Well we learned on Monday that we will be having a little boy.  Or as the dr said “Well it looks like it has a pull toy”.  Only a male. 

I am feeling much much better these days.  We are now at the 1/2 way point.  YEAHHHHH  I am starting to get baby stuff now – I am doing the nursery in a nautical theme. 

We are just stating to think about names.  A few ideas – but nothing certain yet.  We got lots of tiem to figure that one out.

Jen – how are you feeling?  Good I hope!    Have you gotten a due date yet?

Liz – it was great to talk to you this afternoon.

Well I gotta run – I need to get ready to go meet some friends for dinner.  Talk to you all soon!

Sarah

Hi guys

Hey Jen Happy Anniversary!  Time flies!

Well the appointment I suppose has its upside, and also its down side.  Joe’s meds are apparently working, some.  His count was up from 8 million to 12 million.  Below 10 is considered significant male infertility, and 20 million is normal.  His testosterone is up by 4 times and is now in the normal range.  Dr. Wald thought Joe should go home and keep taking the meds and come back in 3 months, and see how things are then.  The motility was not any better, it is at 26% and normal is 50%.  I suppose this is good news, but it made me cry because I was hoping to move on today to something more etc., and now it is just another long wait and see.  We are going to keep our appointment on November 6 with the endocrionologist (IVF clinic) and share the results with them and ask them their expert opinions on whether this is really the thing to do.  Or, in their experience will it be pretty hard to get the count where it needs to be.  Sigh.  Hoped for a more definative answer, that’s for sure.

Liz

Mission #11: Blessing and Flinging…

Hi Jen & Sarah,

Sarah I tried calling you this weekend to say a long overdue personal hello, but missed you.  Did you have a good weekend?

Jen what is Lauren going to be for Halloween?  I can’t wait to see some photos!  Are you getting excited for your dr appointment on Nov 1, or is it not that big of a deal for you the second time around?  I am really excited for this upcoming week.  Should be lots of info for me. 

This week in Fly Lady, they are in the Living Room Zone.  However, they are only in this zone for 2 days because then we go into the first week of Nov and will go to a new zone.  So, Monday is of course trying to do some real basic chores.  You can spread these out during the week if you want…but remember it is

1.  vacum just the center of the rooms

2.  clean your ceramic tile in your kitchen and bathrooms

3.  get rid of magazines, and empty all the trash in the house

4.  change the sheets on your bed

5.  dust

Then in the zone between Monday and Tuesday see if you can do a little extra in the living room.  These might include:

1. CLEAN COBWEBS
2. CLEAN WINDOWS
3. STRAIGHTEN BOOKCASES
4. WASH ORNAMENTS AND WHAT-KNOTS
5. CLEAN OUT END TABLE
6. STRAIGHTEN CLOSETS/ DRAWERS
7. WIPE FINGERPRINTS FROM WALLS
8. POLISH FURNITURE
9. CLEAN OUT MAGAZINE RACKS
10. CLEAN PHONE
11. CLEAN UNDER CUSHIONS
12. CLEAN OUT FIREPLACE
13. MOVE FURNITURE AND VACUUM

You can not possibly do all of it.  Just do some and next time we get to this zone you can do more. 

Then here are the holiday missions for last Friday and today.  I am not doing all these missions to the T but just giving it some thought is helpful to me.  I am going to try and do the 27 fling boogie today when I clean.  This just means throw some stuff away.  Also, I have already given my budget some thought!

Dear Friends,

Your Holiday Mission for today is to Clean and Fling!!! Monday’s are Weekly Home Blessing Hour days at FlyLady and your mission is to do a 27 fling boogie as you bless your house. We are cruising through the Holidays together and every time you can get rid of some clutter is going to help you FLY! Grab one of those plastic bags that you get at the grocery store and loop it along your wrist or loop it through your belt loop on your pants, as you are going through the house just toss in the bag whatever needs to be tossed. This can be junk mail, odds and ends that have been laying around and whatever you see that is just plain clutter and needs to be gotten rid of. Do not spend hours doing this, just have the bag handy while you are blessing your home!!

Have fun!

Mission #10: Reviewing the Holiday Budget…

Dear Friends,

Today is desk day and your mission for today is to review your budget for the holidays and look to see how and when you can take care of the shopping that you will need to do. Not just presents, you need to take into account meals, postage, cards, wrapping supplies, decorations etc.

