Thanksgiving 2009

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I don't think it would be possible for me to list everything I am thankful for this year however because it IS Thanksgiving, I believe it is important to give it a try

I am thankful/grateful for the following:

1. my relationship with G-d
2. my husband and fur babies
3. my family - each and every one
4. my friends -real life and definitely my bloggy ones too
5. my health ( yep -even with all my issues this year)
6. my job & co-workers
7. a roof over my head, food in my belly and money to pay the bills
8. living in a city where I get to experience ALL of the seasons
9. my sobriety
10. love that comes in from the most unexpected places & people

That is just the tip of the iceberg but it's a good start.

I have to get moving as there are three apple cakes in the oven that need to be checked.
Sending my heartfelt love, and thanks to everyone who is reading.
May you have a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

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Silent Sunday

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MOOD REPORT:

Friday the 13th is D-Day for me!!!!

D-Day.....hmmmmmm - what could that POSSIBLY mean?

If you guessed "DRAIN DAY" - you win a million dollars!!! (well maybe not a million because honestly I think I only have a few dollars in my monkey purse right now) But you would be correct in your guess. You can pat yourself on the back. If you have been following my medical saga, you know that I have had an abdominal drain in for well over a month now. Well today was the day that blasted thing FINALLY got removed!

Wanna see? You know you do!!
I figure posting a pic of my post-drain-removal, scarred up belly is my way of saying "THANK YOU BELLY" for hanging in there with me:

Can I get a HALLELUJAH and an AMEN? Thank you.

The actual removal process of said drain was amazingly underwhelming to say the least. I guess I had built up this expectation that after having this darned thing in for a month, that it would be a bit painful and difficult to remove......I was wrong. It took all of two seconds to take the stinking thing out. It was not painful - I would describe it as uncomfortable at worst. I actually laughed after the doc finished removing it because I was expecting her to be pulling and pulling for awhile. Here it was all of about 2 inches of tubing inside me so one good tug and it was out.
Now I just have to figure out a safe and non-abrasive way of getting all the tape adhesive off my skin - there is a butt-load of it. I did share my G.LAD Press N Seal tip with the doc who absolutely loved the idea and said she would pass it on!

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In other news: If you check out my sidebar, you will see a new pic/badge:
The Creme de la Creme 2009 award
This is a "best of list" that Mel from Stirrup Queens does every year -

In Mel's words, "...... Awards are nice–it’s good to honour someone and mark big accomplishments. But we all have a best post tucked into our archives. We all have words that have moved another person or ideas that have kicked off a series of musings. Bloggers are writers and all of us deserve to be celebrated. And we’re doing just that."

In a nutshell, this is a list of posts that are submitted by bloggers in the ALI (adoption/loss/infertility) community to "recognize" what each blogger considers to be one of their "best or most moving" posts for the last year.

Since my blog was incredibly new at the time, I chose not to participate last year. However, this year has crept by quickly and it now time to celebrate again. I chose and submitted my post this afternoon. The official list will go up starting Jan 1st - I cannot wait.

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I am going to ask a BIG favor of you all: While we are chatting about favorite posts.........If you have been reading/following my blog for quite some time, I would LOVE LOVE LOVE it if you could leave me a comment on which post was "the most memorable" to YOU. It could be a post that struck a cord in you, or one that had you cracking up - which ever was most memorable! I know which post I picked to submit for Creme de la Creme but I would bet that there are other "favorite" posts everyone else has!

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FELINE UPDATE:

The fur babies are good although both have developed QUITE the catnip habit.....I am starting to worry that I am becoming an enabler. Check out the eyes on Zoey in this pic:

That's all she wrote folks!! Thanks for tuning in on this fair Friday the 13th!!

MOOD REPORT:

Where am I???

So I managed to bring myself back to the world of the living - just barely.

I realized today that I was a bit overwhelmed with where I am.
Despite the fact that things are looking good (finally) I cannot get over the fact that this whole medical drama has literally sucked nearly 1 1/2 yrs of my life away.

