Happy New Year, About Two Weeks Late

Holy crap, if 2010 gets any more interesting, I just might fall over. Sorry for taking so long to write my first post of 2010, but as many of you know, we've been pretty darn busy in the Nault house.

For New Year's weekend, we went to Chicago to visit our friends the Fontanas. First, we drove through a blizzard around Kalamazoo New Year's Day on the way there, which was not fun. On Saturday, Brian, John, and a bunch of other guys went to the Northwestern vs. Michigan State basketball game and had a great time. (John and Erica live right next to Northwestern's campus.) Then, they came back and we all watched the bowl game that the MSU basketball team was playing in. Sounds like a fun weekend, right? Well, it was, other than the fact that Friday night one of my wisdom teeth starting aching, and by Sunday, I could barely open my mouth. By Monday, I called the dentist, who referred me to the oral surgeon, and on Tuesday morning, with Candace and Ollie waiting for me, I had my upper wisdom teeth out. I'm recovering well and am glad I'm never going to have that problem again. For about a year, my dentist has been telling me I needed to start thinking about having that done, and I should have listened!

Then, on Tuesday night, Grant came down to spend the night so I could take him to the airport Wednesday morning early to catch a flight to Steamboat, Colorado to go snowboarding with our Aunt Margaret and our cousins Nolan and Emma. It was his first time flying and he's a minor still, so I made sure we got there plenty early. This turned out to be a good thing, as his flights were screwed up, and they were able to get him on an earlier flight so he'd make his connection in Chicago and get to Colorado on schedule. So that worked out well. But, on the way home, my low tire pressure monitor went off in my car just as I was pulling off the highway by my house. I managed to drive to the dealership where we get our service work done, and watched my tire lose pressure as I was driving 4 miles up Grand River (my car has electronic pressure monitoring). When I pulled in, my tire had 12 pounds of pressure. When I'd left the house, it had 28.

I was supposed to go to work that afternoon, but that didn't end up happening. When they pulled the tire off the car and did the soap and water test around the rims (this enables them to see where the leak is), 6 inches of my rim was totally destroyed and leaking like a sieve. My car was not driveable AT ALL. I took the shuttle home, and they managed to get me a new rim and fix my car that day so I wasn't stranded. I had Grant's little truck here, but it's a stick and I can't drive a stick! And Brian was gone in DC! So, there went another $400 down the drain for vehicle repair. Lovely.

And finally, this morning, we had to go WAY down in the ghetto part of Detroit to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration office to get our biometrics taken (i.e., fingerprints) for our childrens' immigrant visa. You have to do this in advance, or you'll be stuck in Russia forever while stuff gets processed. So, we drive over an hour one way, walk in, and it takes FIVE whole minutes to do what needs to be done. Then, we leave. URG. But, it has to be done, right? At least the roads weren't bad this morning, traffic was okay, and we made it fine. The folks working were really nice, asking us where we're adopting from, etc. And the digital fingerprint system they have is pretty freaking sweet. I almost expected them to do a retinal scan or something too, but they didn't.

So, obviously, we've been very busy the last few weeks. I'm hoping next week is quiet, with no car breakdowns or health issues. It seems Brian only has a one day trip next week, which is nice. He's going to be gone a ton the next few months.

I'll write again soon, I hope!

They Say It's My Birthday!

So, sorry it took me so long to do a recap of my par-tay. Sunday was spent cleaning up and sleeping, and I've worked a ton Monday, yesterday, and today. So, for those of you who weren't there, or who haven't heard the whole BB gun story, here goes!

Brian and our friend Paul did sooooo much prep on Friday night. Brian had said it would be a couple hours, and it ended up being 7 hours. I was so stressed out. Paul was at our house until almost 1 am. I felt really bad that we kept him away from Marcy and Merina for that long. And he was back at the house at 11 am Saturday morning. It was crazy. Also, my kitchen was COMPLETELY trashed and Brian kept assuring me that he would clean it up before everyone got there, which I knew was completely impossible, which stressed me out even more. So, Grant and I ended up cleaning when Tim and Brian went to go the get the keg and go to GFS. I was going totally nuts. The weather also had me nuts, as it rained the whole morning before the party started, and despite the fact we had a tent, I did NOT want people to have to sit out in the rain. That totally sucks.

So, the party started on time, and guests started arriving, which is always the fun part. The preparation leading up to the party is always the worst for me--the party itself is fun, because I enjoy seeing everyone. It was very good to see family, as always, and I particularly appreciate friends that came from far out of town, like Kate and Paul, April and JB, and Tom and Mer. (Another shout out Miss A!) I was in the kitchen when Kate and Paul arrived, and suddenly I turned around and there was Paul, and I screamed like a teenage girl. I asked where Kate was, and Paul said she was coming in. Well, I sprinted for the door, flung it open, and there she was. I again screamed like a little girl, and then tackled her so hard her beer went flying onto my laundry room floor. Hell, that's why it's tiled right? I was also thrilled when April and JB arrived with Miss Olivia, and later on when Tom and Mer came. I'm also obviously always happy to see Holly and the kids and Candace and Ollie! I was also happy to meet Kelly and Shawn's new baby, Aiden.

The party went well, the pig was great. My mom was nice enough to carve it up for Brian, and a few of the kids found it very fascinating that the pig had a face. Some of the adults were simultaneously grossed out by that fact. The food that Brian and Paul made was great, and there were ample drinks. We actually ended up having TONS of the side dishes left over, so much so that my mom and Holly each took several trays home, and we have 3 or 4 in the freezer. Later on in the day, the family took off and it was all of us and our friends, which was fun. We FINALLY cut Marcy's awesome birthday cake, which was round and looked like a beach, with an umbrella, beach shoes, towels, etc, all that were edible. It was awesome and people loved it!

