Saturday Fun

We took Ant to Fossil Feat Tampa Bay yesterday. I thought it'd be a stretch, but possibly something he'd enjoy. Whew, did we underestimate him!! He spent so much time looking at all the different fossils, rocks and minerals. His favorite was the kids dig, a large sandbox filled with all types of fossils. The best part was that there was a table with paleontologists sitting there to identify the children's fossils for them. The man that Ant was sitting with seemed rather impressed w/ some of his finds. Ant managed to dig up a piece of ivory mammoth tusk, a leg bone from a giant giraffe, as well as an unusually large stingray barb. There were also tons of turtle shell pieces and rib bones from dugong (a relative of the manatee).


We came home to throw the football around the yard. I must say that playing quarterback the whole time has given me quite a sore shoulder this morning! And of course, since I'm out in the yard, and I'm anal like this, I had to pull up weeds wherever I found them. Look at these feet, people!! The sad thing is that this is with socks and sneakers!


I just finished the Rag Bath Mat last night. This photo is prior to casting off and adding fringe, but at least you get the point.


I've also still got Crown Mountain Fiber, I've Got You Babe, on the bobbin. I need to at least finish 4oz so that I can free up the wheel for the CJ Kopek roving that's coming for the March spin-a-long.


Here's the startings of my second Nanner sock. It's coming slowly since I have so much on the needles. I'm also still working on Mystic Ice. At this point, I'm halfway through clue 5. Only one more clue after that. At this rate, it will be done at summer time~ DOH!

Bad Blogger!

No cookie for me!! I said I was going to be more diligent w/ my blog, but alas, I've resorted to my old ways again! If I would post more regularly, my posts wouldn't be sooooo long! Duh!

Acupuncture has been going well. I'm rounding out my first month of treatment including both acupuncture and herbs. I don't expect to be preggers this first month. But, I can tell you that I am feeling great! I've had much more energy and I think I've been more happy and peaceful. Yippee! And while the herbs aren't delicious, the more I drink them, the more I learn to ignore the "bleh". In fact, I'm drinking my Yang herbs now!

In family news, Anthony just competed in his county's Prince & Princess pageant. Each 2nd grade class in the county votes on one boy and girl to represent their class in the competition. They get dressed to the nine's in tuxes and ballgowns, come out waving, bowing/curtsying, and then answer an interview question. Our lil' man was so handsome!


Yesterday, we hit the spring sale at Lowe's garden department. We purchased a flat of impatiens to plant around one of our oak trees in the back yard. If those work out, we'll be going back for more. We also planted pink and white kamachoes in the front yard. Citrus trees were on sale and I just HAD to have some! We picked up a Meyer lemon, Key lime, and tangelo trees. They smell sooooo sweet!

I have been knitting and spinning quite a bit, but not enough to get anything done! I've had quite the urge to be working on all of those things. The problem is I can only do one thing at a time! If only I had octopus arms! It would make things so much easier! What have I been working on??

Mystic Ice~ this is not an updated picture. This was somewhere in clue 4, I'm now on Clue 5!



Drop Stitch Scarf~ knit w/ vintage Lime n' Violet, from their etsy shop


Not pictured... Rag Bath Mat. I'm knitting this out of cheap twin sheets I bought at WallyWorld.
Also, my 2nd Nanner Sock. I started those EONS ago. Finished sock #1 a couple weeks ago after deciding I needed something new to work on. Now #2 sits neglected somewhere.

Smellies for Sale!

It's really time I filtered out my ever growing smellies collection. US Addresses only, please. Shipping will be $3 for all imp orders and $4 for any bottles. I accept paypal.

