Christmas Meme

I went to Toronto with Tarzan for a few days. It was so much fun. We also went to Niagara Falls yesterday - so beautiful with the mist of the falls freezing on all of the trees, sidewalks, benches, etc. It was absolutely frigid at 15 degrees, but so beautiful! Loved it! We are back in Michigan and ready to celebrate the holiday with our families over the next 2 days. Here's a meme that I stole from Music Maker Momma!


1. Eggnog or Hot Chocolate
Eggnog with gold rum and dark rum - hmmmm yummy!!!

2. Wrapping Paper or Gift Bags?
A little of both. This year I used mostly wrapping paper, but a few gifts that had odd shapes are in gift bags.

3. Real Tree or Artificial?
Artificial. I was raised with an artificial tree and since I like to put it up on or right before Thanksgiving, it's easier to use an artificial tree. Plus I don't like the needles from a real tree all over my carpet!

4. Colored or White lights on tree/house?
I have had blue lights on my tree for the past 2 years and I love them. I've had a lot of compliments from the neighbors.

5. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
First I get the Christmas music playing, and then bring up all of the boxes of lights and ornaments from the basement. I assemble the tree, then string on the lights, and then add the ornaments. I usually stop along the way and sip some egg nog or coffee with peppermint mocha cream! Sometimes the ornaments take a few days to get put on the tree.

6. Do you hang Mistletoe?
No, but I wish I did.

7. Do you have a Nativity Scene?
Yes I got one last year on my cruise to Mexico - it's made out of cow bone. It's nice, but my dream is to have a Lladro Nativity scene - that will take years and many thousands of dollars to collect, but I like to have dreams!

8. Mail or email Christmas cards?
I mail 150 cards out every year with a Christmas letter. I like to include a letter and pictures. I've got a system down and I start addressing the envelopes in early November. This year I got out 60% of my cards the week after Thanksgiving, but there are always cards that go out 2 days before Christmas. Those are usually the addresses that have changed, etc. Also if I ever do have kids - I plan to put a family picture in the card, not just a picture of the kids. Honestly that bugs me about other people's cards - why only put a picture of the kids? Put the whole dang family puleeze!!

9. What is your favorite holiday dish?
My cousin Leigh Anne's buckeye cookies (peanut butter balls)

10. Favorite holiday memory as a child?
It's a toss up between my family's Christmas trip to Hawaii when I was 12 years old, and the time when I was 6 years old and threw a temper tantrum because I was given the Dapper Dan doll instead of the girl doll. I was so upset at the time, but now it's one of the funniest memories I have.

11. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I was in 4th grade and I snuck down the hallway and saw my dad putting together one of the toys that Santa supposedly delivered.

12. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Nope, we do them on Christmas morning.

13. Snow - Love it or dread it?
Love it in December, but by February I've had enough of it - oh the joys of living in Michigan.

14. Have you ever recycled a gift?
Only white elephant gifts

15. What is the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Spending time with family and being thankful for all that we have instead of wishing for all that we don't.

16. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
See # 9

17. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
My family's Christmas Eve celebration. It is will all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and their kids on my mom's side. There are about 40 of us who squeeze into one 1800 square foot house, but we have the best time - we eat, we drink, we play games, and we dance!

18. What tops your tree?
A big butterfly.

19. Favorite Christmas Show?
From my childhood - Rudolph. From my adulthood - A Christmas Story.

20. Saddest Christmas Song?
These Christmas Shoes

21. Favorite Christmas song?
Mariah Carey's All I want for Christmas

Baby it's cold outside

Dang - it's like 15 degrees with wind chills below zero! I'm not leaving the comfort of my home if I can help it today! I did yoga in my living room last night from a free online class. I may be doing that again tonight if I can't get the courage to go out into this weather.

Do any of you watch the TV show Modern Family? It's on ABC Wednesdays at 9PM EST. OMG it is my favorite show. It is absolutely hilarious and I cannot wait until the first season comes out on DVD. I don't buy many DVDs, but this one I want to have so I can watch the episodes over and over. Cam is my favorite character, but honestly they are all cast so perfectly. From Claire's expressions, to Manny's adult statements, to Phil's cool dad-isms, to Jay's non pc lines - it kills me, to Gloria's Colombia-isms (which thankfully I get a lot of them because I understand Spanish). I laugh out loud every week. Did any of you watch last night's episode? I want Cam's poinsettia shirt just to wear to a Christmas party and see if anyone notices where it came from!! I have one to go to a week from Saturday. Oh and did you catch that Manny was wearing his "burgundy dinner jacket" in the very last scene? Classic, just classic. The writing on this show is so great and the fans who watch it every week are able to recite funny lines from the show. I hope this show stays on TV for a long time - it's the best sitcom on TV since Seinfeld.

