House-hunting

Well, we spent 4 hours hunting for a house today, and saw a lot of really nice ones! We had 2 all-time favorites, both in Batavia. In fact, most of what we've found has been in Batavia. We seem to be able to get a lot more for our money there, plus they have a good school system and it's a nice town overall. The house we really flipped for is priced at the highest end of our budget, even if we get a good deal, so we may have to forgo that one. Realistically, I might not be working much after kids arrive, so that's going to cut our income a bit.

Anyway, we'll take a couple more days to look at others. Dawn was really good about taking us around and giving us her ideas and thoughts. I guess realtors aren't normally supposed to do this, but being that she's family, we appreciate it. She has never discouraged us and has a lot of good advice on everything. Plus, she's really keen on low-balling, which we like! ☺

Everything with the little nubbin(s) is fine so far. It's still so early and I'm trying not to get too excited about anything. Sometimes it's hard though--we both want this SO BAD. I dread the thought of having to restart all those drugs to try again. Next time around, we'll be starting from scratch. Anyway, I've had no morning sickness or anything, but I do find myself eating A LOT and definitely gaining weight. I'm not super happy about that--I know it's expected, but I'm sure it's not expected at the rate I'm going.

We should have more house news by the end of the week! We realized today that we'll be getting a new bedroom set once we move, courtesy of my dad and Beverly (belated wedding present--we turned it down in 2006 since nothing new would fit in our current house!). WOO HOO!

If things weren't interesting enough...

WE SOLD OUR HOUSE!

Nothing can ever be boring and dull around here. The excitement continues! Yesterday, we had a showing scheduled from 1:30-2:30. At 3:30, our realtor called to say the people that had just seen it were putting in a bid on it. After some negotiating back and forth, we accepted their offer and signed all the paperwork last night! They want to close on May 13th, so we're headed out this weekend to start looking for a new house for us.

Now, I realize there's still a lot that has to happen before this house is officially considered SOLD, but to me, it's pretty damn real now. The weird part of this whole thing: the people buying it are currently renting a house right down the street from us. I guess they like the neighborhood so well, they're sticking around!

Poor Paul is completely flipped out right now. Last night, we sat for about 20 minutes on the couch together putting it all in perspective. We're so thankful to have each other in all this. There have been and will be those few moments of stress (we got in a rare yelling match last night), but we'll be fine. As flipped out as he is, it's very much a good flipped out.

Our trip to Mexico has officially been booked (before the house sale!), and Peggy handed over the condo keys last night. We're so stinkin' excited to get away from here and have a break. It usually takes Paul 3-4 days to really get into and enjoy a vacation (and for him to even feel like he's ON vacation), which explains why he always takes 2-3 week breaks when he goes away. This one will be a bit shorter, but all that either of us can spare. It'll still be very welcomed!

So...if good things happen in 3's, what's next for us??!

Eureka!

I think most of our immediate world knows the news, but for those who don't....

WE'RE PREGNANT!

It's SUPER early though, so don't go getting too excited just yet. I have had an official bloodtest (my second was actually today), and so far, all hormone levels look great! They look at a level called hCG. On Friday, mine was 44.9. It's supposed to double each day and today, I was at 169, which the nurse said was perfect!

When I went in this morning for the blood draw, they said that if my levels are still a little low, they'd bring me back in on Wed for another test. I was nervous that this would happen. We haven't had anything go our way until now, so I'm not expecting great things from this. I don't mean to sound negative--I am REALLY excited about this, but there's still a great deal of caution we're both taking right now. HOWEVER...my levels are fine. If you're interested in learning more about the levels, there's an interesting site here. Keep in mind that every woman's body is different.

There's still no indication how many might be in there. I don't think I'll really know that for a while. I have an ultrasound (cootie cam) scheduled on Tuesday the 7th where they'll verify that there's a gestational sac. I don't know at what point I'll have to start seeing an OB/GYN--I asked today, and all they said was that it'll be a little while still.