My feelings are pretty mixed up about that - I am angry, sad and disgusted. I am frustrated and overwhelmed. I am completely ambivalent about it all:

Did I cause any of this to happen? NO. Do I still feel guilty that it has interrupted everything in my life as well as my husband and family? ABSOLUTELY. I am grateful that none of this stuff was life threatening? YES. I am disgusted and pissed that I had to go through three surgeries, three different surgeons & hospitals, to finally get to a healthy place? YOU BETCHA.

And I have been thinking about this blog... the blog which I started as a place to sound out my thoughts while I went on my journey to start a family.

I have had so much going on medically that I think I felt like I had no business posting here....which explains the disjointed posts of late. I felt like I was no longer part of the IF community and as such, felt out of place posting anything other than family building stuff.

Then suddenly I realized it.......FUCK ...this is MY BLOG.....my thoughts, my life, my world. And yes it did start out with a basis in IF community however life crept up and bit me on the ass.

It does that sometimes....and guess what? It does is to other people too! Amazing...isn't it? I am sure you all understand....I am sure some of you have been there yourself.

So I will write what I want to write....what I need to write....whatever it may be at the moment. I am sure that sometime soon I will venture back to posts about our family building.
For now however....I am here - and that's okay!

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Still waiting on this damn drainage to slow down enough to have the drain pulled. I have a sneaking suspicion that I will feel much better once that's done. Crocheted item quota is reaching critical mass - gotta get out of this house soon!

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Way back in October, my sweet friend Kate over at I Can't Whistle, gave me the
OVER THE TOP AWARD

I feel awful that I have not acknowledged this or passed it on however I did want to at very least say THANK YOU to Kate and spend some time answering the questions that go along with it! If you are interested in finding out more about me.....keep reading...if not..just skip to the mood report at the bottom of this post!

Part of the rules in this state that you can only use ONE word to answer the questions. We shall see about that!!!! The other major rule is to HAVE FUN - I can do that!!! And OFF we go..............

1. Where is your cell phone? TABLE
2. Your hair? GRAYING
3. Your mother? PRICELESS
4. Your father? BULLSHITTER
5. Your favorite food? SUSHI
6. Your dream last night? SCREAMED
7. Your favorite drink? POLAR POP (shit that's two words)
8. Your dream/goal? SERENITY
9. What room are you in? DINING
10. Your hobby? CROCHETING (worrying too if I am honest)
11. Your fear? HURTING SOMEONE
12. Where do you want to be in 6 yrs? FAMILY
13. Where were you last night? BED
14. Something that you aren't? SERIOUS
15. Muffins? NOPE
16. Wish list item? CHILD
17. Where did you grow up? AKRON, OHIO
18. Last thing you did? BELCHED
19. What are you wearing? OUTFIT
20. Your TV? MUTED
21. Your pets? CRAZY
22. Friends? CRAZIER
23. Your life? CRAZIEST
24. Your mood? EVERYWHERE
25. Missing someone? CHILD
26. Vehicle? HYUNDAI
27. Something you are not wearing? MAKEUP
28. Your favorite store? MICHAEL'S
29. Your favorite color? PURPLE
30. When was the last time you laughed? EARLIER
31. Last time you cried? EARLIER
32. Your best friend? CRAZY
33. One place that I go to over and over? WORRY TOWN U.S.A
34. One person who emails me regularly? MOM
35. Favorite place to eat? LITTLE ITALY

WOOT!!! I finished ya'll!!!!

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MOOD REPORT:

Show & Tell - Just a repeat....

Welcome back to SHOW & TELL a la MEL.
Don't forget to hop on over to STIRRUP QUEENS to check out what everyone else is showing....it is always worth the click of the mouse!

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Well last weeks giveaway was not successful - Who would have thought that giving away FERTILITY SUPPLIES would be so hard? In any case, I thought I would re-post the giveaway this week in the hopes someone else might read my blog and contact me. If you wondering what the heck this post is all about - JUST READ MY LAST POST

Here is a pic of the stuff I am giving away:

Again...if you are interested - Just leave me your email in my comments section or email directly at Jen4sushi@roadrunner.com - I will get in touch with you for mailing info!

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Not too much else to share...drain still in - drainage decreasing little by little. Still crocheting like a madwoman and trying to enjoy the beautiful fall leaves.

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UPDATE: Someone has claimed this bounty - HALLELUJAH!!!

MOOD REPORT: