Changes

My CD 20 monitoring appointment didn’t tell us anything good.  Except that my reproductive cycles are seriously messed up– which isn’t good.

On the ultrasound, they saw an 18mm follicle on my right ovary.  They were unhappy with both the size of the follicle (they want it to be around 21mm) and the day of my cycle.  My estrogen came back at 118 (they want to see 250-300).  Around day 14, not day 20.  I definitely haven’t ovulated yet.

The nurse called me yesterday and told me that normally they want patients to continue to try to get pregnant on unmedicated cycles, but they’re recommending that we stop trying this month.  They said if we somehow happened to get pregnant, with the small size of the follicle and my low estrogen, it probably wouldn’t end well.  Bummer.

I was hoping that Thursday was the end of our monitoring cycle, but since things are still changing in my body, they want to do one more blood draw and ultrasound next Friday to see if I managed to ovulate.  The following Monday, we’ll meet with Dr. B and discuss our options.

What are our options?  With how low my estrogen is, you’d think the clomid would have worked.  Instead it just gave me some monster follicles that turned into cysts.  I’m not doing any more research.  It’s not doing me any good.  I’m waiting until we see Dr. B.  I’m hoping he will come up with a kick ass treatment plan.  Or any treatment plan.

In other news, we close on our house in less than 3 weeks.  It’s going by WAY faster than I expected it to.  Probably because we have a lot of other stuff going on.  We spent one evening this past week exploring the river walk by our new house.  Aurora, IL  is built around the Fox River.  Aurora used to be a great hub for trading back in the day because boats could get up and down the river with relative ease.  The downtown sits directly on the riverbanks with lots of bridges connecting the east and west sides of the city.  I was born and, other than while I was away at school, lived on the west side my whole life.  Growing up, our schools were on the west side and most of our friends lived on the west side.  We never had much reason to leave the west side until now.  Our new house sits on the east side of the river in North Aurora.   We can walk to the river in less than 5 minutes, and the river walk there is gorgeous.  I was never a big fan of taking walks just for the sake of walking, but I’ve changed my mind.  I’m excited to take the dog there on walks and to eventually take our kids there on their bikes for an evening ride.

In my mind, this house represents a new beginning for us.  It’s giving me hope in our future and showing me that life will continue to move forward and not stay as stagnant as it feels right now.

Grad school starts in less than 3 weeks too.  There are a lot of changes coming up and I am more than ready for them. 🙂

Socks and Typewriters

It has been a good week so far. 🙂

I feel so much more positive than I’ve felt in months.  I think the fact that it’s getting cooler out is helping.  I’ve never loved summer.  Too warm and not enough hand knits. 😉 I love fall.

I’ve started really knitting again.  Last year was spent figuring out my favorite stitches and mastering important to know techniques.  I’ve decided that this year I’m going to work more on textures.  I’ve always been intimidated by lace and chart knitting, but I’ve spent the last month or so really working on different kinds of socks.  I’ve discovered my favorite heel, cast on, and cuff size.  I love my new socks!

The first picture is of my finished Snow Day Socks! YAY!  That only took 8 months.. 😉  Next are my Mojo socks.  Awesome for getting back into the knitting groove as they focus on knitting, purling, and ribbing.  I used the Schopelle-Wolle Zauberball yarn that my mom and I found at Stitches Midwest.  The colorway is “crazy”… and it is.  The third picture is of my Kalajoki socks.  The pattern is supposed to mirror a Finnish river.  I had to rip out the entire second sock at one point because my river got a little out of control.  Finally, my Watercress mocks (mystery socks) .  Ravelry’s Sock Knitters Anonymous has a different challenge every month.  September’s was to knit all in one color: Chartruese.  They also offered a mystery pattern with clues throughout the month.  The pattern was good and forced me to embrace lace.  The color really grew on me. 🙂

I have a few more socks in progress right now, but then I’ll be hanging up my size 2 needles and getting down to some sweater business.  I have at least 3 sweaters planned for this winter and I already have the yarn for each, so no excuses. 😛

Meanwhile, I went with my sister, niece, and Jeremy to the Barn Sale at the Kane County Fairgrounds last weekend.  We found a few books and something even more fabulous…

  That’s alright, you can go ahead and be jealous now… 😉

It’s a functioning 1963 Smith-Corona Sterling typewriter.  I’ve always loved typewriters.  They force you to really think about what you plan on writing because there is no backspace key.

