Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas, despite the sickness that affected half of the household (Sawyer started the epidemic - the kid is like a petri dish.) Granddad and Sue-Sue went way overboard with gifts for the little ones, and they had a blast. Sawyer got so many toys from them that we weren't able to bring them all back home with us, even with the extra large duffel bag we bought. His favorite things were a tricycle that looks like a John Deere tractor, and a train set. I got lots of cool stuff too - several books (always my favorite), DVDs (Flight of the Conchords, both seasons of Extras, and Lost season 3), a beautiful Fossil watch from Eric (which I'm returning, but only because I don't like to wear watches - Eric thought that I don't wear one just because I don't have one), a spendy telephoto lens for my camera (also from Eric - he rocks!), and a hefty gift card to TJ Maxx so I can buy new clothes when I'm done with Biggest Loser 3 (more on that later.)

Before leaving town, I got to have lunch with some of my girls from Venus (thanks everyone!) and have a great visit with my old mission comps Becky and Haily - it was so fun to see them and meet their adorable kids.

Most of all, it was wonderful to spend time with my family. It was a bit chaotic having all of us in the same house, but well worth it. I miss them all!

Sawyer with his train.


A dance session breaks out, with Caroline on keyboards.


Aunt Erin joins in...


and Tori and Tanne too.


The latest dance craze: dropping your pants (it's Britney's fault!)

At Sue-Sue's House

We're having a wonderful time at Sue-Sue and Granddad's house. It's incredibly cold and snowy here, so we're spending a lot of time indoors, reading by the fire. Combined with watching the little ones play and enjoying my mom's cooking, it's not a bad way to live.



Caroline and Sawyer are getting along pretty well considering that they're both two. Caroline tends to be a bit bossy, but Sawyer takes it well: he listens to her and then proceeds to do exactly what he wants to. He must be learning from his dad. We're all excited to see these two on Christmas morning. This is the first year that it's all about the little kids, which is fun (although I hope I still get presents too!)

Travels

So, let's move on from that last controversial post (which I did not intend to be controversial, although I should have known.)

We're in Utah at my parents' house now. We flew to Salt Lake City on Sunday and drove straight to Blackfoot Idaho to spend some time with Eric's grandparents. We hadn't seen them for over two years, so it was nice to visit with them and let them get to know Sawyer. And they really got to know him - our first night there he threw up at the dinner table right as we were starting the meal. We had just given him Nyquil (he's had a bad cold for a few days) so he left a lovely red stain on their pristine carpet that no amount of scrubbing could lift entirely. We also had a leaky-diaper-in-bed incident, as well as a few tantrums and lots of getting into great-Grandma's fragile knick-knacks. They got a very real dose of life with a two year old. To their credit, they seemed to like him anyway. Sawyer had a great time at their house, and especially took to great-Grandpa. It usually takes him a while to warm up to people he doesn't know, but as soon as we arrived at the house he ran out of the car up to him and yelled "Pa Pa!"

We had several inches of snow while we were there, and since he's such a nice guy Eric offered to shovel the walk and driveway. Sawyer went along to help and no one could have predicted his enthusiasm for watching his dad shovel. He was fascinated by the whole process and thought it was hilarious to see the snow thrown into the yard.





After a few days in Blackfoot we drove back down to Utah and arrived at my parents' house. They built a new house this year so it's our first time staying with them at their new place. It's beautiful and Sawyer and Caroline are having a great time running around. Everyone's doing last minute shopping (which for my parents is the only kind there is) and planning ski trips and sledding outings. We've had several inches of snow since we got here. It looks like we're going to have a white Christmas. And I'll enjoy it from inside.

Things I Hate

In honor of the post over at FMH, I now present my very own List of Things I Hate.