Break is soon to be over

I started this blog about 5 months ago after my failed DE cycle. I wanted somewhere to write about non-Infertility stuff, about the rest of my life, to have a public blog (since my IF blog is private), and really to be able to write about whatever I wanted. I will continue doing all of that on this blog, but I wanted to just write a quick note to say that our "break from TTC" is coming to an end. I do not plan to write about it here much, if at all (that's what my private blog is for), but I did want to at least be honest. Tarzan and I have talked at great length and we are going to give it another try. We want to be able to look back when we are 70 years old say we gave it our all; either we'll have kids and maybe grandkids by then, and we can say it was worth it, or we'll at least be able to say that we tried - that we did multiple treatments, and went down a variety of alternative paths in our attempts. If it doesn't work we'll be able to look back without regret.

That being said, we know at age 39 and 41 we need to get this show on the road. We are going at this last attempt with a two-pronged approach. We will be doing an FET with our 1 and only frozen embryo, and at the same time will be pursuing traditional surrogacy. Yes I said it, traditional surrogacy. We recently found out that Tarzan has no fertility benefits on his medical insurance at his new job in Chicago (we were really hoping, but the company is not headquartered in Illinois, therefore the IVF mandate does not apply). Considering we've maxed out my insurance over the past 3 years, we just feel that if we are going to spend a ton of money, we'd rather risk it on TS than on a fresh DE cycle that may not work. We haven't started either process yet. The FET will probably be around February, and we have no surrogate. We are just starting the process of trying to find a traditional surrogate who will be willing to help us achieve parenthood. We'll see how it goes. Those of you who follow my private blog - there isn't much there yet, but as these processes get underway I'll post more.

Thursday night update

I can't think of a catchy title for this blog post. Let's see what has happened this week?

• Tarzan started his new job on Monday in Chicagoland and so far so good! He likes it, is learning a lot about wind energy, and says it is a much more positive environment than the automotive industry. We talk every morning and every evening. He'll be home for Thanksgiving
• We are waiting for a "password" to look at his benefits, not sure what is taking so long.
• My niece Blaire and her volleyball team lost in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night, but hey they made it to the quarterfinals - that's the top 8 teams in the state for Class B! She and the other seniors bawled their eyes out afterwards, but we are very proud of all they accomplished. Now it's onto basketball season for her!
• I came down with a cold on Sunday, felt crappy for 2 days and then it practically went away. I thought "wow only a 2 day cold!"......then this afternoon my head got all congested. I have been eating a lot of grapefruits for vitamin C and taking Airborne.
• I'm reading a book called The Gerson Therapy by Charlotte Gerson to try to incorporate some of the therapy into my diet. This is the therapy my friend Christian has used to control his sinus/brain cancer. He's doing very well 3 years later because of this nutritional program. I got a copy for my friend Anne (I'll get it to you soon Anne). I just found out today that my step-mom has melanoma, so I need to get a copy to her too. Basically it's a combination of juicing and coffee enemas to fight cancer - that is a very simplistic view, and it goes into a lot greater detail and science, but honestly that's the summary. I'm going to try to do some of it just to prevent cancer. Of course I found out I have the wrong kind of juicer; I have the Jack LaLane juicer which is a centrifugal juicer which apparently kills the enzymes because of the high speed blades. Oh well, I'm hoping it doesn't kill all of the enzymes.
• I'm loving the XM radio I have in my new car; free for 3 months. I've been listening to CNN in Espanol and the Oprah station the most. Deepak Chopra also has a show on one of the channels, I have to find it.

Class B Regional Champions

My niece Blaire and her team of Marysville Vikings beat Bloomfield Hills Lahser in 4 games last night: 25-19, 26-24, 23-25, 25-22 to take the Class B Regional Volleyball Championship. It was so exciting, but those games were a little too close for my comfort! Onto Quarterfinals on Tuesday against Northbranch at Notre Dame Prep High in Pontiac (if anyone wants to come and cheer them on).

Oh and one other thing I forgot to mention in yesterday's post; Blaire was chosen as Prep Athlete of the Week last week and had a nice article and pictures in the local newspaper over the weekend. When asked who is her role model; she answered that it is her grandma (my mom). #8 rocks!

Here are some pictures and then the link to the official newspaper pictures from last night's game http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=BP&Dato=20091112&Kategori=PHOTOGALLERIES&Lopenr=911120802&Ref=PH

Such a proud Aunt

My nephew Reed has been bugging me to blog about him, so here it is Reed! I'm very proud to be an aunt to my awesome nephew Reed and nieces Blaire and Emma. They are all very smart and accomplished at such young ages. The last week has been very exciting in all of their lives. I will go from youngest to oldest.

My niece Emma who is in 8th grade won MVP of her volleyball team, and also received an award for being a "Role Model". Here she is posing with her award. I'm so very proud of her, and look forward to 4 more years of volleyball when she gets to high school. Maybe she'll get pulled up to Varsity as a Freshman.......time will tell. Her cousin Taylor who is in 9th grade now, just got pulled up to varsity for the playoffs. Good volleyball skills run in the family.

