twoweevils | Recent Entries

There was a virtual avalanche of snowflake cookies in my LJ inbox! Thank you to

tartary_lamb,

lonelywalker,

starfishchick,

wolfshark, and

cimera for thinking of us.

I should have acknowledged these before now, but for reasons that I'll go into in another post, it's been hard for me to do much of anything recently. But I am truly grateful for the snowflakes and for every one of you.

( Kittens and snowflakes )

M.

South Beach continues to go well. Now that we're in phase 2 the weight isn't dropping so rapidly (which is a fine and healthy thing) and we're sticking with it.

As a non-food reward for staying on track for six weeks, we're buying a Wii. And we need your help. We're getting the Wii console and Wii Fit Plus with the balance board. Could you share your Wii experiences with the class? Fave games, necessary accessories, rants, raves, etc?

Please and thank you.

In other news,Adam Lambert rocked the bejaysus out of the AMAs!!!

Last year, I posted about this cool alternative to the traditional Secret Santa exchange. Since people are now gearing up for their workplace/community festive events, I thought it was a good idea to post a reminder.

Here's how it works:

Everyone's name goes into a draw and each of you draws out someone's name.
You buy a toy that you think your giftee would have liked as a child. Something in the range of $10 to $20.
Wrap the toys -- don't put your name on the tag.
Exchange the gifts at a staff meeting/festive party and reveal who gave what. Hilarity ensues.
All the toys are then donated to your local Christmas Wish, Toys for Tots, or other charity.

Trust me, it's hilarious. Plus, if you don't have any kids on your holiday shopping list, it's a rare chance to visit the toy department. I also like the fact that --unlike traditional Secret Santa exchanges-- you don't end up taking home yet another well-intentioned tchotchke that you really don't need.

Enjoy!
M.

Been meaning to do this for ages -- some pictures of the feline gang...

( Cat pictures! )

I'm a single cat mom this week. K's at this conference in Chicago. Having her gone for a weekend is one thing. But trying to manage five cats AND make South Beach-friendly meals AND do laundry AND work an extra hour or so every night AND go to aquafit twice a week AND, AND, AND...

*is tired*

I also miss her like a mad missing thing.

This week on SB phase 1 is much easier. All the roughage isn't causing me the same stomach upset. We aren't weighing ourselves (mostly because I'm afraid to), but we have been checking our measurements. After the first week, I lost 1.5 inches off my waist and 2 inches off my hips. K lost more from her waist and less from her hips. Pretty damn cool, if you ask me.

And what they say is true: I'm really not craving the breads and pastas, etc. anymore. What we are both really longing for is an apple. I discovered these awesome Honey Crisp apples at the farmer's market a few weeks back and I'm salivating for one.

That said, we might do an extra week of phase 1 to account for the difficulties K has encountered while away from home.

This morning for breakfast, I tried a recipe from the South Beach Supercharged book for a Red Bean Mash. The book suggests taking some of the leftover mash, forming it into patties, and frying it up for breakfast.

So I had 2 red bean patties with a little grated low fat Jack cheese, a few drops of Frank's Chile Lime Hot Sauce, and a small tomato (because I didn't feel like looking for the salsa). It was pretty good, if a little too garlicky for first thing in the morning. I think next time I'll reduce the garlic from 3 cloves to 1 and maybe put some hot sauce right into the bean mash.

Last week, I riffed off of a recipe from Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Dishes I Can't Live Without. She calls them Spaghetti Squash pancakes. You make a batter, like for latkes, replacing grated potatoes with spaghetti squash. It seemed a little too eggy for me, but it gave me the idea to try to make hash brown patties with the squash. It worked pretty well! I just dumped the squash into a linen tea towel and wrung out most of the liquid. Then I formed the squash into patties and browned them on the cast iron pan with a little olive oil. They were pretty tasty -- especially topped with a slice of back bacon.

I have to say, right now the most difficult part of the diet is getting used to making different kinds of food. And not having any fruit. Eventually, this will become routine and I won't spend so much time having to think about each meal. And it will be easier in phase 2 when we can start re-introducing carbs...like APPLES!!

M.

We're not dead. Not even a little bit. Just took a posting sabbatical because, for awhile there, I couldn't post anything without it turning into a depressing pity party.

I'm a little better now and so is K.

