Up

I was feeling a need for a crying session, so I watched Up. Yikes. Instead of a simple release, I got a major sobbing session. I pretty much cried off and on throughout the whole movie. I guess I needed it because I feel better now.

progress

In December, when we were optimistic that IVF would work, we painted the spare bedroom a nice gender-neutral shade of green. When science failed us, and that meant moving on to life without children, we had to decide what to do with that room. I didn't want it to just be a spare bedroom for guests because the idea of it sitting unused and having to walk by it was going to be too sad to bear. D has his "man cave" in the basement where he has a workbench to do all his gun work, so we decided that the spare room would be my "woman cave." It now has my oversized chair and ottoman, my bookshelves and books, and my sewing machine. I love it! It is incredibly cozy, and our two cats love it too. They might be in it more than I am!

We have also purchased a foosball table; I've wanted one since I was probably 12 years old when my uncle had one that we played on all the time. (Funny, I used to say I knew I wanted to have kids since I was 12, but owning a foosball table is something I can actually control.) Along with the foosball table, we are sort or reorganizing/redecorating the basement. It already had a pool table and a bar, and I bought D an electronic dart board for his birthday last year, and now we have the foosball table. Since it is quickly becoming the ultimate gaming room, we decided that buying some bookshelves to house all our board games would be a good idea, so that they are visible and not shoved in a closet somewhere. So once we have the shelves put together, we will be set.

It feels really good to be doing something together for our home, as a couple. The only thing that we've done together for us in the past two years is our vegetable garden (which did rather well considering that neither of us has ever been able to keep a houseplant alive!). All other energy was directed at making a baby. Now that that is over for us, we have all this spare energy to redirect. I'm just thankful that we are redirecting it at a project for both of us, and not sort of going our separate ways. I guess it feel like a reconnecting sort of thing.

babies!

In my friend group, there are a lot of recent babies. At the last cookout (all friends from my husband's group, you know, HIS friends from before we were married, my friends now too), there were three new moms (babies 7 months, 3 months, 1 month). I avoided them because the moms sort of isolated themselves in their mom club. The three moms sat on a blanket in the front yard with the babies, while everyone else was in the back yard playing the washer game and launching water balloons. Since I don't have the prerequisite to be in their club, I barely talked to any of them.

Last night, we hosted an impromptu poker night. The guys played poker in the basement, and the girls talked upstairs. Only one mom in the bunch, and she brought the baby. I held him and played with him, and it felt like old times when I ALWAYS wanted to hold and play with babies. I didn't even get sad when I had to give him back because while I can enjoy their cuteness, I can also focus on the hassle of all the crap that goes with bringing a baby anywhere. I counted two bags of stuff plus the carseat/baby carrier.

So I've learned that I CAN enjoy babies and even talking to the mom about mom stuff when it doesn't feel like they have formed a club that I can never join. So I guess one at a time is best. When they gang up on me, I can't handle it. Maybe someday.

wtf

World's Oldest New Mom Dying After IVF Pregnancy at Age 72 - Pregnancy - FOXNews.com


I particularly like the comment from the IVF doctor saying that at least the woman doesn't have to die with the stigma of being barren. Nice.

booze

On our honeymoon, D and I went to Jamaica, and we tried rum cream. We both LOVED it, and bought a bottle to bring home with us. It didn't last long, and we have been unable to find it anywhere. There is a specialty shop that supposedly does custom orders, so I'm going to go there sometime soon because I really want a Jamaican Smile (this drink combines a bit of a strawberry daiquiri with a bit of pina colada, all topped with a bit of rum cream; after trying a few drinks, I stuck with this one for most of the honeymoon) this summer.

Over the weekend, we went to a wine store, and attached to it is a wine lounge of sorts. You basically have a wine card that you insert in the machine, choose your wine and the amount, and your card is charged. It's a pretty great way to try several wines without having to buy an entire bottle.

At the store, I found this wine called ChocoVine that I had read about online. It's a mix of a cabernet and dark chocolate. I tried some of it tonight, and it is AWESOME! It is kind of like a boozy chocolate milk because it is chocolatey, and creamy, with just a hint of alcohol flavor, and it's pretty strong for how little it tastes like alcohol. It's so good, I want to put a straw in the bottle and drink the whole thing. It's like Yoo-Hoo for grown-ups!

And tomorrow, I am going to attempt to make sangria for the first time. I want to make it for our 4th of July cookout, but I need to have a trial run first. I did this the first time I made mojitos too. A trial run (or two) to fine-tune things makes for a hit at the actual party!

trip #1

So D and I just got back a couple days ago from our first post-TTC trip, and it was AWESOME! We chose Phoenix, AZ because my sister and her husband live there. My sister was so excited to have us visit (we haven't had any visits with them that weren't the entire family, and the dynamic is much different with our parents and my brother and his wife and son around) that she played travel agent for us, and basically set up an entire itinerary. When we are on a trip, my husband and I try to only eat at places that we don't have access to where we live, so eating places were a big part of the itinerary.

Day 1: arrive around 6pm, check in at hotel, go to dinner at the Heart Attack Grill (waitresses in nurse outfits, incredibly delicious burgers, we had to wear hospital gowns and hospital wrist bands)

Day 2: get up early for our road trip day, eat free hotel (hot) breakfast, rent a car, buy snacks for the drive, drive to Meteor Crater, see the sights, drive to Grand Canyon, see the sights (sunset), drive back to Phoenix, ate at ridiculously overpriced pizza place

Day 3: free breakfast, pool time, Chik-Fil-A for lunch, more pool time, Joe's Crab Shack for dinner, "first Friday" art walk in downtown Phoenix

Day 4: free breakfast, cheap lunch (Safeway fried chicken and fruit) in the hotel room, pool time, dinner and a ball game at the "home run porch" at TGIF (best way to watch a baseball game EVER)

Day 5: free breakfast, pool time, more cheap lunch (leftovers), then beating the heat advisory with some rockin' games of Scattergories and Scrabble (we actually used EVERY tile!)

Day 6: free breakfast, pack, In 'n Out for lunch, hang out with sister and her husband talking about our next trip, leave :(

We decided that at some point in the next year or so, we will go on a road trip/camping trip with the two of them to see Mt. Rushmore, Devil's Tower, a missile silo, the Black Hills, and Carhenge. I can't wait!

And since D and I will never have our own kids' pictures on the walls of our house, we have decided that we will create a display of postcards from all our travel destinations. So now we have three (Meteor Crater, Grand Canyon, downtown Phoenix) to add to our one Jamaica postcard from our honeymoon. The only trips we've taken between our honeymoon and this one have been to visit my parents, and my sister's wedding, so it's going to be pretty awesome taking a trip each year for pleasure and not just family obligations.

And seriously, seeing all the "accessories" that people with babies and little kids had to take on the plane made me see a nice benefit to it always being just me and D traveling.