so thankful

It has been a wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving. A truly fabulous time of rest and conversation and food and laughter and family. And did I mention food?? Trust me, no one was in any danger of starvation.

I'll try to avoid waxing poetic. I was going to have a ton of great pictures of food and family and what-not, but doesn't it figure that my camera battery died after my first picture yesterday??


Yes, yes it does. Anyway, this picture does a pretty good job of capturing a lot of what's been going on. A lot of people gathered in the living room, engaged in eating, reading, chatting, playing games, and watching football (or a movie). It's been a lot of fun. This picture was yesterday (pre-Meal)...see us planning out our shopping?? It was pretty hardcore.

So was the time when we headed out to Kohl's this morning. Check out the clock in my car!!

Yup, we were those crazy folks. At least we weren't alone, though. Here we are lining up with 800 of our closest friends!

The lines wrapped all the way around the building! It was surprisingly not-chaotic, though. No stampeding and everyone was pretty well-behaved. Way to go, Athens.

We came prepared. Don't worry, one of those coffees is mine. I don't let Mattie double-fist his caffeine.

We shopped from 3 til 7am. We got quite a few good bargains...although I must admit most of them were not gifts...they were stuff we "needed." Haha. Then we grabbed a biscuit, went home, and crashed til 9:30. Since then it's been an odd day of resting, eating, going re-shopping, and hanging out. I feel very out of touch with the time of day, though. I'm exhausted and it feels like the day is lasting forever!! (But not in a bad way. Not like when the work day seems to last forever.)

I did take a little time to pull out a few Christmas decorations, though. Due to the rain, we didn't get a tree today...guess it will have to wait til next week. But I grabbed a few decorations from the top of my "Christmas box" and holiday-fied the mantle!!
I'm not sure if it will stay exactly like that, but it was enough to make me feel festive. You may notice my spray-painted sticks/pine cones in the red vase on the right...they're really pretty in person (the flash makes them look weird here)!

Well that's about all I've got to share. I think I'm going to go be really exciting and pay some bills. I know, try not to be jealous. I guess I should be thankful I have a house to be paying for, right?? Right, that's the spirit...

wahoo!!

I tried to think of a deeper, more thought-provoking title. Unfortunately, all my brain can think of is WAHOOOOO--- and other unwriteable noises of excitement. You know, squeals and all that.

NO WORK FOR FIVE DAYS!!!!

I've never had off the day before Thanksgiving. This is new and uncharted territory and I am excited to experience it! Matt took the day off, too, so as soon as he gets home...it's weekend! And yet it's only Tuesday afternoon. It's surreal I tell you. Surreal.

We had a great weekend hanging out with our friends James & Kristina and just laying low. Got a lot of cleaning and organizing done on Saturday. Ate a lot of delicious food all weekend. You know...the good things in life. It was a good weekend. Work barely even interrupted my fun these past 2 days!

So now it's almost Thanksgiving...still need to make a last minute grocery-run in order to prepare my famously delicious sweet potato casserole. Oh, speaking of delicious...have you guys caught Bobby Flay's Thanksgiving Throwdown?? Featuring none other than my most beloved PIONEER WOMAN?!!! Yes, P-Dub takes on Bobby and YES there is some magical food-preparing and YES there are cowboys and chaps and all the other things you would expect out of a PW-centric episode. It was awesome. Both times I watched it. If you're not in the Thanksgiving Spirit yet...check it out on Food Network (I think they play it about 10 times a day) and I promise you will not be disappointed. Only you might be slightly disappointed at your own actual Thanksgiving meal when it turns out to be not cooked by PW & Bobby. But don't worry-- it will still be delish.

And not to rush things...because I fully love and appreciate Thanksgiving for all its inherent greatness...but holla-- Christmas is right around the corner!! Since we might not be around this weekend, I thought I wouldn't decorate til next week. But then it occured to me that I could decorate now! Since I have all these great days off...why not?? So I just may bust out my Christmas decor and have myself a merry little time decorating.

Which leads me to my final and most probing thought. Well, 2 thoughts. That will require you to probe your own heart and soul and help me out. Get ready.

1. Any easy cheap & crafty decorating ideas?? I love making and re-purposing things into fun holiday decor. I'm currently having a love affair with some pretty sticks and pinecones and my beloved silver spraypaint. If it turns out well, I'll let yall take a peek at the results. Any ideas you want to share with me??

