Posted Friday, July 18, 2008 11:20 AM
I started a new birth control pill at the end of May. It's the type with a cycle reduces periods to four times per year.
Now, normally I don't like this type of thing for 2 reasons:
1. Your supposed to have your period. It's nature. So what's this pill doing to my body to stop it from happening? Can it be as safe as they say? I worry about stuff like that.
2. As much of a joy as it would be to be to only have 4 periods a year instead of 12, how do I know if I'm pregnant? I could be three months along and not even have an inkling. This would be bad for several reasons including the fact that I smoke currently (although I do have plans to quit) and would continue to smoke/ drink etc. not realizing I was pregnant and I would continue to take the pill. Not so safe for baby.
But, I had a lot of plans this summer and the all seemed to be right when I should have had my period so a friend suggested the pill she was taking so that I could enjoy my vacations etc. period free. So I decided, just for this summer (I know, not so good) and went to my doc for a perscription.
Well, for the last month my boobs have been so tender and sore, I'm crampy, I sooooo tired, I get waves of nausea, I'm eating like a man and I'm a little nervous that all these things point to pregnancy. I didn't get my last period, but I didn't expect to because of this pill. So I talked to DH last night and said "look, it's probably the new pill that's doing all of this to my body, but I want to be sure. If there is the smallest chance I could be pregnant I want to know so that I can stop taking the pill, stop smoking and start taking care of myself/the baby". We figured out possible conception times and decided it would be best to be safe and go buy a pregancy test.
So, I popped out of work this morning for 15 minutes to go to the drug store and purchase one. I have it in my hand as I'm walking towards the cash registers and I hear "oh... your Lori's daughter Ashley right?" I turn, totally forgetting tha tI have a HPT in my hand and say "that's me". It's one of my mum's clients, who's she's had for YEARS and it turns out that she is going to see my mum today! She's asks me if I have lost weight and she looks me up and down and in the process spies the test. Her eyes lock on it just for a second, but enough for me to know that she has seen it. It gets all tense and akward and then I say "okay...well have a good day, I have to get back to work". My face is BRIGHT red as I slink away.
Now I'm totally freaked she is going to tell my mom. She seems like one of those woman who will be salivating to spread the news. I can just hear it "I ran in to Ashley today at Shoppers. So.... have you heard the results? Is she pregnant?" or something like that. Not that I don't want my mom to know if I am pregnant, but I WANT TO TELL HER. And if I am not pregnant, then nobody but me and DH (and you ladies) need to know that there was a question abou it. Why talk about something that turned out to be nothing right?
Anyways, I guess only time will tell. I'm sure I will be hearing from my mom tonight! 
Posted Wednesday, July 16, 2008 10:25 AM
Oh my god I want a baby. Reading the blogs from Julia and Mandy makes that need even stronger. The excitement of the whole thing is just something that I can't wait to experience.
We constantly talk about how many we want, we throw names back and forth (and have two full boys names and one full girls name picked out), we plan how we'll tell each of our parents (trying to come up with cool/unique ways), anytime we're in a store that sells baby furniture etc., we look and pick out what we like and I'm obsessed with watching Baby Story and Bring Home Baby on TLC. I also love reading the pregnancy/birth stories on TheNestBaby (aka thebump). I dream ALL THE TIME about having babies, being pregnant and being a mom. Every time I drive by the local hospital I think "I can't wait until it's our turn to be in there having our first baby" and I play out going in to labour in my head, all the "it's time" phone calls that Bub will have to make, and wonder if I will have a short labour, a long labour, a complicated labour etc. I even think about it in terms of seemingly unrelated planning like when we buy a new car this fall, it will have to be a four door so we can easily get a car seat in and out. It literally consumes me most of the day. I'm so excited and I can't wait.
But....we're not ready yet. We need to buy a house first (which we plan to do ASAP this fall). I want to be at my goal weight so that I can be as healthy as possible going in to my pregnancy (for my sake as well as for the baby) and so that I can watch the pregnancy progress right away. I HAVE to quit smoking. I plan to do just that ASAP. We need to have some $$ in the bank because we will not be able to live on 55% of my salary for a year considering I am the major bread-winner. I want to go on a tropical vacation first since we've never been on one (although, I doubt it will happen with everything else we need to do in the next little while).
