One Step Closer

Okay, so I had my hysterosalpingogram (HSG) done today. This test was done to see if I had enough healthy fallopian tube left to reverse my tubal. It was a little uncomfortable, but not too bad. The radiologist was great. She really helped me relax. She showed me the pictures they took and it was pretty neat. This isn't me, but it gives you an idea:



The doctor said it looked very promising. I meet with the doctor that will be doing the surgery on Wednesday. I will let you know what she says.

Well, I better go get some dinner started. The natives are getting restless. Have a great week everyone!

And to a certain fellow Steeler fan and DL fan, have a great birthday Karen!


(I don't know who originally made that, so sorry I can't give credit. But they did a great job!)

Turkey Day

Well, I guess everyone is preparing to stuff their faces tomorrow. I read recently that on average people gain 10 pounds during the holiday season. I believe it. Too much enticing good food. We will be going to my mom's for lunch and hubby's parents for dinner. I am getting hungry just thinking about it and I just finished dinner!

I meet with a doctor on December 6th to discuss my surgery. I have to have a special test done probably next week to check out things. Hopefully all will go well from there. Hopefully my fellow lep fan will have some news for us by Christmas. {{HUGS}}

We got some Christmas shopping done today. I am just about finished. I hate going into the stores after Thanksgiving, but I don't have a choice since I am not done yet. :(

Well, I am going to make that sweet pumpkin dip for tomorrow. Hope everyone has a great Turkey Day!

What a performance!

What has a laser show, fake snow, pyrotechnics, as well as some really damn good rock music??? The Transiberian Orchestra that's what!

I was blown away Wednesday night. I wasn't expecting the performance that I got. They gave you your money's worth and more. The first half of the show was Christmas oriented (if you've never heard Christmas in Sarajevo I highly recommend it) then the second half was pure rock. (Including a rendition of Layla by Eric Clapton!) I was kinda hoping they would break out into some PSSOM, but they didn't. Bummer!

The guy that lead the orchestra had his own custom electric violin in the shape of a flying V. How cool is that?? Then he had one where the edges of a violin and the bow glowed in the dark! It was way cool.

They all had real talent. If you have never seen them before, do. You will not be disappointed. Well worth the money.

We are hanging out at home for Thanksgiving. Trying to save some moulah since we are going to be dishing out a pretty penny in January for my surgery. Yes, we've made a final decision about it and we are going for it. I just hope it doesn't take too long. I'm anxious!! Who knows? Maybe me and my fellow lep fan Connie will be doing this together. You never know. (Still keeping my fingers crossed for ya babe).

Have a safe and wonderful weekend everyone!

Just a quick note

My mom's surgery was today and everything went well. She is back at home and resting nicely with the help of Percocet, lol! Thanks to everyone for thinking about her.

Happy hump day!

I need some advice

Okay everyone, I need some advice. My husband and I are seriously thinking about having another baby before I get too old. I'll be 38 in May. My kids are 16 and 13, so there would be a big age gap.

We will have to pay a lot of money to even try, since I had my tubes tied 13 years ago. I would need an operation to untie them essentially (put them back together), then there are no guarantees that it will work. I was very fertile in my 20's, but the older we get the less fertile we are.

Then I'm not sure I am even a candidate for the surgery. Only certain kinds of tubals can be reversed. I have to have a test done first to see if my tubes are still patent.

Insurance will probably not cover any of the tests or surgeries, so we are probably looking at a few grand (7-10,000).

I am really hoping you guys can help me decide on what to do. I know we both want another baby, but are we just being crazy?

Thanks for your help.

It's Ghost and Goblin time again...

Halloween is almost upon us once again. I can't believe October is almost over. I took Monday off so I have a nice 3 day weekend. Our neighborhood is having a get together later on today and we are giving the kiddies hayride and a bonfire later this evening. I am going to make some sweet pumpkin dip for my contribution. I love the stuff. I hate pumpkin pie, but I love this dip. Probably because it is sweet and you serve it with sliced up apples or gingersnaps. Yummy!