We now have 5 cats. That's three, plus TWO MORE. ( ZPMs would be easier to feed )

In other news we started the South Beach Diet on Monday.( Wandering around shrieking BREAD! like a zombie shrieks BRAINS! )

Today, I feel terrific. I'm waring a pretty outfit and my hair (which I'm growing out) looks good. Can't really ask for much more. That's the WeevilView for now. We have been reading y'all (well, mostly K reads stuff out to me and I occasionally ask her to comment) and we still love you.

M.

1) What author do you own the most books by?

K & M: We own an awful lot of Georgette Heyers. K also has almost a complete set of Angela Thirkell.

2) What book do you own the most copies of?

K & M: Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.

3) With what fictional character are you secretly in love?

K: Byerly Vorrutyer is my secret gay boyfriend.
M: ...

( In which K reveals the depths of her philistinism )

jenab is hosting a long weekend kissing multifandom fic battle. Go forth and post your prompts until Friday July 31 at midnight EST.

CAT ON THE BED
episode the first

(Ben jumps on the bed like the hounds of hell are after him)

M: Tonight's guest cat is...Ben!

(Ben eats some Pringle crumbs that have been left on the bed by someone who shall remain nameless)

M: Ben, can you tell us a little about yourself?

Ben: I have testicles! which is a lie

M: Anything else you'd like to share with our audience?

Ben: Man cats have testicles! I eat Pringles!

M: Sadly, yes, you do. (glares at K, the Pringle enabler)

(Ben jumps down)

M: So...that was Ben. Stay tuned tomorrow for more exciting discussions of testicles! And possibly a demonstration of how to keep them clean with furious grooming.

(cue theme music, which sounds suspiciously like a Bhangra version of the closing theme from "I Love Lucy").

liviapenn has posted her clips from the production of Amok Time in a Portland park. This is hilarious. Especially the final scene. It would be so cool if this catches on, like Shakespeare in the Park. I would definitely sit on grass in High Park to see something like this.
If you haven't checked out We Choose the Moon yet, get over there. Liftoff is less than an hour away.
I wish someone would give me some work to do. *is bored*
I began taking transit to work last month. I don't like it very much (SO. CROWDED.), but it has given me more time to read. Also reading more at home these days. I'm all over the Austenesque with the Stephanie Barron Jane Austen mysteries, modern re-tellings, and jumped up fanfic like Mr. Darcy's Diary. Also re-reading Aubrey/Maturin. It's giving me a mad urge to write something Regency-ish myself.
The bedroom redecorating saga continues, but the end is in sight. The curtains arrived and have been hung (GORGEOUS!). This evening we'll shift some furniture, install the lamps, and maybe even sleep in there tonight. Pictures to come.
We are deeply honoured to have received nominations for "Oatmeal" and "Clean" in the ncis_awards. This is extremely cool as we've never been nominated for a fic award before.
Huzzah for carlanime, pathology_doc, and their wondrous Creation!
Thinking a lot about Tenacious today. I'm wearing a top that I bought specifically for when I would start to show. It's not a maternity top, just one of those empire waisted pretty summer tops. It looks lovely, although my belly is sadly very flat under the floaty paisley fabric. Following the Apollo 11 mission on Twitter is also making me kind of sad because K and I used a lot of NASAspeak in relation to trying to get pregnant:

Go for launch = Insemination scheduled.
We have cleared the tower = Positive pregnancy test.

You get the idea. Anyway, it's kind of sad-making. Also, I'm a little PMS-y. I really wish I could get some busy-work to do!!!
GO transit is running weekend and holiday trains from Union Station in Toronto to Niagara Falls. I think it's a really cool idea...except it's freaking expensive! $60 round-trip per person! Not exactly a cost-effective alternative to driving. Grrr.
That's about it for now.

I recently read that Robert Sawyer's novel Flashforward is being made into a TV series. Short synopsis: Everyone in the world blacks out for a short time and when they wake up many people have seen a vision of themselves in the future.

With this in mind, here's what happened when we came across this picture while browsing lolcats...

M: Aww.
K: Hey, that looks just like our bedspread!
M: Hey, that looks just like one of our cats!
K: Oh my!
M: Do you think it's from...*whisper* the future?
M & K: Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhaaaaaaahhhh!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

M

I'm not dead, although there was a little while there when I wished I could be.

Losing Tenacious is just about the worst thing that's ever happened to me. I had created this ordinary miracle inside me. He was there with his tiny heart beating away. And then he wasn't.

