at our wedding and had a sappy moment with my friends, and after my dad died, it was a song that could instantly turn on the water works.
6. What is one thing you have yet to accomplish that you want to do before you die?
Please see #3.
7. If you could choose one thing to be known for, what would it be?
Yikes. I really don't have an answer for that. I don't even know what I'm known for now that I didn't choose.
8. If you could do anything you wanted right in this very moment (no consequences, no fear, etc), what would it be?
If we're saying that in this moment, all of the conditions could be perfect and money wasn't a factor, then I'd start IVF. Right now. I know that these types of questions are usually answered with some crazy, mind-blowing, exotic answer, but none of that interests me more right now than becoming a mother.
9. What has been the most challenging moment in your life?
If I can stretch "moment" into a series of days, then most definitely the days my dad was in Hospice. One might have answered the actual death, but to put it frankly, there's not much that could be worse than spending time waiting for a loved one to die. No, the death was a relief compared to watching my father decline in the days leading up. I'm fortunate to have had a such solid support system during that time to help me through.
10. Summarize yourself in one word.
Tangled.
Well, that was kind of heavy.
Apr 24, 2013
Clocking Back In
I thought I'd stop in for a minute to express my blogging intent. Really, I've been meaning to put up some content, I just haven't made the time.
It's been a busy few weeks, and I have a lot to post about. When I eventually make time to edit photos, I'll post about when my family came to visit.
Then, you know, I'll post about why the toilet has been moved into the shower.
And of course, I'll probably have to spend a whole day sifting through and editing all of the photos I took on our New York trip last week. It started with a wedding in Rochester, it middled with a road trip to see Jamie's family, then ended with us dropping off our rental car in New York City where we stayed a few nights before returning home to the reason the toilet is in the shower.
Actually, it'd probably be best if I broke down our New York trip into multiple posts. I could do a whole post based solely on late night, drunken eating near Times Square.
I could also, probably, update yous guys on our baby makin' situation, which has kind of been delayed as well as my fitness situation, which has also kind of been delayed due to aforementioned family visit and New York trip. And, after receiving some feedback, I plan on eventually bringing back Dad's Letters since I only posted, like, four of them and I have, liiiike, 20 or so.
Needless to say, there's been a lot going on this month for us, but I'm ready to get back into the swing of normal life and back to blogging!
It's been a busy few weeks, and I have a lot to post about. When I eventually make time to edit photos, I'll post about when my family came to visit.
Then, you know, I'll post about why the toilet has been moved into the shower.
And of course, I'll probably have to spend a whole day sifting through and editing all of the photos I took on our New York trip last week. It started with a wedding in Rochester, it middled with a road trip to see Jamie's family, then ended with us dropping off our rental car in New York City where we stayed a few nights before returning home to the reason the toilet is in the shower.
 |
| Roadtrippin'. |
Actually, it'd probably be best if I broke down our New York trip into multiple posts. I could do a whole post based solely on late night, drunken eating near Times Square.
I could also, probably, update yous guys on our baby makin' situation, which has kind of been delayed as well as my fitness situation, which has also kind of been delayed due to aforementioned family visit and New York trip. And, after receiving some feedback, I plan on eventually bringing back Dad's Letters since I only posted, like, four of them and I have, liiiike, 20 or so.
Needless to say, there's been a lot going on this month for us, but I'm ready to get back into the swing of normal life and back to blogging!
Apr 1, 2013
Clocking Out
I'm clocking out for the week tonight to have a Spring Break with my family!
My mom will be here.
My brother and sister-in-law will be here.
My niece will be here.
My nephew will be here.
(I wish ALL of these people could be here!)
We'll be going on a few adventures this week before they all go home on Friday. Then you'll be getting a recap sometime next week! Happy Spring Break!
My mom will be here.
My brother and sister-in-law will be here.
My niece will be here.
We'll be going on a few adventures this week before they all go home on Friday. Then you'll be getting a recap sometime next week! Happy Spring Break!