-Having to get in my car and *drive* to the grocery store that I can see from my house, because there aren't any sidewalks along the roads.
-The exorbitant cost of housing where we live
-Yo Gabba Gabba
-Adults wearing Disney character clothing/memorabilia
-Infertility
-Names that are spelled strangely to make them "unique". Like Mikol instead of Michael, or Allyson instead of Allison. People, it's the SAME name! All you're doing is making it hard for people to spell your kid's name, and ensuring that they will forever have to explain to people how to spell and/or pronounce it. If you want your child's name to be unique, give them a name that actually *is* unique.
-Stepping in wetness when I'm wearing socks. The mere thought makes me shudder.
-That one person who doesn't merge when the sign says to merge, but drives up as far as they can go, then cuts someone off to get back in. You know who I'm talking about, there's always one.
-People who think their job is way more important than it actually is. The Michael Scotts of the world. There are lots of these in the DC area.
-The WGA strike.
-Menstrual cramps. Actually, menstrual anything.
-Babywise and the people who follow it like it's a religion
-Talking about immigration laws with my husband. Because we both get so, so angry.
-Misinformation about breastfeeding - it is so pervasive in our culture, and we wonder why so many women have trouble? (see above about Babywise)
-The fact that I can't speak French anymore. By the time I left my mission, people couldn't tell I was American because I spoke so well (they could tell I wasn't French - I wasn't that good - but they couldn't pinpoint where I was from - most people guessed Spain.) Last time we were there, a cab driver laughed at me because my accent was so bad. Very sad.
-Hot dogs

What do you hate?

It's beginning to look a lot like...

...Christmas!

We woke up this morning to the first snowfall of the season. It's the first time Sawyer remembers seeing snow, and he keeps saying "It's raining!" We're working on the word "snowing". There's about 1/2 an inch on the ground now, so of course all the major roads are completely jammed with traffic and schools are closing early in surrounding counties. I love snow in Virginia!

When Sawyer saw the snow he immediately and fearlessly ran out the door, clad in only his pajamas. At least he wasn't barefoot.





To further aid us getting into the holiday spirit, we had our ward Christmas party on Saturday. There was food, music, and pictures with Santa! Sawyer was so excited to see Santa Claus...right up until the second when I handed him over, and then he screamed bloody murder. (I can't blame him; I'm told I was always terrified of Santa as a small child.) So they took a picture with all of us around Santa instead. We haven't received it back from the photographer yet, but here are some more pictures I took.

XM Christmas

I've had XM radio in my car for a couple of years now. At first I didn't really care about it one way or the other - it was just included in the car I wanted. Now that I've had it for a while though, I would hate to go without it. In fact, I hate driving Eric's Durango because he doesn't have XM and regular radio is just awful by comparison. My favorite music stations are Starbucks Cafe (the kind of eclectic mix you hear at Starbucks), The Verge (new and somewhat edgy artists), and The Village (folk). I also listen to a lot of talk radio (which I used to hate. I think staying home with a baby makes me hungry for adult conversation) like channel 155, which airs Broadminded and Dr. Laura, and of course, channel 156, Oprah and Friends (the exception to this one is the Gayle King Show. She seems like a very nice person, but her show drives. Me. Crazy.)

Now that it's the Christmas season, I've found a new favorite - channel 106, A Classical Christmas. I do like fun, pop Christmas music (à la 'N Sync, Mariah Carey, and Jewel), but when I really want to get into the Christmas spirit, I like traditional carols. A good mix of the two is Josh Groban's new album, Noel. Although I'm not generally a huge fan of his stuff, I do like the way he brings a more contemporary feel to classical music, and he does a great job with this album. His version of "Little Drummer Boy" achieves what no other rendition ever has by not completely annoying me. There's even an appearance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. If you're looking for some new Christmas music, I recommend it.

Back to XM - Classical Christmas plays all the greats - the Choir of King's College, Tallis Scholars, Chanticleer, the Vienna Boys' Choir, and of course MoTab, just to name a few of my favorites - and they also throw in a good mix of performers and songs that are less well-known. I've heard many that I haven't heard for years, like "Adam Lay Ybounden" (I performed this one in a morality play in high school - we had quite an unconventional choir director), "Les Anges dans Nos Campagnes" ("Angels We Have Heard on High" - much better in the original French than in translation), and "Un Flambeau, Jeanette, Isabelle" ("Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella" - also much better in its original language). I've also heard a few songs that were totally new to me. Today it was "Sweet Was The Song The Virgin Sang," a traditional 17th century carol:

Sweet was the song the Virgin sang
When she to Bethlehem Judah came
And was delivered of a son
That blessed Jesus hath to name
Lullaby, sweet babe sang she

S. Solo:
My son and eke a Savior born
Who hath vouchsafed from on high
To visit us that were forlorn

Tutti:
Lullaby, sweet babe sang she
And rocked him sweetly on her knee
Lullaby, lullaby sang she
And rocked him sweetly on her knee

You can hear a clip of it here (scroll down to the track listings and click on number 2.)

