( Cut because NSFW ) Sorry, I just read that for the millionth time and decided I'd had enough.

Also, I don't know where this icon came from, so if you made it and want credit, or for me to delete it, please let me know.

Thanks for the snowflakes, rasah and meridith_smith! You guys are so sweet!

My prelit tree decided to crap out on me. One string in each of the three sections is out, and after spending an hour replacing fuses and checking lights in the top section alone, without any success, I am getting rid of it. I am going back to unlit. The prelits are really convenient when they're working, mine was only three parts, and you just plugged it all together and were good to go, but they're not worth the hassle IMO to try to fix. It's so much harder trying to find a burnt out bulb when the lights are already wound all around the tree. I'd rather deal with having to put lights on manually and being able then to remove and replace defective string if necessary. For now, I am using my in-laws' old tree, which will be an adventure, since the assembly instructions are long gone, and it still has old tinsel stuck to it(my mother in law believes a tree is not complete until there is so much tinsel you can hardly see the lights or ornaments. I wish I was kidding). I am not a fan of tinsel, nor do I want my cats to eat it(if you've ever had a cat that has eaten tinsel, or perhaps a rubber band, you know why), so I'm going to be picking tinsel off for a while. But, it's free, and I really don't have the money to buy a new tree.

Thanks to everyone that was sending happy thoughts. Mom came home the day after Thanksgiving, and has been steadily improving. I saw her on Monday, and she was almost completely back to her old self! She still has to be signed off by a neuropsychologist before she can go back to work, but there's no reason not to expect she'll fully recover. I am sooooo relieved, it was really scary there for a while.

So, my mom's been in the hospital since last night. Even though she got both flu shots, she's been sick the last five days with what seemed like the flu(fever, headache, tired). Yesterday she started having some other problems, so her partner Gina took her to the ER. Her speech is delayed, and her short term memory seems shoddy, and she's disoriented. She had to ask Gina three different times what procedure she had done this morning. An MRI. My mom's a nurse, and when I was growing up, my dad fixed MRI's. She knows what a freaking MRI is.The doctors thought she had a stroke at first, but all the tests say no, which is a relief. The doctors are leaning toward encephalitis now, which from what I can tell goes along with the flu like symptoms, but there's been no official word yet. Please keep her in your thoughts.

Thanks to all the well wishers throughout my IVF cycle, but I'm not pregnant. So, now we start saving up to try again!

My transfer last Thursday was uneventful, and three days of modified bed rest sounds good in theory(laying around, watching tv), but sucks in practice. I'm not that motivated or active, really, usually, but when I'm told NOT to be? Suddenly all I wanted to do was get up and clean the house, and then go for a walk. :P

So now it's just a big wait. Wednesday we find out if it worked. Think positive thoughts for me!

Thanks to all that wished me well for Monday's procedure. Everything went great! I'm still a but sore, but otherwise good. ( Cut because not everyone wants all the details ) I can't believe we're finally getting to do this part!

I've had two canceled IVF cycles before this one, both times we never made it to the retrieval stage(minor surgery where they take the eggs out). I go in tomorrow morning for my retrieval! Wish me luck!

I don't really spring clean, I fall clean. I love decorating for fall, and have leaf garlands, pumpkins, candles, etc., but I don't like to put all that stuff out until the house is clean. Kind of like painting on a blank canvas. However, this means dusting, something I don't do nearly enough. What's the one thing I happen to be very allergic to, you might ask? You guessed it. I am sitting here waiting for the meds to kick in and the sneeze fest to stop. Yay. You might think that I would have anticipated this and taken my allergy pill ahead of time, but nope. I never think about these things until I'm trying to sneeze my head off.

Also, I found out today that my IVF cycle is being delayed by a week. Not surprising, since this happened the last two times, but annoying because this means my husband will have to use vacation days for the retrieval(he would have been off already the week before). That also means an extra week of small sharp pointy things in my belly.

Just found out my Uncle Bob passed away. We were never close(he lived in Georgia), but I feel bad for my dad.

I changed insurance companies earlier this year, and I am going through In-Vitro Fertilization. My previous tries, my meds cost about $1200. On the new insurance? $40. We had no idea that the drug coverage would be different, we only switched because the old insurance stopped covering two of my doctors, one of which was the fertility specialist, and we didn't want to change doctors at this point. I wish we'd switched earlier!

I also have spent approximately 3 hours on the phone in the last two days with the insurance company, doctor's office, and two different pharmacies, because even though my doctor's office faxed the prescription LAST WEDNESDAY for a med I am supposed to start on Sunday, and then this Wednesday and finally Thursday, the pharmacy didn't get it until Thursday(supposedly). Then I was told there was no way for them to get me said drug by Sunday. I finally was able to get it filled through a different pharmacy, but only after hours of runaround. I was in tears for almost all of it(even when it was resolved, I was SO relieved), and am totally emotionally drained. But it is DONE, and I'll get my meds tomorrow.

I know this is a little late, but I felt it was interesting/infuriating enough to post. I had seen the first part of the interview, and felt Barney Frank did well by not actually stepping down from his podium to smack that crazy bitch upside her fucking head. Apparently FOX news does not agree:

So I'm sitting here reading a fic with Lt. Cadman in it, and wondering why I keep picturing the new chick from EUReKA instead of Cadman. *facepalm*

Happy birthday to sidlj! Hope you're having a good one!

So I'm back from Pennsic, again. Two weeks of camping with 11,000 other nerds who like to pretend it's still the middle ages(except maybe without all the disease and stuff), yay! I'm only about a third of the way caught up with my flist, and I'm sure I missed even more that dropped off the 650+ mark while I was gone, but if there was anything out there you feel I absolutely should not miss(fic, news, art, anything really) please be sure to let me know.

CONGRATS TO loosair ON THE NEW BABY!!

I'm going to try to upload some pics of the vaca in the next couple of days. You might even see a picture of me! Unheard of!!

If there is one person or more on your friends list who makes your world a better place just because they exist and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the internet, then post this same sentence in your journal.

***
I have to add:

I rarely post anything personal, as I tend to be a pretty private person. There are also self esteem issues involved(as in, why would anyone care?) so even typing this bit is out of character. That said, I enjoy every bit that you all share with me. I laugh and rage, and cry, and boggle along with you, and my life would be less full without it. Don't ever change, flist.

Oh Danny, you know I love you. But I love Aerosmith more. And you sir, are no Steven Tyler.