My nephew Reed who is 15 was just selected to be an exchange student through the Rotary Club Exchange Program. He will be going abroad next summer for an entire year! He doesn't know where yet; will find out in January. He is hoping for Spain, and if not, another Spanish speaking country, but he could end up in Iceland or Japan. I do have to take credit Reed for you going abroad; you see back in September we went to this International festival in Port Huron because my aunt who is from the Philippines was working at it, and we wanted to eat her delicious food (sorry run on sentence oh well). We walked around the various country booths, and we stopped at the Rotary Club Exchange Program booth. There was a cute, blond German girl who is an exchange student this year and we talked to her about the program. I said Reed you should do this! Well the applications needed to be in by October so he had only a couple of weeks to contact the Rotary to get the info, apply, etc. Reed took the information card and now 2 months later he has gone through a ton of interviews, gave a presentation to the Rotary Club to gain sponsorship, his parents have been interviewed, they traveled to Canada last weekend, so they could all be interviewed a final time, and Reed was selected! Woohoo. I know we will all cry when he leaves, but this will be the experience of a lifetime and I'm thrilled that he will be living in another country, learning about other cultures, and hopefully learning a new language! I do plan to visit him towards the end of his year abroad - no matter where he goes. Here he is with his mom (my sister) last weekend. He's so handsome in a suit!

My niece Blaire is a senior in high school and is a volleyball superstar. Last week she set 3 school records in the District Championship game; 1) Most serves in a game (like 50 or something) 2) Most points scored (32 or something). 3) Most serves without errors (not sure if I got the verbiage of the last record correct, but it's something like that). Yeah Blaire - you go girl! Even though she is only 5'4" she is a front row outside hitter and has a vertical jump like you would not believe. She is a great spiker! They won districts and their first Regional game, so tonight we will be watching her and rest of her Marsyville Vikings team take on Bloomfield Hills Lahser in the Regional Championship game. Go Vikings!!

Terrain it is!

Picked her up at lunchtime. I tested out the butt warmers on the way home and they are awesome!! My bum will be nice and toasty in the winters!

Decisions, Decisions

Car shopping continues - after driving the Chevy Traverse, Hummer H3, Saturn Vue, Dodge Journey and GMC Terrain we are down to the Traverse and the Terrain. They both have things I love.

TRAVERSE
3 rows of seating for the rare occasions I drive my entire family (hubby, mom, sister, 3 nieces/nephew)
Very comfy ride - takes bumps superbly
Good on gas - 23 on hwy

TERRAIN
2 rows of seating, so the entire family wouldn't fit, but it's just Tarzan and I really. We don't need 3 rows of seating at this time.
Comfy ride - good over bumps, but not quite as good as the Traverse.
Super awesome on gas mileage - 32 on hwy
The one I drove and could get has heated seats! Woohoo

I'm leaning towards the Terrain. I told Tarzan that if a miracle occurs and we have twins or triplets someday - well then we'll have to trade it in and get the Traverse.

What is your vote?

Fun Night

Tarzan took me out last night to celebrate our anniversary. First we went to the church where we got married. It has become a tradition; we've gone every year. We pull into the parking lot and we get out of our car and then we dance and sing our wedding song; except last night I had forgotten all of the words. I guess I should listen to it more often (L.O.V.E. sung by Natalie Cole). We tell each other a few things about what we love about our marriage, or our favorite memory from our wedding day, etc. This all happens in about 5 minutes because the parking lot always has people in it and they start looking at us like we are weirdos.

Afterwards we went to Crust for dinner. It was nice, and Tarzan thought I'd like it because it is a wine bar. I did and in fact I wrote down the name of a fabulous bottle of wine - A Mano Primitivo Red Zinfandel from Italy, very smooth and delicious. After dinner we went to a place I've been dying to go to for quite some time - Paciugo, a gelato caffe. OMG I was in absolute heaven and I have found a new hang out. It has authentic gelato/sorbetto and it tasted as good as I remember the gelato in Italy tasting. The company started in Dallas, Tx by an Italian family and now they are opening stores (franchises) all over the country. I really hope the store in Michigan makes it! They have gourmet coffees/teas as well and I think pastries. For all of my Michigander friends reading this - Anne, Kacy, Lynette - we have a new place to meet! It's on Walton and Livernois in that plaza across from Crittendon. My favorite flavor last night was Sea Salt Caramel; sounds gross but it was divine. Second runner up was Black Raspberry - hmmm it just melted in my mouth. I also had Peanut Butter and Chocolate Hazelnut. I can't wait to go back and try this coffee drink they have called Cappuccino con Gelato. They infuse your favorite gelato flavor into your coffee! Yummy!

We came home in time to watch our favorite new show on TV - Modern Family, and then Tarzan promptly fell asleep on the couch so I spent some time on Facebook! What a great day!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary. Seems impossible that 3 years have passed since I walked down that aisle. Tarzan started the day off right with giving me "a couple of my presents" - a Polo sweater, Polo sweatpants, and Polo yoga pants. The yoga pants are too small, but the other stuff fits perfectly! Not sure what we are doing tonight to celebrate - it's a surprise!