My youngest is forgoing trick or treating this year and opting to go see a scary movie with friends. One less costume to worry about. My oldest is still going out with some friends to beg for candy door to door. I thought she was getting a little old to trick or treat, but they still enjoy it.

We have closing day for softball this afternoon. One more game for the season then we have a break until February. Both girls will be playing then so it should be fun. I don't know whether I am coming back as a coach or not. I won't decide until I have to. I went to my stomach doc yesterday to tell him about my new symptoms and he put me on some new medication to try for a month, but if I didn't see an improvement in 2 weeks I have to call him and he is going to do another endoscopy to check for ulcers and such. I haven't had one done since 97, so I could have developed something. I am kinda hoping the new pills work.

I don't know if any of you remember the girl at my work that I did ultrasounds on to help her get pregnant, but she had her little boy this past Thursday. His name is Jacob and he is adorable. Mom and baby are doing fine and went home today. I am so happy for the both of them.

Well, I have to go get ready for the game. Wish us luck!

Here are some Halloween funnies for you:

I've got a new addiction

Yep, my new addiction is Pumpkin Spice flavored coffee creamer. Of course I have to add cinnamon on top with a little whipped cream. Yummy! One of my favorite things about fall is new flavors for me to try. Hubby and I have a 3 day weekend toward the end of November and I am thinking about surprising him with a little weekend getaway to a B&B in the mountains and a day trip to one of NC many wineries. We have them all over here. When we went to the RV show I sampled some wine from there and it was good. Very fruity. The winery is in Sparta. I am not sure how far away it is, but nothing is too far from us, so I think I might make some reservations. It would be nice for us to get away.

Stephanie's boyfriends parents celebrated their 25th anniversary yesterday. We were invited to a surprise party for them, given by their 3 children. It was very nice. Hubby and I have 6 1/2 years til we celebrate ours. Quite an accomplishment I think.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Bush was here

The President visited my lovely city yesterday, yippee!! Of course, some idiot decided that we should shut down all the major highways at 5:00 so he could get to the airport. I have no problem with them shutting down the highways, but at 5!!! Piss poor planning on someone's part. Ugh!!! And no, I was not one of those people standing along the road hoping to catch a glimpse. It wasn't DL after all, lol!

Softball is giving me an ulcer!

Let me just say that softball is stressing me out!!! I think I may have even developed an ulcer. We were on a winning streak and then the girls reverted back to their old ways of playing, which were not good! I feel like I am beating my head up against a wall sometimes. Now I know why I didn't become a teacher. I couldn't do this on a daily basis. You have these girls who you tell something to, they understand it and do it, but when it comes to game time, they lock up. It is so frustrating. I don't think I'll be back for the spring. I just want to be the spectator again. I stopped enjoying it now that I coach, and I don't like that at all. It's my favorite sport.

Okay, enough venting. Did everyone see the boys on Ellen yesterday? They looked good, real good. I forgot to set my DVR so my mom called me at work and asked me if she needed to set hers. I said "of course!!" I completely forgot. She is so sweet to think of me. I stopped by on my way home to watch it. I wish she would have interviewed them though, but I'll take what I can get since I am going through withdrawals. I haven't bought my Hysteria Deluxe edition cd yet. I guess I am slacking a little. I got an email to preorder it off Amazon UK. They know me so well, lol!

Well, I am going to leave everyone with what I thought was a good email. No offense to the democrats who read it:

A FATHER DAUGHTER TALK

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat and was for distribution of all wealth. She felt deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican which she expressed openly.

One day she was challenging her father on his beliefs and his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and more welfare programs. In the middle of her heartfelt diatribe based upon the lecture she had from her far left professors at her school, he stopped her and asked her point blank, how she was doing in school.

She answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain. That she had to study all the time, never had time to go out and party like other people she knew. She did not even have time for a boyfriend and did not really have many college friends because of spending all her time studying. Furthermore, that she was taking a more difficult curriculum.

Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Mary?"

She replied, "Mary is barely getting by," she continued, "all she has is barely a 2.0 GPA" adding, "and all she takes are easy classes and she never studies." But to explain further she continued emotionally, "But Mary is so very popular on campus, college for her is a blast, she goes to all the parties all the time and very often does not even show up for classes because she is too hung over. "

Her father then asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your 4.0 GPA and give it to your friend who only had a 2.0." He continued, "That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair equal distribution of GPA."

The daughter visibly shocked by the father's suggestion angrily fired back, "That would not be fair! I worked really hard for mine, I did without and Mary has done little or nothing, she played while I worked real hard!"

The father smiled and said, "Welcome to the Republican Party."

Have a great weekend everyone!

I'm bored!

Okay, so I'm bored at work right now. It's Friday and most of the doctors aren't here. It's pretty quiet, which is always kinda spooky in a doctor's office so I am playing on the net.

Your Birthdate: May 16

You're incredibly introverted and introspective. You live inside your head. You spend a lot of alone time meditating and thinking. People see you as withdrawn, and at times they are right. You are caring and deep, but it may be difficult for you to show this side of yourself. Your strength: Your original approach to thinking Your weakness: You tend to shy away from others Your power color: Pale blue Your power symbol: Wavy line Your power month: July

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Me, introverted??!! Whatever. My hubby would laugh at that one.

I don't really have any good plans this weekend. I am meeting my girls from the team tomorrow morning at the batting cages so they can get some practice in. They are afraid of the fast pitches, so I hope this will give them some more practice.

I went to one of Stephanie's tennis matches last night. This is the first one that I have gone to. I don't quite understand the game and scoring system and changing sides, but it was interesting. They were tied and had to play an extra set (??I guess that's what it is called.) They played until the first team (they were playing doubles) scored 7 points. Stephanie and her partner Melissa won!! It was very close though. The other team gave it a good effort. I am going to try and go again next week in between softball games and try to remember my camera, but don't hold your breath since I never can seem to remember it. I would forget my head if it wasn't attached. Lol!

Have a great weekend everyone!

I had a bad day...

Hello all. I hope everyone is having a better week than me. Let's start with my mom. She was just diagnosed with gallstones and she has to see a general surgeon to remove her gallbladder. Strangely gallbladder surgery carries the highest incidence of complications. So I am not too excited about her having surgery. We will just have to take that one day by day.

Now onto my next problem, my softball team! They are going to give me a freakin' ulcer before this season is done. They were actually winning last night's game and all of a sudden aliens came and abducted them and replaced them with girls who had never touched a softball before. That's the only explanation I have anyway. They let the other team score 7 runs in one inning and beat is. We were so close too. I just wanted them to have a win to boost their self esteem. We still have 9 games left, but we are in last place so far. Which, in the words of my lovely friend Jude, sucks donkey balls!!!

Okay, so I did have one good thing today, an email from my friend Sylvia that I would like to share with my fellow ladies. Sorry Dick, this one is not for you, lol!

Why the US Navy is better than any other countries.....



Enjoy ladies!

Lovely weather we're having

What beautiful weather we've been having these last couple of days. We've been sleeping with the windows open at night, and it's been great! Makes me want to go camping before it gets too cold.

We had a 2 hour softball practice this morning and the girls did great. I just wish they would do the same thing during a game. Our last one, they had several errors(mostly overthrows) and lost. I don't care whether they win or lose as long as they have given their all. They just didn't have their heads in it last Thursday.

I want them to win to help their self-esteem. If they continue to lose, they tend to give up. And I don't want that.

I am watching my boys, the Yankees play the Red Sox at Yankee stadium. They are down one run, but I have faith in them to come back and win. It's only the bottom of the 4th after all.

