Um yeah. So I didn't get switched over to Feedly in time. (See previous post. Also, I'm a dork.) I'm currently trying to download my data from Google servers. In the meantime (and in case this proves to be too difficult for me), could you please just leave a little comment on my blog if you're still active so I can have your link? I have maybe 3 blog addresses memorized. The rest I could find through searches if they're searchable, but have pity. I'll look at you with big puppy eyes. 

Right now, I'm not really sure where I want this blog to go. I still have writing as a part of me, I just don't know if it's this writing. On top of that, my life is full to overflowing. And that's wonderful. It's what I want. It's just that it doesn't leave a lot of extra curricular time unless I want to be a zombie. (which I don't)

Today is one of those days when I'm feeling overwhelmed by everything that I have and want to do including blog posts. We had an amazing, busy day yesterday and now the fallout... I keep telling myself that if I can swing part time work next August, that things will be easier. Please keep telling me that's true. My house is a disaster. I can't find anything. I need to go to the store because a few critical things are at a very low level. Bills need to be paid. Presents need to be purchased. I'm missing many friend and family events. The old TV needs to be moved out. I'm pooped. E wants me to play constantly and is snotty and breaking out in hives because of allergies constantly AND I really just want to sit on a porch swing (which we don't have) with a drink in my hand. Whining out. 

Someone very close to me is going in for heart surgery tomorrow. Please send thoughts for speedy healing.

To celebrate Earth Day, I thought I'd talk about those by now famous 3 R's; reducing, reusing and recycling. And note that if you follow Here We Go Again, she's pretty darn good at this stuff. I struggle a little more because of the time and the tired.

We are all familiar with "mommy wars" by now. It's been blogged, talked and written about over and over. One of the things I've encountered frequently is the firmly stated assertion that someone WILL not and that I or you MUST NOT be making more than ONE MEAL AT DINNER TIME! 

I found another healthy and delicious breakfast that keeps my energy up and pleases my palate! It's very simple.

Jen's post, "The Good" inspired me to write my own post about happiness and simple humanity in our daily lives. It can be easy to get bogged down in the scary awful that seems to happen all too often these days. So though E and I didn't practice Jen's philanthropy yesterday, we did have a lovely day filled with lovely human interaction, and I thought I'd share.

In the morning, we awoke to hugs and kisses from Daddy before he left for work. Then E waved to him until he couldn't see him anymore, and we checked on our strawberry garden to supplement breakfast. After that I did a little laundry, and E noticed his swimming trunks which sparked an interest in the pool. We packed up and walked to our clubhouse. Once there we met 2 other families with children E's age along with what E called "Grandmas." The kids conversed and played, and the adults helped watch/entertain all children and shared supplies. Everyone was gentle, congenial and kind. 

Afterward we walked back to the house where E played quietly while I cooked homemade pasta sauce (yes, the yummy tasty kitchen onion/butter kind.) Then Hub came home, and we all sat pleasantly around the table, discussed a little of the unpleasant and gave out lots of hugs. Before bed, we all danced around the living room to E's favorite music.

Hey folks. I have an indecision issue. I have some extra money in my checking account I got from some health incentives and holiday pay that I was saving for a new range. However, I had to use a portion of it to buy a new vacuum cleaner when mine died completely. (My Shark. I love it!) So now I have a slightly smaller portion, making getting what I want a little more difficult.

Here's the dilemma. I've found this stove on sale for $551. This is the cheapest I've ever seen a reputable brand with the features I want, and the sale ends this week. Those features are a larger than 4.2 cubic foot, self-cleaning oven, smooth-top and stainless steel. I would go for black if I had to, but I really think the stainless would look best in our slowly being remodeled kitchen. It comes with free delivery and haul-away, but you have to buy the electrical cord.

The reason we need a new stove: Ours is a 1982 harvest gold colored model that guzzles electricity, has some questionable burners and one small hairline crack in the oven glass. It no longer self cleans, and the locking oven door knob has fallen completely off. It's the last appliance in the kitchen that needs to be replaced.

The problem here is that we could use the money toward other things. The other options that need to be seen to...

Our 10 year anniversary trip: We have some money put back for this, and I do get two more holiday pays before we go, but at the same time, we've decided to add E to the trip, making it much more expensive.

Guest bath vanity: It's the original particle and compressed wood model. The paint is bubbling, and the "wood" is warping. The coating on the sink is wearing off, and the sink itself has rust spots around the upper drain. I'd like to replace it, but also want to pay someone to install the new one, since it involves plumbing.