No new car today!

Tarzan and I arrived at the dealer at 10 am this morning to pick up my new Chevy Traverse; which we had picked out/put a deposit on Saturday. However the dealer tried to pull a fast one on us and all of a sudden the price was much higher. They wouldn't budge and neither would we, so we walked away. I'm sad that I won't be driving my new car today, but happy we stuck to our guns. I hate that car shopping is like this. Oh well, now I wait.

In memory of Private Troy Nealey

3 years ago today my friend Annette's son Private Troy Nealey was killed by enemy fire in Iraq. I received an email from her the next morning telling me she would not be able to attend my wedding (which was 5 days later) because Troy had been killed. I read the email at 6:00 AM and I will never forget that moment, sitting there in the dark with only the light of my computer, tears streaming down my face. I called my mom crying and couldn't imagine my friend's pain.

Troy had only been in Iraq for a month and he was 24 years old. He left behind his parents, 2 brothers and countless friends. He was very much into 4H growing up and in his memory, an award has been created to benefit kids who show their livestock. His mom presents the award to the winner each year. I know Troy is smiling down from heaven.

A week after my wedding I attended Troy's funeral. I had never been to a serviceman's funeral. It was the largest funeral I have ever been to, and it was so moving to see all of the veterans from previous generations lined up to greet all of the mourners. Troy's funeral was a beautiful tribute to a young man who served our country and whose light was extinguished far too soon.

Here is a video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcoaIYG6Uhk

Here is a memorial in Troy's home town of Eaton Rapids, MI

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmalewski/3558376394/in/set-72157602100186330/

Offer came and was accepted!

Woohoo, my baby has a new job!! He starts mid November. Yippeee!!!

Still waiting

The offer hasn't come yet. The HR department is a little bit behind, at least that is what they keep telling Tarzan. We are waiting patiently, but if it doesn't come by Thursday I'll have to put him on my 2010 benefits. I have to choose my benefits at work by Friday, but hopefully I'll be able to take him off if he gets a job.

We went test driving cars on Saturday. I like the new Buick Lacrosse so much - it's beautiful and drives so nice, however I decided that I want an SUV. I like the Chevy Traverse so now Tarzan is shopping dealers for the best price. Unfortunately I won't be getting leather/heated seats. That is my favorite option, but that version of the Traverse is like $46,000 sticker price - which we will not be spending. I suppose I'll live with cloth. I'm trying to convince him to let me get aftermarket heated seats even on the cloth - the dealer said it is possible. Maybe we'll get a dealer to throw it in.

That's all for today. I'm off to yoga now.

Chicagoland here we come!!!

Yeah Tarzan! He is getting an offer from the company in Chicago. They called him yesterday afternoon and are fedexing the offer today (not sure if it is arriving today or tomorrow). Hopefully the offer is in the ballpark, and if so - CHICAGOLAND HERE WE COME!! Yes Io we are hoping it has mandated IVF coverage, but the company is not headquartered in IL, so I'm not sure how that works. We'll look at the benefits this weekend! Yippeee 9 months of being laid off for my Tarzan is coming to an end!!

Like I said initially he will be staying in a studio hotel to make sure he likes it and we may only see each other once or twice a month. If he likes the job (which I think he will), then we'll rent a condo since we don't want to sell our house in Michigan (we love our house here). Claudio, Guido and Pachi (the cats) and I will head to Chicagoland. Tarzan and I were joking last night that we'll live like we did in college - haha.

So much to do before he starts. I need a new car ASAP so hopefully we can go test driving on Saturday morning! I'm thinking the Chevy Traverse may be the better choice if we are going to be transporting "stuff" back and forth between Detroit and Chicago. TTFN.

Our weekend in Chicago

We left for Chicago at 6:00 AM on Friday so we could get there in plenty of time for Tarzan's interview at 1 PM Chicago time. It is one long drive however - 6 hours! Elgin is northwest of Chicago - practically to farmland country, so it is a long drive from our house in Michigan. Anyway we made it in time to drive around and check out the area and have some lunch. I then dropped him off at the interview and did some more driving around. I had 4 hours to kill so I wanted to check out some potential places to live and see if we liked the area. It is very rural in some areas, but there were some very nice subs and it's not far from stores and stuff. I then went to the mall and did some shopping, got my eyebrows and upper lip threaded, walked laps around the mall like an older person, and finally settled in Barnes and Nobles. I bought the book The Four Agreements which was my yoga studio's book club book last month. I bought a pumpkin spice coffee, sat down in a comfy chair and read! It was nice.

At 5:30 PM I picked up Tarzan from his interview and he had a big smile on his face. He said it went very well. He was one of 4 final candidates out of 400 applicants. I'm so proud of my baby! He is supposed to hear this week about an offer, so we shall see. We aren't going to get too excited until he gets an offer. If he does get a job there he will stay in one of those extended stay studio hotels for a month or two to make sure he really likes the job. We don't really want to sell our house in Michigan, so if he likes the job we will most likely just rent a condo or small house. Then the cats and I will move to Illinois. I work at home for my job so all I have to do is plug in my computer and Vonage phone and I'm good to go. I will be looking for suggestions on where to live from people in blogland!