Thank you XM for helping me get in the Christmas spirit. And for doing it with no commercials!

A Thankful Thanksgiving

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Eric's family at the beach. They have a house at the Outer Banks (one of the main reasons I married him) and so we get to go a few times a year. I never get over how beautiful it is there. It's so nice to have a getaway every once in a while, and to be able to spend time with family at the same time is just the best. It was easy to think about how thankful I am for my life, my family, and too many blessings to count.


Here's the chocolate cheesecake I made just before it went in the oven. I wanted to take a picture of it after taking it out of the pan on Thanksgiving, but it got eaten too quickly!



Playing basketball in the driveway with Daddy.


Busy digging a hole. It was in the 70s on Thanksgiving day and we had a great time on the beach. (Those three crazy people you see in the water back there are Patrick, Greg, and their friend Joey. The water was probably about 50˚.)


Sawyer and I walked down to the water's edge and he was so excited to see the waves come up. He kept saying "Comes! Comes!" Here it comes...


...and then the water arrived. Whoa! It was cold!


Sawyer: "This is not nearly as much fun as I thought it would be."


Playing catch with Grandpa and Uncle Greg. Sawyer calls Grandpa "Pa Pa", an endearment that lately has inexplicably morphed into "Poo Poo". You can imagine the fun we had with that.

Lack of Coverage

And no, I'm not talking about my new bikini. (Those of you who know what my body looks like these days probably just threw up a little bit.)

Our insurance company officially will not cover any part of our embryo transfer. I was right that we have coverage for infertility. I was wrong in assuming that included embryo transfers (or anything related to IVF in any way - it's in the fine print section of the exclusions.) So Eric is looking for a new job. I know that sounds extreme, but he's been thinking about it for a long time anyway.

On a related topic, we recently rented Sicko, the latest Michale Moore film. Talk about eye opening. I don't agree with Moore's politics, but you can't argue with his basic premise that the health care system in the US has some serious issues. I loved the segment about France - when he'd ask people how they were going to pay for their medical bills, they'd first say "What?" with a blank look, and then they'd think he was joking. Even IVF is fully covered for everyone. Can you imagine? Maybe we'll have to move there. Vive la France!

Sawyerisms II

At two and a half, Sawyer is learning new words every day, and like most toddlers he has his own version of a lot of them. Here are some of my favorites.

Ug-a-boo (Peek-a-boo)
Teek oo (Thank you)
Peace (Please, usually along with the sign. Today he came up to me and said "Mama, I nice. Snacks peace?" Usually I have to prompt him with "How do you ask nicely?" but this time he decided to be nice on his own!)
Jawwas (Cheerios. It took me two very puzzling days to figure this one out.)
Kee you? (Carry you. He actually means "Carry me")
Fuddants (Elephants)
Doh-a (Dora the Explorer)
Gweek (Drink)
Chunkle Chunkle (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, his current favorite song.)
Gott (I am a Child of God, his second favorite.)
TRRRRUCK! (Truck; always with the same tone and bursting with enthusiasm. He is his father's son.)

This is how he counts to ten:
One, two, wee, four, sick, semmen, eight, nine, ten! He almost always skips five, and sometimes decides to end with a jubilant nine instead of ten.

Trip to the Garden State

This past weekend I took a trip to visit Andrea! It was my first time seeing their place in New Jersey. I had a great time letting her show me around - she gave quite the sales pitch. We now have to add LaFayette, New Jersey to our list of places we could move.

Buttermilk Falls. We hiked up to the top and I had a minor panic attack on the way down. It's difficult to tell the scale from this picture, but it's really tall.


Fall hasn't come to Virginia yet the way it has there. The leaves were gorgeous.


New Jersey is replete with rocks and streams.


Can you see the bear? It ran across the road right in front of us and by the time I got my camera ready it was pretty far away. I am ready to buy a telephoto lens - this one would have been so cool.


Andrea likes moss.


