I shamelessly stole this from Kym at I'm a Smart One who shamelessly stole it from Calliope.
Good fun, thanks Kym & Calliope!
1.Your rock star name (first pet, current car): Flower Elantra
2.Your gangsta name (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe): Coffee Sandle
3.Your Native American name (favorite color, favorite animal): Green Turtle
4.Your soap opera name (middle name, city where you were born): Marie Hagerstown
5.Your Star Wars name (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name): Bolst
6.Superhero name (2nd favorite color, favorite drink): Blue Juice
7.NASCAR name (the first names of your grandfathers): Ronald Paul
8.Dancer name (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy): Happy Chocolate
9.TV weather anchor name (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Minnick Miami
10.Spy name (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Summer Orchid
11.Cartoon name:(favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now): Mango Pants
12.Hippie name (what you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): Plum Oak
13.Movie star name (first pet, first street where you lived): Flower Salem
Friday, September 5, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Signed and Ready to Send
Hi everyone,
Thanks so much for the comments on my last post. I appreciate your advice, especially in regards to only going as far as I feel comfortable with. I'm not exactly sure what that is yet, but I know it doesn't involve calling her up right now.
So I went with option D, or at least that's the plan. I wrote a little something in the card along the lines of "how are you and DH, I heard things are going well, I'm so happy to hear that..." I also offered to share some pregnancy books I purchased for myself (back before my infertility became obvious) if she's interested.
So, here's the hiccup. I don't have her new address! She moved to a new place, but I don't know what I did with her street address, although she gave it to me once upon a time.
I guess I'm going to have to call her sister up and get it that way, 'cause otherwise I'm either throwing in the towel or going the e-mail route.
I'm not really worrying over this too much, but I do want to be careful. I'd hate to lose a friendship over carelessness on my part. I want to know that I did everything I could or should to smooth things over.
Thanks again to my loyal friends in the blogosphere!
P.S. My trip out of town was postponed to next week, but I'm not holding my breath. Especially with Ike churning it's way in our general direction.
Thanks so much for the comments on my last post. I appreciate your advice, especially in regards to only going as far as I feel comfortable with. I'm not exactly sure what that is yet, but I know it doesn't involve calling her up right now.
So I went with option D, or at least that's the plan. I wrote a little something in the card along the lines of "how are you and DH, I heard things are going well, I'm so happy to hear that..." I also offered to share some pregnancy books I purchased for myself (back before my infertility became obvious) if she's interested.
So, here's the hiccup. I don't have her new address! She moved to a new place, but I don't know what I did with her street address, although she gave it to me once upon a time.
I guess I'm going to have to call her sister up and get it that way, 'cause otherwise I'm either throwing in the towel or going the e-mail route.
I'm not really worrying over this too much, but I do want to be careful. I'd hate to lose a friendship over carelessness on my part. I want to know that I did everything I could or should to smooth things over.
Thanks again to my loyal friends in the blogosphere!
P.S. My trip out of town was postponed to next week, but I'm not holding my breath. Especially with Ike churning it's way in our general direction.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Should I Bother?
Not much has happened with the best friend-turned-pregnant-non-friend saga. The only contact I’ve had with BF was receiving a brief happy b-day e-mail back in July which I responded to with an equally brief thank you and best wishes email.
I don’t really socialize with BF’s sister much, but we occasionally have reason to see one another. She stopped by last week to pick up some of our leftover wiring for her kitchen remodel and we chatted for a bit.
Out of some sort of politeness/self torture, I asked about BF. I didn’t really expect it to be so hard hearing about how happy BF and her husband are now and how she’s showing already and will be finding out the sex of the baby soon.
I know it’s always going to be difficult to hear stuff like that, but it’s harder knowing that so much is going on in her life and I’m no longer privy to it first-hand. I know it can't be fun dealing with a frustrated infertile friend, but to be rudely dismissed from her life now that it’s not so convenient is a hard pill to swallow. I always thought that good friendships weathered the tough times.
I’ve often wondered if it wasn’t just the pregnancy hormones leading BF to be so insensitive and quick to withdraw, and now that she’s hopefully leveled out, she’s just too embarrassed to deal with the situation. Or…she’s not who I thought she was and I’m better off without her.
I would like it to be the former and have things back to normal. We've know each other for more than half our lives and been good friends for the last 10+ years. But in all honesty, it’s not like we talked every day or even every week. So her absence from my life isn’t all that acute. It’s more like the idea of her absence is more painful. Kind of sad, but true.
I’m still pretty pissed that this happened in the first place. One part of me doesn't want to be the bigger person, I just want to put this behind me and write her off. I feel like I'm already on the losing end of this debacle anyway. At least she gets a baby at the end to fill the void of a former friendship. What do I get? But... I feel like I should make some sort of attempt at reconciliation, because that’s what I’m supposed to do. Know what I mean?
