Garden Progress

Well, the garden this year has been interesting. Once again a good learning experience and we are another year wiser. This is the first year that we have had an issue with bugs. Not too bad, considering we have gardened for three years. However, they sure did make up for lost time! They ate all of my pea plants except one and went crazy on the green peppers.

We also realized that our neighbors trees along their fence may be getting a trim next year, whether they like it or not, since they are overgrown and are providing too much shade over our garden spot. (They are having over are fence by quite a bit.) Consequently, we have not had as many green peppers this year and they are really small due to lack of sun. This has resulted in the fact that we won't be canning salsa this year. This is fine considering the amount we have left over from last year that is waaaaaaay too hot to distribute to others.

What was really interesting is that we have a rogue cucumber plant that I grew from seed, literally! It wrapped itself around some tomato plants, melon plants, and corn. Consequently, it got hacked back, but has produced a large amount of cucumbers. Don't worry they have all been used by myself and a friend of mine who is into the veggie juicing thing . . . YUCK!

What we are most proud of is the sweet corn. We were impressed with how tall it got, especially when looking at other people's corn.

We actually harvested a couple of ears the other night and other than the little black bugs on the husks, they looked really good. No earwigs and were pretty good sized. They even tasted pretty good and Jim liked them, which is the true test.

What Have We Been Doing This Week?

This week was Card Club, and the theme was "blank." I have to admit that I hate it when we have that theme. I need a little more structure. However, Silhouette had a cute, free design available a couple of weeks ago that gave me a great idea.


I printed and then cut out the typewriter. I colored it in with the watercolor pencils. I then cut a slit and slipped in the "note" paper that I created, printed, and cut out to give it a more 3-D effect. Simple, but effective.

Isn't this lovely? Little Man has had Roseola all week. I am hoping the rash is gone tomorrow and we will be done. That way we can get outside and enjoy the sun again. We can't as long as he has his rash, since the sun makes it much worse. Consequently, we are starting to feel a little cabin fever and are ready to be outside. Poor little thing.

Bring On the Veggies!

When you are trying to eat healthier (aka eat more veggies), it can prove to be difficult when your spouse is NOT, and I repeat NOT, a veggie eater. While he is getting better, salads are one of the more difficult things to get him to eat. (He usually eats just plain lettuce. That's right PLAIN lettuce, no other veggies, no dressing, nada!) Consequently, I usually end up eating the same thing over and over trying to eat it all before it spoils. So I am always looking for new ways to eat veggies to keep me from getting bored. Here are a few I have found recently:

"Broccoli Salad"

I found this recipe at Your Homebased Mom. I loved this salad, especially since it is a healthier version. However, I found ways to make it just a little more healthier. I used organic dried cherries that I found at WalMart, of all places, because there was no sugar added to them, and used Truvia instead of sugar. I also omitted the bacon. (I know - SACRILEGE!) However, it still tasted great and I did NOT need the extra fat. It is a great way to use up the huge amount of broccoli we got in our Bountiful Basket this past week.

"Thai Peanut Noodle Salad"

I have to admit I was not to sure of this one, especially when I read the ingredients for the dressing. But I went for it anyway, figuring I had nothing to lose. I was pleasantly surprised! The only alteration was that I used low fat peanut butter. dry roasted peanuts, and angel hair pasta. It was YUMMY! Of course, hubby grossed out when he saw the blender after the dressing. That's okay. All the more for me!

Operation Grass Is Greener

While there is still some touch up work that needs to be done, the bulk of the family room in the basement is D-O-N-E, DONE!

Before:

I tried to get a picture of the trim before we took it all off. You can get an idea of what it was. So ugly and did not match the rest of the house at all.

And here we have the baby-poop yellow walls. (Please excuse the spots. I didn't realize my lens was dirty until it was too late.) The color made the whole room seem gloomy and just not warm or inviting at all.

And here is the nice, cream color that is on the walls now. It is amazing how much bigger the room looks and even more "cheery." I actually don't mind being down there now.

See the new trim? It actually matches the rest of the house and now the basement and upstairs look like they belong in the same home. What a concept!

I am not sure what is next, since Jim is now back in school and money is low. However, there are plenty of little things on all the previous projects that need to be done that I think will be the focus for a little while. I am hoping once we get some money saved up we can focus on the flooring in the upstairs next, but that will be a ways away.

Operation: Grass Is Greener

Here is what my father-in-law and hubby accomplished while he was here:
They replaced the cover to the kitchen light. I know it doesn't seem like much and I don't have a before picture, but just picture a ugly, bubbly plastic cover that was just plain nasty and eighties looking. Now this cover matches the cabinets and the lighting is much better in the kitchen.

The family room in the basement is almost done! I'm hoping this weekend and then I'll post those pictures as well.

Our Status

Well, things have been pretty tipsy-turvy around here. Here is a brief run down (Some of it you may have heard before.):

1. Told by our doctor there was nothing more she could do to help us with our infertility. It is considered unexplained and we are old.- yeah, thanks for that reminder, Doc, on my birthday no less.

2. Next month found out we were pregnant only to miscarry a week later, and all the fun that brings. The nurses I have been working with along with my doctor felt just as sad as we did since they become so intimately involved in the process. We all shed tears when the blood test confirmed the status.

That now puts us at Infertility treatments - 15; miscarriages -3; medications- too much to count; wiped out savings and checking accounts to the point we can't afford any type of vacation or further progress on this house. In other words we are tapped out physically, emotionally, financially, in regards to resources.

