I didn't anticipate the need to write again so soon after the most recent post, and was expecting to take a little break to recover from the emotional hangover resulting from my blog broadcast of our infertility issues. However, as with many situations in life, things didn't turn out the way I thought. And this thing isn't necessarily good or bad, just not what I expected.
But enough ambiguity; what I'm referring to is the schedule for our IVF cycle. For no particular reason, in my mind, I figured we'd start taking the meds the first week of October, and, not knowing how IVF works, thought it would take a month to complete. So when the nurse called and said she'd devised a schedule based on a start date of September 24 – as in three days from the moment she called – I had a minor freak-out. This was a pretty silly reaction, considering that the nurse said the schedule could be changed, not to mention that the whole reason we're doing IVF is because having a baby didn't happen when we had planned. Our ETAF (Estimated Time of Adding to our Family) was off by two or more years; starting IVF earlier by a week or so should be NBD (definition for the non-texters: No Big Deal).
Thankfully, the nurse was patient with me, and Colin even more so. After a couple iterations, we came up with a game plan based on a start date of October 1. Of course, all of this could be a moot point if the ultrasound they do on September 30 shows a cyst or something else that would make the doc frown and say "Hmmmm." Barring that, the schedule, which imported nicely into my iCal and will set off alarms every time I'm supposed to get a shot, has tentative dates for the retrieval, transfer, and the scariest of all, the pregnancy test.
As October 1 draws closer, I'm praying for peace and sanity, both for my sake and for Colin's. Lately I've been stressing out about trying to know what to do/what not to do so I won't be stressed during IVF. So, to reduce the stress of figuring out how to avoid stress, it seems the best course of action is to maintain routine activities and simply be less of a perfectionist, for once. The baseboards can go without getting dusted for awhile (or ever, in Colin's opinion).
If this post sounds a little scattered, that's probably due to the 15 minutes I spent watching DirecTV's RedZone Channel, which has got to be the most ADD-enabling program on TV. I'm not sure when my next post will be, but I have plenty of ideas for infertility-related topics to discuss, including some good articles I found as well as updates on the support group we're involved in at church. And I might try to throw in a post or two about non-infertility-related topics, like what's going on in our college small group and what new TV shows we're digging this season. For now, I've got something better to do than blog – cheer on the Seahawks. Yet another opportunity to moderate my expectations.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
It's Missouri, not misery
After a year-long hiatus, I thought it was time to update the ole blog. Then I procrastinated for a few more months until I felt motivated to write something a bit longer than a tweet or Facebook status.
As most people know by now (if you don't, you are really out of touch, or maybe just wishing you had received the 2009 edition of the Hesse Holiday Herald, which regrettably was never published), we live in Columbia, Missouri, home of the University of Missouri, where a certain Assistant Professor of Communication Studies is plugging away at his research, well on his way to tenure and its accompanying academic fame and fortune. While Colin is running labs, teaching students, or playing on his university-funded iPad, I'm working from home, continuing to edit articles and do other editorial tasks for the company I worked at in Arizona. The nice part is the flexibility; the downside is the lack of human contact and interaction (Kaffy doesn't count, and even if he did, he sleeps all day and thus doesn't make the most engaging companion). But we do have many friends we are thankful for, and they almost make up for the lack of good Mexican restaurants in town.
If you are wondering about Columbia, you should Google it to save me the time of explaining what it's like. I will say that it's an exceedingly friendly community with an appreciation for football, the arts, and good BBQ. Several people gave us the line, "You're going to misery?" when we announced that we were moving here, and I can gladly say that I don't consider it to be a fair statement, especially after living in the 100+ degree temps of Arizona. Dry heat, humidity – doesn't matter which; they're both awful. But the difference is Columbia has four seasons, which is the right kind of climate for two native Washingtonians.
As I said earlier, and would like to repeat to dispel any doubts, we have been blessed with many friends here – Colin's colleagues, our church small group, and several nice neighbors. We've also started helping out with the college ministry at church, leading a small Bible study. It's great to be around college students and hear about their hopes, dreams, and fears, which reminds us of our college days and alarms us thinking about how long ago that was.
