While I Was Away

...my home won an award.  Can you believe that?  I'm not being boastful but really I win an award while away?  Chuckling at that fact.

J and I drove all the way to Northern California to drive thru a tree.   I'll post photos on that later.  It was while we were at Crater Lake that my home won an award.  I would say house but the the sign in my front yard says "home".

In case you can't read the sign it says "Home Pride Contest Winner 2013".   Funny I didn't enter the contest.  I know they were out taking photos of various houses all summer long and as late as week.  The photo they took of my house I can see was done while I was away because my hose wasn't rolled up and I was having my neighbors water my plants for the three days I was away.  J took these photos today of our house.

I'm so happy to see today in my garden near my rosemary bush that the violas and nasturtiums are coming back!  Okay so yes I was pleased about the award.  Didn't expect to win.  Didn't know I'd also get a prize.

I found stuck in my door in an envelope a certificate for me to pick my prize from the four offered:  3 piece patio bistro set, bbq gas grill, 24 inch LCD TV, or a 7 inch tablet.  I went for the tablet as it is portable and won't cause an overage on household goods weight when we move next time.  Oh and I already have two tvs (CRT but that is just fine with me), patio furniture though old it still is functional, and we have a bbq grill.  J was the one that told me that since I had been wanting a tablet I should check off that box.

Tomorrow if I'm feeling more up to it I'll post photos of our three day trip to Crater Lake, Redwood Forest, and lighthouses on the Oregon coast.  For now I need to go put my feet up as the arthritis in my left knee is acting up.

Side note:  Picked my first Yukon Gold potato before vacation from my garden in back of the house.  I didn't plant potatoes this year but must have left one behind from last year's planting.  I'm good with free potatoes any time!

Hanging In There

This morning I had to forgo a trip to Seattle with my spouse.  I wanted to go, not only to support him with the cryopreservation of his gametes for our next donor egg cycle but to enjoy a bit of vacation with him and go to the Seattle Underground Tour as well.  Alas I'm in one of those cycles.

I'm not sleeping well.  I'm in pain.  When I lift more than 10 pounds, it is really hard to not lift more than 10 pounds, I bleed.  My chest is aching with intermittent pains; it is not the heart as I know only too well what that feels like.  One would think that at cycle day 20 my bleeding and torture would have stopped.  No!

J and I talked last night.  He is going to try to change his passive aggressive ways and I'll try to not go off the handle when he slips up and take it so personal.

Today he is in the kitchen learning just what it means to clean a kitchen.  He thought I meant just steam mop the floor.  If only it was that easy.  He often wonders why I'm so tired after "only" cleaning the kitchen.  It means moving object, cleaning them off, under where any object might have rested, dusting, sweeping, scouring, using harsh chemicals, soaking things and when all is cleaned you then have to sweep up the floor and steam mop it.  I do the thorough cleaning just once a month and spot cleaning daily.

Proof that he is cleaning the kitchen today...

I purchased a groupon for a car museum and printed it out.  Hopefully J and I can go there this week.  He deserves a little treat for his hard work.

Dollars and Cents; A Big Price Difference From Last Time

This time around we aren't doing the guaranteed two embryos from the donor eggs cycle which cost us a whopping $18,799.95 before tax and extras like consult and sperm cyropreservation totally out of pocket and not including medications which are extra.  This time we chose to do the small set of donor eggs which will cost us an estimated $7,700.00 with no guaranteed embryos but with a back up of a donor embryo instead.

Yes that is an $11,000.00 difference.  I can count.

I'm much happier paying out less even if it still comes out of my own pocket.

Now I know with the previous donor egg cycle, this donor egg cycle and the IUI I did this year I should have a considerable amount to put on the taxes with the hopeful rebate coming my way this coming year. One thing to look forward to in my opinion is a rebate though it is no concession for a failed cycle in any way.

As for the weight I've gained....I'm already down one pound from yesterday.  So I am trying to get those 17 pounds back off.

