Update

The chest xray didn't show any big major tumors, but there were several small "spots". The vet feels that these are most likely very small tumors, but could be blood vessels looking directly at the xray machine. Unlikely though. At the age of almost 11, we're not going to put Ellie thru the trauma of an amputation just to buy her 1-3 happy months. We've decided to just medicate her to keep her comfortable until either the meds stop working or Ellie tells us it's time to go. Until that time, we will spoil her and love on her and do whatever we can to help her.

Steve doesn't want to believe it is true, so he wants me to ask for a 2nd opinion. I don't want Margot to be right either, but I believe she is.

I talked to Ellie's foster mama from before we adopted her. One of her dobie girls got bone cancer when she was 13 yrs old. The next day after diagnosis, her leg broke, I guess from the cancer weakening it, and they had the old girl put down at that point. She also told me about another dobie she knows of that was diagnosed with the same thing 5 months ago and is still with us. He didn't get an amputation either. So, it's entirely up to Ellie how long she wants to deal with this. She will let us know when it's time.

On a related note, MIL has pissed us both off ROYALLY by suggesting to Steve that we put Ellie down now, or get rid of her...before she hurts Stefanie. I told Steve to tell his mother she better not EVEN go there with me. This morning was the first time since that conversation that I saw MIL. Steve hadn't talked to her about it yet, but she didn't bring it up with me at all. Good thing because I was prepared to pack Stef up, turn around, and go right the Hell back home if she did start on me about it. My emotional state is pretty frazzled now anyway. I don't need her crap.

I like how Tanya (dobie foster mama) put it. How would MIL like it if we threw her into a nursing home now just because she might need some help and be in some pain, which is manageable with meds. I won't throw my 4 legged children away any more than I'd throw away my 2 legged one. No life is disposable in my book.

My sweet Ellie

It's bone cancer. It's in her tibia (foreleg). It's very aggressive. I've okay'd a chest xray to see if it's spread to her chest/lungs. If not, we might consider amputation to buy her some happy time. Otherwise we will just give her strong pain killers until Ellie gives up.

Ellie and "Mary"

Ellie is at the vet today getting her knee xrayed. It hadn't gotten any better with the pain meds, so this is the next step. I'll update after they call me with the results.

For some reason, Stef has started pretending that her name is Mary sometimes. All day Sunday, she was Mary. She had Mary's ball, she was waving goodbye to Mary's house when we went to the mall, she even told the photographer at Picture People that her name was Mary. I have no idea why she picked Mary, unless it's from Jacks' Big Music Show. What's really funny is when she announces she's not Mary, but she's Stefanie again. What a character!

Picture People

Well, I guess that's how they keep people from grabbing the pictures from their website. They're all a bit pixelated, but you get the idea, at least until I get them all scanned in and uploaded for sharing. Steve even agrees with me now - we won't be using Sears for pictures any more. Picture People are SO much better with Stef.

Scream or cry?

At the suggestion from my family doctor (or CNP), I've been weaing from my happy pill. I've been at 40mg since Friday. I'm not doing well with it. Tax season wasn't a great time to try this anyway, but that's over now and I'm still ready to bite someone's head off while bawling my eyes out at the same time.

I talked to Michelle (RE) this morning. She said she's had some patients stay on prozac during pg and everything was fine. She suggested that I talk to the CNP again and ask about switching to Zoloft or just staying at 60mg Prozac.

Something HAS to be done. This morning, I very nearly fired MIL and quit my job (that I really really need). I know I'm not thinking entirely rationally right now, but now I'm just about as mad at MIL as Steve has been recently.

Happy Birthday Meredith!!

It's only one day late, but Happy Happy Birthday!!!

Ellie Belly

I'm really worried about our bionic doggy Ellie. She'll be 11 next month, which scares me just by itself. We took her to the vet last night because she's been favoring her back left leg for a week or 2 now and it doesn't seem to be getting better.

Both of Ellie's hips are bothering her, but it's just from old age. Margot thinks the problem is in her knee. She feels an old injury in there (from before Ellie lived with us) While she was feeling around the knee, we could really tell it bothers her. But then she moved further down the leg, below the actual joint, and Ellie yipped and snapped. Major big pain. We're hoping it's just a knee injury from acting like a nut in the yard and Ellie had finally just had enough examination. We're giving her more pain pills and trying to keep her quiet. If it doesn't get better, it'll be time for an x-ray to see if she either ripped her ACL or, worse case scenario...has bone cancer. It scared the bejeezes out of Margot that the big reaction came when she wasn't anywhere near the joint, but we're going to play this out conservatively for now.

What a dingbat

When I sent in my last prescription reorder slip, I was only looking for some more Nasacort for my allergies. I accidentally marked the Prozac box, but crossed it out and wrote "NO" next to it. Apparently they don't know what NO means, unless they are the ones saying it. LOL. That particular Rx was almost expired, so the pharmacy called the doctor. The doctor agreed to give a 90 day supply refill and made me get an appointment since it'd been quite awhile since my last visit for depression.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I saw Nurse Cindy, my favorite nurse practitioner. She had a nurse working with her, studying to become a nurse practitioner. I was going to ask about weaning or cutting back on the 60mg/day Prozac anyway, but then thought I'd better wait, because of the stress of the upcoming IVF (if it ever happens). The student nurse pointed out that I shouldn't be on Prozac if I'm pg, so I should start weaning now. Figures! The only person to even ever mention it was a student nurse!! I'm so glad I went in that day. Anyway, they approved a slow gradual wean.

That night, I took 2 pills from the bottle I'd been using. That would have been 40mg. The next night, I took the final pill from that bottle (20 mg) and one from the new bottle that just came. I continued taking 2 pills a day from that new bottle until last night. TG Steve went to fetch my pills for me. He brought me the bottle and asked was that the right one and how many am I taking now. I said 2/day. He pointed out that this bottle had 40mg pills in it. Holy Sith Spawn!! I'd been taking 80mg all week!! Nurse Cindy says it's okay, no harm done, but now I have to wean down from 80mg instead of from 60mg.

If all else fails, read the instructions!!!

Kitty BA

I almost forgot (because I'm trying not to think about it). Kitty BA passed away Saturday night in her sleep. She was 21 yrs old and lived a long, pampered, happy life. I tried explaining to Stef, but I'm sure she doesn't quite get it. I told her that Kitty BA went to live in Kitty Heaven and now she's not sick anymore and she doesn't hurt anymore. Now she can play with Kitty Doofus again. But we won't get to see her anymore. We will miss her but Kitty BA went to live with Jesus and Kitty Doofus and she is happy there. Stef is okay with the happy parts, but doesn't like the sounds of not seeing Kitty BA anymore. We shall see how it goes on Wednesday - the first time she'll be at my mom's since the passing of her little furry friend.

Silly Easter

Stef must think the Easter Bunny's name is Easter. She was telling Grandpop and Grammie on the phone "That silly Easter. He hide eggies in my house. On the stairs!"

We had a great weekend. Well, Friday could've been better if the Y had been open. We drove all the way down here only to find that they were closed Fri, Sat, and Sun for the holiday. Bummer, but oh well. Then we picked up Omi and went shopping. Stef had a grand time in the Treehouse (playcenter at the grocery store) and didn't want to leave. Then she napped in the car so we had to tag team when we got to Hancock Fabrics' store closing sale. Omi went first. I spent another $90 but got lots and lots of goodies. Oh, that reminds me. My friend Wendy wants to go in halfers on a Serger machine!! I just have to find one on QVC.com so her friend can get us a discount. I have ALWAYS wanted a Serger. I don't have any idea how to work one, but I want it!! I've always wanted a dress form too. I looked at the one at Hancock - $129 minus 30% off = $90. I almost got it but the lady said she doesn't have my size. I told her "That's okay. This isn't my size anyway. My size is hiding somewhere under the flab"

Saturday, we had a very fun (very loud) playdate with Ang and Logan at Chuck EE Cheese. As expected, we had to practically drag them out of there kicking and screaming. It's pretty standard for that place. It was more fun back at Logan's house;except for the flashlight klunking incident. Stef cracked Logan right on the noggin with a hard plastic dog shaped flashlight. OUCH! They bonked heads with each other once, too, but it was a bit less tramatic. Stef kissed the booboo, they hugged and made up. SO CUTE!!

Sunday, I threw the ham in the oven and finished cleaning up the downstairs. We dyed our eggs and I made a few Star Wars eggs with the kits Ang and Nessa gave me. The Darth Vader one was AWESOME!! I'll have to take pix and post them before eating the dark lord of the Sith. (if I can find my camera) Supper was delish. Stef was fun. Family was great. It was just a great weekend all the way around.