Some of you may be wondering why we haven't been posting pictures of our kids or updating Facebook with all the cute things they say. This would be due to the fact that we don't have kids, which I have to say is not for lack of trying. For more than 2 years now we have been in full TTC (Trying To Conceive) mode, with nary a missed period or positive pregnancy test. This, in a word, sucks. I could certainly make the typical Christian statements and say that God's plan is better than ours; He's in control; He'll work it out for our good – all of which I believe are absolutely true but do not always feel that way. Both of us desire to be parents and are not sure when/if/how that will happen, which is a pretty harsh reality to face. Without going into detail about how we got here, I'll just provide our current status: in an adoption waiting program but on hold as we might be trying in vitro next month. We would like to adopt no matter what, but we would also like to give the fertility treatment route a whirl before things could get worse and my uterus completely craps out.
I decided to share this part of our lives not to elicit several comments of pity – Lord knows I have already shown myself way too much of it – or even to ask for prayer, though that would definitely be welcome. The main reason to let the world wide web know about our infertility is so that other people who are experiencing it know they're not alone. Infertility makes you feel isolated, like no one understands or even cares about your situation, which is a lie, and one that I bought into because it's such an emotional issue. I discovered that this was not the case after attending an adoption seminar wherein we met other couples like us and after reading a friend's blog about her difficulties and setbacks on the road to parenthood. As we started talking to more people about it, we found that many have either experienced infertility themselves or know someone who has. And, according to the CDC, it affects 1 in 8 couples of childbearing age. In light of this, the whole concept of God comforting us so we can comfort others going through the same struggles (2 Corinthians 1:4-5) has become personally applicable to our lives and has demonstrated that there's at least one good reason why this is happening to us. So we are helping launch an infertility support group at church and hoping it will help others be encouraged and encourage us in the process.
It wasn't really my intention to make this into an infertility blog, but for the moment it will be, considering that it's a pretty big deal right now as we prep for IVF in a few weeks. And since Lost is over, I really don't have much material to work with anymore, save for Kaffy's misadventures leaving his mark around the neighborhood and going berserk over a fly in our house. I'll try to provide regular updates on what's going on, complete with entertaining anecdotes on all the crazy things we'll get to do, like Colin attempting to give me shots, which promises to be a great video opportunity.
As most people know by now (if you don't, you are really out of touch, or maybe just wishing you had received the 2009 edition of the Hesse Holiday Herald, which regrettably was never published), we live in Columbia, Missouri, home of the University of Missouri, where a certain Assistant Professor of Communication Studies is plugging away at his research, well on his way to tenure and its accompanying academic fame and fortune. While Colin is running labs, teaching students, or playing on his university-funded iPad, I'm working from home, continuing to edit articles and do other editorial tasks for the company I worked at in Arizona. The nice part is the flexibility; the downside is the lack of human contact and interaction (Kaffy doesn't count, and even if he did, he sleeps all day and thus doesn't make the most engaging companion). But we do have many friends we are thankful for, and they almost make up for the lack of good Mexican restaurants in town.
If you are wondering about Columbia, you should Google it to save me the time of explaining what it's like. I will say that it's an exceedingly friendly community with an appreciation for football, the arts, and good BBQ. Several people gave us the line, "You're going to misery?" when we announced that we were moving here, and I can gladly say that I don't consider it to be a fair statement, especially after living in the 100+ degree temps of Arizona. Dry heat, humidity – doesn't matter which; they're both awful. But the difference is Columbia has four seasons, which is the right kind of climate for two native Washingtonians.
As I said earlier, and would like to repeat to dispel any doubts, we have been blessed with many friends here – Colin's colleagues, our church small group, and several nice neighbors. We've also started helping out with the college ministry at church, leading a small Bible study. It's great to be around college students and hear about their hopes, dreams, and fears, which reminds us of our college days and alarms us thinking about how long ago that was.
Some of you may be wondering why we haven't been posting pictures of our kids or updating Facebook with all the cute things they say. This would be due to the fact that we don't have kids, which I have to say is not for lack of trying. For more than 2 years now we have been in full TTC (Trying To Conceive) mode, with nary a missed period or positive pregnancy test. This, in a word, sucks. I could certainly make the typical Christian statements and say that God's plan is better than ours; He's in control; He'll work it out for our good – all of which I believe are absolutely true but do not always feel that way. Both of us desire to be parents and are not sure when/if/how that will happen, which is a pretty harsh reality to face. Without going into detail about how we got here, I'll just provide our current status: in an adoption waiting program but on hold as we might be trying in vitro next month. We would like to adopt no matter what, but we would also like to give the fertility treatment route a whirl before things could get worse and my uterus completely craps out.