Mar 26, 2013
Whoa, One Year
If you're an avid blog-reader, you've probably noticed that bloggers refer to their whole blog-world as The Blogosphere. In this blogosphere, there's a term for what today is for my blog. No, it's not the anniversary of my blog, but it's my blogiversary! Isn't that exciting?
Yes, one year ago today was the day that I decided to start blogging. Yes, one year ago today was the day that I became what can never not sound pretentious: a blogger. (Oh, I have a blog. Have you read it? I posted a link to it on Facebook. Did you see it? Yeah? But you didn't read it? Hmph. I guess I'll just tell you what I wrote about...) I'm actually a little impressed with myself in that I've stuck to writing regularly for a year now. While lately it's been more sparse, my posts are no more infrequent than once a week, so I'd say that suffices for "regular".
So what's happened in the last year? Well, we went through a lot of fertility testing and treatments. (You can work backwards from the bottom of THIS page if you want to read up on all of that.) Then, there was that time when our dog, Chuck, decided to jump out a second story window. And then there was that other time when he decided to do it again. And because that just wasn't crazy enough, he just completely lost his shit another day. (It's safe to say that he's been much more sane since we started keeping him in his crate when we're not home.)
We hosted a couple cool ping pong parties in the past year! We had Cosmic Ping Pong back in April where we played ping pong in the black light and drew on ourselves with glowy stuffs.
Then, unable to wait til April for another ping pong party, I decided on a holiday party: Ping Pong in a Winter Wonderland!
I went on some trips! Some were near, some were far.
I went to Vegas with some ladies for my now-sister-in-law's bachelorette party where we saw a Canadian wiener. We went to Ohio in August for my brother's wedding, which apparently I never blogged about, because I can't find a post about it. (Sorry Jason!) I visited Jamie in Seattle for a weekend when he was up there for a conference. It was fun until I got sick. We'll have to go back. I also just realized I never wrote about my birthday, which was technically spent getting inseminated, but was officially spent in LA when Jamie got me tickets to see Book of Mormon.
We've also taken numerous trips to San Diego, one of which was with our friends John and Lisl to see Dave Matthews Band.
Jamie and I went to another concert as well, KROQ's Epicenter festival. We got to see some sweet 90s bands like Stone Temple Pilots, Deftones, and Bush. But more importantly, I touched Gavin Rossdale.
I dusted off my script-memorizational skillz when I was cast in Ruthless over the summer. (I hadn't done a show with lines in 5 or so years.) Then in October, my ma came to visit to see me in an annual show that I've participated in for the last 7 years, Lagunatics. Apparently I never really wrote about that, but whatevs, right?
I definitely wrote a lot about my dad. If you're looking to read some of my more thoughtfully written stuff, I recommend reading those. While this blog was meant to be and has been a place to vent about my infertility, I think it became most therapeutic when it came to grieving my dad's death two years ago.
And of course, more recently, I've posted about my family's new adventure with my mom's breast cancer. I think we all had finally gotten back to our normal lives after having spent 6 years with my dad's colon cancer when Mom found out she had breast cancer. What luck, eh?
Of course, another main focus of this blog has been keeping track of and following up on my decision to live a healthier lifestyle. I'm down 15 pounds, a pant size, and a buncha inches, but most importantly, I'm feeling better about myself. I accredit my continued motivation to this blog. Keeping a weekly progress report has been beneficial and helps keep me accountable.
This year of blogging has been nothing but good for me. Here's to another 12 months.
Yes, one year ago today was the day that I decided to start blogging. Yes, one year ago today was the day that I became what can never not sound pretentious: a blogger. (Oh, I have a blog. Have you read it? I posted a link to it on Facebook. Did you see it? Yeah? But you didn't read it? Hmph. I guess I'll just tell you what I wrote about...) I'm actually a little impressed with myself in that I've stuck to writing regularly for a year now. While lately it's been more sparse, my posts are no more infrequent than once a week, so I'd say that suffices for "regular".