We were very tired after the long drive on Friday so we just ate in the hotel restaurant and were asleep by 9pm. However we woke up at 4:30 AM on Saturday wide awake! Oh I hate when that happens. We were smart and did not head to downtown Chicago at that hour - haha. I eventually fell back asleep at around 6:30 and slept until 8. We finally got downtown and spent the day walking around, enjoying the city. I must be getting to be an old lady however because after a couple hours of walking my hip started to hurt - left hip flexor muscle - man old age sucks! Then we went to an Italian Festival - all in all it was a great day, but exhausting once again. A great weekend.

Today Tarzan is in the car on his way to an interview in Boyne City, MI. It's 4 hours north of here so once again very far away, but my dad has a cottage nearby so he may stay the night and visit with my dad.

On another subject we have started car shopping, although it Sunday afternoon when the dealerships were closed. My short list is: Buick Lacrosse (love it!), Buick Lucerne (sort of old ladyish) Chevy Malibu, Chevy Equinox, or Chevy Traverse. If I decide to buy a car over an SUV I really, really like the new Lacrosse although it's more expensive than the Malibu. I could get a loaded Malibu for way less than the Lacrosse, but the Lacrosse is sooooo pretty. I do like driving an SUV too, so until I do test drives on them all I don't think I'll be able to decide. My only requirement in any car is heated seats. I love heated seats and must have them!

Help Rascal Find a New Home

I'm trying to find my sister's cat Rascal a new home before she takes her to the pound. My sister can no longer take care of her after a difficult divorce and she is moving out of her current home in about a month. Rascal is a 7 year old white and black long haired cat with the sweetest personality, but she has had a challenging couple of years with the family situation. My teenage nieces and nephew are often gone to their dad’s house and that leaves Rascal all alone. She is very affectionate and friendly; loves to be held, cuddled and petted. She loves to sleep with her owner and just loves attention. She is great with kids, dogs, and other cats. She is also very vocal and loves to talk to anyone and anything throughout the day. She is declawed on all 4 paws; however she still likes to go outside once in awhile. She never ventures far; just hangs out on the backyard patio or plays in the flower beds. Rascal does have an on again/off again litter box issue. Every once in a while she will urinate in the laundry basket or in a pile of clothes, however it is not every day or even every week; just once in awhile. I believe Rascal will return to her meticulous litter box habits once she is in a stable, loving environment and has the tender loving care she needs after this stressful time in her life. She has no medical issues and is very healthy. Rascal deserves a home that will love her and care for her furrever. Please contact me at soapchick@comcast.net for more information. I'll be gone this weekend, but will be back Sunday night.

Her hair looks a bit shorter in this picture because she had a lion cut shave this summer, and it is still growing out. I love this cat and would take her if I could, but my 3 cats have claws and one of them is very territorial and would not accept her. Please help me find a home for her. I'll drive up to 5 hours from Michigan to deliver her to her new home.

Elgin, Illinois - any bloggers near there?

I will be in Elgin, Illinois tomorrow while my husband has an interview. I need to find something to do between 1 PM- 5 PM. Any ideas? I thought about going to a yoga class - but none of the studios have mid afternoon classes. I thought about going to a spa for a massage or pedicure. Are there any bloggers there who would like to meet me for coffee? I will be too afraid to drive into downtown Chicago so I need to stay close to Elgin. Let me know! The company is paying for a hotel room so hubby and I are staying the night and then will go to downtown Chicago on Saturday. I'm looking forward to a day off of work and a fun weekend.

Prayers for my cousin and her husband

My sister called me tonight with the terrible news that my cousin's husband lost several fingers today in an accident on their farm. They are farmers in a town near Lansing, MI and have 3 young children. We just saw them at my grandmother's 100th birthday party last month. I am praying for his pain and recovery, but also for their future. They own hundreds of acres and not only have crops, but also have a farm full of animals - cows, pigs, horses, etc. I pray that God helps them handle this devastating situation. For those of you who pray, please keep them in your thoughts.

Hmmm what to blog about?

I really don't have much to say lately, so here are some bullets.

