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!