Good thing I'm getting a new lappy

While Dave and I were debating ways to load a funny video of Alli to YouTube or wait, I decided to head downstairs and let him finish his technical ways to see if he could figure it out.

I came back like half an hour later and attempted to start up my computer. Lo and behold, I got a black screen of DEATH. AAAHHHHHH!!

Of course I turned and ran right to Dave.

"Honey! Honey! My lappy won't load up! What were you doing??"

He looks at me and tells me he just shut down the programs and gave up trying to load Alli's video. He has no clue why it won't even give me the welcome log-in screen.

After a few minutes of conversation I decide to go back downstairs and watch a movie and clean. He is deep in thought.

Two hours later I come back upstairs, ready for bed and he is STILL working on my laptop. Sweet, sweet Geek.

My sweet and loving geek stayed up until 2am to turn my laptop into Frankenstein and brought it back to life. He came to bed, I was barely awake; "honey, I saved your stuff!"

"Stuff" to me means that he just saved the last 7 years of digital files, pictures of my deceased sister, Andrea, Alli's life beginning at age 2.... so many wonderful memories. My sweet and loving man.

And so I say, after he brought it back to life and now has a back up system set for me to back up my lappy to a place on the web constantly unless I turn it off, it's a darn good thing he is who he is .... AND that I'm getting a new lappy. tee hee.

I Sneezed

Sunday was hulaciously BUSY for me. I decided to tackle Alli's room to rearrange her furniture and give her more space to play on the floor if she wanted to. Her closet was a nightmare with Blue's Clues and Barbies all over the place, scattered with the occasional horse or horse accessory here and there.

I had just moved her bed from one wall to another, after vacuuming and cleaning our guinea pig, Chloe's, cage when I sneezed. I'd been waiting to head to the potty, but figured I could do it in a bit - after I moved her toys out of the closet.

I sneezed and I peed myself.

Now, take a minute, and hold your absolute horror. The last time I peed myself I was like 5 months pregnant and I was laughing so hard I peed down my leg.

Luckily, it wasn't a free flowing fountain this time, but it was enough for me to need new underwear AND new shorts. Yeah. Sad, eh?

I have to admit, when I told Dave the look on his face was priceless and we laughed together. I guess my muscles are weaker than I thought. Makes me think something's wrong with my body. Something *more* could be wrong, I mean. tee hee hee

This made me question myself the rest of the day. Heading to go to the bathroom...again.

Babies

These days right now it seems like everyone I know knows someone who is pregnant or has just given birth....or is about to!

My best friend, Kathleen, and her husband Charlie have gone through multiple resources trying to get pregnant. Kathleen has PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) and has been steadily losing weight on her own for the last year in the hopes it would have a drastically good effect on her fertility.

This month, in precisely 10 days, she *should* begin to ovulate with the assistance of Femara.

And the bitch won't tell me if she does or doesn't ovulate until mid July. ARRRGHHHH! Seriously, I am THE WORST PERSON to wait for surprises!

According to one study she and I found online, nearly 3/4 of all women placed on Femara to encourage fertility conceive within 3 months and carry to term. Wow. Considering this is the first real infertility medication that her new doc has prescribed, I'm astounded and can't WAIT for the outcome! :) As I keep telling her, now that she has a doc that will actually listen to her and work with her on how to conceive, this medication is just the first step in a long line of many that she can try before ever having to touch artificial insemination or in vitro.

So everyone... cross your fingers and toes for Kas & Charlie. They've been married 6 years and trying that entire time. If anyone would be awesome parents it'd be them for sure!


And speaking of my own baby front.... Yeah? See that ticker up there? It says 2 months. Really, it's fibbing a bit. I decided to go with 6 cycles - because by the end of the 6th cycle I have a doc appt with my Hematologist, Dr. Weinshel, and he can give me the all clear-go ahead when I see him July 19th (I think!). Yay.

The other night Kathleen and I were kidding around... imagining having a wedding with both the bride - myself - and the matron attendant - Kathleen - totally prego and with bellies out a foot from our bodies. We laughed ourselves silly. Then I told her that it would serve me right if she delivered on the day of our celebration - just like I was in the hospital having Alli when I was supposed to be her Matron of Honor when they got married. *L* Luckily, our friend Megan stepped up and they quickly altered the hulacious gown for her small stick figure for the wedding instead. Sigh. Always a bride and never a Matron.

Weekend of Joy and Pain

Friday night, Beckah came over to hang out and make deeeeelicious pizza burgers. Definitely a keeper of a recipe! We proceeded to gossip until our eyelids grew heavy and we gave up the fight with the Sandman (around 11:30pm). I know. We're sad and pathetic.

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early, packed up Alli and our wonderful Candy Land treats that Miss Beckah has been so sweet to pick up when she drives through St. Paul. Their all-nut bridge mix is my biggest downfall...so far. And they have these cool, sweet-tart like blocks that look like Legos(!!) of all things and get this: they actually DO lock together. A little frosting between the blocks and viola! One awesome, edible decoration. Hmmmm...something to think about.

Anyways, we headed out to Hinckley to meet Charlie and Kathleen to see Pirates 3.
If you get the chance. SEE IT. It's cute - even though it made me cry. SERIOUSLY. And please, WAIT until after all the credits to see what happens "TEN YEARS LATER...". It was bittersweet. But I have to say, because of the last shot of Orlando Bloom, I now think he's kinda cute...of course not as cute as my Dave...but really, it's not like there's any comparison there. ;)

After the movie, having stuffed ourselves with popcorn and candy, we decided to head back to Kathleen & Charlie's house and begin the garden. Oh boy. Muscles I didn't know I had ache! I'm either waddling like a duck or walking like a zombie to compensate for the shooting pain into my legs and behind my thighs. Apparently I need to do more hard labor; walking on the treadmill doesn't make me feel like this!