• Hubby and I are babysitting our niece and nephew tonight (age 3 and 1 1/2). Kids are a lot of work! I was exhausted by the time they went to bed. I think I really will be okay if we never become parents. I'm used to the life I have now I guess.
• I'm excited that my nephew Reed who is 15 is applying to be an exchange student next year for an entire year. He wants to go to a Spanish speaking country so we shall see. Wherever he goes I'll be visiting him. If he does get into the program and spends his junior year of high school abroad, I'll be so dang excited for all that he will get to experience. It will open his eyes to the world and he'll come home fluent in another language! If it is Spanish then he and I can have secret conversations in front of our other family members!
• We are car shopping. Tarzan has been looking for me and in the next week or two I'll go with him to do some test drives. I need a new car. Our 2001 Cadillac, while totally awesome to drive and so very comfortable, is stalling now and then and I don't feel safe driving it.
• I'm studying for my PMP certification (Project Management Professional), it's a total pain to study but I hope to take and pass the test by February. I should have taken it 6-7 years ago when my company would pay for it, but I was lazy. Now I have to pay for it on my own, but my company is pretty much making me do it. However it will be good to have in case I get laid off again someday.
• Tarzan has had a ton of job interviews lately! Woohoo! After 8 months laid off, his activity is really picking up. He's averaged 1 interview per week the entire 8 months, but this week he had 5 interviews. One of which was a second interview and he is already scheduled for the final interview on Tuesday - that one looks really promising. It's only 2 hours from our house so he could rent an apartment or cottage for awhile and come home on the weekends. He has some more interviews next week in Chicago and Northern Indiana - a bit farther away, but we don't care......just give him an offer!
• I've continued going to yoga 4-5 days per week and am doing the level 2 classes now, but I have yet to lose any weight. It's making me mad. I may have to go on Weight Watchers or something to lose the 8 pounds. I suppose I have to give up the ice cream since my metabolism is crap now that I am in my 40s.

Yeah it's Saturday - Chicken Chili

The weather is crappy today in Michigan; cold and rainy, but hey I'm not working, so it's a great day! Tarzan and my 15 year old nephew Reed are at the U of M versus MSU football game. They route for MSU, but I'm a graduate of UM so our family is split. haha. Anyway it's not looking too promising for my team at the moment.

I did some shopping this morning and I just finished putting the ingredients to White Chicken Chili in the crockpot. It should be done by the time they get home. Reed is staying the night tonight. I love having company over! I'm going to make some pumpkin muffins shortly - we can have those for breakfast tomorrow. Yummy!

White Chicken Chili - Crockpot Version
1 onion chopped
1 celery chopped
2 carrots chopped
2 cloves of garlic minced
28 ounces of chicken broth
3 or 4 15 oz. cans of white cannellini beans or white northern beans
1 4 oz. can of chopped green chiles
2 pounds ground chicken or ground turkey (can use chicken breasts or thighs too)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper (optional)
3-4 squirts of tabasco or chili sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Brown chicken or turkey. Put all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours. Great on a cold, rainy day!

Pumpkin Latte and Instant Coffee

Disclaimer: for the most part I've given up coffee. I haven't had any in weeks. I stopped buying cream because I'm trying to give up dairy. Well without cream I don't like coffee, hence I haven't made a cup of coffee in probably 2 months. I've been drinking tea - green tea, herbal tea, raspberry tea, whatever tea and not even every day. However I've been dying for a cup of real coffee this week; sucky weather in Michigan, very long week at work, another surprise birth announcement from a friend who I didn't know was pregnant, and those attractive Starbucks advertisements showing the Pumpkin Spice Latte. Therefore, I just ran to the Kroger by my house that has a Starbucks and I got me one!!! Hmmm yummy. While I was there I did the taste testing to compare their regular coffee with their new instant coffee. I got it wrong!! I picked their regular brew for being instant. I actually liked the taste of the instant one better! How funny. Anyway....I got a coupon for a free cup! Woohoo!

Back at Yoga

A little over a week ago I went back to yoga after going only twice in the past 3 months. I signed up for "unlimited" monthly yoga, so I'm motivated to go as much as possible. I've already been there 7 times in the past 9 days. I did 6 classes of Level 1 and finally felt brave enough to go back to Level 2 tonight. It was an awesome class and I was able to get through the entire thing without feeling like I was dying! I was able to stand on my head unassisted (still against the wall, can't do it in the middle of the room yet), and "almost" did this other "can't-remember-the name pose" but it's really difficult where you put one leg over your shoulder and lift the other one too. I'm not bragging, I'm just really glad to be back there working on my physical strength and flexibility, but also on my mental health. When I was doing yoga 5 days a week three years ago leading up to my wedding; I was in awesome shape. I hope I can get back to that shape, lose 8 pounds, get toned, get strong and be zen. The only problem with today was that I came home and ate too much pasta for dinner! I'm guessing I'll get the toned muscles before I lose the stomach fat. haha.

This is the studio I go to, it is named Yoga for Life. Heidi, the owner, is wonderful as are all of the other teachers.

Oh and I want to add that one of my dreams is to go on a yoga vacation someday! That would be so awesome to do yoga every day on the beach at a gorgeous resort!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

I love making pumpkin cookies in the fall. The recipe didn't call for chocolate chips, I threw those in for fun. They are delicious!

2.5 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

.5 tsp nutmeg

.5 tsp salt

1.5 cups sugar

1 stick butter (.5 cup)

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in bowl and set aside. Beat sugar and butter until smooth. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla until smooth. Gradually add in flour and beat. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto baking sheets. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until edges are firmed.

If you don't want to add the chocolate chips you could drizzle with a glaze instead. Glaze recipe would be 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, 3 tblsp milk, 1 tblsp melted butter and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.