Be careful and thoughtful, you do not want to rack up huge credit card bills that you will be paying until spring for the holidays. Try to fit your budget around what you can afford to pay for. If this means a little less than what you would like, try to remember how great it will feel not to be overwhelmed in January when the mail comes. Set limits and try to work within them. Don’t look to buy presents that will impress, look to give gifts that will be loved. Be creative. Talk to your friends and family and see if they would like a challenge for this year. Talk about theme gifts such as an ornament or t-shirt exchange with a price limit. Look for fun and creative ways to express your love without busting your budget.

Don’t look at budget planning as a chore and as something that is depressing. Look at it as a challenge that you know you can handle! Take pride in the fact that you are planning this year in a way that you never have! You are FLYing!

Have fun!

See you!

Liz

Hi Jen

 The bedroom zone is pretty easy for me, just dust mostly.  I have a whole bunch of laundry that needs put away tonight, so I am going to do it in 4 15 mninute blocks.  There are 4 baskets.  Otherwise, if you cleaned out your fridge and made your menu you should be already for today which is errand day:

Grocery Shop, pay any bills, supplies from Target?, dry cleaning, Also a terrific day just to make sure your cleaning from the week is done.  Because remember the goal for Friday-Sunday is to do relatively no house work, just your morning and evening routines, but no cleaning.  You will be able to relax and know that next week you will have cleaning on Monday and Wednesday.  With your errands done today you shouldn’t have to spend the whole weekend running around. 

Crusing through the holidays:

If you are headed to the grocery store, can you pick up a few items for the Holidays that you will need? Baking supplies are so expensive when they are all bought at one time. If you start adding a bag of flour, nuts, spices etc to each shopping trip, you will hardly feel the purchases rather than waiting for one big trip. This applies to other things as well. If there are decorations that you would like to have, you can add one or two things to your trips to the store. Again, saves time and money from those major shopping sprees.

If you are heading to the Dry Cleaners, does your nice coat, good dress, suit etc. need to be cleaned and pressed? How about the Home Improvement store? Do you need light bulbs, new decorative light clips, etc. Try to slowly add a few things on to your errand day each week and you really will not notice the small bits of extra time versus the monster rush to get it all finished three days before your Holiday.
 Jen everyone loves the pic I have of Lauren with the sucker.  I have it on my desk at work and it gets so many second looks!

Sarah when is that ultrasound coming up?

Not much happening this week. Crazy consultant no call no show for the last 4 days.  So Joe and I had to do all the rosters.  I bet she never comes back and we end up picking up her schools.  Piss.  Wish I was going on maternity leave.  Speaking of our appointments are coming up so fast.  Are you getting excited for your’s Jen?  I can not wait!  I’m going to lunch today with a girl named Katie Young, 2 years younger than us.  She and her husband moved to town a year ago, and we met them at Chad and Heather’s party.  Her husband Jason is a librarian for the hospital and she works for Cargill.  She was so nice and we had so much in common.  She just got her MBA and does RAGBRAI and is getting ready to do a marathon this weekend.  She called and asked me to have lunch with her and I am really excited.  I have made so many friends in town since Jen moved away, but I don’t have a lot in common with some of them.  So cross my fingers that we really click today as well as we did at the party.  She and her husband are going on an extreme vacation to Cancoun.  They planned with a travel agent and they are going rafting and hiking through the jungle and stuff.  Sounds awesome to me.  These days Joe would do anything I asked him. 

 talk soon,

Liz

Mission #8: What size are we?

Hi Jen

 Did you see the pic I sent you of me and Lauren at Von Maur.  Sweet. 

Do not feel overwhelmed if you can not get to everything that is in the missions or on the list.  fly lady says you are never behind, just jump in where you are at.  Generally, I take Mondays list and do 20 minutes each night for Monday and Tuseday, and if there is anythign left, do it Wendesday.

 Today is a big day for Fly Lady.  Wednesday is anti procrastination day.  So if there has been somethign you have been procrastinating about, just do it.  Not a big job, but just some tiny thing like paying a bill (or I clean my cat’s box).  Also Wednesday is the night to spend one hour in the zone which is the master bedroom and master bathroom. 

The list is long and you won’t be able to do it all this first time.  You will get to all of it the next month.  If you still have de-cluttering to do, just focus on that. 