Egg Donor Chosen

Today J and I signed our paper work to lock in our donor.  We are moving forward with a small set of eggs, which is usually six or less eggs but at least two or three in the set.

If for some reason the donor eggs don't produce viable embryos we'll be moved onto donor embryos at no additional cost to us.  So we are now looking at donor embryos too.  We have five donor embryo groups to go over and pick which one will work for us.

I'm excited.  I'm hopeful.

J has scheduled his part for Sunday though he does feel bad about having it on that day.   Because he'll be missing church he is hoping that God understands.  "God helps those that help themselves" and from what I've been told God loves children so I think he'll be quite forgiving in this instance.  Besides we can always go to Saturday afternoon mass.

Right now I'm just wishing my Meneiere's disease flare would quiet down a bit.  The dizziness and nausea are annoying.

Today I started in on my diet.  Since we made the decision to move forward I need to get back off the weight I've piled on.  That would so far amount to almost seventeen pounds since the last transfer.  I am now at the fattest I've been in about four years.  Behind me is the elliptical.  As soon as J heads back to work in the beginning of September I'm going to get on that machine.  I paid just $12 for it but it works just fine for Jason so it should for me too.

ICLW August 2013

Well reader if you have been following me you already know what I'm going through and have been through.  If you are new to my blog let me first of all say, "What took you so long to find me!  I've been waiting for you!".

All kidding aside now I'll fill you in on what is going on in my life.

Right now my husband, a soldier in the U.S. Army, and I are on vacation.  During this vacation of which we are mainly staying at home to save money we are deciding on which way to turn with regard to the infertility treatments.  On the agenda for this week is an appointment with Pacific NorthWest Infertility via phone.  We will be discussing the options of donor eggs and donor embryos.

Big price range from about $3,000 to almost $19,000 per treatment.  I would very much like to have a baby and, for me and now J feels the same, having a child of our own genetics isn't a priority.  We may just opt to do donor embryo adoption.

We did one cycle of donor eggs in May and though we had two perfect blasts neither decided to make a home in my uterus.

Now we did do a little bit of fun over the weekend.  Here are some photos for you to enjoy.

We went on the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad tour.  If you are a train enthusiast then you'd enjoy this ride.  If not then I wouldn't suggest going as it is pretty much a guess what you are looking at tour since no tour guide is there to fill you in.

The Whole Fromage

  

Recently I read The Whole Fromage by Kathe Lison which is a book about French cheese.  As I read through this book I started craving cheese.  By the time I finished the book I had gained five pounds.  Ugh! What had I gotten myself into?  I do love cheese.  I love wine.  I love homemade bread.  There is where my thoughts ended up going.  Bread!

First as I cracked open the book I also started cracking open bottles of wine.  Well and good thought I since I'm on vacation.  What goes better with wine than cheese, oh yes I can't forget the bread.  Not just any bread I thought.  No I'm thinking about the homemade sourdough bread of my youth.

Back when I was a new teenager with all those new responsibilities like breasts, acne, and boys I was also into science.  My eighth grade science teacher thought that a novel way to teach us and keep our interest would be lab assignments we could do at home and eat too.  We were growing teenagers and we ate a lot of carbohydrates back in the 80's before we were told anything white to eat was bad for you.

One of the labs took part over about an 8-10 week period to include one holiday vacation.  We had to culture from the air a bacteria that would grow in milk.  See my brain tied into the whole cow equals cheese and good bread theory.  I was a great baker.  I had no problem and still have no problem culturing airborne bacteria in milk that has been left out.

The problem is keeping that bacteria growing, the good bacteria, without having mold grow on my culture.  Mold may be great for cheese but not when growing your own yeast for bread.

I had to store my culture in a cold dark place.  So into the refrigerator my culture went.  Alas I didn't want my culture to smell like everything that was in the refrigerator either so I had to cover it loosely with some plastic wrap.