Which brings me around to the same question I had before, do I try to fix this or leave it alone?
Her b-day is in about a week, so I have to decide soon *IF* I want to contact her or not. I'm still pretty angry, so it might not be an easy road, especially if I have to do all of the work.
As I see it, I have several options *IF* I do want to make an attempt.
Option A: Treat her birthday as she did mine and e-mail her. It takes minimal effort and has minimal impact as far as our “friendship” goes.
Option B: E-mail her a happy b-day and go a little further by inquiring after her health, goings on, husband, etc. -Carefully staying away from any hostile accusations and hurtfulness.
Option C: Send an actual card to her house. Also rather safe, but it does have a little extra thoughtfulness. (I’ve already bought a very benign card, not the usual Shoebox-snarky- best friend-card ‘cause we’re not there anymore)
Option D: Similar to option B, sending the card and including a hand written note to break the ice and offer her an excuse to contact me if that’s what she’s waiting on.
Option E: Of course the riskiest of all and least likely to happen, phoning her up on her b-day for an actual chat. This would take extreme amounts of courage (possibly liquid, ha-ha) on my part as I would have to remain composed in regards to our friendship meltdown AND the pregnancy, assuming that she could bring her-self to speak to a lowly infertile such as myself.
What do you say? You guys give great advice and I’m in need of some discourse that isn’t solely taking place in my neurotic head. ;)
P.S. I’m out of town this week, so I don’t know how often I’ll be able to check in, but I’ll do my best!
I don’t really socialize with BF’s sister much, but we occasionally have reason to see one another. She stopped by last week to pick up some of our leftover wiring for her kitchen remodel and we chatted for a bit.
Out of some sort of politeness/self torture, I asked about BF. I didn’t really expect it to be so hard hearing about how happy BF and her husband are now and how she’s showing already and will be finding out the sex of the baby soon.
I know it’s always going to be difficult to hear stuff like that, but it’s harder knowing that so much is going on in her life and I’m no longer privy to it first-hand. I know it can't be fun dealing with a frustrated infertile friend, but to be rudely dismissed from her life now that it’s not so convenient is a hard pill to swallow. I always thought that good friendships weathered the tough times.
I’ve often wondered if it wasn’t just the pregnancy hormones leading BF to be so insensitive and quick to withdraw, and now that she’s hopefully leveled out, she’s just too embarrassed to deal with the situation. Or…she’s not who I thought she was and I’m better off without her.
I would like it to be the former and have things back to normal. We've know each other for more than half our lives and been good friends for the last 10+ years. But in all honesty, it’s not like we talked every day or even every week. So her absence from my life isn’t all that acute. It’s more like the idea of her absence is more painful. Kind of sad, but true.
I’m still pretty pissed that this happened in the first place. One part of me doesn't want to be the bigger person, I just want to put this behind me and write her off. I feel like I'm already on the losing end of this debacle anyway. At least she gets a baby at the end to fill the void of a former friendship. What do I get? But... I feel like I should make some sort of attempt at reconciliation, because that’s what I’m supposed to do. Know what I mean?
Which brings me around to the same question I had before, do I try to fix this or leave it alone?
Her b-day is in about a week, so I have to decide soon *IF* I want to contact her or not. I'm still pretty angry, so it might not be an easy road, especially if I have to do all of the work.
As I see it, I have several options *IF* I do want to make an attempt.
Option A: Treat her birthday as she did mine and e-mail her. It takes minimal effort and has minimal impact as far as our “friendship” goes.
Option B: E-mail her a happy b-day and go a little further by inquiring after her health, goings on, husband, etc. -Carefully staying away from any hostile accusations and hurtfulness.
Option C: Send an actual card to her house. Also rather safe, but it does have a little extra thoughtfulness. (I’ve already bought a very benign card, not the usual Shoebox-snarky- best friend-card ‘cause we’re not there anymore)
Option D: Similar to option B, sending the card and including a hand written note to break the ice and offer her an excuse to contact me if that’s what she’s waiting on.
Option E: Of course the riskiest of all and least likely to happen, phoning her up on her b-day for an actual chat. This would take extreme amounts of courage (possibly liquid, ha-ha) on my part as I would have to remain composed in regards to our friendship meltdown AND the pregnancy, assuming that she could bring her-self to speak to a lowly infertile such as myself.
What do you say? You guys give great advice and I’m in need of some discourse that isn’t solely taking place in my neurotic head. ;)
P.S. I’m out of town this week, so I don’t know how often I’ll be able to check in, but I’ll do my best!
Friday, August 29, 2008
A Month Without Milk and Bread
I mentioned a few posts back that I’m trying out some dietary changes to see if it will help with my endometriosis. It’s been roughly six weeks and I just finished my second period since starting the experiment. I might be jumping the gun, but it seems to have been a success!