2. What Christmas movies should I watch this year? I feel like I really slacked on the Christmas-movie-watching last year, and I don't want that to happen again. I feel like I need to mix up all my trashy reality-TV-watching with a little holiday goodness. Help a sister out. And I already have Love Actually on DVD because I already know it's the best movie ever, so help me think outside the box and don't recommend that one...I already watch it like once a week. :)

After you have answered these questions, you are free to go and enjoy your wonderful holiday with your family!! Happy Thanksgiving!

library haiku

Downtown library
I sit in your parking lot
Loving your wireless

It's not deep, but it's true. Because if it weren't for this here sweet little library, yall would be thinking I fell off a cliff or something.

It's been a lonnnnng week. I've been sick sick sick. Although I've had no more cysts rupture since Monday, I have had a cold/allergies get progressively worse and worse. I did go back to work Wednesday (and the rest of the week), but I lost my voice (where does it go?) so I was fairly useless in a class of four-year-olds all week. I also felt like crap most of the time. It was awesome.

However, yesterday afternoon I did decide to deviate from my standing after-work date with my couch and enjoy a girl's night with Mollyanne. We went to Christmas Marketplace (sponsored by the Junior League) via some free tickets her husband scored. Neither of us has ever been to Marketplace before but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and also enjoyed getting started buying some sweet gifts (for others AND ourselves-- even better!). However, I must admit that seeing all of the neat homemade things that (primarily) women were selling has further convinced me that I need to be really crafty and invent something awesome and then I can quit this whole9-5 charade in favor of selling my craft at parties and fun events and cute shops and stuff. Now I just have to find my crafty niche...that should be a piece of cake, right?

Maybe I will show yall some of the things I bought, but maybe it will have to be after Christmas...wouldn't want to spoil any gifts, would I?!!

I am super excited about Thanksgiving. Our holiday week is really starting today, I suppose. The Boothes are coming to visit us this afternoon and will be staying til Tuesday. In addition to enjoying their company (and a cute baby), we will be enjoying our annual decadent Thanksgiving dinner at church tomorrow night-- I can't WAIT for my first taste of T-day deliciousness! Then it's two short days of work (I will get off at 3:30 instead of 4:45 which feels like a WORLD of difference) and then a nice five-day weekend! We're spending this Thanksgiving with Matt's family, but will probably make a quick trip to Augusta over the weekend to say hey to mine as well. I'm so looking forward to spending lots of time with our families and LOTS of quality time eating. Haha. And I'm trying to forget that this sickness has already taken me away from the gym for an entire week. I had thought we'd be able to go back today, but I can't stop hacking coughing for long enough to change into my gym clothes. Which makes me feel like I won't be very successful with trying to run, so I think it'll be another day until we try.

Sorry for the complaining. It's just that I don't really feel like myself unless I'm whining about something.

Well I think that's about it. We're about to take Lola to the park. This weekend will be her first extended experience with a baby...I'm hoping it goes well! Hopefully if she burns off a lot of energy this afternoon she will have less energy for jumping on people holding babies...which is pretty much all she's ever done around babies in the past...yikes! But then, there has never been a baby in our house for more than like 3 minutes, so she's never had a chance to get acclimated...so I think she'll be fine once she gets over her initial excitement...right??

Have a wonderful pre-Thanksgiving weekend! Run an extra mile for me!!

ow ow ow

Hello and welcome to my life of laying on the couch (with periods of getting up, driving to the library, and using the internet).

In the last 36 hours I have had TWO ovarian cysts rupture.

Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow.

For comparison's sake...in the last 3 years, prior to Sunday, I have had two rupture. So in 36 hours I've doubled my numbers. Not too shabby, eh?

We can thank the Clomid for this fun-fest. Lots of ovulation means lots of cysts, and sometimes those puppies just wanna burst and make me feel like I'm dying!! Yay!!

Let me tell you. If you have never gotten to experience the joy of rupturing cysts, it is hard to describe exactly how delightful it is. The best part is how you have NO IDEA it's coming. Seriously. Sunday night we drove to the gym. As I got out of the car, I noticed a tiny cramp in my tummy. Felt like a gas pain or something. Went to the restroom...nada. Okay, so I got on the treadmill. The pain is getting stronger. Seven minutes later, I practically collapse off the treadmill and can't stand up straight. Matt quickly wipes down our machines and gets our stuff. In the car I'm in so much pain I'm crying as I'm curled into the fetal position, pulling my workout tights off because they're suddenly way too tight for my distended stomach. Once the excruciating car ride is over, I get to enjoy the exact same feelings for the next several hours on the couch. Pain meds and heating pads help out a little bit. The lingering pain of the aftermath, however, is pretty miserable in itself. It's like your stomach is all stuck out and tender (from the liquid that was in the cyst) and it's hard to walk or sit. And you feel nauseous.

