Alive and Allergic!

Because our power went out before the damn storm even started, the last two nights have been filled with Scrabble by candlelight with E (who I eeked out a win over), attempts EVERY TIME I walked in the bathroom to flip on the lights, 5 dogs and 11 adults in one house for meals and kinect entertainment (they had power, obviously...), allergy attacks in family houses that have me sneezy, stuffed and miserable, listening to A.M. radio for news of the Jersey Shore - it's been a crazy two days...

Seaside Heights is nearly no more...

If you remember, Wease and I partied there in August

E's surprise 30th was there in July...

We partied and paddleboarded there in late June...

How I'll remember it:

How it is now:

End of the 2008 summer season:

End of the 2012 season, and Sandy's destruction:

Thoughts and prayers to all those living in areas with severe flooding, damage, power outages, and memories destroyed...

Hatches: Battened Down!

We're getting ready for hurricane S.andy to hit in T minus approximately 5 hours...

Water - CHECK
Flashlights, Nooks, cell phones and tablets charged - CHECK
Candles - CHECK
hamburgers for propane grill - CHECK
Sweet potatos  - CHECK

WAIT. what?!!?

Poor little Zoey ate wet dog food at my inlaws' last night (she is on a strict dry-dogfood-diet only!) and has the squirts...

I've been told that sweet potatos, cubed and boiled, are the best thing for doggie diahrea - binds 'em tighter than a summer-camp braid...

It better work - she's only 8 lbs and all I need is a Zoey-kite once the winds pick up and she still has to be pooping every 30 minutes!

So buckle down, keep inside and stay safe all who are experiencing Sandy's wrath! (She must be one scorned b*tch!)

Franken-WHAT!?

so if you live in the east (from FL to ME) you've probably heard of this thing they're calling Frankenstorm...

well it's coming.

E is getting prepared with both the fire department of our new town, and the fire department of our old town (where we get a TON of flooding, and where he will probably be spending Monday night on call at the fire house...)

And on top of this all, his grandfather is still very sick - hospice is visiting every day, his mother and aunt (daughters of the grandfather) are barely sleeping, and they are trying to face the possibility that he may pass while ambulances and funerals homes are unable to get to their house...

We spent most of yesterday there (E came a few hours after me).  At one point, I was sitting alone with Pop, keeping him company and thought - Oh my gosh.  Please know that I'm the only one in the room, you can't die now - I can't be the one, the only non-blood relative in the house, to have to go tell your daughters that I think you stopped breathing - please...

I hope that doesn't come across as selfish, thinking of only my own feelings - it was more along the lines that your daughters, your grandchildren - they should be the ones here when you take your last breaths, holding your hand...

But this morning, my mother in law called to say he sat up at one point this morning, gave a big smile and said, "Hugs! Look at everyone here, I want hugs!"

So as soon as some preliminary pre-storm prep is done, we will be going to give some big hugs.

***

 Quick light side note: I can't tell you how freaking awesome it is to talk to your mother on the phone, and have her say, "Hey so I saw pictures from the wedding last weekend and OH EM GEE your pregnant bff? SHE'S EFFING HUUUUUUUUGE!"

And then to have her explode with laughter when she hears that the baby's middle name
is going to be after the mother's all-time favorite movie and character
(even HE is dubious...)

MOM:

ME:

I love my mom.

Also, thanks to all ICLWer's who came by, thank you for your comments - and tell all your friends to come and join next month!! 

Thith hurths...

things I've accomplished today:

1. On the way to work I sneezed so hard I got boogers/loogies on my dashboard this morning.  While (I'm sure) pretty comical to watch, it was actually quite dangerous (and disgusting) trying to wipe it off, without smearing it from here to kingdom come...

2. I am officially no longer in possession of ANY WISDOM TEETH! (Don't worry, the wisdom has not left the building... although some may argue otherwise... especially when I made comments such as "oh yes, please, shoot me up, Novocaine is great for teeth pulling" and "no, no - I did not feel that needle at all!" [utter lie] to the oral surgeon this afternoon...)

3. While nursing a gaping hole in my mouth, I efficiently took care of myself for dinner, as Eric is visiting his family (brief melancholia here - his grandfather is officially on morphine and hospice, thoughts and prayers for his family as they go through this time...)

4. I got nominated for the faaaah-bulous Liebster Blog Award , an award nominated by fellow bloggers, and given to up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers.  