BPAL Bottles $15
*between bottle's shoulder and top of label*
The Ghastly Garden (LE 2007)
Archangel Winter (LE 2007)
Diwali (LE 2007)

Possets 6ml Bottles $8
*full bottles*
Madame X (label has slight oil damage)
Bottled Happiness LE
Libby LE

Violette Market (Vintage Violette Market) $10
*full 5oz bottles*
Beatnik
Daisy
Dark Fruit
Fairy Floss
Salty Dog
Lola (LE)

BPAL GC Imps $2 unless otherwise noted
Al Azif
Anathema
Baobhan Sith $1
Black Phoenix $1
Dee
Delight
Djinn
Dove's Heart
Grandmother of Ghosts
Hemlock
Kyoto
La Belle Dame Sans Merci
La Petit Mort $1
Lilith
Lilium Inter Spinas
Loviatar
Lyonesse
Malice
Manhattan
Megaerea
Midnight Kiss
Nephilim
Nero
Nosferatu
Omen
Pele
Regan
Squirting Cucumber
The Doormouse
The Mock Turtle's Lesson
The Temptation
The Unicorn

BPAL Imps LE Decants $3
On Darkness
Lines Written Among the Euganean Sea
The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
The Sea Rat
Fire Phoenix
Water Phoenix
Metal Phoenix

Possets Possettes $1.75
Fluoxetine
Giddy
Midnight Mass at Old St. Mary's
Simulated Cupid $1 (label damage)
Perpetual Motion Machine
Maggie
Black Lamp
Strawberry Heart
Flossing
Indigo
Silver Carnation

Traditional Chinese Medicine

**WARNING** This post may contain excessively girly information!

So, if you read my previous post, you saw I was looking into practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). I had my first visit yesterday, with a doctor who's office I pass on my way home. It was a quaint, quiet office. Very clean and smelling of incense. But not a strong, patchouli type smell or what my husband would call a "hippy" smell. There was only one elderly gentleman in the waiting room and he was waiting for his wife.

I didn't have to wait long before the doctor took me back to her office. She was extremely nice and very thorough. I can't even begin to tell you all the questions she asked! Some of which you probably don't even want to know, believe me! After going through a very detailed interview about various aspects of my health history, she took my blook pressure. I'm used to the cuffs they put around your arms, but she had a much smaller cuff that goes around the wrist. It was electronic and reminded me of a heart rate monitor. I didn't like her machine AT ALL! My blood pressure has always been on the low side of normal, but not here. She took readings on both wrists and both gave extremely high numbers, like 167/110. HOLY COW! That's not like me at all. She assured me that it happens to many people, including a priest she sees.

After that she looked at my tongue and took pulse rates from several places on both my wrists. In TCM, the tongue can tell a lot about someone. I was familiar with this because of the books I'm reading. TCM is all about balancing your body's internal climate and the five organ systems which are: kidney, liver, heart, spleen, and blood. You don't want your body to run too hot or too cold. You don't want you chi to be stagnant, deficient, or excessive.

My dr. could tell by my tongue and the respnses I gave during the interview, that my body tends to run warm. She explained that when she took my pulse, she was actually taking the pulse of each of the different systems. I, most definitely, have a deficiency in my kidney system. This is the system that is responsible for reproduction and life. But, she then told me that all of my pulses are slow for being as young as I am. Surprise! Even in the practice of TCM, my body is out of whack! We need to strengthen all of my systems, most importantly the kidney, in order to make my body strong enough to carry an egg. My body is not ready to be pregnant because it's not strong enough. I also need to get my blood flowing better. When I start menstruation, it lasts for literally like a day and a half, maybe two at best. I know this is not normal. And I've had a gut feeling all along that I probably won't get pregnant until that gets fixed. This is my dr's goal!

We then went into the acupuncture room. I've had acupuncture before, so I wasn't too worried about it. She stuck me w/ about 14-18 needles. The one that I felt the most was on the bottom, side of my right ankle. When she stuck that one, I actually said. "Oh!". She told me that spot's a kidney spot. The ones that I feel most are responses to the systems that need the most help. Interesting! She placed a heat lamp over my abdomen, turned on relaxing music, turned off the lights, and left me to relax. Which of course, I could not do. I was too busy thinking of all the different things she was telling me and whether my responses to her questions were sufficient enough. Before I knew it, she was back in the room. Luckily, it was only to stimulate the needles and leave me there to relax some more. This time, I actually nodded off.

