Joys In My Life

I've finally made Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah). I found some rough instructions on the web how to make a good grain salad with it and I really changed it a lot. What I really liked about this is I was able to have it on the table for dinner in less than 30 minutes. This is a perfect summer worknight supper. This was our main dish as in the summer we like to eat light. I put this over a bed of lettuce and sprouts as our main dish. 1 cup quinoa 2 medium zuchini, halved and sliced 1 small bunch of brocolli cut into flowerets 1 red bell pepper juice of one lemon olive oil garlic powder sea salt pepper Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook the quinoa in 2 cups of water in a saucepot, uncovered until the water is soaked up by the grain. Then turn off, put a lid on it and let it sit until the rest of dinner is ready. While the grain is cooking, slice up the veggies, put them in a roasting pan cover liberally with olive oil or lemon infused olive oil. Sprinkle garlic powder, sea salt an...

I received my shipment of meds yesterday for our IVF cycle. Wow! It's a lot! It's about twice as many medicines as the ovulation induction cycle we were doing. I'm getting really excited. I'm hoping this works quickly. I'm not sure exactly how much I can take. I'll be trying to stay relaxed and such in the meantime. I'm scheduled to stop taking birth control pills on July 2nd, and I'm not sure how long it will take for me to get my period when I stop. It's not like I've ever been on BCPs before. There was never any need. So the excitement is mounting over here.

One of the perks of Phoebe being at the in-laws is the ability to go out on a weeknight. We went to see "Sex and the City" last night. There were some things I liked and some things I didn't like. There are minor spoilers here, so if you haven't seen the movie yet (why the h*ll not!) don't read any further. Things I Liked - The final outcome for Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte - The ways Charlotte wasn't so perfect - The clothes!!!! The Vivienne Westwood wedding dress was to die for!!! Things I Didn't Like So Much - The final outcome for Samantha (and she's my favorite character, so really not happy!!!) - How Charlotte's daughter was hanging out with the girls all the time and they had to watch what they said. Brady was in some of those hang out times, but not as much as Lily. I almost forgot to mention my ultimate favorite part, which is when Samantha notices Miranda's hair issue "down there" when they are all sitting in thei...

What a day! I'm going to leave work shortly and it was a very tiring day. People just having no customer service skills whatsoever. Thankfully, I know their manager and she is a reasonable person. Just got off the phone with her and it's mostly sorted out. At least I feel better. This is not good for the relaxation I need to be trying to find. On another front, I read a really interesting article yesterday in the July 2008 issue of Self magazine. It was about a woman (Deanna Kizis) who gave an actual name and personage to the negative voices in her head. She gave him the name Stan. Stan tells her all the bad things about herself: too lazy, nobody likes her, etc. and she tells him to go F off. I like this idea and I'm thinking about it. I am very self-critical and I'm wondering if this can help me. I've also been feeling very negative lately, mostly because of how critical I am and it's affecting my life. I'm starting to think that maybe it'...

I'm getting behind on posting everyday. I was watching the news this morning and they reported on something that made me very happy. The mall nearest us is in Delaware (Christiana Mall) and has an issue on Friday and Saturday nights that it is overrun with teenagers. I don't mind teenagers except when they run free in this mall, they have a tendency to fight and curse. We have accidentally forgotten about the weekend night teenage crowd and have brought our daughter to the mall then, and I inwardly cringe the whole time. Well they have a new rule that will go in affect on July 11th - no child under 18 is allowed to be in the mall on Friday and Saturday night without an adult present. The mall administrator on the news said they are going to post security at the entrances during these times and ask to see ID and if there is someone that's under 18, and there is no one over 21 with them, they will turn them away. I think this will make a huge difference, as I know of ma...

I'm picking this up from Doctor Grumbles . I love my iPod and just had to see what this would come up with. It reminds me of Mad Libs, which I loved when I was a kid. BTW, thanks for all the comments on my last post. I feel the love!!!!! Here are the rules: 1.Put your iTunes/music player on “Shuffle” 2.For each question, press the “Next” button to get your answer 3.You MUST write down the name of THAT SONG no matter what. (aka NO CHEATING!) Comments after a song in italics are allowed. Okay, kids. Here we go… IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY? Love Me Do by the Beatles (???) WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY? Was It Worth It? by the Pet Shop Boys (Well, I do love the Pet Shop Boys!) WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL? Left To My Own Devices by the Pet Shop Boys (I don't like to be forced to behave in any one way by and significant other) HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY? Anywhere Is by Enya (Anywhere is where I'd rather be today than at work. It...