Today, I took my lunch break 1/2 hr early so I could get in the pool with Stef for Swimming School. Now that was an absolute BLAST! I think I helped her build some more water confidence (because I let her try things that scare the bejeezes out of MIL). She went under the water about 3 times. She was trying harder to actually swim, instead of floating while somebody holds her. It was just SO cool!!!! I can't go next week since it'll be the last week of the tax season. That's okay. Classes go on into the middle of June I think.

It's a smiley day.

A slide show would have been much easier

New pix

These are from our trip to Funk's to see the Easter bunny.

Our little daredevil:



holding the baby bunnies

hugging the Easter bunny








And this happened last night. I was cutting out "button" stickers to put on the red cake plates, so they look like Mickey Mouse's belly. Stef wanted to help. So I set her up with her own safety scissors and gave her the scraps to cut up. Next thing I know, I'm hearing the sound of HAIR being cut. She burst into tears when I scolded her about it.

Not really a big deal. Her hair is layered anyway, and it's only hair, it'll grow back. But it's in her genes and I wanted to nip that habit in the bud, so to speak. There is a picture somewhere of Steve with some VERY uneven, uphill bangs. He cut his hair the night before picture day. I don't think I ever did that, there are no lingering stories about it anyway.

What a nice weekend

Saturday, Stef was pretty much back to her old self. We went to Funk's to see the Easter Bunny and take a hayride. Stef actually HUGGED this Easter bunny!! Maybe she's over her fear of costumed characters finally? The egg hunt they had was fun too. After the egg hunt, there were real baby bunnies for everyone to hold. Stef did pretty well with her bunny. I only had to tell her "no neck" once.

Sunday, FIL came down to look at our next door neighbor's house which is still up for sale. He seems extremely interested, but is worried about the cost. He needs to sit down and do all the math. I think it would be kinda cool to have him living next door. He's the type to mind his own business. Stef would love having Grandpop living so close. We'll see.

Today was great too. I walked over the Y to watch Stef's swim class. She did so well! I want to rearrange my lunch schedule so I can get in the pool with her some time.

It's apparently THE flu

One of my depositing customers told me yesterday that his wife has the same thing Stef has and their doctor told them it's THE flu - as in the one we all got shots for last fall. He says the shot is really only effective for 3 months, then it's sort of no good after that. I personally just think we got a shot for a slightly different strain than what is going around now.

Anyway, MIL sort of confirmed that today. Her other job is at a nursing home and one of her coworkers had this stomach bug, also told by her doctor that it's THE flu. She said it was so bad that her hair hurt. That totally fits with how Stef has been acting - like it hurts to be touched, sometimes it hurts to just BE. Poor poor baby.

No more puking so far. She complained that her belly hurt a lot last night. One explosive/toxic diaper later and she was much better. She ate a little piece of banana last night then asked to go for a nap. Today, she ate a cracker and about 1/3 of a banana before I left her at my mom's. She called me later (Stef did) to tell me she's feeling good. I think we're finally over the hump with this (knock wood). The diahrea is supposed to last for about a week, so I'm not sure if she can go back to swimming school Monday or not.

If anybody has any ideas about games the kids could play at Stef's birthday party, that tie in with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, please share! So far, I only have Pin the tail on Mickey (yawn) and some sort of treasure hunt that loosely follows the episode where they were looking for colors to refill the rainbow machine. Red ball, orange whistle, yellow flower, green ducky, blue bow, and purple plum. I'm still not quite sure how to run the game. All the kids are around 3 yrs old except Michael who is 7. HELP!!

Stef update

Stef puked herself awake this morning, then went back to sleep. I called the pedi and got an appointment for 9:50. When I woke her up to go to the doctor's, I gave her a few sips of KoolAid. That all came back up (even thru her nose, poor baby) in the car. Luckily, I had the forethought to bring a towel and put on her lap, so most of it went there. I brought the pukey bowl too but she didn't make it to that. Pedi checked her weight (30-1/2 lbs) and her belly, throat, ears, heart(?); said her bowels are working fine and everything else is clear. Apparently this stomach virus is rampant - they've been seeing ALOT of it lately. Stef got a shot of phenergan to stop the vomiting. MIL reports that she slept in her bed for awhile, then wanted to be held and was sleeping in MIL's arms as of 12:45. When she wakes up, she's allowed to have sips of Sprite or ginger ale or broth. If she holds that down, she can have crackers/toast/rice/bananas etc for supper. The puking should be finished now.

Lil stinker that she is, she keeps asking for cocoa or choc milk or cereal or ice cream. I tell her she can't have that while she's sick. So she proclaims that she's all better now. LMTO

On a related note, MIL told me this morning that she hates our pediatricians because they just let her be sick for too long. Luckily she told me this on the phone so she didn't see the eye roll. I told her that they had offered for Stef to come in on Tuesday but there isn't much they could do for her except weigh her and check her belly. I was comfortable with waiting it out. I know there's not much to be done for viruses. Of course I translated her comment into that I'm a bad mother for not insisting she be seen. Ugh.

Tagged by Elisa

Birthday Tag

1. Go to Wikipedia and type in your Birthday Month and day only.
2. List 3 Events that occurred that day.
3. List 2 important Birth days.
4. List 1 Death.
5. List a Holiday or Observance. (if any)
6. Tag 5 other bloggers.

3 events:
1-1865 - The New York Stock Exchange opens its first permanent headquarters at 10-12 Broad near Wall Street in New York City.
2-1958 - Sputnik 1 falls to Earth from its orbit (launched on October 4, 1957).
3-1999 - Former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as governor of Minnesota.

2 important birthdays
1-1643 - Sir Isaac Newton, English mathematician and natural philosopher (d. 1727)
2-1965 - Julia Ormond, English actress (same year as me)

1 death
1999 - Iron Eyes Cody, American actor (b. 1904)

holiday
The eleventh night and tenth day of Christmas in Western Christianity

I tag Sara, Angela, Kylee, Koren, and Krista

Day 3 of the stomach flu

I could tell Stef wasn't herself on Sunday. She hadn't been eating much since about Thursday, but I chalked that up to toddlerhood. Sunday afternoon, she started telling me her belly hurt. Well, not so much that it hurt, just that whine "my bellllllyyyyyy" I kind of figured it was coming. She fell asleep in the car on the way to the grocery store. We drove to York's Giant purposely so she could go in the Treehouse (play area). When I woke her and asked if she wanted to go play with the kids, at first she said yes, but then just cried and wanted me to hold her. She still wasn't feeling hot. I carried her all the way thru the grocery store (and OY does my back feel it now). After groceries, she and I waited in the car while Steve went in Lowes to get us a new dishwasher (ours isn't dead but it's very ill). As soon as he came back out, she puked all over herself and the carseat and everything on the floor in front of her. I never make a big deal out such things so as not to upset her. As long as I covered the puke mess, she was calm. Steve, on the other hand, freaked a little at first, but then got himself under control when he saw how Stef reacted.

We got her home and she puked once more, then just layed around and snuggled with me the rest of the evening. Monday morning she woke up in a huge pool of diarrhea, so straight in the bathtub for her. She was running a low grade fever by this point and cried unless I was holding her. So I stayed home with her. She was able to hold down small sips of Sprite then a few crackers for supper. Of course Steve was freaking just about the whole time he was home. "well, what about orange juice? maybe she caught it from the shopping cart at Giant. are you sure the Sprite is supposed to be warm? etc etc" Just worried daddy stuff.

She was running a temp of about 100 at supper time, and climbed to 103 before bed. Tylenol and Motrin tag team, cool washcloth, and snuggles with mommy all cooled her off enough that I could put her to bed without worrying myself to death. I still didn't sleep much all night - listening for Stef sounds. She woke up completely cool and begged for her water bottle, which is a comfort thing for her. Against my better judgement, I gave in and let her have a few ounces. She curled up on my lap and took a short nap. I tried to get her awake so I could see if I needed to stay home with her again or not. She wanted to go lay in my bed with me and just as I picked her up to carry her there, she puked all the water back at me, in my hair, down my back, on the floor. I should have listened to my better judgement. LOL

Anyway, now she feels warm again but I didn't get the thermometer on her yet. She's sleeping on my bed with the puke bowl next to her. I just called off work again and am waiting for the ped to open @ 8:30 to call them. Oh, I'll have to cancel my PT for today too. And then I'm getting in the shower again!!

I'll MEME too

Bolded items are things I have done:

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it (Every day!)
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach (
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland (no but SO close)
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children/currently raising child
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet (a snake is NOT a pet!!)
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (if catching a fish counts)
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life (well, it was my dog, but i still saved his life)

How did it go?

