A Day in the Life

In case you're wondering what my and Steve's life has been like recently:

Me:
6:20 AM- groggily kiss Steve goodbye. Go back to sleep.
7:15ish- decide it might be time to go to work. Roll out of bed, go across the hall, turn on computer.
7:30- Make breakfast.
7:35- Start a load of laundry.
8:00- Try not to throw up breakfast.
8:15- Throw up breakfast.
8:20- Stare at computer. Decide it's time to start working.
9:30- Snack time!
11:00- Nap time.
11:30 or 12:00, or whenever- Wake up. Try to motivate self to go back to work. In the next room.
12:00- Lunch!
12:15- Actually get some work done.
2:00- Snack!
3:30- Work day finally over. Consider taking a shower, but take a nap instead!
6:00- Get woken up by Steve, and dinner.
6:30- Sit on couch and complain about not feeling good.
7:00- Whine that I haven't left the house all day.
7:30- Decide I don't want to leave the house, because I would have to put pants on.
8:00- Snack time!
9:00- Get ready for bed. After all, it's been a long day.

Steve:
5:45- Wake up, get ready for work.
6:20- Kiss blob in bed goodbye.
6:30- Head off to work.
7:30- Start work, work really hard.
11:30- Break for lunch!
12:00- Continue to work hard.
4:30- Head home.
5:25- Deal with the moldy laundry in the washer that your wife forgot about.
5:35- Start making dinner.
6:00- Wake up blob in bed, tell her dinner is ready.
6:30- Do the dishes.
6:45- Fix broken stuff in the house.
7:15- Do some yard work.
8:00- Sit down, fold no longer moldy laundry.
8:15- Look at greasy blob on other side of the couch (formerly known as wife) and reconsider life choices.
8:30- Remind blob that life isn't that bad.
9:00- Finally get a moment of quiet. Watch a TV show where people die, or something (I'm asleep at this point, ok? I'm just not sure).
10:00- Go to bed. Hope tomorrow is better.

So really, I wrote this long post to say three things:

1. Growing a person is hard work.
2. You should be glad that you aren't Steve.
3. I seriously have the best husband EVER.

A Baby Story

So, I know this is old news, but I didn't want to post anything on the interwebz until I told my manager. And I didn't want to tell my manager until I made it through the first trimester, so I had to wait. Besides, writing things hasn't been at the top of my to do list. Sleeping, puking and thinking about unpacking boxes - those are at the top these days!

So anyway, yes, I got knocked up. Don't worry, it was by my husband. For anyone who was not aware, we had been doing fertility treatments since November of last year. But I was on Steve's insurance, and said insurance did not pay for these treatments. So after several really hard months (seriously, fertility treatments have to be one of the most difficult things in the world, both on your body AND your emotions), we decided to take some time off to go on vacation and focus on buying a house.

After we went on vacation, closed on our house and moved in, I went back to the doctor to get another prescription for another round of treatments and take a blood test to see if I had ovulated that month (another thing about fertility treatments - they make you REALLY comfortable talking about your reproductive system). I got a call when I was out of town that I hadn't ovulated, so I waited for my next cycle to start to the next round of meds.

I waited. And I waited. And I waited some more. Finally, on a Monday morning, I decided to take a pregnancy test. It was negative. Not a big deal, I take lots of pregnancy tests, and they have always been negative. So I threw it away and went to work.

All day at work, I felt SO sick. I went to Subway for lunch, and the meat in my sandwich tasted SO gross, I couldn't even finish it! I thought about how glad I was that I had taken the test that morning, or I would be thinking I was pregnant. I was so sick by the end of the day that I couldn't even think about making dinner. Even thinking about taking meat out of the freezer made me want to yammy.

All through the week I was so sick, and so tired, but I figured I had the stomach flu, or was stressed from the new house buying activities. But I kept thinking about that test in the garbage in the back of my mind. On Thursday, I was telling my mom about how sick I was and she told me it sounded like I was pregnant. I told her about the negative test, and we moved on. But when he hung up, I had the strongest feeling that I should go dig the test out of the trash. So I did it (is there anything grosser than bathroom trash??).

And the test was positive.

What????

What??

What?

I had no idea what to do. Could it just be positive because it was old? It had been sitting in my trash for four days. So I took another one.

And it was positive too.

What???

So yeah, I got knocked up. Without any meds, and apparently without ovulating that month (turns out, I ovulated two weeks late).