I decided to share this part of our lives not to elicit several comments of pity – Lord knows I have already shown myself way too much of it – or even to ask for prayer, though that would definitely be welcome. The main reason to let the world wide web know about our infertility is so that other people who are experiencing it know they're not alone. Infertility makes you feel isolated, like no one understands or even cares about your situation, which is a lie, and one that I bought into because it's such an emotional issue. I discovered that this was not the case after attending an adoption seminar wherein we met other couples like us and after reading a friend's blog about her difficulties and setbacks on the road to parenthood. As we started talking to more people about it, we found that many have either experienced infertility themselves or know someone who has. And, according to the CDC, it affects 1 in 8 couples of childbearing age. In light of this, the whole concept of God comforting us so we can comfort others going through the same struggles (2 Corinthians 1:4-5) has become personally applicable to our lives and has demonstrated that there's at least one good reason why this is happening to us. So we are helping launch an infertility support group at church and hoping it will help others be encouraged and encourage us in the process.
It wasn't really my intention to make this into an infertility blog, but for the moment it will be, considering that it's a pretty big deal right now as we prep for IVF in a few weeks. And since Lost is over, I really don't have much material to work with anymore, save for Kaffy's misadventures leaving his mark around the neighborhood and going berserk over a fly in our house. I'll try to provide regular updates on what's going on, complete with entertaining anecdotes on all the crazy things we'll get to do, like Colin attempting to give me shots, which promises to be a great video opportunity.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
If you can't take the heat, get out of AZ
As you can probably infer from what I imply in the title of this post (quick grammar lesson: infer = "to derive as a conclusion from facts or premises" and imply = "to involve or indicate by inference, association, or necessary consequence rather than by direct statement"), we are vacating the Valley of the Sun and relocating to a land flowing with barbecue sauce and beer, specifically of the Budweiser variety.
The city of Columbia in the great Show Me state of Missouri will be our place of residence as of August 3, when we move into our new home. By God's grace, in answer to many prayers, Colin got a job as Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Missouri, known as Mizzou to NCAA fans. We are very thankful that the funding was available for this position – as much as we love our church and the friends we've made over the past five years, Colin was more than ready to be done with school, and we were both willing to try living somewhere else besides the inferno that is Arizona during the summer. In his job at UM, Colin will be teaching Relational Communication and Family Communication classes and conducting research on the connections between communication, health, and emotion. Meanwhile, I'll continue to work for my company at its new Columbia office, consisting of one employee and one guard dog. My boss was gracious enough to let me telecommute, saving me the trouble of having to find work in a city that's home to one of the country's best journalism schools, which I'm sure is pumping out more bright-eyed, idealistic writing/editing grads than there are writing/editing jobs available.
Of course, preparing for all of these changes has kept us pretty busy, with packing, trying to find a renter for our condo, and Colin wrapping up his dissertation, which he defends on July 29 (henceforth you may refer to him as Dr. Hesse). Getting ready to leave is making me a little sad as I think about all the memorable moments we've had during the past five years and all the things we'll miss when we're gone. To name a few:
One rather unfortunate consequence of the move is that it's compelling me to finally join Facebook. I've managed to avoid it thus far, but seeing as how it's one of the primary ways people communicate these days, I probably should bite the bullet so that I can stay in touch with friends. But I still refuse to join Twitter and send people messages about what kind of cereal I've had for breakfast and other meaningless drivel.
Before I sign off to update my Facebook profile or whatever it's called, I should probably provide the answer to the convoluted riddle I mentioned in my last post. The thing that Wal-Mart, the Seahawks, and garden gnomes have in common is that they all characterize Missouri. To explain each:
The city of Columbia in the great Show Me state of Missouri will be our place of residence as of August 3, when we move into our new home. By God's grace, in answer to many prayers, Colin got a job as Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Missouri, known as Mizzou to NCAA fans. We are very thankful that the funding was available for this position – as much as we love our church and the friends we've made over the past five years, Colin was more than ready to be done with school, and we were both willing to try living somewhere else besides the inferno that is Arizona during the summer. In his job at UM, Colin will be teaching Relational Communication and Family Communication classes and conducting research on the connections between communication, health, and emotion. Meanwhile, I'll continue to work for my company at its new Columbia office, consisting of one employee and one guard dog. My boss was gracious enough to let me telecommute, saving me the trouble of having to find work in a city that's home to one of the country's best journalism schools, which I'm sure is pumping out more bright-eyed, idealistic writing/editing grads than there are writing/editing jobs available.