Master shower: the Master shower walls still need to be replaced because of water damage behind the tile. This has been a need since we bought the house. We currently only use the tub. However, this is a LARGE expense, so this amount of money would just be saving toward it.

The first three are the ones I'm leaning toward, but what would YOU spend the money on? 

E: I'm singing a song Mommy! Want to sing it too?
Me: Sure! How does it go?
E: random song with the words "round up" sprinkled throughout.
E: Want to watch the song Mommy?
Me: Sure. Is it on the Kindle?
E: No. It's on the DVD player in my mouth!

I really have to make the move to wordpress so I can password protect posts. Any words of wisdom or just "yeah you can do its?"

The painted bunting. I got to see it for the second time in my life today. There were 2 males and 1 female (a lemon-lime ish color) hanging out at a feeder where I did some birding this morning. There are lots of gorgeous songbirds: indigo buntings, cedar waxwings, and various grosbeaks and flycatchers. But this one seems the most unreal and vivid to me with its mix of blue, scarlet and lime green. I love them.

We saw dozens of species today easily. Another highlight was a glossy ibis in some really gorgeous breeding plumage. Beautiful day.

Do you bird? Do you like watching birds at your feeder? What are you seeing in your area recently? Do you have a favorite? Share with me.

... with a dash of some extras.

Here's what I had written last April:

1. Run a 5K
2. Read the whole Bible. I'm 34 and have only ever read parts. I need to do it if I'm going to agree and disagree with parts of Christianity.
3. Finish the kitchen and hallway painting/fix if projects
4. Fix up the garden 
5. Organize the garage with shelves. 
6. Get a service for the air conditioner.
7. Pamper myself with a massage, GOOD hair cut and new make up/skin care projects.

I am nowhere near running a 5K. I had gotten to the point where running caused me to crash so hard I couldn't even take care of E. I have instead been doing long, brisk walks on the weekends. It's not enough, but now with some advice from my new GP, I think I'm going to take a stab at it again. 

Reading the whole Bible... well, I've read a small portion of the Old Testament and am now reading the book of Matthew in the New Testament. I want to read it carefully, and that takes time. But I continue to read weekly. I'm also reading it in conjunction with a very thought provoking book called, If the Church Were Christian by Philip Gulley. I recommend it for those in my conundrum. You know who you are.

The kitchen is almost entirely painted! I just need one more coat on two sections of wall, and we're done! Lots of other fix-it projects still loom.

Strawberries are planted. That's as far as we're getting with gardening.

Number 5. HAH

Service obtained for A/C. I like them. Woot!

No massage yet. (Sad face). But I've gotten a good hair cut and skin care regimen! I even have a hair dresser I will revisit! Yay!

And on the extras... we have found a few companies Hub might like working for in Virginia and Pennsylvania. And as a super optimistic side note, our house is now ALMOST worth half what we paid for it! That's an increase of 5% over last year! Maybe we'll someday be able to sell.

I found a new general practitioner recommended to me by a coworker. She is nothing short of amazing. She completely trusts my word! She's actually a Nurse Practitioner and goes to bat for me like no one else ever has as a GP. I finally kicked Dr. HolierThanThou (who knew next to nothing about most of my issues) to the curb and went to see the NP about my worsening joint pain and suddenly rising triglycerides along with my ever crappy cholesterol issues. My triglycerides had come down from that 500 reading after going on Metformin, but they've still hovered in the 200's most of the time.

The run-down:
She ran a lot of tests. The basic finding is that my lipid bloodwork heavily suggests metabolic syndrome, aka insulin resistance. Big surprise there. We all know that having PCOS is a very strong indicator that IR might be going on. The suggestion there is that my HDL should be higher than usually suggested and that my LDL lower. Of course this is never even close to being the case no matter what I do. They also found that my LDL size pattern itself is even crappy and indicative of a genetically passed on heart disease. The best pattern to have is A; the large buoyant, "fluffy" kind that doesn't gunk up your arteries as much. Next most desirable is a combo of A/B. Least desirable is mostly B; the small, dense kind that clogs you up. Can you guess where I fall? Yeah. Firmly in the B category. Even my HDL breakdown isn't where they'd like to see it. Sigh.