I swear growing your own bread yeast is like taking care of a baby.  I had to feed this baby yeast and I had to stir it up to release the gases then re-swaddle it with the wrapper to protect it.  Oh and if I went on vacation I would have had to of found a babysitter for my yeast or it would die.  I never did find a babysitter for yeast and so it died.  I can't even imagine asking a friend to watch my yeast for thinking of the odd looks I would get in asking them to do so.

With finishing reading this book I'm planning on starting up some more sourdough yeast soon.  I'm sure my husband will be happy to come home to smells of freshly baked bread once again.

This post was inspired by the novel The Whole Fromage by Kathe Lison, who traveled to France in search of its artisanal cheeses. Join From Left to Write on August 22 as we discuss The Whole Fromage.  As a member, I received a copy of the book for review

You can purchase your own copy of The Whole Fromage by Kathe Lison through Amazon.

Yardsaling; Yes it can be a verb

Today J and I went yardsaling.  For the past three Saturdays armed with a list of places that are having yard sales we got to know our installation.

I'm not sure why we haven't explored JBLM more than we have until now.  But I have to say it is fun.

Today we purchased:

• several dvds
• weed trimmer
• puzzles (when J is out in the field I love putting together puzzles)
• computer game
• nerf gun (this baby is huge)
• colored stones that now reside in a crystal dish on my coffee table
• antique bottle for salad dressing (lead free I'm hoping)
• boot dryer

I almost bought another digital camera but the usb cord was missing.  Total we spent about $42.00.  Considering we bought roughly 20 dvd, 4 puzzles and all the other stuff that total isn't too bad in my opinion.

Do you hunt for bargains at yard sales?  If so what do you usually look for?

Browsing Donor Egg Profiles

Today we got the available small set donor egg profiles to peruse.  We found one we really like but she is 30.  Not too keen on the 30 thing.  Another is younger but there is a family history of cancer, Alzheimers, and Leukemia.  Then it worse with another having two genetic issues that she is a carrier for that could cause some major issues.  It looks as though the 30 year old will be our best bet.

The 22nd is our phone consult.  I'll know more by then.  Just wishing I could find my notes from May where I took down the information on the costs of my options too.  Not knowing is making it difficult to choose.

Still Waiting On Information

As the title suggests I'm still waiting on information from PNW.  I can't very well make a decision without being informed and be satisfied with my decision.

So I'll let all of you know that right now I'm just still in limbo.

Karyotyping

J's results are in on the karyotyping.  Normal.

So now we need to decide where we are going to go from here.  I've already contacted the clinic at PNW.  J and I are discussing our options.

We might not go away for our vacation but opt to stay at home and work on small projects.  We have to balance the cost of another round of DE against the need to get away.  Hopefully we'll find a good balance.

Meanwhile I need to break in my new old elliptical.  I bought one over the weekend for $12 at a yard sale.  Works great!  I just have to feel up to using it.

CD 9 and I'm still bleeding.  So I just don't have much energy right now.

Just How Small Is Your Penis?

Seriously my neighbor must have the world's smallest penis with the way he acts.
If my neighbor isn't racing up and down the street with a "hey look at me" attitude while revving his engine, of which I hope soon blows up, then he is blaring his awful musical choices while washing his car.  His car of which he treats better than his pregnant wife and less than a year old son.

What is this man trying to prove?

I already know he is a dick.

He already got three days in the barracks cooling off time for domestic abuse earlier this year.

Someone needs to remind this person that he doesn't need the attention he is trying to attract.  As a matter of fact, it is my opinion of which it should be my opinion since it is my blog, that this man should be giving attention to his very pregnant wife and young son.

Think and Do; A Fire Story in Brief

Yesterday Equity was at my house working on two issues of plumbing when the tech, Tristan, asked me if I was burning anything.  I said no.  We both then heard the smoke alarm going off down the street.  Yes, my hearing is usually really good and amazes everyone to the point they often think I'm hearing stuff.  I wished I had been hearing a figment of my imagination yesterday.