I’ve never owned a typewriter before because if they’re cheap they often don’t work and if they do work they’re far our of my “unnecessary accessories” budget.   Jeremy found this one though and just take a guess as to how much it was… You’ll never guess, so I’ll tell you: $1.  That’s right.  ONE DOLLAR. 🙂

Epic score.

As of Today…

*Beautifulness*

Look at that pretty chart! 😛  We’re 4-5 days past ovulation today. Beautifulness.  I’ve been reading another blog lately, get in my [lemon]belly.  She’s doing clomid and intrauterine insemination (IUI).  I feel for her.  I’m also thankful we’re not at that point yet.  It’s got to be incredibly difficult. 😦  Le sigh…

This past weekend was good though.  My little brother, Alex, turned 15 on Friday.  I kind of can’t believe it.  I feel like he should either be a little kid still or be a lot older than he is.  He’s a good kid. 🙂  We went to Six Flags in Gurnee, IL to celebrate.  My niece, Calli, and I stuck with the spinning rides while everyone else went on the coasters.  I think we did the tea cups 5 times.  We ❤ spinning rides.  No one else can stomach them, so we’re amusement park buddies.  She’s 6 by the way. 😉  As soon as I can get her to go upside down, she’ll be my Zipper buddy too.  Love that ride, but never have anyone to go on it with me.  So sad.

Sunday, I went with my sister and Calli to visit the new puppy they’re adopting in a few weeks.  He’s a medium, black goldendoodle named Mr. Smith.  He’s adorable!  I’ll be trying to talk Jeremy into a standard size until we buy a house. 😉  I would really like a dog.  I love our cats, obviously, but since I’m home so much I wouldn’t mind having some company.  I’ve been stuck on wanting a poodle for years and years.  They make awesome guard family dogs. 😛  But goldendoodles have all the great qualities of poodles, plus they’re faces aren’t quite so scary and pointy, which was always the major negative in poodles for me.  We’ll see.  I have some time to bribe, throw a fit, sneak, insist, do it anyway, have an adult conversation with Jeremy about getting a dog. 😉  I’m hoping he LOVES Mr. Smith.

Meanwhile, I’ve been doing a lot of cleaning and sewing lately.  I’ve got to keep our upstairs areas as clean as possible now that allergy season has come in full force.  I’m feeling ok. Just a little congested and head-achy.  And sleepy.  I could sleep for 10 hours a day easily right now.  Keeping things vacuumed with my anti-allergen vacuum.  My mother- and father-in-law put an allergy filter in the a/c unit and I think it’s helping.  I can breath at least and that’s all that really matter, right?
I think I’m really enjoying this stay-at-home wife thing.  It helps that I have sewing for the store to do.  Last week was bad.  Between my allergies and feeling down about not being pregnant yet, I didn’t do much.  But I’ve got quite a few projects lined up that should last through the summer.  I’m going to visit Jessica in a couple weeks.  We’re going to push refrigerators around her front yard to try to get her to go into labor while I’m there. 😛   Actually, I think we’re going to be freezer meal fools so she doesn’t have to do any cooking when the baby comes.  Same thing, right?  She’s too cute. 🙂

I’ll have some pictures to post soon on my most recent projects, but you’ll just have to wait for pictures. 😛

So THAT’S Why I Majored in English….

I had my first English class of the semester tonight and I feel completely relieved. 🙂

When last semester ended, I was seriously questioning why I had majored in English.  I was burned out, and fed up with school.  So I opted to take a philosophy class over the summer and opted to use up 2 gen ed classes on non English credits this fall semester.  I had those two classes yesterday and I was completely ready to just drop out of school by the end of them.

My sociology class is dealing with urban issues and social constructs, while my political science class is an introduction to international relations.  I thought they would both be useful for whenever Jeremy and I move abroad.
But….
They. Are. So. Dry.
I assumed it was me and I was still feeling like I was feeling at the end of spring semester.  Until I got to my Modern American Literature class tonight.  I had to drive out to Schaumburg — a 45 minute drive on a good day– so I was already in a bad mood about it.  But once class began and we started to discuss the wonderful world of literature, I was reminded why I chose this major: I Love Books.  Its not even just the reading of them (although that obviously plays a big part).  Its the way they fit into history, the way they are history.  Its the feel of a book in your hand.  Its the act of interpreting what an author could mean.  Its debating the pros and cons of certain authors.  The act of immersing yourself into a story the way you might immerse yourself into a pool of water (or a bathtub 😉 ).  The act of understanding characters and letting them become a part of you briefly.   The reasons I love what I do are endless and ongoing.  As books will always continue to be written and the way you can interpret them are limitless,  my eduction is also limitless.