We are taking my mother in law out to eat tonight for her birthday to PF Changs. I don't know how many of you have this restaurant where you are, but I highly recommend it. Great chinese. We went out to eat with my sister and her hubby last night and had Mexican. Good margaritas!! So, two nights in a row that I didn't have to cook. Woo hoo!

Well, I'm off to get ready. Have a great weekend!

Movie Trailer

Some of you have expressed an interest in the link for the movie trailer so here it is:

Home of the Giants Trailer

Click on High Speed for a better picture. For some reason the sound isn't working, sorry. We are hoping to find one that has sound, but for now this will have to do.

If you watch the counter in the far right hand corner, this is when Kim is in it. You can't rewind unfortunately, so be careful and be ready to pause it.

1:42.933 background during a game, she is in the front row, look for two girls with light yellow shirts on, she is the one on the left (hard to see)

2:33.299 she is right behind Ryan Merriman who is the boy with dark hair and a blue jacket sitting on the far left. She is wearing a tan courdoroy jacket and is looking away from the camera.

2:54.800 basketball game background. Look at the front row again and look for the girls wearing the light yellow shirts again. She is sitting on the far left right next to the woman standing with dark hair and a blue shirt.

You may have to watch it more than once to catch it. It seems like everytime we watch it, we find her in another scene, lol!

We lost our game yesterday, but the girls did their best, so I am proud of them.

We went to the RV show and found one that we liked, but after we went over the budget, decided that we can't do it right now, which is a bummer. Maybe once we get Kim's braces paid off we can do it. Who knows?

Here's a pic of the one that we liked:

Are you ready for some football?

Okay, I know there are some of you that don't care for the sport, but I am ecstatic that football is back. I am watching my boys as I am typing this. They are winning!! Before Ben had his emergency surgery, they were predicted to win this game, so I am glad to see that they are doing well without him.

We have a busy weekend planned. We have opening day for softball on Saturday, then we are going to the RV show on Sunday.

You may remember that Kim was an extra in a movie last year that still has not been released, (we don't know why), but we came across a long trailer for it while searching the net. We think it's an unofficial trailer, it has no sound, but Kim is in 2 different scenes, so real or not, that's still pretty cool. I just wish they would go ahead and release the dang thing!!

Okay, enough ranting for this post. It's half time and I'm going to grab a snack.

Driving, softball, tennis, and kneeboarding, etc...

Well, a few updates:

Softball is back for the fall. I am coaching my youngest daughter and we have our first game this Saturday. I'm a little nervous about it. We are playing a really good team. My girls will do fine as long as they do what I know they can. We shall see.

My oldest, Stephanie got her driver's license last Friday. It seems weird watching her drive off without one of us. Very depressing in a way. Another sign that she's growing up.

Stephanie is playing tennis this fall. It's the first time she's played, but she seems to be a natural at it. I guess all those years of softball has prepared her for tennis. Who knew? She just has to control her swing and not swing so hard. We have all started playing actually. It's a great workout. Hubby and I played Sunday and I beat him. :) Not gloating or anything, lol!

Kids are back in school and it's homework time, yeah!! Stephanie is taking all AP classes so she gets tons of "projects" to do, fun fun! The poor kid stayed up until 1:00 in the morning the other night finishing one up. They only give them a day or two to do them. Yikes!

Kim has been going to the lake on the weekends with friends and learning how to kneeboard (I think that's what it's called). So she has a sore butt and legs most of the time. But she's having fun.

I think that catches you up mostly, anyway. I will try really hard not to stay away so long this time.

The Crocodile Hunter Dies!

Report:

Television star Steve Irwin has been killed while filming an underwater documentary in Queensland. The 44-year-old, who was dubbed 'The Crocodile Hunter', was killed by a stingray barb through the chest while diving off Port Douglas. Local diving operator Steve Edmundson said: "Steve was hit by a stingray in the chest. He probably died from a cardiac arrest from the injury."

Police confirmed that paramedics were flown to nearby Low Isles, where Irwin was taken to be treated, but he died before they arrived.

