5 Things Friday

Oh Friday...  You are my favorite.  Honestly, Friday evenings are my favorite part of the week.  I think it stems back to my childhood.  Every other Friday night, when my siblings were with their other parents, my parents would take me out to dinner and then we would maybe go to a movie or go home and I'd spend the next 2 hours enjoying TGIF without my brothers or sister bugging me.

For some reason, I also remember doing puzzles while watching TGIF.  I don't know.  Specifically, this one:

{Found HERE}

This evening, we will be at a dog show.  It's pretty much the last one we will do until later this year, so we are hoping Cotton gets some points.

In honor of my love for Fridays, here's this week's 5 random things.


1.  I finally started going back to spin class.  I went to my first class two weeks ago and was thrilled that I didn't die.  It was my first time at a spin class since Labor Day 2012.  I knew it would be painful and it did not disappoint.  So when my coworker/friend asked me to go to a class last weekend, I said, "SURE!"  It was her first class in a while too, so I figured we could be in pain together.

About halfway through the class, I can feel that my face is matching my bright pink workout shirt.  Huffing and puffing, I glance over at my friend, thinking she will also reflect the physical agony I was experiencing.

Nope.

She barely looks like she has been exhorting herself, aside from a tiny bit of sweat at her temples.

Oh well... at least I survived again.  And my fingers are crossed that in the next couple of classes or so, my butt will adjust to the bike seat.  Ouch.



2.  I made tilapia for dinner last night because it was something I knew Henry would eat.  Boy loves his fish.  I felt confident he would easily eat an entire filet like he did last week.

Nope.

Wanted nothing to do with it.  He would, however, eat the pasta I made last week that he wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole.

Keeping me on my toes, that's for sure.



3.  In case you were wondering what Cotton thinks about getting his hair blown dry, I think it is pretty clear:

He was thrilled.  As always.

He really needs to win some points this weekend because I am a little tired of blow drying my dog.



4.  It is really hard to be a baby.  It's also really hard to go bra shopping with your mom.  At least Henry thinks so.

He stayed asleep as I took him out of his carseat, brought him inside, and put him on the floor.  Then he slept for another 15 minutes while I got his dinner ready.  Poor baby.



5.  You know I like to talk about my underwear (see HERE and HERE).  The topic of underwear came up the other day with a friend and she mentioned that she wanted to get a set of panties all black that could be worn during a certain time of the month.  I thought that was brilliant!  Honestly, I wear black pants or jeans almost always anyway, so black panties would really be appropriate.  I stole the idea and bought a set of black underwear while Henry and I were bra shopping.  When I told the sales clerk the black pantie idea, she thought it was brilliant  I'm thinking it will be the next big thing.

Not that I didn't have black underwear already.  It just happens to say, "GIMME YOUR CANDY" across the butt.  No joke.

5 Things Friday

Blog silence, once again.  I could give a plethora of reasons, but I will resist.  Nobody cares about my laziness.   I thought I would throw together a quick list of random things.  Hopefully it won't sound too snarky, but I'm going to be honest... it's raining outside and I got approximately zero sleep between massive attempts to roll myself over (lack of blogging excuse number 1).  Round Ligament pain... I HATE YOU.



1.  I had my 36 week doctor's appointment on Wednesday (even though I'm not techincally 36 weeks until tomorrow).  I was a little more nervous for the "exam" than I probably should have been and it wasn't as bad as my anxiety-filled mind had made it out to be.  When I shared my fears about the discomfort of the exam with my doctor, she said, "It won't be as uncomfortable as labor."  Touche.  Anyway, without divulging too much information for the world to see regarding my cervix, I will just say this... things are heading in the labor direction.  And it was amazing to me how excited, frustrated, anxious, and disappointed I was with my progress all at the same time.  And it isn't like any of it really matters.  It doesn't make a difference.  He will come when he comes.

But news that my body was getting things moving kind of sent me into overdrive about getting the house ready (lack of blogging excuse number 2).  I did manage to get all of the baby's clothes and blankets washed, organized, and put away.  I also am 40% of the way done prepping the cloth diapers (they have to be washed at least 5 times before they are used).  And I have everything I need washed and set aside to pack my hospital stuff.

2.  Along the same lines, the nursery is SO CLOSE to being done.  I only have 2 more changing pad covers to make and to hang stuff up on the walls.  I think Phil and I are hoping to get that finished this weekend.

3.  As an engineer (in Oregon), I work with A LOT of men.  Currently, about half of the men in my office have become very vocal about how little sleep they are getting.  Get this... one of them only got 5 and a half straight hours of sleep last night before he woke up and then fell back asleep a little while later.  SERIOUSLY?!?!  Between my thyroid and pregnancy, I haven't slept for more than 4 hours at a time in over a year.  This morning, I had had it.  I called them all whiners.  And one of them actually said to me, "You just wait.  Your time is coming."  Excuse me?  What about being 9 months pregnant says rested to you?

Another man I work with came up to me and said, "Wow!  You look REALLY pregnant."  Well since I AM really pregnant, I suppose this is a good thing.  At least he doesn't think I'm faking it.  But needless to say I didn't find this comment helpful.

On the flip side, the grumpy old man I used to share an office with came up to me and complimented me on how well I have done being pregnant and how little I have complained.  Kind of brought a smile to my face.