So what's happened in the last year? Well, we went through a lot of fertility testing and treatments. (You can work backwards from the bottom of THIS page if you want to read up on all of that.) Then, there was that time when our dog, Chuck, decided to jump out a second story window. And then there was that other time when he decided to do it again. And because that just wasn't crazy enough, he just completely lost his shit another day. (It's safe to say that he's been much more sane since we started keeping him in his crate when we're not home.)
 |
| Yeah dude. When you jump out of windows and cut your knee, you have to wear an effin cone. |
We hosted a couple cool ping pong parties in the past year! We had Cosmic Ping Pong back in April where we played ping pong in the black light and drew on ourselves with glowy stuffs.
I went to Vegas with some ladies for my now-sister-in-law's bachelorette party where we saw a Canadian wiener. We went to Ohio in August for my brother's wedding, which apparently I never blogged about, because I can't find a post about it. (Sorry Jason!) I visited Jamie in Seattle for a weekend when he was up there for a conference. It was fun until I got sick. We'll have to go back. I also just realized I never wrote about my birthday, which was technically spent getting inseminated, but was officially spent in LA when Jamie got me tickets to see Book of Mormon.
We've also taken numerous trips to San Diego, one of which was with our friends John and Lisl to see Dave Matthews Band.
Jamie and I went to another concert as well, KROQ's Epicenter festival. We got to see some sweet 90s bands like Stone Temple Pilots, Deftones, and Bush. But more importantly, I touched Gavin Rossdale.
I dusted off my script-memorizational skillz when I was cast in Ruthless over the summer. (I hadn't done a show with lines in 5 or so years.) Then in October, my ma came to visit to see me in an annual show that I've participated in for the last 7 years, Lagunatics. Apparently I never really wrote about that, but whatevs, right?
I definitely wrote a lot about my dad. If you're looking to read some of my more thoughtfully written stuff, I recommend reading those. While this blog was meant to be and has been a place to vent about my infertility, I think it became most therapeutic when it came to grieving my dad's death two years ago.
And of course, more recently, I've posted about my family's new adventure with my mom's breast cancer. I think we all had finally gotten back to our normal lives after having spent 6 years with my dad's colon cancer when Mom found out she had breast cancer. What luck, eh?
 |
| My fitness IG account: @fitgosam |
Of course, another main focus of this blog has been keeping track of and following up on my decision to live a healthier lifestyle. I'm down 15 pounds, a pant size, and a buncha inches, but most importantly, I'm feeling better about myself. I accredit my continued motivation to this blog. Keeping a weekly progress report has been beneficial and helps keep me accountable.
This year of blogging has been nothing but good for me. Here's to another 12 months.
Feb 26, 2013
A Few Things
The scatter-brained post that is to follow this short message was induced by my not being able to muster up the energy to create dedicated posts for each of these thoughts. So there.
ONE.
I have a guest post up at Eat Drink Be a Tourist today. Kelsey hosts Tourist Tuesday where her sponsors and buddies write up about their favorite spots. I chose San Diego. If you know me and Jamie, or if you've been here a while, you probably could have predicted that. (If you're stopping by from Kelsey's blog, well, firstly, HELLO and secondly, you can get to know me here and here!)
TWO.
Jamie and I went shooting on Sunday. We didn't pick the best day to go as it was super windy. Like, 60 MPH gusts windy. This caused me to only hit two clays instead of my usual, well, six. To give you an idea of how well I shoot, this was out of about 70.
Even though I'm not good at shooting and it leaves me sore for a few days afterward, it's still kinda fun.
THREE.
I'm eagerly anticipating our consultation with our new fertility doctor. The appointment is on the 4th, which seems light years away at this point; after four years of trying, we're ready for a baby now, so even waiting a little bit to get started on treatment just feels like...
FOUR.
We're going to New York City!