My fellow blogger-nominator is the lovely aspGriswold (who is currently going through her 2nd, and hopefully last ((because its so SUCCESSFUL!)) round of IVF, send her T&P's!) who has posed the following questions:

1) If you were a pickle in a jar, where would you want to be and why? Maybe an episode of Veggie Tales, cuz then I'm a walking TALKING pickle in a jar!

2) What is your favorite holiday? When I was in college, and all about letting my girl-goods hang out (you know, husband and b/f free!) it was Slut-o-ween, but now - definitely Christmas.  I know its not yet Halloween, but I'm shameless admitting to stalking the Christmas aisles at the stores already!

3) If you have a bucket list, what is the most ridiculous thing on it? How about a Buggy List? eh?! (see what I did there? =P) 
The most ridiculous thing on this current list might be getting a new tattoo, but considering I already have five it's not quite ridiculous I guess... I definitely want to scuba though - like, full-breathing-apparatus-required-scuba diving...

4) If you could only watch one disney movie for the rest of your life, which one would it be and why? It's gonna have to be one with reallllly good music (god bless N.apster back in the day - my sister and I downloaded every Disney song, karaoke style, and sang our LittleMermaidLoving hearts out...) so yea, either Little Mermaid or The Lion King (I just can't. pick. one.)

5) What is your favorite nursery rhyme? I'm not sure this is technically a "nursery rhyme" but my mom said it to me once and I'll never forget:

"There once was a girl

with a little curl

right in the middle of her forehead.

And when she was good,

she was very good.

And when she was bad, she was HORRID."

I love it cuz I have curly hair... and can get pretty horrid... =P

6) Do you have any pets? If no, why not? I <3 my furbabies!! 

Zoey and Rocco, the two best friends that ANYONE can have!

7) Is your current hair color your natural hair color? Why yes, it is - the first time I can say that in a few years!

8) What do you like to do in your spare time? read - anything I can get my hands on, but currently 50 Shades of Grey (again) and Stephen King (for halloween!) and play piano - my free therapy

9) If you could be any crayon color, which would you choose to be? Cerulean.

10) What is the furthest you have been away from home and where was it? HOME being where parents are (cuz mine have lived in NJ, MA, and TX since I've been born!)  - Italy, on our honeymoon, was the farthest. Second farthest was Alaska!

11) How old were you when you got your first cell phone? 16 - I didn't get a cell phone until I was old enough to drive.  And even then, it was mostly used to receive calls from mom such as "Honey, stop and pick up milk on the way home please!"

SO - now it's my turn to nominate some kick-ass blogs (and some kickASS blog authors) to receive the Liebster Blog Award  and to answer 11 questions created by moi (and I hope it's ok to change the rules a little, highlighting 6 blogs instead of the 11, as that would basically wipe out my blogroll and double nominate a few people...)

1. Katherine over at Grow Baby Grow
2. Ducky over at I'm Just Ducky, Thanks
3. Alexis over at Our Journey Through This Lovely Life
4. Bernadette over at Rasta Less Traveled
5. KristyKay over at Strength, Hope and Everything Inbetween 
6. Weaslewam over at More Salt

And HEEEEEEEERE'S your questions!

1. If you could drop everything and live in a foreign country for 6 months, where would you live? *(I know some of you nominees have already had this "pleasure" - would you go back??)
2. What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish?
3. What was the one thing on your Christmas list as a kid that you never got (and never forgot!)?
4. What is the best birthday you remember?
5. Hamburger or hotdog?
6. What nail polish color best portrays your personality?
7. What's your dream job and why?
8. What's something about yourself that you've never told ANYONE (even if it's "I like the smell of farts." ...not that I do. Just saying...)
9. If you had to listen to one song, and ONLY ONE song, for the rest of your life - WHAT SONG??
10. Do YOU have all your wisdom teeth left? (If not, share fun extraction stories!)
11. What made you start blogging?

"I never win ANYTHING!"

(If you're new from ICLW - quick back story at the beginning of this post as well as in the right side-bar timeline...)


 I did it again. I had a great blog entry in my head this morning..

something about 50 Shades... I even had a cute title : 50 Shades of __________ (and that's where my mind goes blank.)

I'm sure the idea came from last night - when I tell E at dinner, "wink wink - hey hunnie, reading 50 Shades of G.rey over here!" - and then we both want to be dominated later (and by dominated, I mostly mean the one on bottom... or in front... you get me, right?!)

*sigh*
ANYWAYS.

Last night, we went to a fundraiser that E's company was sponsoring - Oktoberfest complete with lots of beer sampling, free food, a photobooth and prize wheel from V.erizon Wireless where apparently, I got the best prize on the wheel, first spin - bluetooth headset!  (does anyone use those anymore?)