Well, MIL said Stef was really scared at first but by the time it was over, she didn't want to leave. Stef told me she had fun, but hasn't mentioned it again. It's supposed to be a class to help them get comfortable being in the water. Some of the kids went under. Stef layed back in the water. That's a good step for her because she freaks if I just try to lay her back in the tub.

I hate my allergies. My nose is like a freaking fire truck. My left sinuses are completely blocked up. My ears itch. My chest feels heavy (well, heavier than usual). The pollen forecast is 6.6 today and slowly creeping up over the next 4 days. Blech.

Swimming school!

Today was Stefanie's first day of "swimming school" at the Y. MIL is taking her then stopping over here to let me know how she did. It's only 1 block away, but I don't get to take a lunch today since I'm making up time for PT appts. I should really let her get well established before I go over there and disrupt everything with my presence anyway. What a big girl!!!

Bionic doggies

I can't believe I just spent over $400 at the vet last night. Preshy had her annual checkup, plus a skin infection and an ugly looking something (probably impacted hair) on her face. And we needed Ellie's thyroid meds, and both of them are taking the incontinence pill now, and heartworm pills, and Frontline, and Keflex for Presh's skin, and some liquid stuff for her face spot. And we left with a follow up appt in two weeks. Well, at least there's no insurance company to fight with about this bill! LOL

I'm surrounded

by freakin IDIOTS! I'm having a frustrating day, which has sort of carried over from yesterday a bit.

Anyway, my boss has been putting off turning over the ordering of supplies duty for some unknown reason. I asked him about it today, and he said "you can make that change whenever you want to" WTF?

My office manager made an appointment for a client that needs the cashier for Thursday @ 4:30. HELLO! I only work until 4:30! And I cannot stay over tonight because Preshy's vet appt is tonight. So I asked if he could change the appt to just a little earlier - 15 or 20 minutes maybe. He comes back to me after talking to the client and says "I got it changed to Friday @ 4:30. I guess I should've checked with you first to make sure that's okay, huh" NICE!

The phone guy was going to come to our house today to check on a bad static in the downstairs phonejack between 2:45 and 4:45. I asked MIL yesterday if she could come up and let them in. She said Sure NP. I asked if she still has a key to the house. "YES." I asked again this morning is she sure she has a key. "YES! I'll show you if you want." "No, I believe you and I've got to run" I just got a phone call that she's at the house and this key doesn't work. She's already climbed the fence and looked for the hide-a-key, but I told her yesterday that it's not there right now. Steve must have locked himself out and used that key then left it inside (where it does a world of good!) So, MIL wants to know if maybe it's the key to the back door. "NO, the same key works all the way around the house" "Well this won't fit in the hole and the guy is waiting" "Well, I'll just have to reschedule then" Whatever, it's rescheduled for Saturday morning now.

I had called about a month ago at work to get a phone jack moved from the supply room to the cage for the postage machine. They finally came today and tell me "well that's an analog jack. IBM doesn't work on those. You'll have to call your help desk" EXCUSE ME! That's who I called and they sent YOU! Simple solution, which I wanted to do in the first freaking place - get a longer phone cord that reaches from the postage machine over to the wall and let it share the phone jack with the fax machine. The postage machine only ever needs to connect when it has to refill with postage money - like once every 2 months. WHY DON'T THEY LISTEN TO ME????

One of the brokers' intercom was apparently on auto answer. We don't know how it got that way, but she didn't want it that way since the phone automatically answered every single time somebody intercommed her, whether she wanted to talk to them or not. The dumbass (no)help-desk person I got to handle this took 30 minutes to understand wtf was going on.

"Well, that's the way a phone works. If somebody calls the broker, she can then talk to that person"

Well no shit sherlock. "Usually a person has the choice of whether they want to answer the phone though"

"Well, sure. Isn't she choosing to talk?"

"Umm, no. It's like the phone is haunted. It just answers all by itself - even in nobody is in the room"

"Well who is calling her when this happens?"

"It happens no matter who intercoms her"

"But what is this person's last name?"

What does it matter??? I could probably say George Lucas at this point and you still won't get it! "I don't know. Let's pick Smith."

"Can you hold please?"

***long time on hold***

"Let me understand what you're saying here. When Smith intercoms her, the phone rings once, then she can talk"

"Yes, but she doesn't push any buttons and Smith is already there, on speaker, whether she wanted to talk to Smith or not"

"But that's the way the phone works"

etc etc etc around and around and around

Finally I just wanted to slit my wrists and I heard the lightbulb come on. "OH! It sounds like she has it on auto answer"

"Umm, okay. How did that happen? Thru her personal website?"

"No, she would have had to call in to have that turned on"

"I'm sure she didn't. Ok, now how do we turn it off?"

"Just call in and ask for it to be turned off"

"Pleae can we have it turned off?"

"So you want the auto answer feature turned off on extension 5675?"

"Yes please"

"Can I help you with anything else today?"

give me rusty razor! "No, that about covers it!"

AAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHH

Sesame Street Old School

I am LOVING this DVD!!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000H6SY8C/ref=ord_cart_shr/103-3879835-7831838?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

I actually remember watching these episodes on PBS when I was a preschooler and in early elementary school. I don't remember Oscar being orange, but that was just temporary. He turned green due to some vacation at a swamp or something. It was SO cute watching Stef watch these with me. She kept insisting that the orange muppet just could NOT be Oscar. Last night when we watched the current SS, she got all excited to see Oscar. "Look Daddy! It's Oscar! He's GREEN!!"

I loved seeing the number of the day counting sequence the way it used to be too. It's sort of the same song when they count up then down again. But instead of that jack-in-the-box thing, they had the numbers flying at the screen with some spacey sounds. And I had forgotten all about those crazy dots, where the one keeps turning red so they start over, then they are all red, but that one turns white again. What a rebel! LMTO! I can't wait to see more. I mean I can't wait to show more to Stef.

I'm out

The insurance company is still dicking around with the PGD claim and the deadline was today to either have an answer or pay another $5000 to the RE.

So we will sit this one out. I'm annoyed at the insurance company because they had already told me it back in Jan that it was only a formality to get it paid, but it's approved. It's all a big runaround of bullshit.

The RE said they might be doing a cycle in May, but if not, definately June.

2 am????

All week long, Stef has refused her nap at MIL's, then fallen asleep in the car on the way home. She's been down for the count and missed supper to go straight to bed. She'd been getting up at 6am, rather than 7am, which is cool since we're about to go back on daylight savings time. But this morning, she cheerfully came in our room at 2am and announced "Good morning Mommy!"

We both went potty, then back to bed. She tried, really tried, to go back to sleep for over an hour. Then she insisted that she wanted breakfast. I figured she probably was hungry from skipping supper, so down we went. When I asked her what she wanted to eat, she just asked for Max & Ruby. So that's what she got. I tried one more time to get her to go back to bed, but she still insisted she wanted breakfast. So this time I gave her a mini box of Frosted Flakes (or Snow Flakes as Stef calls them). She ate a few and cuddled up with me on the couch for more Max & Ruby. When Steve came down at 5:30, I beat tracks back to bed for a 20 minute catnap.

I don't know what's up with the 2am thing, but I sure hope its a one time fluke. I think she might have had gas pains. I accused her twice of pooping her panties, but she was clean. I wonder what MIL gave her for lunch yesterday?

Anyway, I'm a complete space case today and probably won't make much sense all day long.

I still haven't heard anything about my boot and I plan to call the insurance company later to see if there has been a decision made yet. Steve fell asleep right after I put Stef to bed last night, so we didn't get to talk about the whole IVF thing. Tonight, for sure!

Cycle update...

I'm supposed to go in this Monday for baseline US and BW. It might not happen this round though unless the insurance company makes a final decision about the PGD by Friday. It's a freaking runaround mess. The ins co says they requested medical records and just received them yesterday and sent them over for review. The RE says they've submitted the complete kit-and-kaboodle medical records at least 3 times. The RE says they submitted the change from $5000 to $2800 claim 2/23. The insur co says they don't see that but it won't matter anyway since when they review the $5000 claim, they will see that the $2200 portion was already settled and they'll disregard that part. The insur co said they will expedite the claim but can't make any promises, and really doubt that it'll be finished Friday, which is the RE's deadline.

I told Steve this morning that we need to talk about the whole IVF thing tonight. I see that we have 3 choices:

1-skip this round
2-pull $5k from a credit card again
3-ask his dad for the money

I don't like any of those choices one little bit.

Leg update: My first PT was this morning and I got yelled at for trying to walk with my foot pointed out the side. She's trying to contact my family doctor to get me a boot (which would be FABULOUS) and wants me to bring the crutches back for the next appt so she can make sure they're adjusted correctly. She thinks I have them too short. I knew not to have them up in my armpits and probably went overly-safely-low. I hope the boot will be enough. Crutches are a pain. The impinged nerve in my right shoulder is all bothered again now. My fingers keep going numb from it. That makes for a really weird sensation while typing. LOL

I HATE this!