I don't know how much longer I can wait. I've told DH that once we're in a house with two empty bedrooms, it will be really hard for me not to want to fill them with babies! :) He agrees. But, we'll be smart about it. We're young, we got married young and we have time. Still... I can't change how I feel, and I definately have baby fever.
I'm so excited for those of you who are pregnant, trying to get pregnant or have children all ready. It's so amazing!!
Posted Tuesday, July 15, 2008 4:38 PM
Ok, ok... most of them aren't, but the one I am trying to deal with right now DEFINATELY is. I've been trying to get a hold of her for over 2 weeks about a house that I want to take a look at (she's the listing agent, as we do not have our own agent yet). Finally yesterday, she leaves a voicemail on my cell and it's as follows:
"Ashley.......(long pause).... it's Jane Doe. I'm returning your call AGAIN. Call me at 000-0000. Good bye". It's very, very snarky and short and her tone makes me want to grind my teeth together. 
Returning my call "AGAIN"? This is the first time I have heard back from her. She's has 3 phone numbers to call me at (home, work and cell) and two email addresses (work and private). I've had no other messages and went through my inbound calls and don't see anything from her. Grrrrrrr! I was shocked when I heard it and played it for my boss who was totally shocked as well and basically said "EFF that!!!! She's working for you, not the other way around". So, needless to say, I won't be using her directly and will be contacting the office that holds the listing for my own agent instead. I wonder if the seller knows that their agent doesn't return multiple calls and emails for two weeks and then is completely NASTY with potential buyers? If I wasn't so in love with this perfect little house (pics in an earlier blog), I would say "screw it" and move on to something else.
Posted Monday, July 14, 2008 10:23 AM
Friday night we went up to the cottage. The weather report was crappy, but we hadn't been up in while so we decided to go any way. We were dog sitting for my mum so Dougie came with us. Friday night was beautiful. DH decided to go for a bike ride and when he returned, proceeded to tell me that he had fallen going down a really steep hill on a dirt road and now had some MAJOR road rash. It's so gross!!!! His entire calf and elbow are raw and scraped and look like something close to ground hamburger! It makes my stomach turn to look at it (or think about it).
Saturday, I had a 3 hour and 20 minute nap because it was raining... and it was really nice. However, DH's injury ended up being a little too much for him, so we headed home on Saturday evening. We went a rented 3 movies, Across The Universe, Semi-Pro and Charlie Wilson's War (none of which I enjoyed) and then got ice cream and went to my mums (dog sitting is much easier at her house than my MIL's). I was disappointed with how the weekend was turning out.
Sunday however was great. It was one of those days that you feel totally connected with your partner. We got up early and I went to Timmy's for tea and breakfast to bring home. We ate outside on the patio because it was a gorgeous morning, we both sat and read our books for while then we decided to take the dogs for a walk out in the country. The walk was nice, but I was surprised how hot it was for so early in the morning. We couldn't go as far as normal because the dogs were hot and thirsty... but we still walked for almost an hour. We read some more and decided to go to our favorite restaurant for dinner (which is at the Casino and is a kick-a$$ buffet). By luck, my MIL had a free dinner for two because she's a Casino gold member, so we went and had a great (free) meal!!! Then we gambled a bit and I won 40 bucks and DH won 10! This is nice when your trying to save $$.... because every little bit counts. So it was an evening of money MAKING entertainment! Can't beat that! We took the long way home from the Casino through the country to look for houses. We didn't find any but it was fun. We took some roads we had never been down and explored a little. We forgot about gas prices just for the moment to have some fun together. We don't get much alone time at the moment because of the whole staying with my MIL situation..... so what little we have it great!
I'm sad that it's Monday. I wish we could relive yesterday!!! :) The only nice thing is that DH is working all days except one this week. That means he'll ne home with me in the evenings! This hasn't happened much in the last few months which is hard because he used to always work days, monday to friday and we got used to it. I'm going to try to think of some fun, inexpensive things for us to do in the evenings! Any suggestions?
Posted Thursday, July 10, 2008 12:23 PM
Okay, I know I'm obsessing but.....