I’m not sure what exactly has been the most help, eliminating dairy wheat, or sugar, but I’ve definitely noticed a change. My pain was almost non-existent! TMI ahead (as if that’s possible in our circle) but I also noticed fewer blood clots, it was almost a normal type of bleed. I don’t know if that is tied in with everything, but when I was seeing the acupuncturist, he was always interested in eliminating the clotting (which he never did).
I nearly forgot that my period was due to start, because I didn’t have any significant cramping ahead of time. It also started without the typical multi day spotting marathon that usually precedes the real deal. Very strange and exciting if a period can ever be described in those terms.
Once AF really got going, there was some discomfort/cramping so I took one Advil, mostly as a precaution. I didn’t want cramps to ruin my indoor skydiving experience. Ha ha. It wasn’t until I was getting ready for bed that I realized that I was still feeling okay. Usually by then I’d have the heating pad out and pop another Advil to get through the night.
The only thing that was still abnormal was the length of AF. It started for about a day and a half and then stopped only to start briefly a day later. I’m hoping that in the future it will be a little more regular in duration.
I haven’t been adhering to the strict diet like I was before, so I’m not sure if that explains why I’ve had a little bit of cramping post AF. I have been contemplating continuing with a wheat free month, but allowing a moderate amount of dairy back into my diet to see what happens. I doubt that’s going to be as successful, for some reason I think dairy is the real culprit. Just a hunch.
BTW, I’m not trying right now. I feel like there is too much chaos in my life and I don’t want to add more right now. In some ways it’s a relief taking the time to focus on work, family, and M. I’m sure I’ll get back in the game soon.
I’m not sure what exactly has been the most help, eliminating dairy wheat, or sugar, but I’ve definitely noticed a change. My pain was almost non-existent! TMI ahead (as if that’s possible in our circle) but I also noticed fewer blood clots, it was almost a normal type of bleed. I don’t know if that is tied in with everything, but when I was seeing the acupuncturist, he was always interested in eliminating the clotting (which he never did).
I nearly forgot that my period was due to start, because I didn’t have any significant cramping ahead of time. It also started without the typical multi day spotting marathon that usually precedes the real deal. Very strange and exciting if a period can ever be described in those terms.
Once AF really got going, there was some discomfort/cramping so I took one Advil, mostly as a precaution. I didn’t want cramps to ruin my indoor skydiving experience. Ha ha. It wasn’t until I was getting ready for bed that I realized that I was still feeling okay. Usually by then I’d have the heating pad out and pop another Advil to get through the night.
The only thing that was still abnormal was the length of AF. It started for about a day and a half and then stopped only to start briefly a day later. I’m hoping that in the future it will be a little more regular in duration.
I haven’t been adhering to the strict diet like I was before, so I’m not sure if that explains why I’ve had a little bit of cramping post AF. I have been contemplating continuing with a wheat free month, but allowing a moderate amount of dairy back into my diet to see what happens. I doubt that’s going to be as successful, for some reason I think dairy is the real culprit. Just a hunch.
BTW, I’m not trying right now. I feel like there is too much chaos in my life and I don’t want to add more right now. In some ways it’s a relief taking the time to focus on work, family, and M. I’m sure I’ll get back in the game soon.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Checking In
Hi everyone. Sorry to be gone for so long without checking in. Things have been a little crazy lately. I'll have to write a longer post soon, but for now I'll give you a brief update.
The main reason for my disappearance is a new job. I've started something and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. It's with a start up company so I'm helping to get it off the ground as well as do their design work. So... it could turn into something awesome, or it could crash and burn.
I'm not all that adventurous, so this is challenging for me. I'm trying to go with the flow and not freak, but I haven't been very successful yet. Ha ha. Deep breaths.
We also had family in town, my mom and her brother flew in from MD. Unfortunately for them, they got to catch most of T.S. Fay. Not exactly the ideal visit to the Sunshine State! We were soggy, but fortunately the storm didn't do any damage or cause any flooding in our part of town.
We had a good time anyway and even did the indoor skydiving on I-drive. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, basically it entails jumping into a vertical wind tunnel and attempting to float. Since I never plan on jumping out of a plane, that's the closest to experiencing a free fall that I'll ever have (hopefully). :)
I guess that sums up the past few weeks. Nothing really new on the IF front.
Hopefully I'll start catching up on every one's blog soon.
The main reason for my disappearance is a new job. I've started something and I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. It's with a start up company so I'm helping to get it off the ground as well as do their design work. So... it could turn into something awesome, or it could crash and burn.
I'm not all that adventurous, so this is challenging for me. I'm trying to go with the flow and not freak, but I haven't been very successful yet. Ha ha. Deep breaths.