P.S. - not my picture. I found it on the web. My camera is arriving today as Tarzan picks his parents up from the airport after 6 weeks in Italy. They borrowed my camera and I'm dying to get it back!

Embryo Mixup - Hmmm

I'm starting to wonder if that embryo mixup that has been in the news this week occurred at my clinic, or even the first clinic I went to? Why do I wonder you ask? Well because one of the couples involved lives in Troy, MI and the other in Toledo, OH. Most likely someone living in Toledo would have gone to an RE in southeastern Michigan (ie. metro Detroit) rather than trekking all the way to Cleveland. My clinic is in Troy. I know neither couple has revealed the name of the clinic involved and they don't plan to, but it certainly makes me wonder. I have a hard time believing it happened at my current clinic, I really do......but you just never know. They have our one and only frozen embryo; I hope it stays safe until we decide to do our FET.

Pictures from Grandma's 100th birthday

September 5, 2009 - the day my grandma Florence Louise turned 100 years old!

Blowing out the candles!



My dad, sister, her kids, me and grandma

my sister, my aunt, my cousin's daughter and grandma


7 of the 9 great grandkids

My dad and my aunt Mary with Grandma - after 4 cocktails. Time for a nap.

Root Canal is done

and I feel much better. Tooth nerve was dead by the time I got there today, so my pain had decreased greatly. Now that I had the root canal, all of the nerve pain is gone! Yippeee! I'm a little sore, but nothing major. I did get a script for Vicodin just in case. I may fill it and keep for the future - you never know when that could come in handy.

Going to go lay on the couch and watch the Big Brother finale tonight.

Gazpacho recipe - this one turned out great!

6-10 ripe tomatoes
1/2 of a large cucumber - remove seeds
1 green pepper
1 small onion
2-4 garlic cloves minced (depends how you like it)
1/3 cup oil
2 tbls sherry vinegar
1 cup water
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp cilantro

Chop up raw tomatoes (deseed if you want), cucumber, onion and pepper and put into blender with water, oil, garlic, cilantro, vinegar, and salt. Grind up in blender. Taste to see if you need to add salt. How long you blend it is up to you - you can make it as chunky or as smooth as you want. Chill for at least 4 hours before serving. Delicioso!!

Weekend Happenings

The weather in Michigan continues to be fantastic....sort of makes up for the craptastically cold July we had. Yesterday we went to Ann Arbor to route on my alma mater the University of Michigan wolverines against Notre Dame in a nail biter of a football game. We didn't have tickets but enjoyed the tailgate party and watched the game on a TV at the tailgate. Since the TV has a few second game delay we knew when something good happened before we saw it on TV because we could hear the crowd roar. Great day and UM won in the final seconds!

Today is being spent in the kitchen. I went and picked about 70 more tomatoes from my in-laws garden and I'm going to make some tomato juice and some gazpacho. I need to make some more tomato sauce too, but not sure I have the energy to do that today. If the juice and gazpacho turn out I'll post the recipes. I'm going to make the juice in the crock pot. Should be easy enough.

I need to call the dentist in the morning, my tooth pain escalated yesterday to the "throbbing, drop to my knees and kill me please" level of pain. Tylenol and ibuprofen are only dulling the pain enough so I can function. I'm not sure if it's just my nerves flaring up from not wearing my bite guard enough, TMJ, or I need a root canal. I seriously look forward to the day when I can have root canals on all of my back teeth and wear dentures. I'm not kidding.

09.09.09

My birthday is on a rather nifty date this year - 09.09.09. I bet if it were a Saturday there would be a lot of weddings. I should go buy a lottery ticket today - maybe it will be my lucky day!

It's funny, but last year I wrote this big long post on my Soapchick blog about turning 40 and about everything I had learned thus far, everything I was thankful for, etc. This year, I'm just not feeling very deep. I'm now 41 which means I have 59 more years to go until I can celebrate my 100th like my grandmother. I can imagine her at age 41 - probably seems like a lifetime ago to her. Her kids would have been ages 10 to 13; 4 of them right in a row. Now the 3 living ones are senior citizens themselves ages 67-70.

I wonder what my next 59 years will bring.

Home from Up North

Had a fabulous time. I can't wait to upload the pictures from our trip and from Grandma's party. Unfortunately I didn't have a digital camera with me, so when my dad sends me a CD of the pictures, I'll post them.

Doing laundry, mail, bills, etc. and getting ready to go back to work tomorrow. Too bad I have to go back to work on my birthday. Yes tomorrow is the big 41! It is going to be a pretty low key birthday this year. Since I didn't get the birthday wish that I was really hoping for (a pregnancy), I don't really feel like celebrating a ton. However I will be positive and be thankful that I am even achieving 41 years.....since we all know what the alternative is.