Tristan and I drop everything and dash out the front door. We both just reacted without really giving it thought.  Running down the street I saw my neighbor's house engulfed in smoke.  I stopped next door to the fire to pound on my friend's front door.  Her husband had left for training that morning and thought perhaps she had finally fallen asleep.  As I couldn't raise her to come to the door I decided to turn her hose on and offer it for firefighting if any one wanted to man it as I ran to the back of the house where there were shouts for help there.

A soldier, a new move-in that I don't yet know, said there are dogs trapped in the locked house.  He broke in and grabbed the dog crate that got passed to Tristan and I over the fence door. The fence doors along most of the neighboring lots including mine have been padlocked of late because of a rapist that was on the loose over the weekend.  We ran with the dog crate as best as we could down to my yard and I had to unlock my fence.

The smoke was so thick I had to shut all the windows in the house to prevent getting more sick.  The dogs, Oreo and Brownie, were now safe with me.  I made sure they were okay and had plenty of water. 

The owners came to check on them during the fire and picked them up later in the afternoon.  Unfortunately they forgot the dogs' crate of which isn't a problem for me and I'm sure they'll think about getting it later on when they are allowed to go back in their house to get some possessions this week.

I washed and dried the blankets in the crate so that none of the fire smell was still on them.  Wishing I could do more for the neighbors right now but they know since I offered if they need anything I'll try to help out.

The first few pictures were taken during the fire of the scene by the friend I was trying to wake up.  Turns out she was safe on another area of the post.  During the fire my friends came to visit me and the dogs to make sure they were okay.

Other than a mild case of smoke inhalation from running to a burning building I'm fine.  My asthma inhaler taken twice yesterday worked wonders.
The next photos are the ones I took yesterday after the scene was cleared of crew.

The back half of the house is burnt under the roof too all the way to the bedrooms.  They think it started in the utility room where the dryer was left going while both adults were at work.  Most of the interior, from my information, will be gutted for repairs as it is an almost total loss.  This is the seventh fire this year on our installation. 

I'm really proud of my Army Family coming together to help out a neighbor in need.  Hopefully I'll find out who that soldier was that got into the house to thank him for being so brave.

This is Paradise

Recently I read This is Paradise by Kristiana Kahakauwila which is a bound work of short stories.  In these pages I found myself in many facets well able to relate to the stories being told.

I am a native, not to the islands of Hawaii, but to upstate NY.  We too look on the visitors with a bit of disdain.  Yes, people do come to visit the Lake Champlain region of upstate NY.  They come by the bus load every Autumn to view our trees.

Seriously these people act like they have never seen trees before.  These people buy cheap souvenirs and litter our roadsides with their plastic trash.  Not that I'm angry about the purchases but I am a bit teed off by the trash they leave behind.

Though I no longer live in NY state I do recall the Autumn splendor that I often enjoyed outside of the tourist areas.  I loved the smell of the crisp fallen leaves, the rustle of the leaves underfoot as I'd stroll through my own wooded acres and the early frosts that would lace the windows each morning.

For me Autumn in NY wasn't the well beaten path but the drive to the local orchard for fresh made cider, picking our own pumpkins and even at times picking our own apples from our own trees.  Our own bit of paradise was the ordinary run of the mill days that ran quickly to snow shovels and sprained ankles on the icy walk ways in the blink of an eye.


One thing I have learned and learned well again just today with the fire destroying much of the house down the street is that my neighbors will pull together for one of their own.  The Army Family sticks together.  No matter where I move I'll always know that my Army Family has got my back and I've got theirs' too.

This post was inspired by the novel This Is Paradise by Kristiana Kahakauwila, a collection of short stories that shares a view of Hawaiians few tourists ever experience. Join From Left to Write on August 8 as we discuss This Is Paradise.  As a member, I received a copy of the book for review purposes.

