TnT Life Experiences

A GREAT CONTEST TO SHARE!!!

2011-04-20T09:49:00.002-04:00

Just in case you haven't heard the news, Crave Photography is giving away an ALL EXPENSE PAID 2-DAY PRIVATE WORKSHOP to one lucky fan!! I am so excited about this!! Just click here to enter:

For the Love...

2011-04-01T09:21:00.000-04:00

So, I started a new hobby, about 8 months ago or so, photography! I've always loved photography! I took a few classes in college through the Pittsburgh Filmmakers institute and loved the art of taking photos, HOWEVER, I hated developing. I hated being in that darn dark room developing film. I was not very talented at this process and ruined a lot of great photos and film! So, along came the revolution of digital photographing and digital SLR cameras finally got less expensive so that I could buy one. Sold my Cannon 35mm on ebay, and off I went to purchase a Nikon D90 at the suggestion of another local photographer who said it was a great starter camera.

I did originally buy the kit lenses, but then I decided to sale them on ebay for better lenses. So, I ended up getting a Tamron 28-75 on B&H photos. I also purchased a Nikon 50mm, 1.8 lens for low light areas. My next lens will be a Nikon 35mm, which I think will be better for indoor photos then the 50mm.

I've found that photography is becoming my outlet. With all of the stress that has been going on with infertility treatment and IVF, it's nice to have something that is not dealing with all of this and allows me to be me.

I've had a great time learning how to use it. Jenni, who is a good friend of mine and is owns Jenni Grace Photography set-up some sessions and did a day long workshop with me, which was great! Then I took some free classes at the Carnegie Library, they have been taught by other local photographers. This has been a great resource and I've met a few new people as well!!

I've also just been practicing, practicing and practicing! I started a facebook fan page to highlight some of my progress and work. I'm not where near the quality of some of the amazing photographers that are out there, but I'm learning and getting better. I want to share some of the fantastic resources that I've come across while basically self-teaching myself the art of photography. Maybe it'll help another person learning the art or just trying to learn how to use their digital camera!

Just recently I found a great site for a Business 101 e-course on digital photography. I plan to take this to learn more in case I decide to start a side job of doing photography.

Also since I love infants, toddlers, children and family photography the best, I've been on the look out for how to make my home studio better and how to take infant photos specifically! I found this great set-up at Inspire Me Baby! I love when photographers really lay out how they do what they do and with what equipment! For those who are just beginning pull back shots of set-ups and equipment listings really do help to learn!! I'm more of a visual Lerner and this really does help!!

Another great place that I found to learn is discussion boards, and Clickin' Moms is the perfect place for this! I became a year-long member, but I'm sure I'll become a lifetime member of this site! It's great! They offer lots of workshops, although they are online only and I think a little expensive for my taste. But the discussion boards are fantastic and you can have your photos critiqued by other pros and hobbyists from around the world! Love this site!! Plus they will also mail you weekly deals and discounts via email with some really cool things for lightroom, photoshop workshops, and other deals!

Photography seems to be an expensive hobby, at least that's what my husband keeps telling me! I also had to buy Adobe lightroom for the computer. I need to spend more time learning this, but it's a great software and helps processing go a little smoother then in the dark room! You can download a free 30 day trial right from adobe.com! I also purchased a book called, The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers. This is a great book, I just need to take a vacation to read it and learn it!!

Another great book for beginners to check out is Understanding Exposure. I really need to spend more time reading this too, but there just isn't enough time sometimes in a day to do everything that I want to do!!

There are soooo many more sites and I'm sure I'll be sharing these with you as I develop, no pun intended, into a better photographer!

Best Face Photo from February 2011

2011-03-08T10:57:00.001-05:00

Meet Klaire, 3 months old and full of life! Such a sweet little girl! I am submitting it to I Heart Faces for a Best Faces photo challenge.

IVF

2011-01-12T10:47:00.000-05:00

So, our first round of IVF is complete. We did one round of invitro-fertilization at the beginning of December. Well, I started the birth control pills in November and then started stimulating with daily injections in December. We were able to receive 4 eggs, 3 fertilized all on their own, 1 made it to be frozen, and 1 was put back into me. This embryo resulted in a positive pregnancy! We were over the moon thrilled!! Everything seemed to be going well. I had early symptoms and my first ulrasound on 12/30 looked great!! It showed a gestational sac and yolk sac. Everything was right on target, I was 5 weeks, 3 days, and the gestation sac was measuring 5 weeks, 3 days. Then on 12/31, I miscarried...again...

This is my second miscarriage. I miscarried almost a year to the day last year at 7 weeks. The doctor does not believe that this has anything to do with my odd-shaped uterus or my hormones or anything like that. Because this is so early in the pregnancy it has something to do with the way the embryo formed and is considered a chromosomal defect.

So, I met with our doctor yesterday and we have a game plan. I gained 15lbs. while doing IVF. So, I need to lose the 15lbs. That's a HUGE priority for me. I'm on a mission and very determined to lose this weight I would really like to lose more than the 15 considering how easy it is to put it on during IVF. I have to do this before we will do another fresh transfer. I will now start the protocol to transfer our frozen embryo. So, I start the birth control tonight. Then in 21 days I will have an ultrasound, then I will take estrogen, and lupron for several days before we transfer our frozen embryo. From there, I will take the progesterone injections once again. Hopefully this will end in a positive, sticky pregnancy for us. I'm so ready to be a mom and so ready for my own family. Please pray for us as we go through these challenges.

Pumpkin Gobs

2010-10-12T15:33:00.000-04:00

Pumpkin Gobs

List of Ingredients

1-1/2 cups solid pack pumpkin puree
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup shortening
1-1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup prepared vanilla pudding

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Cream the butter or margarine with the sugar. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla.
Stir the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon into the pumpkin mixture. Blend until combined.

Drop teaspoonfuls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 to 14 minutes. Let cookies cool completely then sandwich two cookies together with the vanilla filling.

To make the vanilla filling: Beat the shortening and 1-1/2 cups of white sugar together for 10 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and the vanilla pudding. Beat
until creamy.

Makes 1-1/2 Dozen

Long time, no chat...

2010-09-11T18:35:00.004-04:00

WOW!!! I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted/blogged. I guess I've been busy!!! Well, a little update on us, we are still not pregnant, big surprise there!

After my miscarriage in January I was pretty much a hot mess for a month or so, just overall depressed, hating life. I hated people who were pregnant, people with children, especially people who shouldn't have children and just wanted to curl up and die myself... But I'm doing better!! Much better. I have been losing weight in preparation for IVF this winter.

Todd lost his job, and then got a job, which was such a blessing!! He is now working for ALRO Steel, and although a paycut (almost 1/3) he really likes the company and is doing really well.

When Todd lost his job I started selling Premier Designs Jewelry. I LOVE IT!! It's so much fun and I really enjoy playing with all of my jewelry!! If you are interested in seeing a catalog or something, let me know!

We put up our new pool in May and had a GREAT summer hanging out with family and friends in our backyard. We welcomed a huge crowd for the 4th of July and then another huge crowd in August for the Demblowski family reunion. Overall, a great/hot summer!!

I also started to focus on my photography more. I've always LOVED photography. I'm not looking to start my own business, but hey you never know what could come out of it. I have mostly been teaching myself, reading books, and practicing!!

I took a few black and white photography class back in college and loved taking pictures, but HATED the dark room. Well, the joys of digital photography allows me to not have to deal with the dark room!

I'll be adding suggestions, websites and other great ideas that I've learned over the last few months. Also as a reference for me to come back here and reflect where I've been and where I'm going.

Here are a few suggestions:

LOVE ETSY!! --- Great place for props!! Soo addicting!!!

I purchase a lot of equipment at B&H in NY. They are cheap and you can buy used.

I purchased a Nikon D90, overall a great camera.

Learn to love amazon.com as well!!!

This is a great place that I've been learning a lot from!

Ideas for backdrops/backgrounds, flooring, etc. from this blog

Backdrop sample gallery

Coffeeshop FREE STUFF (photoshop, lightroom, etc.)

So, hopefully I'll also be able to post some pics of my progress of how I'm learning!!

Also updating you on the baby making situation. We hope to someday be parents, sooner rather than later...

Dear Employee:

2010-02-24T11:15:00.000-05:00

Dear employee:

As the CEO of this organization, I have resigned myself to the fact that
Barrack Obama is our President and that our taxes and government fees will increase in a BIG way. To compensate for these increases, our prices would have to increase by about 10%.

But since we cannot increase our prices right now due to the dismal state of the economy, we will have to lay off sixty of our employees instead. This has really been bothering me, since I believe we are family here and I didn't know how to choose who would have to go.

So, this is what I did. I walked through our parking lots and found
sixty 'Obama' bumper stickers on our employees' cars and have decided these folks will be the ones to let go.. I can't think of a more fair way to approach this problem. They voted for change...... I gave it to them.

I will see the rest of you at the annual company picnic.
THE BOSS

Snowpocolypse Snowapalooza Snowmageddon

2010-02-10T11:46:00.001-05:00

View our video on youtube.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3nRf7nULvw

The Miscarriage...

2010-01-14T20:38:00.001-05:00

So, there was nothing on the u/s in my uterus. The baby was already gone. I kinda thought this last night when I started bleeding. My friend, Heather, who has had a miscarriage, and is going through IF treatment as well, was with me and was a great support this afternoon and evening.

They checked my HCG levels and they have gone from over 2,000+ to already at 39. I will go back one week from today for another blood test and then in two weeks to discuss options with the doctor.

Our doctor tried to focus on the positives that we know the one tube I do have, works... we know that the sperm can burrow into my eggs, and we know that I can get pregnant.

The last few weeks of my life, I was the happiest I think I've been since my wedding day... and today I'm the saddest I've ever been in my life...

I know in my heart that someday we will have a baby... I'm not sure how or when, but someday we will....

Thank you so much for the ladies that are keeping tabs on me while Todd is gone..He'll be home on Saturday... And thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers, they mean the world to me...

Tiffany's....

2009-12-01T15:08:00.001-05:00

A lady walks into Tiffany's. She looks around, spots a beautiful diamond bracelet and walks over to inspect it.
As she bends over to look more closely, she unexpectedly has to fart.

Very embarrassed, she looks around nervously to see if anyone noticed her little whoops and
prays that a sales person wasn't anywhere near.

As she turns around, her worst nightmare materializes in the form of a salesman standing right behind her.
Good looking as well.

Cool as a cucumber, he displays all of the qualities one would expect of a professional in a store like Tiffany's, he
politely greets the lady with, 'Good day, Madam. How may we help you today?'

Blushing and uncomfortable, but still hoping that the salesman somehow missed her little 'incident', she asks,
'Sir, what is the price of this lovely bracelet?'

He answers, "Madam.. if you farted just looking at it -
you're going to shit when I tell you the price."

