So many pointless things to say...

Ok so honestly I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. I meant to post on Friday but...Well we'll get to that later. I have tons of totally random things to tell you. I guess I'll start with this weekend and move backwards:

Let me begin my tale of Friday's craziness by listing several facts:

1. Twice last week I left my interior light on in my car all day while I was at work. I have a really good battery so it's started fine afterward but...

2. Thursday night I remembered I needed to charge my cell phone but was too lazy to get out of bed to plug it in

3. My back has been hurting on and off all week, progressively getting worse

So here goes...

Friday my boss (really now, not just co-worker since she got promoted - yea her!!!), Chris, left at noon. The new girl, Sharon, was working on her own stuff and I was getting through back logged stuff since we were pretty slow. Nate and I had plans to have dinner and do the walk around (more on this later) with Carlin and Aubrey and Baby Sam.

I decide to call Aubrey to set an exact time for us to come over and realize my phone is completely dead (It won't even turn on). I ask Nate to call her but he doesn't have her number. So Aubrey has no idea what time we're coming over.

My back starts to really hurt. It begins by hurting when I stand. Then progresses to slight discomfort even when I sit and finally arrives at severe pain no matter what position I'm in (I'm assuming I've had something misaligned all week and that's causing pain which is causing my muscle to tighten, further pulling my back out of alignment). By 2 o'clock I can barely move and NO position is comfortable. I've already taken some aspirin and it didn't help at all and I have no other drugs. I decide something must be done, especially since we have plans for that evening and I can't even call Aubrey to cancel on her and I don't remember her exact apt number to stop by.

So I talk to my next boss up and convince her I need to leave and the poor new girl can probably handle both Chris' phone and my phone. I drive to Walgreen's, buy Tylenol, back heat pads, water and a smutty novel. I move my car to the shade, put the heat pads on, take a couple Tylenol, read for a few minutes and then fall asleep in my car.

I awake a few minutes after 5 and go back and forth between revelry that I can move without screaming pain and severe fuzziness probably cause by mixing drugs. It takes me several minutes to start thinking. I decide I can drive and try to turn on my car. It doesn't start. I try again. It still doesn't start. At this point I honestly can't make the points connect in my head and am very confused by everything. I finally realize I left my headlights on while I slept. My battery is dead.

I have a dead battery, no cell phone, a slight back ache and the mental capacity of a yam. It honestly took me 10 minutes to think of what to do. Finally I stalk some girl in the parking lot and ask to use her cell phone. I call Nate but he doesn't answer. I have no choice but to leave him instructions for picking me at Walgreen's and hope he checks his voice mail. The girl looks slightly scare of me. I go back to my car to read.

Nate shows up a little after 6 and picks me up. We go to Carlin & Aubrey's, have great chili, play with baby Sam and do the walk around. Everything goes well. Afterward we go back to Walgreen's to get my car and without jumping it, it starts right away. Seriously.

So walk-around. If you're not from the Stillwater area you probably don't know what this is so I will explain. For homecoming all the Frats and sororities team up and do huge displays in front of their houses. Then everyone in town 'walks around' to look at them. It's actually pretty fun. There's plenty of fair food if you don't mind $8 hot dogs and it's overall a pretty enjoyable experience. Both Aubrey and I forgot our cameras so the above picture is all we got. PS Afterward we went to Marble Slab to get ice cream and they were out of my favorite flavor, Sweet Cream. I know! After my hard day they hadn't even saved me some sweet cream. Tragic.

***Found more pics from Homecoming on my camera taken by...oh you know.***


Let's skip around from here...

Wednesday I had Cub Scouts. I'm having my boys work on getting their World Conservation Award this year. A couple weeks ago we went to the OSU Botanical Garden and this past Wednesday we made terrariums out of soda bottles. It went great. The boys are really doing so well on listening and working hard on things. Here's a pic of them after they got to mix the soil up. I think they had fun. :)

Thursday...back to Homecoming. I need to mention that offices all over campus compete in a decoration contest. Last year we (the Registrar's Office) won and we wanted to win again so we possibly went over board.

Yes we won again! We're that amazing. PS Pete's hand strummed the guitar and there were loops of Who songs playing in the background and a slide show going on. Seriously awesome. PS Yes I am groping Pete.

Thursday night we had a Relief Society activity where everyone made a favorite soup and brought it and the recipe. We all tried the different kinds and chatted. Way nice. I brought Harvest Bisque. Nate actually made it since I was so busy Wed night. Here's the recipe:

Harvest Bisque

1 – 1 lb butternut squash

5 cups chicken broth

4 Tbsp butter

4 Tbsp flour

1 tsp curry powder

¾ cup half and half

1 Tbsp lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Peel, seed and cut squash into ½ inch cubes. Place in 4 qt pot with chicken broth. Cook over med heat for about 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon put the squash in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Stir in broth to squash puree and put aside. In the same pot, melt butter stir in the flour and curry. Stir over medium heat until smooth. Add pureed squash back to pot. Increase heat to med-high and stir until soup thickens. Reduce heat and add half and half. Do not allow soup to boil after this point. Add lime juice, salt and pepper. Garnish with lime.