Okay, so here's the deal with the BB guns. Earlier in the day, my neighbor had come around and warned us that kids were riding around the sub in a golf cart shooting BB guns. Not cool. So, we had some warning of what was going on. About 9 pm, Brian and a bunch of our friends were in the garage hanging out, and I was inside, when all of a sudden, BB's starting being fired into our garage. Grady and Laura got hit, but they are okay. Brian and a bunch of our friends took off through the woods and across the fields to the kids' house, which is a farm house behind our sub. They found the kids with their parents, and a few friends that they had over. The exchanges were heated at first, until Brian calmed people down and the guys presented evidence that it had, in fact, been those boys who did the shooting. The dad proceeded to smash the BB guns and the mom freaked out when she found out there had been roughly 30 little kids running around all day. Brian and the guys came back to the house, and a bit later, we ended up calling the cops to report it. The State boys came out and talked to us, and went to the boys house, and they got stern talking to. Sunday night, they came to our door with their dad and apologized again, and we all had a discussion. I think the cops scared the crap out of those kids, and I think they've hopefully learned the lesson. I don't think we'll be seeing them around the sub again.

So that's what went down! To all of you that attended, thanks for coming, and for those who couldn't come, I wish you'd been able to!

Visits, Yard Work, Party Planning and Fenderbenders

Boy, the title to this post just about says it all regarding what's been going on with me lately. Here's a quick rundown, giving some more details!

1) This past weekend I drove to Gladwin and visited my old friend Mary at her home there. She and her baby were down from Hancock (in the UP, where Michigan Tech is) having a huge garage sale and getting their house ready to sell. It was so good to see Mary again, as we had sort of fallen out of touch since before I met Brian. She was having some stuff go on in her personal life, I was busy with law school, and she and Ted moved to Gladwin, so it just sort of happened. We reconnected via Facebook (the only person I've reconnected with on FB that I'm really happy about.) Mary is the same old Mary, in a good way. Still the most bad ass chick I've ever met, even as the mother of a super cute daughter named Elaine. I'm so glad to be back in touch with her.

2) Brian and I remulched the front of the house yesterday. It took 6 yards of mulch and it wasn't quite enough. We'll have to go get a few bags to finish it up, but all in all, it looks really good again. We did it a lot thicker this year than last year, and it is much better that way. Brian worked really hard, much harder than me, and deserves praise (which he got).

3) We've been working hard to get the final details of the party planned out. Tent ordered, drinks planned, plates and stuff mostly purchased. Headcount is mostly complete. Can't wait to see everyone!

4) Today on my way home from seeing Candace and Oliver, I went to Meijer to get groceries on the way home. As I was leaving, I carefully looked around and proceeded to back out of my spot, at the same time a crazy middle aged lady in a Chevy Impala who had passed behind me proceeded to slam on the brakes and back up at about 30 miles an hour to get that spot that's all of 5 feet closer to the store. And you know, in the process, backs right into me. Gee thanks. I probably need a new bumper. It's not that bad, but the way cars are built now, they have to replace the whole damn bumper for a minor injury. Argh! Just trust me when I say that this was not my day. It was sort of a rough morning, for reasons I'll keep private.

More updates later!

Stress and Humiliation!

Okay, so most of you have heard this story already, but I'll tell it here in case anybody didn't and want to read the details.

As many of you know, Brian had to be gone for work since last Wednesday. He just got home today. I was by myself last weekend, doing fine, and on Sunday morning, it was totally gorgeous, so I decided to take my first bike ride of the season. I rode north up hacker Road and turned onto some dirt roads to take the route I typically take. I turned north onto Kellogg Road and was planning on riding all the way up to M-59 if I could (that's about 10 miles round trip). Well, I'm enjoying my ride and I came up a certain house I've ridden by every time on this route, probably 50 times (I ride my bike a lot in the summer). These people have horses and the pen is really close to the road, so I always make noises at the horses, and say hi to them, as I ride by. These folks also have dogs--3 of them. One is an old female yellow lab who tries to lick me to death, and the other two are German Wirehaired Pointers that are normally in a pen. I've vaguely noticed them before, they would bark at me, but not threateningly. I never thought the dogs were vicious.

So, last Sunday, I'm riding by the house, and make my normal horse-greeting noises, thinking nothing of it. Well, the two Pointers were NOT in their pen and they came after me as I rode by. They started barking and barking and ran right next to me. I obviously freaked out, and started pedaling harder, hoping they would fall back. They did not, and the female tried to take a chunk out of my leg. When I felt teeth, I started screaming. A woman ran out of the house and screamed at them, and the dogs let go of me, and she put them in their pen. She then starting profusely apologizing, asking me if I was okay, if I wanted her to call the police, etc. I looked down at my pants and they were ripped in 3 places. I lifted my pant leg, and my leg was bruised to hell and the skin had been broken, but not badly.

Anyway, the owners are out of town, and the woman that helped me was the housesitter. I decided she didn't need to call the cops, as I wasn't injured that seriously. And she was able to provide me immediate proof that the dogs were vaccinated. So, I let it go at that (the owners have called me and are going to visit the house when they get back from vacation).

Later, I had plans to go to dinner with a friend at the Olive Garden on Novi Road. We met at 6:30 and had a very nice dinner and had hung out about 2 hours at that point when she was going to order dessert. All of a sudden, I felt very very hot, and she told me to go get some air. At that point, I knew I couldn't, I would fall down trying to get outside. The next thing I know, I'm passed out in my chair. I'm not sure if I actually ever totally lost consciousness, because I was somewhat aware of what was going on around me, and could be somewhat responsive at times. But, to me, it felt like about a minute or two, but my friend tells me I was out of it 5 or 10 minutes. By the time I came to, the ambulance crew was getting there. It was so embarrassing to be taken out of the freaking Olive Garden on a stretcher. The EMTs insisted, even though by that point, I pretty much felt fine. Also, I scared a whole table full of children.