Any further option to bump up the game to at least $10,000 per try and that doesn't include the travel, lodging, etc., since we would have to go to Boise or Salt Lake and stay there for a month since no one here does anything more than what we have already done. And the insurance pays for NOTHING, I know shocking! . . . . And the real clincher is it only increases your chances by 20%. That is it!

Unfortunately fertility is an exact science with no real exactness to it. For example, you get only two days, maybe three if you are lucky, that you can try. Then if everything lines up correctly then you have to hope for the fertilized egg actually moves down the Fallopian tube. Then if that worked the fertilized egg well attach to the uterus, which again is rare, in fact there are a lot of fertilized eggs that don't attach correctly so when you think your cycle is starting over, you are actually miscarrying. Even in the best of circumstances, you have 20 % chance of getting pregnant. And the science part? There is no way of knowing if there was a fertilized egg unless it attaches long enough to produce enough HCG hormone to be detected.

So where am I going with this dribble? Actually conceiving a child and carrying them to full term is truly a miracle. It is not something that occurs "from holding hands" or "just thinking about getting pregnant". It is truly complicated that with even all the medications, monitoring, and procedures still leaves a lot to fate/destiny/God during what we infertiles call the dreaded two week wait. This is when all that could medically be done has been done and now we have to wait for the next two weeks when implantation should occur and we get a positive result or not. So you can imagine how much harder it is for those of us who can't seem to fit in that 20% category month after month after month and thousands of dollars after thousands of dollors. No reason as to why. It is a bit disheartening, especially when you are surrounded by those who are in the 20% club over, over, and over and complain about having another child or hurt their child because they didn't want them.

So adoption options . . . Well LDS Family Services have changed their rules. You now have to have documented infertility. We actually had an appointment with a counselor that we had to cancel because we were pregnant, even though it ended in miscarriage, we are no longer eligible for at least a year. (That means a year of no pregnancy.) Never mind the year(s) it can take to not only get approved and then matched. The ironic thing is that the adoption counselor here is my former supervisor at my last children's mental health job. Not sure how I would feel about all the things he would know about me and my family. Here is why:

The background check is pretty intensive and includes profiles and info for my siblings and husband's siblings. Questions get asked like: what do they do for fun? How often do you see each other, if not often why? What is your relationship with each of them? Yeah, that one is a HUGE issue on both sides. The same types of questions for children from previous marriages not from the home, including a section discussing what type of parent relationship there is.

Weeeeeelllllll . . . . .if you know anything about my family of origin and Jim's family of origin, as well with his daughter from a previous marriage, let's just say there a lot of red flags, that once again we have no control over, but deeply impact our lives. And since I don't for see a miraculous change in any of the "problem areas", adoption is pretty well out. Thank you dysfunction! Consequently, I don't think this is the path for us, not unless there are some major personality adjustment in certain people, which haven't happened in years. Never mind the fact that it would also be over $10,000 as well.

I don't know what is next. I do know that Tre is getting older and I really did not want too huge of a gap in ages. In fact I have begged and pleaded that this be avoided and then month after month goes by with no positive, long-term result. Plus face it, we are getting older as well and the biological clock and I are having a race to see who gets to the end first.

3. Also we have the whole employment issue looming. The dissemination of information has been handled very poorly and has all the workers and their spouses in a panic. They are going to cut 190-240 people. We don't know who yet, but everyone has to re-apply and interview for their current position and the may not get an offer to stay on. That is occurring the next couple of weeks.

They are looking at closing the in-town offices and sending them all to the site for 12 hour days, which actually equals to 14-15 hours due to travel time. There are no current office spaces available, so they would have to bring in more trailers which will be more expensive then leaving them in town. No extra pay for this and means Tre wouldn't see his dad 4 days a week and any more graduate school would be out of the picture. Plus hubby would have to drive himself out there and back, since he is a subcontractor and they are not allowed to ride the bus. And let's just say those roads get NASTY in the winter.

So we have at least another month before that funness is officially announced. In the meantime, we are looking at options such as moving to Tennessee, or better yet get out of waste management altogether since he will have his Master's degree in December and was even able to have his professor approve for him to get his crit safety certificate in December. (We weren't sure was possible to the numerous class cancellations.) This will hopefully open many more doors to a more permanent position that will last until he retires, rather than ending every couple of years as he helps to close the site down.

4. Not to mention school has started again, which means I am on my own for the next 16 weeks and anything I want to do for myself is pretty much out the window. I instead become the chief cook, bottle washer, launderer, housekeeper, caretaker, bill payer, lawn maintenance person, snow removal person, etc. with very little time for me and what I want. It gets frustrating when my wants are largely predicated on my husband and he is not available . . . . Do you see a never ending circle we have going here?

So I guess I am going to have to bite the bullet and start teaching again. I hate the thought of giving up the little time I do have to myself, but we desperately need to start building up our checking account again, especially with a move in the future.

My Heart Lept With Joy!

Sunday as Little Man and I walked the halls during Sacrament Meeting (Sacrament meeting and BUSY toddlers do not mix.), he stopped at every picture of Jesus and excitedly told me that Jesus was in the picture. Oh, how my heart melted in that moment! Not only was he able to correctly identify Jesus in each picture, but gave me the pat on the back that I needed indicating I was doing something right. I love this stage where such simple and small things are so happy and exciting.