We're both tepidly excited and really, still not at all used to the idea. My work habits will have to change--I can't do x-rays anymore, and I've taken the position of refusing to clean out litter boxes. I know there's some controversy as to whether or not I really can, but frankly, I'm going to do my best to do everything right. I've worked too damn hard to screw it up. The only thing I need to look into is coloring my hair. A girl's gotta have that one vice, and this is mine. I refuse to go 9 months without coloring, even if it means I go orange-blond with peroxide. I will NOT be a gray-haired mother who's constantly confused with being the child's grandmother!!

The house is still on the market, and I'm as determined to sell it as ever. Our agent lacks in a lot of areas, so she's really going to have to step it up. Things are SERIOUS now. ☺

PLEASE keep in mind that things are in the very early stages. I don't know what to expect--I can hope for the best, but not be surprised if things take a turn. Mentally, I have to prepare myself for this or I'll go bananas if it happens. Above anything, I'm SO grateful that I can at least GET pregnant. That was half the battle! I was really thinking I couldn't, so this is a good moment in time.

Enjoy the crappy winter weather headed this way. Paul and I are contemplating a trip to Mexico--a good friend of mine has a beautiful beachfront condo in Ixtapa that she's generously said we can use (no charge!). I'm so stinkin' excited about the possibility! If we go, it'll likely be at the end of April or early May.

Hasta luego!

(and oui, I still teach French....one day I'll get back to France....)

Awake, but sleepy.

I've found myself awake in the 3 o'clock hour yet again. My sleep habits are deplorable. I don't know why--I fell alseep before 11pm last night. I sleep so restlessly, tossing and turning all night, constantly waking up. Yesterday, I cooked a pot roast in the crock pot and every time I woke up, that's all I could smell (it's been done cooking since about 5pm yesterday, but the smell still lingers). When I woke up at 3:30am, I found myself yelling (in my mind) at my co-workers for overbooking appointments, a problem that's been happening a lot lately (at the vet clinic).

No news about any pregnancy. I peed on a stick Sunday night and it was negative. Maybe it was too early, maybe it was just a way to mentally prepare myself for Friday's test. Whatever the case, I'm ready to once again hear negative. Frankly, I feel NOTHING, and while I'm sure the earth won't shake on its axis if I get pregnant, I expected to feel something. I'm having some cramping, but it's all muscular...

We have a Wii Fit in the house (bought it 12 days ago) and it's killing me! Is it the best workout known to mankind? Probably not, but it's fun, and it's WAY better than the nothing I was doing. There are competitive "games" so Paul and I work against each other on different activities. There are a few things that I can do WAY better than him, and vice versa. We both try to put in 30 minutes of Wii time each day (which equals about 45-60 minutes of real time--it only counts the minutes you use on activities). There's one strength activity called the Plank. I didn't think it would be as hard as it is! Basically, my forearms are on the Wii board (set about 3 inches off the floor, way lower than an aerobic stepper) and my feet extended out behind me with my butt just slightly raised higher than my head. That position is held for 30 seconds. Sound easy? Try it. It's kicks my ass.

We had an open house on Sunday and only one couple showed up. I'm hoping she isn't discouraged by this and no longer offers to have open houses. They may not be great, but as far as I'm concerned, they're better than nothing. I'm not entirely happy with our agent--I don't see her doing anything to sell our house (she has a few others on the market that are worth more, so her energy might be more concentrated on those?). She does some things, but not enough for my tastes. I need a pitbull!!

I'm on spring break this week. That isn't saying much since I only teach one night a week and still have 2 other jobs to go to. WCC (where I teach) has annoyed me beyond recognition. I'm seriously on the verge of saying sayonara--they really don't pay me enough for what I have to deal with. I'll give it one more semester, unless another teaching position comes along.

The weather is stormy this week, and cooler than I'd like, but at least there's no snow. We have a large dead patch of grass in the front...from dog pee that collected on the snow and melted in one spot, I'm guessing. Her pee usually doesn't affect the grass, but if it's all concentrated in one spot for a certain amount of time, it can happen. Gotta love winter!