After we got the ultrasound result saying his heart wasn't beating anymore, we went home and cried for a very long time. I wanted to go away somewhere and escape, but with three hungry needy cats, you can't just pack a bag and be gone. So we went to see Wolverine.

Eighties television and movies are what kept me from completely losing my mind during all of this. The A Team and Hill Street Blues were particularly effective. To the makers of DVDs: Please to include the "play all episodes" option on everything you produce. The only way I could get any sleep was if I dozed off while Renko and Bobby Hill bickered or B.A. Baracus built a shoulder-mounted grenade launcher out of construction debris.

( cut for excessive miscarriage details and slight lawbreaking )

The doctor gave me a note for two weeks off work. I spent the first week in bed watching DVDs (for some reason, I couldn't enjoy reading). An ultrasound the following Monday showed that all was clear in my uterus. Within 10 days, the bleeding had stopped and my pregnancy hormone level was at zero. All in all, my body was extremely efficient at ending this pregnancy.

The second week, I was physically okay and badly wanted to be doing something. So we cleared out our bedroom and I painted it orange. I'm not very good at painting, I've discovered. And the wall kind of wraps up to frame the ceiling, so you have to climb a ladder and go around with a little brush to paint that area. It. Took. Forever.

While painting the ceiling, I managed to trip over the bed frame, resulting in much bruising and a huge scrape on my thigh. And they say here really are no accidents. *eyeroll*

Then we decided to paint the wall under the window a dark brown to break up the orange a bit and match the dark brown curtains we planned to buy. The first can of brown we got was too milk chocolatey. Our bedroom furniture is a very dark brown/black and I didn't want to introduce a third colour like that. So we bought a second can tinted to a much darker, espresso kind of brown. It's gorgeous. We painted the hall and closet doors the same colour.

The wall under the window is covered with this cheesy panelling and the dark brown paint makes it look really awesome. Now, I just have to do some patching on the window ledge, which I'm then going to cover with vinyl tile. The cats like to sit up there and the raw plaster was getting damaged from their jumping. Some tile and corner moulding will finish it off nicely.

After searching in vain for ready-made curtains that would meet our specifications (the windows go up to the ceiling, so we need 95" curtains -- not easy to find), we decided to go ahead and order custom drapes. They're expensive, but they'll be exactly what we want and since I don't EVER want to go through this again, those curtains will be up for a long time.

This weekend we'll finally be moving back into the bedroom. Pictures to follow.

We've been camping out on the mattress and box spring in the living room. The cats love this because it's much easier for them to chase each other across our legs when we're sleeping.

But I can't criticize them too much because they saved us from a mouse.

Yes. A mouse. ( cut for rodentia )

In summary, losing Tenacious was horrible but keeping busy has been a good coping mechanism for me. I've also seen a counsellor and I'm back seeing the naturopath. We may try for another baby, but not for a few months. The doctors say there's no reason why I can't try again. My cycle has started up and the counsellor says she can help me get over my fears.

I manage to go whole hours without thinking about this now, but we're still sleeping with the television on.

Thank you all again for your care and support through this. It has made all the difference knowing that you're out there pulling for us. *hugs*

M.

The spotting turned to light bleeding yesterday morning.

We had an ultrasound and they couldn't find a heartbeat.

I'm not in a lot of physical pain right now and the bleeding has turned back into spotting. But there isn't any real hope for Tenacious.

K's here at home with me. Hopefully this will all pass quietly over the next several days. I'll have another ultrasound in a couple of weeks to make sure nothing is left behind.

We're heartbroken.

Thank you all for your good thoughts and wishes through this process. Knowing that you were all pulling for us has made such a difference. I don't know when or if I'll be up for answering comments, but we will read and appreciate them.

M & K

PS from K--I wanted to add my thanks to M's for all the support you all have given us and continue to give. It's hard to see a reason for this happening, or to feel like it was for the best. We're just trying to get through the day right now. The larger purpose and plans for the future can come later.

When I put my progesterone suppository in on Sunday evening, my finger came out covered in a dark brown discharge. It had the texture of snot. I wiped and more came out.

I freaked.

K. had the brilliant idea of calling Telehealth Ontario -- it's a free service where you can call and speak to a nurse about any health concerns rather than running straight to the ER.

The nurse asked me a series of questions. She told me that the cervix is full of blood vessels during pregnancy and if it's bumped (by an ultrasound probe, during intercourse, or when inserting a progesterone suppository) it can bleed and the blood can take a couple of days to reach the vaginal opening. She said to call back if it got worse or if I had cramping or back pain. She also told me to call my health provider first thing on Tuesday (yesterday was a holiday here).