If I use one crutch, it kills my back and sciatic, not to mention doesn't let my calf muscle rest and heal. If I use 2 crutches, the impinged nerve in my right shoulder screams and I can't carry my lunch box.

The pizza delivery girl just told me her calf muscle tear took 4 months to heal. GREAT! I don't have time for this crap!

The good news is that I found a PT that will take me tomorrow instead of next freaking Tuesday. Maybe they can help me get more comfortably mobile?? I'm not looking forward to all those PT sessions either. $20/visit for torture. Heehee. My sister the PT knows all the good torture jokes.

Partial tear of the gastrocnemius muscle

Lovely, huh? That's why I can wiggle my foot all around with no pain, but the minute that muscle tries to contract I want to scream. I think I'll remind Stef of this several times a day for the next 10 years. ;)

Doctor appt

I have a doctor appt for this afternoon to have my left calf looked at. On Saturday, Stef decided to sprint across the grocery store parking lot and I must have pulled something when I started off the chase her. It's no better today, so I'll hobble on into the doctor's office.

Doggone kid! She thought it was hilarious watching mommy hop and limp after her, all the while having a heart attack because she was running across 5 or 6 rows of parking lines/possible traffic. Maybe that's payback for me laughing at some of her antics that she didn't think were very funny?

Anyway, update later....

Urine gone

http://www.urinegone.com/ it's an enzyme that actually "eats" the urine. I like it, works pretty well. I bought it at CVS last time, in the AS SEEN ON TV section.

My mom has used this http://www.gardensalive.com/product.asp?pn=0420 and likes it better. It's a bigger bottle for half the price, but it's only available thru mailorder. I've ordered from Gardens Alive many times in the past and LOVE their stuff. Mom added an extra bottle of the stuff to her most recent order for me, but it hasn't come in yet.

Stef had her first accident free day yesterday!!!!! I had been telling her that the first day she could go accident free I had a special prize for her. So we broke it out last night - a new My Little Pony. She was just thrilled to death. She found her old pony and declared one of them as the mommy pony. Then they slept on her pillow next to her face. It was so freaking cute!

I'm a little rotten

On Friday evening, I went to Columbia Pizza to pick up supper, took my mom along because I just knew Stef would fall asleep in the car. When I found a parking space, I realized I was parking in front of my dad's SUV. After I got the pizza and handed it to Mom, I dug out a pix of me and Stef and put it under his wiper blade. No note or anything. Just the pix. I felt so much better after doing it. My mom said it would've been better if we'd been flipping him off in the pix. I don't know why that makes me feel better, but it does. Like I'm saying "see what you're missing, ya dickhead?"

On to better thoughts...potty training was pretty successful IMHO. Three accidents Saturday, 4 on Sunday, and only 2 Monday! She's very excited about it most of the time, although I still have to convince her to try sometimes by telling her that Mickey or Pooh Bear has to go and would like her to keep them company.

MIL actually skipped the pullup over the panties at her house and got a big pee spot on her carpet. I'll have to buy her her very own bottle of Urine Gone.

Big owwwwieeeeee

MIL told me jokingly yesterday evening that we shouldn't have any security fears at our house. Between the dobermans and Stef, we'ver covered.

I had to leave work early yesterday to take MIL to the eye doctor because Stef had cut her eyeball with a fingernail. She insists it was an accident. I still want Stef to apologize for hurting her. Poor MIL couldn't even see the phone book to look up the phone # for the eye doctor. My eyes hurt and start watering everytime I think about it. Anyway, the doctor says it's a pretty bad scratch on the cornea. They gave her numbing drops and antibiotics and said she should be able to go to work today if she's up to it. We just feel awful about this. Steve even offered to pay for the doctor visit. I know it was a freak accident, but it's still awful.

Semi-update on the insurance saga....The RE wants another $5k from me by March 6 (or 9th, I can't remember and left all my papers at home today) for the PGD because the main submission ($9975) for the last IVF/PGD is still sitting in limbo at the insurance company. I know the PGD was approved and they said it was just a formality of getting them paid now. So I have someone at the insur co pushing very hard to get it finalized. At least if we have an approved amount to be paid, Anita can go to Jamie (office manager) with that and see what we can do. ***Oh look! It's complete now, except that the $5000 is still undetermined because they are waiting for medical records from the provider to make a final decision. SHIT! That's the part the RE is bitching about. Personally, I think they billed the insurance wrong on that amount. If they billed for the full $5k, but then I submitted the $2200 (see below) separately, but the $2200 was actually part of the $5k, I think we've double billed somehow. Elisa, any thoughts?

I also found out yesterday that the $2200 for Reprogenics (the DNA lab in Jersey) that I appealed was approved. They approved $1665 of the $2200. Of the $1665, $350 went to my deductible (for 2006!! GRRR) and $394.50 was my copay. Whatever the balance of that is, will come back to me. Since the next round is a new year, I'll have a new deductible to meet, so the next one will probably look the same - I'll have to pay about half, but totally worth it to me.

Also, I got confirmation from Mother Merrill's HR dept that the $15k lifetime limit on fertility drugs has been waived since I'm still within my 3 IVF cycles. There's a $2595 bullet dodged. I'd have been stuck with that one because I already have the drugs in my fridge at home. You can't return them once they leave the warehouse.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I'm still just sitting around waiting. Waiting for the start of the next IVF cycle, waiting for the RE to submit medical records so that the insurance company can make a decision on the $5k, waiting to see if the RE really really is going to require another $5k deposit from me before they'll proceed with the next cycle, waiting for Stef to start pee'ing in the potty.

Snow pictures

Still here

I must not be in the first 50%. And yes, yesterday was an official holiday. If the market is closed, we're closed.

We had a nice weekend, except that Steve was out chopping ice at work most of the day Saturday, then had 3 service calls Sunday evening. Yesterday, at Walmart, Stef agreed to the deal and didn't retract it this time. I bought her the My Little Pony panties with the agreement that she has to try not to pee in them. We shook on it. Of course, right after we said Deal! she said No Deal! but that's just because she sees that show on TV too much LOL! I still have to wash the panties for the first time, so I'll probably give it a try starting Saturday. MIL can't stand Stef pee'ing all over her carpet/furniture, so the whole thing will be left up to me - I suppose as it should be, but some teamwork would be nice. I still have to get Steve to watch the 123 Magic DVD, then convince her to watch it. small sigh

EEEK

This is c&p'd from an email we just got, so I may not be in the clear. We'll see if I still have access on Monday.

This is to remind you of the new policy restrictions on Internet Access and to inform you that effective this coming weekend over 50% of our branch office population will receive an upgrade which will prohibit the downloading of software to their WMW. You may wish to remind your branch office personnel of this new policy and its associated restrictions.

SNOW!!!

At last!! We got about 7 or 8 inches, plus about 2 inches of sleet. The weather guy said that if it had stayed a few degrees colder aloft, we would have had something like 20 inches of snow. I couldn't get to work for 2 days, but made it in today. The roads are still slippery, but driveable now. This is Stef's first real snow that she will remember (for awhile at least).

Well, crap! I thought I'd uploaded the snow pix, but apparently not! I will share as soon as I get them in PB.

I'm still f'ing pissed at my supervisor. I called him on Tuesday to tell him I was turning around and going home. His snotty comment "So, there's no way you can make it into the office?" I said "Umm, Ron. I just cleared an accident scene on 30 with a Jeep on it's roof in the ditch. The ambulances were getting the back boards out. It's slippery and only going to get worse. And I have my TWO YEAR OLD IN THE BACK SEAT! It's just not worth it to me." He was still snotty about it, but ended up telling me to be safe. Now that I'm back, I see 2 emails from management that says our safety is paramount, not to come in if we can't safely get here. I swear he is the 2nd worse supervisor I've ever had in my whole life! He's the father of 2 small boys too. What a jerk!

The worst supervisor I ever had was a dude in New Mexico that sat me down and verbally counselled me because people at the shop were afraid to call my house. I was afraid to call my house too! My ex was very out of control at that time. He never asked about the marks on my face (obvious finger nail scratches) or the bruises on my arms the one time I forgot and took off my outer uniform shirt. Ass. He probably beat his own wife too. He went on to become an officer later. Rumor had it that he might come to Panama during the closure of our runway to help out. I was SO glad he didn't because I'm afraid I'd have been busted for insubordination for telling him what I thought of him.

I'm trying hard not to, but I'm afraid I'm gonna tell this boss what I think of him next time I talk to him.