I have never been to New York City. Jamie and I had the opportunity extend a trip to his cousin's wedding into an anniversary trip of sorts to NYC back in October when it was our 5 and 10 year anniversary. (That's married years and total years, which I now realize I never wrote about.) BUT. But, I was in a local show that I've done for seven years straight now (which I also never really wrote about, weird) and the show dates were all in October, so I couldn't get the time. Well, that's only kind of true. I could have had the time if I just didn't do the show, but that's a whole other story for another time. Anyway.
We now have a wedding April up in Rochester, so Jamie and I decided to take advantage of that and finally book our trip to NYC. Just about everything is booked; I'm really excited. There will be more details to come, I'm sure.
FIVE.
There is nospoon five.
ONE.
 |
I have a guest post up at Eat Drink Be a Tourist today. Kelsey hosts Tourist Tuesday where her sponsors and buddies write up about their favorite spots. I chose San Diego. If you know me and Jamie, or if you've been here a while, you probably could have predicted that. (If you're stopping by from Kelsey's blog, well, firstly, HELLO and secondly, you can get to know me here and here!)
TWO.
 |
Jamie and I went shooting on Sunday. We didn't pick the best day to go as it was super windy. Like, 60 MPH gusts windy. This caused me to only hit two clays instead of my usual, well, six. To give you an idea of how well I shoot, this was out of about 70.
 |
| It was so windy that the tumbleweeds were piling up. |
Even though I'm not good at shooting and it leaves me sore for a few days afterward, it's still kinda fun.
THREE.
 |
| My 11 year old attempt at mall bangs. Nailed it. (P.S. This photo is irrelevant.) |
I'm eagerly anticipating our consultation with our new fertility doctor. The appointment is on the 4th, which seems light years away at this point; after four years of trying, we're ready for a baby now, so even waiting a little bit to get started on treatment just feels like...
FOUR.
We're going to New York City!
 |
| Oh wait, this is Cleveland. |
I have never been to New York City. Jamie and I had the opportunity extend a trip to his cousin's wedding into an anniversary trip of sorts to NYC back in October when it was our 5 and 10 year anniversary. (That's married years and total years, which I now realize I never wrote about.) BUT. But, I was in a local show that I've done for seven years straight now (which I also never really wrote about, weird) and the show dates were all in October, so I couldn't get the time. Well, that's only kind of true. I could have had the time if I just didn't do the show, but that's a whole other story for another time. Anyway.
We now have a wedding April up in Rochester, so Jamie and I decided to take advantage of that and finally book our trip to NYC. Just about everything is booked; I'm really excited. There will be more details to come, I'm sure.
FIVE.
There is no
Jan 28, 2013
Boobie Replacement Day
It's new boobie time! My mom is having her surgery today. I'm pre-writing this, like my last post, so if I don't get back here to link to it, just look back a bit in the blog if you want to read about what's going on with my mom. ANYWAY.
The line dancing instructor sent out a message to all of her line dancing disciples and urged them all to wear pink last Wednesday. They then surprised my mom with pink balloons, a pink cake, and a few different pink gifts and flowers and cards. It was a good luck pink party! She loved it.
Halloween line dancing looked like a lot of fun. She, my cousin Jess, and my pretty much should be a cousin but isn't Melissa were the Three Blind Mice and my cousin's wife Chris was the farmer's wife. It was cute.
My mom loves to dance. When I was 14 and too cool for everything, she'd try to dance with me in public, like in the middle of the mall, probably just to get to me... but I'm pretty sure I'll do the same to my kids. She and my dad liked to Jitterbug, and my brother and I both learned this from them as kids. My Father-Daughter dance was a mellow Jitterbug with my pop (then swapped out for my brother, but that's another story.)
My brother and my mom did this as well, but he was tricky. When they started their dance, it was a super sappy song that made my mom cry, and she was all "Dammit! I knew you'd do this to me!"
But then Jason stopped the DJ "Wait wait wait. This isn't working." and had him play something else. I don't remember what song it was, but it was big and upbeat and they Jitterbugged.
