Today sucks.

OK maybe not like the whole day, but this morning definitely.

I think I'm generally pretty easy-going and level-headed about this whole baby funk, but today I'm just OVER it. We were supposed to start our first IUI cycle last month, but the hub's surgery recovery screwed that up. We gave it a good try or four on our own, but uh... -0- for 4. I think his meds were interfering with his ability to do the deed. It was pretty funny actually.

So anyway, we were gearing up to start our first cycle this month, but then I noticed the hub is going to be out of town during my most fertile period - good one, hub! Now the nurses are thinking he's totally trying to duck out of this... hahahhahaa.... Well we went to the doctor today anyway for labwork and to see what our options were with this timing conflict. We can actually probably still do it this month, but the real blow this morning was finding out the cost of all of it. I'm not sure what I was thinking - and it was dumb of me not to have researched more clearly - but apparently my insurance covers nothing on this... IUI is certainly way less expensive than IVF, but it's still no chump change.

I don't know... the whole thing just put me in a funk this morning. We're already thousands of dollars in with my surgeries and countless other "procedures" so it's just like, when is it gonna end? How much is my big fat belly gonna cost? Hub is going on an insurance rampage today and seeing what he can find out with them. If anyone can get something done, he sure can. As time goes on, my patience seems to be wearing thin... I'm trying really really hard to just trust God here and go with the flow. I know he has a plan for us. I know we'll find a way financially, and we gotta do what we gotta do, but ugh. I'm over it.

A great new find...

Well, I was waiting till my order arrived before I gave props to this site. My big box was delivered yesterday and I am ready to RAVE!!! Add this one to the list of fabu gift ideas...

The site is called UpDone, which makes me think of hair, but it's all about photos. What they do is take your uploaded photos and print them on canvas and wrap them around a gallery frame. It makes a beautiful frameless picture -ready to hang - no framing required. You can choose to have the photo wrapped around the edges (as pictured) or to have the entire photo just on the face of the frame. And the beautiful thing? It's so affordable. My dad is pretty big into photography, so I uploaded 9 of his pictures from our Maine trip this summer and had them printed on 14 x 10 canvas frames (you can pretty much choose whatever size you want). No shipping costs - they were running a promotion at the time (and still are) - and no sales tax for GA. So I got these 9 photos done for less than $120 total.

I was amazed at the price, and naturally a little skeptical. But the goods arrived yesterday and they look fantastic!!! I can't wait to see my parents' reaction on Christmas. They all look SO great and professional. I totally have this site bookmarked because I will definitely be using them again. It does take a while to get the order - allow 2 or 3 weeks for delivery. And it looked like a 5 year old taped the box together. But other than that - Fabulous! I totally have visions of black and white photos hanging in a baby room... or how cute would a collage of these be in a dorm room or college apartment? OMG the possibilities are endless. Go check it out and have fun! :-)

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes

As promised, here is the yummy cupcake recipe I made for my co-workers last night. I originally got the recipe from one of my girlfriends and I've used it a million times over - it's so easy. You should know it's only 9:23am and I've already gotten several rave reviews. These are always a huge hit. One chick at a bridal shower once called them edible sin (the pic above is from that shower). They're a little rich for me, as I'm not huge on sweets, but who am I to deny others the yummy goodness?

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes

1 box Devil's Food cake mix (plus ingredients required for mix - usually 3 eggs, oil & water)

1.5 cups chocolate chips (I use the Ghirardelli semi-sweet)

1 block cream cheese

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg (in addition to those required for the cake mix)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Prepare the cake mix according to the package directions.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the chocolate chips, cream cheese, sugar, and egg and mix together. (I usually dump whatever choc chips I have left in the cake mix.)

4. Fill muffin tins about 2/3 full with the cake mix, then drop a spoonful of the cream cheese mixture on top of each muffin.

5. Bake according to cake mix directions.

Yields 18-24 cupcakes (or you can do mini's too of course).

The cream cheese goodness drops down in the center of the cupcake when it bakes - so fun. Enjoy!

5 Things.

1. I haven't wrapped the first Christmas gift. (I'm starting tonight.)

2. I pulled a muscle in my neck this morning when I sneezed. (It still hurts like hell.)

3. I'm wearing my replacements for the first time today and they are freakin' fabulous! (Perhaps my broken heel was fate?)