So, they took me to the ER at Providence Park about 3 miles away. Of course, the EMTs and all the ER staff had to ask me my medical history, so I had to get into my history of miscarriages, etc. Then, they would ask me if I was pregnant, and I'd say no, and tell them exactly how I knew that. I had to repeat all this about 5 times. They then started talking about blood clots, and I had to explain the MTHFR thing 5 times and no one had ever heard of it, and I think they thought I was nuts. So, the blood clot test they ran came back slightly elevated, so they had to check me for a pulmonary embolism. I had a CT scan of my chest, which came up totally normal. I finally got to go home after 3 and half hours. They didn't really find much, and recommended I follow up with my family doctor. I am, and am having some more testing tomorrow. Hopefully, they find something so I can prevent this from happening again. That was the most embarrassing thing to happen to me ever.

Grand Rapids Weekend

Brian and I went to Grand Rapids this weekend. He was seeing Motley Crue at Van Andel Arena Friday night, and I was going to hang out with April and finally meet baby Olivia. The drive to GR went great and we made great time. We were staying the weekend at the JW Marriott downtown, which is a gorgeous hotel and is hooked right to Van Andel by a catwalk. Saturday, for Valentine's Day, I had planned trips to the Meijer Gardens, the Van Andel Museum, a restaurant and a piano bar. Brian knew these things were planned, by the way, I'd like to add.

Friday night was great. I had a great time with April and her sister Anne, who is staying with her and JB for awhile. Baby Olivia is gorgeous and huge for her age! Since April is 5'10" and JB is 6'4", it's not really a surprise that Liv is big! We went to a great restaurant called Marie Catrib's, which is Middle Eastern/a little bit of everything (the owner immigrated from Lebanon). The food was great and Marie herself came out to fawn over Olivia! I left April's at about 10:30, wanting to get back to the hotel before the concert got out. I did, and was walking on the catwalk from the parking structure to the hotel, and the most random thing happened. I ran into Laura, who is a paralegal at B&T in Grand Rapids (I did a summer project for them a couple years ago in South Bend). She was in South Bend at the same time, working on the same project and we became friends. She had been at a bar across the street after work and was walking to her car, which was parked in the same structure I was in. We ended up going in the hotel bar and chatting until 12:30. It was so nice to see her too!

Ummm, as I said above, Brian and I had all sorts of fun things planned on Saturday. The day did not go as planned. All I want to say is that it was a very bad Valentine's Day for us, and it'll take Brian a long time to make it up to me. By later in the day, things were somewhat better, and we attempted to go to San Chez, a tapas restaurant. When I called them earlier in the week, I was told they don't take reservations and that I should get there before 6 to somewhat beat the rush. We arrived at 5:30 to find that half the restaurant was taken over by a wedding reception, and the wait was already over an hour long. I wasn't told about the reception earlier in the week or I probably would have picked another restaurant! Well, we were both starving, so we decided not to wait, and went to a steak place that was a couple blocks away. It was great, but we were a little underdressed, so we tried not to draw attention to ourselves! Anyway, we left at 7, and went to Mojo's, a dueling piano bar. It was tons of fun and I would definitely go back.

I'd like to go back to Grand Rapids and go back to Meijer Garden in the summer time and get to go to San Chez this time. Hopefully, we will again and will have a smoother weekend next time.

Robbery!! (Don't Worry--Not our House)

As I said in the title, yes, there was a robbery, but don't worry, it wasn't at our house, or anything directly belonging to us really. As many of you know, my mom owns a gas station/convenience store up in the thumb, in Otter Lake, which is sort of near Davidson. So, I was talking to my mom last night after Brian left, and she casually says, "Yeah, we got a phone call from Randy (one of her workers) this morning at 7 am." Then, she stops. So, I have to prompt her and say, "Oh yeah, about what?" To which she replied, "Oh, the station was robbed last night." Lovely.

Her worker Randy got to work on Sunday morning to find the side door of the station completely broken out. It's a full glass panel door with a handle all the way across on the inside, as many of you are probably familiar with. Some of my readers are intimately familiar with it, given that you've worked for my Mom! Anyway, come to find out they weren't the only target; the same person tried to break into the other little store in town without success, due to window positioning and crazy homemade locking systems, made by Ed, who owns the Superette in question. Anyway, my mom has cameras in the store, and whoever did this must be local, because he knew exactly where they were, and kept his face hidden the whole time, and dodged through the aisles at exactly the right places. The police think they know who this person is, because earlier that night at the Superette, he had tried to steal beer, and they kicked him out. So, the theory is, he then came back to the Superette and tried to break in, failed, and then came to my mom's place. This is the funny part--the only thing he took was 2 30 packs of Bud Light. She would have been out more money if he'd taken 2 cartons of cigarettes. Also, he broke that window, went to the cooler (leaving the big back door open, which my mom was pretty peeved about), took 60 beers, and left in 31 seconds flat. My mom reviewed her tapes, and told me that. It killed me--so fast, 31 seconds, shows a total disregard for conscience. Wow. Also, despite the door being completely busted, the only other creature that came in the station all night was the black cat that lives around the area and feeds in the dumpster. Apparently, the poor little scrawny thing came in out of the cold several times. As my mom put it, "Well, I'm out an insurance claim, and 30 bucks in beer. If you're going to get robbed, I guess this is the way you want it to go."

And I was just thinking about this--my parents have owned the station for 13 and a half years, and this is only the second time they've been robbed. That's not too bad, actually, particularly considering the area it's in (poor and rural--I would almost expect robberies from people looking for drug money or something). I mean, don't get me wrong, other things have happened--one of their clerks was assaulted, they've had numerous gas drive offs obviously, and even a naked gas pumper of all things. Also, my mom fell outside on the ice one year and broke her leg (as she put it--at least it was her that was hurt and not a customer), and one particularly hot summer when the air was broken, a completely disgusting redneck guy asked my frequent reader A if he could lick the sweat off her. But, all in all, its been a fairly uneventful place to be. So, if you're ever in Otter Lake, Michigan, stop at the Marathon station, ask for Marie, and tell her you know me.