If only I could follow my own rule

My main casino rule: NEVER put the winnings back in the slot machine! Oh well. We had fun even if we only came home with $1.75. I made an interesting observation while we were walking on the boardwalk. At home, I have to cover my mouth/nose with my scarf or I start wheezing and coughing with an asthma attack. For some reason, the cold ocean air didn't bother me. It was quite a brisk breeze, especially as the sun was setting and my ears were much more bothered than my lungs.

You just can't beat going to Atlantic City on a bus trip. The casino gave us $25 back when we got there, so the trip was only $7 net each. I doubt we could have matched that in gas expenses. Plus, we got to semi-relax while Bus Driver Bob (yes, that was really his name) handled all the traffic in record time. Those tour bus drivers must have to have a lead foot as a job pre-requesite.

Stef did really well with her Aunt Von & Uncle (Ankle) Shawn. She asked where we were 3 or 4 times, but only cried when she got booboo's - only 2, which is a pretty good day for my toddler.

I had another really strange dream last night....something about someone trying to get Stef away from me and we kept running away and hiding. It really scared me and I had a hard time sleeping after it woke me up at 3am.

As if you's didn't think I was crazy already....

I had a dream about George Lucas last night. Nothing naughty (YUCK!) but weird all the same.

We were at some kind of kid's event, making puppets out of paper plates. GL just happens along (OMG!!!! I'm not worthy) He picks one of the kids - STEF!! - and decides to direct a play using her puppets and wanted me & Steve to help. I don't remember exactly what we ended up doing in the play, but it was fun. Stef had a blast, even if she didn't follow his direction.

Then we find out that he and his family bought the big house at the end of our development! Now that our family and his family are friendly, he asks us to take care of his dogs while he's away for a weekend. While in his house, I accidentally break some artsy fartsy very expensive looking statue. I cleaned up the mess and it turns out that GL didn't like that thing anyway.

Weird. I know. I'm just surprised I remember as much of it as I do. I know there was more, but can't focus on it enough to remember.

small vent

I help my friends and family with their taxes. I don't mind, in fact, I rather enjoy it. What bugs me is when certain people don't get that I do this as a favor. I understand needing the $ quickly, but dammit, I work fulltime and have a 2 yr old that won't let me sit at my computer without her taking over. Get off me! And if I had all the correct information BEFORE I transmitted the return for E-file, we wouldn't be having these problems of a check being sent to an old address. I KNOW the PO won't forward gov't checks. It'll be returned to sender. Meanwhile, it's up to me to figure out what to do about it! And she didn't even offer to put a stamp on the envelope for the one form that HAS to be mailed in. WTF?? I think Steve is right. I'm being taken advantage of here. Time to stand up for myself. I love my friend of *gasp* 30 years very dearly, but she needs to quit walking on me. And I need to quit allowing it.

Okay, vent over

We had a little snow overnight - less than an inch I think, but Stef was excited to see it. It's still too cold to really go out and play in it though. I don't think it would make a snowman anyway - too fluffy.

I'm still here

And I have a really funny Stef story...

Sunday morning around 8:45 (thank you very much for the extra sleep in, Stef) our little sweetypie came over and said good morning. When she realized daddy was in bed too she went to his side of the bed and kept telling him to get up, it's a sun day (I think she meant sunny day), time to get up, c'mon daddy. She even handed his robe to him. He was talking to her but he was still really tired and not getting up. She must have realized he was a tough cookie to crack so she said "okay daddy, you sleep" and went downstairs. She came right back up and started singing to him "go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep daddy" like a lullaby, followed directly by a blast from her toy trumpet! LMTO! If only I'd had the camcorder handy, we could have sent that in for the $10,000 on AFV. What a character!!

Well, so far so good

No blockage messages so far, not even for Ebay. I hope they aren't just late in running the program or planning on running it after hours tonight. Stay tuned....

WAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!

I'm so bummed. Mother Merrill strikes again. I just got this email (partial c&p below)

Branch offices will be upgraded in accordance with the corporate restrictions beginning Friday, February 2.

The initial upgrade will prevent the downloading of software to protect the firm against viruses. Additional blocking will occur thereafter to include websites which contain objectionable content, chat functionality, email, gaming, message boards and clubs.

Should you have a legitimate business need to access a specific blocked site, you can request an exception by following the instructions provided on the notification page that is displayed when trying to access a blocked site.

I think Ang was right and that day when I had blockage issues a few months ago was probably a test of the software. BLAH!!! If you see an entry tomorrow, you know I still have access. If not, I'm blocked from Blogger and Chatzy.

Some new pix

Lining up her Dibs like tic-tac-toe on the napkin


Eating Dibs - one in each cheek


say CHEESE




"reading" the letters on Grandpop's treadmill


being a messy artist

Very friendly

I asked some of the yaya's yesterday in chat, but let's see what the rest of you think. MIL told me and Steve that she thinks Stef is getting very friendly with strangers lately and she wants to know how we want her to handle it - because there are so many creeps and pervs out there.

I had to ask for clearer clarification as to what she meant by "very friendly". She said, "Well, she's going up and talking to the kids more now. And she's been talking to the parents and adults more lately too" (I'll have to assume she means at Gymbo class or storytime) I could tell by the look on her face as she was saying it that she could hear just how ridiculous it sounded. I mean, come on. My 2 yr old is talking to kids **GASP** and their parents in a familiar, controlled, supervised environment.

Steve and I talked about it last night. His point to his mom was "well aren't YOU watching her? you're supposed to be right there with her at Gymbo and storytime" I haven't actually responded back to her yet other than "let me think on it and talk to Steve" I totally agree with arming Stef with protective information. But we both agree Stef is too young to understand that stuff yet. I plan to teach her about not allowing anybody to touch her private parts, but I really think we should wait til after she's potty trained or she'll be yelling at US for wiping her at diaper changes.

What do you all think?

Row row row the boat

questionaire

1. FIRST NAME. Terri

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? My great-aunt's middle name was Tressa, so my mom borrowed the spelling a little bit for Terrisa and my grandmother's and aunt's middle name is also my middle name.

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? When I dropped Stef off with MIL this morning

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? usually

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT? honey ham

6. KIDS? 3 if you count the furbabies (I do)

7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? absolutely

8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Just this blog

9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? all the time

10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Nope

11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Not only no, but Hell no !

12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Apple Cinnamon Cheerios

13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No

14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yes, emotionally for what I've lived thru and physically fairly strong (I came in 2nd place in the Basewide Arm Wrestling competition/females category in 1993)

15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Reese's PB Cup (Breyer's brand)

16. SHOE SIZE? 9-1/2

17. RED OR PINK? pink

18. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? my weight

19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? living - my friend Judy from B'more; passed - my grandparents

20. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? Don't matter I love these no matter what

21. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? black pants black shoes.

22.WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? shredded wheat with banana on top and skim milk

23. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? 101 WROZ

24. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? purple

25. What is your FAVORITE SMELL? hyacinth

26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? I don't even remember - probably a client, but maybe a co-worker

27. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU ARE ATTRACTED TO? smile

28. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? Yes :)

29. Favorite drink? hot chocolate - Swiss Miss Fat Free Marshmallow Lovers

30. FAVORITE SPORT? none really

31. EYE COLOR? green

32 DO YOU EMBRACE THE NEW TECHNOLOGY? yes

33. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? I used to but my allergies are too bad now, so it's just glasses

34. FAVORITE FOOD? chocolate

35. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Happy

36. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? ummm - some DVD we got for Christmas.....I can't remember

37. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? brown with a black jacket

38. SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer

39. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs

40. FAVORITE DESSERT? Pellman's peanut butter pie

41. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? All yaya's likely will do this, we're freaks.

42. Least LIKELY TO RESPOND? anyone who already did it.

43. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? Star Wars (of course) Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines

44. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? our Christmas family picture

45. WHAT DID YOU WATCH LAST NIGHT ON TV? Deal or No Deal and the beginning of Heroes

46. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Stef's laughter

47. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles!

48. THE FURTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Panama or Germany - not sure which is further away

49. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I can sew

50. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? 1965 Columbia PA

Mary

I'm feeling quite disturbed by this story. Meredith - the only reason I thought of you when I heard this is because of foster care. Anyway, here goes...

My 14 yr old neice Sarah has a best friend, Mary, 15 yrs old. A few weeks ago, Mary's little sister came to my sister's house around 6am asking her to please call the police because her dad was beating Mary all night long. Of course my sister called. They came and put the dad in jail and took Mary out of the home. Turns out, he'd beat her with a belt for 2 hours and she had cuts all over her legs from it. Not knowing that the police would do so, Sarah gave her digital camera to the little sister to take pictures of Mary's injuries.