This is a pic of the little house that I have fallen so in love with. Please note that this pic does the house and the property abolutely NO justice. When you see it in person it's soooooo friggin' cute! It's much more secluded then the pic makes it seem. The car port actually looks adorable in person, which surprised me, because when I saw the picture the first thing I said was "oh the car port has to be torn down".
I LOVE IT!!!! :) I desperatley want it.
It has:
-1 acre of land surronded by either trees or farm fields.
-large natural pond in back yard beside garden shed that matched the house.
-Wrap around porch (SOOOOOOO important to me)
-It's in farm country so it's a VERY peaceful and beautiful area
-3 bedrooms and the master is pretty big!
-1 bathroom (the ONLY thing I don't like about the house)
-a GREAT kitchen with the most adorable counter tops
-a wood stove in the bright living room
Front View
Side View
Posted Thursday, July 10, 2008 11:11 AM
1. My little dream house in the country: Their conditional offer fell through and I was sooooo happy when I found that out that it was back on the market. So, I emailed the sellers real estate agent on Monday, but she hasn't got back to me and I don't know what to think about that. I really want to go look at it, but at the same time, I'm scared. I've never bought a house before, I don't know what the process is and I don't fully believe that we quite ready. We haven't even been pre-approved yet. We have just barely the amount of $$ that I wanted in the bank before we went to apply, not a penny more and we haven't got a chance to pay down our credit cards yet like I had hoped. We aren't even seriously looking yet (because I wasn't going to start until we had been to the bank etc.), but then this little (AND TOTALLY PERFECT) house came up and I can't stop thinking about it. It's in our price range (although on the higher side of that range), it's in a great area, it's the right size, it's so adorable and private and I can really see us living there. I love it so much that I made the 25 minute drive out there on Tuesday night because I was bored and just wanted to look at it from the road. Not to mention, it's a really nice drive along country roads and it was a nice night out. The people who live there probably thought I was crazy. Poor things!
2. Strange morning or am I going back in time?: I walked out of my MIL's house this morning (where we are temporarily staying) to see my FIL's work van parked in the driveway. I stopped dead in the doorway because I was so shocked. Just some background: they have been seperated for over 5 years, my FIL is engaged again, and I love his fiance. We are great "friends". I walked around the corner and there he is having coffee with my MIL in the garage (my MIL smokes, but not in the house, which is why they were in the garage). They both said good morning like it was totally normal that he was there and asked where DH was. I said "uh.... at work. He started at 6, like usual." I was so shocked that I probably sounded like a total ***, but I didn't know what to think about the fact that he was there. I am sure it was innocent because I know that he is totally in love with his fiance (and I know this because it is a totally different, much happier person with her than he was with my MIL), but it made me think, "was he here all night, or did he stop by for coffee at 730 on a Thursday morning?". I know I shouldn't think things like that, but I couldn't help it. What on earth was he doing there? I guess it's none of my business. It was kinda funny though because he said to me "did you know your my most beautifulest and favoritest daughter-in-law". FYI - I'm his ONLY daughter-in-law. So, this basically translated into, "please don't tell Caroline that I was here".
3. My car- when we returned from vacation my step-dad and BIL basically told DH and I that our car was f**cked. I was ready to go buy a new car on Sunday because I was so mad and a local GM Dealer was having a huge sale, but DH told me we should take it to the mechanic on Monday just in case and then we would worry about buying a car. Good thing I listened because the mechanic looked at it and told us there was nothing wrong with it. It just need a little coolant. YAY!!!!! As much as a new car would be fun, this one is not quite paid off yet (it will be as of October 15th) and it's not the best time to be getting into a new car payment when we are literally months away from buying a house. I was so relieved when DH called me with the news.
4. I miss my Dad: It's not even been a week since we left my Dad's and I miss him terribly. My Dad and I are very, very close (I lived with him when my parents split when I was 12) and I hate being this far away from him. I know he made the right decision to move to T-Bay when he did. He's very happy there and he got a fresh start with my step-mom.... they live a very normal but very happy life. Still, I wish he was closer. We only get to see eachother 2 or 3 times a year and it sucks. We talk on the phone all the time but it's not the same thing. I'm a Daddy's girl and I need to see him more than that. But, plane tickets a really expensive (especially since they added the fuel surcharge) and the drive is 13-16 hours depending. That means that you can't just drive up there for the weekend. I'm whining I know... but it's tough to be seperated from him all the time. It feels like his a little detached from our lives even though he doesn't want to be.