And then it happened again at 2pm yesterday. And today I live in fear that there could be more. Since I didn't go for a follicle monitoring (ultrasound) this month, I don't know how many cysts there were. I'm praying there are no more because I think I may amputate my own stomach if I have to go through this again today.

Matt says "maybe we shouldn't do Clomid anymore...it's causing you a lot of pain." And to that I say...if I ever get pregnant, it will be worth it. Bring on the Clomid. You can't take me down this easy.

something old, something new

WARNING: RIDICULOUS PICTURES AHEAD.

Ridiculously awesome, that is.

Today my beloved friend/sister Catherine came to visit. [Note: I said friend/sister...as in, a friend so beloved she's like a sister. Not to be confused with Sister Wives... although come to think of it, we probably would be awesome sister-wives.]

After we spent time catching up, watching football, and looking at some rather alarming beach photos on her phone, one thing led to another and the next thing you know we're playing dress up.

With my wedding dress. And the bridesmaid dress I'll be wearing next month in my sister's wedding.

I think it happened like this: I was showing Catherine my bridesmaid dress, but you can't really get the full effect unless it's on. Let me just put it on real quick for you, I offered. Okay! she replied. Oh! And while you're doing that...can I just wear your wedding dress?

Um, of COURSE!!

We went to fetch my dress from the back of the closet. I do not have it all preserved and packed up...I like to wear it too much. Apparently I'm not the only one. And neither is Catherine. Check out who we found hiding up underneath a couple [hundred] layers of lace:

Yeah, that would be a big ol' cricket. Just snug as a bug up in my dress! Dead, I might add. Apparently this cricket was too classy to die in the garage like a million of his closest friends. This dude needed slightly more upscale digs. I can't blame him. Unfortunately, he is now laid to rest in our bathroom trashcan. RIP, Klassy Kricket. [Note: I hate when stores/restaurants intentionally misspell stuff like I just did. It drives me insane!!]

Anyway, there are way too many pictures to share for me to keep narrating each one. Let's just preface them with this:
1. Catherine is about 8 sizes smaller than me. Therefore we had to employ some creativity in order to make my dress sort-of fit her. Good thing I watch Say Yes to the Dress religiously!

2. Even with our giant chip-clips, the dress was too big. What better way to make it fit than to stuff a pillow under it? And then, ironically, you look like a pregnant bride...which is about as funny as it gets. It also, interestingly, encompasses both of Catherine's Life Dreams all at once. So, pregnant bride it was.
3. I was lazy and sick today. Up until this point, I'd barely ventured 3 feet away from the couch. This is why I have no makeup, nasty hair, and generally look like a troll. Please forgive me.
4. If you're looking for a photographer for your bridal portraits, you will probably want to contact me. Obviously I know what I'm doing.







Don't worry, there are about a hundred more, but it may be that you just had to be there to appreciate it fully. We tried to take a few "normal" pictures at the end...but obviously they are really boring compared to Pregnant Bride pictures.

All in all, we had a really fun day. If you're ever bored, I think I can highly recommend a good Wedding Dress Photo Shoot.

Pregnant bellies and Christmas-tree-decorated wineglasses (for the PREGNANT bride?!!! Horrors!!) not optional.

so much catching up

Wow. Two weeks [almost] without internet is too much I tell you. Too much! (Should I be saying "too many"? I mean...it is too many weeks. But I'm meaning more like...it's just too much. Too much to deal with. So there's my grammar rabbit-trail for you to meander down.)

Didn't you miss me? And all my pointless pondering and whining?? I missed it too.

Anyway, three trips from a techie later, we are back in internet business. The third trip may or may not have been necessary because I unintentionally gave him a DEAD BATTERY-LAPTOP on his second trip. And I was at work and my charger was locked in the house and so he was unable to do anything...I mean, maybe. But I would never do anything that stupid, right? Absolutely not.


BAM!!! Don't you like how I just slammed you with that picture? No intro, no nothin'. Just me and Mattie, kickin' it pirate-style.

It's just how we roll. On Halloween anyway. And occasionally some other times too.


So, we were pirates for Halloween. Not that surprising. Like our tats? I would like to take credit for all the amazing artwork on Matt's arm. If you would like me to design your next tattoo, I have some very reasonable pricing plans. Just let me know.

Doesn't Matt's beard give him a truly authentic pirate look? He's a handsome boy with a beard, I tell you.