I finally know what my IVF protocol is. I got a call today from the IVF coordinators at the doctor's office. I start birth control pills tomorrow (today was Day 1 as AF has finally completely arrived) and will stop the BCPs on July 2nd. After that I'm told I should get a light period a few days after I stop them. Can I tell you how happy I am to know I'll probably have AF for the Fourth of July? Total sarcasm here.... I have to call them on day 1 when I get that and they'll have me come in for a baseline ultrasound and bloodwork on day 2. I'll be starting Bravelle and something else that will suppress the ovulation surge a few days later. BTW, my RE doesn't use Lupron anymore for suppression. He used to. I don't know when he stopped, but they told me he did. When we did IVF before several years ago with him, I was on Lupron for suppression. I'll then be monitored for egg retrieval and then fertilization and transfer. So it looks like I'l...

I got this idea from my SIL who runs a day care from her house. She has a list of rules posted in the kitchen for all kids to follow. I noticed I kept telling Phoebe the rules for when her friends come to play in her playroom, which is also next to her bedroom with a bathroom in between. So they pretty much go through all those rooms. They are good kids, but cleanup is often a pain, as they don't put things back where they belonged and I'm not always happy when they choose to play with things that are not toys, such as her good dresses that fit nicely and such. I was getting annoyed with reminding Phoebe of these rules and depending on her to tell her friends. This wasn't a huge deal in the school year because everyone was busy doing homework and afterschool activities, so the girls in the neighborhood only came over on weekends. Now that all the schools are out, they are free to play in the afternoons. Today was the first day of all afternoon play and they came to o...

On the macrobiotic dinner menu tonight, I had the following: Miso soup with ginger Brown Rice Tempeh Kinpira (carrots and burdock) Braised bok choi The braised bok choi is my own recipe, but it is very easy. You can do this with any upward-growing vegetable, like kale, escarole, or bok choi. Braised Bok Choi I head bok choi, chopped into medium size pieces olive oil chopped garlic In a medium size sauce pot over medium heat, saute the garlic in the olive oil until the oil is flavored with the garlic. Add the bok choi, stir in with the garlic and oil, cover and let steam in it's own juices. Serve hot.

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday, we were barely home on Father's Day. So this will be my post for yesterday, and I'll put in a post later today for today's post. We went to the movies yesterday and saw Prince Caspian, the new Chronicles of Narnia movie. It was amazing! Even though it was over 2 hours long, you left the theater wanting more! Even Phoebe had no issues sitting through this movie. We were all on pins and needles through the whole thing. The special effects were great. I love watching how they bring the animals and other creatures to life. I also love how they are so true to the feelings the books are supposed to give you: feelings of wanting to be noble, brave and true in your everyday life. The grace and nobility these characters portray on screen is amazing to see. I especially have to say I loved the way Susan was portrayed in the movie. She's gracious, strong, brave and beautiful. This movie was everything you want a family movi...

Here are some of my favorite pictures of Phoebe recently. The first one I actually have a pic of how I see her when she's not so animated, which is very hard, as she's always animated when the camera comes out. The second was for Halloween, one of her favorite holidays. She wanted to be pirate in the worst way. I think she's the cutest pirate ever!

I'll start with the recipe. I will have to tell you, I really have never liked tofu. I would pick it out of dishes and eat around it. Something about the texture I didn't like. I must admit that's been changing, and I've been trying some tofu recipes lately just to see what I think. This is from Jessica Porter's book "The Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotics." I modified very few things, and it is so yummy! I had it for dinner last night with a fresh romaine lettuce salad and then I had it for lunch again today too. I must admit I was looking forward to the leftovers! The other thing I liked about this recipe is that it's very good for a dinner you need to get on the table in less than 1/2 hour. Most macrobiotic dinners take around an hour to put together, because that's how long it usually takes to cook brown rice and other whole grains. It's nice to have this macrobiotic recipe in my back pocket for nights I have to get my dinner ...

This morning when I was driving to work, I was thinking and wondering where my fearlessness went. I was listening to some music I used to listen to when I was in college and reminding myself how I felt I could do anything. And I haven't remembered feeling that way in a long time. I think I hang back too much. Waiting for someone else to tell me which way to go, what to do, what needs to be done, etc. I think it has to do with getting older. As time has gone by, you realize you haven't accomplished everything you thought you would be able to do and that makes you wonder why you ever felt so optimistic. But when you step back and think about it another way - if you weren't so optimistic and shooting for the moon - would you have ever got off the ground? I know I've talked about it before, that I feel like I haven't been truly living, just kind of coasting through life right now, but I really need to get off my butt and get moving again. I'm trying to remin...