Enjoy! More news when I know it!

3/1

I'm officially pregnant! Well, ok, not really...or maybe just one day pregnant.

We went early this afternoon to have some thawed out buggers transfered. I was soooooo stressed all the way there. I had thought they'd start thawing them on Sunday, but my info was wrong. They actually started today, so if any had trouble thawing, we weren't going to find out until right before. I was so sure that something would go wrong, and I jumped every time the phone rang this morning.

We got the surgery center and when the nurse called us in, I asked immediately how many we were having transfered. She didn't know but said she'd find out. Well, 2 minutes later, Dr. Morris came in and said he had 3 thawed out and ready to go, and we still have one frozen. I was BLOWN AWAY.

He took us back to the sterile room and got things rolling right on time--the man is nothing if not PROMPT. 15 minutes later, we were done. I had to wait there another 1/2 hour, but we were out of there before 2pm and on our way home.

So that's it...now I wait. There's a test scheduled in 8 days (Friday), so we should know something then. I'm trying not to get myself too psyched up for this again, despite the fact these are the most advanced embryos we've had implanted to date. Paul's VERY hopeful. I'm being my usual guarded self.

Enjoy the weather! It's cool but the sun is shining and you better believe I'll be on my scooter tomorrow!

Check it out!

My work blog: http://westgateveterinarycenter.blogspot.com/

I get to Twitter, too. How many people get to have fun like this at their job? ☺

Ready, set, ACTION!

Ok, we're getting ready for big things next week! I knew this would happen, too. It was my new year's resolution to find a dentist. So, after months of searching, I find one and make a long-awaited appointment for March 19th. I haven't been to a dentist in roughly 2 years, and while there's no urgent need for one, I really need a good cleaning.

Then we start on this frozen journey and, low and behold, my transfer will be...you guessed it...March 19th. Guess I'll be calling the dentist on Monday and rescheduling.

I've been on heavy hormones for about a month now. These are really kicking my ass, too. Paul says I've been worse in the past, but I feel these more than ever before. However, starting tomorrow, I lower my dose of estrogen, end the Lupron, and start the Crinone. Crinone is a fun large while horse pill that gets shot up into a place no pill should ever go.

Then Thursday, things happen. We're due downtown by 7:15am and we'll likely be home by 11am. Paul will go to work in the afternoon, and I plan to spend the afternoon laying on the couch with my uterus facing more north than my head.

All this, of course, provided the embryos even thaw out. They start the thaw process on Sunday, first with 2, then they'll thaw one more before Thursday.

I haven't given too much thought to them not even thawing, more to them not really sticking afterwards. This will be my third attempt at putting embryos in there, and we all know how the first 2 worked.

Wish me luck, keep all fingers crossed, pray (if that's what you do), and think a lot of good thoughts for that day!!

Stem cells

Allow me a few moments to stand high upon my blogging soapbox to talk about an issue that has hit close to home. This evening, I read an article on cnn.com about the president's reversal of a limits set on embryonic stem cell research. There's some guy who's saying this is a distraction from the real issues, namely the economy.

This reversal was expected. President Obama (and it gives me such great pleasure to type those 2 words together...but that's another box for another time) has talked for quite some time about doing this--allowing science to do research using discarded embryos from fertility clinics that would otherwise be distroyed.

What most people may not know is that a year ago, Paul and I donated an embryo to science for research. We had many reasons for doing this, including our doubt over the quality of the embryo (this was after our first attempt, when we had few good embryos and this one just happened to make it beyond the 5 day mark, but hadn't looked good before that time), as well as our intention to change doctors after that first one.

Regardless of our reasons, this was a subject in which we both believe very strongly. Paul is Catholic and I was raised in similar religious surroundings, and we both feel that life begins at conception. This wasn't a decision that was made lightly, however he and I both have people in our lives who would greatly benefit from a cure of some sort: diabetes, cancer, paralysis, to name a few.