So Good!!!

Saturday we went to the OSU/Baylor game. I sign the National Anthem (Wendy does now too) and Nate does the Player Guest List. It's really fun and after half time we can just go watch the game. OSU won again. That makes us 7 and 0. Whoo hoo!!!

Then we went to the Deans to play games. Ahhh wasting time in the funnest way possible (ok there are others but this was pretty fun).

There were other little things this week but I think we've covered enough. Overall a great, but busy, week.

Odds and Ends

Ok just a few updates...

First, last weekend Wendy and made pumpkin chocolate chip bread. It was delicious!!! The funny thing was since their was so much oil in them the loaves came out really easy from the pan, except for the chocolate chips. I mean, I know it makes sense that way but for some reason Wendy and I thought it was hilarious that there were all these little holes in the bottom of the loaf. Here are the pics:


Next, today I got flowers. From my husband, you ask??? No. I got them from a Department on campus who has been a royal pain in my ...butt... for the past week. They've been unorganized and needed help with very basic things and overall taken up a lot of time I really needed to be spending elsewhere since enrollment begins on Wednesday. But... I walked them through it and was as patient as possible (that doesn't mean patient exactly but the closest I was going to get in such a busy week) and we got it all done correctly with a full day to go. It was amazing. So they realized they were impossible to work with and sent flowers to Chris and I. It was very nice of them.


Lastly, I was in the mood for Alicia Keys so here you go:

Alicia Keys - No One

imeem

So I don't know if I've mentioned how I love imeem. I think I just started using them. Their videos are clearer and better quality than YouTube and don't have their embed codes erased. They have lots of way fun stuff but less videos of people pretending to be the band. They have a smaller selestion but I bet they'll expand quite a bit in the next few years.

Tegan and Sara - Call It Off

Weekend Music

Postal Service - Clark Gable

Favorite Author Fridays - Books I've Been Reading

OK so normally Favorite Author Fridays are prompted by something I read that week. However, this week I've been either re-reading stuff or reading things by authors I've already blogged about. So I just thought for this week I'd give you a breakdown of what I've been reading:

Bleachers by John Grisham - this is our Book Club book this month and it was way better than I expected it to be. I'm familiar with John Grisham as a lawyer, political thriller writer, which isn't really my genre. But this book was about a high school football player coming home for his couch's funeral. It was wonderfully written and I would definitely call it a Man's Sniffle Book. Loved it.

Dragon Bones by Patricia Briggs - I swear this woman can do no wrong to me. I love EVERYTHING she writes. This is the first of a duology, but can be read alone since it wraps up quite nicely. It's about a boy... oh I won't do it justice. Here's a blurb from googlebooks, "To protect himself from his abusive father, Ward of Hurog has spent a lifetime convincing everyone that he is a fool, but now, with his father's death, Ward becomes the new lord of Hurog and must quickly prove himself worthy of the title to keep his throne." Way good. I'll definitely read the 2nd one.

The Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop - These were a reread. A trilogy consisting of Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows and Queen of the Darkness. "Ancient prophecies have foretold the coming of a powerful witch, one who would in reality be not a mere human female but "dreams made flesh," nothing short of Witch herself. She comes in the form of a tremendously brave little girl, whom we first meet at the age of 12 or so when she comes to Hayll seeking instruction in the Craft from none other than Saetan himself. Human beings don't just come over into the land of the demon-dead, and Saetan quickly recognizes who this young girl truly is and will become. "

I love the premise and story but somehow the ending always disappoints me a little. After I read these Nate read them and felt about the same I do. You get drawn in but 3 books later you're pretty emotional exhausted and just want a darn happy ending for your troubles. You get sacrifice and compromise- probably more realistic but not as satisfying.

However, I just heard there are 4 more books set in the same world, one written as in between the original 2nd and 3rd. I think I'll try them and see if they help me feel more settled. Over all recommended but they do deal with abuse (including sexual) so at your own risk.

Dead Over Heels by Charlaine Harris - The 5th Aurora Teagarden book. I really like these. They're cute mysteries without too much stress but a lot of real emotions (which are usually less dramatic). I read this one on an hour at Hastings and it was the perfect way to relax for a bit.

Playing with Fire by Katie MacAlister - cute paranormal romance. Very fun if a little questionable. The 2nd one is out and I'll definitely get it. I read all the other Aisling Grey series that led to this series spin off.

Snakecharm by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes - This is the 2nd book in the Kiesha'ra series. It's what I'm currently reading and since it's so small it'll be done today I'm sure. It looks to be as good as Hawksong, the first book in the series.

Thursday Night Music

Sia - Breathe Me

Bring on the WitchDoctors...

Ok I'm about to over share quite a bit. If you're just browsing through you might want to skip this post on account of how you don't really care about my weird personal stuff cause you just clicked the wrong link when on my sisters myspace account...

So let's get onto it.

Nate and I have been trying to get pregnant for over a year now. At first we didn't mention it because we though how fun it would be to surprise everyone who didn't even know we were trying. There's also the nervousness of telling people in the first trimester. Overall we went into it feeling very strongly that was the right path for us at exactly that time.