4.  I probably shouldn't admit how excited I am that the trailer for Catching Fire is out now.  A professional adult really should not admit these things.  I should also not admit that while I am excited, I am not as excited as I was for the Harry Potter movies.  Yeah... I'm a dork.  Did you not read that I'm an engineer?  It's implied.  I promise I'm not into LARPING.

In all seriousness, there is a group of people who larp at a park right by our house.  Every time Phil and I drive by, we kind of creepily slow down to catch a glimpse because you can't NOT LOOK.

5.  Here's a list of things I am looking forward to for after the baby is born (other than the obvious of meeting and snuggling my baby):

-  Alcohol
-  Sushi
-  Caffeine
-  Alcohol
-  Sandwiches
-  Alcohol
-  Frozen Yogurt
-  Alcohol
-  Sleeping on my stomach
-  Alcohol
-  Not feeling like a whale

And now that everyone thinks I'm an alcoholic, I will stop the list there.  I promise I am not.  There's something about being told you can't have something that just really makes you want to have it.  The same thing happened on the low-iodine diet.  The only difference was that then I was allowed alcohol, but denied cheese.  If you think lusting after same wine is weird, try lusting after cheese.  Is it better to feel like an alcoholic or a kid breaking out of fat camp?  I'm not sure.


This post probably shouldn't be posted.  Oh well...

Mid-Week Randomness

I've had even more blog silence than I normally do the last couple of days.  Honestly, we spent the weekend staying home, away from the ever-growing amount of sick people.  Phil and I each had a list of things we needed to get done.  His included one nursery project and some work.  My "list" involved reading a book for our Bradley class.

I made it through the book.  But that is hardly anything to blog about.  BELIEVE ME.  It was one of those books that was twice as long as it needed to be.  Similar to Twilight, in my opinion.  It's actually a book for the husbands to read, but Phil is so crazy busy right now, he doesn't have the time.  So basically, I read it, told him some things I was reading and then pointed out the 2 chapters I felt were really important that he should read.

Nesting is really starting to descend upon me.  This is evident by the fact that I have cleaned the bath tub more times in the last 3 weeks than I did in the last 3 months, the laundry is all caught up and folded, and I'm having a really strong urge to scrub (by hard) all non-carpeted surfaces.

I've been fighting the urge to nest because I feel like one of the best defenses against getting sick is to rest and drink as many fluids as I can stand.  So far, this is working for me.  I thought a lot of people were sick last week, but it only got worse as the days progressed.  Barely anyone in my office is healthy at the moment.  I feel doomed.  It's likely to strike at the worst possible moment (like right before my baby shower or my maternity pictures or something).

Wish me luck staying healthy!

Ants

{This picture has nothing to do with this post, but I figured it needed a picture 

and I think it is funny that Cotton thinks he is a cat}

They are EVERYWHERE.

All over my desk.  No joke, I have probably already killed at least 50 of them and the day isn't even half over.

During the last week, my desk has become infested with tiny little ants.  I'm told it is because my desk is next to an exterior building wall.  I know it isn't because I keep food on my desk, because I don't.

I hate ants.  Actually I hate ALL bugs.  You get Lyme Disease, then horrible spider bites that turn into months of rashes that require steroids to go away, and then another spider bite that turns into a pseudolymphoma that had to be surgically excised and we will see how you feel about bugs.  Even though I know ants are fairly benign, the idea of something small, creepy, and crawly on me makes me want to vomit... A LOT.

I didn't used to be so afraid of bugs.  I prided myself on being fairly independent and able to kill all my own spiders.  Now the sight of a spider makes me want to cry.  I'm not exaggerating.  Remember... LYME DISEASE (which isn't from spiders, but whatever).

If I find an ant on me at any point during the day, I'm going to have to throw a monster size tantrum and go home.

It doesn't help that I have a massive case of the Mondays.  I'm partially bitter because it is a federal holiday and I am working.  I get like this every paid holiday teachers and state/federal workers have that I do not.  One of the joys of working in the private sector.

I also blame my case of the Mondays on the fact that I was up late last night.  We had our Bradley class which included a rather lively discussion about vaccines.  Second to the conversation on circumcision, this was the most riled up the class has gotten.  I was pretty proud of Phil for keeping quiet during the whole discussion.  Being that he is studying toxicology, he knows more about vaccines that I ever care to know.  The conversation got a little one-sided and not fact based, but Phil managed to not say anything which is always best in those situations.  Those are debates you never end up winning.

Anyway, after that class (aka hippy natural birthing class) we went to dinner at a very yummy little restaurant (which also happened to be vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free friendly aka hippy restaurant).  And because we were feeling a little too granola-ish, we stopped at Wal-Mart.  Walking contradictions.

I must admit, I hate Wal-Mart.  My inner cheapskate fights with my inner hippy every time I go in there.  But we needed something that we could ONLY get at Wal-Mart so it was a necessity.

Anyway... the moral of the story is that we got home late and then it took me a while to wind down and relax for the evening which means I'm tired.

And NO ONE is still reading this because it is the longest rambling post about nothing ever so I will just stop.  At least the Bachelor is on tonight.  :)

The Weekend

Well... it's Monday again.  And this weekend proved to be just as short as any of them.  I thought I'd share a little of what we did as well as some random thoughts I have been having.

Saturday night, we found these:

Leading from the back door.  Taylor, of course, is a saint and ALWAYS waits to have her feet wiped before coming inside.  Cotton hasn't learned such patience.  He apparently has also not learned that he shouldn't dig in the backyard, since that is what caused his paws to be so muddy.

