Back to the grind. I hope everyone had a lovely Memorial Day weekend. Did you get to spend some time with your family and friends? Maybe grill out, run through a sprinkler, and try something new? I hope so.

Country and I packed up the dogs and headed to Michigan to the barn house for the weekend.

It was grey and gloomy the entire time we were there. But we tried to sneak in some walks and gardening in between storms.

Have you ever tried to weed a garden bed that is practically a pond? No? It’s great fun.

In classic Melanie –style, I took one thousand eight hundred and twenty three pictures of the dogs.



And I have not one good picture of any of the people that we spent the weekend with. You’ll have to use your imagination as to what they might look like.

Oh wait, I lied. Here’s one of Country’s sister’s hands chopping an onion. See how blazingly speedy she chops that onion? So fast I couldn’t even get a good picture. Or maybe it’s that I am still learning aperture, etc. so often my pictures turn out like these. But really she cuts those onions so quickly!!



Said sister with said onions made the best. damn. French onion soup I have ever had in my life. I ate two bowls and wanted more. And more.

Justice ran and ran through the field. Then ran some more.

Tripp was on his own agenda; eat grass, walk three feet, eat grass. Maybe moo a little bit.

But after two nights, we were ready to come home and sleep in our own beds. We knew it was going to be beautiful yesterday and didn’t want to end up driving home in horrendous traffic while it was gorgeous outside, so we headed home late Sunday night. After dinner, of course.

We awoke to glorious sunshine. I worked in the gardens all day long. I live for this time of year.

And then in the early evening, we headed over to my parent’s house for a little BBQ action, which is exactly what I needed. I’ve been throwing myself a pity party because our first month of fertility treatment resulted in a big fat negative. I know, I know, it’s only the first month of meds. But it was the 15th time we’ve tried. 15. It’s been a long time to ache for something so badly. Anyway, I really want one of these:

Is he not the sweetest thing? This is Leo. As in Leonardo. He’s my brother’s youngest son and even though we’re not in Georgia, he’s a peach through and through.

Yes, I did change the subject and I think the transition was quite nice.

And remember this little man?



He’s turning in to such a. . . . . toddler? Little boy? I’m not sure what I’d say about Ryan because he is not quite 16 months but sometimes seems so much older than that. As in, he’s been speaking in complete sentences for so long now that it seems silly to think that he ever babbled. And A-B-C’s? Fahgettaboudit.

These two sweet little boys have changed every family gathering for the better.



 

I am thankful for them and my family and for all of the troops that make it possible for me to head off for the weekend and take one thousand eight hundred and twenty three pictures of my dogs and then return home and have a great night with my family.

And a special shout out to my dear friend Heather who is a nurse in the service and probably one of the bravest people I know. Thank you for all you have done for this country.

I started those pesky hormone shots a week ago. So far, so good. Emotionally, I feel fine. Physically, it’s another story. This feeling of complete and utter exhaustion is something I’m not used to, so I think it’s all part of The Universe’s Mommy Boot Camp. You know, so I’m good and ready to feel tired for the next 18 years. Let’s just say that the couch and I have been best friends all week.

The hardest part was actually working up the courage to give myself the first shot. I stood there, fat pinched, needle in hand. . . . . . psyching myself up. “I can do this. I can do this.” Country showed his support by saying, “JUST DO IT!” And, 3-2-1, I did it. Pretty painless. . . .until about 10 minutes later when I felt like my abdomen had been stung by the Queen Bee.

The ultrasounds have been fascinating. We can see my ovaries and the follicles that are growing on the monitor. I can’t even imagine what it will (hopefully) be like someday to see a baby on that screen!! As for now, I have been responding quite well to the medication. Those little follies are doing their thing and growing 1-2 mm a day.

We pray that this works and helps bring us what we have been hoping for...

Ireland, Part 1

We’re home from our trip to Ireland, safe and sound. Wow, am I wiped out though. Time changes will do that to you. That and a terrible cold. Thank you recycled air.


I’m a little overwhelmed from this trip and honestly, not quite sure how to begin to describe the beauty of this little island country. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that the landscape seemed to get greener as the week went on. Everyone laughed at me when I took a drink of water out of the tap and yelled, “The water even tastes green!”