Peppermint Patty Recipe

2009-12-01T11:06:00.000-05:00

Peppermint Patty Recipe

14 oz sweetened condensed milk

1 T peppermint extract

6 cups powdered sugar (equivalent to a 2 lb bag powdered sugar)

1-1/2 lb chocolate coating melted (dark or melt chocolate) - mom uses the dark

In a large bowl combine milk and peppermint extract. Add sugar slowly until well blended. Turn mixture onto smooth surface, that's been coated with powered sugar. Knead lightly into a big ball and shape that into 1" balls, place on parchment lined-baking sheets. Flatten into 1" pattys. Let dry at room temperature at least for an one-hour. Turn over and let the other side dry. With a fork (dipping fork) dip in melted chocolate and let stand till firm.

Long, Overdue Update!

2009-11-12T19:11:00.003-05:00

I first need to thank you for continue to follow the blog, even when I haven't updated in months! I'm not even sure where I left off. Life has been insane!! The last three months have gone by in the blink of an eye, but have left me exhausted!!

Our first IUI was a bust. The day AF showed up was a very raw, emotional day. I just didn't think it would hurt that bad. I mean I've gotten my period for the last 14 years or so, but never realized how much it would hurt to get it. Well, after that cycle, we started back to our next cycle. I was full of cysts...great... So, back on birth control for one cycle (hello to an old friend). This was hard for me to do. I mean I am trying to get pregnant and there I am back on birth control. Weird, huh?

So, after a long month on birth control, we end up starting all over again. After days of injections and sonograms and blood work, we had our 2nd IUI today. We were pretty tight with time as my Pap has a knee replacement yesterday (I had to take him to Johnstown hospital) and Todd leaves tomorrow for Chicago. So, the IUI had to be today and luckily everything worked out. I had two follicals (16 and 18). I am hoping and praying for the best. It's all we can really do at this point...So, I will be able to take a home test in two weeks.

This cycle is a little different than the last IUI. I will start progestroine tomorrow night when I go to bed. I am hoping this helps with conception. We will have to wait and see what happens!!

Seeing a chiropractor has been good for me as well. She sees other patients with infertility issues and has given me some great advice. I will continue with this treatment, as it's pretty similar to acupuncture and insurance will cover it! Which makes it even better.

We also decided to go and meet with an adoption agency. This was a big step for us, but part of me feels that adoption maybe the right step for us. About three weeks ago we went and met with Adoptions From the Heart. They work in about 6 states and do domestic and international adoption. We would like to do a domestic adoption as we feel this best fits into our lifestyle. Currently the wait is roughly 2 years, but it could be as quick at a few months. With domestic adoption, the Birth Mother would select the parents, so it would depend on how long it would take us to get selected. The agency places 200 babies a year, and they really work with the birth mothers throughout their entire pregnancy.

It's a really exicitng option for us! We have to complete all infertility treatments before we would move onto adoption, we can pursue both at the same time. We had already decided that we would complete 3 IUI's and then reevulate our situation. It's a tough decision, with many unanswered questions. Like is this the right thing for us to do? Should we try IVF? If we adopt will I still long to have my own biological child? Soooo many questions. I just know that we want a family, and ofcourse we would rather have it sooner than later. But it's all in God's hands right??

Overall adoption maybe the answer for us to start our family, and heck maybe in a few years we will get pregnant on our own? Who really knows?

We are going to continue to explore our options and hope that maybe one of our IUI's will work?? We can only hope!! Thanks for your support as we decide what will be best for us and our family!!!

YOUR AGE BY CHOCOLATE MATH

2009-10-23T09:22:00.001-04:00

Don't tell me your age; you probably would tell a falsehood anyway
-but the Hershey Man will know! YOUR AGE BY CHOCOLATE MATH

This is pretty neat.

DON'T CHEAT BY SCROLLING DOWN FIRST!
It takes less than a minute .
Work this out as you read .
Be sure you don't read the bottom until you've worked it out!
This is not one of those waste of time things, it's fun.

1. First of all, pick the number of times a week that you would like to have chocolate (more than once but less than 10)

2. Multiply this number by 2 (just to be bold)

3. Add 5

4. Multiply it by 50 -- I'll wait while you get the calculator

5. If you have already had your birthday this year add 1759 ..
If you haven't, add 1758.

6. Now subtract the four digit year that you were born.

You should have a three digit number
The first digit of this was your original number
(i.e., how many times you want to have chocolate each week).

The next two numbers are

YOUR AGE! (Oh YES, it is!!!!!)

THIS IS THE ONLY YEAR (2009) IT WILL EVER WORK, SO SPREAD IT AROUND WHILE IT LASTS.
Chocolate Calculator.

Another canceled Cycle...

2009-10-06T15:34:00.002-04:00

We went in for our baseline today and unfortunately my last cycle left me with many lovely cysts. This is a side affect from the injectables. Thanks Gonal-F! The funny part is that they are putting me on birth control for the month!! Yup, back on the pill for one cycle! It's so weird, to be trying to get pregnant and going on the pill.

I don't know how I feel about this at all. I need the cycsts to dissolve and I'm willing to do anything, but it's sooo weird and frustrating.

So, we have about a month until we can start back-up again. I just hope it doesn't fall on when my husband is going to be out of town in November for work! Ugh!! So frustrated today....

In the meantime, we have started to research adoption agencies. I'm ready for a baby, it might not be my biological baby, but we will have one eventually.

Another cycle....

2009-10-05T18:04:00.002-04:00

Long time, no update. It's been a crazy fall. We made it through an entire cycle without being canceled! YEAH! I had two eggs on the right, that was mature after days of pumping my body full of follitsim +ovidrel= IUI. Yup, we had our first IUI. It was interesting. Todd went in at 8am, and made a very successful deposit, and I went in at 10 to make the withdrawl.

The doctor stated that Todd deserved a gold star, as we had many fast swimmers! But unforuately, 8 days after our IUI, AF showed up. I was a hot mess yesterday. I think I cried the entire day. I just can't believe this is happening to us. We are good people, who would love a child, and provide a wonderful home. I began thinking maybe this wasn't mean for us, maybe we just are not meant to have children. Maybe we are not meant to have a natural child, maybe we are supposed to adopt, or not have any children at all. Ugh, so frustrating. After hours of tears between the two of us, we decided to try another cycle. I will go in tomorrow for my baseline. Luckily, I have some donated meds, and this will take me through again this month.

Our IUI, last cycle ran $1,400 and we have not a damn thing to show for all of that money spent. My entire cycle lasted 19 days, and now we are back to beginning. I just hope that I am able to ovulate on the right side this cycle.

I changed a few things in my life, I started seeing a chiropractor, which has been great. I noticed a huge difference in my back and the way that I feel. I truly believe this is something I will stick with for awhile. I also started exercising. A friend and myself started zumba classes, which I love! I also started weight watchers and I am currently down 15lbs! I hope to continue to lose weight becuase if we decided to do IVF, I will need to lose at least 20lbs. I just don't know if IVF is the route we are going to take.

I spent sometime today calling adoption agencies and doing some research from that end. We should be receiving a lot of packets of information in the next few days. Research will help to keep us busy and hopefully my mind off of the obvious that I maybe experiencing another holiday without a baby. I think the fall starts to get to me every year...the cute pictures of thoes babies in pumpkin patches.....and picking out costumes and just spending time with family. It really gets to me somedays. I think Christmas will be really hard for me this year... Pray that I don't go postal over the holidays.

I never imagined how bad this would hurt. Somedays I'm really a mess. I have this "strong" exterior and I like to think I am a strong individual, but geeze, the last two days I have been an emotional hot mess. I guess this is to be expected.

Please continue to pray for us as we enter a new cycle, and new hope of starting our family.

The Infertility Board Game

2009-08-27T15:01:00.003-04:00

Another canceled cycle, WW and Life...

2009-08-27T10:30:00.005-04:00

So, it's been awhile since I updated. I apologize. Life has taken me all over the place lately! We have another canceled cycle, two cycles in a row that I have ovulated from the left. It's a little frustrating, but oh well, what are you going to do with 1/2 of a uterus and one tube, ya know? So, I am patiently (not really) waiting for my next cycle so that we can finally do an IUI. Yup, we are moving on from timed intercourse (obviously this hasn't worked or I would be pregnant) and moving into an IUI. It you are not sure what that is, you can read about it here.

So, in the meantime, my friend (who is also experiencing infertility) and I started weight watchers, we also started our own club "fat and infertile". I am down 10lbs. and feeling pretty good about myself! I would love to lose a mim. of 20, (per doctors recommendations) but I would be happier with even more! With infertility injections, the interruption with running to the doctors every other day for ultrasounds and the added stress of not being able to multiple has been frustrating and has taken a toll on my body. I've also started zumba classes with another friend. Twice a week, we head over and exercise. I really enjoy the class, I love dancing and I am just overall feeling better about myself.

We had a consult with our RE about a month ago now. We discussed why nothing has really worked for us and what we can do to make that better. She also immediately brought up IVF, which really scared me. I really don't want to have to spend $22,000+ for a child. If this happens, we may only have one, and I really want more than one child. This is when the RE suggested that I lose at least 20lbs. for IVF, as we would have more success and it'll be safer for me and the baby. I am willing to do anything to start our family. It's been hard the last few weeks, not like this is an easy adventure or not, but really hard the last week or so.

I swear EVERYWHERE I go there is someone pregnant, my zumba instructor, a few girls who attend the zumba class, my sister-in-law, two friends, four family friends, cousins, my Nan's cleaning lady, two co-workers, and well it feels like just about everyone around me in pregnant, except me. It's frustarting sometimes, it's annoying and often it's sad. I know we will overcome this someway or another, whether we get pregnant, adopt or decided to just skip the family part of our lives all together, but I really hope we are able to get pregnant and have a family.

Other than the infertility struggle our lives were also turned upside down last week when our swimmg pool which is very large, exploded! Yup, 13,000 galloons of water allll through 5 neighbor's yards, a neighbros shed was picked-up and moved about 30 feet in the woods (destroyed)! We have a small savings, but we really were not expecting to spend it on a new pool. So, needless to say, after a lot of clean-up of our neighbor's yards, our swimming season came to an end a little early. Homeowners insurance (state farm) will not cover our pool, but they will cover our neighbor's shed. It's a little frustrating, but overall, we are glad no one got hurt and no one was in the pool when it happened. We purchased a new pool ($2,000) and it should be here tomorrow. We are going to install the pool ourselves before winter.

In other sad news, my step-mom's mother had a stroke last week, this was very sad! She also had to have a pace maker put in all in one week! So, if you have any extra prayers or vibes please send them her way! Hopefully she feels better soon!

In more sad news, my mother (who I haven't really spoken to since I was 10) her father passed away in an automobile accident on route 22 about two weeks ago. Yes, he is my grandfather, and I feel awful. I wouldn't want my worst enemy to be killed in a car accident. Unforunately since I don't have a very close relationship with this side of the family, they just decided to omit me from the obit. See here. So, it's kinda like I don't exist to that side of the family. I exist, I just don't have a relatoinship with anyone. Needless to say, I feel bad, and lots of my prayers went out to them and I hope them the best.

So, the last few weeks have been a little stressful, and eventful. Hopefully we will start to gain some good vibes and changes in the coming weeks!

Parenting...FAIL

2009-08-20T15:33:00.002-04:00

When a Thong is Just WRONG!!!!!

2009-07-31T15:24:00.005-04:00

When you're back from the grave.....
When it's holding you together.....

When your armpits touch it.....

When it's getting a bear hugg......