I just joined NaBloPoMo. I'm very excited committing to write every day!!! It was odd to have a night with power strange, as that might seem. It was the first night with TV, Internet, the phone. Wow it was great. I did laundry, cleaned the kitchen and got some stuff done on the computer. I have labels now for my posts. I've been meaning to do that for awhile now. So if you stop by, check out some of my older posts from the labels, especially the long story of how our Phoebe came into being. That was a lot of hard work and worth every minute of it. The label I created for it is "Our First Baby Story". I did that as I'm hopeful we'll get to have a second baby story. Tonight I'm watching "Sex in the City" episode reruns as Tom's out of town. I still haven't seen the movie yet. I need to see it soon before it leaves the movie theater.

We had some serious thunderstorms whip through the Philly area last night and our power did not survive. It went out around 7:30PM before the rain even hit. The winds that preceeded the storm were wicked, and that's when the power went out. We taught Phoebe how to play a new card game (for her). It's A$$hole, but we called it "Butthead" which is the worst thing you can say in 7-year-old language. She loved it. We played three rounds of cards before it got too dark to play anymore and then put her to sleep in her own bedroom. I told her we couldn't sleep well the night before when she was in our bed, as she was all over the place. Leo and I then sat in our sitting room with some candles lit and we talked a little and then we both fell asleep. We eventually woke up and went to the bed, and woke up at 3:30 AM when the security system panel was beeping because it's backup power was out. I didn't know Leo tried to fix it and came up empty. I went dow...

We had an interesting but unproductive evening last night. Our power went out in the middle of dinner at 7PM last night. It didn't come back on until around 3AM. We're really lucky that we have good friends five minutes from our house. Their power was out too, but they have a pool! We went over there until it was time to send Phoebe to bed. She slept in our bed last night and stole all our covers (even when it was hot with no A/C). Leo and I were really tired, so we went to bed around 10PM, but we all still had a hard time waking up this morning. It's been unbelievably hot for the past several days here in the Philly area (heat index of 103F today!). I'm hoping the power outage wasn't load related and that we don't have a repeat tonight. I'd like to get some things done around the house. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to cool down to the 80s and that will be much better!

We're just in a holding pattern here at our house. Waiting for AF to show so we can begin IVF. I'm due sometime the week of the 16th. I give a big leeway for when I'm due since I usually don't last 28 days. Another symptom of endometriosis. I'll go make a notation of that one too in my old post. I'm due on the 20th but I'll probably go a few days earlier. This is Phoebe's last full week of school. Next Tuesday is their last day and they have a 1/2 day. I'm so looking forward to summer. She's going to spend two weeks with my DH's parents and then she'll have six weeks of summer camp at Opera Delaware. I'll love having her driving with me back and forth to work and camp (which is around the corner from my office). We'll get lots of quality talking time. Maybe not so much in the morning, as she's not a morning person, but definately in the afternoon car rides, she loves to talk. We went to Wildwood with our nephew th...

I’ve been around the endometriosis block for around 9 years. In that time, I’ve read a lot and experimented a lot and have quite a bit of knowledge on the topic that I thought I’d share. 1. How to know if you have endometriosis? There is no foolproof way to know you have endometriosis, other than laproscopic surgery. Other than that though, there are some telltale signs. Some are known, some are not so well known. • Painful cramps during your period. You know those people that tell you their monthly cycle is so painful they need to stay in bed or take strong pain meds. That’s one of the most common signs of endometriosis. I never had it, but I found out during labor I have a high tolerance for pain. • Heavy periods with lots of clots. Oh this is me! If you need to change your pad many times during the first day or two of your period and you can’t help think this is the grossest thing ever. That’s a good sign. • Combine this with if you’ve not been able to conceive and you’ve ...

What did moms do before the Internet? How would a non-Internet Mom find out how to save her daughter's prized teddy bear after she accidentally slept with a ball of Silly Putty and got it all in the fur. I woke up Phoebe yesterday and I was surprised to see some yellow, sticky stuff in her bed. It took me awhile to realize it was Silly Putty all in her sheets and teddy bear. She was so upset about her favorite teddy bear getting ruined. I explained like I always do, that I can fix anything. Thank God for my friend Google. Within 5 minutes I knew that rubbing alcohol would get out silly putty. I did a quick rub through of Mr. Bear before she left for school yesterday. After work, I bought two more bottles and by the time she went to bed, Mr. Bear was clean and her quilt made by Ma and sheets were in the washer. BTW, after I got the putty out with the alcohol, there was still a little stain in the fabric from the color in the putty. I sprayed some Shout on that and put it i...