Movie Reviews

So, I thought I'd spend a few minutes sharing my opinion about a few movies I've seen recently. You may have been thinking of seeing these movies, so I wanted to give my fair and unbiased take on these flicks. Don't worry, I'll not give away the ending of either movie!

Gran Torino
Brian and I went to the movies on Friday night to finally see Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino. Good ol' Clint is both director and star of this movie, the same as he was in the absolutely brilliant Million Dollar Baby (which could make me cry again right now just thinking about it). Mr. Eastwood has stated that this may be his last movie as an actor, and that he will focus on directing only, as he is in his late 70's, after all. Well Clint, if this is your last movie ever on screen, or even as a director, you have a tremendous amount to be proud of. Gran Torino was pretty much a masterpiece, I think particularly to those of us who live in the Detroit Metro area and understand the history and dynamics of how the area has changed in the last 50 years. It is the story of Frank Kowalski, a Korean War vet whose wife has just passed away and is now all alone in his home in Hazel Park. He's distant from his sons, and hates the fact that his neighborhood, that used to be all white, is now predominately filled with Hmong immigrants. Hmong people are an Asian culture who immigrated here after the Vietnam War (this is explained in more detail in the movie). He hates these people and calls them every racial name in the book. You really want to hate Frank, but you don't. Then, he unwillingly gets to know the two Hmong teenagers next door, Sue and Thao, and begins to change. Obviously, Frank's beautiful 1972 Ford Gran Torino factors predominantly in the story. As I said, I will not give away too much of the plot or the ending, but all I have to say is WOW. Go see this movie immediately.

The Love Guru
As for the other movie I'm going to review--I have a message for Mike Myers: Unless you get your funny back, QUIT MAKING MOVIES. Brian and I watched The Love Guru last night, and it was a complete and utter waste of about an hour and a half of my life. About 10 minutes into it, Brian and I looked to each other, and went "Do you think this is funny?" Neither of us really did, but we wanted to give it a chance. I have liked Mike Myers so much in the past (I still headbang every time I hear Bohemian Rhapsody), I didn't want to think he could put out such a piece of crap, but alas, it is possible. The Love Guru is about Guru Pitka, a white guy who was raised in India who wants to become the next Deepak Chopra. He's hired by the owner of the Toronto Maple Leaves (played by Jessica Alba--yeah right) to fix the love life of her star player so they can win the Stanley Cup. In this movie, Myers tells all the same jokes as he ever has, and now they are VERY OLD. This stuff hasn't been funny since Austin Powers (the first one, not the two substandard ones that followed). Plus, the weird fakey Indian voice he talks in through the movie was weird and off putting. The ONLY slightly funny part of this movie was seeing Justin Timberlake play a rival goalie, a French Canadian guy named Jacque "le Coq" Grande, who worships Celine Dion and has an enormous schlong. When the movie was done, I was pissed I wasted my Netflix subscription on it. DO NOT see it.

Bye until next time!

Where the Hell is Global Warming Now??

I don't have much to write today, being that its Christmas Eve and we'll be heading out soon. I have a ton of stuff I have to do before we make our way, so I just wanted to do a quick check in with my small band of loyal readers. This is pretty much what I have to say:

HOLY SHIT IT'S COLD OUTSIDE! (And as a side note, when will all this snow from hell end? [As a side side note, can snow come from hell?? Isn't that completely counter-intuitive?]). We have about 15 or more inches on the ground right now, and Brian, poor, Brian (who is sick with a cold) is out blowing snow for literally the 10th or so time since last Friday. He's blowing snow almost as much as he's blowing his nose. The company who comes to plow our subdivision blocks the end of our driveway every single time, so we keep having to go back out and dig it out. ARRGGH! But, I almost have some sympathy for the guy at this point, because the snow mounds are so high, there's almost no place to put the crap anymore. Make it stop!

And the cold, oh the cold. As I said above, HOLY SHIT IT'S COLD OUTSIDE! As I said to loyal reader A the other day, I am currently refusing to go outside for fear that I will immediately freeze so cold that scientists will find my body hundreds of years from now, unthaw me, and tell me that civilization as I know it is over. If that happened, my greatest fear would be that the world I would wake up in would be like the movie "Idiocracy." (If you haven't seen it, go ahead, with the warning that its not that great of a movie, but it completely illustrates my fears of what the world is coming to as far as the dumbing down of our society.) Although, if the world doesn't turn into the movie "Idiocracy," maybe the medical community several hundred years from now could tell me what the hell is wrong with my uterus, which would be a bonus.

Anyway, I won't be writing for several days at least. We're heading up to Brian's parents today, staying until tomorrow and coming home tomorrow evening. We'll be home for less than a day probably, and then heading up to my parents' to have Christmas with my family on Saturday, and Brian is going to hunt at my Mom's this weekend. He is very excited.

Have a great Christmas everyone! Be grateful for everything you have! I'm trying to have that as my motto lately, and it helps put things into perspective. :)

My Weekend in Sauga-my-tuck and Other Developments

So, after having the D&C on Thursday, I really needed to get out of town for a few days. My friends KLo and KMu in South Bend had called me earlier in the week, asking me if I wanted to go to Sauga-my-tuck (as its called by KLo) for a spa weekend this past weekend. Dr. Thai (my OB) said it was fine to go, as long as I didn't overdo it, and actually said it would be good to get out and relax. So, Friday afternoon, I took off and headed over to Saugatuck to meet KLo and Steph (the 4th member of the party). KMu had a bar association dinner to attend and couldn't join us until later that night (boo--cause it's not a party until KMu arrives).