A fundraiser is not a fundraiser without a tricky tray either - what's a Tricky Tray you ask? (I don't know if it's a northeast thing, but I had no clue what it was when I moved here so let me enlighten anyone clueless like I was: it's like a raffle, but there are lots of prizes and you buy a whole bunch of tickets, and enter your tickets only in the raffles that you want to win... pretty cool)

I got handed a camera to take pictures for the organization throwing the fundraiser, and *click* after *click* I photograph EVERYONE ELSE winning every single prize.

I NEVER WIN ANYTHING!! (ok, I got the bluetooth headset earlier, but I realized it wasn't that special, as I watched V.erizon basically GIVE the headsets away at the end of the night...)

but WAIT - one last prize, they say - the door prize that everyone (who bought tickets) was automatically entered to win, and it's a free 1-hour massage! (personally, I think it was the best prize of the night!)

AND GUESS WHO WON.

And then, at the end of the night, I noticed a beer stand vendor walk up and drop a case of beer by E's coworker, muttering "oh, WHOOPS - look what just fell off the back of my truck!"

So I walked up to his beer table, shamelessly flipped my hair, batted the lashes, and said - "Would you happen to have any of the Railbender Ale?" *just only, the best local beer, EVER

He gave me two six packs.

Genuis : LOST!

I came up with the best, ever blog idea - snark, wit, humor abounding.

The only problem was I thought of it at 11:30 at night, while laying in bed reading about poor Demi's heartbreaking divorce (ragmags are great falling-asleep-reads) after having been assed out on the couch earlier post-hot-yoga...

Soooooo, the Great, Best Ever Blog Idea has vanished.  Probably never to be seen again...
*Note to self, starting making notes to self.

SUCCESS WAS SO CLOSE!!

Yesterday I DID come up with this, a silver lining to "long" cycles (and it's "long" not just plain old long, because I know its all relative and I'm sure some of you may have read previous posts and been like, pshaw - girl, that ain't long!)

So the silver lining is this: I get a sanity break every 32 days!!

With FW not coming until around CD17, I can comfortably step back, on CD1, from ALL TTC OBSESSIONS - temping, charting, OPK'ing, brewing green tea, gulping down POM juice, chart stalking, twinge-and-cramp analyzing.

I CAN STOP it all for a blissful 10 days.

But alas, my vacation is coming to an end - Amazon will recommend once more the combo pack of Wondfo OPKs and OPKs I have previously purchased.  DH will once again, get the CranberryPomegranate juice which is sweet of him, but AGAIN, the wrong thing - "Hunnie, STRAIGHT POM JUICE!"  I will once again be squinting, bleary eyed, at the BBT at 7am and trying to commit to memory whether it's 96.9, or wait - is that 69.6? Is this thing upside down?!


So to all those embarking on a(nother) new cycle - GOOD LUCK, Happy Humping, rainbow farts and babydust-squirting-unicorns!

I don't EAT peas!

[scene] E has requested K make dinner so he can be at the firehouse for a drill by 6:30, K RARELY makes dinner but when she does, E never complains because 1 - its usually delicious and 2 - its a meal that he didn't have to make.

E arrives home at 5:45, meatloaf is in the oven. Frozen bag of peas and mushrooms is waiting to defrost.

E: So what do you have for sides? I've got to go in like, 10 minutes.

K: There's peas and mushrooms in the freezer, they only take 5 minutes.

E: But I don't eat peas.

K: MAKE YOUR OWN DINNER THEN!




**OK it went like that, except for the last line... I said something more like, gee couldn't you have phrased that a little better? maybe, "I don't really like peas, is there something else?"

I made it all better by treating myself to an anthropologie shopping spree...
$58 to $19.95 to $14.95      * $118 to $29.95 to $22.45      * $148 to $79.95 to $59.95    * $78 to $39.95 to $29.95

from $78 to $39.95 to $29.95

AND one more shirt (cant find picture... OR original price) from $29.95 to $22.45
AND one more sun dress (no pic again, or price, but SO CUTE with flower patches as the pockets!) from $29.95 to $22.45
So, because I'm a "numbers" person and love to see money saved:
full price purchases would have totaled: $580 (I'm assuming the last shirt and dress would have been at least $50 originally...)
AFTER sale and additional 25% off??!?!?
$195 at the cash register.
DON'T YOU JUST LUUUURVE A BARGAIN?


P.S. I may or may not have puffed up, arched my back, and pictured in the dressing room what they all would look like with/would they fit a bump...