2 pradas and a gucci

BEST PRESENTS EVER!!!! EVER!!!!!!!!

So Bill brought me back a veritable parade of gifts...that is what he called it on the car drive home from the airport, and I doubted him, but I was so wrong to doubt him. It was a cornucopia of gifts!!!!!

So the Gucci is the more suspect of the two brands of bags. Completely fabulous jacquard Gucci logo with pink trim, but yes, it is probably a knockoff--but a really good knockoff! But the Prada bags, oh the Prada bags. They actually have a better shot of being real since Prada had a factory literally right down the street in Shen Zhen (one black and sporty...adorable; the other is the logo jacquard with red trim...much like this, only tan with red trim:)




So anyway, welcome back, best-husband-ever, and thank you for knowing one of my biggest weaknesses and indulging it. :)

Oh, and he got me a chick flick and Season 1 of 30 Rock (wait a minute, that's not out on DVD yet...or is it?)

time well spent

This morning, a box turtle spent the better part of half an hour crossing our backyard, and I spent the better part of half an hour watching him (rather than doing what I should have been doing...packing. Oh, how I wish I were a box turtle and could carry everything I needed around on my back.)

So anyway, he made it all the way across the yard, and I began to grow worried because he made it to the border of our yard, but there's a 4 foot drop-off to the woods. So I ran outside and picked him up (I had to find him...he went to hide under a pokeberry bush when he saw me coming), and I lowered him down the drop-off. Actually, when he saw me coming, he tried to throw himself over the edge before hiding under the pokeberry bush. Very sad. That turtle preferred certain injury over my help. Hmphh.


On a hippity, hoppity, hap-hap-happy note, my husband is coming back from China in a few hours. My goodness, I've missed that man. AND he's bringing me back presents.

Note of Explanation on Previous Post

After a very excited and happy e-mail from my friend Shelli (sorry for the confusion, Shelli), I feel I need to make a small note of explanation about my last post.

A phlebotomist is a person specially trained to draw blood. Not a doctor. The phlebotomist's opinion about my ability to get pregnant seems to be based sheerly on the facts that (a) he figured out that I was having the blood tests for infertility given what tests they were so he asked if they were for infertility, (b) he seems like a nice guy who wants good things for others, and (c) he had just jabbed me mercilessly with 6 needles, and I think he was willing to say anything to get me to smile at him rather than grimace.

No doctor in his right mind (especially a reproductive endocrinologist) would make a statement like, "I'm sure you can get pregnant" because that would be a lawsuit waiting to happen if someone were litigious.

It's actually a bit of a pet peeve of mine when people tell me that "they're sure we'll get pregnant" because they are not. They hope we get pregnant (a sentiment that I appreciate). Just say that.


On a completely separate note, I am a veritable whirlwind of packing right now. Sunny is extremely upset that some of his favorite spots on which to lie down are now covered with boxes. He'll get over it.

New Things I Have Learned Today

1. Moving to a one-bedroom apartment temporarily after living in a much-too-big-for-us house is very freeing.

2. Carrying our (too many) possessions up two flights of stairs is not so much freeing as horrid.

3. Play It Again Sports does not buy used roller blades back (no energy right now to share why I am getting rid of said roller blades, but it's a humorous story...actually I may have blogged about it already. I'll check my archives and link here if I did.)

4. San Francisco Bread Co. does not have as good iced mochas as Panera Bread Co.

5. Men's Warehouse requires more than an hour to press a man's suit (hence the trip for the iced mocha).

6. San Francisco Bread Co. does have free internet access (hence this blog post).

7. My little sister is moving to Washington state (Yay, Sara!!!!!!! She got the job she wanted.)

8. I have puny veins (I actually didn't learn this as a new fact today, but it was reinforced at the doctor's office).

9. The phlebotomist at my doctor's office thinks that I will definitely get pregnant (he gave no corroborating facts to support this opinion, but he seemed very positive about it).

10. Rich Mullins' music lifts my spirits no matter what (also not new information, but in case you are not familiar with his music, please do yourself a favor and check it out).