The three of us headed off to Phil's, which is a local hangout. Dinner was very tasty, we had these really good portabella mushroom fries for an appetizer, and my lake perch was outstanding. After dinner, we shopped in a few stores, and went back to our rooms. The girls had made arrangements to stay at the spa for the weekend. It's called Bella Vita Spa & Suites. It's a full service spa with 4 guest rooms that are really cool. KMu arrived at 11:30 on Friday and we were up till all hours talking about all sorts of things, everything in the world really, except for babies, thank god. (KLo and Steph are single, and KMu is married, but has no babies on the near horizon).

Saturday morning we got up and had brunch at Pumpernickel's, another local eatery that serves all their breakfasts in cast iron skillets, which was interesting. We then went back to the spa to start our treatments. I got a Signature Facial, 50 minute massage, and a Chocolate Decadence Pedicure (yes, you read that correctly). I now have pretty cranberry colored toes, and the memory of having warm, delicious chocolaty stuff being smeared all over my feet. The next time we go (and there WILL be a next time), I plan on getting the chocolate body wrap, so that I can experience having my ENTIRE BODY smeared in warm, delicious chocolaty stuff.

Saturday evening we went to Everyday People cafe in Douglas for dinner. Dinner was tasty, but I have to say the dessert caught my attention. KLo ordered Creme Brulee Pastries, and Steph ordered the Homemade S'More (graham cracker crust, chocolate ganache, peanut butter ganache, and a homemade marshmallow, all layered together, with the marshmallow toasted at your table by the server). KMu and I sampled off both, and HOLY CRAP, they may have just been the best dessert I've ever tasted. Then, we came back to the Suites and watched "It's a Wonderful Life" on TV (which KLo and Steph had never seen, and KMu and I kept having to reassure KLo that it really was a Wonderful Life at the end). Sunday morning we got up, had brunch again, shopped a little bit, and took off back home. A good time was had by all, and I can't wait to go back.

In other developments, just so everyone knows, the D&C did go well on Thursday and I feel fine. I have to say I would highly recommend Providence Park. The operation was efficient, and the staff was so nice. When I was in pre-op, the nurses saw me crying my eyes out and immediately came over and asked me what was the matter, and when I explained, they hugged me and said they'd much rather have me there on a different floor (ie, maternity). The surgery went fine, and the chaplain came over after and talked to us about the losses, etc, and he was very nice. It was interesting--in my post-op information, there were two form letters I could sign and send out asking marketing companies to not send baby related things to our house, as we've experienced a recent loss. Needless to say, I put those in the mail today, as I cannot handle having that crap come to the house right now.

Also, this afternoon, I had to go for my weekly blood draw at the doctor's office (they have to make sure my hcg levels come down to zero). While I was waiting for my lab sheet, the receptionist asks me if I'm in a hurry, because Dr. Thai wants to squeeze me in for an appointment. I said that was fine, but I was a little freaked out, because that just doesn't happen very often. But, it was fine, Dr. Thai just wanted to talk to me for a few minutes and give me a complete report of all the tests I've had run for when I go to a specialist. She also had the pathology report back already from the lab from Thursday, and without going into long, boring detail, it was interesting, and she told me she is very interested to get the genetic report (could take up to 6 weeks). From the way she said that, I think she believes it will show genetic abnormality. I can accept that, and actually, I think it would give me a little comfort.

Thank you for reading and caring, everyone. I am finally in the Christmas spirit, so Merry Christmas!

Recurrent Miscarriage

I haven't posted in a while, and by the title of this blog, I'm sure you can all guess why. Yes, it is true, I am having yet another miscarriage. This makes 3 in a row, and Brian and I are now officially classified as suffering from "recurrent miscarriage." This is something that 1% or less of couples ever suffer from, and is defined as having 3 miscarriages in a row.

We found out for sure last Wednesday (day before Thanksgiving) that this pregnancy wasn't viable. Improper growth, and loss of fetal heart tones that had been detected 2 weeks earlier. Apparently, progesterone and baby aspirin didn't help me as they seem to help others. We ended up staying home from Thanksgiving, as I didn't know what was going to happen when, and I also, quite honestly, would have a hard time being around certain family members who can't seem to STOP having children when they should, when Brian and I can't seem to have one to save our lives.

So, we are currently in a waiting game. I've not yet actually "lost" the pregnancy, and honestly, I just wish I would. I just want this nightmare over with, I'm not at work right now (although I found out there are no deps this month anyway, so I wouldn't be working in any case). My OB has said she'd give me two weeks (its been 1 week today), and then I have to have a D&C, which I am terrified of. As much as it hurts physically to lose the pregnancy naturally, emotionally, I do not relish the thought of having an invasive medical procedure that would feel way too much like having an abortion.

My OB also wants me to see a Reproductive Endocrinologist, but also admitted to me that she doesn't know what they'll do for me, because all the tests they can do (as far as she knows) have already been run. And from what I can tell from my research, she's correct. But I guess I'm willing to go and see what a specialist has to say. But if they tell me that all they can do is monitor me every week if I decide to try again, I don't know what I'll do about that. I do not know how many times I can put myself through this. Honestly, with this one, I'm not really even crying, I feel cried out. Also, emotionally right now I am more pissed off and frustrated than anything else. And that's the thing--going through all this is making me not even excited to try again, not even excited anymore to "have" a baby. And I don't want to feel that way. I think I may be ready to get off the roller coaster, at least for awhile, depending on what a specialist says. I think Brian is somewhat disappointed to hear that from me, but he has to know that no matter how hard this is on him, its 100 times harder on me.