I went into the doctor's office got a pre-pregnancy check-up and he said everything looked good so get on with the trying. So we tried and we played and we overall had a good time waiting for things to happen when they would. We used basic biology information to guide us (I am a Bio major after all) and didn't stress much. Overall, a very enjoyable time for all involved.

But then we still weren't pregnant. I have never been 'regular' as far as womanly stuff goes and though I'd been on birth control for a couple years to help that, it started coming back. It got difficult to pinpoint when we should try because my cycle was ranging from 24 days to 72 days long. This was not the fun part. I started stressing that something was wrong and worrying and finally decided to go back into the doctor. At this point we'd probably been trying about 9 months, so we still weren't even officially experiencing "fertility problems" but I didn't want to waste time if something was wrong. Plus I'm overall just a 'know-er'. I'd rather know if something bad's going to happen, know if something good's going to happen, know about surprises, know if people don't like me, just KNOW.

So we did some tests. Nate passed his with flying colors- he got an easy one. I got a super fun hysterosalpingogram. Not the most comfortable procedure I've ever experienced but everything looked fine. So my doctor put me on Clomid (or it's generic equivalent) to force me to ovulate on a regular schedule. He said he would allow me 6 months of that but that was as far as he went fertility-wise, after that we would have to see a fertility specialist. We also started being strict about our chart-keeping and temperature taking etc. We spent money on ovulation tests and pregnancy tests every month. We started taking this seriously and at the same time tried not to stress because that decreases fertility.

Well my 6 months was up about 2 months ago. Last month I talked to my doctor on the phone and he said he would give me 3 more cycles at double the dosage of Clomid. So I have 2 cycles left.

Now a couple months ago I started telling people what was going on. It really started right after the hysterosalpingogram. I got out of the hospital and wanted to be able to talk to people about it. Instead of being a fun, just-between-the-two-of-us secret, it had started to feel like something we had to keep hidden because something was wrong with us. I didn't like that feeling. Also, I didn't like all the hints that people were expecting me to be expecting. When I wasn't trying to get pregnant they were annoying, when I was they really started to hurt. I was doing my best. Why couldn't people leave my private life private? So anyway, we told a couple people, mostly just some family and a couple friends, and I started getting the witchdoctor advice.

Now I'm a Biology major and love science so all the crazy things I heard that had no logical or medical base just blew me away. I mean first-off, why do people feel that the area in which their advice is always welcome, is child-making, bearing and rearing? I'm not sure. And also where did people get these ideas? ancient english folklore? some book they found in the library? their cousin's wife's good friend? Seriously I heard tons of the craziest stuff you ever imagined and I mostly just laughed it off.

The problem is now I'm willing. I'm willing to dance naked under the full moon and kiss certain beetles and use household chemicals in ways I never thought possible. I'm ready for the crazy. Cause I don't want to go down the road of shots in the leg and uncomfortable tests and honestly I'm a little excited to stop having to write down every time my husband and I have sex. It will be nice when that's back to just the two of us again. And mostly I want to have a baby. I'm still ok with the fact that it might not be on my time line but on His but I'm ready to do even the crazy stuff to fulfill my part. I want nothing I have control over left undone.

So...comment. Let me know that thing you heard your ex-roommate's best friend did. Let me hear your crazy theory you came up with in 8th grade science class. Ask the old lady at your work what she did and pass it on. I'll take all the advice I can get.

Bookkeeping- To keep this comfortable for all I will make the comments come to me first before they get posted. This will allow me to not post and yet still read things that might not be for the faint-of-heart or queezy-of-stomach. It means you can be as blatant or graphic as you desire. I can take it- I've worked on cadavers. :)

Don't Register to Vote...

a little language so at your own risk...

What...we're famous???

From: Shawn@magic104.com [mailto:Shawn@magic104.com]

Sent: Friday, October 03, 2008 10:59 AM

To: Nathaniel Mitchell

Subject: RE: corn beef and barley stew with drop biscuits.

Goodmorning! I used your recipe Wednesday morning for Magic Chef. I love corned beef! You have won a $25 dollar certificate to Chilli's. Would you please send me your home address, home and work phone numbers and date of birth? I'll get your certificates ready for pick up as soon as I get your information. Our address at the station is 400 East Britton road. Thanks for sending in your recipe!

And thanks for listening to Magic,

Shawn Carey

Here's the recipe as Nate sent it in. We're making it again Saturday. YUM!!!

1 corned beef roast

8 oz barley

2 medium onions

1 stalk celery

2 quarts beef broth

3 carrots

Cut the corn beef into cubes and brown in a pan. Add beef broth and bring to simmer. Chop onions, carrots, and celery add to pot. Add barley and cook for one hour.

Try it with homemade drop biscuits.

2 cups flour

? cup butter

? cup margarine

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 table spoon backing soda

1? cup buttermilk

? cup heavy whipping cream

Mix dry ingredients, cut in butter and margarine until it has a moist crumble texture. With a fork stir in buttermilk and cream. Use a spoon to drop biscuit sized dollop of dough on a greased cooking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.