11. Nothing else. I just like the number 11 and wanted to end the post with this number.

First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage...

Then comes highly invasive infertility testing and painful medical procedures.

Well, I had my first appointment with a reproductive specialist (an RE or Reproductive Endocrinologist, for those of you who are still deluded into thinking that babies come from having sex...silly, silly you). There were no earth-shattering "AH-HA!!" moments. (D'oh! We should have taken the CONDOM OFF!) Next step: blood tests and surgery for me to poke around in there and figure out what the heck is going on. And, yes, I do want to stomp my feet like a 2 year-old and scream that it's not fair. But God has blessed me so much in so many other areas of my life (see Post Title). So I'm not stomping. I'm not screaming. I'm praying and looking forward to hopefully having some answers.

On a side note: The King of Queens had their series finale, and that is NOT how International Adoption from China works. At all. AT ALL. But I shouldn't be surprised. When they covered infertility testing on the show, Doug and Carrie (a) dropped by the doctor's office on their way to the airport and (b) the doctor said that everything was fine. Ahh, just like our appointment.

On an even further side note: Had a great garage sale last Saturday. I feel 10 pounds lighter, and that is a WHOLE LOT of stuff that we don't have to move. Yay!

Sunny's List #2

Things that Sunny Enjoys:

1.) Licking himself.
2.) Licking the carpet.
3.) Licking others.
4.) Having his ears scratched.
5.) His little blanket nest in the hallway.
6.) Going on runs.
7.) Barking at leaves.
8.) Following me around at a distance of 6 inches.
9.) Placing his paw on people he likes.
10.) Food.
11.) Sitting on Aunt Ellen and Uncle Jason's couch.
12.) Bill's arrival home from work.
13.) His binky and his hot dog toy.
14.) Food.

Sunny's List #1

Things That Upset Sunny:

1. caterpillars
2. going collarless
3. toads
4. going to new places
5. babies crying
6. rustling in the woods
7. thunderstorms (this one should actually be #1)
8. being left at Aunt Ellen and Uncle Jason's house (even though he is uber-spoiled over there)
9. not knowing where I am at any given moment during the day

Red Dots of Shame

Bill and I are in the process of selling our house, and the home inspection was last week. When I got home, there were red dots all over the place where things have gone slightly awry (windows that are stuck, closet doors that don't have knobs, etc.) I feel as if these people are judging us, and they've never even seen our faces. Sigh.

Not much else going on here. Bill and I are getting over the flu and getting ready to run (ha...or walk embarassingly slow in my case) the Race for the Cure.

For those of you who have been following my blog, still no baby. Not even so much as a hint of a second line. When I worked for an adoption agency, I had one client say to me (who had experienced unexplained infertility for several years) that the first year is the worst, and then it just kind of becomes a nagging, background, white-noise part of your life. Which is somewhat true for me. I think a lot less about it. I've stopped avoiding certain things in the "two week wait" after I've ovulated and before I can test (not that I was ever chasing raw oyster shots down with a dose of meth, but I do enjoy my occasional Coca-Cola). I've accepted that I will never have a surprise "oopsie". It doesn't even hurt as much anymore when I hear about other people's pregnancies. But I do think that every infertile/subfertile woman has to go through a little bout of grief each month. And for each woman, I think that there are one or two things that she is especially saddened to miss out on. For me, it's (a) how I would tell Bill that I'm pregnant and (b) shopping for the perfect diaper bag. (If you know me, you know about my slight obsession with purses, and what is a diaper bag if not the ultimate purse?) So anyway, no baby yet.

But through all the stressors in my life right now (house, flu, peeing on ovulation predictor sticks), the verse I'm clinging to remains Phil. 4:6-7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Pics from All Over

The rare shot of Bill and me together, taken at the Golden Gate Bridge. The weather was amazing while we were in San Francisco!


Norm!




We were THIS close to getting on the Today show (before our lovingly-made sign melted), but here's a shout-out to Nana, Anna, and Owen right now!


Me taking in Times Square for the first time. It's incredible during the day and awe-inspiring at night.