{Yes, one of our shower curtains is a map of the world.  It has all the countries AND their capitols.  

It is functional and educational}

He was so ashamed of himself, it was hard to scold him.  We were kind of cracking up laughing while trying to say in a stern, serious voice, "No digging!"  I'm sure the message came across loud and clear.  So far, Cotton is teaching Phil and I that as long as our kids are fine at being laughed at, our parenting skills will be top notch.

After we cleaned up the pup and the kitchen floor, we headed out for some ice cream.  Because nothing says DECEMBER and FREEZING COLD OUTSIDE and IT'S RAINING like ice cream.

And what goes together better than Candy Cane ice cream and Cookies and Cream?  Nothing I tell you.

How did I convince my husband to go out in the freezing cold and rain to get ice cream?  Well, the random crying fit in the afternoon about absolutely nothing at all helped.  I think you can officially say I'm a touch on the moody side.

Sunday at church it was time for the Children's combined Christmas program.  It was a combination of the choir, the high school youth group and the elementary kids that included a skit with the usual nativity scene.  Let me start off by saying one of my LEAST favorite things in church... skits.  Mediocre acting does very little for me.  Last year, the skit included the adult actors and they played couples at a Christmas party.  But the people in the couples weren't couples in real-life.  So I got pretty skeeved out when one of the men put his arm around his "wife" for the closing Christmas carol.  Except it wasn't his actual wife.  This is church, people... You don't need to get that into it.

Anyway... it really isn't the best idea for a hormonal formally infertile pregnant woman to watch the children's nativity.  When they brought out the 4-year-old in the sheep hats, I almost lost it.  And I REALLY almost lost it when a 6-year-old boy sang a song called "Happy Birthday, Jesus" (not the birthday song) PERFECTLY on cue in the sweetest little boy voice I have EVER heard.

Even thinking about it now makes me want to cry.

MOVING ON...

We finished off Sunday night by going to the Blazer game.  And they won!

If you are thinking to yourself, "Man... those are good seats..."  I would have to reply "HECK YES THEY ARE!!!"

And then to bring us back to reality this morning, Cotton pooped at the top of the stairs.

Happy Monday!!  I kind of want to sleep until Wednesday when we have our next ultrasound!!  And I'm doing my best to not be bitter that other pregnant bloggers who have practically the same due date as me have ALREADY had their ultrasounds.  It's going really well.  Not really.

Don't forget to VOTE!!  --------------->  BOY or GIRL?

Flexing Asians, Vodka, and Quickening

So far, today has been a weird one.

I can definitely say that the pregnancy dreams are in full force.  Unfortunately, Phil's student schedule has us on slightly different sleepy patterns, so he isn't awake in the morning for me to share the strange and sometimes concerning things my mind comes up with.  But maybe that is a good thing.

Like maybe it is a good thing I couldn't share the dream I had last night where two skrawny (not sure how you spell that?) Asian women who didn't speak English were flexing for Phil while our friends, who never play games that don't involve ping pong balls and beer, played a board game I have never actually seen in real life. And for some reason in my dream, every time Phil bent over (which seemed to be a lot) he pulled down his pants in the back, completely exposing his butt.  And then when he stood back up, his boxers had... bunched in a way that made them look like bikini briefs.  And they were leopard.  And this was done all in front of our friends playing the weird board game.

Apparently my role in the dream was merely to observe.

I didn't get to tell him that one.

Then, in my hurry to get out the door and get to work on time (which I was on track to do), I reached into the freezer for an ice pack for my lunch when an almost full bottle of vodka fell out of the freezer and smashed all over the floor.

Phil then woke up, came down stairs and became my knight in shining armor by cleaning the whole thing up so I could get to work.  This was after we discussed how thoroughly the floor needed to be cleaned so that Cotton wouldn't spend all morning licking it and get drunk.  I was 15 minutes late.

At least the floor is disinfected by Stoly.  A little more expensive floor cleaner than Lysol.  Sometimes, that's how we Janney's roll.

And finally, to complete the randomness that is this morning, I have been spending the last ten minutes having a mental pleading session with Baby Janney.  I don't know what the heck "quickening" really is and I know it is still a little early to be feeling it, but if Baby Janney could just make me feel it's movement I would really appreciate it!

I'm actually pretty sure I've felt it already, I just haven't realized that's what it is.

This was a weird blog post.  Now go secure the alcohol in your freezer!

Just Tuesday?

Here's my question for you...

Why is it only the middle of the day on Tuesday?

Does it feel like it should be later in the week to anyone other than me?  No?  Just me?  Alright whatever.

Honestly, it is made worse by the fact that I know that unless I want to watch election coverage all night long (I'll probably watch a little but not all night), there is NOTHING to watch on TV tonight.  It might be a good night for some Red Box.  We've already decided to get a veggie pizza, so a movie goes right with it, doesn't it?

I'm too tired to think about watching a movie tonight honestly.  My goal to get to 10,000 words last night was accomplished, but at the cost of about 2 more hours of sleep.  I wanted to go to bed at 8, but felt the need to write on!  It's probably all total crap and I would have been better served to just go to bed.

But at least now I am 20% of the way to 50,000 words!  :)  And I'm still barely into the meat of the novel.  My main character has just now been introduced to the plot.  So far it has been all back-story and sub-plot stuff.