My mom stopped crying, my drunk ass lost my shit and got super emotional, you can see me vaguely keeping it together there on the left with my vodka-soda.
Moving on, have I ever mentioned that my mom likes to drunk dial/text? Her plus alcohol plus my aunts and cousins = this being texted to me:
But she doesn't reserve that for everyone else. She'd probably rather just be drunk with me instead of having to drunk dial me. We did just that when we met up with a couple of Jamie and I's Forever Friends and neighbors, Tim and Clare in San Francisco during one coincidental occasion that we were there at the same time last spring.
I've hit a dead end and don't have any more segues, so I'll leave you with the photo from a recent post about my mom that I couldn't find at the time, but I just now found:
So that was fun! I'll try to hop back here later for an update on my mom's surgery.
I know you've all gotten to know my dad through this blog, but not really a whole lot about my mom. That wasn't on purpose, it's just that I spent a lot of time publicly grieving him here. So, I thought I'd commemorate Boobie Replacement Day with a photodump of some of my favorite pics of my mom and maybe some anecdotes. I really have no direction in mind for this post, so bear with me.
My mom's new favorite thing since my dad died is line dancing. Well, she always liked line dancing, but now she goes out every Wednesday night for line dancing. (Fun fact, she started line dancing every morning and lost a bunch of weight!) She's made a bunch of new friends who've seemingly become a really great support circle, as proven by this next photo.
 |
| (My brother, kneeling, and my mom right next to him.) |
The line dancing instructor sent out a message to all of her line dancing disciples and urged them all to wear pink last Wednesday. They then surprised my mom with pink balloons, a pink cake, and a few different pink gifts and flowers and cards. It was a good luck pink party! She loved it.
Halloween line dancing looked like a lot of fun. She, my cousin Jess, and my pretty much should be a cousin but isn't Melissa were the Three Blind Mice and my cousin's wife Chris was the farmer's wife. It was cute.
My mom loves to dance. When I was 14 and too cool for everything, she'd try to dance with me in public, like in the middle of the mall, probably just to get to me... but I'm pretty sure I'll do the same to my kids. She and my dad liked to Jitterbug, and my brother and I both learned this from them as kids. My Father-Daughter dance was a mellow Jitterbug with my pop (then swapped out for my brother, but that's another story.)
My brother and my mom did this as well, but he was tricky. When they started their dance, it was a super sappy song that made my mom cry, and she was all "Dammit! I knew you'd do this to me!"
But then Jason stopped the DJ "Wait wait wait. This isn't working." and had him play something else. I don't remember what song it was, but it was big and upbeat and they Jitterbugged.
Moving on, have I ever mentioned that my mom likes to drunk dial/text? Her plus alcohol plus my aunts and cousins = this being texted to me:
But she doesn't reserve that for everyone else. She'd probably rather just be drunk with me instead of having to drunk dial me. We did just that when we met up with a couple of Jamie and I's Forever Friends and neighbors, Tim and Clare in San Francisco during one coincidental occasion that we were there at the same time last spring.
I've hit a dead end and don't have any more segues, so I'll leave you with the photo from a recent post about my mom that I couldn't find at the time, but I just now found:
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| "I can't look scared when I'm not scared!" |
So that was fun! I'll try to hop back here later for an update on my mom's surgery.
Jan 26, 2013
I'm Outta Here
But maybe it is relevant, because I'm writing this from the past; you're reading this today, but I'm writing it yesterday.
Anyway. I'm on my way to Ohio! Yes, I've mentioned this upcoming trip for a while now, but I haven't gone into much detail.
If you're new here or you've missed it, we found out at the end of November that my mom has breast cancer. Since my dad died, my mom has been living very independently and from what I gather, she's really enjoying it. Being that both my childhood dog and cat died the summer before my dad did, my mom has nothing to worry about at home and is free to travel and stay out late or do whatever she wants without concern for anything at the house. This has been great for her until now.