4. I'm baking cupcakes tonight for my co-workers. (I'll share the yummy recipe tomorrow.)

5. Christmas bride was 40 minutes late to her own wedding rehearsal because she and her fiance were out getting their marriage license. Hehehehe... Her momma was not happy.

Fun on Amazon...

Amazon is one of my favorite sites. And now I love it even more. I've gotten back into my Luna bars lately. They're so great if you're not familiar with them... they are yummy bars packed with vitamins and nutrients specifically for women. And I'm very picky when it comes to those health bars - in fact, the only flavor of Luna I've tried is the Nutz over Chocolate. The others sound scary. I'm weird about sweets. Anyway - love them, and I have one each day, but they're pricy. They average $1 each. Even if you buy the box of 6, it's not really discounted much (if at all).

Well, I remembered that Amazon carried some grocery items so I decided on a whim to check their site today to see if they carried my Luna's - and they do. The price is about the same as in stores, BUT I can get them tax-free and without shipping costs via Amazon. Plus they have a bigger box of them than what's available in groceries. So OK, not really a better price, but hey - tax-free. That helps a little. But then I saw a little blurb on the right side of the screen about their Subscribe & Save plan. Basically, you can have a product scheduled to be delivered to you in whatever frequency you choose - and by doing so, they knock off 15% of the purchase price every time. OMG sold! Plus you get free shipping - no matter the cost. Normally you have to spend $25+ to qualify for free shipping. It's the little things, you know? I'm so super excited. It's going to save me $6-7 every month on my bars. And that's one less thing on my grocery list. If there's something on your list that you buy week after week, you should totally see if Amazon has it - it could save you a few bucks.

In other news... CB's wedding went really well. It was a looooooooong weekend and I'm SO glad to be off bridesmaid duty for a while, but all was great. These two weddings this fall/winter have me pooped!

The Replacements.

I just ordered these Charles by Charles David pretties to replace my bronze Via Spigas (R.I.P.). I so am not supposed to be shopping for me right now, but I literally do not have anything else to wear with browns this time of year, other than some hooker boots - and I think those are in my Goodwill pile anyway. I was totally reasonable though. I saw several pairs that would be great, but I went for the $49 sale pair! 60% off! I think they're pretty darn cute and I love me some Mary Jane's. I do think I'll have the hub contact Via Spiga to see if there is anything they can do for my sad little shoes. If anyone can get something done, he can.

What a week.

I don't have much time on my hands to blog lately - obviously. But just wanted to pop in and say hello! The hub is on the mend from his knee surgery last Friday. He is on the couch (and has been for the last 5 days) in this knee bendy contraption thingee that keeps bending and straightening his leg. Super fun, he says. He did get out of the house for lunch yesterday with a friend, but it quickly became a bad idea. He was very uncomf and soon retreated back to the couch. The dogs are loving this "fun" time with daddy though. They are expert snugglers and caretakers.

So with all that going on, last weekend was definitely low-key. I did have a party Friday night that I had to co-host. The hub's mom came down so she was able to babysit the patient while I went to party. Sounds fair, right? I bailed on Saturday night's party that we had scheduled. Just no fun without the hub... I don't really know many other people at that party. I made an appearance at our small group party on Sunday, but vacated after dinner to return to my ailing hub. Aside from the parties and a grocery run or two, I was at the house all weekend. Which seems to be a rarity, sadly. We had so much fun though. OK the hub really would not say as much, but I mean, just "being" together all weekend was so much fun. I worked on Christmas cards while he popped pain pills and dozed off. We watched a ridiculous amount of movies. The tree was lit and the fire was going... it was super cozy and Christmassy. And I got SO much done. I was rolling through laundry, whippin' through my Christmas card list, cleaning up, organizing... I really got a lot done.

Then on Monday, I had to leave the hub behind and return to work. I actually was out of the office all day at a continuing ed class. So I'm walking into lunch - this huge ass banquet room with probably 30 or 40 round tables - and I suddenly stepped on something... or in something? I heard this pop and looked down to see what I had just crushed under my foot. Nothing there... hmmm.... so I kept walking and whoah! Did I just step in a hole? Nope. A few more steps and I realized what had happened...