It hasn't gotten worse, but it's still there, intermittently when I wipe.

I've put a call into the fertility doctor -- my GP is on vacation and I haven't gotten the referral to the OB/GYN yet.

The Telehealth nurse asked me if I still felt pregnant. The truth is, I don't know. I've gotten so used to how I'm feeling that I can't remember feeling any other way. I haven't had severe morning sickness, so that's no help. I do know that your chance of miscarriage is less than 5% after the heartbeat has been detected on ultrasound. And I've read all kinds of stories on the internet from people who gushed bright red blood for weeks and still had healthy pregnancies, so I'm hoping that everything's okay.

It's probably fine.

Good thoughts and prayers are welcome.

M.

Scanning.

Scanning.

Conn, Sonar! Crazy Ivan!

In other words, yes, there really is a baby in there. With a heart rate of 134 beats per minute. I'm 7 weeks, 3 days pregnant. Tenacious is measuring at 7 weeks even, which is perfectly fine. The estimated due date is December 28 -- K's birthday!

The sonographer wanted to do a repeat scan in one week, but the doctor didn't think it was necessary because everything looks "perfect" to her. Personally, I don't need the stress. I'm happy to wait for the Nuchal Transclucency test in a few weeks' time.

Sadly, they didn't print out any pictures for us, but I will scan in the sonographer's report, including the drawing showing the fetal sac sitting pretty right at the top center of my uterus.

So, I've graduated from the fertility clinic. No need to go back there -- although the receptionist asked me to come back in a few months to show her my belly, and she wants to see the baby. I guess that's job satisfaction for them. *happysigh*

We're both over the moon. I'm getting the feeling that this pregnancy is going to be entirely unremarkable. And that's just fine by me!

M.

Leaving for the ultrasound appointment in just over an hour.

I'm all jittery.

I hope there's a baby in there and that he's alive.

I dreamed last night that, after the ultrasound, they gave me this little booklet with all of the baby's details, including weight, length, heart rate, etc. It also said "This baby is...a girl!" In the dream, I was very surprised that it was a girl and wondered how they could know that in the absence of genitalia. I also wondered why they gave me all these details, but didn't provide me with a copy of the ultrasound picture.

In another dream, I brought K to visit John Barrowman. Except sometimes he was actually Jack Harkness. There was much kissing. Ianto was there. Barrowman was telling me about how he had seven children all by different surrogate mothers and that everything would be fine with my ultrasound. I believed him because, well, he's Captain Jack.

I told K the other day that, in many ways, I'm better prepared to be told that there's no baby than I am to be told that there are twins in there. Isn't that bizarre?

I'm babbling.

In other news, the Mother is going to need surgery to remove a 5cm mass on her thyroid. They're booking her for a needle biopsy and a surgical consult. She asked the endocrinologist if this will kill her. He said, "Probably not." She's still annoyed to have to deal with all of this medical stuff, but I told her that she should consider herself lucky if this is the only thing that ever goes wrong.

Trying to decide whether telling her about the results of the ultrasound would add to her worries or help her by making her focus on something other than herself.

Right after the ultrasound, we go in to see the doctor to tell us the results. Then we're planning a celebratory lunch followed by my weekly acupuncture appointment. I'll post here when I get home.

M.

Had my first pre-natal vist with my GP today. It was not terrible. It was uncomfortable, as are most activities that involve visualizing my cervix.

She said everything looks good as far as she can tell. She ordered routine bloodwork and agreed with my choice of OB/GYN. She'll do the referral letter today and they should call me next week with my first appointment.

Thursday is ultrasound day. If I don't post beforehand, please to be sending good vibes to us at around 11:30 EDT.

Saw Star Trek last night and it was even more awesome than I expected. Especially McCoy. K's only quibble was around Uhura and the rationale, if any, for wearing a skirt on the bridge of a starship. *sigh*

M.