When it's on sideways.... WTF?

When it's trying to escape.....

On the soccer field..
When it's worn on the outside.....

The Human Body!

2009-07-31T15:20:00.003-04:00

The Human Body!

It takes your food seven seconds to get from your mouth to your stomach.

One human hair can support 3kg (6.6 lb).

The average man's penis is three times the length of his thumb.

Human thighbones are stronger than concrete.

A woman's heart beats faster than a man's.

There are about one trillion bacteria on each of your feet.

Women blink twice as often as men.

The average person's skin weighs twice as much as the brain.

Your body uses 300 muscles to balance itself when you are standing still.

If saliva cannot dissolve something, you cannot taste it.

Women reading this will be finished now.

Men are still busy checking their thumbs.

He's my brother!

2009-07-31T15:20:00.001-04:00

Two young boys walked into a pharmacy one day, picked out a box of tampons and proceeded to the checkout counter.

The man at the counter asked the older boy, "Son, how old are you?"

"Eight," the boy replied.

The man continued, "do you know what these are used for?"

The boy replied, "not exactly, but they aren't for me. They're for him. He's my brother. He's four. We saw on TV that if you use these you would be able to swim and ride a bike. Right now, he can't do either."

Infertility Etiquette

2009-07-23T11:40:00.003-04:00

http://pittsburghmom.com/forums/t/1289.aspx
I highly enjoy this "infertility etiquette" article and thought maybe I should share this with just about everyone I know!

Infertility Etiquette

By Vita Alligood

Chances are, you know someone who is struggling with infertility. More than five million people of childbearing age in the United States experience infertility. Yet, as a society, we are woefully uninformed about how to best provide emotional support for our loved ones during this painful time.

Infertility is, indeed, a very painful struggle. The pain is similar to the grief over losing a loved one, but it is unique because it is a recurring grief. When a loved one dies, he isn't coming back. There is no hope that he will come back from the dead. You must work through the stages of grief, accept that you will never see this person again, and move on with your life.

The grief of infertility is not so cut and dry. Infertile people grieve the loss of the baby that they may never know. They grieve the loss of that baby who would have had mommy's nose and daddy's eyes. But, each month, there is the hope that maybe that baby will be conceived after all. No matter how hard they try to prepare themselves for bad news, they still hope that this month will be different. Then, the bad news comes again, and the grief washes over the infertile couple anew. This process happens month after month, year after year. It is like having a deep cut that keeps getting opened right when it starts to heal.

As the couple moves into infertility treatments, the pain increases while the bank account depletes. Most infertility treatments involve using hormones, which alter the user's moods. (That statement is like calling a lion a cat-my husband would tell you that the side effect is insanity!) The tests are invasive and embarrassing to both parties, and you feel like the doctor has taken over your bedroom. And for all of this discomfort, you pay a lot of money. Infertility treatments are expensive, and most insurance companies do not cover the costs. So, in addition to the pain of not conceiving a baby each month, the couple pays out anywhere from $300 to five figures, depending upon the treatment used.

A couple will eventually resolve the infertility problem in one of three ways:
* They will eventually conceive a baby.
* They will stop the infertility treatments and choose to live without children.
* They will find an alternative way to parent, such as by adopting a child or becoming a foster parent.

Reaching a resolution can take years, so your infertile loved ones need your emotional support during this journey. Most people don't know what to say, so they wind up saying the wrong thing, which only makes the journey so much harder for their loved ones. Knowing what not to say is half of the battle to providing support

Don't Tell Them to Relax

Everyone knows someone who had trouble conceiving but then finally became pregnant once she "relaxed." Couples who are able to conceive after a few months of "relaxing" are not infertile. By definition, a couple is not diagnosed as "infertile" until they have tried unsuccessfully to become pregnant for a full year. In fact, most infertility specialists will not treat a couple for infertility until they have tried to become pregnant for a year. This year weeds out the people who aren't infertile but just need to "relax." Those that remain are truly infertile.

Comments such as "just relax" or "try going on a cruise" create even more stress for the infertile couple, particularly the woman. The woman feels like she is doing something wrong when, in fact, there is a good chance that there is a physical problem preventing her from becoming pregnant.

These comments can also reach the point of absurdity. As a couple, my husband and I underwent two surgeries, numerous inseminations, hormone treatments, and four years of poking and prodding by doctors. Yet, people still continued to say things like, "If you just relaxed on a cruise . . ." Infertility is a diagnosable medical problem that must be treated by a doctor, and even with treatment, many couples will NEVER successfully conceive a child. Relaxation itself does not cure medical infertility.

Don't Minimize the Problem

Failure to conceive a baby is a very painful journey. Infertile couples are surrounded by families with children. These couples watch their friends give birth to two or three children, and they watch those children grow while the couple goes home to the silence of an empty house. These couples see all of the joy that a child brings into someone's life, and they feel the emptiness of not being able to experience the same joy.

Comments like, "Just enjoy being able to sleep late . . . .travel . . etc.," do not offer comfort. Instead, these comments make infertile people feel like you are minimizing their pain. You wouldn't tell somebody whose parent just died to be thankful that he no longer has to buy Father's Day or Mother's Day cards. Losing that one obligation doesn't even begin to compensate for the incredible loss of losing a parent. In the same vein, being able to sleep late or travel does not provide comfort to somebody who desperately wants a child.

Don't Say There Are Worse Things That Could Happen

Along the same lines, don't tell your friend that there are worse things that she could be going through. Who is the final authority on what is the "worst" thing that could happen to someone? Is it going through a divorce? Watching a loved one die? Getting raped? Losing a job?

Different people react to different life experiences in different ways. To someone who has trained his whole life for the Olympics, the "worst" thing might be experiencing an injury the week before the event. To someone who has walked away from her career to become a stay-at-home wife for 40 years, watching her husband leave her for a younger woman might be the "worst" thing. And, to a woman whose sole goal in life has been to love and nurture a child, infertility may indeed be the "worst" thing that could happen.

People wouldn't dream of telling someone whose parent just died, "It could be worse: both of your parents could be dead." Such a comment would be considered cruel rather than comforting. In the same vein, don't tell your friend that she could be going through worse things than infertility.

Don't Say They Aren't Meant to Be Parents

One of the cruelest things anyone ever said to me is, "Maybe God doesn't intend for you to be a mother." How incredibly insensitive to imply that I would be such a bad mother that God felt the need to divinely sterilize me. If God were in the business of divinely sterilizing women, don't you think he would prevent the pregnancies that end in abortions? Or wouldn't he sterilize the women who wind up neglecting and abusing their children? Even if you aren't religious, the "maybe it's not meant to be" comments are not comforting. Infertility is a medical condition, not a punishment from God or Mother Nature.

Don't Ask Why They Aren't Trying IVF

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a method in which the woman harvests multiple eggs, which are then combined with the man's sperm in a petri dish. This is the method that can produce multiple births. People frequently ask, "Why don't you just try IVF?" in the same casual tone they would use to ask, "Why don't you try shopping at another store?"

Don't Offer Unsolicited Opinions If They Are Trying IVF

On the flip side of the coin, don't offer unsolicited advice to your friends who do choose to try IVF. For many couples, IVF is the only way they will ever give birth to a baby. This is a huge decision for them to make.

If the couple has resolved any ethical issues, don't muddy the waters. IVF is a gray area in many ethical circles, and many of our moral leaders don't yet know how to answer the ethical questions that have arisen from this new technology. If the couple has resolved these issues already, you only make it harder by raising the ethical questions again. Respect their decision, and offer your support. If you can't offer your support due to ethical differences of opinion, then say nothing.

A couple who chooses the IVF route has a hard, expensive road ahead, and they need your support more than ever. The hormones are no cakewalk, and the financial cost is enormous. Your friend would not be going this route if there were an easier way, and the fact that she is willing to endure so much is further proof of how much she truly wants to parent a child. The hormones will make her more emotional, so offer her your support and keep your questions to yourself.

Don't Play Doctor

Once your infertile friends are under a doctor's care, the doctor will run them through numerous tests to determine why they aren't able to conceive. There a numerous reasons that a couple may not be able to conceive. Here are a few of them:

* Blocked fallopian tubes
* Cysts
* Endometriosis
* Low hormone levels
* Low "normal form" sperm count
* Low progesterone level
* Low sperm count
* Low sperm motility
* Uterine abnormalities

Infertility is a complicated problem to diagnose, and reading an article or book on infertility will not make you an "expert" on the subject. Let your friends work with their doctor to diagnose and treat the problem. Your friends probably already know more about the causes and solutions of infertility than you will ever know.

You may feel like you are being helpful by reading up on infertility, and there is nothing wrong with learning more about the subject. The problem comes when you try to "play doctor" with your friends. They already have a doctor with years of experience in diagnosing and treating the problem. They need to work with and trust their doctor to treat the problem. You only complicate the issue when you throw out other ideas that you have read about. The doctor knows more about the causes and solutions; let your friends work with their doctor to solve the problem.

Don't Be Crude

It is appalling that I even have to include this paragraph, but some of you need to hear this-Don't make crude jokes about your friend's vulnerable position. Crude comments like "I'll donate the sperm" or "Make sure the doctor uses your sperm for the insemination" are not funny, and they only irritate your friends.

Don't Complain About Your Pregnancy

This message is for pregnant women-Just being around you is painful for your infertile friends. Seeing your belly grow is a constant reminder of what your infertile friend cannot have. Unless an infertile women plans to spend her life in a cave, she has to find a way to interact with pregnant women. However, there are things you can do as her friend to make it easier.

The number one rule is DON'T COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR PREGNANCY. I understand from my friends that, when you are pregnant, your hormones are going crazy and you experience a lot of discomfort, such as queasiness, stretch marks, and fatigue. You have every right to vent about the discomforts to any one else in your life, but don't put your infertile friend in the position of comforting you.

Your infertile friend would give anything to experience the discomforts you are enduring because those discomforts come from a baby growing inside of you. When I heard a pregnant woman complain about morning sickness, I would think, "I'd gladly throw up for nine straight months if it meant I could have a baby." When a pregnant woman would complain about her weight gain, I would think, "I would cut off my arm if I could be in your shoes."

I managed to go to baby showers and hospitals to welcome my friends' new babies, but it was hard. Without exception, it was hard. Stay sensitive to your infertile friend's emotions, and give her the leeway that she needs to be happy for you while she cries for herself. If she can't bring herself to hold your new baby, give her time. She isn't rejecting you or your new baby; she is just trying to work her way through her pain to show sincere joy for you. The fact that she is willing to endure such pain in order to celebrate your new baby with you speaks volumes about how much your friendship means to her.

Don't Treat Them Like They Are Ignorant

For some reason, some people seem to think that infertility causes a person to become unrealistic about the responsibilities of parenthood. I don't follow the logic, but several people told me that I wouldn't ache for a baby so much if I appreciated how much responsibility was involved in parenting.

Let's face it-no one can fully appreciate the responsibilities involved in parenting until they are, themselves, parents. That is true whether you successfully conceived after one month or after 10 years. The length of time you spend waiting for that baby does not factor in to your appreciation of responsibility. If anything, people who have been trying to become pregnant longer have had more time to think about those responsibilities. They have also probably been around lots of babies as their friends started their families.