After my sister spoke to a detective on the phone, she explained about the camera and that Sarah was afraid to call or go down there to get it back. The detective assured her that it should be okay, so Sarah called and asked if they could come get the camera back. After the little sister said it would be okay, that they could do a drive-by pick-up, the mom got on the phone. She doesn't speak English very well (the whole family are naturalized citizens originally from Egypt) but kept asking Sarah "Why you mom call police have my daughter taken away?" Sarah simply told her she wouldn't discuss it with her (yay Sarah).

Then they drove down to get the camera. Well, here comes the mom and she started in on my sister with the same line. She ended up having to have the little sister come out and translate the conversation. Poor little thing (11 yrs old I think) was terrified. My sister's answer was simply "Because your husband was beating on her with a belt. I did what you should have done. I protected your daughter. You should be ashamed of yourself" At first the mom denied even knowing about the beating, which was a total lie because it was the mom who told the dad that Mary had been talking to a boy on the phone, knowing full well he'd beat her for it. Then she changed her story saying, "He no hurt her bad. Just a little; here (pointing to her butt)" My sister asked her to explain the cuts on her legs then. "Well, no bad. Just a little. He had to or Mary end up pregnant at 16" (Gee - if I'd know THAT'S how you get pg, I wouldn't be wasting all this time and money on infertility treatments!!!) The conversation just kept going in the same cirlces, so they took the camera and drove off.

Meanwhile, Sarah found out that the dad was threatening to shave off all Mary's hair and slice her face up and if he couldn't do it, he'd send her back to Egypt so they could do it there. He made bail and was talking about taking the whole family back to Egypt. My sister passed that info on to the detective.

As disturbing as all that is, last night put the icing on the cake. I was at my sister's for my monthly massage and Sarah was on the phone in the kitchen when we came downstairs. She's not what you could call a quiet talker so we overheard everything she said. The first thing we hear is "You went all the way?!?!?!? Ewwwwwwwww! With Kevin??!!?? Dude! You've only known him for 3 months!" So my sister went into the kitchen and quietly asked Sarah about it. She confirmed that it was Mary and that she did indeed say she went all the way. My sister asked if she had at least used protection. Sarah mouthed "probably not". My sister came back in to talk to me and said that was the only thing she didn't like about Mary, how boy-crazy she always was. Apparently her parents had something real to worry about with her, but tried to resolve it in all the wrong ways. The last thing I heard from Sarah was "NO! I do NOT want to know what it felt like" at which point my sister went back to talk to Sarah some more. As I was going out the door, I heard "I won't, mom! I'm not stoooopid!"

Oh boy oh boy oh boy. Just plain disturbing.

Old age

One of my clients told me the other day that her mother always said "Old age is a curse, but what the hell else is there??" I only quote her now because I couldn't get into make comments or update here at all on Tuesday and now, for the life of me, I can't remember what I was going to write about. LMTO!

I just called and bugged the insurance company. They say it will take 14-21 days for the claim to be finalized. I will just keep following it online until Jan 26. If it's not updated by then, I'll be calling again. Because my biological clock is ticking like THIS!

The boss came around with the "notifications" this morning which just means he told us all how much our raises and bonuses are this year. 3% raise for da GEEK! Yay! and the bonus is up about 10% over last years, so I'm pleased with that. My rating for the year is a 4 (on a scale of 1-5) Last year it was 5 but EVERYBODY was getting a 5 unless they were screwing up. So they re-skewed the scales again, back to where they are supposed to be. 3 is a good employee. 4 is a super star. 5 is a super duper rock star. I'm okay with being a 4 in that case.

Nothing else new. I'm still having back spasms. Steve is enjoying his new job (he's doing the same thing, just for a new company). Stef is super cute as ever.

Christmas pix

This is my new fave pix of Stef

Here she is in her "clubhouse" with all her goodies

acting like she's in the WWE

with her spotting scope

how cute is this glove/hat set?

Good pix of my mom and aunt

why do men think this kind of picture is funny?

Against direct orders...

Here I am at work again after a lovely 4 day weekend. Stef told me this morning "No work mommy! Jammers!" meaning I was supposed to be in my PJ's and staying home with her again. LOL. She cracks me up and makes it really hard to be sad about anything. Yesterday, she called me out to the kitchen and said "Look! Balloons!!" as she pointed to the kitchen ceiling. Next it was "Here mommy. Cake. Blow candle" She had her own invisible cake and candle too. When we both blew out our candles, she told me "Happy Birthday!!" What a super sweetheart! I've been telling her my birthday is coming soon (tomorrow) and so she threw me a surprise party!

She was "writing" on a piece of paper yesterday afternoon and handed it to me to write on too. So I wrote Stefanie Jaina Hohn and read it to her. She flipped the paper over and "wrote" some more then passed it back to me so I wrote Mommy and read it to her. She looked at it and said "Mommy Jaina Hohn" LMTO! I love her little mind.

UltraMan vs. the kitty

ROFLMTO!!!!!!! I bought the DVD set of Ultraman http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/u/urutora.htm

Steve and I both LOVED this cheesy Godzilla type TV show when we were little kids. We started to watch it a little last night. Steve was worrying that it would give Stef nightmares so he started calling the monster a big kitty. So then she was worrying about the kitty - where did kitty go? Eventually, Ultraman showed up and started fighting with the "kitty", sort of wrestling style. So Stef says "Oh look. He hugging the kitty!!" I laughed so hard I almost pee'd my pants.

The stock markets are closed Tuesday for President Ford's funeral, so ML is closed too. Yippee!! A 4 day weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great weekend

Stef just makes it way too hard to be sad. We had a great Christmas weekend, despite having to endure my evil SIL and her 2 passive aggressive brats. My absolute favorite moment was at MIL's on Christmas Eve. Stef had a gift bag to open and took the tissue paper out and gasped "PINK PAPER!!" Then she was dancing around the room with it. ROFLMTO! She thought the paper was the gift and was LOVING it!!

Do we have to hire a realtor to find out how much the deserted island for evil SIL's will cost? AGH! I really really can't stand her. Steve was shocked as we were driving home last night talking about the evening. It's no secret that he can't stand her, but he said "wow! You really don't like her do you? I thought you could get along with anybody" I told him I could be civil with her, but that's about it.

I'll try to get pix uploaded soon.

Oh well

The blood test is negative. I'm not pregnant. There is no way they've made a mistake. My baby boy (yes, we know it was a boy because of the genetic test) just didn't want to stick around this time.

At least we know I still have some good eggs in there. I'm willing to try again, but only if the insurance ends up covering the genetic testing. If they don't, we're finished because we just don't have $5000 to lay down on the table again. I'm pretty sure they will cover it - 90% anyway. But meanwhile I'm hating sitting here waiting for the insurance company to piss. Waiting for them means losing the January cycle and probably the March cycle too. So we're looking at June probably. I'll be going on the Nuvaring as soon as I get AF (probably Monday) so my system stays regulated so we don't have to jump thru that herdle (or is it hurdle?) again.

I'm okay. Disappointed and a little sad, but okay. I might have a meltdown later when I have Steve to hold me thru the sobbing.

Is it Friday yet?

I can hardly wait to hear the results of tomorrow's bloodwork. I might poas tomorrow morning, but it's probably too soon for even a FRED to register.

AAGGHH!!!

Somebody must have flunked or totally skipped MIL 101. I had Steve pick up Stef last night. MIL was wondering to him how Stef got her cold. She seems to think it's because Stef wasn't dressed right. It pissed him and I'm freaking furious. Why would you say something like that??? WTF?!?!

Stef caught a cold because she came in contact with a germ that she has no immunity to. I know a family in B'more that has this same cold, and someone in FL too for that matter. I could think of some more if I really thought about it hard. It's GOING AROUND RIGHT NOW!!! Steve thinks she got the cold from when we were at HersheyPark Christmas CandyLane. She was all sweaty from running and bouncing then we put her coat back on her and went straight outside. I agree that could lower her resistance a bit, but she caught a cold because a virus found her for crying out loud!!

Nothing like questioning your son and DIL's parenting abilities to fuel the Christmas cheer!

Christmas status

We went to a local paint your own pottery place Saturday to make a gift for Grandma and Omi. Stef had a great time but was not cooperative at all about the handprint thing this time. She just wanted to paint freestyle. Fine. Have at it. I just wish I hadn't let her get near the black paint. Oh well, they turned out great anyway. We shopped for most of the rest of the family then and planned to finish up Sunday. Ha!

I wanted to get started early but that never happens. I got out the door to drop Stef off with my sister around 11:45. Kmart sucked the life out of me, the Circuit City had a line that went on forever. I only spent about 20 minutes in Barnes & Noble, and had had enough. I headed back to pick up Stef since I told my sister it would only be a few hours. Stef hadn't napped and it was about 4:00. She offered to keep her longer if it would help me, so I tried to nap her, but no luck. She was definately getting buggy tired and was acting out a bit, trying to steal cooling cookies and the like. I was still going to take her with me, but Stef said she wanted to stay with Aunt Lissa. Naturally 5 minutes after I left, she was asking for me.