A cool tree growing on the side of a hill.

This Sucks

I got a call from the insurance secretary in our RE's office yesterday. Apparently our insurance company is saying we have no infertility coverage. Which is very strange, because the policy booklet that I'm looking at right now says we're covered at 50% for all infertility diagnostics and procedures (including IVF related ones). Eric's going to talk to his office's HR guy today and see what the issue is. If we find out that the company opted us out of the coverage I will be all kinds of pissed. We chose this company based (among other things) on their insurance coverage for infertility!

We're really back in the game now, it's just one thing after another. If we have to self pay, we can (although not right away, we don't have enough saved up). It just makes me mad that something this basic and common wouldn't be covered. I mean for heaven's sake, getting pregnant is supposed to be free - and for some people, it's even fun!

Happy Halloween

Sawyer was an elephant for Halloween this year. Elephants ("fuddants") are his favorite animal right now. He loves to pretend his arm is a trunk and raise it in the air and make a trumpeting noise.




At first he didn't want to put the costume on, but when I showed him how he looked in the mirror he didn't want to take it off. He had a great time wearing it at our ward's Trunk or Treat activity; so much so that I had a hard time getting a picture that wasn't blurry because he wouldn't sit still for a second.




I think next year he might be old enough to pick out his own costume. If he'd been able to choose one this year, I'm fairly certain he would have picked Dora the Explorer, who is his favorite person in the entire world - he loves her only slightly less than mom and dad. Too bad the church frowns on cross dressing.



Happy Halloween!

Back in the Stirrups

Well, it's official - after three years of frolicking around happily in the land of the Fertile, we are patients of a reproductive endocrinologist once more. We had an appointment with our RE yesterday to discuss our options for Baby #2 (as he or she will known on the records of the Church - just kidding.) We are very (VERY) lucky to have three embryos which were frozen after the IVF that got us Sawyer. That means we don't have to go through the whole (horrible, expensive, painful, and did I mention horrible?) process of a full IVF again, we just have to transfer the embryos into me and hope they take. Our RE gives us about a 30% chance that it will work. With a fresh cycle it's about 40-50% - the thawing process can damage the embryos, so a frozen cycle is always riskier than fresh. As with last time, our chances are better than most people's because we are young and because our diagnosis is male factor (as far as we know, all my stuff is working.)

Here's the protocol, for those who are interested in the gory technical details.*

Beginning with my next cycle:

Diagnostic Tests

Day 3 - Sonohysterogram. This is where they fill your uterus with saline and do an ultrasound (the "fun" kind.) This allows the doctor to do some measurements and check the general shape of things.
I'll also have some blood work done to check my hormone levels.

A few days later - Hysteroscopy. Another diagnostic test where they feed a thin telescopic camera through the cervix to have a look around. Here they're looking for fibroids and polyps and anything that's not supposed to be in there. As you can imagine, this one isn't very pleasant to go through, but thankfully it's pretty quick, and it's actually kind of cool to be able to see inside your own uterus up on the screen during the procedure. While they're in there they'll do a trial transfer - measuring to find the best place to deposit the embryos on the big day.

The best part of my diagnostic protocol is ... NO HSG! And no laparoscopy! Those were the most painful procedures for me last time (apart from the ovary stimulation and egg retrieval) so I am thrilled not to have to go through those again this time.


Medications

The normal protocol is to go on birth control pills for the first 14 days, but since I have the Factor V Leiden gene, our Dr. wants to avoid this. What I'll do instead is use another form of birth control (oh, the irony) and use ovulation predictor kits. When I get a positive (meaning I'm about to ovulate) I'll call the office so they can schedule me for the next step - medications.

I'll have some more blood tests, then I'll start taking:

Lupron (20 units) - subcutaneous injections, once a day. This suppresses the ovaries.

Estrace - Estrogen, taken vaginally or orally (woohoo, no needles!)

Progesterone - the Big Ones. Eric will once again have the joyful experience of stabbing a 1.5" needle into my hiney. The RE did say that if the injections are painful for me I could switch to vaginal capsules instead, for which I will forever bless his name.