Of course, preparing for all of these changes has kept us pretty busy, with packing, trying to find a renter for our condo, and Colin wrapping up his dissertation, which he defends on July 29 (henceforth you may refer to him as Dr. Hesse). Getting ready to leave is making me a little sad as I think about all the memorable moments we've had during the past five years and all the things we'll miss when we're gone. To name a few:
- Bringing Kaffy home for the first time when Emily and John were staying with us (it was raining at the time, as was custom whenever Emily came to visit)
- Thanksgivings at Grandma and Grandpa Hesse's
- Small groups with Neil and Kate
- Weekend trips to the Grand Canyon and Sedona
- Attending several great sporting events – going with Gavin to the annual Seahawks game against the Cardinals, watching ASU play UW (football and basketball), meeting up with Perry and Michelle at the Suns games, making the trek to Peoria for the M's spring training games, seeing Tiger Woods at the Match Play Championship in Tucson
- LOST parties with our Queen Creek friends
- Simultaneously ichatting and talking with my friend Sharon at work
- Planning Colin's surprise party with the assistance of Jamie and her sons
- The abundance of great restaurants
- Playing Rock Band with Jamie and Stephan
- Living in close proximity to a pool
- Celebrating five anniversaries together and trying to eat our wedding cake after transporting it from WA to AZ (didn't work too well)
One rather unfortunate consequence of the move is that it's compelling me to finally join Facebook. I've managed to avoid it thus far, but seeing as how it's one of the primary ways people communicate these days, I probably should bite the bullet so that I can stay in touch with friends. But I still refuse to join Twitter and send people messages about what kind of cereal I've had for breakfast and other meaningless drivel.
Before I sign off to update my Facebook profile or whatever it's called, I should probably provide the answer to the convoluted riddle I mentioned in my last post. The thing that Wal-Mart, the Seahawks, and garden gnomes have in common is that they all characterize Missouri. To explain each:
- When we visited Columbia a few months ago, we were told that some of the Wal-Mart heirs live in the area. So apparently, we might have a couple billionaires as neighbors.
- The St. Louis Rams are in the same division as the Hawks, which means that we can watch them play live at least once a year. This was one of the main reasons why the Mizzou job was one of the top prospects on Colin's list.
- Our new home is adorned with several Kaffy-sized garden gnomes positioned along the periphery of the front lawn. I guess we'll find out when we get there if we'll assume ownership of said gnomes along with the rest of the property.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Laodicean
God's Word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and apparently, a handy reference for obscure, supposedly difficult-to-spell words. The name of the city in Asia Minor that was home to a certain lukewarm, spit-worthy church mentioned in Revelation, or more specifically, the name of a resident of said city, was deemed arcane enough to be proffered as the final term for 13-year-old Kavya Shivashankar to spell correctly and clinch the title of champion at the 82nd annual Scripps National Spelling Bee last week. Colin and I, being the Scriptural scholars that we are, knew how to spell the championship word and, being the word nerds that we are, correctly guessed a few others. The bee was truly reality TV at its best – drama, suspense, heart-warming vignettes, narration by Tom Bergeron – though I could have done without Erin Matthews' patronizing interviews with the kids who tripped up on their Greek or Hungarian or Swahili terminology and lost their chance at attaining orthographic glory.
Entertaining as it was, I wouldn't consider the bee as the highlight of the past few months. That would probably be our trip to Spokompton for Justin's graduation. Justin of course is the last Brandler to stress out through four years at Whitworth, with many a mental/emotional breakdown along the way. Graduation was indeed a time of joyous celebration for Justin and the whole family, especially my Dad, who no longer has to pay college tuition. In the traditional Whitworth fashion, Justin decorated his cap with an item signifying his major (biology). Can you guess what it is? (Hint: It starts with an "s" and rhymes with "perm.")
As I mentioned in my last post many moons ago, Justin is wisely taking a year or two off before med school and traveling to Guatemala for another medical mission trip this summer. Check out his blog for updates beginning mid-June.
Other than the trip to WA, during which time I realized I somewhat missed Spokane and its dumpy charm, not much has been happening at the Hesse household. Another disappointing TV season gone by, and we are left with little to do besides critiquing SYTYCD (the judges and producers more so than the dancers) and challenging ourselves by playing Rock Band at increasing levels of difficulty. I suppose I could provide some useful information, like the fact that I recently helped launch new project at work – a digital, interactive magazine intended to pull in readers and advertisers who are ditching print – and let you know that Colin is hard at work finishing his dissertation exploring if emotion competence affects initial interactions.
And that's all the information I feel like sharing at this point. I'll close with a teaser for my next post in the form of a riddle: What do Wal-Mart, garden gnomes, and the Seattle Seahawks have in common? Check back in about a month to find out.