There are areas in our marriage where we do not agree, and one in particular where we are both so diametrically opposed that it could threaten us if we let it. Stem cell research is one where we are (almost surprisingly!) in total and complete agreement. Going through the IVF process, we have seen what can happen that most people can't: a women goes through retrieval, has multiple embryos created, and must freeze what might be left over. What happens if there are 10's of these for one woman, or thousands for hundreds of women? Do these just remain frozen in time forever? Do we really want or need more Octomom's running around in the world?

That's where research comes in. It's almost as if we (as the parents of the embryo) have to let the reality of what we're doing slip away for a moment to allow us to donate the embryo. I know what I did and I later let the reality of it hit me like a ton of bricks, however I'd do it all over again if in the same position. I feel good about the possibility of my contribution possibly saving thousands of lives one day.

You can agree or disagree. We don't feel guilty for our decision. I'm glad President Obama made this reversal today and I can't wait for the day a cure is found for the cancer inside his sister, or the diabetes that lives inside my brother-in-law or half of Paul's family, or the paralysis that has stricken Rob's cousin. When it does, and when all these naysayers are finally silenced because their families or their children were also saved from some terrible fate, I'll hold my head up high knowing I somehow contributed to that.

Age

Tonight, I went to an event with the Hall children (my sister's kids) at their school. It was a lot of fun, but as we were gathered in the gym, I looked around at some of the other parents: mothers holding their babies on their hips, fathers wrangling in screaming kids who were running in circles. It occured to me that I'm soooooooooooooo much older than them. I thought about how old I'll be when my kids are in school. If things work out in the next year or so, I'll be in my mid to late 40's. That means I'll have teenagers in my late 50's.

HOLY SHIT.

Ok, that sounds so damn old to me. My mom had me when she was 23, and she was done having kids before she was 30. I could be 20 years older than my mom by the time I have my first child.

HOLY. SHIT.

I'm old. My hair would be white if I didn't color it every 6 weeks (of course, I've been coloring it since I was in my mid-20's). Thankfully, my fat face hides any wrinkles that lurk under there. It's getting hard to fight this though.

I know that age is relative--it's all about how you feel and blahblahblah. I certainly don't think I LOOK 40, however I also don't see myself as fat as the scale says I am. It's true: sometimes when I look at myself in the mirror at home, I don't see a fat person, but when I catch a glimpse of my reflection walking by a store window, I'm appalled at what's looking back at me. If I'm this blinded by my appearance, am I missing the whole age thing? Do I really look as old as I am?

For most of my 20's and 30's, I always looked remarkably younger than the number of my years (moreso after I stopped wearing make-up or fluffing and primping my hair everyday). I was usually carded early on when buying alcohol, but those occurances slowly diminished throughout the years. Then about a month ago, I was in a Hallmark store. I went up to pay for my cards and the woman behind the counter (who was probably in her late 60's or early 70's) looked right asked me and said, "Today is Senior Day. Are you 55 or older?"

I KID YOU NOT.

I stood there for a good 3 minutes with my mouth slighly agape, hoping for a sign from her that she made a horrible mistake and oh there's no WAY I could be that old.....but no. I realized she was looking me in the eye and waiting for an answer. Of course, because I have few filters for those moments that call for me to gracefully answer proposterous questions such as this, I snottily said, "Um, NO," and had a look of indignation splattered all over my face. She totally missed it though (which is probably for the best).

It's moments like this that make me realize that I'm aging. And NOT gracefully. I wish I could go back 10 years. I don't know why--I don't think I could really change much of anything, and I didn't have Paul back then. I wish more that I could have everything now but 10 years ago.