MASTER BATHROOM – DETAILED CLEANING1. WASH RUGS2. STRAIGHTEN UP MAKEUP3. STRAIGHTEN DRAWER/CABINETS4. CLEAN SHOWER STALL/DEMOLD5. WASH SHOWER DOORSMASTER BEDROOM – DETAILED CLEANING1. POLISH FURNITURE2. CLEAN OFF THE DESKS3. CLEAN COBWEBS4. WASH MATTRESS PAD/DUST RUFFLE5. FLIP MATTRESS6. EMPTY TRASH7. WASH WINDOWS8. CULL SOME BOOKS FROM BOOKCASE9. STRAIGHTEN DRAWERS10. CLEAN UNDER THE BEDCLOSET – DETAILED CLEANING1. STRAIGHTEN THE TOP SHELVES2. ARRANGE THE SHOES3. TAKE SUITCASES TO BASEMENT4. DUST SHOE BOOKCASERemember, just set your timer for as long as you have 30 mintues, 45 minutes, max an hour.  When you are done you are done.  You will do more next time we get to this zone.

For Crusing Through the holidays:

Dear Friends,

We are throwing up those sails for our Holiday Cruise! Today is Anti- Procrastination Day!

Your mission for today is to do a “What size are we?” mission! This means that you write down the sizes for your family, height, sizes for shirts, pants, pajamas, dresses, shoes etc. Place this list in your holiday planner and have them ready for when a dear friend or family member wants to bless someone in your family for the holidays. When they ask you “what size is little Timmy?” you won’t have to do the zany brainy shuffle and try to remember what size you bought in September for school and then try to add to it since that was two months ago! Trust me, I know this trick! Make sure you do this for yourself and your spouse as well. No more racking your brain trying to remember, you have your trusty holiday planner and can refer to it whenever you need to.

Have fun with this! This one mission will save you from having to explain why little Timmy has never worn that great shirt that is two sizes too small from Aunt Sally or save you time in the returns line!

Have fun!

Remember that if all else fails keep working on before bed routine, and morning routine and the rest will fall into place eventually!

Liz

Hi guys

Well my consultant didn’t show up for work at all the last two days, and didn’t even call today.  I think she’s done.  Nice time to ditch huh.  Count week.

 Jen do you think you are going to try the Fly lady thing?  I don’t think you will regret it!!  I didn’t get my cleaning done last night, Mondays are really hard with my class.  So I will do that tonight since Tuesday is a day for rest and watering plants.  The holiday mission and description of todays events are below:

Dear Friends,

Today is our Plan and Play day! This means that you take time out to work in your holiday planner and then to make sure you play today!

Even if you only take 15 minutes just for yourself, make sure you do it!

Today review a bit in your planner and start filling in a few more things. Have you decided whether you are traveling this year or staying home? Have you decided who you want to invite to your home or do you want this year to be immediate family only? You need to make some decisions and start to plan for this: If you are traveling then start to work on your travel dates and transportation. If you are inviting company to your home, start planning a guest list and how you will prepare to have them in your home. If you are staying home with no guests, start planning how you want to spend your time, church events, community events etc. Don’t get carried away and spend 4 hours making every single decision today, just take care of some basic details.

Again, remember to take time out today to PLAY! This can be treating yourself to a bubble bath, going out for ice cream, reading a chapter in a book that you have been trying to finish; it doesn’t matter what you do, just that you do something fun today!

Have fun!
I am going to review today with Joe about if he really wants to go to everyones houses like we always have or if we want to make it more low key.  A cruise is sounding good.

 Liz

Hi Guys

I saw Jen and Lauren in CR on Friday and Lauren was sooo cute.   Sarah, you need to send some photos of you our way!  I can’t wait to see you prego!  Have you given the baby shower thing any thought?

I am a member of this email group called Fly Lady.  The web site is flylady.net.  They have about 300,000 members and it is a system for keeping your life and house in order.  I’ve been doing it about a year and it works really great.  They started a new thing called Cruising Through The Holidays.  They give you a mission each day, and they say that if you do each mission now through Dec 1, that you will be all ready for the holidays with your cookie dough frozen and menus planned.  So far they have had me go through my old wrapping paper, stock up on tape, make a list of people to buy gifts for and make a budget.  Let me know if you are interested and I can start posting the missions.  The main idea of flylady is to not spend precious weekend time “cleaning” but to do a little each day and to enjoy the weekend.  Its really originally for Stay at Home Moms SAHM, but they have an adapted version for the working women.

I am looking forward to getting through this week.  Count has me busy.  Particularly with my crazy consultant.   Hope your weeks go fast!

Liz

Hi you guys! 
You guys must be really busy!  I hope you are both feeling OK!  Jen I left you a message this weekend, mentioning that I am going to be in Cedar Rapids on Monday to take my brother to an eye appointment.  It is supposed to last 2 hours (consultation for lacex? not sure how to spell that).  The appointment is right around 1:00.  I didn’t think you work on Fridays…and wondered if you and Lauren would be available to get together for a little bit?