So, I just wanted to get this piece of information out there, so people know what's going on with us and why we may be acting weird for awhile yet. And why we may need some time. Although right now we are taking it day by day, depending on how I feel.

Thanks for reading, everybody.

Not Looking Forward to Winter

So, Monday morning was an absolute traffic debacle. And no one saw it coming. This leaves me absolutely dreading the winter driving months.

I had to work on Monday morning, so I got up at my usual time of 7 and I leave the house at 8:45 to get to my 10 o'clock dep in plenty of time (I like to have plenty of time in the morning, plus feel guilty about sleeping much later than that during the week). I get up, look out the window, and say, "Oh crap." There was about an inch or two of snow on the ground. This did not bode well. Brian hears me (having for once gotten up and going before me, as he was getting ready to be a big bad hunter) and says, "Oh the roads are fine." The subdivision roads looked okay, so I was hoping he was right. I turn on the news and immediately am hit with the news that the road crews were NOT out with salt, because the snow fall was unexpected, so the roads were NOT fine, in fact, they were absolutely terrible. The Channel 4 traffic girl tells me to leave 2 to 3 times my normal travel time to make it to my destination. So, I eat breakfast as fast as I can, barely shower and leave at 8 am.

As I'm driving down Hacker Road, things seems fine, so, I again am hoping the weather people are totally overreacting. I get on the highway and within 2 miles am at a dead stop. Not because the roads are bad, mind you. The road conditions were FINE. I turned on my XM Detroit traffic and listen to the reports. Apparently, the problem was that the bridges, overpasses and highway ramps were totally frozen, causing all sorts of accidents and closures and back ups. So, I proceed to drive all the way to Southfield at an average speed of about 25 miles an hour. It totally sucked, but at least I didn't feel like my life was in danger. It was just sloooooow. I finally made it to my destination after an hour and 40 minutes. That is an hour longer than usual.

That nightmare has made me very fearful of this winter driving season, especially in light of the fact that the road crews are cutting way back this year on manpower and salt usage for budgetary reasons. It was all over the news tonight. So, this winter, I will be prepared to make my hour and 40 minute trek to Southfield on a regular basis. Thanks Old Man Winter.

Socialism...Beginning in January

So, I need not post very long, but suffice it to say that I am extremely disappointed, but not surprised, over last night's election. Basically, my feelings are that President Obama will take this country in the WRONG direction--higher taxes, more government dependence, and sitting down and appeasing terrorists and crazies. Here is a short rundown of my basic fears.

1) Obama wants to sit down with the president of Iran and talk with him. That crazy bastard wants to blow us up. He is so nuts, he denies the Holocaust and thinks we are Zionist sympathizers. Sitting down with him is like the Allies appeasing Hitler before World War II. That turned out well.

2) Raising taxes. People think, oh a social safety net is great--it's like Europe, nobody is poor. Well, I've been to Europe, and it's a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. EVERYONE is mildly poor, because everyone pays 50% taxes to subsidize people who choose jobs that make next to nothing. There is no spirit that if you work hard you can get ahead, so people don't bother. Well, no thanks. Brian and I worked hard to get where we are, had $80,000 of student loans between the two of us. We chose to do that. To hell with everybody else who didn't make that choice, and then whines about it. I am ready to start stuffing our mattresses with money to keep it out of the government's hands.

3) Obama wants to make it nearly impossible for law abiding people to buy a weapon, and wants to put a 500% tax on ammunition. Goodbye 2nd Amendment. What those crazy anti-gun people don't realize that if you outlaw guns, the only people who will have guns are outlaws. Screw that. Brian is going to stockpile some weapons, and ammo. Watch out coming to our house.

So, there is the short version of my thoughts. I am scared. Very scared that my way of life is going to get flushed down the toilet.

Two People I am Sick Of

Michael Phelps and Kwame Kilpatrick. I know, probably not the names you were expecting to read. And, granted, they are very different people, but I am sick of them for the same reason....they are EVERYWHERE.

Kwame-gate has been going on awhile now. The whole things makes me both laugh at the stupidity of the people of Detroit for re-electing him, and cringe, because he had such promise and he's thrown it all away. He's let his political power go to his head; he thinks he's untouchable. I don't give a crap about his affair with Christine Beatty--what some REALLY STUPID people fail to realize is that the perjury case is not about sex for Christ's sake. It's about LYING UNDER OATH. Rule one of our legal system--when you are sworn in to testify--you don't lie. Apparently only Kwame, Bill Clinton, and a few other people in the world don't realize this. Also, who the hell does he think he is, assaulting two sheriff's deputies, one with physical deeds, the other with horrible racial slurs? As I said, he thinks he's untouchable, that's who he thinks he is. Well, he is not, and he needs to go NOW.

As for Michael Phelps, I am probably in the minority of people who have this feeling that I'm TOTALLY and UTTERLY sick of him. He is not the only freaking person competing for our country at the Olympics! The media, especially the media around here, sure treats him like he is. The local media is always saying, "Michigan's own Michael Phelps," but honestly, he's not a Michigander! He swims here, yeah, but he was born and lived in Maryland his whole life, except the last four years. And, as soon as these games are over, he has stated he's going back to Maryland. I understand and agree that he is a tremendous athlete (even in my mind, perhaps the best ever, not just for his sport), but he is not God. Quit kissing his ass so much! I bet he's got a huge ego from everyone sucking up to him ever since he started swimming because he's so good. Quit giving him so much attention! Tell me about some of the other athletes in other events!

So sayeth my rant and rave.

Brighter Times

I am beginning to really feel better. I was at the doctor today, and everything looks good. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow, though. I have to go to the lab in the morning and have 10 vials of blood drawn for 10 different tests to check for common and uncommon cause of miscarriage. I will tolerate having all this blood drawn (one of my least tolerable things) so we can try to get to the bottom of this issue. I have to go in the morning because 2 of the tests the doctor is running are chromosome tests on me, and they have to be done and picked up by noon for immediate shipment. I'm very glad these tests are being done, but the doctor told me that, honestly, she doesn't expect to find anything. She thinks that because I'm young and healthy, she has a feeling that I'm one of these unlucky folks for which they can't find a reason. But at least we'll look.