It's very early in the morning on a Saturday. I shouldn't be awake. But I am awake because some cats (mostly Ziva) woke me up by scratching and banging at things in a destructive manner. After some fruitless yelling, I got up and fed them, then came back to bed. But I couldn't sleep because it's Saturday. On any given weekday, I could very easily curl up and go back to sleep after getting up and feeding cats. But not today. *sigh*

In pregnancy news, other than Wednesday, I haven't had any major bouts of nausea. I was a little sick yesterday morning about two hours after breakfast. I think the key is to nibble all day and not let my stomach get totally empty. I also realized that my naturopath has been needling me once a week in the anti-nausea spot, so that's probably helping. I saw her on Thursday and she said my pulses are excellent and that we should se a nice strong heartbeat next week. Still very tired, breasts are still huge, still getting weird little pains all over my abdomen and feeling a general kind of stretchiness in my ligaments and muscles. I started a food journal this week to keep a good eye on my nutrition.

K is coming home today after having been at her mother's most of the week. I knew this week was going to drag anyway, what with the anticipation of next week's various medical appointments, but without K here, the week was INTERMINABLE.

I'm dying to see Star Trek. I do, however, have the complete set of Star Trek glasses from Burger King. One of my co-workers picked them up yesterday and then had buyer's remorse. Now they are mine! And they are lovely!

No clue what to do with The Mother for Mother's Day. My siblings always get in there and book her before I get the chance...of course, I talk to her and see her more regularly than they do, so I don't have the same guilt motivation as them. And yes, dammit, we Weevils are celebrating our first Mother's Day on Sunday. Because we are mothers. Just because nobody else has seen our baby yet doesn't mean he's not there.

Saw a trailer for next week's NCIS. Tony says, "Time to say good-bye, Mikey." Now, I know who he was talking to, but seeing and hearing him say "Mikey" (even though he didn't have the requisite lovesick/regretful look in his eye) made me squee out loud and want to write more DiNozzo/Kellerman.

Now that I am well and truly awake, I might as well get up and start doing some tidying up to welcome my wife home.

M.

I'm much less freaked now. Writing all my fears down seems to have helped. Also spending most of the day trying not to puke has helped focus my energy. *grin*

It was pointed out to me that the structure of my last entry and placement of the cut-tag caused some anxiety in those who read it. I'm sorry. I'm trying very hard not to be a drama queen.

In extremely cool pregnancy news, my plantar fasciitis has almost disappeared. It happened last week. Normally, when I get up I have to hobble for a few steps because my heel hurts so much. Now it's almost completely gone. I suspect that the hormone relaxin is the cause. It, along with progesterone is helping to loosen me up in preparation for the major expansion of the next 34 weeks. That would also explain why I'm suddenly so much more stretchy in aquafit. I just have to be careful because over-stretched ligaments don't bounce back. But the lack of heel pain is an unexpected bonus. Very cool!

My belly has also changed. I don't have a flat stomach, but my belly has never really pooched out. Except for now. And I don't understand it because my uterus is still tucked behind my pelvis at this stage. I haven't gained weight. In fact, I've been watching what I eat and exercising so regularly, I've probably dropped a couple of pounds. But it's like the flesh on my hips has been pulled forward and up a little bit. It's very bizarre. I may have to re-think the early pregnancy wardrobe options. This is also extremely cool.

M.

It's quite adorable, really.

A woman's period is a few days late. She pees on a stick. It's positive so she goes to the doctor for a blood test and it's confirmed! She's pregnant! She tells her partner and a few close friends and family members. She's excited and a little anxious, but mostly just thrilled and planning for the future.

As far as she's concerned, she'll be having a baby.

Ah the innocence! The sheer and unmitigated ignorance!

Doesn't she know that there are at least 1.5 MILLION things that can still go wrong?
Doesn't she know that her miscarriage risk during the first trimester is huge?
Doesn't she know about genetic abnormalities and neural tube defects?
Doesn't she know that everything can seem fine in terms of her bloodwork, but then her ultrasound will show that she's no longer pregnant?
Doesn't she know that after seeing the heart beat on an ultrasound, something can still go horribly wrong?

She may not know these things.

I do. ( Read more... )

M.

xposted to lj - comments everywhere

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The Lesser of Two Weevils: being the writings of two nice ladies

Snow!

Wii and Whee!!

Toys!

Feline Follies

The musical fruit

Alarming how charming...

Book Meme from lonelywalker--answered by K & M

smooch

Coming soon to a cable access station near you...

Bulleted lists are fun.

Flashforward?

Keeping Calm. Carrying On.

Heartbroken.

TMI ALERT

134 bpm

John Barrowman says it will all be fine.

One down [mumblety] to go.

Caturday and other ramblings

Later the same day...

The Weevil Who Knew Too Much

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December 2009

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