Before I left, she mixed up a bottle of herbs for me. She created a powder with 8 different Chinese herbs. I have to mix this with 4 oz of hot water and drink it three times a day before meals. It looks like crap! It doesn't taste awful, but it's certainly not pleasant! It has the same taste as an herbal suppliment pill, except much, much stronger! It helps to plug my nose, but as soon as I let go and breathe, I still get the smell and feel the taste in my mouth. The herbs are supposed to help me bleed better, shed my endometrium lining, and then rebuild it. She directed me to eat hot (temp, not necessarily spicy) foods while I'm on my period to also help blood flow. After that, I need to eat lots of fuits, but no refrigerated. I also need to stay away from fatty meats.

I go back to see her in about a week and a half. We need to figure out when exactly I ovulate, which is not an easy thing for me since my body is so kooky. Once we get that figured out, I'll have to come in for more acupuncture and different herbs. I feel hopeful talking to her. It also helps that I've been reading about it and know someone who's gone through the same process with successful results. If anything, I'm sure all the acupuncture and herbs will renew my body and give me a sense of energy, health and wellbeing. How can I lose??

Caching

We headed out to the Flatwoods bike trails yesterday for some caching fun. We only managed about 7 caches before we had to head back. There were still a good 6 or so left, but Randy's sick and he was out of water and suffering dearly.

While hitting up one of the caches, we heard a rustling in the distance. Turned out to be a lil' armadillo. But this bugger was not shy at all! Usually they scurry away when people are near. Not this guy. He walked right over Ant's shoes and was so uninterested in us that we were able to actually touch him! We were suprised that his armor is not exactly as hard as you'd think. His face was rather rat like and he had massive claws. It was pretty neat to be so close.

Unfortunately, our fun w/ the armadillo would soon turn to worry. We were distracted by him and then a nearby, dried up, pond. When we tried to find our way back to the trail, we couldn't. We walked back and forth, round and round. At one point we ended up near a fence behind a neighborhood. This was entirely wrong as we'd seen no neighborhood on our way in. Randy was getting frustrated and I was trying to stay calm. Afterall, we had Ant with us and we couldn't very well let him think we were lost in the woods. After about twenty minutes, or maybe longer, we finally got back on track. It was a bit scary for awhile there. But, I knew we'd manage to find our way out.

Trying Again

Many people know my struggles w/ fertility. We've been trying to conceive for two years now, to no avail. I was seeing a fertility specialist, but didn't get anywhere. He was not the kindest of men, nor did he share much information with me. The staff seemed incompetent and I was scared just sitting in one of their offices because of the area and the clientele. Apparently, the accepted any and all forms of insurance. Another issues, my insurance doesn't cover anything under the "fertility/infertility" umbrella, so I was paying completely out of pocket. The whole process became an impersonal, scheduled chore. So, last March when we decided to start looking for a house, I decided to stop seeing the specialist.

When you're trying to get pregnant, everyone in the world has opinions and suggestions. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "It will happen when it's meant to be", "As soon as you stop trying and forget about it, you'll get pregnant", "Don't think about it". It really gets quite frustrating. Not to mention that it seems to also be the time when all of your friends seem to get knocked up accidentally. It's not that you're not happy for them, because you really truly are ecstatic, it's that you're haunted w/ thoughts like "why not me? what's wrong with me?"

Since we were purchasing our first house and I was starting a new job I did have a glimmer in my mind. Everyone says you'll get pregnant when you stop worrying about it. Well, now I have two new things to worry about: House, Work. How inconvenient would it be if I got pregnant when I started a new job and needed extra money to make a new mortgage payment?? How inconvenient and yet PERFECT!!!! This would serve as the perfect distraction and thus I'd get pregnant, like magic!

NOT! This is indeed not how it worked out.

Back in the fall, a former coworker of mine informed me that her daughter had finally got pregnant. She'd been trying with no luck as well. She had even gone through several rounds of IVF. My friend gave me the titles of two books her daughter recommended, both of which are about how traditional Chinese medicine helps with infertility. They get into the internal weather of your body and how to create balance through the systems using diet, herbs, acupuncture, and exercise. I read most of one of the books. It seemed very interesting, until I got to the foods suggested. They were a bit extreme and out there for me. Many of which I wouldn't even know where to find. So, I put it down.