But I can't. Duh. So I have to deal with the thought of being the oldest parent in my kids' school. And I'll color my hair until I feel it appropriate to be gray (I'm sure I'll be long dead by then though). I may go blonder as the roots get grayer--my Aunt Betty did that for years and looked just fine. ☺

I've finished my evening rant. Nothing new on the IVF front--still on drugs, and it'll be weeks before a transfer happens. On the house front, we're still here. We have a showing tomorrow, but it's been a long time since we've gotten excited about these.

The great part about today--seeing and spending time with Robert and Mary, and riding the scooter this morning! It was a good day.

Self-reflection

Does it ever surprise you when you realize something about yourself that you never really knew (or gave much thought to, anyway)? For the last few weeks, I've come to realize a few things about myself that I think I've always known, but for some reason these things have become crystal clear (um, yeah, most likely from the hormones).

1) I often worry if I talk too much about myself. I don't just mean on the blog (it is, after all, MY BLOG and I can say whatever I damn well please and if someone doesn't like it, well, they can just not read it). I mean in real life, with friends or family, hanging out or at work. Part of this is because I'm noticing it in other people. I understand the need to talk things out--OH BOY do I ever--but in talking about myself, am I really aware of what's going on with the person/people listening, or others around me? Have I ever stopped talking about myself long enough to ask someone else how s/he is doing, and really listened to them? I know I do this, but I just wonder if I do it enough. But what's considered to be enough?

2) I'm an intense person. This became most evident after teaching class last Monday. I scare my students with my intensity. Seriously--I guess I have so much passion and love for the French language and grammar and all things French that I think I just get so wound up and LOUD ABOUT IT ALL that I end up intimidating my students into submission and quietness. I don't think I like this part of me though. I tried explaining it to Paul and he agreed that I'm like this with many things, but it's just a part of who I am, a part of my personality, and changing it might be really hard.

3) Along with the intensity, I think, is the fact I wear my heart on my sleeve. I have a hard time hiding how I feel. I also can't fake feeling something I'm not...most of the time. My feelings about something are always written loud and clear in how I respond, as well as how I DON'T respond, and apparently across my face. Even my face can't hide it: a little raised eyebrow, a tiny smirk, a chin-wiggle....none of it can get by me. This can be very problematic.

Recently, I had an incident at the vet clinic with a man who brought his dog in so we could change the dog's leg bandage (he'd been injured a week before and reinjured himself). We did it, then charged him $15 or so for the work. The guy went ballistic--refused to pay, saying we never told him ahead of time there would be a charge (what, because we usually do this shit for free???), and that he wasn't going to pay and blahblahblah. I didn't say a thing, just say typing a note in the computer that he was refusing to pay and throwing a fit. I said absolutely nothing more than, "I will let the doctor know." Now, I try my best to be as professional as possible at work and I believe with all my heart that I was that day. The next day, Tracy, the office manager, called the family to apologize for the misunderstanding. The guy's wife told her that his biggest problem was my bad attitude about the whole thing (after his tirade). WOW. He didn't come up with that based on what very little I said to him, but obviously from the way I must have looked. I made no apologies though--it could have been a helluva lot worse from me but I managed to restrain myself.

4) This shouldn't be news to anyone: I'm a homebody. I don't just mean wanting to be in the Chicago area for the rest of my life, I mean IN MY HOME. I like being home. I've always been like that, preferring to spend an evening at home watching TV. That's not to say I don't like going out--I do, more to other people's homes than a bar or restaurant or anywhere else. I LOVE LOVE LOVE having people over but frankly, living where I do, not many people come over. I never used to feel lonely but these days, I do. Maybe it's because I'm married now and I think I shouldn't feel lonely in my marriage. But I do. I love my husband and understand his unwavering devotion to his family and friends. I guess I hope that one day, I'll feel like he feels that way for me, too.

So that's it. My hormonally-induced rant and rave that ends in a wave of self-pity. But I can do that on MY BLOG. ☺ And I have.

A quick IVF update: I'm still taking hormones. That's all I know for now.

Enjoy the new round of winter weather!

