It's All About Me

Before I forget...

I have moved this blog over to Wordpress - if you'd like, come join me over there...here is the link to the new site. See you there!

Shocking News

To read all about it, visit my other blog here.

Sweet Story and Video

This is such a sweet story and video...

Tidbits

If those of you who read this are in the Seattle area, consider joining in on a petition to get twin girls into the same school this fall (notice I said the same school, not the same class). Usually, there is a rule to keep siblings together if the parents request it, but for reasons discussed in this news article, they were not. You can complete the petition whether or not you have kids.

Some find this obit interesting to read...

If you've been to Vegas, what tourist attractions would you definitely go see and which ones would you leave out? Kelly and I made plans to two see a couple shows, to go to the Star Trek Experience (of course - reason of going in the first place), do some gambling, then just to go see the sights the rest of the time.

Book # 28 - Tithe by Holly Black

Finished reading Tithe by Holly Black. It was a good book. This book is about a teenage girl who grew up knowing about the faerie world and her return to that world. The story started out kinda slow for me, but toward the middle or so of the book, the pace picked up so it became more interesting to read. There is another book by this author with the same characters that I plan to read at some point - Ironside.

I decided for my next book, even though I'm a few days behind in my 52 books/year goal, I'm going to read the 3rd book in the Twilight series, Eclipse. I hope to read it as quickly as I did Twilight. The fourth book comes out soon so I need to be ready for that book release (comes out August 2).

(BTW, I did end up watching the movie version of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - it was an alright movie. The book seemed more touching to me though. Next movie to watch - the movie version of No Country for Old Men.)

Book #27 of 2008 - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby

Although I'm not completely done with the book, I'm going to write about it anyway. I'm pretty sure I'll finish it on the way home tonight (in the vanpool - I'm not one of those people who drive and read their books on the freeway while going 60 mph).

Anyway, it's an interesting book. The book is told by the former editor-in-chief of Elle (in France) shortly after he had a massive stroke and because of that stroke developed locked-in syndrome. His only way of contact was through his left eye. I cannot even imagine going through what this man went through. He wasn't that old - in his early 40s and it makes me sad that he couldn't do the things he wanted to with his small children. He couldn't take pleasure in all the things that he was able to before the stroke. So it's a depressing book and, most likely, a depressing movie. Some have found this book optimistic - I guess it feels depressing to me more so because of when he describes wanting to touch his son's head or to enjoy the beach, etc. It makes you feel grateful that you can enjoy these things and you shouldn't take things like that for granted.

I did borrow the movie from the library; I plan to watch the movie tonight. I am very curious how they turned this book into a movie.

Another WW Week

I lost another pound this week. A bit shocking, as usual. And today, instead of going to the meeting, I walked outside for a while and once again, forgot my Garmin Forerunner.

Tomorrow, we take Ben & Ella back to the doctor for maybe doing the immunization shots if Ella sounds better to them. She sounds better to me, so it looks like they'll be getting shots tomorrow. Fun times for them!

Happy b-day, Grandma!

Not that she reads this blog or anything, but today is my grandmother's birthday (my dad's mom). Happy birthday, Grandma! She is 85 today!

Book #26 - No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

Woke up before everyone else this morning and finished this book. I have to say that this is not normally a book I would read. It did take me a while to get into it. It was a good book, but not one that I'm gushing about like so many others. I have one of his other books - The Road - that I got at the recent library book sale. Someday I might read it.

Weight Watchers Week 3

Apparently, this week I lost 3.8 pounds for a total of 7.4 pounds overall. This came as a huge shock as I was a bad girl at a friend's birthday party over the weekend. If I was able to stay for the meeting yesterday, I would have been "celebrated" for losing over 5 pounds. The next celebration is when I will have lost 15 pounds. If that's in another 3 weeks, that would be really nice...though I don't think it will happen.

Here's looking to next week...

Happy 4th Birthday, Sophie!

I'm a day late with this, but I did say happy birthday to her in person yesterday.

Our little fluffball turned 4 yesterday. She is such a sweetie. She became very affectionate toward me ever since I was pregnant with Ben & Ella and she still is. She will even lay on my lap which she never did before. She is still afraid of the twins, but, hopefully, she'll get better with them. Ella is doing ver good with her nice petting of Oliver (Oliver will actually let her touch him) - Benjamin is still learning.

Here is a recent picture of our fluffy kitty...

Weekend - Cars & B-day Party

For those of you not following along on Twitter, Jon and I purchased a 2005 Honda CR-V yesterday. They only had one key which makes it a bit difficult for me to use the car in the morning to get to the vanpool since we only have one set of car seats. The plan is for the car seats to go into the CR-V once we get another key for the car. Then Jon would take Ben & Ella to the daycare in the CR-V, drop the car off at Northgate. I would take the Civic in the morning to the vanpool spot. Then in the afternoon, we would switch cars. I have thought about getting two more carseats, but they cost about $300 and well, at the moment, I think this system will work just fine. Maybe when they are just in boosters, we can get 4 booster seats so each vehicle can have a set.