Irwin, who runs the world famous Australia Zoo, is survived by his wife Terri and their two young children Bindi Sue and Bob Clarence.

Speaking to Sky Television, Queensland Tourism Minister Margaret Keech said: "It's a dreadful loss for the tourism industry and for nature conservation."


"Everybody who met Steve was impressed with his energy and his enthusiasm," she said.

Irwin made almost 50 'Crocodile Hunter' documentaries, which earned him worldwide acclaim for his dare-devil stunts with animals.


I am so upset by this. My whole family enjoyed the Crocodile Hunter and his shows. It's a terrible shame that any of this happened. My heart goes out to his wife and kids.

Brief Update

Hi guys!

So much going on right now, where to start? First of all, softball season starts soon and I am coaching my 13 year old this fall which should be fun. Stephanie is going to help me. Sign ups are this weekend and we have a draft on Saturday to pick our final players. As soon as I am finished I am off to the beach for 3 days. I always take the girls there right before school starts back. It's a day off work as well, so that's always good.

We are trying to plan a camping trip this fall before it gets too cold. We haven't been at all this year, so we definitely need to. We usually go 2 or 3 times a year.

Hubby's family are visiting this week so it's been good seeing them. We took our neice to the children's museum and she had a blast playing with different things. We haven't taken the kids there in a few years so they got to see it through Jocelyn's eyes.

Well, I guess that about catches you up with the main stuff. I'm sorry I don't get on much anymore. Like I said before, I may have to give this blog up. I just don't have the time for it like I used to. :(

Take care everyone!

Back from vacation

Hello everyone,

I just returned from vacation and we had a great time. We went to Niagra Falls (the Ontario side) and visited some family back home in Pittsburgh. I posted some pics on my flickr site that you can link to on my side bar.

I saw DL the night before I left. They rocked as always. Sav looked particularly good in his white vest and pants. Phil who normally waits at least 2 songs before taking off his shirt, came out shirtless. Whew! I enjoyed Journey and I thought that John (Neil's former band mate) did an excellent job filling in for Steve. I wish that DL would have played 20th Century Boy but they did Rock On and No Matter What. Since I saw them do those in the fall, I was hoping for something else, but they kicked some booty anyhow.

Well I am off to catch up on some blogs I have been neglecting. Have a great week everyone.

Cookout time!

Stephanie came home yesterday so we were all very excited to have her back. She had a great time on her trip. We stayed up late last night hearing all about it. We had a cookout yesterday with some friends, including our Romanian ones. Their nephew, Mircea is visiting with them now, the same boy that Stephanie has been emailing back and forth and IM'ing and such. He was so excited to see her. He brought me flowers and he brought her a clock that tells her what time it is in Romania (they are 7 hours ahead). We had a great time, just ate way too much food and probably gained back the two pounds I lost this week, lol!

Here is a pic of the kids. From left to right:
Mircea, Kim, Will, Stephanie, and Kristi



Also, I came across a pic from Kim's 1st b-day party. She had Elmo on her cake. It's so hard to believe she is 13 now and her sister, who is standing next to her is 16. My, how time flies.

My baby turned 13!

I am having a depressing month. First Stephanie leaves us for 2 weeks and then Kim, my baby turned 13. It's too much to handle at one time I tell ya. Stephanie is having a great time in Florida. She is learning so much there. She is actually considering a career in it. I told her that she wouldn't be able to work in our small town and make any kind of money. Her best bet would be SBI or FBI. Who knows. She was the only one in her group to successfully complete a facial reconstruction on a computer program. She did admit to falling asleep during a psychology lecture, but she knew the information because she just finished a college level psychology class at school. They are keeping them on the go from 7 in the am to 10 at night so it was catching up to her.

Hubby turned 42 today and I stopped and bought him a cake from Ganache bakery. It was chocolate with fudge icing. It was costly, but sinfully delicious.

I tried to put some pics from Kim's bday on here, but my Kodak program is giving me a hard time. I will try again later.

Til next time...........