Anyway...

Random thought for election day... Why is it illegal in some states to post pictures of your ballot?  If you have the right to vote and you have the right to talk about your vote, then why don't you have the right to take a picture of your vote?  Just curious.  What are these states trying to hide?  We could go old-school voting style and have everyone just right down the name they want.  Then we would all just be taking pictures of a blank piece of paper.

Ok I need to stop typing.

Happy Election Day!!  In case you wondered... I voted.  Technically I voted last week (thanks to Oregon's mail in ballots), so I won't need to go to the polls today.  And hopefully people don't start complaining when the political ads are replaced with Christmas ads because they TOTALLY will be.

Over and out.

Perspective

I've noticed a change in myself over the last year.  It has to do something with dealing with cancer.  It will change things for you.  And honestly, it is probably a lesson that everyone could stand to learn a littler earlier in life than most do.

Perspective.

Most people lack it.  And now I get a little annoyed when I see so many people who completely lack it.

I got really bothered by it this weekend when Phil and I were watching TV.  We were just looking for something to watch while we ate breakfast before church, so I turned on Tia & Tamera.  And after watching one of them freak out about Twitter not working properly and how "overwhelmed" she was with "work", I seriously wanted to scream.

So many times I read some blog posts or listen to my coworkers/family members/friends complain about what they have going on in their lives and it drives me nuts.  They talk about how stressed their are.  How much they have going on.  How they are busy.  But what they don't realize is how lucky and fortunate they are.  Often times, the things that cause "stress" are really just the blessings we take for granted.

Obviously this isn't always the case.  And I know life can be hard and overwhelming at times.  But I don't think until you go through something huge (cancer, infertility, a family member's illness, a death, legitimate financial struggles, etc.) do you really realize just how blessed your life really is.

My coworker was freaking out one afternoon about how she was going to get her son to football practice and her daughter to piano practice by herself when they were across town.  I mean she was really getting worked up about it.  And since I was in a particularly wonderful mood that day, I looked at her and said, "Oh to have your problems.  So what if you are late to one of them?  It's really not worth getting stressed out about."  And once I pointed that out to her, she calmed down and realized it really wasn't worth the stress.

And that's the thing.  I feel like so many people are losing sight of how wonderful and amazing their lives are by getting caught up and stressed out about the little, trivial things.  So please... do yourself and me a favor... the next time you find yourself getting stressed out about something, consider whether or not it is worth it.  Because most of the time, it's not.

Random Recap

I had topics planned for all of my posts this week and I only wrote 2 of them.  This wasn't exactly a "planned" post, but this week has been weird enough, that I was given enough crap to put together a random recap.  Lucky you.


-  Because I have "gotten" to have so many medical things done this year, I have also been given the privilege of paying a TON of medical bills.  Oh joy, I can sense your jealousy.  I had been putting off paying the last of them for a couple of months (just because I was tired of saying good-bye to my money), but finally starting getting scary letters so I had to do it.  I paid the LAST of them in August.  It was a painful and liberating experience.  But I was extremely miffed when I went through the mail the other day and found ANOTHER bill.  And I was especially upset when I noticed it was for a bill I had already paid!

So I called the company to sort this whole thing out.  I was prepped with my indignation, payment receipt, and credit card statement, but was caught extremely off guard when a breathy woman speaking very softly answered the phone.

Since I could barely hear her, I was really hoping that she would transfer me to someone else.  But as the conversation went on, I realized that this woman could also have doubled as a phone- youknowhwat operator.

It made it very uncomfortable when she said, "Mrs. Janney what can I do for you?"

She wasn't able to figure out my bill and promised to call me back this week.  I'm not looking forward to it.



-  As I mentioned earlier this week, my father-in-law will be starting oral chemotherapy for his Liver Cancer in the next week (hopefully).  As a part of the visit with the oncologist, they were given a great deal of information regarding the chemo, as well as advice and tips on dealing with probable side effects.  Because it is supposed to cause sores on the feet, it is recommended that patients receive a good pedicure prior to beginning treatment.  I believe the theory is that smoothing out the skin on the foot and moisturizing it will help minimize the sores.

Now that you have all vomited in your mouth, I will continue.

I'm sure it isn't a HUGE surprise to anyone that my 62 year-old, southern born and bred, engineer father-in-law isn't thrilled at the prospect of getting a pedicure.

Phil and I have decided we will be paying for and scheduling his pedicure for him.  It gives him fewer escape routes that way.



-  Cotton has decided he is part cat.

His new favorite perching spot is the window sill.  But he gets a little freaked out when he can't immediately get out of the curtains.



-  Phil knows I am a 5-year-old...

He packed extra candy in my lunch for me this week.  Gotta love that man.

Boring and Random

My blog numbers have been pretty low lately.  It OBVIOUSLY isn't my blog posts.  Those are all riveting.  They must have you on the edge of your seat, every single day I'm sure.  It was a little weird that I lost a blog follower the day I posted that I was cancer free.  Some people don't like me being healthy I guess.

I wasn't really sad about losing that one.

It could be because my life is a little on the boring side these days.  Fluctuating thyroid hormones aside, I pretty much hang out at home with my dogs and husband.  Should we chat about folding laundry?  Because that's what I did last night.

Oh and I ate a Popsicle.  It was delicious.