This week has been crazy trying to catch-up from vacation, and being year-end and all. Thank good we are going to the cottage tomorrow night! :) Can't wait!
Posted Monday, July 07, 2008 9:47 AM
So DH and I were on vacation last week. We flew up to see my Dad in Thunder Bay and spent most of the week at their cottage up there. The area surrounding T-Bay is so gorgeous. We had a great time. The weather ended up being really nice which surprised me because the weather report had been grim. I love spending time with my Dad. It's always fun and I'm sad that we're back and it's over. I think we need to go on a cleanse though. We ate like CRAP and consumed copious amounts of alcohol. Maybe I should do the cabbage soup diet or something this week to clean my system out. 
To put a nice spin on the end of our vacation, we were told on our return that our car has bit the dust. It had overheated the day we were leaving on vacay so I asked my step-dad to take a peek at it while we were gone. Well, it turns out that the coolant is leaking (although we don't know where because it's not on the ground which is why we hadn't noticed it) and our transmission fluid is leaking into our engine oil and into our radiator. I don't know anything about cars except that's NOT good. We paid $2000 (which is A LOT of $$ for us) last spring to have almost the same problem fixed. DH was so pissed off yesterday, but surprisingly I stayed calm. I knew that brooding about it and ruining the last day of our vacation wouldn't solve anything. I told him to get over it because there was nothing we could do about it until today and we spent the day at the beach.
On a positive note, we also found our dream house in our dream location, and the kicker is that it's IN OUR PRICE RANGE! It's out in the country on an acre of land, bush and trees on one side, field on the other, really private, with my WRAP AROUND PORCH and a natural pond etc. It's like someone got in my head and created the exact house I had in mind. We drove to see it yesterday (just the outside) and I fell in love. I think it may be sold (although there was no sold sign on it) because the listing has been taken off of MLS. I will be so disappointed if it is. I'm going to call the listing agent today. I have to go see this house. It's PERFECT and absolutely adorable. My mum drove out too take a look at it for us while we were on vacation and said that if we weren't interested she would have put an offer in on it for herself.
I;m swaped at work today trying to catch up since it's year end and I have been gone for a week, but I have no motivation to do anything. I wish I was still at the cottage or on the beach with my book.... or any were but here. I definately have a case of the post vacation blues! Hopefully I will be able to go look at the house tonight.... that will make me feel better! :)
Posted Thursday, June 26, 2008 11:56 AM
Today, DH and I are working the same hours (very rare as he is on shift work). So we decided that he would drop me at work and pick me up because he doens't pay for parking at his workplace. Last night we were deciding this while sitting outside with my MIL. My husband joked that I would have to drag myself out of bed a whole 15-20 minutes earlier so that he could drop me and still be to work by 8.
This morning (morning 5 of our new TEMPORARY living arrangements), I was awake before DH's alarm went off. Just laying there trying to get up the strength to get out of bed when the radio starts blaring to wake us up. As this happens, the door to our bedroom flies opens and my MIL waltzes in, looking all innocent, and says "oh... okay, you set your alarm. Good. You two need to get up so your not late for work".
I know that this may not sound like a big deal, but it REALLY pissed me off. What are we.... 13? We've been successfully living on our own for years now. I believe that I've been getting up in the morning without parental assistance since at least highschool (sense my sarcastic tone). So what? .... now that we're staying at "home" we have to be treated like children again? Have we suddenly become incapable of taking care of ourselves? We're both ADULTS!
What if one or both of us slept NAKED (we don't, but still)? We're not her children. I'm her sons WIFE for god sakes! She just walked right in like it was the norm and ordered us out of bed and sounded surprised when she realized we had the forethought to set the friggin' alarm.
This is not going to fly. I'm not a child, I refuse to be treated like one. I appreciate that she is letting us stay with her, but there has to be rules and boundaries setup. We are a young married couple. We need our space and privacy, just as she needs hers I am sure. We have lives. We're not living there because we couldn't make it on our own, we made a concious choice to speed up the house buying process... that's all.
I know I probably sound like a cry-baby, but it really ticked me off and I needed to vent.