Next I went to Weis Market to get pet foods for Omi, since she's not able to drive right now (she just had surgery on her hands to release her trigger fingers), then dropped it off to her and took out her trash. Then I went to Giant for our groceries. By this time Steve was finished so he picked up Stef. She fell asleep in the car. So he got to snuggle with her on the couch while she finished her very very late nap while I unloaded the groceries and started making cookies. As I was mixing the first batch, I realized I hadn't bought enough butter. I was too tired to make more than that first batch anyway.

And I still need to find 2 more gifts for Steve plus think of something for Stef's godparents. And I'm still working on Christmas cards. I'll probably be wrapping stuff very late on Christmas Eve. Is it Friday yet?

Linda - your blog won't let me make comments! It makes me sign in, but then says incorrect password and I know it's right (at least I'm pretty sure it's right). I'm already signed in before I try to comment too so I just don't get it.

Fun game

http://n.ethz.ch/student/mkos/pinguin.swf

Just in case you need to work out some stress :)

Normal

My ovaries are normal. My uterus is normal. I feel completely and totally normal. But I suppose I wouldn't get any symptoms for a few weeks either way.

I had some weird cramping yesterday that scared me, but the RE said it didn't mean anything - except maybe implantation! Woohoo! I haven't seen any spotting yet. She also recommends that I refrain from picking up anything (including Stef) or carrying anything heavy until at least after the blood test next week. Well, her exact words were "don't do anything you might regret until after the blood test". Nuff said.

Stef has a cold. She's been sleeping poorly (understandably so) which means I end up in her bed for most of the night. Normally, I lay on a little 12x12 pillow and she has her regular bed pillow. Well, last night, she insisted on sharing the 12x12 with me. So here's miss snotty face in my face, playing with her hair so that it tickles my face, with her little arm wrapped so sweetly around me or on my face or holding a chunk of my hair - all so she will know if I try to get up and go back to my own bed. It was a looooonnnggg night last night. I think she's over the hump of the cold and seems to be getting better now. But she's still all about Mommy. Daddy isn't even allowed to kiss her right now. She was telling MIL around 11:30 that she's ready to go home now with Mommy. She doesn't usually start that until around 4. I love it, but it's very tiring too.

picture of the embryo

This is my little 8 cell blob - before they transferred back to me.



Isn't it cute??

superquick update

We got ONE good oocyte!!!!!!!!!!!!! The transfer will be today around 12:30! Then it's 24 hrs of bedrest and the dreaded 2 week wait.

Wednesday update

Well, Meredith, I'll see what I can about the every day thing, but here's a start. Last night I was supposed to take my HcG injection at EXACTLY 7:30pm. Well it ended up more like 7:45 and I confessed that to the RE's office this morning. She said that if it's a problem, Michelle will call me. Now I'm jump with fright everytime my boob vibrates. So far, no call from Michelle. It was only 15 minutes late, mostly because Stef was STILL asleep at my mom's at 7:15 last night. That was a marathon 4 hr nap!!! She must be growing again or something.

The next step then was to take a HPT this morning with FMU. It was supposed to be positive due to the HcG shot from last night. It was BFP, but that is just plain MEAN to make me do that!!!! I took my doxycycline this morning and one more tonight. Then no food or water after 11pm tonight. We need to show up at 7am tomorrow morning to get the show on the road. I'll give another update tomorrow if I'm up to it. The whole needle in my ovaries thing scares me a little, but I'll do whatever it takes.

Stef update....Ang will recognize where this one comes from (probably). MIL called this morning and said Stef is running around chasing Daisy (the boxer) saying "I gonna kick you butt" I'm totally mortified. MIL said "I thought it sounded like something you would say". Sure enough, I've told Presh for years that I'd kick her black furry butt, usually for having her face on the table looking for food or for having something forbidden in her mouth. I should have known to filter that phrase out of my vocabulary. Son of a Hutt! LMTO.

Weird full moon thing from yesterday....a client came to the window with a deposit. He's been a "difficult client" in the past, but not so bad lately. We had a few run-in's because he didn't like our no-cash policy or our no-3rd-party-checks policy. So he actually had the audacity to say to me yesterday "You know, dear, I have to hand it to you. When I first started coming in here, you had a horrible personality, but now you've totally turned that around" WTF is somebody supposed to say to that??? Thanks??? I just blurted out "Well, I think we just had some misunderstandings on the policies back then" What a complete and total Neimoidian thing to say!!!!

Goodbye Doofus

My mom's 17 or 18 yr old kitty named Doofus crossed over today. She was never very friendly and always sort of on the wild side, but Omi loved her (more than she deserved sometimes) and cared for her til her last breath. Stef just thinks Kitty Doofus is sleeping. Omi will bury her in the yard once Stef leaves for the day.

Eggs eggs eggs

My retrieval will be Thursday morning. I'll be on bedrest Thursday and Friday. They will do the genetic testing over the weekend. Monday morning will be the transfer if we get any genetically normal oocytes. I think I'll need Monday off work either way (for bedrest or for crying and mourning), and I'll be off Tuesday if we have a successful transfer for more bedrest. Please send me all your good egg prayers!!

The (Christmas) Holiday Party was really nice. The food was DELISH!!! They had roast beef and roast turkey breast (or pork? I didn't eat it so I'm not sure). There was a pasta station where I spent most of the evening HAHA. I had tortellini and chicken in a yummy garlic sauce. There was also a nice salad station. I always enjoy a nice plate of weeds. The tree was HUGE and decorated exquisitely, even after the DJ blew the circuit breaker. I wore my burgandy velvet dress that Steve bought me back in 97. The tag said size 12 and I nearly panicked since I was just pulling it out of the closet 2 hrs before we had to leave for the party. TG velvet is VERY forgiving. One of my coworkers even said I looked stunning. Steve and I danced to one slow song. Gee, it'd been quite a while since we last danced. My broker was, shall we say, very 'happy' (it was an open bar) and she kept trying to get me to go dance with her and 3 or 4 of the other girls from the office. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I guess I just wasn't drunk enough. Ya know, it's been almost 10 years since I drank any alcohol....since I started doing Richard Simmons. It's just not worth the calories to me most of the time. This time, it was because I'm busy growing eggs and didn't want to risk screwing that up for anything.

It's just around the corner

I have 4 mature follicles and 2 immature ones. Everything depends partly on my bloodwork, but the u/s tech is guessing Thursday for my egg retrieval. I'm still waiting for the official phone call and will update when I hear.

We went to the ML Holiday party Saturday night. It was fun! We each got a huge Hershey Kiss (about 1/4 lb I think) to take home as a party favor. Stef saw them in the morning and said "Mmmmm. Chocolate! I want chocolate please!" I told her we had to eat breakfast before we could eat chocolate, so she spies the 2nd big Kiss and asked "Well, how 'bout that one?" LMTO! The answer is still the same, sweet child of mine!!!

Well that was weird

I was blocked by the ML Bull all day yesterday from EBay, BlogSpot, and Chatzy. There was some filter program run that even told me WHY I was blocked and that the site in question may have content that is inconsistent with the ML electronic communications policy. But, today, it's all back?!?!?! I don't know how long the access will last, but I'm gonna enjoy it while it lasts.

PS - One of my coworkers gave me a hint that might circumvent the blocking of sites - she said to type www . SECURE.whatever-site-is-blocked

booboo

Last night, Steve took Stef upstairs to change diaper and get jammers on. I was on the phone with my mom downstairs. I heard her running "the circle" (hallway to bedroom to bathroom and repeat). There was giggling, "catch me Daddy", then THUMP. I waited for it .... 5 4 3 2 SCREAMING! She had run full force into the edge of the open bathroom door. No blood or anything but she has a nice red stripe from her forehead to her cheek, across her left eye. Poor little thing. After all the crying was over, all she wanted to do was sit down and read our bedtime book. Actually, she didn't even make it all the way thru Polar Express. She closed the book and said "The End". Okay - off to bed. She even talked about it this morning. I know that one hurt like heck.

This morning, I heard her playing in the hallway while I was getting ready for work. She was saying something about being a teacher. I asked her if she was a teacher today and she said "No Mommy. It's me. Stefanie!" ROFLMTO!! Like I didn't recognize her!!!

Pictures - just for Elisa!

because I think everybody else has seen them (oops - except Meredith)

She survived

Aunt Ruth Ann said Stef was an absolute angel for her yesterday. I'm glad they had fun together! Stef is with my mom today and Friday, then Aunt Von Monday, and my mom again Tuesday. Then I think we're finally back to an almost reasonably normal sitter schedule.