I'm also re-reading The Hunger Games whilst watching Friday Night Lights (TV show, not the movie).  I've got skillz.  And definitely don't have ADHD.

Since this post is already proving to be extremely random, I'll just keep it going.

I spend a great deal of time trying to rationalize getting a Pumpkin Spice Latte every single day.  Still working on that.

Thanks to listening (and singing along to) songs from the TV show SMASH, I find myself curious about Marilyn Monroe and thinking things like, "I wonder what she would look like if she were still alive?" and "Since she pretty much only like dating married men, it probably isn't a good thing she is still a role model to young girls."  When I judged a local Distinguished Young Womens' program last year, a lot of the girls listed her as a role model and then didn't know her real name.

Of course, when I judged a program this year several girls had Gandhi listed as historical personalities they admired.  Google Gandhi and look into how he chose to practice celibacy... it's weird.

I'm gonna end on that note.  Cause I really can't top that.

Random Recap

-  The comments you guys left yesterday were very nice.  Basically, you all are awesome.  The lesson I learned:  if you want lots of comments, talk about getting your woo-ha looked at.  That's all I have to say about that.

-  And my fear about my appointment on Wednesday is completely offset by my excitement about my appointment today.  Seriously... who gets excited about seeing the endocrinologist?

Me.  That's who.

But I think everyone can sympathize with having a less than steller experience at a doctor's office.  And since this is a doctor that controls how I feel, how my body functions, and helps make sure my cancer doesn't come back/catches it early, it is kind of an important doctor to like.

-  One more thing... this doctor will play a very large role in our ability to try to have a baby.  You read that right.  For some of us, it takes more than 2 people to make a baby.  Romantic, yes?  I figure I am doing my brother and sister-in-law a favor: when their kids ask where babies come from, they can honestly say with a straight face, "From the doctor."

-  Remember the woman with the bubbles last week?  I'm not even joking, a day later Phil and I saw a woman riding in a rascal scooter down the sidewalk reading.  As in she wasn't paying attention to where she was going, she was really into her book.

-  A man in Oregon just got treated for having the plague.  The plague?  I didn't even know that existed anymore.  You want to know how he got it?  He was bitten by a stray cat.  So now not only do you need to worry about rabies when you get bitten by a stray animal, you can toss the plague in there as well. (I'm officially afraid of your cats Shannon.)

-  I feel like a weirdo sometimes because I find myself praying for other bloggers, which are people that I don't know.  But then I realize that is one of the cool things about blogging... being there for someone when they need you, even if you don't know them.  Jesus would be proud.

-  I want to make THIS this weekend.  I bought the berries, so I'm ready.

-  Cotton went from 10:30 Wednesday night to 3:00 Thursday morning without peeing!  That means I got 4 whole hours of uninterupted sleep.  I feel like a new woman.

-  Karla asked me for things to do/see in Oregon (one of her friends is honeymooning out here) and after I gave her the list I realized how awesome Oregon is.  As if I needed to be reminded.  Here's a short list of what I came up with:

Oregon coast, Tillamook Cheese Factory, Seaside, The Pelican Pub, Breweries in Portland, Wine Tasting in the Newberg area, Willamette Valley Vineyards, Smith Rock, Bend, Sunriver, Multnomah Falls, Silver Falls, Shellburg Falls, Pittock mansion

There are so many more.  Like the Shakespeare Festival.  Lost Lake.  Ok I need to stop listing these things.

-  Speaking of Oregon, we finally got summer.  Only like a month and a half after the rest of the country, but whatever.  While my allergic-to-the-sun-super-white-pasty skin isn't happy about the gobs of sunscreen I have had to slather on, my Vitamin D levels are loving it.  And so is the rest of me.

-  Last but not least... Guess who got his first bath?

That's what happens when you urinate on yourself, just for the record.  I'll bathe you.  Please don't come over and pee on yourself.  It will be awkward.
Ok this has officially been the most boring random recap ever.  The pictures of Cotton totally saved it.

Random Recap

I've been wanting to do another random recap for a while now.  And I figured Follow Friday was the perfect excuse.  Here are a few random thoughts from the last week:

-  Yesterday morning I was driving to do a site inspection and I noticed I was driving through bubbles which seemed pretty odd.  Why were there bubbles on a major road?  A couple minutes later I was stopped at a light, a few cars back.  That is when I noticed an older woman (in her mid to late fifties) with a bubble gun.  And she was sticking it out the window to blow bubbles.  It was kind of weird, but whatever floats your boat I guess.

-  I read somewhere that the type of thyroid cancer I have and enlarged thyroids (goitars) can be caused by iodine deficiency.  I kind of buy that I wasn't getting enough iodine.  I never use salt and for a while there I didn't eat a balanced diet.  But one of the ways to keep the cancer from coming back is to get plenty of iodine.  I am taking this as an excuse to eat as much dairy as I want (since dairy is filthy with iodine).  Lattes, Root Bear Floats, Cheese... we are best friends now.  I'm going to be fat.

-  I have a very boring blog name I think.  But then again, I am not sure how some people come up with their blog names.  It seems like two random things mixed together sometimes.   Maybe I should rename the blog "Spider monkies and Tutus" or "Popsicles and Springtime".  I have no idea.  Those are probably already taken.  If you have a weird blog name, just please have an explanation of it in your ABOUT ME section.