So, yes, our flight(s) out there went off without a hitch. Our plane had screens built into the seats and they had a pretty decent selection of new release movies to watch. I watched Black Swan then took a couple of Benadryl and fell asleep. We landed at 7am and once we got our luggage, hopped on a shuttle over to the rental car place.

Have you ever been in a car that has the steering wheel on the passenger side? And then driven that car on the “wrong” side of the road? Through 7 or 10 “roundabouts,” trying to make your way out of the airport? At 7am, after hours of travel and Benadryl? Oh no, you haven’t?

I felt like we were in National Lampoon’s European Vacation, trying to get out of the roundabout. After the nice woman on the GPS said for the 5th time, “Enter Roundabout,” I had a fit of the giggles and couldn’t stop. Slap happy.

You don't realize how much driving is kind of an "automatic" thing until everything you ever thought about it was wrong.

We found the place where we were going to be staying but unfortunately couldn’t check in until 2 pm, so we went and had breakfast. Nothing special, just food in our bellies. Next we found a grocery store where Country and I proceeded to get into an argument over a pineapple. Don’t ask—I’m not even sure why we were fighting over a pineapple, but at that point everyone was tired and crabby and we just wanted to get unpacked and relax. I actually slept in the car for a couple of hours while it was parked right in front of a busy hotel and I was just too darn tired to even move the car. Finally, 2 o’clock came and we checked in.


We stayed in a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom townhouse.

The place was a decent size and it had a washing machine and a small fridge. We unpacked our groceries and then everyone tried to take a nap; some of us had better luck than others.

For dinner that night, we walked over to a local pub called Durty Nelly’s. We had fish and chips and it was fabulous. Something about their batter is different than here---it’s light and flaky and not so heavily breaded.  Now here's we need to talk about beer for a second.  You see, I am not a beer drinker.  Never have been and probably never will be (unless I move to Ireland.)  Before we left, several people told me that I must try the Guinness while there.  Yeah, okay, whatever.  But just for fun, I had a Guinness here in the states before we left so that I had a reference point.  It was just okay to me.  But WOW!  Guinness in Ireland is a whole 'nother story!  It is delicious!  Don't believe me?

The next day we got a late start (there is a 5 hour time difference) and jumped in the car. We headed to a tourist spot called the Cliffs of Moher. 

Beautiful, right?  Afterwards, we went to a town called Ennis and had some lunch (and also the best red berries tea I have ever had in my life.)

Wednesday we slept late again (well, considering the time difference, we actually woke early) and got out of the house at about 11 am.  Before we left for Ireland, I had purchased a book called The Backroads of Ireland or something like that.  We knew we wanted to head towards the coast and in the book there was a picture of an old stone mill on the way to Killinabaoy that we thought looked pretty cool.  Country drove us over there and when we got there, we realized that attached to the mill there was a house where someone obviously lived.  Oh, and a Private Property sign.  We were bummed out. . . .until Country talked to worker on a neighbor's roof that said the man who owned the mill was nice and we should go knock on the door.  And that he had a really, really big dog.

We ended up chatting with the owner, Dick, for a couple of hours and had coffee, tea and bisucts with him in the house!  To say he was a pleasure meeting would be a complete understatement.

More to come. . . .

Farming and Fertility

The truth is, I don't know at what age I felt that I should live on a farm. I can't quite totally wrap my head around the idea or butchering a pig or performing some of the other farm necessities, but I can picture the land, feel the dirt in my nails and smell the scent of sweat, love, and of course, tomatoes. Why is that?
Apparently, I'm not the only one with the same romantic idea of farm life. I just picked up this book from the library last night and I can't.put.it.down. It's called "The Dirty Life," by Kristin Kimball. Stay tuned for a book review when I'm finished.

In other news, March 8th will be my first appointment with a doctor at a fertility clinic. After a year of heartbreak and disappointment, I finally know that there is a viable medical reason that I haven't gotten preggers yet. Thank God, because if one more person told me to relax or suggested that maybe I wasn't meant to have children, as my co-worker did, I might have poked my eyes out. But yes, after three rounds of blood tests this month, I have found out I have Premature Ovarian Failure (POF). Apparently it's pretty rare and there really isn't a whole lot of rhyme or reason as to why this happens. I have read that certain auto-immune diseases can be a contributing factor, but when I asked about Ankylosing Spondylitis, my doctor told me no (although there is very little research with AS and pregnancy/fertility).