And that is my baby story.

PBS- supported by viewers like you!

I read an article yesterday (and for the life of me, I can’t remember where!) that encouraged the readers to PBS throughout the day

Pause
Breathe
Smile

I have been trying it, and it’s pretty impactful! It’s amazing how a little thing like that can make such a big difference! It’s also amazing how many times throughout the day I find myself holding my breath. Taking that second to breathe and smile really keeps me in tune with how I am feeling, and not so focused on all my ‘to dos’. Also, a lot of people ask why you are smiling, which is a great way to start a conversation, I think!

All of my Wildest Dreams Came True

It finally happened. The thing that I had been waiting for all my life.

I got a wheat grinder! It was the best day ever! When I first set it up, I didn't seal it correctly and flour went EVERYWHERE. I'm going to be finding flour in places where flour should never be... well, until we move...

But I figured out how to put it together correctly, and was able to grind cups and cups of delicious, fresh flour!! I decided to write a song for my wheat grinder.

(To the tune of O Christmas Tree, or O Tannenbaum, if that's how you roll)

Oh wheat grinder, Oh wheat grinder
Your flours are so lovely

Oh wheat grinder, Oh wheat grinder
Your flours are so lovely

You grind it up, so fresh and nice
It's full of nutrients, and not of lice

Oh wheat grinder, Oh wheat grinder
Your flours are so lovely!

Community Gardening

In my dream life, I am an expert gardener, and I grow tons of delicious veggies and then can them, so we can enjoy them year round.

Well, actually, in my dream life I have millions of dollars and pay people to do stuff like that for me, but that's never going to happen.

So in my realistic, possibly could happen dream life, I am an expert gardener, and I grow tons of delicious veggies and then can them, so we can enjoy them year round.

In reality, I kill plants. A lot of them. All the time. But I still really want to be a gardener! Lucky for me, our apartment has a community garden, and the person who runs it is a Master Gardener! So while I might end up killing all the plants, I still get to learn from someone who actually knows what they are doing!

Two weeks ago, I planted tomatoes (both cherry and regular), jalepenos, swiss chard, onions, and I left a spot for squash that will be planted in another month or so!

What does my new garden look like, you ask? Click here! My bed is the first one on the right. But don't worry, it has more plants in it now!

My husband is a genius

And not just because he married me! Actually, I have to say he is a genius in spite of marrying me. The fact that he hasn't tried to kill or divorce me kind of makes me worry about his mental health.

But I digress...

A few months ago I made a deal with my husband. I said if he would take over doing the laundry, I would do ALL the dishes. He hates dishes with a fiery passion, and I was hating laundry more and more everyday. This deal was what you call a Win-Win!

After a few weeks of laundry doing, it became clear that my method of folding (or stuffing them in the drawer) my shirts wasn't working for him. I explained that they got messed up anyway because when I was looking for a shirt, I had to dig to find the one I wanted.

So Steve, with his higher than average intelligence and spacial reasoning, implemented the filing method for my shirts. The picture might not look that impressive to you, but it is nothing short of a miracle that my shirts have been nearly folded for over two months!

So my marriage tip for the day is: play up your strengths! And also, try to marry someone much smarter than you!

Not So Extreme Couponing

One of my New Years Resolutions was to try extreme couponing. It seemed easy enough, you get the coupons, you buy stuff, it's cheaper. Simple, right?

Not so much.

There are about a million websites out there dedicated to coupons for a reason. It's complex! And time consuming. So while I'm not too extreme yet, I have seen some results.

First off, I get the Sunday paper for $1 a week, so if I save a dollar that week, I count it as good. So far I have saved more than that every week I have gone, so at least I am getting a return on investment. Some of my best deals so far:

• Free bottle of salad dressing. And it was the good stuff too!
• Box of whole wheat pasta for $.37.
• Two bags of peanut M&Ms for $.50 (we're talking full size bags here, not the single serving ones).
• Two boxes of baking soda for $.47.
• A dozen eggs for $.99 (ok this wasn't couponing, they are just on sale at Walgreens this week, but I never would have known that if I didn't coupon!).

I can see how people get addicted to it. It is super fun! And getting the best deals give you such a rush! I have already learned a lot, and I look forward to being much more 'extreme' in the future. So if you get a basket of toilet paper and toothpaste from me on your next birthday, don't be too surprised!!