Somewhere around 6 weeks after my cycle begins (end of December or start of January), we'll do the actual transfer. We're transferring all three embryos (two blastocysts and one morula). This sounds scary, but with a frozen cycle the chances of ending up with triplets are almost zero. And they're only slightly higher for twins. So we're hoping and praying for one healthy, adorable baby.



*If you're wondering what Eric has to do for this cycle, here it is: he has to get bloodwork done to screen for infectious diseases. Which he did yesterday. So yeah, he better be nice to me for a long, long time.

Star Wars Fans, Hide Your Eyes (and Ears)

Oh, the horror.

My Husband

Tiburon did a great post about her husband, and since we just had the gospel doctrine lesson on marriage today, I thought it would be fun to do one too. I'm so blessed to have a truly fabulous husband. And since he doesn't read my blog, I'm not just saying that to kiss up!

What is his name? Robert Eric Watts - he goes by Eric.

How long have you been married? 5 years last May. I can't believe it's already been that long!

How long did you date? This is unclear. We met when we were 15 and dated some in high school. We stayed friends as we went to college, went on missions, and started dating again in 2001. We got engaged after dating for 2 months, and got married 5 months later.

How old is he? 29. He's 6 weeks younger than me, and loves to remind me.

Who eats more? He eats MUCH more than I do. He's a big guy, and I still don't know where he puts it all.

Who said I love you first? He did - when we were 17.

Who is taller? He is. It's not even close. He's 6'4" and I'm 5'5".

Who sings better? I do - but I think he has a really nice voice. He just lacks confidence.

Who is smarter? I think we're pretty equally yoked in the brain department, but we're each smart about different things. He has an engineer's brain and I have a poet's brain. I like to think we strike a good balance.

Whose temper is worse? His. I stay pretty calm and collected most of the time. He flies off the handle at the slightest provocation while he's driving. He is very patient with me though, thankfully.

Who does the laundry? I do, in theory. What usually ends up happening is that he does a whole bunch when he runs out of underwear because I've let it pile up too high.

Who does the dishes? I do, except on rare occasions when he's feeling particularly charitable. I don't mind doing them and he hates it more than anything.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does.

Who pays the bills? I do. I like doing the bills and it's one less thing for him to worry about, so it works out well.

Who mows the lawn? Our neighborhood landscaping crew does. When we had to do our own lawn Eric mowed and I did the rest of the gardening. We both like working in the yard.

Who cooks dinner? I do most of the time. I love when Eric cooks though, he is great at it.

Who drives when you are together? This is a sore point - he hates to let me drive. He feels like people who see me driving him around will think he is less than a man.

Who is more stubborn? We challenge each other on this one every time we have a fight. I think I usually win (a very questionable victory).

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? It varies...Eric probably does more frequently though.

Whose parents do you see the most? Mine - which is funny because his live much closer to us. But my dad works in DC so we see him at least a few times a month.

Who proposed? He did, in a hot tub on New Year's Eve. We were both shocked.

Who is more sensitive? Definitely me. I'm working on that.

Who has more friends? I do. I really need friends and social interaction and he just doesn't have the same drive.

Who has more siblings? He's one of 7 kids (blended family) and I'm one of 6.

Who wears the pants in the family? We each take the lead in different areas - I like to think we're pretty evenly matched and we make a great team. And we have fun no matter what we're doing. I'm so glad he's the one I get to share my life with.

Another Update

It looks like the deal is off. The sellers aren't willing to go as low as we want. We actually feel really good about this, surprisingly. Both of us have had impressions this weekend that it's not the right time for us to buy a house. I don't know why, but when we both have those types of feelings independent of each other, I tend to trust them. So we are backing out. I feel really bad for the sellers (they've already had two deals fall through previous to this one) and even more, for my sister, who has put a lot of work into making this happen. But I guess that's the name of the game. We're staying put for now!

Update

Well, it turns out that the owners of the house we love still really want to sell and are apparently willing to sell for the price we wanted. We're making a written offer tonight and if all goes well we'll be closing at the end of the month. Wish us luck!