Getting ready for Grandma's 100th birthday celebration

I shopped for my grandmother's gift last night. What do you get a 100 year old who lives in a nursing home and who can't see or hear very well? I got her some really soft and warm pajamas. That's what my dad suggested. We also went to the party store and got a happy birthday sign with numbers so we can put a big 100! I also found some napkins that say happy 100 on them. I'm guessing that there isn't too big of a market for 100 year birthday supplies, ha ha.

We are heading up tomorrow and the party is on Saturday. My sister and her kids will be there, my dad, my aunt, her kids and grand kids and I'm sure a bunch of the nursing home residents. It should be a great day. My grandmother Florence Louise is very excited for her big celebration! I'll post pictures next week!

Been busy

Hi internets. Hope you are doing well. I've been so busy I haven't had time to blog. Tarzan and I did take our short trip - 4 days to the western side of Michigan, enjoyed the beach and Lake Michigan. Perhaps I'll get around to blogging the details soon.

I've been making a ton of tomato sauce since my in-laws are in Italy for a month, so their garden is mine! It's exhausting! My legs ached so much after working in the kitchen all weekend. I was happy to be working at my desk today. However it is all worth it to have delicious homemade sauce all winter long.....or at least through the fall. I think Tarzan may eat it all before Christmas.

We did get the sad news that his grandmother in Italy passed away Saturday. Her name was Fragolina. We are sad, but very happy that his mother got to spend more than 2 weeks with her before she died. Unfortunately I never got to meet her, but I've heard many stories about her from my husband. She used to make him eat raw eggs - she'd poke a hole in the egg and make him suck out the egg. May she rest in peace.

My grandmother is turning 100 this coming Saturday September 5th. We are heading up to northern Michigan for a party at the nursing home. I guess my grandmother is super excited about her party. We are then going to enjoy Mackinac Island, perhaps Torch Lake and all that northern Michigan has to offer. After a miserably cool summer, I daresay the weather is looking to be beautiful this weekend!

Family Reunion Pictures

from last weekend when it was 95 degrees and we were all melting:

Tarzan

Cousin Kathy

My niece and nephew after winning the water balloon toss. Using up the extra water balloons to bash each other.

My nieces and my cousin's daughter

Tarzan, my nephew and my cousin

My niece and cousins

My cousin (mom's cousin) and 4 of her grandchildren

Trip to Port Austin

A couple of weekends ago, Tarzan and I took our annual trip to Port Austin. I'd like to buy a cottage there someday so we can go more often. It is only a two hour drive from our house so it's perfect for a weekend getaway. Port Austin is on the very tippy top of the thumb of Michigan. It looks out over Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay. It always seems to be windy, but that weekend it was a nice breeze. We walked around the farmers market, out onto the Pier, and then headed to our secret spot. We enjoyed it all to ourselves last year, but this time we were found!

There is a private development there that really never got developed before the real estate market crashed. There are 6 homes/cottages built, a clubhouse with a pool and exercise room, a waterfront park, and 38 empty lots. The gate was open so we drove in, parked, and took our chairs, blanket and picnic basket to our spot along the water. We were enjoying our picnic when an older man on a riding lawn mower drove up to us and told us it was private property. Well we won him over by telling him we are interested in buying a cottage or a lot in this development. His ears perked right up. He ended up telling us that it just went into foreclosure - the 2 cottages that are built, and all of the empty lots - the entire development. He said the bank is going to try to sell the entire thing to a developer from the Detroit area, but that we may be able to get a deal on the cottages. I gave him my card and he said he'd call or email us when he got more info from the bank. Oh and he said we are welcome to come back anytime we want! We are totally not in a position to buy a cottage right now considering Tarzan is laid off. However maybe we could go in together with my dad. Who knows. I'm a dreamer, so it is always fun to dream even if it is not realistic. I already have it all decorated in my mind! I found these adorable nautical quilt bedding sets on Overstock.com that would look perfect on the beds! haha. Anyway, here are the pictures of the day.



Our secret spot:

The potential cottages:

Welcome to my new blog

My nickname is Soapchick and my husband's nickname is Tarzan. I have another private blog which I've written on for two years, but I decided to create a new public blog that talks about the things in my life beyond infertility. We are taking a break from our quest to have a baby. I think I need the break more than Tarzan, and that is okay.

What is the story behind our nicknames? Well I am one of the owners of Backyard Soaps & More, a soap and candle making/selling business; which I started in my kitchen in 2001; hence the name Soapchick. We now have a retail store and manufacturing facility, a website, a home party division, and we sell wholesale throughout the country. Oh and I have a new partner who actually now owns the majority of the company because well I ran out of money, and I have another full time job. I work at one of the big two IT companies. Regarding Tarzan; on my private blog, when it was still public, I requested help from my blog readers in coming up with a nickname for my husband who wasn't keen on me mentioning his real name on the world wide web. At first I was alternating between Rocky (because he's Italian and loves the Rocky movies), and between Tarzan which was suggested by Io. In the end Tarzan just stuck, so I dropped Rocky.

I have a bunch of posts in my mind as well as some pictures of the last couple of weekends, so hopefully I'll get to them soon.