Perhaps part of what fuels this perception is that infertile couples have a longer time to "dream" about what being a parent will be like. Like every other couple, we have our fantasies-my child will sleep through the night, would never have a tantrum in public, and will always eat his vegetables. Let us have our fantasies. Those fantasies are some of the few parent-to-be perks that we have-let us have them. You can give us your knowing looks when we discover the truth later.

Don't Push Adoption (Yet)

Adoption is a wonderful way for infertile people to become parents. (As an adoptive parent, I can fully vouch for this!!) However, the couple needs to work through many issues before they will be ready to make an adoption decision. Before they can make the decision to love a "stranger's baby," they must first grieve the loss of that baby with Daddy's eyes and Mommy's nose. Adoption social workers recognize the importance of the grieving process. When my husband and I went for our initial adoption interview, we expected the first question to be, "Why do you want to adopt a baby?" Instead, the question was, "Have you grieved the loss of your biological child yet?" Our social worker emphasized how important it is to shut one door before you open another.

You do, indeed, need to grieve this loss before you are ready to start the adoption process. The adoption process is very long and expensive, and it is not an easy road. So, the couple needs to be very sure that they can let go of the hope of a biological child and that they can love an adopted baby. This takes time, and some couples are never able to reach this point. If your friend cannot love a baby that isn't her "own," then adoption isn't the right decision for her, and it is certainly not what is best for the baby.

Mentioning adoption in passing can be a comfort to some couples. (The only words that ever offered me comfort were from my sister, who said, "Whether through pregnancy or adoption, you will be a mother one day.") However, "pushing" the issue can frustrate your friend. So, mention the idea in passing if it seems appropriate, and then drop it. When your friend is ready to talk about adoption, she will raise the issue herself.

So, what can you say to your infertile friends? Unless you say "I am giving you this baby," there is nothing you can say that will erase their pain. So, take that pressure off of yourself. It isn't your job to erase their pain, but there is a lot you can do to lesson the load. Here are a few ideas.

Let Them Know That You Care

The best thing you can do is let your infertile friends know that you care. Send them cards. Let them cry on your shoulder. If they are religious, let them know you are praying for them. Offer the same support you would offer a friend who has lost a loved one. Just knowing they can count on you to be there for them lightens the load and lets them know that they aren't going through this alone.

Remember Them on Mother's Day

With all of the activity on Mother's Day, people tend to forget about women who cannot become mothers. Mother's Day is an incredibly painful time for infertile women. You cannot get away from it-There are ads on the TV, posters at the stores, church sermons devoted to celebrating motherhood, and all of the plans for celebrating with your own mother and mother-in-law.

Mother's Day is an important celebration and one that I relish now that I am a mother. However, it was very painful while I was waiting for my baby. Remember your infertile friends on Mother's Day, and send them a card to let them know you are thinking of them. They will appreciate knowing that you haven't "forgotten" them.

Support Their Decision to Stop Treatments

No couple can endure infertility treatments forever. At some point, they will stop. This is an agonizing decision to make, and it involves even more grief. Even if the couple chooses to adopt a baby, they must still first grieve the loss of that baby who would have had mommy's nose and daddy's eyes.

Once the couple has made the decision to stop treatments, support their decision. Don't encourage them to try again, and don't discourage them from adopting, if that is their choice. Once the couple has reached resolution (whether to live without children, adopt a child, or become foster parents), they can finally put that chapter of their lives behind them. Don't try to open that chapter again.

Make a Baby...

2009-07-21T18:15:00.003-04:00

So, you know that crazy commercials for volkswagon where people are making babies to buy a car. Well, you can make your own baby here: http://www.vw.com/vwhype/babymaker/en/us/

The baby above is what ours is supposed to look like, LOL! Hopefully someday we will at least have one!

Anohter Canceled Cycle...

2009-07-19T12:26:00.002-04:00

So, this morning I went in for my sonogram after days of injections to only find out that my follicals are on the left. So, it's back to waiting for AF to show up. I just don't know how to think or feel right now. I kinda expected this to happen as I did ovulate from the right last cycle and the left the cycle before and the right before that.

I'm just glad that I did have meds left over from the month before and I didn't waste $300 on gonal-f.

We are continued discussions about adoption and what our next steps will be. A part of me thinks that adoption is the way to go. However, another part of me still believes that we will become pregnant eventually.

I guess we will have to wait and see what our doc says on July 30th, hopefully we can get some answers from her about IUI's and the success rate of doing this.

Infertility Sucks!

2009-07-17T11:09:00.007-04:00

So, this is a small update and a great suggestion on a book I literally read in two hours! "Infertility Sucks! Keeping it together when egg and sperm remain apart."

If you are experiencing any type of infertility and haven't read this book, then you need to! It's hilarious, relate able and did I mention hilarious!?!? I highly recommend this book!

Now for an update on us! We ended last cycle last Saturday, July 11, 2009. My temp had dropped in the morning and I had a feeling that AF was coming quickly. My friends Stephanie & John were getting married that day and during the reception, there it was, AF. This was the first time that I immediately bursted into tears at the sight of AF. I don't even know where to begin about my feelings that night. Luckily I have good friends and a wonderful supportive husband. Although none of them know the feelings that go along with AF, they at least try to be sympathetic to what I am going through.

I think I was really positive this cycle because I had two follicals one at a 20 the other at a 18, and my doctor said that everything was text book perfect for me this cycle. I was very hopeful. I went for a massage the day after I triggered and I was just so excitied to end the cycle on a positive pregnancy test. I think that's why I was so emotional this time around.

So, Sunday I called the RE and Tuesday I went in for my first ultrasound of the new cycle. I have a small cyst on the right ovary (just my luck) but my RE has stated that it should go away throughout my cycle. The cyst has to dissolve or I will not be allowed to trigger after days of injecting gonal-f into my system. So, we will have to wait and see what happens. Tuesday night I started my injections, hoping that we have some good follicals on the right, but since I did ovulate from the right last cycle, there is a good chance that I will ovulate from the left this cycle. I go back on Sunday, July 19th for my next ultrasound. I'm hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.

I also found out this cycle that a gonal-f pen only lasts 28 days from the first injection. This was just great news considering that I was using old meds from the previous cycle the last few cycles. Yup, so glad that my doctor informed me of this. You really need to be your own adovate when it comes to this fertility treament that's for sure.

So, my emotions this week haven't been that great. You get the emotions of actual PMS and then you start hormone injections and you turn into a mess. I cry at the drop of a pin and sob at the thought of another cycle of not being pregnant. But oh don't worry, if I just would "relax" I would get pregnant. LOL! Boy if all I had to do was relax, I would have been pregnant two years ago.

That's pretty much summed up the last week or so. I really need to update more often so that we have an accurate account for what I'm going through.

If you are going through infertility, don't watch "16 and Pregnant" on MTV. I've been sucked in and every damn show I cry like a 2 year old. Last night's episode the teenage parents made the mature decision to give their child up for adoption. I thought the decision they made was best for them and the baby. I hope that they feel that this was the best possible decision. As I was watching the show, I lost it so many times. What a wonderful gift to give a family a baby they couldn't give themseleves. Complete self-less and mature of this couple.

This weekend should be pretty busy, we are going out tonight with friends and then heading to a family reunion on Saturday. So, busy weekend, and after Sunday I should have an update about my current cycle. Let's hope for the best!

2009-07-17T11:07:00.001-04:00

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Smoke Mozzarela Pasta Salad- Whole Foods

2009-07-03T14:02:00.003-04:00

THE PARMESAN DRESSING
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 and 1/2 tsp.)
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
THE SALAD
1/2 pound penne pasta
2 cups packed baby spinach, washed and stemmed
2 small jarred roasted red pepper, diced
1/2 pound smoked mozzarella cheese, dicedDirections
TO PREPARE THE PARMESAN DRESSING
Combine the Parmesan cheese, parsley, mayonnaise, vinegar, garlic, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper with a hand mixer or in the bowl of food processor or in a blender until the dressing is smooth.
TO PREPARE THE SALAD
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until it is al dente. Drain the pasta into a colander, run cold water over it or submerge it in ice water until chilled through, and drain well. IN a large mixing bowl, combine the cooked pasta, spinach, roasted red peppers, and smoked mozzarella.

White sangria

2009-06-30T09:18:00.002-04:00

White sangria

750 mL bottle of white wine - I like Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay
2 cups of white grape juice or white cranberry juice
A couple shots of peach schnapps
Sliced summer fruit of your choice - really good summer peaches, blackberries and raspberries are really pretty with this
Club soda

Mix in a pitcher with lots of ice and garnish glasses with a peach.

Playing Catch-up!

2009-06-28T16:10:00.009-04:00

We've had a pretty busy few weeks since I last really posted about what's going on with us. We started a new cycle about 10 days ago and things seem to be going well! My cycle started at the most perfect time, which allowed us to go to VA Beach for a few days for some much needed R&R.

We started our vacation last Friday with our annual trip to see DMB here in Pittsburgh. It was hands-down one of the best shows that I've seen in a long time. The band just kept playing and playing! Here is the set-list that we hear:
Friday Jun 19 2009
Post-Gazette Pavilion

Pantala Naga Pampa *
Rapunzel *
Granny
Stay Or Leave *
Shake Me Like a Monkey *
Spaceman *
Corn Bread *
Seven *
#41 *
Crash (Into Me) *
Funny The Way It Is *
Lying In the Hands of God *
So Much To Say *
Anyone Seen The Bridge *
Too Much (Fake) *
Tripping Billies *
Why I Am *
Jimi Thing *
Alligator Pie *
You and Me *
Grey Street *
__________________

Sister +
All Along The Watchtower *

Show Notes:
* Jeff Coffin
+ Dave, Carter Rashawn and Tim

indicates a segue into next song

We had awesome seats and we had a blast! Father's Day Todd played golf with his Dad and I stayed at home relaxing and getting ready to leave for the Beach.

Monday morning we left for VA Beach. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Sunspree resort right on the beach. The resort is pet friendly, and the only reason why we stayed at this resort and went to VA Beach was because we could take our dog with us! We had a blast with her running on the beach and enjoying life! Molly, our dog hates water, but she loved running on the sand! It was a great work out for us too!

The restort is very family friendly, so if you have kids, this is a great place to be. The resort was clean, and the staff was very nice. I would defiently stay here again! They are remolding, so some areas of the hotel are currently blocked off, but overall it's a great place for a few days of relaxation!

We came home from the beach on THursday, and Friday I was up and atem' with a wedding. Saturday we enjoyed the day at our pool with lots of friends. Last night, my friend Stephnie had her bachlorette party. We started off at the wine Loft I love wine, so this was a nice evening out with lots of friends!

Today we are playing catch-up!

As for our baby news, we had a baseline last week and then I went in Friday morning after 5 days of gonal-f, we have 2 follicals on the right, one at a 10 and another one at a 11. So, we are doing a few more days of injections and heading back Monday morning for another sonogram. Hopefully we will trigger this week! Wish us luck and send lots of prayers our way!

The Pens Take the Cup!

2009-06-16T15:42:00.000-04:00

Playing the Waiting Game...