Now she's having a double mastectomy with reconstruction, and while she's looking forward to having perky new boobs and subsequent tummy tuck to make them, the surgery is scary and the process of healing is going to suck. I don't think my mom would have flat out asked me to come take care of her (I get my independent streak from her!) but she didn't have to. As soon as we found out that she'd have to go for the mastectomy instead of the outpatient lumpectomy, I had already decided I'd go. Jamie was also on the same page as he spoke about it as if it had already been decided when I brought it up to him.
So I'm on my way. Her surgery is on Monday at the Cleveland Clinic. She'll spend between 2 to 6 days there depending on how her initial healing goes. It's about an hour drive from Geneva, but luckily, I won't have to make that drive if I don't want to since Hannah lives out that way and works at the Clinic. I'm sure I'll be taking advantage of crashing at her place as well as taking advantage of some fantastic local eateries to get my tourist on at night. After Mom gets home, I'm sure it will be a lot of napping, reading, movie-watching, and maybe game-playing.
I'm not stoked on why I'm going, but I'm still looking forward to being there!
Jan 22, 2013
Factual Healing
So, yesterday was kind of a downer. Sorry about that. I didn't really have anything lined up for today, but I didn't want to leave that heavy of a post hanging out at the top of my blog for too long, so when I came upon a factoid link-up at I Wore Yoga Pants to Work, I hopped all up ons that.
Fact: As much as I prefer having short hair, I'm fearful of looking masculine. Then I just tell myself to STFU.
Fact: I've had short hair for the majority of my life, and it was all my choice, even when I was little. I'd ask, and my mom would cut. Like, in second grade when I had a perm, but asked my mom to buzz the side of my head. 7 year olds with new wave hairdos are cooler than any hipster, any day.
Fact: When I had my learner's permit, I backed into a car in the parking lot of the local video store. Turns out it was my second grade teacher.
Fact: It took all of my might not to have a full-blown panic attack last night when this tickle inside of my nostril WOULD NOT go away. It was a thousand times worse than an eye-twitch.
Fact: My favorite thing about summer, growing up, was spending the afternoon outside and watching the lightning bugs come out at dusk. Those tiny yellow-green flashes of light, twinkling in the grey fields was magical to me. That is, until I'd catch a lightning bug just to tear off it's light and smear it on my bed post because it would glow all night that way. (Sorry bugs.)
Fact: I wish I had a reason to wear my wedding dress again, if only to do this one more time:
Fact: I'm completely amused by men who look like they're wearing disguise glasses:
Fact: I'm probably blaspheming as a woman on this one, but I just do not get the appeal of Channing Tatum.
Fact: Unsolved Mysteries used to scare the crap out of me as a kid, but I loved to watch it with my dad. Our favorite episodes were ones about ghosts or UFOs.
Fact: Jamie and I watched an episode of Unsolved Mysteries the other day. We were laughing at how silly it was, but also laughing at how the music was still able to creep us out.
Fact: I can't think of any more facts.
Fact: I've had short hair for the majority of my life, and it was all my choice, even when I was little. I'd ask, and my mom would cut. Like, in second grade when I had a perm, but asked my mom to buzz the side of my head. 7 year olds with new wave hairdos are cooler than any hipster, any day.
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| Fact: My mom not only let me out of the house in pink stretch pants and a too-short tee-shirt, she let me out of the house in pink stretch pants and a too-short tee-shirt on picture day. |
Fact: When I had my learner's permit, I backed into a car in the parking lot of the local video store. Turns out it was my second grade teacher.
Fact: It took all of my might not to have a full-blown panic attack last night when this tickle inside of my nostril WOULD NOT go away. It was a thousand times worse than an eye-twitch.
Fact: My favorite thing about summer, growing up, was spending the afternoon outside and watching the lightning bugs come out at dusk. Those tiny yellow-green flashes of light, twinkling in the grey fields was magical to me. That is, until I'd catch a lightning bug just to tear off it's light and smear it on my bed post because it would glow all night that way. (Sorry bugs.)