In a nutshell, what this means for Country and I is that we will (hopefully) be having a baby by in vitro (IVF). Yup. It seems my lady parts don't want to give me a baby naturally, so we're about to embark on a strange, fascinating, shot-in-the-ass-daily, kind of world. I'm reading a lot about IVF online and trying to learn the lingo. I think Country is a little bewildered but on board. We're praying that we will be able to use my eggs and not a donors (we don't know for sure yet if I have any good eggs). Wild, huh?

Although I was obviously very upset to learn that I can't have children naturally, I can't say I'm especially surprised. Let me tell you a secret---for as long as I can remember, I have felt that I would adopt a child or children. So while I pretty-pretty-please-with-a-cherry-on-top want to have biological children, I also can say that I wouldn't be especially surprised if IVF isn't an option or doesn't work. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally optimistic about the whole thing.....it's just that I don't think it'll come as a big shock if it's not in the cards for me.

With that being said, send me your fertility vibes and wish me luck next Monday!

Roughin' It 2010

We had  big plans to head out west to Colorado.  Just the two of us. . .hiking, exploring, having a good time.  But then life, and namely Justices' cancer got in the way and we had to scrap our plans.  We know our time with him is limited so we couldn't bear the thought of being away from him for any longer than necessary.

But really, who would want to leave this little Chocolate love for a week and a half?  Not me!  Not Country. 

We decided to pack up the RV (no, not ours unfortunately!) and head out on a six day adventure with our favorite canine companions.

I mean, what dog doesn't love to camp?  Outside for hours and hours, lots of walks and hikes, hot dogs and marshmallows. . . .

. . . . . .or their regular food in their Fiestaware bowls.  But it tastes better because they're outside eating it!!

And hanging out with Mom and Dad. . . . .



Okay, okay, here's a nice picture where we're not acting goofy:

Pay no attention to the "Leisure Travel" printed on the RV.  I mean, we were roughin' it.  Keeping it real.  No comfy bead to lie our weary heads.  No air conditioning.  No running water or flat screen TV to snuggle up in front of late at night, after the campfire died down. 

Do you believe me?

You don't?

Well, believe this--Turkey Run is Bee-you-tee-full.  I mean, straight up awesome.

How cool is this cabin?!  Look at the size of those logs!

Country attempted to carve our names in this tree but didn't come equipped with the right knife.  Oh well, it's the thought that counts, right?

Me, just sitting on a rock. 

Country is our navigator.  Always.  Trust me.  I try, really I do, but maps look like a foreign language to me.

What a show off.  I kept telling him he did not have to move mountains, or trees, or whatever to be with me; that his love was enough. 

I wished my picture did this justice.

From there, we headed slightly east, over to Cayuga, IN.  We stopped in and visited with some friends who recently had a beautiful baby boy. 

I don't really know this couple all that well. . . .we've only met a handful of times, but by the time Country and I left their house, I felt like I had new family members.  I love when that happens. 

The boys went exploring while she and I hung around the house with the baby.  Of course, they requested that we take some pics with them and their toys. 

What's that saying?  Boys will be boys?  Oh yeah, I think that's it.

I assure you that these gentlemen have very high safetly standards when it comes to their guns.

Then we took some "serious pictures" out in their backyard.  (5 acres!!!  I want 5 acres!!)

This is one of the best behaved babies I have ever seen.

A tree swing!  Eeek!

Then we loaded up our camping equipment  selves in the RV and headed a bit north to

Prophetstown State Park. 

Justice was ready to go.

So, instead of the woods, Propetstown was pretty much mostly prairie.  Which means that I took 4,590 pictures of wildflowers and butterflies with my new camera.  I mean, a girls' gotta practice, right? (And besides, I already have 5,692 pictures of the dogs so it was nice to have a change in subject matter).

I'll spare you all but a couple of prairie pics.

I have always had a fascination with butterflies. . . . beautiful, right?

I'm gonna level with you.  This next picture makes me kind of sad.  Don't get me wrong, I love the picture, but that leaf was a big 'ol reminder that the sun is almost setting on summer.

Well, it certainly wasn't Colorado but we sure did love our little trip.