I Left my Heart in San Francisco and my Wallet in a New York Cab

That's right. I've been a travelin'. Bill and I, in the past 3 weeks have been to Wisconsin, the Twin Cities, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and New York. Call it our U.S. Tour 2007.

The tour ended badly.

The very last day of the last of our trips (to Boston and NYC), just after seeing the Statue of Liberty, I left my wallet in the cab. It was a little metal wallet, and I had on new jeans and didn't realize how shallow the pockets were. It must have just popped out. And I didn't feel it because I had a heavy winter coat on because it was so very, very cold.

So instead of getting to spend the day as planned (dinner at Tavern on the Green and seeing Celtic Woman at Radio City Music Hall...which we did catch the end of), Bill and I got to spend it in a genuine NYC Police Station. There were many tears and many fears of just how I was going to get back home without my license.

But I will say this, that time spent with the NYPD (did I mention it was St. Patrick's Day, with 2 million visitors in NYC for the parade?) almost felt like a tourist attraction in itself. It was almost funny how cliche everyone was acting. There were all the policemen with their Jersey accents yelling the F word as noun, verb, and adjective every 5 seconds. Example: (I will use the word "boing" in place of the expletive) "Whaddya mean Jimmy didn't bring in da boinging paperwork after lunch? I boinging told that boinger to bring the boinging papers (pronounced 'pay-puhs')! Well, fuh-get about it, you boing! I'll boinging do it myself now!"

And the dispatcher lady who "helped" me with the paperwork was EXACTLY like Roz the monster in Monsters Inc.

All that to say, it ended unfortunately, but we had a great time at all of our locations. I've never before been able to say that in less than 3 weeks I've ridden a roller-coaster in a Mall, gone skiing, gone to Disneyland, visited Bill's Alma Mater, seen the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and Ghirardelli Square, driven down crazy Lombard Street in a convertible, eaten at Fisherman's Wharf, visited Boston Common, the Freedom Trail, Cheers, and a church that Bill and I thought was the Old North Church ("two if by land, one if by sea") but wasn't, went to New Hampshire (ehh), tried to get on the Today Show in the middle of a winter storm, attended a Conan O'Brien taping, followed Jeff Goldblum out to his car, saw Bebe Neuwirth in "Chicago", toured the NBC Studios where Bill saw Finesse Mitchell, gazed upon the Statue of Liberty (where I realized my wallet was gone), made it to an hour of Celtic Woman, and rode a train from Grand Central Station.

And now, I'm back home with my doggy.

I'm still here...

Bill and I just got back from Nashville and Atlanta for a business trip that he had to go on and to see his family (in that order time-wise, not importance-wise). Alas, I did not get to see the baby panda at Zoo Atlanta because it was so, so very cold most of the trip. I did get to go to the High Museum with my sis-in-law Julie, and we saw pieces of art on loan from the Louvre. Very fun. Also got to hang out with my uber-cool nephew who thinks I am "so SO funny" and enjoyed our trip to BlockBUSTer. Of course, I am pretty much chopped-liver next to his Uncle Billy, but then again, so is everyone when Uncle Billy is in town. :)

Not much up here, which is the main reason I haven't been posting. One fun bit of news: Bill and I are going to NYC in a month, and we got tickets to see Conan O'Brien taped while we're there. He's my favorite late-night host, so, yeah, I'm a little psyched. I'm crossing my fingers that he'll have the Walker Texas Ranger lever up and running while we're there, but I'm not holding my breath.

I woke up this morning to a thin blanket of snow on our driveway and house, and can I just say how ready I am for spring?? No, really, I am very, very ready for spring. I'm sick of being cold. I want the spring to come. Soon.

Anyhoo, that's it for me.

just to brighten your day

Baby pandas...is there anything cuter?? After seeing a couple news stories about them (there's a new baby panda at Zoo Atlanta and apparently China has had a large number born recently), I have decided, no, I don't know that there is a cuter baby animal.

And so I give you....

BABY PANDAS!

Q: for those of you who know my dog...

...what is wrong with this picture?




A: He is doped up for his car-ride to Oma and Opa's for Christmas. Isn't he adorable???