Does this have any practicality in the real world you might ask?  I’m still working on that one… 😉

Tomorrow: Creative Writing.  Delicious.

Alsoooooooo, I started my first sweater today.  NO FROGGING THIS ONE!  I used my Eco Wool that I bought during the Chicago Yarn Crawl with Christine.   I think its going to be super comfy.  Or rather, I hope its going to be super comfy. 😉

Love Vandals

I have a guilty pleasure to admit to.  As much as I love reading people.com, I think I might enjoy reading the Frisky even more…
While absentmindedly skimming it yesterday, I came across a page called “Love Vandal” and it brought out the sappy, hopeless romantic in me for a few minutes… 😉

Here are a few of my favorites for your viewing pleasure…

"I want to know what sets your heart on fire so I can be all that and more. I love you."

Love Banksy's work. There's some in Chicago as well... We'll save that for another post though as its not quite romantic enough 😉

=)

❤

I think I take that last one a little too much to heart sometimes…  😉

Night!

She’s a man, Baby!

I. Smell. Like. A. Man… Baby… 😉

Let me explain before your mind starts to run wild with the crazy ideas that I’m more than capable of.  I haven’t been hanging out in a gentleman’s club, not gone on any hot dates, nor am I exploring the possibility of a gender change (Kudos to you if you’ve been doing any of those, though 😉 ).

Alas, I’ve finally tried my black tea flavored bath dough.  Its great! – for your dad, boyfriend, son, brother, etc.  Not so much for me.  I’ll stick to my pink grapefruit.
Being the tea lover that I am, I thought for sure a black tea scent would be fabulous.  I’ll stick to sipping my peach tea (which I bought in Beijing and am currently out of, curses!).

I’ve been drinking a lot of jasmine tea lately until I find a replacement peach tea.  Every time I drink it,  I’m instantly transported back to Beijing and Xi’an, where jasmine tea was present at every. single. meal.  Sans sugar of course, which forced me to become a fan of unsweetened tea..  Since I hated Beijing, I like to focus on Xi’an.  Such a beautiful city.

Flowers get me every time...

Anywho, the summer is half over and I have no idea what I’ve been doing with myself…  Reading a lot.  Class.  Work.  Being lame.  I’ll work on changing that and get back to you.  😉

Night!

Speaking of Webster’s Dictionary…

This post will probably only make sense to and amuse a handful of people, but just go with it.

I went to China this past March with a group from my university.  It was an amazing trip.  Everything about it was fantastic.  I cannot wait to go back and I completely recommend it to everyone.
BUT.  We had a tour guide in Beijing –Eddy… Oh, Eddy…  He LOVED the word “auspicious.”  And when I say “LOVED”  I really mean LOVED.  Everything was auspicious.  The mountain, the lake, the tree, the sculpture, the tomb, the black birds, the cherry tree, the rock, his beloved crabapple tree… You get the idea.  My best friend, Christine, and I got so confused by his use of the word that we had to go back to our hotel room and look it up just to make sure we weren’t crazy.  We weren’t.  And techically, the use of the word is a completely matter of opinion.

Then yesterday, I got an email from Christine who subscribes to Webster’s Word of the Day emails (another brilliant idea that I am also subscribing to).  What was Saturday’s word?  AUSPICIOUS.  Fabulous.  It even had this lovely little fact about the word:

“”Auspicious” comes from Latin “auspex,” which literally means “bird seer” (from the words “avis,” meaning “bird,” and “specere,” meaning “to look”). In ancient Rome, these “bird seers” were priests, or augurs, who studied the flight and feeding patterns of birds, then delivered prophecies based on their observations. The right combination of bird behavior indicated favorable conditions, but the wrong patterns spelled trouble. The English noun “auspice,” which originally referred to this practice of observing birds to discover omens, also comes from Latin “auspex.” Today, the plural form “auspices” is often used with the meaning “kindly patronage and guidance.””

Oh Eddy…