Real estate craziness

Yesterday we spent the day with my sister looking at properties in western Loudoun. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time looking at houses and letting Sawyer and Caroline play in the country. (Caroline's favorite way to address Sawyer: "Yer-Yer! Stop!") We saw some great places, but nothing we fell in love with. There was one house that was in the perfect location, but a schizophrenic floorplan that wouldn't work for us. And another had a perfect house, but a terrible location, right on the road. The house that originally started us looking is still listed for sale, but we drove by it and the owners were actually there, moving their stuff back in (and they gave us the evil eye when we slowed down to look). Their agent says they might still be willing to sell, but at a much higher price than before since they no longer feel desperate. We're not willing to go that high. So it looks like it's still a no. For now.

Well, that was easy

Never mind, we're not buying that house. We had just gotten preapproval on the loan when we learned that the sellers decided to pull the house off the market and move back in. They had already moved (guess where? That's right - Raleigh) and apparently things didn't work out so they are coming back. And obviously they don't want us buying their house because they need to live in it. Makes our decision a lot easier!

We're still open to buying in the near future though. My sister is taking us out tomorrow to look at more homes in that area. Who knows, we might find a house we like even more. Or we could wait a few more months, which would be fine with me. Or we could still end up moving to NC. Back to the drawing board.

To move or not to move

For a while now we've been contemplating a move. We love the DC area, but it has become too crowded for our taste. Our beloved Loudoun County is becoming so developed now that is bears almost no resemblance to the semi-rural oasis we grew up in. Not to mention that homes are so expensive here. So we've been planning to eventually move to the Raleigh area in North Carolina. Eric's family lives there now, and we love it whenever we go to visit. It is a smaller city with lots of IT work and some great neighborhoods, and most of all, incredibly low real estate prices. The downside would be leaving DC, and leaving behind my sister and her family, and my dad, since he lives here about half of the year.

My sister happens to be a realtor, and in what I'm sure was not a completely altruistic move, she sent me a listing for a gorgeous house in the next county over that had just been dramatically reduced in price. It's a 4 bedroom/3 bath cape cod on two acres in a beautiful rural setting. She took me out to see it on Tuesday and I loved it. Eric hasn't seen it yet but we're going out there again on Saturday. If he likes it we might make an offer.

This would be a complete departure from our plans of moving to NC, and we'd have to rethink a lot of things. I'm pretty stressed out about it - I do not do well with big decisions and big changes. But I feel like this would be a really good move for our family. Eric would have a longer commute (right now he's 10 minutes from the office) and I'd have a longer drive to Target (which would probably save us a lot of money). We'd be farther from church too. But we'd also have a big yard for Sawyer (and any future kids) to run around and play, and quiet evenings without having to smell the neighbors' cigarette smoke or hear their parties. I would have enough space to have as many gardens as I want, and my own soap room. The thought of having a mortgage is scary (we've always rented), but I know we have to take the plunge eventually and this might be a great time to do so. We'll see what happens.

The things I'd never say

Michelle did a post about the things you've never said but would like to given the chance. Very thought-provoking. I'm fairly introverted and I tend to let a lot of things go unsaid, but in thinking about this post I realized that when it comes to the really important things, I do say them wherever it's possible. So most of mine are to people I'm not in contact with anymore. The following are things that I either haven't had the opportunity to say, or that I never would even if I could. Each one is to someone different. Feel free to guess. :)

1) Remember that time at Andrea's when we all fell asleep on the floor in front of the fire, and you ran your fingers through my hair and stroked my face? I was awake.

2) The letter you wrote me after my mission saved me in more ways than one. Thank you.

3) I still can't believe you started out our second date by asking me if I was wearing garments.

4) You are the main reason I believe in fate. I used to think (and hope) things would turn out differently, but I'm glad they went the way they did, and I'm glad you've been a part of the picture.

5) I don't think you ever could have imagined how much I would miss you. And I always will.

6) I don't understand how you can be so incredibly mean to people you're supposed to love. I just don't get it. I hope one day I can understand where it comes from and why you think it's OK to be so hurtful.

7) When we broke up I was completely devastated. I acted like I didn't care, but I had too much pride to show how I really felt. I think you knew this...but I'll never be sure.

8) You were the best first kiss I have ever had. You brought out a gutsy-ness in me that no one else has.

9) Thank you for not taking advantage of a silly 18 year old girl when I gave you every opportunity to do so.

10) It really hurt my feelings when you talked about me behind my back. It screwed things up for me really badly, which I know you didn't intend, but still. Very uncool.