Testing 1-2-3

Just testing this out--apparently, something was set that caused people to have to click on the blog archives to see the latest posting. I don't know why. I didn't do anything....at least I don't think I did. ☺

Happy Sunday!

Weather or not

Just when I got used to seeing grass again, it's been once again covered by a white blanket. Winter has always depressed me and I'm pretty sure I have Seasonal Affective Disorder. It didn't help that we had a 63 degree day early last week, allowing me to be bold and start the scooter (just to tease myself). Eeee-gads, I can't wait for better weather.

Well, we've jumped in with both feet once again. Because of the increasing worry about Paul's work status, we've decided that it's best to prepare the frozen buggers sooner rather than later. I'm now on a 10 day course of birth control pills (the greatest irony) and tonight, I start Lupron. Someone asked me recently why I take all these drugs that would normally prevent someone from getting pregnant. It's all about CONTROL: the doctors', not mine. They need to manipulate my body in such a way that it'll be ready for the embryo transfer when the time comes. I'll eventually be put on a 2 week course of Estrace (estrogen) along with progesterone (to thicken the uterus and make it a nice soft haven for the buggers). We're guessing it'll be about mid-March when the buggers are implanted. If you do the math (and I know some of you are), that potentially gives us a Christmas baby.

Going back to Paul's work status--his job isn't in great jeopardy at the moment (in fact, he's pretty confident he'll have his job a while longer), but he's already taken a pretty significant pay cut. If the company goes under, obviously so does everyone who's still there. One thing's for sure: we're screwed if we have to live on my salary.

Admittedly, I'm not excited about this round. I try to remain positive but we've had 2 totally unsuccessful turns at this. These are from the same batch of embryos that were mixed in December. I had such high hopes then, and was devastated when it didn't work. I won't let myself get that worked up again. I can't, or we'd never be able to keep doing this.

So I'll remain my normal, realistic self. Don't chide me for being negative--I'm not, I'm just trying to keep a level head about it all. If I don't, I'll drive myself (and everyone else) completely mad.

In other news, the house is still here. We have another showing tomorrow. I lost the excitement about these a long time ago. Frankly, I'm getting tired of the same feedback about it being too small. I want to scream out that the room and house measurements are in the ad--READ THEM before coming here. We didn't lie about anything. Shoot.

I'm headed out to shovel. I bought some plywood a few months ago, so I should be done with the driveway in 10 minutes. ☺ The only good thing about snow is getting to wear my pretty pink snowboots. I may just wear them all day inside. Hee hee!

Showing off

Well, looks like I blew a potential house sale last week. A couple came for a 2nd viewing, which was a bit surprising since their feedback after the first one was that it was a wee too small. Anyway, they happened to catch me still here when they arrived. I was trying to scurry out of the house but they were asking me questions about different things (the roof, windows, etc). Then they asked why we were moving.

Stupid me, I told them the truth: for something bigger.

It's been proven on some occasions that I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. I also can't lie on immediate command like that. It just popped out of my mouth. When our realtor asked for feedback after the second time, he said that they really liked the house but my comment about moving got them thinking that it might be too small for them as well.

Oops.

I'm trying not to kick myself too much for this gaffe. I just have to keep remembering that if it was too small for them the first time around, it couldn't have looked bigger to them the 2nd, so it was likely bound to happen this way anyway....right?

Oh well. We have a (new) showing this Saturday. The new housing season is just starting and, while it really sucks this year, it sucked last year and we had a lot of showings, so we can always hope for the same number this year. AND we've done improvements since last spring, so the house looks way better.

Paul and I are headed to Springfield this weekend. It's our only free weekend for a while and I really want to see my friends! Paul, too, is really looking forward to getting away. Work has been hard for him the past few months. We were thinking of taking a vacation in March, but that's not looking so good anymore as his company is expected to cut the pay of anyone remaining there (so far, he hasn't been layed off). I think we're going to aim for as many short getaways as possible. I have lots of miles on Northwest, so we might use those and take a trip somewhere (I have enough for 2 R/T tickets in the US....most of these are miles from when I was in Japan!).