2009-06-09T12:10:00.002-04:00

So, I am patiently waiting for AF to make her debut. We have a vacation planned to the beach in a few weeks and I am hoping that we will still be able to enjoy it! But depending on when AF returns we may need to cancel because we don't want to miss out on a cycle of a follical on the right. So, we will wait and see what happens. I guess I will just be thrilled to off for a week or so.

This past weekend I was in Erie all weekend for work. I was not looking forward to it and I'm thrilled that it's done and over with. I was beyond exhausted and today is the first day I am feeling more like myself rather than a zombie.

This weekend all I plan to do is lay at my pool and relax!! I can't wait to just lay around all weekend. I am taking Friday off and heading home to see my folks for the day, but that is all I am planning to do!!!

Canceling a Cycle...

2009-06-03T16:24:00.005-04:00

So, of course my ovaries did not corporate this month as well as they did last month. We did another round of gonal-f and was hoping to follicals on both side like last month. I went in for my sonogram on day 8 (after 5 days of injections) to find a nice size follical on the left ovary (the side with no tube) and very tiny follicals on the right ovary (side with a tube). We did two more days of injections and went back in this past Tuesday to find that no growth occurred. We had a great size follical on the left (size 18) and 3 smaller follicles on the right (size 10).

The doctor said that I maybe an "every other month" kinda girl. So, we will not trigger and will now play the waiting game for my period. Every month I don't want to get my period, however this month I can't wait to get it so I can start alllll over again. My doc was extremely nice and will try to help us out next month with some "samples." That will help with some of the expense for next month. So, we will wait and see what happens next month!

This week I'll be heading to Erie for the Kidney Walk. I'm not really looking forward to wasting my weekend aware working in Erie, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right? So, hopefully it will just go quickly and next weekend will come even quicker!

The return of AF!

2009-05-27T11:33:00.003-04:00

So, last week during our 2WW I started to spot, which was not in the plans, but oh well! So, with the return of AF after our first month of injectables we jumped right into our next cycle yesterday. I went in for our baseline sonogram and we started another round of Gonal-F yesterday. I will return to the docs next Sunday morning for another sonogram and check out the progress of my follicals. Hopefully we will have one good follical on the right and we will have another month!

I was a little upset when I started to spot, but we are both trying to remain positive that it will work this month.

This past weekend was soo busy! We started out the weekend with putting in a new pool liner. A few friends came over on Saturday and helped us to get the new liner in. 3 days and 14,000 gallons of water later, it's full! As soon as the weather warms up, we will be able to spend our weekends relaxing pool side!

Sunday morning I had to work at Kennywood for NKF. It was ok, I had to leave early because we had a wedding and I wrapped up the evening with a Miller lite in front of our friend's fire.

Monday, Memorial Day, we went over to my mother-in-law's for a small picnic. Molly got to play with Oboe, Todd's aunts new English Sheep Dog puppy. He was just adorable! Tuesday it was back to the grind ofcourse!

I will keep you updated on this month's cycle. Hopefully it will lead into good news!

How Bad is the Economy?

2009-05-18T16:18:00.005-04:00

How bad is the economy?

It is definitely getting

very bad

(Cat's are so dramatic)

Cursing at Work!

2009-05-18T14:21:00.001-04:00

Dear Employees:

It has been brought to management's attention that some individuals throughout the company have been using foul language during the course of normal conversation with their co-workers.

Due to complaints received from some employees who may be easily offended, this type of language will no longer be tolerated.

We do, however, realize the critical importance of being able to accurately express your feelings when communicating with co-workers.

Therefore, a list of 18 New and Innovative ' TRY SAYING' phrases have been provided so that proper exchange of ideas and information can continue in an effective manner.

1. TRY SAYING: I think you could use more training.
INSTEAD OF: You don't know what the f___ you're doing.

2. TRY SAYING: She's an aggressive go-getter.
INSTEAD OF: She's a f___ing bit__.

3. TRY SAYING: Perhaps I can work late.
INSTEAD OF: And when the f___ do you expect me to do this?

4. TRY SAYING: I'm certain that isn't feasible.
INSTEAD OF: No f___ing way.

5. TRY SAYING: Really?
INSTEAD OF: You've got to be sh___ing me!

6. TRY SAYING: Perhaps you should check with...
INSTEAD OF: Tell someone who gives a sh__.

7. TRY SAYING: I wasn't involved in the project.
INSTEAD OF: It's not my f___ing problem.

8 . TRY SAYING: That's interesting.
INSTEAD OF: What the f___?

9. TRY SAYING: I'm not sure this can be implemented.
INSTEAD OF: This sh__ won't work.

10. TRY SAYING: I'll try to schedule that.
INSTEAD OF: Why the f___ didn't you t ell me sooner?

11. TRY SAYING: He's not familiar with the issues.
INSTEAD OF: He's got his head up his a__.

12. TRY SAYING: Excuse me, sir?
INSTEAD OF: Eat sh__ and die.

13. TRY SAYING: So you weren't happy with it?
INSTEAD OF: Kiss my a__.

14. TRY SAYING: I'm a bit overloaded at the moment.
INSTEAD OF: F__ it, I'm on salary.

15. TRY SAYING: I don't think you understand.
INSTEAD OF: Shove it up your a__.

16. TRY SAYING: I love a challenge.
INSTEAD OF: This f___ing job suck s.

17. TRY SAYING: You want me to take care of that?
INSTEAD OF: Who the f___ died and made you boss?

18. TRY SAYING: He's somewhat insensitive.
INSTEAD OF: He's a pr_ck.

Thank You,
Human Resources

Who Knew?

2009-05-18T14:19:00.001-04:00

Who knew?
Eliminate ear mites. All it takes is a few drops of Wesson Corn Oil in your cat's or dog's ear... massage it in, then clean with a cotton ball. Repeat daily for 3 days. The oil soothes the cat's skin, smothers the mites, and accelerates healing.

Kills fleas instantly... Dawn Dishwashing Liquid does the trick. Add a few drops to your dog's bath and shampoo the animal thoroughly. Rinse well to avoid skin irritations. Good-bye fleas..

Rainy day cure for dog odor: Next time your dog comes in from the rain, simply wipe down the animal with Bounce or any dryer sheet, instantly making your dog smell springtime fresh.

Did you know that drinking two glasses of Gatorade can relieve headache pain almost immediately-without the unpleasant side effects caused by traditional pain relievers?

Did you know that Colgate Toothpaste makes an excellent salve for burns?

Before you head to the drugstore for a high-priced inhaler filled with mysterious chemicals, try chewing on a couple of curiously strong Al toids peppermints. They'll clear up your stuffed nose.

Achy muscles from a bout of the flu? Mix 1 tablespoon horseradish in 1 cup of olive oil. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes, then apply it as a massage oil for instant relief for aching muscles.

cid:006f01c9032e$8c825360$3253de62@your4dacd0ea75Sore throat? Just mix 1/4 cup of vinegar with 1/4 cup of honey and take 1 tablespoon six times a day. The vinegar kills the bacteria.

Cure urinary tract infections with Alka-Seltzer. Just dissolve two tablets in a glass of water and drink it at the onset of the symptoms. Alka-Seltzer begins eliminating urinary tract infections almost instantly-even though the product has never been advertised for this use.

Honey remedy for skin blemishes... cover the blemish with a dab of honey and place a Band-Aid over it. Honey kills the bacteria, keeps the skin sterile, and speeds healing. Works overnight.

Listerine therapy for toenail fungus: Get rid of unsightly toenail fungus by soaking your toes in Listerine Mouthwash. The powerful antiseptic leaves your toenails looking healthy again.

Easy eyeglass protection... to prevent the screws in eyeglasses from loosening, apply a small drop of Maybelline Crystal Clear Nail Polish to the threads of the screws before tightening them.

Cleaning liquid that doubles as bug killer... if menacing bees, wasps, hornets, or yellow jackets get in your home and you can't find the insecticide, try a spray of Formula 409. Insects drop to the ground instantly.

Smart splinter remover: Just pour a drop of Elmer's Glue- All over the splinter, let dry, and peel the dried glue off the skin. The splinter sticks to the dried glue.

Hunt's Tomato Paste boil cure... cover the boil with Hunt's Tomato Paste as a compress. The acids from the tomatoes soothe the pain and bring the boil to a head.

Balm for broken blisters.... to disinfect a broken blister, dab on a few drops of Listerine, a powerful antiseptic.

Vinegar to heal bruises.... soak a cotton ball in white vinegar and apply it to the bruise for 1 hour. The vinegar reduces the blueness and speeds up the healing process.

Quaker Oats for fast pain relief... it's not for breakfast any more! Mix 2 cups of Quaker Oats and 1 cup of water in a bowl and warm in the microwave for 1 minute, cool slightly, and apply the mixture to your hands for soothing relief from arthritis pain.

The Swine Flu...

2009-05-18T10:29:00.002-04:00

Just some funny pics of the Swine Flu:

A $40,000 Funeral??

2009-05-18T10:14:00.002-04:00

Jim died.

His will provided $40,000 for an elaborate funeral.

As the last guests departed the affair, his wife Sharon turned to her oldest and dearest friend. 'Well, I'm sure
Jim would be pleased,' she said.
'I'm sure you're right,' replied Brenda, who lowered her voice and leaned in close.

'How much did this really cost?'

'All of it,' said Sharon . 'Forty thousand.'

'No!' Brenda exclaimed. 'I mean, it was very nice, but $40,000?'

Sharon answered, 'The funeral was $6,500. I donated $500 to the shul. The whiskey, wine and snacks were another $500. The rest went for the Memorial Stone.'

Brenda computed quickly. '$32,500 for a Memorial Stone?

How big is it?'

Matter of Perspective

2009-05-18T09:43:00.000-04:00

MATTER OF PERSPECTIVE

No Matter how small the paycheck, how bad the job, how mean the boss;
you don't have to look very far to find someone who would gladly trade your
"lousy" job for theirs. Sometimes it takes losing that crummy job to make you realize how good you might have had it after all. Whining and complaining (very similar to bitching and moaning, just more polite!) only gets you one step closer to
longing for your old job from the unemployment line. Don't let that happen. You have two choices.

Come to grips with a less-than-perfect situation and make the best of it, realizing
that there are alternatives that are far worse. Or do whatever it takes to become
valuable to someone else and get moving to your next career adventure. Staying stuck
in the pity pot is not an option. Take great care of yourself- and your career! Peter Berner

Injectables...

2009-05-12T21:26:00.003-04:00

I have to apologize for not updating recently, work has really gotten the best of me. I had a Kidney Walk in Wheeling, WV which went extremely well! I'm very happy to say that I made budget and donations are sitll coming in. Following the Wheeling Walk I was busy getting ready for our Erie Walk scheduled for June 7th. I had to travel to Erie this past Tuesday (2 hour trip) and I have to go back up there again on Thursday. I am off on Friday which will be a wonderful break!