Entertaining as it was, I wouldn't consider the bee as the highlight of the past few months. That would probably be our trip to Spokompton for Justin's graduation. Justin of course is the last Brandler to stress out through four years at Whitworth, with many a mental/emotional breakdown along the way. Graduation was indeed a time of joyous celebration for Justin and the whole family, especially my Dad, who no longer has to pay college tuition. In the traditional Whitworth fashion, Justin decorated his cap with an item signifying his major (biology). Can you guess what it is? (Hint: It starts with an "s" and rhymes with "perm.")
As I mentioned in my last post many moons ago, Justin is wisely taking a year or two off before med school and traveling to Guatemala for another medical mission trip this summer. Check out his blog for updates beginning mid-June.
Other than the trip to WA, during which time I realized I somewhat missed Spokane and its dumpy charm, not much has been happening at the Hesse household. Another disappointing TV season gone by, and we are left with little to do besides critiquing SYTYCD (the judges and producers more so than the dancers) and challenging ourselves by playing Rock Band at increasing levels of difficulty. I suppose I could provide some useful information, like the fact that I recently helped launch new project at work – a digital, interactive magazine intended to pull in readers and advertisers who are ditching print – and let you know that Colin is hard at work finishing his dissertation exploring if emotion competence affects initial interactions.
And that's all the information I feel like sharing at this point. I'll close with a teaser for my next post in the form of a riddle: What do Wal-Mart, garden gnomes, and the Seattle Seahawks have in common? Check back in about a month to find out.
Friday, April 3, 2009
It's April already?
Nearly three months since my last post, and many important events have transpired in the meantime: Our nation's first black president was inaugurated and, in what some may consider his first mistake among many more to come, botched the oath of office; Detroit automakers and a bunch of other undeserving companies fended off bankruptcy at least temporarily with taxpayers' hard-earned money, making "bailout" the new "WMDs" in terms of frequently recurring nouns in spite-filled speech; the Arizona Cardinals lost Super Bowl XLIII to the Pittsburgh Steelers, giving us flashbacks to the Seahawks' painful collapse three years ago; and, speaking of flashbacks, SPOILER ALERT FOR GARY the Oceanic 6 (minus 1) returned to the time-trippin' island during an anticlimactic mid-season episode, causing us to wonder if the show's name is supposed to describe the writers as well as the characters and viewers. Oh, yeah, and Colin and I celebrated our five-year anniversary. But that news isn't nearly as exciting as the fact that we now own Rock Band!
This joint Colin/Jenn b-day gift from the Hesses has provided endless entertainment for us, our friends, and even Kaffy, who likes to play dodge-the-drum-pedal while we're rockin' out. Colin (aka Spock) could put Jimi Hendrix to shame with his mad guitar skills, and no doubt Gwen Stefani will be calling lead vocalist Arwen (aka me) soon for pointers. John (Almeda) and Gavin (Kirk) have toured with our bands, Balaam's Donkey and Enterprizz, and we've got another gig goin' with our friends Jamie (Jinxie) and Stephan.
In non-video-game-related news, I flew up to WA in February to watch Justin complete his collegiate swimming career and thus close a significant chapter in the annals of Whitworth swimming history. The Brandler Dynasty came to a sad but fulfilling end at the 2009 NW Conference Champs, where Justin contributed to the Bucs' victory with a couple of great swims including a wicked-fast 50 split in the 200 free relay that broke the men's team record. Now that he's done with swimming and has loads of time on his hands*, Justin is working on sending out invitations for his graduation in May and planning his second medical mission trip to Guetamala this summer. To keep everyone apprised of his activities, he is thinking of starting a blog, which I'm sure will garner more avid readership than this one.
*sarcasm
On that pathetic note, moving on to highlights from the month of March, Colin and Gavin spent Spring Break/Twin Birthday Week '09 playing Rock Band and Call of Duty, pausing only for an occasional trip to MickeyD's to take advantage of a limited run on McRibs. And, as if that wasn't hedonistic enough, all five Hesses met up last weekend in Las Vegas, where Colin and Gavin won and lost some money on Blackjack and roulette (I mostly watched until the last day, when we all seemed to hit a losing streak, possibly due to my participation). Besides that, we dined at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, caught a Penn & Teller show, and schlepped up and down the Strip looking at all the casinos, spending as little money as possible and averting our eyes when necessary – it's how Christians do Vegas. I should also mention that Colin lost a bet on a tournament game (Louisville v. Michigan State), teaching him a lesson that he shouldn't bet against my bracket. That's right, I picked all Final Four teams correctly, putting my bracket in the 99.8 percentile and giving me much sweeter satisfaction than the $3.50 I won playing video poker.