Today is the 2 year anniversary of my car accident.  Of course, last year, Joe and I were out to sea with Hurricane Wilma!  Good to be alive, and walking!

Did you guys have a good weekend?  Friday night we went to a party at Chad and Heather’s.  They had a bon fire thing, I met this girl Katie Young who just moved to town from Iowa City who does Ragbrai and is getting ready to do her half marathon.  We are going to get together this week for lunch.  Then I went to a scrap booking party and stayed at scrap booked until about 1:30 in the morning.  Sat and Sun Joe and I pretty well didn’t leave the house.  Just hung around and relaxed.  My period showed up on Saturdayso we were a little down in the dumps.  It was sort of our last month for, “maybe it will happen on its own for us”  We were both trying not to be optimistic but hoping for the best. 

Hope to hear from you guys soon!

Liz

Hi!

WOW, it was a busy weekend for Joe and me; but we had a wonderful time!  Friday afternoon we left for Cedar Falls for the Homecoming festivities.  We got there just in time to change our clothes and go over to the family picnic for alumni.  We took a walk around campus and then went to the pep rally.  It was pretty fun, they had some student musicians, and then the school band, and the cheerleaders and the dance team.  The whole thing was followed up by amazing fireworks by the Campanile.  I was so shocked that the fireworks were so good, they just kept going and going and they were just right over our heads.  Joe and I went for coffee at Starbucks and made it back about 1 AM.  Then in the morning we went to the rec center and worked out.  I ran 10 laps for old times sake while Joe did the bike and then we lifted upstairs.  He had never even been inside the gym over there!  We headed back to the hotel for breakfast and then did some shopping.  We got 2 barstools for our high top table in my scrap booking room at Oak Express, and then down to the Parkade.  We got a picture of Cedar Falls and UNI at the art store downtown.  It is way cool, and a nice momento for our 10 year anniversary of undergraduate graduation.  We went to lunch at Peppers and ate at the bar because it was so crowded, but enjoyed some of the Iowa vs. Purdue game.  Everyone was drunk and gregarious and it was fun.  I had onion rings and my old stand by chicken sandwich.  We did a little more shopping, and then off to tail gaiting for alumni and then to the game.  UNI had a great performance, scoring on their first play.  We had great seats and had a good time.  We went to dinner at Panera after our big lunch, and were so tired that we crashed about 9:45.  Then this AM we went to see Nikki in Independence.  I got to see her house, Hallee and AJ all for the first time.  He was very very cute, and she was so happy.  Her nursery is darling.  I did show her the blog and I’m hoping to see her here soon…  Then we came back to Cedar Falls and tried to waste a little time because we were meeting several couples in Grinnell at Carole’s pumpkin patch.  So we did some more shopping and then finally headed to Grinnell.  Well, the couples and the 5 children were naturally running late so we were going to beat them to the patch by an hour so Joe and I went to Mesquaki to the casino.  I won 35.00 on my first dollars worth a nickels.  Then off to the pumpkin patch.  I don’t know if either of you have been there but it was really cute.  They had hay rack rides and lots of neat things for kids!  We really had fun.  FINALLY, in the car and home to Ottumwa where I am cashed on the couch and may not get up until Tuesday. 

I hope you two had a great weekend!  Write soon,

Liz

Well, this is all very exciting.  I wish that we could see you soon Sarah in your maternity clothes!  What are you thinking about baby showers?  I would be happy to throw you one….I’m sure we could arrange in Omaha.  BUT, you may have some folks there that want to do it for you??  I wish that we could plan some kind of get together some time soon; there is so much to celebrate.  I’d be willing to make a trip to Omaha, we could just drive up and stay one night…

Just think, if I do get prego after our IVF, that would make me do in likely September…that would give us an April baby, a May baby and a Sept baby.  I pray that happens! I am getting so excited for the month to go by.  You go through these extreme highs and lows of misery and anticipation.  I wonder how Nikki survived it? 

I just got tickets to see Phantom of the Opera in Des Moines.  Jenn and Jason, and Sarah and Billy and Joe and I are going to go in February.  I saw it once before in Toronto, but I figured why not, and its something to do with some other people. 

Our new consultant is SOOO crazy.  Her name is Carole Kelderman.  And she is so nuts; that from now on when anything nuts happens to me and Joe, we are just going to call it a Kelderman.  We are talking loony.  She refers to the rosters as the secret documents.  She is already on a corrective action plan.  Its only a matter of time before they fire her.  Right now, I am not speaking to her…and so far its been about 3 weeks.  Not one word. 

Talk soon,

Liz