We also were busy last weekend taking care of our poor Molly-Girl. Molly, our 3-year-old beagle had an abcess. It was an awful experience. It started Wednesday evening when we noticed that she just wasn't feeling well. Thursday I actually decided to take off of work because she wasn't herself adn I was really worried about her. Luckily we had already planned a yearly vet visit for that evening. So, we gathered up the family (2 cats, Sophie & Luke + Molly) and went ot the vets. The cats did well and they got their shots with no problem. Molly however was miserable. They had to give her a pain shot just to take her temperature :( After the pain meds kicked in the doctor was able to clean up her abcess. Basically beagle have some issues with their anal glands, Molly has never had any issues, but unforunately her glands became so impacted that they became infected. Once they become infected with bacteria they can explode creating an abcess near near her butt-hole. So, after pain meds, cleaning it up, sending us home with an e-collar, antiobiotics and more pain meds she is starting to feel more like herself. She went 36 hours without eating and was depressed, but now is driving us crazy with her itchy-healing butt! We will go back to see the vet on the 21st and we will not learn how to drain her anal glands so this will never happen again!

I also started injectable meds this week. If you don't know what these are they are the meds that John & Kate +8 used and ended up with 6. So, ofcourse with my unicornate uterus I would never be able to carry multiple babies. So, I had to be monitored very closely. We decided to use Freedom Pharmacy and use the Gonal-F and Ovidrel injections. A little on the expensive side but not nearly as bad as I was anticipating.

On day 3 of my cycle I went in for a base-line sonogram. They do this to make sure there are not cysts on my ovaries and measure my uterus lining. Everything turned out great and on Day 3, Dr. Todd (aka my husband) gave me my first shot. Every night from there until day 8 at 5:00pm I laid down on the bed and awaited my injection. It really wans't too bad. No side effects either which was great. On Day 8 I went back to the docs for another sonogram adn blood work. I had 2 follicals my left follical was a size 11 and my right follical was a size 13. This was great news! The doctor wanted my body to produce follicals on both sides and it worked! I was pumped. So, on day 8 and day 9, I had to do 2 more gonal-F injections. On day 10 I went back in to see the doctor and my follicals grew! The only side that counts (my right) grew to a size 18! WOOHOO!!! My uterus lining was perfect and we were ready to trigger. So, in the bathroom at the Erie Seawolves baseball game I gave myself (first shot given to myself) the ovidrel shot! I did pretty good I might add!

36 hours from last night, which will be tomorrow morning at 6am, I will ovulate! So, I have a follical on the right, it's the perfect size and I will ovulate on day 13! This is just amazing! I'm so excitied, but at the same time I don't want to get my hopes up. It's a really hard situation to be in. After tomorrow we will have the dreaded 2 week wait. I hate this time, there is nothing worse than this time. I will act pregnant, treat my body like I'm pregnant, but yet, I don't know if I'm really pregnant. So, say some prayers for us, we need all we can get!

I'm really happy that the drugs worked, I couldn't have asked for anything more form them and my doctor. She was right, and I am very pleased with our current outcomes.

Needless to say Mother's Day was not so exciting. This time last year we were trying to get pregnant and here it is another Mother's Day. Yippie.... Last year I remember thinking it would be wonderful to tell our family that we would be expecting, and here we are a year later, no family, no baby, and nothing really to celebrate, except that I do have a follical! LOL! I'm glad that it's over and that I don't have to hear about it again for another year. I think Father's Day is so much easier becuase men frankly don't really care as much as women do.

Hopefully I will be able to update in the coming weeks with exciting news! Although, this is just the beginning of our journey and I'm really looking forward to the next steps and pray that we will be able to take them in the coming weeks.

It's a Mystery...

2009-04-27T20:27:00.001-04:00

If you happen to catch Mystery Diagnosis tonight on Discovery Health at 10:00pm, rumor has it that it's about a women with a unicornate uterus. Watch out world!!! I'm really looking forward to seeing the outcomes!

Update**

2009-04-24T11:37:00.001-04:00

We will be moving to injectables next cycle. Wish us more luck!!!

Busy Week, Confusion and Possibly a 2nd Opinion!

2009-04-23T20:47:00.006-04:00

So, this week has been insane! Last week the ovulation specialist at my doctor's office kinda upset me. I was going to be out of town this week for a day and not able to come into the office if I received a positive on Wednesday. She told me just to wait until I got my period to call them. I was very confused. I started ovulation testing on Sunday morning, day 11 of my cycle. Last Friday I actually spoke to my doctor and she explained that I do have a horn, but that it should not be removed unless I have issues or problems with it. This made me feel better. She also explained that they wanted to see me by Thursday no matter if I got a positive on Wednesday or not. So, after a short weekend, I started testing.

Tuesday I traveled to Erie for work, worked a very long grueling 12 hour day. On Wednesday I got a positive OPK, just my luck as I had to travel to Philly for the day for work and was unable to go to the office for testing. So, I called the office, planned for intercourse when I came home and made my appt. to go into the doctors office Thursday morning.

In the meantime after last week I thought it might be interesting to get a 2nd opinion. Even though my OBGYN and several friends referred me to this practice, I just had this gut feeling telling me to go for a 2nd opinion. So, I called Magee Hospital and spoke to their fertility department. They suggested that I see a Dr. Richard Guido. They explained that he is very difficult to get into, but very good. So, I took the first appointment that they had for May 20th. And boy after today I'm glad that I decided to do this.

So, I took an ovulation test this morning and did not get a positive result. So, I went into the doctors office had my blood work, I HATE the phlebotmoist there. She is just AWFUL!! I've never had problems with someone stabbing me and it literally takes her like 2-3 times to get my vein. I can't stand her. Then I had my sonogram.

Yesterday on the plane I could really feel my left ovary. It was really weird feeling, but I told the girl doing the sonogram that I think I have a follical on the left, and if so this month is done since I need a follical on the right to get pregnant.

When the coordinator called she left me a message saying that they need me to come back in again tomorrow for more blood work, but did not tell me whether or not I had a follical. So, after playing some phone tag the coordinator said I had a follical on the left but that it was not mature. So, they wanted me back in the office on Friday for more blood work. I asked since I don't have a tube on the left there is no reason to move on because I can't become pregnant that cycle. The coordinator was completey confused and didn't know what side I had a tube one and what side I had the horn on. This really pissed me off. Come on, I've been coming here for 4 months now, you have no know my anatomy and have my charts by now! I've had a hSG, Pelvic MRI and Pelvic x-ray, you have to know!

So, needless to say she wanted to talk to the doctor. So, I went back in for more blood work on Friday and made it a point to complain. Well, I have a tube on the right, as I thought and a horn on the left. So, this cycle is a bust, no baby, no pregnancy and no baby in January 2010. So, the coordinator will call me later today with the results of my blood work to at least let me know if I ovulated or not on the wrong side. Big deal....

But what she did say is that we may move to an injectable cycle next month. I'm a little nervous about this. But they want me to ovulate from both side and clomid did nothing for me. So, perhaps injectables will.

I will find out more later today. Needless to say I'm happy I'm working from home and even happier that it's gorgeous outside. I will update with our results later today.

Plus I can have a glass of wine this weekend, woohoo!!!

Clomid, Sore Boobies and Moving Along!

2009-04-16T09:53:00.003-04:00

So, on day 3 of my cycle I started my first round of 50mg of clomid. I will take clomid through day 7 and then starting on day 11, which will be on April 19th I will start testing at home with OPK's. I'm hopeful, but not too hopeful. I have a tendency to get my hopes up, become obsessive with the 2ww and then be let down. I actually think I was a little depressed when I get my period this last time. It kinda feels like a small death inside when it comes. My hopes were up that by Christmas and the end of 2009 we would have our family. I guess God has other plans and it's becoming difficult and stressful to wait for Him to decided when it will be the perfect time for us to start this new adventure in our lives. So, with prayer and taking it one day at a time, we will eventually get there.

Clomid side affects are supposed to be horrible and there are Internet sites all over the place about these affects. Well it hasn't' been too bad for me. Maybe because I am only on 50mg, but it's been going really well. My boobs hurt a little one night and I had one hot flash. But it was nothing I couldn't live with and it really wasn't that bad. My opinion after taking the pills for 5 days is DO NOT READ THE INTERNET!!!! Keep an open mind and don't believe just because there are "possible side affects" that you are going to get them. I think sometimes a lot of this is on our heads and not actually happening to us.

Easter was quiet and we had a good time. We went to my in-law's and celebrated with them after church in the morning. Of course we spoiled my nephew with bubbles and swimming trunks for the pool this summer. He's going to be very stylish! Then Monday was the Pittsburgh Pirate's Home Opener. We start the day out at stopping at the South Side Pretzel Shop and tailgating right outside PNC Park.

It's been a family tradition for years for us to attend the Home Opener together. So, my Sister and Brother-in-law, Father-in-law, Todd of course, Uncle Dave and two of my sister-in-law's friends went to the game. It was a little chilly in the morning but we had a great day. I didn't drink at all! I was very proud of myself. I'm down 8lbs, which is great (probably has to do with my sickness last week) and not drinking was easy, but difficult at the same time. Of course everyone who doesn't know I'm taking clomid and asked me several questions about it. I'm really open with people, and would rather be open then hide the fact that I have a messed up uterus and can't seem to get pregnant. I think it makes it easier on people that they can ask me questions and I'm open to answer them.

So, we're moving right along and trying to remain cool, calm and positive! Keep us in your prayers and hopefully we will get the opportunity to start our family in 2010!

ooey Toffee Butter Cake

2009-04-16T09:21:00.000-04:00

ooey Toffee Butter Cake

1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 large egg
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese Picture (Metafile), softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 (16-ounce) box confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup almond toffee bits or chocolate toffee bits
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13 by 9 by-2-inch baking Picture (Metafile) pan.
For the cake: In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cake mix, egg, and butter and mix well. Pat into the bottom of prepared pan and set aside.

For the filling: Still using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Dump in confectioners' sugar and beat well. Reduce the speed and slowly pour in butter. Mix well. Fold in toffee bits.

Pour filling onto cake mixture and spread evenly. Bake Picture (Metafile) for 40 to 50 minutes. Don't be afraid to make a judgment call on the cooking time, because oven temperatures can vary. You want the center to be a little gooey, so don't bake it past that point!

Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cut into squares. Just remember that these wonderful cakes are very, very rich, and a little will go a long way.

The Future...

2009-04-09T16:20:00.001-04:00

My co-workers and I decided to see a psychic, mostly for fun! And that it was! This lady does not have a crazy shop or read your palms or anything like that. She actually mediates on your name, birthday and some cards that you pick-out. She was very interesting and I have to say said some really crazy things!

You can say that maybe she saw my facebook page, but my facebook page is private, and she didn’t know my last name prior to meeting me. So, no clue how she would find crazy information out about me unless she talked to my parents, LOL, which she didn’t.

She started out telling me that I came into the world really crazy and that I was not a planned pregnancy, which I wasn’t. But supposviely in a past life I was a pleaser and that I was taken out of the world all too quickly. In order for me to get back to this world My mother and father biologically needed to have me. So, I was planned by God, but not by them, which I believe. Heck my Mother & Father were barley 17 when I was born.

She went on to state that I pulled just about every “mother” card that you could pull. That I am a hard worker and people come to me when they want something done. She said that I have two jobs, one is for money (my day job) and the other job is something that I love to do, she said she saw “tears of joy” and then asked me if I planned weddings and other events, which I do. She said that I do this job because I love it and that I need to continue to do this. She also suggested that I start taking more photos because I love photography and that I would have a better eye for it if I took more pictures. She said to start taking pictures of more children.