We also had family in town, my mom and her brother flew in from MD. Unfortunately for them, they got to catch most of T.S. Fay. Not exactly the ideal visit to the Sunshine State! We were soggy, but fortunately the storm didn't do any damage or cause any flooding in our part of town.
We had a good time anyway and even did the indoor skydiving on I-drive. In case you don't know what I'm talking about, basically it entails jumping into a vertical wind tunnel and attempting to float. Since I never plan on jumping out of a plane, that's the closest to experiencing a free fall that I'll ever have (hopefully). :)
I guess that sums up the past few weeks. Nothing really new on the IF front.
Hopefully I'll start catching up on every one's blog soon.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Header
I've finally decided to stop being so lazy about my blogs appearance. It's a small change but I think it's an improvement. I'm not sure if that's the image I want to keep, but it'll have to do for now. I took that picture when I met up with Barb at a local park, some of you might recognize it from a previous post.
Maybe I should look into creating my own special header. It would be the perfect project to help me learn Illustrator better, something I need to do! I would like to be able to do more graphic design work, not just interior design. Partially because I enjoy it and partially because it's nice to have more than one way to pay the bills when the going gets tough.
Interior design isn't exactly the most stable field to be in, especially when it's tied to the housing market. It's not the worst, don't get me wrong, but it's not a necessity like medicine and law.
As my MIL pointed out at lunch yesterday, M's sister is good, "she doesn't need anything, she has everything". This was her response when we asked what we could get SIL for her birthday.
I know the comment was innocent, but it's the truth. She's a lawyer married to a Dr. with three small children.
M and I are only scraping by in our design jobs and of course we don't have children.
Quite a contrast. Yeah, I know I need to stop being so pitiful. ;)
Maybe I should look into creating my own special header. It would be the perfect project to help me learn Illustrator better, something I need to do! I would like to be able to do more graphic design work, not just interior design. Partially because I enjoy it and partially because it's nice to have more than one way to pay the bills when the going gets tough.
Interior design isn't exactly the most stable field to be in, especially when it's tied to the housing market. It's not the worst, don't get me wrong, but it's not a necessity like medicine and law.
As my MIL pointed out at lunch yesterday, M's sister is good, "she doesn't need anything, she has everything". This was her response when we asked what we could get SIL for her birthday.
I know the comment was innocent, but it's the truth. She's a lawyer married to a Dr. with three small children.
M and I are only scraping by in our design jobs and of course we don't have children.
Quite a contrast. Yeah, I know I need to stop being so pitiful. ;)
Friday, August 1, 2008
Bye Bye Bread
I am going to see if altering my diet has any impact on my endometriosis. I believe it’s getting worse, or at least the pain is. I’m now cramping on and off throughout my cycle, mostly during my luteal phase and of course with my period. Last month I had some of the worst pain ever with my period and I really want to get it under control.
I’ve already had a lap, and the lupron suppression option is only a temporary fix. I’ve been very unimpressed with the concern of my Drs. regarding this stupid disease so far. So, in a vain attempt to self treat, I’m giving my diet a little shake up. Like a good infertile, I already have a reasonably good diet so this is going to push me to a new level of healthful eating.
Dr. Google has pointed me in the direction of a few websites and books that strongly advocate giving up wheat, dairy, meat, sugar, chocolate, alcohol, and anything else tasty. I don’t think I can bear to give up much more than wheat and dairy for now, but I can cut back on some of the other offenders and eat a more vegetarian/vegan diet. I’ve been giving this a go for the past two weeks so hopefully next month will show some results. If not, I’m having a cheeseburger and a glass of milk! ;)
In case you’re wondering why I’m giving up certain foods, it’s all about the prostaglandins. I’m trying to eliminate the bad and increase the good in hopes that it will reduce the inflammation of my endo. It's a theory worth putting to the test anyway.
I’m open to any suggestions if you have any!
I’ve already had a lap, and the lupron suppression option is only a temporary fix. I’ve been very unimpressed with the concern of my Drs. regarding this stupid disease so far. So, in a vain attempt to self treat, I’m giving my diet a little shake up. Like a good infertile, I already have a reasonably good diet so this is going to push me to a new level of healthful eating.
Dr. Google has pointed me in the direction of a few websites and books that strongly advocate giving up wheat, dairy, meat, sugar, chocolate, alcohol, and anything else tasty. I don’t think I can bear to give up much more than wheat and dairy for now, but I can cut back on some of the other offenders and eat a more vegetarian/vegan diet. I’ve been giving this a go for the past two weeks so hopefully next month will show some results. If not, I’m having a cheeseburger and a glass of milk! ;)
In case you’re wondering why I’m giving up certain foods, it’s all about the prostaglandins. I’m trying to eliminate the bad and increase the good in hopes that it will reduce the inflammation of my endo. It's a theory worth putting to the test anyway.
I’m open to any suggestions if you have any!
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