-  We are on day 6 with Cotton and it has been a very interesting week.  I will write more about that later.  But I'll just say I have already lost like a pound simply from not having time to eat.  And also, I can apparantly operate on interupted sleep.  I think that is thanks to my thyroid meds.  There need to be some side effects to being hyperthyroid.

-  I'm going to make Phil t-shirts for his birthdays and Christmas from now on with different phrases on them.  He's hiding his enthusiasm, but I know deep down he is looking forward to it.  The first shirt will say "Bazinga".

-  I broke my dad's push lawn mower earlier this week.  I think I am going to be grounded.

-  I think there were some pros and cons to the 4th of July being on a Wednesday.  On the upside, I LOVED only have to work 2 days before getting a day off.  It broke up the week quite nicely.  On the downside, I have been very confused all day about what day it is.  Yesterday I kept thinking I would be watching The Bachelorette all day.

-  And speaking of the 4th of July, I did NOT appreciate the fact that ALL OF MY NEIGHBORS were setting off illegal fireworks.  And neither did my dogs.  They are all on my list.

-  To finish off this random recap, here's a random picture of Cotton:

Melt my heart.

Skin Check CHECK

Yesterday morning I had my annual skin check.

Since I haven't had the best experiences at the doctors office this past year, I have some anxiety about these "checks".  After all, the whole point of them is to make sure you don't have anything wrong with you.

Last year, it was the whole bug bite turned "we don't think its lymphoma" saga.  That was right before the nodule was found.

This year I wanted to make sure he knew about all my moles.  And that included one on my boob.  So I got to flash my dermatologist.  Good times.

And nothing says GOOD MORNING like having someone look between your butt cheeks.

Once again, I had the important decision of what underwear to wear.  Very important decision.  Here's what I had to pick between this time:

Option #1:  Black underwear that says "Hello There" across the butt.

Option #2:  Underwear with blue whales on them.

Option #3:  Grey boyshorts with neon pink polka dots.


Here's what I have really learned... I have the underwear selection of a 17 year-old.

Dude, Where's Your Car?

Only in Oregon...

Home of weird Portlanders, tons of organic food, birkenstocks, granola eaters, and a consistent blue state...

Can you see this in the parking lot:

I sent this picture to Phil and a ton of obvious jokes came out:

- I almost didn't see it!

- Do you think he gets rear-ended a lot?  Cause you know... no one sees him brake.

- Phil said he was glad I didn't try to park in his spot. (Cause it looked like it was open.)


Shockingly enough their NRA sticker was very visible.  :)

Coffeeshop

There's a coffeeshop I like to go to on the weekends.  They have kick-ass lattes and a pretentious environment I find oddly conducive to writing.  Phil wanted to go fishing on Sunday and I had couple of hours to spare before I went to Danielle's house to make freezer jam, so I headed to the coffeeshop to do a little writing.

At the table next to me (and the outlet for my computer) were two married couples.  For over an hour, they had (at full volume) conversations about their kids, the economy, their church (and the possible real estate purchase the church was hoping to make), and managing wills. 

But what struck me the oddest about the conversation was that one of the husbands never let his wife finish a sentence.  Not only did he not let her finish a sentence, every time he interrupted her he changed the subject.  EVERY TIME.  He needed to just keep hush for a second and let his wife talk.

Yes, I eavesdrop on conversations.  If you are going to talk at a normal volume, I'm going to listen.

Right before they left, a little old man sat at another table next to me.  There was the CUTEST English bulldog puppy outside and we were both looking at him.  The old man started talking to me about the puppy.  Apparently he used to raise Dalmatians.  Then he talked about about his 2 dogs.  One of them was hit by a car last year and had to be in a cast. 

So I started talking to him about the puppies and about Taylor.  Then with a sad and honest expression, he told me that his dogs were all he had.  And that they were what kept him going.  We talked about dogs a little bit more and then he got ready to leave.  Before he left he thanked me for talking with him.  He said he really needed a little conversation.

Break my heart.

{Image from HERE}

What to do today?

Phil and I didn't have anything planned for today.  We woke up and said, "What are we going to do today?"  We had no idea.  Somehow we managed to fill it and have one of the most productive days we have had in a LONG time.

Here's what we did:
-  Went to the Saturday Market with my mom and picked up 2 tomato plants and cheap yummy veggies to make a salad.
-  Grocery shopping.  We stopped to pick up 3 things and ended up getting all of our shopping for the week done and our menu planned for the week.
-  Instead of just putting the groceries away, Phil decided the refridgerator needed to be COMPLETELY cleaned out.  That included getting rid of old condiments and all the leftover food from my diet.  Then he put his chemist cleaning skills to the test and de-germified it.  Now it looks empty.  And wonderful.

{It looks empty but it is has enough food for the week.  And yes that is chocolate milk on the side of the picture.  Chocolate milk and yogurt are the only way I can Phil to eat dairy.}

-  I decided to make THESE cookies that Erin made the other day.  The recipe says it yields 72 cookies.  Cause that's what Phil and I need... 6 dozen chocolate chip cookies.  I made them a little small and ended up making 99.  I'll be taking some of them to work.  They are really good.  Like REALLY good.

{So many cookies}

-  Then I vacuumed and oiled the kitchen island.  And washed dishes.  And ended the war in Afghanistan.  Ok maybe I didn't do ALL of those things.  Try and guess which one.
And now we are taking it easy until we head out for a date tonight at the Drive-in.  We will be watching Snow White and the Huntsman.  I know Phil is super excited.  Everytime I think of going to the drive-in, I have to supress the urge to belt out "Sandy" from Grease in the area in front of the screen.