To close up shop here, I've got a couple of pics of the Brandler Trifecta and the Hesse trip to Vegas. I might post again later this month after my fam comes to visit over Easter weekend, but if you've learned anything from following this blog, you'll know not to hold your breath.
Go Tar Heels!
This joint Colin/Jenn b-day gift from the Hesses has provided endless entertainment for us, our friends, and even Kaffy, who likes to play dodge-the-drum-pedal while we're rockin' out. Colin (aka Spock) could put Jimi Hendrix to shame with his mad guitar skills, and no doubt Gwen Stefani will be calling lead vocalist Arwen (aka me) soon for pointers. John (Almeda) and Gavin (Kirk) have toured with our bands, Balaam's Donkey and Enterprizz, and we've got another gig goin' with our friends Jamie (Jinxie) and Stephan.
In non-video-game-related news, I flew up to WA in February to watch Justin complete his collegiate swimming career and thus close a significant chapter in the annals of Whitworth swimming history. The Brandler Dynasty came to a sad but fulfilling end at the 2009 NW Conference Champs, where Justin contributed to the Bucs' victory with a couple of great swims including a wicked-fast 50 split in the 200 free relay that broke the men's team record. Now that he's done with swimming and has loads of time on his hands*, Justin is working on sending out invitations for his graduation in May and planning his second medical mission trip to Guetamala this summer. To keep everyone apprised of his activities, he is thinking of starting a blog, which I'm sure will garner more avid readership than this one.
*sarcasm
On that pathetic note, moving on to highlights from the month of March, Colin and Gavin spent Spring Break/Twin Birthday Week '09 playing Rock Band and Call of Duty, pausing only for an occasional trip to MickeyD's to take advantage of a limited run on McRibs. And, as if that wasn't hedonistic enough, all five Hesses met up last weekend in Las Vegas, where Colin and Gavin won and lost some money on Blackjack and roulette (I mostly watched until the last day, when we all seemed to hit a losing streak, possibly due to my participation). Besides that, we dined at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, caught a Penn & Teller show, and schlepped up and down the Strip looking at all the casinos, spending as little money as possible and averting our eyes when necessary – it's how Christians do Vegas. I should also mention that Colin lost a bet on a tournament game (Louisville v. Michigan State), teaching him a lesson that he shouldn't bet against my bracket. That's right, I picked all Final Four teams correctly, putting my bracket in the 99.8 percentile and giving me much sweeter satisfaction than the $3.50 I won playing video poker.
To close up shop here, I've got a couple of pics of the Brandler Trifecta and the Hesse trip to Vegas. I might post again later this month after my fam comes to visit over Easter weekend, but if you've learned anything from following this blog, you'll know not to hold your breath.
Go Tar Heels!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Holiday wrap-up
As you can tell, my New Year's resolution was not to update the blog every week. But before you get too disappointed, take cheer by the possibility that the return of Lost next week might motivate me to post more frequently. You all want to hear my theories about the infamous island castaways/time travelers/ghosts(?), right?
In the brief interim between finishing re-watching last season on DVD and gearing up for the Season 5 premiere this Wednesday, I've got a little time to recap our holiday activities. Overall, we had fun getting together with family and catching up with old friends. I have to say I've never played Apples to Apples so much in the span of 10 days. I didn't mind that this turned out to be the board game du jour because I ended up cleaning house several rounds.
After spending a good three days waiting at airports trying to fly out of winter-battered WA, Colin's parents joined Gavin in traveling down to AZ for Christmas. Together with Grandma and Grandpa Hesse, we all passed the time munching on cookies, answering questions posed by the Are You Smarter than a Fifth-Grader? portable game, and playing with the Wii Gavin got me for Christmas. Despite my aversion to almost all video games, I really enjoy Wii Sports. I discovered that I'm a stellar boxer – I KO'ed Gavin, Gary, and Colin one right after the other. Since I started hitting up the Wii Fit, I've also learned that I'm terrible at yoga. For example, the Tree pose is supposed to look like this:
But my Tree looks more along the lines of this:
Oh well. Between the Wii Fit and my new Dancing with the Stars Latin Cardio Workout DVD, I've got plenty of tools to help me stay in shape in '09. And, by implementing my haul of Lush and Bath & Body Works loot, I can sweat like a pig and still smell fresh as a sun-ripened raspberry.