Fact: I wish I had a reason to wear my wedding dress again, if only to do this one more time:
 |
| Fact: I'm melting. |
Fact: I'm completely amused by men who look like they're wearing disguise glasses:
 |
| Fact: David Kelly is fascinating. I suggest you watch this and then go find the episode of 60 Minutes that features him. |
Fact: I'm probably blaspheming as a woman on this one, but I just do not get the appeal of Channing Tatum.
Fact: Unsolved Mysteries used to scare the crap out of me as a kid, but I loved to watch it with my dad. Our favorite episodes were ones about ghosts or UFOs.
Fact: Jamie and I watched an episode of Unsolved Mysteries the other day. We were laughing at how silly it was, but also laughing at how the music was still able to creep us out.
Fact: I can't think of any more facts.
(P.S. If you're new here, stopping by from Pink on the Cheek or Sunny With a Chance of Sprinkles, welcome! You can find some basic info at my About page or on THIS page.)
Jan 19, 2013
New Here?
If you found your way to my blog via Pink On The Cheek, this post's for you! If you haven't read my About page, this post is also for you! In any case, if you're new here, welcome! I'm glad you're here and I hope you stay a while.
I'm Sam. This is me:
Except that I just chopped off all of my hair, so this is me now:
And this is my handsome husb, Jamie:
We have a dog, Chuck:
And a cat, Chase:
We don't have any kids, but that's what we're working on. I started this blog as a way to keep my family updated on our fertility treatments, but it's turned into much more than that. These days, I write about my fitness/weight loss journey, I link up with Life After I Dew for So What Wednesday ('cept I use pictures!), and whatever else I decide the world needs to know about my life.
I write a lot about my dad, who passed in March of 2011. I started a new weekly series called Dad's Letters where I share some old letters that he had written while in the Air Force during the 60's, which I think is kind of neat.
And if this link-laden post wasn't enough for you, I'll leave you with a list of some of my most popular posts.
I'm Sam. This is me:
Except that I just chopped off all of my hair, so this is me now:
And this is my handsome husb, Jamie:
We have a dog, Chuck:
 |
| Click here, here then here if you want to read about how my dog went temporarily insane. |
And a cat, Chase:
 |
| He doesn't like the dog. |
We don't have any kids, but that's what we're working on. I started this blog as a way to keep my family updated on our fertility treatments, but it's turned into much more than that. These days, I write about my fitness/weight loss journey, I link up with Life After I Dew for So What Wednesday ('cept I use pictures!), and whatever else I decide the world needs to know about my life.
I write a lot about my dad, who passed in March of 2011. I started a new weekly series called Dad's Letters where I share some old letters that he had written while in the Air Force during the 60's, which I think is kind of neat.
And if this link-laden post wasn't enough for you, I'll leave you with a list of some of my most popular posts.
- When Everyone Knows (About how telling the world you're trying to conceive leads to the world knowing your grown-up fun-time schedule.)
- Giving Myself a Shot (A very out of focus video of the first time I had to give myself a shot.)
- How I Cheat Starbucks (Because I don't like paying nearly $5 for a latte.)
- Seven Million (Sperm, that is!)
- A Very Special So What (About finding out my mom has cancer a year and a half after losing my dad to it.)
- It's a Series of Tubes (About the not-so-fun process of getting x-rayed to see if my fallopian tubes were open.)
I'd say that's enough for now! Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll stay!
Now, if you read through all of this and you're NOT new here, then I'll tell you about how these new people got here. Lauren at Pink On The Cheek is hosting a giveaway to which I contributed. It's for a $100 gift card to ErinCondren.com. If you're not in the loop, Erin Condren sells pretty much anything you could ever think of in regards to organizing and planning just about anything in your life. If you need help in that area, I urge you to check out the giveaway.
Okay, that's it. See ya later.
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