She said that a child will come to me in terms of 3’s, 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months. That I need to keep an open mind, eyes and ears when it comes to this. I will have a child. She said that there was more than one doctor in my practice and that one doctor was better for me than the other. I need to check both of them and decided which doctor is better for me. She said one doctor will come up with something that the other one misses.

Weird side note I start my first round of clomid on day 3 of my cycle on this Saturday and I will try 3 cycles of this before they try something else.

She asked me who “Todd” was. (Todd’s my husband) She said that he’s a “really good egg.” That most couples the first two years of marriage is the hardest, but that we had all of that figured out before we got married and we get along really well. We are the “life of the party” and people like us together. She said that he’s tall, dark hair green eyes, which he is. That he likes to work on the house and cut the grass, and doesn’t work on the weekends. Which is true! She said that he wants a child just as much as I do, and that eventually I will be a stay at home mom. Which I would love. She said that Todd wants this for me as well. She said that I would eventually end up doing this., but I would stay in my current job for a little while longer. Which I’m ok with.

She asked me who William, and Bill were. Which is just crazy because that’s my dad and grandfather’s names. She also said that their was a triangle around me, with an older lady’s name “mary, maryann” and I said Marion., my grandmother. CRAZY!! This kinda freaked me out a little.

She also said that my brother’s speech would be corrected by the time he’s 12, he talks like he is under water and that his speech will get better. (PS my brother is 10 years old)

She told me that we had pets, and that I was very nurturing. (We love our dog!) She said that I need to start praying to St. Francis (I was just in Assisi last year when we went to Italy and that was one of my favorite churches we were in.) He’s also the Patron St. of animals, which is all a little crazy. St. Francis is also my MIL’s saint name.

She told me that I live in a red brick house and that in the front yard there is a lot of good energy. She also stated that I need to start journaling more and writing down my questions for my doctor because I don’t do that and I need too.

She said that it’s a good thing that I’m not with my Mother, it wouldn’t be a good place for me, and it’s a good thing I’m not there. She said that although I think I’ve forgiven her, I still have a lot of built up issues with my mother, and that’s one reason why I want to be a mother so much to make up for what I never had. Which I agree with. (Incase you were wondering, I was raised by my Grandparents).

She said that I want to be that 1960’s mom who bakes cookies and stays home and takes care of the kids, which I really do. LOL, can you see me in my high heels and skirts taking care of the kids? I would love ever minute of it!! LOL !!!

She told me that I recently dragged my husband to a black-tie affair, (which I did for work) and that it was very profitable.

She told me that I’m creative, an out of the box thinker, and when I put my mind to something it always turns out wonderful.

She told me that my boss has my back, which I think she does and that I’m a very hard worker.

Overall it was very interesting. And I am going to call this lady again, probably go back and see her in a few months, she was too right on!

If I think of anything else she told me I'll be sure to post it!

A Very Long Week!

2009-04-09T10:04:00.000-04:00

This has been a very long week, and I can't believe that it's only Thursday! I'm really ready for it just to end! Tuesday night I had really bad cramps, I really thought that it was a good sign, Wednesday morning I was awoken by really bad cramps, yet again thinking this was a really good sign. I was nauseated all day on Wednesday, again thinking that this was tied into implantation and that I would get my BFP on Sunday. "Happy Easter Ray Family, You're Expecting!" Well, that was not going to be our adventure this month, instead I got my period this morning. It was not a very happy morning as you can guess. The cramps and throwing-up I am now thinking was just some type of crazy stomach virus. All of our "hard work" did not pay off, and we are back to square one.

I cried a little this morning, it is to be expected I guess. It sometimes feels like a small death each month, even though nothing was even living to begin with. Make sense? Maybe to some.

So, I sucked it up, and came into the office. My favorite place! LOL! So, no more obsessing, at least for another 2 weeks! LOL We will now start out first round of clomid on Saturday (day 3 of my cycle). I will take this lovely fertility medication from days 3-7, then starting on day 11, I will test with a ovulation predictor kit until I get a positive. The day that I get a positive by 6:45am (yeah, more early mornings) I will march myself into that damn fertility clinic and get a sonogram and blood work. I will pray for a follical on the right hand side of my one and only tube, they if it is there, they will give me a trigger shot and send me home for my "homework." From there I will wait another two weeks and either get my period or get a BFP.

SO, no baby in 2009, maybe 2010 will be our year, I guess we will have to wait and see what happens. We will try this clomid thing for at least 3 cycles and then we will re-evaluate our situation and take it from there. It's totally worth it, don't get me wrong, but come on! Seriously I am completely ready for our family, but I guess we will need to wait a little while longer.

I will update later about my adventure last night with 2 of my co-workers, it will be well worth the read, but I need to get some work done!

Happy Woman

2009-04-07T11:13:00.001-04:00

HAPPY WOMAN

A woman in her fifties is at home, NAKED, happily jumping on her bed and squealing with delight.

Her husband watches her for a while and asks, 'Do you have any idea how ridiculous you look? What's the matter with you?'

The woman continues to bounce on the bed and says, 'I don't care what you think. I just came from having a mammogram, and the doctor says that not only am I healthy, but I have the breasts of an 18 year-old.

The husband replies, 'What did he say about your 55-year old ass ?'
'Your name never came up,' she replied

How to Pee On a Stick

2009-04-06T15:50:00.002-04:00

Step 1...Pee on the stick. (must be sure to hold it under urine stream for a heartbeat longer than recommended just to be sure).

Step 2...Stare at stick while you continue peeing. Feel heart jump when urine passes over the spot where the line would be and it hitches for a second, then gets a dark line...then keeps going, taking your dark line with it to the test window.

Step 3...Place on bathroom counter. Pretend not to stare at it. Let's try to give yourself busy work to keep from looking at it. In fact, your toilet now gets cleaned once per day.

Step 4...Tell yourself you are expecting a BFN. Then start to mist up when you see that it is, in fact, a BFN. Stare at the blank spot for a full minute before picking it up.

Step 5...First, go to window and check it under day light.

Step 5...Now, stand on toilet to be closer to light in ceiling. Check strip.

Step 6...Close one eye. Squint other eye.

Step 7...Turn on several lamps around house. Hold strip under lamp. Check strip.

Step 8...Hold strip OVER lamp. Check strip.

Step 9...Hold strip in front of lamp so light shines THROUGH strip, just in case.

Step 10...Pull stick apart. Hesitate for a heartbeat when you realize you are holding the still wet "wick" in one hand, then continue the destruction.

Step 11...Repeat Steps 5-9.

Step 12...Throw stick away.

Step 13...Pick stick back up out of trash.

Step 14...Repeat Steps 12 and 13 the rest of the day!

All About Me!

2009-04-01T15:35:00.000-04:00

There are 298,152 people in the U.S. with the first name Tiffany.

Statistically the 215th most popular first name.

More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Tiffany are female.

There are 33,638 people in the U.S. with the last name Cramer.

Statistically the 1048th most popular last name.

There are 33 people in the U.S. named Tiffany Cramer.

There are 164 people in the U.S. named Tiffany Ray.

There are 1 or fewer people in the U.S. named Tiffany Cramer-ray.

The estimates for one or both names are not absolute. There may be fewer people with this name, or none at all.

Click here for more details: http://www.howmanyofme.com/search/

The Waiting Begins...

2009-04-01T12:56:00.005-04:00

So, good things come to those who wait right? I really hope that this testament stays true for us! Monday started the count down. I have to wait 14 days until I can test.

Side Note: I started this entry last week and I am just getting around to finishing it up today. So, I only have 7 days left until A. I get my period or B. I can take a pregnancy test. These two weeks are killing me, but I know that they will go quickly once they are over with! I am hoping and praying for a BFP. I am trying not to get my hopes up too much because I don't really want to be crushed at the end of these two weeks. Yup, you guessed I will test on Easter morning. Hopefully God will bless us and we can finally start our family. I probably won't be ready to tell our family for a few weeks and we are spending all day on Easter and the day after Easter at the Pirates Home Opener. So, we shall see. I will just want confirmation from our doctor first.

I made the decision to not drink until I take a pregnancy test as well. Friday night we went to Sing Sing for my friend April's birthday. Todd was in Arizona for work and unable to join us. It was difficult not to drink, but I made the right decision and I felt pretty good about my decision. Saturday Todd came home from Arizona and we watched Marley & Me, I cried like a baby!!! And then we watched Seven Pounds, good movie, really different.

Sunday we went over to my Sister-in-law's house to celebrate her birthday. It was fun watching Todd play with Bradyn (my 14 month old nephew. I do hope that we will have one of our own someday soon. Again good things come to those who wait right? I really hope so. Please continue to pray for my family and our patients this week!

Dangerous Dog Breed Warning

2009-04-01T09:20:00.001-04:00

Please read!!!

If you are an owner of a dog that belongs to a 'dangerous breed' category and you also have a small child please take this as a warning. Don't leave your dog with the child unattended under any circumstances.

Only a moment was enough for the following to happen. See the photo below...

Girl's Night Out!

2009-03-30T11:28:00.000-04:00

Girls Night Out

Two women friends had gone for a girl's night out.
Both were very faithful and loving wives, however they had gotten over-enthusiastic on the Bacardi Breezers.

Incredibly drunk and walking home they needed to Pee so they stopped in the cemetery.
One of them had nothing to wipe with so she thought she would take off her panties and use them.

Her friend however was wearing a rather expensive pair of panties and did not want to ruin them. She was lucky enough to squat down next to a grave that had a wreath with a ribbon on it, so she proceeded to wipe with that.

After the girls did their business they proceeded to go home.
The next day one of the woman's husband was concerned that his normally sweet and innocent wife was still in bed hung over so he phoned the other husband and said 'These girl nights have got to stop! I'm starting to suspect the worst.

My wife came home with no panties!!'
'That's nothing' said the other husband, 'Mine came back
with a card stuck to her ass that said.....
From all of us at the Fire Station. We'll never forget you.''

Testing, Early Mornings and More Testing!

2009-03-29T21:03:00.002-04:00

So, Saturday morning, typically the best day of the week to sleep in, I had to get up at 6:45am to be at my RE by 7:45am. Since I did not get a positive OPK (ovulation predictor kit) I had to go in on Saturday no matter what for a sonogram and more blood work. The sonogram went well, I have a follical! WOOHOO!! After the appointment the office called me about two hours later to let me know what I have a mature follical (18) and it's on the right side, the side I have a tube on! Even better! What fantastic news! Now for the bad news my Lh level was only at a 2.5 and my estrogen was a little low. So, they wanted to see me again today for more blood work. They thought that I would ovulate at some point today, and they wanted to see my Lh level go to at least 10.

Yesterday I thought at least Sunday I would be able to sleep in, but I was not able to. I had be at the office by 7:40am for more blood work. I yet again had a negative OPK this morning and knew that I was no where near ovulation. While i was there I decided to be my own advocate and ask a lot of questions about my situation. They decided to send me home with a trigger shot and instructed me to give myself the shot at a 90 degree angle in my stomach apon my blood results. They called me about two hours after my appointment to let me know what the good news was that my estrogen level rose, but my Lh level was only at a 4.0. So, they told me to go ahead and do the trigger shot. My husband gave me the shot around 11:00am this morning and within 36 hours I will ovulate, which is exciting. I don't think I've ever ovulated on time, so yeah!