Then there's the IVF, which it looks like we might start sooner rather than later. We haven't totally decided, but if he's that unsure about his job, we might want to get this huge, hefty expense out of the way while he's still employed. More on that later...

Happy Valentine's Day! Happy Anniversary to Dad and Beverly, and Happy Birthday to Dawn (my sister-in-law, but I don't think she reads this). ☺

"...and you and Becky both wore black."

This is a famous line in my family (only between a few of us). My grandmother wrote it in a letter to my sister after my dad's wedding. She had been praising up and down about how handsome my sister's husband looked in his suit, then she wrote the line you see in the title about Kate and me. That's all she said about us, too. It was funny and very typical of my grandma: she'd lavish the praise, then slam you with a one-liner (or vice-versa). ☺ Another famous one: she pointed out to Kate one time that she was heavy but her hair was so shiny!

My reason for writing that is because my dad and Beverly's anniversary is this month. I'm BAD with anniversary dates (I can just barely remember birthdays, and I'm not always spot-on with those either...ask my niece Charlotte...) but I wanted to wish them both a Happy Anniversary. We really do love Beverly and are all glad my dad had the good sense to marry her when he did!

Everything around here is becoming more and more calm these days. I think the Vespa mess is over with--Discover Card sent a good letter to the lawyer that actually made reference to the erroneous letter they sent to the merchant in 2006 that sparked this whole ordeal. Unless the lawyer finds a loophole, I'm considering this mess finished.

We had a second house showing on Tuesday--the same couple that came to look at the house late last week. I haven't heard any feedback yet, but as usual, I'm not really getting my hopes up. It is nice, however, to be having showings again. They aren't rolling in, but it's still early in the season and with the gov't now talking about a tax credit for home buyers this year, I'm hoping that will spark more interest and get more people in here. We'd also like to take part in getting that tax credit!!!

We have a busy weekend ahead--three birthday parties, and tomorrow afternoon I have a photo shoot. I'll be taking pictures of a friend's daughter for her senior pictures. I'm flattered that they asked me (I offered, too, so maybe it's that they were forced?). I just hope I do a good job.

Have a great weekend!!!

Being heard

This morning, I faxed all of my statements and a nice letter to the lawyer in the hopes of ending this mess. I also got a call from the executive offices at Discover Card. I had sent them an email Friday afternoon about this whole mess, asking for their help, and the woman who called said she would be sending a copy of the merchant's statement to him, and she would call the lawyer to tell him that the merchant's account was never charged back that full amount. Wa-HOO! Now, providing the lawyer doesn't find some loophole and files suit against me, this could be done. Oh, I hope it is.

For those who are still wondering, our house is still on the market. We had an open house Jan. 18th, then a showing the next day, but nothing since. The feedback on the house is always the same: it shows nice and looks great, but it's too small. You'd think these people would know that it only has 1.5 baths before they come see it, however the full bath is quite tiny so I think that throws the whole thing off. Makes me so sad to think we may be stuck here for another year or two. All our stuff is in storage which is costing us $150 a month. We thought we'd only have it there for 3-6 months. It's been a year now. My cat has also been gone a year. I'm hoping Rosie doesn't claim squatters rights and try to keep her when we try to get her back (I've been assured this probably won't happen though). ☺

As far as IVF, we're still not sure when we'll be starting up again. With the school semester just starting, and me now having 2 classes, I'm not sure I'm up for doing drugs again right now. Granted, I'll be on different kinds of drugs, but they're still hormones nonetheless, and I'm dreading them. It takes so much mental preparation for me to get ready for these procedures. It's too soon right now, but maybe in a few months...

That's the latest. We had a relaxing weekend, which is good because there won't be another one of those for a while. A huge shout-out to my friend Cathy, who's turning the big FOUR-OH on Friday! Wish I could be there to help you celebrate, but I'll get down there soon...I promise!!