11) I feel bad for ignoring you that time you came to visit me because I was drooling all over a boy. That was really crappy of me.

12) Telling a first date that the temple makes you feel "all tingly" is really, really creepy. I wouldn't recommend it in the future.

13) I'm sorry for breaking up with you the way I did. I was young and stupid and didn't know what I was doing. It still bothers me that I hurt you by not being honest and clear about my feelings.

14) You are one of the most insightful, self-aware women I've ever known. I look up to you in so many ways.

15) Every time I hear a Grateful Dead song or drive through an ice storm it reminds me of you. You were there for me at such an important juncture in my life and you'll never know how much you helped me just by being there to talk to and play guitar with.

D'aim, these are good!

I was at Ikea last week buying some soap dishes to sell along with my soap at the fair, and as I headed for the check-out line something bright red caught my eye. Could it be...it was...a big bag of D'aim candies! I first discovered these little treats on my mission in France. Once in a while we'd stop in at McDonald's, and my companion and I got endless amusement out of ordering "D'aim McFlurries". They are similar to a Heath bar - chocolate-covered toffee. But this is European chocolate and hence bears no similarities at all to its waxy American cousin. YUM! So of course, I bought the bag. It's huge and will last me a long time. And then I'll need to make another trip to Ikea. I might need a cheap dresser by then anyway.

Playdate with Cah-ine

Last week we had a fun playdate with cousin Caroline (or as Sawyer pronounces it "Cah-ine"). They spend a lot of time fighting over toys that neither one cares about when the other is n't around, but they have fun together nonetheless. This time, Sawyer decided to push Caroline around in his umbrella stroller. Caroline always enjoys it when Sawyer ("Yer-Yer") does her bidding.

Crafty People Gathering

Saturday's craft fair went fabulously. It was a long day: 8:30 to 5:30, and Sawyer was with us the whole time. He did great, and even took a nap in his stroller when he got tired (he's never done that before - he's an in-his-bed or carseat sleeper). There was a good turnout for the fair, although a lot of attendees seemed to be there just to look around, not to spend money. I gave out lots of business cards and was approached by a few organizers of other fairs asking me to participate, so that could lead to more sales in the future. Since I'm working on getting my business name out there, that would have made the event a success even if I hadn't sold anything. I did though - I made about 11 times my booth fee. So I'm glad I did it, despite all the stress and late nights of preparation. Thanks so much to all of you who came by to support us!

The fair took place around the historic Lanesville house. It was a really beautiful setting, with trees on one side, a pond on the other, and the house right in the middle. They had live music on the lawn and crafts for kids.


My booth.


Soap display.


Solid lotion, lip balms, and soy candles.


Pillow sprays and herbal balm.


Sawyer, my sunny boy.


A groundhog that lived in the tree behind our booth.

We love New York!

And we can say that for real now since we've been there! A few weeks ago Eric had a work assignment that required him to stay overnight in Manhattan. His company likes him so much that they paid for Sawyer and me to go too. We were there for less than 24 hours, so we didn't get even close to doing everything we wanted to (like visiting Andrea and Jeremy - we'll get you next time!) But we saw some sites, ate some terrific food, and stayed in a swanky hotel, so it was a great trip. Next time we'll go sans Sawyer! Here are some pictures. New York Trip

I'm It

Christie tagged me w/the Middle Name Game!

My middle name is Anne.

A - Anxiety prone. I worry about things too much, especially when it comes to decision making.
N - Nice. Sometimes too nice. But I believe in good old-fashioned courtesy.
N - Nymphomaniac (my husband wishes!)
E - Evolving. I try to continually improve my life and take on new challenges.

If you feel inclined to play, consider yourself tagged!

Where'd the kitchen go?

On the 15th (a week from this Saturday!) I'm selling at my first ever craft fair. The preparations have all but taken over our home, especially the kitchen. Thank goodness for an understanding husband and a child who is perfectly content to watch Dora the Explorer reruns all day.

Beveling and polishing station, plus some candles. The counter in the background has clothespin sachets, herbal balms and body sprays.


Kitchen table with soaps waiting to be beveled and/or wrapped and labeled.


Stove area set up for making candles.


And a finished product - Blackberry Sage soap.