And on the joint pain - no indicators of rheumatoid arthritis, but she strongly suspects some sort of arthritic changes going on in my body and would like to do x-rays at some point to possibly even start me on therapy to strengthen muscles around the joints so I can stay pain free (ish) longer. 

She thinks the crashes I've been having after running have to do with insulin issues. She gave me ideas for making that easier. 

She heavily suggested fenofibrate. My cholesterol has been wacky since I've had it monitored from age 23. Triglycerides have been going on 2 years. Nothing I've done has put me firmly in the "good" category. She and I are afraid I'm heading down my familial path: heart attack for Dad at 48. Marathon running uncle with triglycerides in the 1000's. Grandfather with a heart attack. Grandma with 10 brothers and sisters and of the 11, only 2 lived past 65. Almost all died of massive heart attacks.. most of them after having multiple ones before and/or bypass surgery. Grandma herself started having them in her late 40's, and I think had 6 total? She died of one in our living room at age 60. 

People have mocked me for worrying about this. "You're only 25! You're only 30! You're only 35!" "You're so active! You're thin! You eat so well!" Well you know what? Heart disease doesn't give a shit just like cancer and infertility don't give a shit. I've seen a deadly massive heart attack. It's not pretty. It's not a going gently into that good night. I don't want to experience a heart attack ever let alone a massive one. I want to be around for possible grandchildren. I want to get gray to match Hub (dig.. he's gray, I'm not. ;-) 

I'm going on the fenofibrate and continuing to eat things like quinoa, bean sprouts, salmon and avocado regularly. I will redouble my efforts to exercise and build lean muscle. I haven't been the best about muscle building since my job has done a lot of it for me, but now I need to. I suspect my blog will continue to chronicle these efforts. It's been slowly changing since I've had E, but I think I need to make a more official change from infertility blog to lifestyle blog about someone dealing with the fallout of PCOS, thyroid disease, insulin resistance and heart issues. Please wish me lots of luck. And any of you taking fenofibrate or dealing with this same stuff, pipe up and let me know how it's going. We all know how much better not being the only one feels. I can't be the only 35 year old in this spot right?

For Valentine's Day, Hub searched around and made a reservation for 7:30 at a little Italian place nearby. We got home from work, rushed through some clean-up and headed out with the little man. 

Great Backyard Bird Count people! It's cool. Do it. 

So if you've followed, you know that I like the Kindle Fire, but I find it much better for TV shows and child amusement than I do for reading books. I do sometimes use it to read at night in bed, but lit screens keep my already crazy brain too active, so it's better if I don't do that. 

Hub knew this, so he (bless his kind soul) bought me the most basic Kindle e-ink reader for Christmas. I LOVE it. I still like books better, but I do enjoy this Kindle to take to work or traveling. It's so much lighter and smaller than the Fire and so much easier on the eyes. I can get involved much better in the book. It's also quite handy to carry compared to books as I like to read multiple books at once. And the amount of time it keeps a charge is pretty awesome. I'm a fan. 

Now you have my review.

Birth Control Pills have never been my friend. It wasn't until I was diagnosed with PCOS and learned more about my syndrome that I figured out that was normal for someone with my issues. The PCOsupport website recently sent out this "HealthByte" email that talks more about research into how BCPs affect those with PCO or PCOS. I wanted to share it with you in case it was helpful.

Today I stayed home from work without telling Hub or the little man. I wasn't originally going to take the day off, but circumstances in scheduling presented the opportunity, and on a whim, I took it. 

I got up super early like I normally would for work except that I drove off to the post office, grocery store and clothing recycling center. Then I headed to Lowe's to check out new ranges and get a paint sample for our bedroom. By the time I was finished with all that, Hub had already left to drop E off at school (which is going well, but he still cries in the AM.) 

When I got home I started the taxes and started cleaning our bedroom. My plan was to deep clean that place as a surprise for Hub, because his allergies are so bad. I also wanted to put some paint (a light gray/blue) on the walls at least to see if it was nice. Then I headed off to an appointment to get my hair done! Yay! A haircut! It's been at least 7 months. 

After I came back, I continued to clean and then (almost) finished painting the kitchen! You may remember this goal from ages ago. I just have one more coat to do on two of the walls, and then I'm DONE. I finished up with the taxes, some dishes, a shower and a quick early pick up of my sweet boy. It was eventful and fun to plan all that with only myself to answer to. Hub liked the surprise and loves the paint color. Yay! 

Here it is.
So cool. Yes it works. And they even make a size you can carry in your pocket. Great for work.