Typical picture of the Santino (hint...look in the lower right hand corner):

lampapalooza

I'm in love with a lamp.

I was walking through Hobby Lobby, and it was like in a movie where the skies open up, angelic music plays, and a stream of light filters down through the clouds to the most wonderful lamp I'd ever seen in my life.

And it was 50% off.

And it was the last one.

I walked up and down the aisle trying to decide if I should get the lamp.

Pros to getting the lamp:
-it would be mine.
-it would not be someone else's.
-it was beautiful and adorable at the same time.
-it would be mine.

Cons to procuring the lamp:
-even at 50% off, it was a big chunk of money.
-no place to put the lamp with current "interior design" (ha!) arrangement.


And then, it was all decided for me when a woman walked down the aisle and I practically body-tackled the lamp to make sure she wasn't going for it (she wasn't...but if she'd seen it, she would have). And I knew that I wouldn't be leaving Hobby Lobby without the lamp. And it was a good thing that I did get it when I did because when I was walking to the front of the store to purchase it, I received several compliments on the lamp, but they were more like, "Ooooh, if only I'd seen it first..." compliments.

So it's in my newly formed "reading nook" now. That's right. Bill and I rearranged all the furniture in our house to make a spot for the lamp. It was time for the change anyway. Now we have a proper dining room...and a reading nook. And my lamp.

Seriously, if I weren't already married to Bill, I would call the justice of the peace and marry this lamp.

NO Phone Home

To my real world friends, FYI, right before I left on the cruise, my cell phone pretty much disintegrated in my hands, so if you've called me in the last week or were expecting a call from me and haven't received one, that's why.

But don't despair. My cute new pink phone arrived today, and it is being charged as we speak.

More Cruise Pics

Because there's nothing more fun than looking at pictures of other people's vacations:

The Flying Dutchman from Dead Man's Chest on Disney's Island


There were roosters all over the ports of call. This one was in Key West. Like pigeons but louder.


The Disney "Hooray for Everything" Dancers kicking off the cruise. There was this one particularly infectious song from "High School Musical" that they played constantly. The shot is actually of the big screen TV on the top deck that they would show movies on during the day and sports games at night


Bill and I getting ready to go to the fancy restaurant on board. The waiter actually refused to bring Bill what he originally ordered because it didn't taste good enough in his opinion. (The waiter ended up bringing Bill some of the original order on the side...and he was right, his recommendation was better)


All of us gussied up:

Ahoy, Matey!

Well, I am back from the Disney Cruise with Bill's family. Very, very fun. Here are the details:

The ship did a really good job of corralling the Disney cheesiness to certain pre-set times and places, but everybody was there with kids in one form or another (child, grandchild, nephew/niece), so it was fun to be able to go to the character breakfast and dancing with Snow White (who was c-r-e-e-p-y, let me tell you) and stuff like that with Owen, our nephew. But at the same time, at any point, Bill and I could go to the section of the ship that's designated a kid-free zone. They had an adults-only pool, coffee shop, bar, piano bar, cabaret nightclub...all of that was kid-free. Plus, on their out island, they had an adults-only beach, but we didn't bother going there because we found a secluded spot for the family. There was just so much to do at any point that it was impossible to be bored, but I spent most of my time hanging out in lounge chairs napping or reading.

The shows were amazing...apparently, they were voted the best of any cruise line, although they were all Disney characters, so if characters really annoy you, not a good idea. Bill and I were both "show"ed out by the end of the week. There's only so many times you can cheer for the "Hooray for Everything" dancers dressed as Cinderella and Prince Charming and ooh and ahh when Mickey and Minnie hit the stage. But they were all very well done. If there's one thing Disney does well, it's entertainment.

We didn't do any excursions at the ports where we stopped, so they were kind of "ehh" compared to the ship. We went to a hotel beach in Grand Cayman where Bill's parents stayed earlier this year, which was fun, but a bit stressful trying to get the whole family organized and to & from the beach. Key West was neat. We ate a slice of key lime pie at Sloppy Joe's, that bar where Ernest Hemingway hung out. Really, whenever I got off the ship (with the exception of Disney's island which was really just an extension of the ship to a tropical paradise), I just wanted to get back on the ship and find a good chair and relax.