But enough about exercise and body odor; I've got Christmas pictures to post!
In case you're wondering, that is a MacBook you see in my hands. Colin put his ASU student ID to use and got a discount on a 13-inch Dual-Core laptop, of course shocking me at his generosity and deception (he flat-out lied to me about getting a laptop this Christmas). We both love Macs, which are far superior to PCs for reasons too numerous to detail in this post. Our enthusiasm even convinced John and Emily to get a MacBook Pro with their Christmas $$.
And that provides the transition I needed to segue into my account of our trip up to T-town. We spent New Year's with Emily and John and my parents (Justin had already left for Christmas training with the swim team – soooooo glad I don't have to do that anymore!).
It was a struggle to fend off sleep 'till midnight on New Year's Eve, but somehow we managed to keep awake for the ball drop and stayed up watching Ryan Seacrest introduce so-called musical performances by a bunch of "artists" I'd never heard of before. Besides hanging out with our friends Megan and Rachael and Jason, we occupied ourselves making and eating appetizers; watching football, and when that got boring, turning on Becoming Jane (the guys all opted to take a nap); and staring at Bauer while he gnawed on his freakin' huge bone.
In closing, I'd like to point out that I suppressed my curiosity sufficiently and did not peek at any of my presents before Christmas. I proved to myself and others that I do possess some modicum of self-control, at least in terms of gift-snooping. Now if only I could exercise that kind of restraint when it comes to chocolate.
In the brief interim between finishing re-watching last season on DVD and gearing up for the Season 5 premiere this Wednesday, I've got a little time to recap our holiday activities. Overall, we had fun getting together with family and catching up with old friends. I have to say I've never played Apples to Apples so much in the span of 10 days. I didn't mind that this turned out to be the board game du jour because I ended up cleaning house several rounds.
After spending a good three days waiting at airports trying to fly out of winter-battered WA, Colin's parents joined Gavin in traveling down to AZ for Christmas. Together with Grandma and Grandpa Hesse, we all passed the time munching on cookies, answering questions posed by the Are You Smarter than a Fifth-Grader? portable game, and playing with the Wii Gavin got me for Christmas. Despite my aversion to almost all video games, I really enjoy Wii Sports. I discovered that I'm a stellar boxer – I KO'ed Gavin, Gary, and Colin one right after the other. Since I started hitting up the Wii Fit, I've also learned that I'm terrible at yoga. For example, the Tree pose is supposed to look like this:
But my Tree looks more along the lines of this:Oh well. Between the Wii Fit and my new Dancing with the Stars Latin Cardio Workout DVD, I've got plenty of tools to help me stay in shape in '09. And, by implementing my haul of Lush and Bath & Body Works loot, I can sweat like a pig and still smell fresh as a sun-ripened raspberry.
But enough about exercise and body odor; I've got Christmas pictures to post!
In case you're wondering, that is a MacBook you see in my hands. Colin put his ASU student ID to use and got a discount on a 13-inch Dual-Core laptop, of course shocking me at his generosity and deception (he flat-out lied to me about getting a laptop this Christmas). We both love Macs, which are far superior to PCs for reasons too numerous to detail in this post. Our enthusiasm even convinced John and Emily to get a MacBook Pro with their Christmas $$.
And that provides the transition I needed to segue into my account of our trip up to T-town. We spent New Year's with Emily and John and my parents (Justin had already left for Christmas training with the swim team – soooooo glad I don't have to do that anymore!).
It was a struggle to fend off sleep 'till midnight on New Year's Eve, but somehow we managed to keep awake for the ball drop and stayed up watching Ryan Seacrest introduce so-called musical performances by a bunch of "artists" I'd never heard of before. Besides hanging out with our friends Megan and Rachael and Jason, we occupied ourselves making and eating appetizers; watching football, and when that got boring, turning on Becoming Jane (the guys all opted to take a nap); and staring at Bauer while he gnawed on his freakin' huge bone.
In closing, I'd like to point out that I suppressed my curiosity sufficiently and did not peek at any of my presents before Christmas. I proved to myself and others that I do possess some modicum of self-control, at least in terms of gift-snooping. Now if only I could exercise that kind of restraint when it comes to chocolate.