I ran into this former coworker again yesterday. Her daughter is due at the first of April and also mentioned that I should call her. My friend said that her daughter swore by the woman she saw. During her first visit, the Dr. placed a finger on her forhead and one on her abdomen. She then asked if the girl was in the water a lot because she has a cold womb. Turns out that she is always in the water, has been on the swim team and is an avid scuba diver. She received acupuncture and herbs from the dr. and continued to see her for 3 months. She had the girl rubbing castor oil on her tummy to help warm it up and she was drinking a tonic nightly. When my friend's daughter went in during the third month, the dr. told her that was the month she'd get pregnant. Sure enough she did.

This had intrigued me yet again. I explained to my friend that I had seen an acupuncturist once, but he wanted me to come a few times a week for several months. At $70 a visit, that was way too much for me to afford. But, when I heard her daughter only went every other week, I decided to look into it again. Last night I spent quite a bit of time online researching local acupuncturists and practioners of traditional chinese medicine. I found one in South Tampa who seemed promising. There was an article in the paper about her and also a story on one of the news stations. I also found another which is located much closer, near work, and slightly less money. Both doctors emailed me back within twelve hours of my email to them. I think I'm going to try the doctor who's closer first because it's more convenient and slightly less money. I've asked to book an appt. for next week. I'll see how I feel after my initial consultation and acupuncture treatment. If I get a good read from her, I'll continue to see her. Her website does say that she specializes in women's health, which makes me feel good. If it all doesn't work out, I'll visit the other practitioner in S. Tampa.

Here's to crossing our fingers and hoping all goes well. I've also decided to start making healthier choices. Not necessarily to aid in conception, but because I'd really like to slim down my figure like it used to be. I've cut out soda's and most of my snacks. Meals this week have consisted of fruit and hard boiled egg whites for breakfast w/ my morning coffee, mixed nuts for snack, yogurt and lunch meat for lunch, maybe another piece of fruit for snack, and then whatever Randy makes for dinner (it's always something healthy). We've been taking the dogs on long walks and I even dusted off the treadmill. Today we'll go geocaching which helps get in many miles of walking while having a blast at the same time. I know I can do this, I used to be a personal trainer afterall. It's just a matter of being disciplined enough to stick with it.

Lazy Sunday

I'm still combating this damn sickness of mine. My poor head has been so clogged. It truly is a wonder how my body can produce so much mucus! But, anyway.....

We've had a rather laid back weekend. We were planning on attending another Pits Pound the Pavement walk on Saturday. This one was to be held near Macdill Air Force Base in recognition of the troops. Unfortunately though, with my cold still persisting, I didn't want to go out there and walk w/ a cough and runny nose. Also, the Gasparilla Children's Parade was taking place nearby at the same time and we feared traffic would be a bear. Instead, Randy came w/ me to his sister's salon while I got my nails done and then we went driving around to different shops. Had a rather filling lunch at Vallarta's, played w/ the puppy's at the puppy store and checked out Pier 1's latest sale. By the time we got home, I apparently needed a nap. I sat on the couch in an attempt to read my book, Dead to the World, one of the Southern Vampire series, but only managed to fall asleep. Later that night, we hit Borders for chai tea lattes and the chinese ssotre for take out. Then we sat around some more watching The DaVinci Code. An overall relaxing day.

Today, I'm home alone. Got the house all to myself. Randy was meeting up w/ Ant and Ant's grandfather to head out to the NFL Experience. That was pretty much going to be an all day affair. I'm going to enjoy the quiet while it's here. I started by watching The Grudge 2 on cable. I watched the whole thing, but I really can't tell you what it's about. I didn't get it at all. Perhaps that's because I never saw the first one. Oh well. Once that was finished, I took Janie and Roxy for a nice long walk. One would think that when you're almost home after a 3.5mi walk that your dogs would be nice and pooped, right?? Well, apparently NOT! We were so close to the turn for our street when I noticed one of our neighbors w/ her French bulldog. Janie and Roxy both went nuts pulling, Janie especially! I've never been yanked so hard! It was quite embarassing. Luckily the neighbor was really nice and didn't mind. Randy and the girls have met her before, so she had an idea who I was. Still, damn dogs, I couldn't believe it. I'm so glad I didn't decide to put on my rollerblades.

So now, I've gone to the grocery store, started laundry, and have dishes in the dishwasher. Only thing left to do~ sit on my ass and knit!