It's a little low for my range, so I try to compensate by REALLY belting it out.  I like to get into it.

But I should probably try to not do my Drive-in performance.  At least not if I want Phil to take me to the drive-in in the future.  And not be committed.

Random Recap

I put together a list of random thoughts from this week.  I figure it is better than another post where I talk about my feelings.  We'll save that for Monday.  :)  Meanwhile, my husband is earning points toward his Saint-hood left and right.  I can't even tell you what last night's cry-fest was about.  Oh... thyroid hormones.

{Another picture from my walk with Taylor yesterday.}

- Facebook has really just turned into a place to announce pregnancy.  EVERY DAY someone is either announcing they are pregnant or having a baby.  The next person to announce they are pregnant on Facebook is getting de-friended.  I mean business, people.

-  Speaking of which, I am working on three baby blankets right now.  Now that my radioactivity has dropped, I feel like it is safe for me to work on baby-related craft projects.  These people and their babies better love these dang blankets.  If they don't, I want them back.

-  Dawson's Creek is on Netflix now.  It is awesome in a ridiculous kind of way.  It is made even better since I have been reading Suri's Burn Book.

-  I need to find a support group for my addiction to Cherry 7Up.  It is getting out of hand.

-  Sometimes I wish I could post more about my job and working with relatives.  But really I can't.  Being a business owner means I have to keep things on the down-low sometimes.  Let's just say that this week I have discovered that what I like to call "Man Logic" is alive and well.  And it is kind of dumb.  Because that $h!t wouldn't fly with any woman anywhere.

-  I read a post yesterday that gave health and fitness advice to ward off diseases like cancer and infertility.  I love the implication that I made myself sick.  Just because you are lucky enough to be healthy doesn't mean that you do anything special that I don't.  And that post isn't the first time that implication has been made.  Next time someone implies that to my face, they may get a verbal bitch slap.

-  Phil refuses to read the Harry Potter books, but he loves it when I read them to him.  So we are starting at the beginning.  But since my reading voice is so soothing, we fall asleep about 3 minutes after I begin reading.  In 2 weeks of reading, we have made it to Chapter 2.  It might take us a while to finish all 7 books.

-  I really stuck my foot in my mouth at work yesterday with one of my coworkers.  I basically implied that she was too old to have babies.  It was an accident and she was a good sport about it.  But it had been a while since I REALLY dug myself a hole.  Here's an example of one of the BEST foot in mouth moments I have ever had:

I was at a city hall for a meeting with one of our clients.  This building happens to be an open air, concrete building.  In Oregon.  And it happened to be raining that day (surprise).  So we were standing in the open hair hall, freezing our behinds off.

Me:  Man it's cold.  I hate this building.

Client:  Oh yeah?

Me:  Yeah.  I mean who would design an open air building in Oregon like this?

Client:  My father.

Turns out his dad was an architect and actually designed city hall.  Of course.  He likes to tell people that story.  Eventually I will learn to just STOP TALKING.

{Baby grapes}

My rant at Nicholas Sparks

The other night I turned to Phil and said, "Hey remember when I was funny?"

He turned and looked at me with a side-eye and said, "Yeah..."

"That was nice, huh?  Hopefully I will be funny again."

His reply was, "Well, life hasn't been that funny lately."

"True that."


Between the low-iodine diet, the RAGING hypothyroidism, Phil's dissertation and research, and his dad's Liver Cancer, life just hasn't been funny these days.  But I think that is ok.  Life isn't always funny.  The depths of our sorrows are offset by the heights of our joy.  And I find that I am so overly excited about the joy part.  I know it is coming (I hope).  Fall and Winter are needed before Spring and Summer.

I've gotten some new followers over the last couple of months (Hi New Followers!) and sometimes I seriously wonder why you all keep stopping by here.  I kind of think it might be the train-wreck effect.  Everyone loves a good drama now and then and as long as it isn't happening to you, it is ok.  I think that is why Nicholas Sparks is able to keep selling books, because let's be honest... they are all the same*.  Something tragic happens to someone, most likely in North Carolina, and then they find love again.  And then they die (Message in a Bottle, I will never forgive you for that one).

Case and point:

{image found HERE.  I tried to find the original source, but it was buried on tumblr so I gave up.}

4 different Nicholas Sparks books-turned-movies with the EXACT same scene.

I am really terrified my life is a Nicholas Sparks novel.  I don't want to be the set-up for Phil to become the next Nicholas Sparks protagonist.

I should seriously get off this topic.  Phil will read this and tell me how dumb it is to be worried about our life turning into a piece of fiction. (Phil agrees with that statement)  I blame his [Nicholas Spark's] latest movie trailer.

By the way, I know that isn't why you read my blog.  You are wonderful people and I really appreciate all of your support and care.

Ok... topic change.

Since I have felt like GARBAGE lately, the funny things that I DO say aren't really appropriate for the internet.  This is partially because my swearing has gone THROUGH the roof.  It is out of control.  And it is partially the things that I say.  For example:

When the neighbor kids were standing RIGHT next to our windows (like in between the bushes and the windows), I turned to Phil and said, "How have these kids not be kidnapped?"  I wasn't allowed to play in my own front yard as a child.  My mom would had DIED if I was playing in a stranger's yard.