Oh the horror! And of all my shoes, why these?! My bronze Via Spigas that I wear like ALL the time in the fall and winter! Now I seriously have no shoes to wear with browns, etc that aren't peep toe. OMG! I guess I need to call Santa back and update my list. I'm so mad. These were such great shoes. I wore them probably 2 or 3 days a week (to work) and they don't look a day older than when I first wore them last year. And this is so not fixable. I mean I just don't see how. You can't tell in the pic, but it is all kinds of jacked up inside (what used to be) the heel. I suppose I could have a cobbler redo both heels with a stacked heel? But wouldn't that cost a ton? And I don't think it would look great. The wrapped heel really looks best on this shoe. OMG. So sad... so very sad. Now I will have to say that I did um... run up my concrete driveway that same morning in those heels... perhaps that was the straw that broke the camel's back? Or maybe that in itself was enough to kill the heel?! Well I assure you, no more running in heels on hard surfaces for me! Dumb move on my part. The spot on my shoe shelf where these lovelies lived is now empty. *Sniff.*

So that was my own personal drama for the week. Now this weekend is Christmas bride's wedding. I just got my bridesmaid's dress dropped off with my seamstress yesterday. I know - but she's fast and I literally got the dress two weeks ago. She couldn't do it till this week anyway. Got my dyeable shoes which, of course, don't match the dress. They'll be fine though. OK so then yesterday I get to work and Christmas bride has left a gift box in my chair with a big card. Fun - I like presents! So in the card she's going on and on and then asks me if I will be her MOH. What?! Yes - 4 days before the wedding. So while I am super duper flattered, I'm also feeling very lousy - I have not at all done enough to qualify for the MOH position! And it's not like there's time for me to do anything now! We did try to put together a bachelorette thing but it never panned out. So OMG, now I'm the MOH. So my responsibilities have like quadrupled. And do I have to do a toast now? I gotta ask her about that. I'll totally do it, but OMG - scary. I just feel like I'm such a lousy MOH.... but hey, I was kinda given short notice! And I'm a virgin MOH - any advice on how I can MOH-it-up these last few days???

Well I better run... work is finally picking up, so I'm sure they'd appreciate me getting some billable hours in. I'm outtie.

Oh P.S. - I guess you figured out that we didn't knock it out last month, but we're on for on-our-own try #2 this week. We were supposed to start IUI this month, but with the hub's surgery, I knew it wasn't going to be good for him timing-wise. Nothing like spewing your goodies in a cup while recovering from an uber painful surgery! So if he's *up* to it, we'll be giving it one last shot this week. Fingers crossed applesauce!

Catching up.

I have been so absent from blog-world lately! I have missed reading all my favorite blogs and need to catch up. This time of year is just so nuts - as I'm sure it is for all of you. I love it though. It's without a doubt the most wonderful time of the year!

So let's see, where did I leave you? Well my bestest and I had lots of good girly fun together last week. We had a great time at the Georgia/Georgia Tech game that Saturday. Although, we did have a really scary experience trying to get to our seats and missed the entire first quarter in the process. Those Georgia Tech grads are always chanting about being a "hell of an engineer" or whatever. Well it was one hell of an engineer (or crack-smoker) who designed that damn stadium. We apparently went in a gate where we could not get to our seats. The people taking our tickets didn't bother to tell us this. And we didn't think it mattered - I mean, our beautiful stadium in Athens is user friendly. Well, we soon figured out that there was no direct access to our section from where we entered. So we found the section closest to ours with access and decided to go in there and we'd scoot on over to our section once inside. OK so apparently what we were heading for was the student section. And everyone else there had the same idea I guess because it was packed in the corridor and got more and more packed - yet we weren't moving forward. It then got to the point where we were being crushed. It quickly went from "OK this is nuts" to "OK this is SCARY." I felt like my ribs were going to be crushed because the idiots behind us kept pushing and pushing. I definitely see how people get killed in these situations. Finally the cops broke it up and started forcing people back. I don't know what the hell took them so long. A few girls were shaken up. It was definitely scary - I'm sure you could pick up your feet and be carried along with the crowd. If I had been pregnant, I would've been terrified. And being surrounded by drunk idiots only made it worse.

We did finally get to our seats though - at the 2nd quarter. This involved being escorted out by stadium security to the proper gate. So I'll say it once and be done with it... Attention Georgia Tech fans - your stadium sucks ass!