We did talk about the progesterone issue, which is something I've found in my own personal research. When I was tested last fall during the first miscarriage, my level was 3.8, which by my research is quite low. The doctor agreed that it's low, but it's one of those issues that the medical community can't agree on. Is the level low because I was miscarrying, or was I miscarrying because the level was low? I asked about progesterone supplements for when we try again (providing that no other issue is found). The doctor said she's not a "strong believer" in it, but she certainly prescribes it for people because it doesn't hurt anything. So, when the time comes, I'll be going on that. So, that's what my status is right now. I just want this blood drawn so the tests can start coming back.

Also, my birthday was Friday, and it was good. I'm mentioning this so I can give a shout out to my friend A, who is a frequent reader of this blog and sent me the most awesome birthday card ever that I received today and was exactly what I needed. It is homemade and tells a story of me being a hottie, and everyone from Sawyer from LOST to Matt Damon wanting me. AND it has a picture of Pete Sampras on the cover. A is awesome and creative, and I love it. I have really good friends.

In Mourning

I think many people would be surprised that I am writing this and would not do it if they were in the same situation. However, I deal best with things by talking about them, so here goes.

Friday I suffered my second pregnancy loss in under a year. I am devastated by this. Everything was going along fine with this pregnancy, in stark contrast to the one last fall. At seven weeks, Brian and I went to our first doctor's appointment and saw the heartbeat easily on ultrasound. We felt extremely encouraged, as once you see a fetal heartbeat on ultrasound, there is a less than 10% chance of loss. Well, apparently I am in that crap 10%.

Thursday I had a little spotting, which is not unusual. I called the doctor's office for reassurance, which they provided. However, I woke up Friday, and it was worse and I was beginning to have a little cramping. I was 9 weeks and 5 days. I went to work, but while on break, made a doctor appointment for the afternoon, because I wanted to be checked. I called work and said they needed to get somebody to cover for the afternoon, because I was having an emergency. I split as soon as I could.

I came home and grabbed Brian and by the time we were leaving for the appointment it was getting worse. We made it to the doctor and I was in quite a lot of pain, but it wasn't even as bad as it was last fall. By this point, I knew what was going on. I was expecting to have an ultrasound and be told the fetus wasn't viable and that I would miscarry over the weekend or something. It took about two days of agony last time. Well, this happened so fast, I actually miscarried at the doctor's office, after only an hour or two of severe cramping. I was hysterical and devastated. (I pretty much still am.)

I can take comfort in the fact that at least Brian was with me and not on the road. I could not have been through that by myself. Also, because I was at the doctor's office, they were able to save everything for testing. Because this has happened to me twice now back to back, they are also going to start testing me to see if I have some discernible issue. I hope they can find something, either treatable or not. I cannot deal with this much more.

This one is harder emotionally than last fall for this reason. It's apparent from the ultrasounds I had last fall that that pregnancy never developed normally. It never had a heartbeat. This one was going along fine, and its heart was beating; it was living inside me. I feel like my body did something to kill it. My only consolation is that it's widely believed that a fetus cannot feel pain until about 6-7 months, so at least my little baby didn't suffer.

The last thing I would say is a lesson for people who have never gone through this. Please DO NOT ask people when they are having children. We get that question from well-meaning but ignorant people, and its starting to wear thin. It's a very hurtful question for people like us who have suffered pregnancy losses, or people who have trouble conceiving. Just don't ask it--you have no idea what people are going through behind their closed doors.

Family Strife

So, unfortunately, my grandfather is not doing well. Many of you already know that he has bi-polar disorder, and was diagnosed with that almost 17 years ago, the summer I was 12. He had a complete break that summer, and was institutionalized for a long time that summer. At that time, he was put on lithium (a heavy duty anti-psychotic). The lithium worked well for him for about 15 years. However, about 2 years ago, he started showing signs that it was not working for him anymore. He would not sleep for days on end, get extremely excitable, and have screaming fits towards my grandmother. His doctors decided to try different meds, ones that had come onto the market more recently. The upshot is that none of them have worked for more than a few months at at time.

In the past year, he has had to be institutionalized again 3 times. The mental problems are starting to affect him physically. He will not eat, and currently weighs a whopping 120 pounds (and is about 5'9"). He got out of the psych ward earlier this spring and my grandma wanted to take him out to their cabin in Pennsylvania, near my aunt. They should not have gone.

A couple of weeks ago, he took off on their golf cart for several hours. My grandmother, who is not handling this situation well, didn't call the police or anything. She called my mother and my uncle to ask for advice. They both basically said, "What are you calling us for? We're 500 miles away, call the damn cops." Well, he came back 3 hours later, after having driven his golf cart NINE MILES into town and back on the highway to buy flowers. My grandma basically said, oh well. It's almost as if she wants him to get hit in the road so she won't have to deal with it anymore.

Well, his doctors here in Michigan told Grandma that he needed to be institutionalized again. So, on that Sunday, my aunt and cousin who live out there tried to get him in the car to take him to a psych ward in Scranton. Before they could, he locked himself in the shed, threatening to kill himself. The cops had to be called, and he was forcefully taken away in an ambulance. He's been in the ward ever since.