We of course ended up making the obligatory Wallyworld run around 9pm Saturday and spent far too much time in there looking for things that Alli needs for her summer daycare. Waterproof bag, reusable lunch box - preferred insulated, the cooler blocks, towels for days they spend at the pool....

The next morning was Sunday. We were scheduled to meet with Sue, one of the owners of the Country Garden Retreat at 11:30am.

Kathleen, Alli, and I made it to the location by 11:27am. And waited. And waited some more.
I ended up calling Dave after 10 minutes of sitting there and wandering outside in the beautiful porch/deck areas around the house to get the phone number. Then I called.

Ring Ring....

Voice: Thank you for calling the Dakota Lodge. How may I help you?

Me: Hi, is Sue available?

Sue: This is Sue.

Me: Hi Sue! This is Witchy Andrews....
Sue: Hi Witchy.... OH CRAP! I'm SO SORRY! You're there at the house! OHMYGOD! I'll be there in 10 minutes!

And then she hung up the phone. Kas and I laughed so hard. This poor woman, who had to 'ave been so busy this weekend because of the MS Bikethon was so harried and just stretched so thin.

Never fear dear reader: Sue was a wonderful guide and apologized profusely while we toured the inside of the house. So many bedrooms and other rooms... incredible lighting and deck space. Just a beautiful, wonderful house. I gave her $500 for the deposit, even though they only ask for $250 - just so we can start paying down on the nearly $2k location fee. But it's SO totally WORTH it.






I have to say, we were cracking up. Alli kept going around and sniffing the closets.
When we had visited Schwyzer Lodge at the Audubon Center, she had talked about how they had "stinky closets" and asked if this place had more stinky closets -- to which we responded "no"...but she kept opening doors and sniffing inside them! She was proud to report to Sue that they had "no stinky closets!"

So we are officially getting hitched as of November 1st, 2008. Rehearsal dinner and Halloween Party will be held the night before on Friday October 31st. Convenient, huh? Party and candy one night, party, candy, and cake with alcohol the next night.... we've got it all planned. And what with 20 beds available at the retreat, anyone too drunk will still be hoofing it back to their own hotel room, but the other, more responsible members of the party and friends may stay at the retreat. Yes, that's me sticking my nose up in the air. I'm going to be hoity toity when I think of the possibilities of people puking on the carpet. *L*

I have a ton more pictures of the inside of the house, but it's mostly bedrooms and bathrooms - pretty much to show Dave how many bathrooms their are, and how I checked the toilets to make sure they were clean. (And yes you can DRINK this water. Neat trick, huh? No, no, no! You purposely misunderstood me... I didn't mean you could drink the toilet water. Just the tap water, in general. And it doesn't smell! Yay!)

I am now going to bed. Forsooth I am tired. No, I have no idea where that word came from. Leave me alone. I'm going to bed. :p

Hopes and Dreams

I've had my share of hopes and potential dreams being dashed. I'm certainly no stranger to disappointment.

However, I was absolutely CRUSHED when Dave, Alli, Kathleen, and Kathleen's mom Linda went with me to Schwyzer Lodge and we saw up close and personal what it was like.

The outside is well kept and charming in a rustic way - just what we wanted. The grounds themselves, not so much.

Rotted logs that had once been used as camp 'chairs' for the visitors sat on the side of the house, while more rotted picnic tables were available for use a bit further down the side. No room for a tent. And the mosquitoes. Have I told you how they loved us?

From the first opening of the door, the musty, damp smell assailed me and made me want to vomit for a second. Then I took a deep breath and thought of candles. Lots and lots of scented candles and opening all the windows to let them air out for a very VERY long time. I was giving myself a pep talk in my head, "I can do this! WE can do this!" as I would glance furtively over at Dave every so often to try and catch his expression.

The downstairs was fine - just smelly. Nice large living room and dining room, and three season porch. We could have worked with that. The kitchen was clean, but small, the bathroom generally clean and a nice big shower with a fold down corner seat. I was all OVER that.

Then we toured upstairs.

No lights in the main entry. The three showers upstairs are DISGUSTING. There was some serious orange shite on the bottom of the stall showers. Rust? Residue of some kind? Who knows. I do remember seeing a sign that went on talking about how the water was fine to wash with, bathe in, but please don't drink... oh yeah, and don't mind the smell.

Smell? Smell?! Water isn't supposed to have a smell!

The bunk beds were another joke on me. Dave and Kathleen barely touched one set of them and they WIGGLED so bad I thought they were going to dismantle right then and there! Cobwebs were abundant in the dark rooms of the dorms. A singular fan sat by it's lonesome on a 60's table. A mattress was missing from the top of one of the bunk beds.

It's the creature comforts I can't give up, ya know? Like a MATTRESS.

So, so, SO disappointing. So disappointing I haven't posted pics. It's just too depressing.

The one bright spot in the tour is the lady who showed us the Lodge, Sandy, let us know that while she wasn't trying to dissuade us, if we wanted something a bit newer, we could always check out the Country Garden Retreat just down the road a few miles.

We all looked at one another, thanked Sandy, and off to Hinckley we jaunted.

Country Garden Retreat is a hundred times BETTER than Schwyzer - even if you're just looking at the pictures on the website alone. It's amazing! Dave and I recalculated. It would be $600 more than Schwyzer, sleep more people, and is a much newer building with manicured lawns and enormous space. Dude, we were sold.

I've been in contact with the proprietors Sue and Steve and will be meeting them on Sunday at 11:30 to view the site. Cross your fingers and toes for us. I don't think I could handle getting let down again after falling in love with a location.