Wednesday, April 30, 2008

tagged

Christyna tagged me for a meme today and I am compelled to do it since it is (I believe) an "end of April" meme. I have so many posts unposted, including a meme Brenda tagged me for a while back...but, alas, I am doing what I can right now when it comes to the blog.

Here is my list of 10 things that have been keeping me busy:

1. I start (pretty much) every day in meditation. I'm not a morning person, so any extra time is precious. But since I started doing it last July, it has made such a profound impact on my life that I manage to get up and do it. I don't mean to sound like some sort of zealot or anything...so I'll leave it at that.

2. Running after the animals, mostly Gracie, keeps me busy. She is happiest when she gets a lot of activity--so I'm either busy taking her places and playing with her, etc. or I am busy dealing with her hyperactivity and downright goofiness if she was left alone for too much of the day. The kitties follow me around whenever Gracie is out in the backyard or when she is sleeping--they know the coast is clear so they take advantage of some cuddle time.

3. Trying to get knocked up without going crazy about it.

4. Morning exercise and afternoon activities with our residents, and a myriad of ever-changing diversions throughout the day. You never know what might come up when there are 30 residents, over 30 employees, volunteers and community contacts, and 5 houses to keep running (inside and out).

5. Mr. C got me XM Radio for Christmas and I love it. I want to get it in my house now too, because I find that at least once a day I sit in my car to continue listening to something that has compelled me.

6. Trying to fix healthy food for me and Mr. C each day. We decided when we were on our cruise that we want to eat lunch together as often as possible. This can be a challenge because our tastes are so far apart. I would be happy eating brown rice and veggies while he would be in heaven if pizza, cheese burgers and fries were actually healthy and he could eat them every day.

7. The house still isn't "moved in." I have three rooms that I still haven't finished painting and NONE of the rooms are fully furnished (not to mention accessories, art, etc.). The garage is filled with boxes. We still have a storage unit that is mostly filled. Mr. C is busy (understatement) with this film project so he hasn't had the time or energy to help with these things. So I plod away slowly and some days, like today and yesterday, I only manage to keep the house reasonably clean and tidy. It's OK, because I've got nothing but time. We were thinking we'd have a house-warming party at some point. Is there a time limit for such things?

8. Almost every evening we watch a movie. Without cable it is our only option, but it does require that we give attention to what we are watching rather than just turning on the TV and flipping through the channels.

9. I've been reading spiritual books lately. Good stuff.

10. Daydreaming about summer, which will be here before too long. I love spring, so I'm not wishing it away. I will, however, relish time outside, long days, grilling like crazy, riding our bikes...

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Will this surge ever end?

I've been using OPKs and so far I have had pretty regular cycles with a positive OPK on day 17 and all of the physical signs of ovulation following.

This month I was on the cruise on day 17 and, sure enough, got the positive. I didn't notice the normal signs to follow, though. But that didn't set off any alarms or anything, since my schedule and eating patterns were all out of whack due to being on vacation.

I had a couple unused OPKs, though, and four days after the positive I--just for the heck of it--tested again. It was positive. The next day I tested again and, yep, it was positive. When I got home I went out and bought another box of OPKs. I've tested now for 5 days in a row and, you guessed it, still positive (I've even done both FMU and evening tests). So now I am 9 days out from the first positive.

What the...?

Of course I have done some research and did read that your body can have a surge and then not ovulate, only to later surge again. This wouldn't be surprising since travel, stress, being sick, drinking a lot of alcohol, etc. can impede the egg from releasing. But what is up with a surge lasting (at least) 5 days? I know I don't have PCOS. I also read that an OPK will go positive if you are pregnant, but only after implantation.

I ran out of OPKs today and will not buy any more. It is expensive (albeit strangely satisfying) to pee on sticks.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

back on land

...but I feel like I am still on a boat, even though we got off the ship on Sunday morning. We had a long travel day yesterday that started at 4:30 a.m. and included two flights and a 4 hour drive. Today I am tired.

The trip was quite an experience. We had fun and enjoyed being away for a while. Being on a cruise really was a step into a different reality. I enjoyed sitting in the sun and reading, eating good food, and dancing almost every night. Mr. C and I made a little video of some highlights of the cruise which I hope to post in the next few days or so. He wants to fiddle around with it, so I'm really not sure when it will be done.

I got a little taste of summer, which felt wonderful. Apparently the weather here was pretty sunny and warm as well while we were away. Before we left it was still feeling like the verge of spring. The tree in our backyard, along with trees all over the area, was covered in blossoms. Now, the trees are full of yellow-green leaves. It is like the color dial on the landscape was turned up several notches--spring has definitely sprung.

Friday, April 11, 2008

away for a while

I realize that I have been away from the blog already--haven't posted in a very long time, which has been hard because I miss blogging and I miss catching up on all of you out there who I care so much about--but I am going away for an actual vacation.

Mr. C and I are taking a cruise and we are looking forward to some serious down-time. We started vacation planning with something tropical in mind and when the idea of a cruise came up I think we both were attracted to the idea of being out to sea.

Life is good and I am starting to get back into a groove again. I had really gotten in the swing of things before our move into the new house, then everything was thrown about into a swirl of activity and newness. Time away will be, perhaps needless to say, wonderful.

I have made a lot of progress on the house--all but one of the rooms that I intend to paint are either finished or almost finished and the unfinished room has paint on the wall (just doing one accent wall in there) but we decided to change the color.

I do plan to get back to posting regularly again. And I promise that if/when there is any news to share of any substance I will, most definitely, share it.