This situation is causing major strife in my family, between my grandma and my mom and her siblings. Already, factions are forming, and people are getting angry. There is a lot of resentment towards my grandmother because she is not making the best decisions. Also, my mom and uncles, who live here in Michigan, really resent my aunt out east because she has not come to help them with the situation, and somewhat wanted not to have to make those tough decisions because she wanted to be "the good child," or his favorite for once in her life. Well, now that he's out there, she's finally just realizing what most of us here have known for years: that this situation sucks and has no good solutions. She's having a fit over the way he's behaving, but the fact is that we've been dealing with this for 2 years now. At Thanksgiving last year, which was here at Brian's and my house, he could barely stand up and was incomprehensible. This has been an almost constant thing.

I have my opinions on the subject, the main one being that he should never leave the hospital. He's threatening violence and is in very bad physical shape. My mom doesn't want to accept this, and and I understand. It's her father. But no matter what happens, I am very worried what this could do to our family. I do not want this to split us apart forever.

I am PO'ed

Okay, this is why. As I discussed previously, I have started a new job, covering deps in asbestos litigation. The work itself is fine. I have to attend depositions in Bingham Farms and Saginaw. The problem is that I feel as though the firm that hired me through Kelly Services misled me. Also, they are not paying me fairly I feel for this work.

Here's the deal. First of all, I can only charge for my exact time sitting in the dep itself and my time afterwards to do the reports I have to complete. I cannot charge at all for my travel time, which is crap. All the other attorneys in the room get to, I've been told that repeatedly. I get money for my mileage, but not my actual time in the car. Again, the other attorneys get to charge this. Also, this firm will not let me charge for my prep time, so I have to eat that. I was told that it takes no prep, but I prepare for everything, even if just for a few minutes. This is also bullshit because many of the other attorneys get to charge a standard hour for prep time. Basically, the other attorneys are telling me I'm getting ripped off.

The worst thing, however, is that I am not adequately compensated for times when depositions cancel. For example, today I got up and drove to Saginaw. I left my house at about 8:15. I had deps at 10 and 2. So, I get there at 9:30 just to be told a half hour later that the plaintiff didn't show up and the dep was canceled. So, I get to hang around Saginaw all day until 2 and do nothing until my next dep. My entire morning was wasted, and I get to charge a whopping half and hour it (the time I spent waiting). And the afternoon dep went, but it lasted 2 hours (pretty average) and it took me a half an hour to do my reports. So, for being gone from my house all day, I get paid for 3 hours of work (I made $66 bucks). I also will get my mileage, but in my mind, that doesn't count. That's for wear and tear on your car and for gas money. I was told that this could happen, but I was led to believe it was "occasionally." This is the third time this has happened in a month. Huge stinking waste of my time.

I feel that this is BS. So does my rep at Kelly Services. She is working on this firm, but they are not budging. They keep saying, "Our client won't pay." But the fact is that this firm is charging 5 or 6 times what they are paying me to the client. Basically, they are making a HUGE profit off me. If this cancellation crap happens much more and they don't compensate me, I think I may quit this assignment. It gets to the point where what little I'm making isn't worth the aggravation. I'm basically truly making about $10 an hour. That is ridiculous. I'd be better off working retail.

I Can't Believe We Missed the Tater!

So, I have to tell you the crazy, frustrating thing that happened to Brian and I on Saturday.

We bought the tickets 2 months ago. We were going to see Ron White, the comedian from the Blue Collar Comedy Tour (I think he's the funniest because he's the least redneck-y). For those who don't know, he's the rotund middle aged one that smokes a cigar and drinks scotch during his routine. Part of his bit is making a joke about having the alias of "Tater Salad." We were so excited. The show was at Wharton Center at Michigan State, at 10:30 pm, which only meant that Ron would be more liquored up and even dirtier. We even made reservations at Hershey's in East Lansing, which was a restaurant that Brian had always wanted to go to while he was in school, but couldn't afford it.

We left the house at about 7:15 on Saturday, with plenty of time to get where we were going. We had a great dinner, and proceeded over to Wharton. We parked the truck and went inside. All of a sudden we realize that the place was suspiciously empty. Brian tells me to pull out the tickets, which I do. I then realize, with horror, that we are there on the WRONG DAY. The show was the NIGHT BEFORE and we missed it. There are not enough expletives in the English language to express how PO'ed I was. We both had the show on our respective calendars for Saturday the 9th, when it was Friday the 8th, and we have no idea how we made the mistake. And neither of us caught it. Then, to top it all off, we had to drive home from East Lansing in absolute crap weather, all mad at each other, and we missed our Valentine's Day present to each other. Furthermore, we lost out on $90 worth of tickets!

I hope you all have a better Valentine's celebration than we did (although our dinner that night was superb).

Careless Driving!!

This afternoon, I spent several hours at our friend M's house. Two days ago, I found out M had been in a serious car accident. She lost control of her own vehicle and spun out on some ice, and then another driver blew through the accident scene and hit her car while she was outside of it. She was knocked through the air and seriously injured. Her two and a half year old daughter witnessed this entire incident, and is now incredibly traumatized. M is going to be okay, but might have some permanent effects from her injuries. It just got me to thinking about how stupidly people drive. Slow down people! Your life is not so important that you need to drive a million miles an hour everywhere you go. Furthermore, it has been statistically proven that speeding and aggressive driving across an average sized city will get you to your destination only one minute faster than if you drove with care. Is one minute worth somebody's life? M could easily have been killed, or her daughter could have been.

Again, I repeat, SLOW DOWN!

My other pet peeve regarding driving is people on cell phones. Cell phone usage, even if you are using a bluetooth, is extremely distracting while you drive. Knock it off! Whenever Brian and I are driving together, and we notice that some other driver has cut us off, ran a red light, or done something else incredibly careless, we automatically look to see if that person is on their cell phone. Nine times out of ten, they are. And then, my husband inevitably makes a comment like, "Get off your cell phone, you stupid moron," or something even more colorful. He has little patience for that sort of thing.

So, just to sum up, drive carefully this holiday season and at all times, really. You might save a life (or just a lot of damage done to your vehicle).