The food and the service were incredible. I had one day that I literally got sick because I ate so much, but it was just so hard to say "no" to the food when it was in front of you and oh-so-very-yummy. All the crew were from different countries, so it was interesting getting to talk to people about where they were from and their experiences on the cruise ship.

We had good weather until the last night, and the boat started really rocking and going over big waves, and the whole bed would shake. I didn't realize how much I got used to the sea movement until I got home, and it felt like the whole house was rocking back and forth for 2 full days.

And that was our cruise in a nutshell.

Blessings and Random Thoughts

Well, after emotionally vomitting on my readership, I decided to let you know about some of the huge blessings in my life right now:

1. After my car was smashed up, I got a new car which I like very much. It is silver and pretty, and we got an amazing deal on it. Even the guy in the revenue office who issued me my tags made a comment on what a good deal we got.

2. I've been going to physical therapy for my back issues as a result of the wreck, and it's been working. I really do feel better than I did, and the PT has taught me a lot of good stretches, etc. that I can do at home.

3. No baby = more time with my husband. I've really had to struggle not to be sour grapes about the whole lack of pregnancy thing (and this probably sounds like sour grapes), but this is really true. Every weekend that we just laze around in bed doing nothing all day but watch movies and eat pizza, I consciously think, "I will not be able to do this once/if a squirtlet arrives." Also, as my wonderful hubby has pointed out, we've been given this time to really know that we want to be parents and prepare for it.

4. Roof leak--gotta be honest with you, I don't see any positives or blessings coming out of this other than that we have good homeowners' insurance and much of it will be covered (oh, and it wasn't wind or hail damage, so hopefully we'll have a smaller deductible.)

5. Everyone in our families is in good health.

6. Sunny has not peed on the carpet in several months.

7. I've been feeling creatively inspired lately, which hasn't been the case in a long time.

8. Also, with all of these, I feel very, very blessed that I've been able to take some time off from working and just get everything done and focus some attention on my marriage and our home.

So that's my life in a nutshell right now.

The Answer to "Where Have You Been?"

Sorry for the absence. I give you:

Why Karen Has Not Posted in a Long Time

1. I was in an accident at the end of October and my car was totaled.

2. I have been in Physical Therapy for back pain as a result of said accident (don't worry...I'm okay--just annoying and frustrating more than anything).

3. About a week after accident, a roof leak was discovered in our house with resulting ruined wall and mold forming.

4. I have been dealing with myriad people regarding the above two incidences: insurance agents, auto adjustors, health adjustors (hisss), doctors, physical therapists, roofers (oh the roofers), auto salespeople, auto finance people, more insurance agents, gutter contractors, general contractors, mold remediation specialists, health insurance providers, more insurance agents, assessor's office, collector's office, revenue office, and yet more insurance agents.

5. Hubby and I hit the one year mark of unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant. It's depressing to me.

6. We're going on a cruise in a week and a half, and while that has nothing to do with why I haven't kept up my posts, it is a bright spot that I would like to share.

7. Sunny the diabolical fiend has kept me tied up in a chair for the past month and only lets me loose to go the bathroom and give him food...ha ha, this is especially funny if you know how un-bright my dog is.

h.s. reunion

I had my 10 year H.S. Reunion last week. It was good. Nothing earth-shattering. I was a little surprised by who came up to talk to me and who didn't seem to give a hoot whether I was there or not, but it was nice to see the people that there was no question as to how we'd greet each other--much jumping up and down and squealing.

It struck me today that there's a whole lot in high school that you learn and never wish you had to...like what it's like to a lose a friend--to death, to a bitter heart.

And there's a whole lot that you need to learn in high school and don't. For me, this was discovered sitting as a freshman in Cell Biology, praying that the professor would not call my name and wishing that my stupid 10th grade biology teacher had taught us something more than Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, & Species of the common butterfly (lepidoptera) and how to serve a mean ping-pong ball.