Matt wasn't the only cute boy on Halloween though. I spent a good amount of time with my other favorite boy-squeeze, Hudson. Maybe his beard will grow in by next Halloween. We'll see.

Am I the only person who finds it kind of disturbing that baby costumes like this give a person/animal four eyes? I mean...I get that you can't cover a baby's face in a mask with little peephole eyes. But if you really stare at it (like I am, obviously)...it's like Hudson's head is inside a duck's head. And that should never ever happen in real life.

Clearly, I should find something else to stare at and think about. Or I should get more sleep because I'm exhausted and rambling on about things that make no sense except maybe to other delirious people. But I still feel compelled to blog because I HAVE INTERNET and I want to shout it from the mountaintops!

Moving on...

We haven't turned our heat on yet!! In a moment of bold insanity somewhere around November 1, when it was still balmy and warm almost every day, I declared that we would NOT turn on the heat** until December.

Then about 2 days later Georgia turned into a Frozen Tundra. Seriously. I'm barely even exaggerating. I was seriously doubting myself and wishing I'd never made such a silly statement. Because I'm very competitive (even against myself) and I hate backing down from something I said I was gonna (or not gonna) do. I almost sold out over last weekend, when we had lows in the 30s and highs in the 50s...and our house was regularly about 58 degrees...but I stayed strong and now it's warm again and I'm glad I didn't sell out. :) We'll see how long it lasts. I'm curious to see whether my cold-natured-ness or my cheapness wins out. I'm pretty cold-natured AND pretty cheap, so it should be a good fight.

Speaking of being cold...
Our church had our annual Fall Festival and Chili Cook-off last weekend. It is always SUPER fun (hosted at the ultra-awesome, ultra-old farmhouse of a family that go to our church) and this year was no exception. It was, however, exceptionally cold.


In addition to toasting (apparently, according to the picture above), eating, and shivering, there was also a Junk Pumpkin contest. I was not familiar with this game, but it turned out to be pretty neat. Here's one of the pumpkins.
Weird, right?? There were several other decorated pumpkins, but I figured this post is long enough without an abundance of Strange Pumpkin pictures.

Anyway, so...to summarize this ultra-lengthy post and the first half of the month of November, let me just say:

1. I DIDN'T HAVE INTERNET FOR TWO WEEKS AND LIVED TO TELL THE TALE!
2. Since my Internet left approximately 12 hours after I started designing our Christmas cards, I STILL HAVEN'T FINISHED which makes me feel extremely behind considering last year they were ORDERED on October 1st and labeled by November 1st!!
3. I have a cold (or something) and feel like crap, so you can look forward to more rambling catch-up posts from me all weekend!! Happy Friday!


**Using a space heater in the bathroom doesn't count. Don't be completely ridiculous. It's COLD in there!!

unwired

FRIENDS!!! This is a quick one because as you may have noticed-- I have had NO INTERNET this week! And I still don't! I'm at my neighbors' house right now, hardwiring into theirs. Anyway. After a second trip out here by a techie on Monday, hopefully we will have internet back. Until then, I just wanted to let you know that I have not died, been kidnapped, or fallen into some sort of deep non-blogging depression. I just don't have internet. Well, which does sort of lead me into a deep non-blogging depression.

Updates, as though you really care:

We have finished 2 weeks of the Couch-to-5k program!! Wahoo! I do not feel any more prepared to run a 5k though. We'll see how week 3 goes.

We had good Halloween costumes. Unfortunately I don't have them uploaded right now to share. I think Mollyanne put one of me on her blog, so check that out.

It's freezing outside!!

I didn't vote! I hate politics!! But I'm so glad it's over!

I wore my hair down two days this week. Actual comment from student: "What happened to your head?" This is why I wear it in a ponytail all the time.

We slept for almost 12 hours last night! I realize this seems extra-braggy to all you people with babies who consider like 3 consecutive minutes of sleep to be a major achievement. Please consider this my consolation prize for being infertile. I will also thoroughly enjoy my extra hour of sleep tonight and not feel guilty at all. Again-- a crappy second place prize to the joy of having a child.

Well, it's off to Publix and this time with no coupons because NO INTERNET means NO COUPONING which makes me feel sad, and it also makes my budget feel sad. Boo.

In the meantime, please feel free to leave comments because I can see those on my email at work and they make me feel less disconnected from the world. Please note that this will be SIX DAYS now without blogging or Facebook and I am going through major withdrawal. If anything major has happened, please let me know via some low-tech thing like a text or email.

Goodbye and and feel free to pray for our wireless maladies...I know you must miss me and all my ramblings like crazy!!