Catch and Release

Last night J and I set the have-a-heart trap up with the food in there.  I told J that the cat isn't going to fall for it.  I was almost right.  The cat walked around the trap, sniffed at the food, then sat down and cleaned itself all in front of the door.

But the cat did decide to go into the trap and that is where the problems started.

The cat went bat shit crazy.  It was thrashing about in the cage. 

I got the cage into the utility room as fast as possible.  We have a litter box all set up in that room.

I donned thick leather gloves and walked over to the cage where the cat was still thrashing in it.  I let it out.  I don't know if it was in the cage or when the cat was let out that it lost a claw but the blood on the walls was spotted when the cat was bouncing off of them.  Seriously this cat was climbing the walls and bouncing off of everything. 

I left the room amid crashing and hissing noises to let my husband and neighbor, she came over to see the capture, know I let the cat out of the cage and I'm going to let it go outside again.  The cat just could not be contained.

I told them to back off as the cat might escape into the kitchen next.  They left the kitchen and I closed the door after them and opened up the patio screen door.  I was able to get into the laundry room again where the blood was a bit more plentiful now.  The cat didn't harm me.  I got the back door open; the cat jumped up on the washer then to the top of the door and out it.

I never felt so bad about a cat before.  I prayed to God that the cat will heal and forgive me for trying to bring it inside.  I didn't want to trap the cat.  I figured with more time I might have a chance of bringing it inside.

I cleaned up the blood in the utility room along with two pieces of a claw that the cat lost.

  Shortly before midnight I brought them back in the food bowls, wrapping up the soft food to put it in the fridge.  Hopefully the cat isn't too hurt.  I know that torn claws could get infected which makes me feel even worse thinking about it.  Maybe tonight the cat will come back for food. 

I'll have to start over with square one with this cat.  It will be months before it will trust me again and I hate that I even had that damn trap set up.  J feels bad for even suggesting that we get a trap for it.  Hoping the stray can forgive me.

What I have learned that even though this cat is a stray it made no attempt to lunge at me or hurt me in any way.  The cat just wanted out of the house.  Maybe if I had a tranquilizer dart I could have contained the cat but I can't be cruel and I feel as though I was just that last night by trapping it.

Bad Blogger

I've been so very busy for the past three weeks that I haven't had the time to do much blogging or reading of the blogs I follow.  Sorry about that.

I have no clue what is going on with my cycle.  I had some bright red bleeding on Friday morning then it stopped by afternoon.  Some more spotting of pinkish red on Saturday and now today, nothing.  None of it was heavy.

Tomorrow I'll take another pregnancy test.  Its has been over a week since I took the last one.  I think I'm at CD 41.  If it doesn't show positive tomorrow I'll call the RE office.  If it shows positive I'll still call the RE office.  Looks like I'm saying I'll call the RE office tomorrow.

Went to church today with J.  They were doing their once a month communion which was a treat since I haven't had communion since April.

Tomorrow I have to call Equity yet again.  Wasn't bad enough they were here late Thursday night fixing the fountain coming from my kitchen drain, but now I need them here again for a toilet that keeps drawing water even after they replaced the rubber flap valve cover.

***Update
Decided to take a HPT FRER.  Negative.  Having ovulation like pain on the right side, something I didn't have earlier this cycle.  Maybe my PCOS is coming back?  Maybe I'm starting menopause?  Maybe I have an ovarian cyst?

Nightmare's, the black cat, Owner Found

Today a friend of mine took some photos of the cat for me.  I made up fliers and my husband put them on the street where animal control found the cat.

Tonight I got a call from the owner.  She described in detail the cat's collar and asked if I had the boy cat too.  Unfortunately I didn't but I will keep an eye out for Undertaker.  Undertaker and Nightmare were strays that the lady took in, had fixed and their shots given to them.  She was preparing to move and the movers decided to open up all the windows in the house and of course out jumped two of the cats.

The cat was well cared for, played with, loved and fed while here with me.  I can only hope that her brother is returned home safely and soon.