So that was Saturday. We were of course beat by the end of the day. Sunday, bestest and I hosted a trunk show/open house. I need to upload those pics... her stuff was displayed so beautifully! Lots of fun goodies! We had a disappointing turnout, but the weather was crappy and it was a holiday weekend. We still managed to have fun though!

Monday morning we had fun being lazy. We got going finally and went down to Phipps and then later to Discover Mills. Bestest scored a Lilly dress for less than $30 at Off 5th, so she was thrilled! Monday night we went with the hub to our favorite little Mexican joint by our house. Tuesday was more of the same... just piddling around. We hit a few stores and then we stopped by Atlantic Station on the way to the airport and had a quick dinner at The Grape. We had such fun but it was all over so quickly! It made me miss you more, bestest! Such a tease, you are.

What else is going on? Well, the hub is once again trying to one-up me by having knee surgery this Friday. It is now definitely official... this household wins the 2007 Medical Disasters Award. By Christmas, we'll both have had two surgeries this year (he had hernia surgery back in March - not sure if I ever mentioned that one). Mine were more expensive though, so I totally win. His surgery comes at the worst time possible though - Christmas season! I'm co-hosting a party the night after his surgery, so I'm going to have to leave him at home. What a horrible wifey I am! His mom is coming down though, so I'm not leaving him alone. Then we have another party Saturday night. I was planning on not going, obviously - but the hub is insisting that I go. So who knows - that may be a gametime decision. Then our small group is having its Christmas get-together Sunday evening. I really don't know if he'll be up for it or not. Poor thing! And then if that isn't enough, Christmas Bride's wedding is the following weekend. (And my dress, by the way, is GINORMOUS. At least 3 sizes too big. Let's hope my seamstress lady can work a miracle.) So will the hub be tagging along on crutches that whole weekend? I just don't know. We don't really know what to expect. I just hope he can come to the wedding at least... I really don't know much of anyone else there. Selfish reasons of course for wanting him to be there!

Well I'm making progress on my Christmas shopping, but I haven't wrapped the first thing. I really need to get started on that this weekend. So much to do though... I'm finishing up a Christmas card order this week. It's good money, but they're kinda boring to make. Ho hum. I've got some other items for some spring brides that I've got to get out this week. Once I get those things done, I'm pretty much in the clear for a while. Then I can totally focus on Christmas stuff.

So I also wanted to tell y'all about my latest online obsession! (This is the most random post, I know.) I just got into this last week... Spark People. It's like myspace for health and nutrition. I had never heard of it before, but there are a ton of people on it! Maybe some of you are on it! I actually just stumbled upon the site because I was on google trying to find a good online daily calorie tracker/counter. SparkPeople definitely had the best one. A lot of sites want to charge you - which is just dumb. So I initially signed up on SparkPeople just to use the nutrition tracker thing, but now I'm totally obessed with the whole site! It is super fun. And you can also track your vitamin intake and whatever else you want to track. It amazed me to see how I'm not getting enough vitatmins in each day. I added some Luna Bars this week and that has helped a ton. And my prenatal vitamins also help. I add those in as a "food" so the nutrients are accounted for each day. I'm not trying to lose any weight - I really don't even know how much I weigh as I never step on a scale (except when forced to at the doctor). I'm just trying to be generally healthy and maintain my weight. I mean I'm 30 now y'all. It all goes to hell from here. Anyway, check it out if you have any weightloss, nutrition, or fitness goals you'd like to keep up with online - it's a very cool online community.



This post is entirely too long and random, I know! But I had several things to spit out. Well I best get back to work and also catching up on your blogs... I'll be back later with some trunk show pictures and such.

Finally, a winner!

After two photo sessions, who-knows-how-many treats, and near tears, we finally got the winning Christmas card photo over the weekend! I love how it looks so effortless. It's a good thing the hub and I are not pictured, because our sweaty looks of frustration would not be so festive.

The doggies had such a fun play day yesterday. The hub blew all the fallen leaves in a big pile and they just had a ball. The hub got a new camera for Christmas - yes, for Christmas. He apparently "needed" it before Christmas for various reasons that he rattled off to me before our trip to Best Buy a couple of weeks ago. So he has been taking pictures left and right. He got some great shots of Gertie (the yellow lab mix). Can you believe this sweet girl had double hip surgery back in May? Look at her go! I'm such a nut for our sillies... I seriously tear up when I open these pics. I need help! I'm going to be positively mental when we have actual people kids!