So yeah.  Today is my first day back on my thyroid medicine!!  Can you hear the angels singing?  :)  It is so wonderful to know that this is the worst I should feel for a while.  I know it will take a while for the hormones to build back up in my system, but they are headed in the right direction.

I apologize that this has been totally random.  Eventually I will be able to focus again for longer than my 4-year old nephew.


*I have read like 8 Nicholas Sparks books, so I feel like I can say this with some authority.

Lethargic and Random

My medically induced hypothyroidism is really starting to take the wind out of my sails.  I am really surprised at how I feel, actually.  I thought I would feel sick.  Kind of like I had the flu or something.  But it isn't really like that at all.

It is just this overwhelming lethargy (mixed with lots of other lovely symptoms).  Getting myself to do the smallest and most important things takes a HUGE pep talk from myself.  The day of the popcorn incident, it took my an hour to eat a banana.  And I was starving.  And then last night, I had to pee for like an hour and a half and just couldn't make myself get up and go.

It has to be getting on my husband's nerves.  Thankfully, I married up and he has been SO WONDERFUL with me this week.  Last night I was in bed and Phil was downstairs (I've been giving him some alone time to help him keep his sanity) and I started getting a headache.  There was no way I could get up and get my own Tylenol and I didn't have the energy to yell at him.  So I sent him a text message.

That's how we roll.

For those of you keeping track, I go in for my RAI treatment (or what I call "Thyroid Cancer Prison") next Tuesday.  I don't know how long I will be held hostage kept in the hospital.  It depends on how quickly the radiation levels drop.  Could be a day.  Could be 4 days.  We will see.  I started thinking that I should have been a little more proactive in planning my absence from the world, maybe arranged for some guest posts.  But I am pretty sure it is too late now.  Plus that would require energy to plan and organize it which I do not have.

I would have asked Grace from Camp Patton, since she has had Thyroid Cancer and been through all this jazz.  Although I don't think she whined about it, unlike me.

I would have had Tegan from EnLove with Life do a post since she and I are real life friends.

{Proof.  Tegan was in my bridal party.  And man... my friends are good lookin'}

I probably would have asked Jes from Two Smuppies.  We "met" through Tegan and I have determined that we are best friends, even if Jes doesn't agree (which she does).

But I didn't do any of that.  My bad.  You can always go read their blogs in my absence since they are all funny ladies.  However, it is my intention to plan ahead (a little) and post anyway.  I just won't be able to put the links one Facebook and Twitter.

This post had no purpose.  I'm honestly shocked I had the energy to write this much.  I should probably stop now.

Tuesday's Thoughts

I had a pretty darn busy day at work.  By 3:30 in the afternoon, my brain was shutting down.  But I did manage to compile a list of my thoughts for the day today.  Enjoy!

{Part of my recent work.  Hydrographs and more coloring.}

-  On my way to work this morning, I drove past a Christmas tree shoved into someone's yard debris can (we have multiple types of garbage cans here in the Pacific NW.  Not recycling will likely get you flogged by an angry group of liberals wearing flannel and birkenstocks beating you with organic sustainably grown wood sticks also known as their "Occupy Portland" protest signs).  I am just glad our neighborhood is finally undecorating from Christmas.  Maybe everyone will take down their Christmas lights now.  *cough* 2 next door neighbors *cough*

-  Have you heard who will be on the new season of Dancing with the Stars?  Urkel, an NFL player, a tennis player, Sherry Shepard, a couple other "celebrities" I don't know, and Gavin DeGraw.  Gavin DeGraw?!?  I would think if you had a Top 20 single you would be a little above DWTS.  I'm sure his agent suggested this as publicity for his new album, but seriously... the guy better be able to dance or I'm guessing his record scales will drop considerably.

-  The Bachelor.  We all know Ben is going to pick Courtney.  He is a nerdy wine maker and she is a model.  Isn't this season just a reality show version of Revenge of the Nerds?

-  A new study came out suggesting that using ectasy while pregnant might negatively affect the fetus.  The fact that this needed to even be studied is baffling but what really gets me is that someone decided this was a good use of research funds.  Even worse is that they found 96 women to participate in the study!  Seems like one stupid idea after another.

- A Virginian woman was fined a whopping $100 for faking cancer and raising money for herself.  If my memory is correct, this is like the 3rd person in the last 6 months that has gotten caught faking cancer and raising money for their "treatment."  I always thought people who did this were ridiculous.  It seems like horrible karma to extort money out of people by pretending to be sick.  It's like you are asking for it or something.  I am even more offended now that I going through my own cancer treatment.  Good thing that woman get that HUGE fine!  I'm sure she learned her lesson.

-  After several horrible experiences with my endocrinologist's office, I decided to head to my lab appointment with an open mind.  The last time I had to get my bloodwork done, they not only didn't have my appointment in the computer, they didn't have my lab order either.  The lab tech very plainly told me I needed to get it all straightened out.  So when I checked in at the lab this morning and they actually had my appointment on the schedule, I figured it was a good sign.  After waiting 10 minutes or so, a different lab tech told me my lab orders weren't in the computer.  Of course they weren't.  At least this time she volunteered to go get everything fixed for me.  She then proceeded to poke all the way through my vein, which made her have to dig around to get the blood out.  For 6 vials.  Good times.  Needless to say, my expectations for next week's appointment aren't super high.