Anywho, over the weekend, I went to a friend's 40th b-day party in South Seattle. Jon was working so he didn't come along. I had a great time and did not do very well with my WW points. I could not resist the caramel chocolate torte! Although I did have a small piece. And whatever seasoning they put on the hamburgers was delicious. I should find out what it was.

Another good part of the party was that I found a person older than myself who likes the Twilight books and is looking forward to the movie. I gave the first book to my friend as she said she was interested in reading it. I also met her friends that adopted twin boys from Guatemala - one of the twins is named Benjamin. One of her friends was also one of the nude bicyclists at the Solstice parade.

Those are the highlights of this weekend. Last Thursday night, we also got together with a friend of Jon's from Haggett, her husband and her infant son. We also saw one other former Haggett employee there too. It was nice to catch up...though I felt like I didn't get much chance to talk as Ella was wanting to walk everywhere (with one handed assistance) - Ella is taking more steps all by herself too. Benjamin is starting to want to stand all on his own, so he may not be too far behind.

Book #25 - The Empty Picture Frame by Jenna Nadeau

This book is about a couple's struggle with infertility. They went through a lot more than Jon and I did. I can't believe how much strength it took to go through that many IVF cycles and IUI cycles, and worst of all, a miscarriage where you found out the baby was to be a boy. I can't even imagine.

A lot of what the author says, though, hit home. Her emotions with going through IVF and her emotions with dealing with her infertility. Everything sounded so familiar. It really is a good book for those not dealing with infertility to know exactly what one going through infertility feels.

I had read this book as part of an online book club with other women who have gone through infertility and others who just wanted to join the book club (anyone can join and the books aren't always about infertility). I plan to write more about the book on July 8 on my other blog when we are to answer questions that each of us send in to the facilitator. If you're curious about more of my thoughts on the book, you should go to here on July 9 to read all about it (and well, that blog seems like the more appropriate spot to write about it more fully anyway).

One thing that I do want to say that really struck with me is when the author talks about how infertilty made her a more empathic person. She says that no matter what someone may be going through - to them, it is a big deal, and you should always consider that when you react to him or her. It doesn't matter if it is something small like having a bad day at work or something big like losing a relative or a baby - to them, in that moment, it is a big deal. You try to empathize with them. The same kind of reaction should occur when you are talking to someone undergoing infertility. You shouldn't say "just relax" or "just adopt"; you should say "I am so sorry. If you need anyone to talk to, let me know" or "I can't imagine how hard this must be for you." I think this reason this struck me is that it just seems so simple. Of course, you would try to empathize with someone when they are feeling down and just listen to them. It just boggles my mind that, especially those with children, that they can't possibly understand why some couples go to the extent that they do in order to conceive. Would you have gone through an IVF cycle if that was the only way you could have your children? I have a feeling most, if not all, would say yes.

There are a lot of other points I could write about, but I'll save that for my other blog for book club time!

P.S. The author of the book has a website that you can find here. She also is a blogger (invite only).

Books!

Here's a list of EW's 100 best reads from 1983 to 2008. Of the 100, I've only read 12 of them.

1) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
2) The Handmaid's Tale
3) Bridget Jones's Diary
4) Possession
5) Naked
6) The Lovely Bones
7) Angela's Ashes
8) Secret History
9) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
10) Eat, Pray, Love
11) The Da Vinci Code
12) America (the Book)

Are there any books you've read that you think should be on the list? I really enjoyed the last Harry Potter book and the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer should be on there too. Are there any on the list that you disagree with? I can think of one that some might disagree with - Nicked & Dimed. For me, Secret History was a hard book to really enjoy. And Eat, Pray, Love? It was alright, but there are a lot better choices than that one.

There are a few on that list that I've been meaning to read, but just haven't gotten around to it.

Then there's this list of despised books...

It looks like The Road and Atonement are on both lists. I have both of those books to read. And I tried LOTR, but I just couldn't get through the first one. Loved the movies though!

Came across these two books - they do seem to be for "young adults", but they still look interesting.

WW Week 3

I've now officially lost a point toward my daily allowance...because I did lose weight. I lost 1.6 pounds though I was wearing my clunky sandals when I stepped on the scales, so I think it was closer to 2 pounds. I just felt weird about taking off my shoes on their scales. According to my scale at home, it is 2 pounds lost since last week. It would be nice if I kept up this pace (or picked it up a little).

Oh, I was going to mention that I discovered some Weight Watchers snacks at the store (Safeway) the other day. I got a few. They are tiny, but I think still yummy. I don't think I'll be buying them too often though, they are bit of money!