I'm pretty pissed at my supervisor at the moment for the way he spoke to me yesterday regarding the time off I'll need for the IVF. We'll just have to wait and see what he comes back to me with after he checks the schedule and sees that one person is off that whole week, another if off the Monday, and another is off that Wed-Fri. Plus my counterpart in his office will be off Wed-Fri. As she often tells me, anybody can do anything for a few days. I just hope bossman doesn't give me too hard of a time about it. I don't anybody to make it any harder than this already is.

Stef update

Ever since the fever broke at 2:30 am Sunday night, she's been back to her normal sweet two year old self.

She normally counts like this: 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1
but surprised me this morning by counting the beads on my sweater 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 6 9 10 11 12 ( i guess she doesn't care for the number 8). She was just counting with Steve last night along with Sesame Street, so maybe it sort of just clicked for her. I remember that math suddenly just clicked for me one day, but that was in 4th grade. Ah, my sweet amazing little girl!!

Please say a prayer for my Godmother (Aunt Ruth Ann). She's watching Stef today. She is one of the sweetest gentlest kindest ladies I've ever known and I was afraid Stef would chew her up and spit her out. When I approached her about it, she said "Now, honey, I can be stern when I have to be" LMTO! Apparently, she really can be because she scolded me sternly for trying to pay her for babysitting today.

I may not be around much today as my supervisor will be in the office very shortly.

Well, it took freakin forever, but that's because their machine broke and they had to send the blood samples out somewhere.

Worth the wait though, because I passed the test this time!!! My levels are all good. I take out the NuvaRing on Thanksgiving, then start the injections. Follistim twice a day Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Friday morning is bloodwork and ultrasound. Right after the bloodwork I take another Follistim. Then we'll go from there, but we're looking at an egg retrieval later in the week of Dec 4!!

WooHoo!!!!!

Opinion expressed

We took Stef to church Sunday morning. Just as Pastor Jeff started with the scripture reading, Stef started projectile puking all over the pew. I guess she didn't want to hear what the Romans had to say. She'd had choc milk with breakfast, so at least it didn't smell too bad. When she was finished (rather on the wooden pew than on the carpet in the aisle), I scooped her up and ran her to the bathroom. Mr Rich offered to help, so I sent him to help Steve with some paper towels.

Poor Stef. It scared the crap out of her. In the bathroom, she was just worried about her pretty little dress. "Muddy all over my dress. Muddy all over Mommy. Oh no!" I took off her jacket and coat, cleaned up her tights as best as I could and exited the bathroom. I was going to take her home, but she seemed to be perfectly happy as long as I cuddled her, so we went back for the last 10 minutes of the service. I checked her temp after the service and she was 101.3.

At home, she had one shot of diarhea, messed her next outfit, then took a 2-1/2 hr nap, during which time, her fever broke. She got up, ate 2 cups of Jello, begged for more choc milk, and played quietly while I cleaned. A couple hours later, she was 99.6, so more tylenol. She was cool at bed time. BUT at O'dark:30 (12:30am for you civilians) she came out of her room and said "I want my mommy" in the most pitiful voice I've heard from her yet. She was burning up again. Motrin this time but then she had a had time settling back down. Around 2am, she said she had to pee potty, so I took her over. She was cold without her pj's so I hugged/cuddled her while she pee'd. After that, she was able to settle down and get back to sleep. Not so easy for me. I guess I kept waiting for her to come get me again.

I was probably also anxious/nervous about today's bloodtest. I'm still waiting on the phone call to tell me if I flunk or pass this one. There was a cyst on the right ovary but the tech didn't seem too concerned.

I'll update later when I get the phone call....

Twas the week before Thanksgiving

and all thru the town, Christmas decorations and Christmas music were everywhere to be found.

Okay, it doesn't quite rhyme, but so what. Santa is coming to one of the malls this weekend!There are Christmas street decorations up already and the radio is playing all Christmas music already. In case anybody wants to join in the fun, here is the link so you can listen too www.roseradio.com I'm all for the Christmas spirit and all, but it just feels too soon. Can I please get thru Thanksgiving first?

Ready to fire

Steve is ready to fire both moms from watching Stef. MIL keeps coming up with more and more dates that they want her to work, which is to be expected for somebody that fills in vacation/sick time for other people, especially this time of the year. My mom's already started her annual winter-long "not feeling well" spree. So far, she's not been too sick to take care of Stef.

I'm the one that has to scramble to find back-up care, so I don't quite understand why he's the one that is so upset???

I know it would be best for Stef to have consistent care with a consistent schedule. I also know it would break his mom's heart if we pulled Stef from her completely. She has 3 granddaughters but will never ever get to see the other 2, so she's heavily invested in Stef.

MIL insists that the extra working days will come to a schreeching halt after the first of the year, so I'm willing to deal with the coverage scramble for now.

Stef was SO funny last night in the car on the way home. She was pretending that I was a kitty and kept feeding me "milk". She had a pinch of air that she kept putting in the palm of my hand. After about 4 servings, I told her that mommy kitty was full. "Full?" Yes, my belly is full of milk. No more room. "no more room? how about my room?" I'm pretty sure she thought we were talking about bedrooms, not available space in my belly. ROFLMTO!! I love the way her mind works!

IF

I heard from the RE late yesterday. I'm scheduled for bloodwork(with the Nuvaring still in) and ultrasound on 11/20 (2 Mondays from now). IF everything is within acceptable levels, we are good to go for a December retrieval!!! She was saying the week of Dec 4, more specifically, Dec 6-9, depending on follicle growth.

If my levels are not good, we'll probably supplement with Lupron and be stuck with the last week of January for retrieval.

Steffy story - I put a cute little denim jumper and tshirt on her this morning. She proclaimed "Steffy princess!" I'm thinking that any flowy article of clothing makes her feel like a princess. LMTO

School

Stef was so stinkin cute yesterday. MIL took her to B&N for story time and saw a cute little Disney Princess backpack for sale. She thought Stef might like it for Christmas and showed it to her. Well, Stef LOVES that little backpack. She was walking all around B&N telling people "Steffy going to school. Steffy going to school" I guess she sees the big kids at the bus stop with their backpacks and put 2 and 2 together. The next problem was that MIL never takes her purse along in to story time. So she had to pry the backpack from Stef's little grasp so they could go to the car and get her wallet. Enter bloody fit. It didn't last long, only til they went back in to pay for the thing. I told MIL to hide it during Stef's nap or she'd never get it back. When I got there to pick her up, Stef was still sleeping, so I snuck in MIL's bedroom to check out the backpack. I showed it to Steve when he got there (to scrape off some foam stuff from the day before). When Stef woke up, MIL just HAD to get the backpack out to show us how cute Stef is with it. Steve tried to play his usual "mine!" game with her but she wasn't having any parts of it with backpack. Then as I was getting her ready to go vote with me, we were all surprised that Stef just left the backpack go.

I knew Stef wasn't understanding that were going to Vote and not Boat. At the polling station, she asked "Where da water?" LOL She was so incredibly good while we waited in line, then wanted to help me push the buttons on the new electronic voting machine. It was so cute.

Another one bites the dust

This cycle is a bust. My estradiol level on Sunday was still 74. Since they want to give me the best possible chance of getting pg, we're not proceeding this month. They don't normally have IVF week in December because too many other things are going on, BUT they are trying to see if the embryologist team will be available for a special one just for me. They should be getting back to me by the end of the week to let me know.

If they can't get the embryologists, the next IVF week is the week of Jan 22nd or 29th - I'm not sure which - all she said was 'the last week of Jan'

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, it's back to the nuvaring for me tonight. They plan to monitor my levels throughout the month, both with and without the ring in, so they can see if I need Lupron injections to help the ring get me under control.

I'm bummed but glad they are willing to go to such lengths to help me out.

If I just tried a little.....

I could probably make myself feel even more inadequate than I already do right now.

All the fussing and wrestling with Stef and her Omnicef (Steve even helped this morning - HA, he thought I was exaggerating) and MIL gets it in her. I know it's probably just a different location, different person, different approach thing, but BLAST IT! Like I don't already feel bad enough handing her over every day!

She got her medicine. That's the important thing. I'll just have to get over the rest on my own.

Comments from yesterday

It's a bloody fit because that's what my mom always called a major meltdown super duper fit. It's her fault.

We use kid's toothpaste now, just a small dab, and I'm pretty sure it has fluoride. Try a CrestSpinBrush - Stef loves hers.

Meredith - LMTO about the slug. YUCK!

more later.....

ps - I still can't get in Linda's blog!!!!!!