Monday, December 22, 2008
3 days 'till Christmas ...
and I've got the next two weeks off of work, which means that I have lots of time to update the blog. It also means that there's still 72 hours left for me to "accidentally" find out what Colin got me for Christmas. You see, I suffer from a condition – curiosity-itis – that causes inadvertent snooping and occasional lapses in judgment. For example, last year, on a mission to find some candles to regift at an office Christmas party, I went searching in the guest room closet, which Colin had specifically warned me not to open, and discovered his big surprise present to me – the complete Harry Potter collection. (He responded in kind by immediately logging on to Amazon minutes after I told him I had placed an order.)
Since then, I have tried to inhibit this condition, which I blame on a combination of my journalistic inquisitiveness and hereditary forgetfulness (thanks a lot, Dad!), by practicing self-control exercises and taking placebos, including various kinds of Christmas candy. So far, so good; aside from the digital photo frame Colin gave me early this year due to a replicate b-day gift from his parents, I have not as of yet determined the identities of his other gifts to me, though I caught myself in the act of once again opening the closet where he stashes all his stuff and peeked in his bag after our Black Friday shopping spree.
Speaking of which, I guess I should recap our Thanksgiving '08 excursion. For the third year in a row, we traveled down to Colin's grandparents' place in Green Valley, where we ate loads of wonderful home-cooked food, listened to stories about my father-in-law's childhood, and participated in the post-Thanksgiving melee known as Black Friday. This year, Colin and I were joined by Gavin, their aunt Cathy, and cousins Michelle and Christine, who reminded me of what it was like to be a preppy, private school-bred girl who thinks talkin' ghetto is tight. We enjoyed spending time with family and even more so enjoyed rocking them in both the putting and bocce ball championships. During a lighthearted conversation in which Colin and Gavin joked about their dad's romantic endeavors, we learned that laughing so hard that you cry is a Hesse family trait. This was something I had already encountered during several incidents wherein Colin brought his dad to tears by retelling some story of how he made fun of me, like the time when I said I didn't eat much chocolate anymore (a lie) and he replied, "Tell that to your butt." We're such an uplifting family; haven't you noticed?
As promised, I took a few pics during our Thanksgiving get-together, such as the one shown here. I think it turned out great, though in retrospect, I maybe should have picked a different backdrop than the portrait of Grandma and Grandpa Hesse's late dog, Chrissy, whose button nose looks like a beanie atop Grandma's head.
Time for me to head out and finish shopping for Colin. Yes, I procrastinated this year for reasons I cannot state at this time. At least it will keep me out of the house and prevent my wandering eyes from espying any yet-unwrapped gifts. More fun stories and pics to come from Christmas with the Hesses and New Year's with the Brandlers!
Since then, I have tried to inhibit this condition, which I blame on a combination of my journalistic inquisitiveness and hereditary forgetfulness (thanks a lot, Dad!), by practicing self-control exercises and taking placebos, including various kinds of Christmas candy. So far, so good; aside from the digital photo frame Colin gave me early this year due to a replicate b-day gift from his parents, I have not as of yet determined the identities of his other gifts to me, though I caught myself in the act of once again opening the closet where he stashes all his stuff and peeked in his bag after our Black Friday shopping spree.
Speaking of which, I guess I should recap our Thanksgiving '08 excursion. For the third year in a row, we traveled down to Colin's grandparents' place in Green Valley, where we ate loads of wonderful home-cooked food, listened to stories about my father-in-law's childhood, and participated in the post-Thanksgiving melee known as Black Friday. This year, Colin and I were joined by Gavin, their aunt Cathy, and cousins Michelle and Christine, who reminded me of what it was like to be a preppy, private school-bred girl who thinks talkin' ghetto is tight. We enjoyed spending time with family and even more so enjoyed rocking them in both the putting and bocce ball championships. During a lighthearted conversation in which Colin and Gavin joked about their dad's romantic endeavors, we learned that laughing so hard that you cry is a Hesse family trait. This was something I had already encountered during several incidents wherein Colin brought his dad to tears by retelling some story of how he made fun of me, like the time when I said I didn't eat much chocolate anymore (a lie) and he replied, "Tell that to your butt." We're such an uplifting family; haven't you noticed?
As promised, I took a few pics during our Thanksgiving get-together, such as the one shown here. I think it turned out great, though in retrospect, I maybe should have picked a different backdrop than the portrait of Grandma and Grandpa Hesse's late dog, Chrissy, whose button nose looks like a beanie atop Grandma's head.
Time for me to head out and finish shopping for Colin. Yes, I procrastinated this year for reasons I cannot state at this time. At least it will keep me out of the house and prevent my wandering eyes from espying any yet-unwrapped gifts. More fun stories and pics to come from Christmas with the Hesses and New Year's with the Brandlers!
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