We were told to plan for "intercourse" today, tomorrow and then again on Tuesday. It can be a lot of pressure. So, I decided to go get a pedicure and try to relax as much as possible. I really want this to work, I'm pretty excited! But I don't want to get too excited since I don't want to count my eggs before they hatch! Time is of the essences since Todd leaves for Phoenix, AZ for work. So, it will be a early morning on Tuesday to hopefully make all of this work!

They were considering giving me progestrine as well, but chose not too this cycle. Hopefully everything will just go smoothly and we will be able to move on. So, keep us in your prayers and wish us a lot of luck that we will be able to start our own family soon!

On another note this weekend we also celebrated my friend's child, Gavin's 2nd birthday. He is just too cute, and we had a great time hanging out with friends. Today we went to my Mother-in-law's for dinner and spent sometime with my nephew, Bradyn. He's going tomorrow for tubes in his ears. I hope he feels better after tomorrow.

Bumper Stickers...

2009-03-27T10:07:00.005-04:00

My Experience With Acpuncture!

2009-03-25T09:38:00.006-04:00

So, yesterday after picking up my new and stylish COACH eyeglasses at the eye doctors (don't worry they are only for reading and my eyes are perfect) I went to Shady Side for my first acupuncture session! I decided on trying MedSpa this location as it was clean, was recommended to me by my RE and I was able to get a quick appointment. I really enjoyed the acpunctures and He was very informative and it made a lot of sense. He recommended a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic, as well as another doctor in Easton, PA. I plan to look into these if we don't get answers from my current RE. He also recommended this great website www.haveababy.com It has a lot of great information on it and I recommend taking a look at it. After educating me on the philosophy of acupuncture, I had the opportunity to experience it.

The needles are thinner than a strand of hair. I had one in my head, four in my lower back, two in each calf and one in each ankle. From there he hooked up small electric stimulating to each needle that pulse. I was left in the room for 30 minutes, offered music or silence,I chose silence. Sometimes you don't always get the opportunity to be away from a computer, tv, a phone, sound, I found it rather peaceful. I almost fell asleep, but kept myself slightly awake, but very relaxed. This experience was beneficial and really just gave me some personal time, by myself with silence, I highly recommend this. To be left alone with your thoughts is very comforting.

Everyone has asked me if it hurt, No, didn't feel a inch of pain. The needles were disposable and the office was very clean. The acpunctures highly recommended this when you are going through IUI or IVF. Since we are not "there" yet, and this could become rather expensive really quickly, I'm going to wait until I get answers from my doc early next week.

This week has gone quickly getting up early for those "pee on a stick" sessions. I have not gotten a positive result. I called the office this morning and I'll be heading in tomorrow morning at 7:45am (YUCK!) for a sonogram and blood work. Monday my doctor is supposed to call me in between patients to give my pelvis MRI results as well as the results from my blood work and sonogram. After this, we should have more answers and a plan for the next month. I'm very frustrated that if you count the months I will not have a baby in 2009 if I don't become pregnant this month. This frustrates me to no end! I will be 29 in December, which is young, and I overall healthy, but to know that I will be at least 29 when I have my first, how long will it take me to my have my 2nd? I know that I should become pregnant with #1 before I even start to think about #2, but it's very frustrating, and hard not to think about it. I really want to have at least one by the time I'm 30 and it's coming sooner then you think. I'd like to be around to see my kids get married and have their own kids, which having them by 30 at times seems so old! I can't believe I'm in my late 20's!

I'm looking forward to next week and the answers that we will soon be getting. Wish us luck, we need it! Luckily tonight I will get a much needed mindless night. My co-worker Melissa and I are heading to the Britney Spear's concert at Mellon Arena. So, it will be a good mindless night. Tomorrow we will also be heading to our friend's child, Gavin's 2nd birthday. So, busy weekend, but I'm ready for anything!

Exactly how I've been feeling!

2009-03-23T12:50:00.000-04:00

Check out this blog that I follow. I really know EXACTLY how this lady is feeling and I couldn't say it better myself!
http://unicornuterus-myjourney.blogspot.com/2009/03/im-selfish-bitch.html

Something new to c heck out!

2009-03-23T12:47:00.002-04:00

http://stirrup-queens.ning.com/

This is a great social network for those who are suffering from infertility! Check it out!!

6:45am??!?!?!

2009-03-22T18:48:00.002-04:00

Yes, I have to get up at 6:45am every morning, weekends too, to pee on a stick! Today started my ovulation testing. Every morning between 6:45 and 7:00am, I must pee on a stick and call the results into my RE. The day that I get a positive result I am off for a sonogram and bloodwork that day. Hopefully I get a positive sometime this week, if not then Saturday I will go in for a sonogram and bloodwork no matter what. So, at least I should have some more answers by the end of this week. I also have a call scheduled with my doctor next week to over in detail my MRI results. It's been a long month, very emotional lately and I know that in the end we will be thankful that we went through this.

I am starting acupuncture on Tuesday. I'm going to give it a whril once and see if I like it, will it make a difference, etc. I'm pretty exicited about trying it out and learning more about the techniques and philosophy behind this form of therapy.

This weekend went all too quick! Todd worked on out retaining wall outside, which with a little help from some friends and family is almost done. I started spring cleaning! YUCK! I started in our upstairs and finished our spare bedroom, office, staircase and hallway! Next weekend I hope to tackle our bathroom and bedroom. Today I just caught up, took Molly to the groomers and tried to relax for the busy week ahead of me.

Some more info. about my uterus :)

2009-03-18T16:12:00.000-04:00

Living with Half a Uterus
The implications of having half a uterus while trying to conceive and carry a pregnancy.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/273917/living_with_half_a_uterus.html

Red Fish, Blue Fish, 1 Kidney or 2?

2009-03-04T13:59:00.004-05:00

Whew! This is late! I really need to update this more often. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind!! My RE sent me in for a x-ray with contrast to see if I had 1 kidney or 2. After fasting, doing a fleet kit the night before, and taking a sick day from work, Magee Hospital wouldn't complete the test. It seems that the same doctor who did my HSG was in the area and suggested that I have an MRI of the pelvis, not the x-ray with contrast since it yielded more radiation then I needed after the HSG test.

So, after sitting in the hospital for an hour they sent me home. ONLY for my RE to send me back to the hospital about 4 hours later for the MRI of the pelvis. I had to continue to fast, which sucked. I was pretty darn hungry after 18 hours of fasting! The MRI went fine and I had no problems. My RE followed-up with me the day after this test and explained that we would follow-up in a few weeks via phone once she gets the results from the hospital. But the x-ray technician did say that she saw 2 kidneys! woohoo! I was pretty excited to find this info out so quickly!

I continued with my weekly blood draw until this past week when my progestrine went from 0 to 15! So, within a week time period I ovulated. This is great news!! But the bad news is that I ovulated really late in my cycle. So, this month we are going to use OPK's (ovulation predictor kits). The day that I get a "positive" result I am to call the doctors between 6:45 and 7:00am to schedule blood work a sonogram that day. So, I will even be up early on the weekend! YUCK!

So, more waiting this month, but at least we had some good news this month! I'm looking forward to finding more answers this month. I know that someday soon we will be celebrating a pregnancy, but it's taking so long to get here! God sure is teaching me some major patients!

On a positive note, a week ago we had our Kidney Gift of Life Gala, it went excellent and everyone had a great time. Then that same week it was World kidney Day. We did a very large KEEP screening in East Liberty. It was a very busy two weeks, hence the reason why I didn't update this blog.

My adorable nephew, Bradyn also celebrated his 1st birthday. It was a joyous occasion and it was great to see him eat his cake!!

It was a busy few weeks and I'm looking forward to catching-up on life and just enjoying time together the next few weeks!

A Plan...

2009-03-01T18:35:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lateness in this update. Last week and this upcoming week I am swamped! I am happy to report that we had our first doctor's appointment with Dr. Carolyn Kubik and we love her! She was understanding, patient, and really explained everything that's going on with us. So, I have a unicornate uterus. Yup, I was born this was, and I'm now completely ok with it. Having 1/2 of a uterus and one tube is not ideal, but it's also not impossible to have a family either. She explained that when I was an embryo and my uterus was forming (it grows in two parts to join together to make a heart shaped uterus) only have of my developed. Since your tubes, uterus and kidneys all develop at the same time I only have 1 tube as well. Now, we are not sure about the kidneys yet. So, this week I will be heading to Magee women's hospital for an IVP (scan of my kidneys).

Luckily my ovaries grew at a different time and I do have two ovaries. The doctor was very patient and really explained everything very well. I also loved the office staff. So, it seems that less than 5% of women have this, as far as they know. There maybe more women that have this and we just don't know about it. So, our first step to our family is blood work, lots of blood work!

Starting at my appointment last week, and through my cycle this month I will go in for weekly blood work. The doc is going to check to see if I am ovulating or not. There seems to be a possibility that I may not be ovulating at all. So, after this cycle, if I am not ovulating I will start a round of chlomid (ovulation drug) next cycle. During the round of chlomid I will go in for a sonogram to see if I am ovulating from the side I have a tube on or the side that I don't have a tube on. If I am ovulating from the side that I don't have a tube on, well then I can't get pregnant that month. If I am ovulating from the side that I have a tube on, they will give me a trigger shot, and send me home for some fun! LOL

So, we seem to have the starts of a plan. My doctor is very conservative and is very cautious that we will have one baby at a time, especially because I will have a high risk pregnancy because the baby will have limited room to move in my 1/2 of a uterus.

I am renewed and excited about this adventure. At times I know I will be frustrated, stressed and overwhelmed; but overall I am pleased with my doctor, our opportunity for a family and the next steps in our life.

Wish us luck, pray for us a ton and stay tuned for details from my IVP test later this week!

Motivational Posters...

2009-03-01T18:28:00.005-05:00

Dogs can be funny too!

2009-03-01T18:25:00.001-05:00

STEELER NATION

2009-03-01T18:20:00.004-05:00

After the superbowl, you receive the best forwarded messages ever!

One More Week!

2009-02-19T16:19:00.003-05:00

It's been about two months since we found out about my crazy uterus and tube situation! I'm glad time has been going quickly. I have one more week until we head to see Dr. Kubik, our new RE. I'm really looking forward to getting more answers. It's been gruiling just waiting around for this appointment with no answers! For example, doI have one kidney or two? What are the chances of us having a miscarriage, what are the chances that i will be on bed rest? Ahhh, so many questions!

Well, next Wed. the 25th we will finally get some answers and become one step-closer to having our own family!

Can you believe we won another super bowl? So exciting!!! We had so much fun watching the game at our friends Tim and April's house. so much fun!

I was struck with a stomach virus the day we won the superbowl. I was completey fine until I got home from our friend's house and then it hit me! I was so sick! It was awful, but I'll take the 10lbs. that I lost any day!

Well, the last month or so has been really busy. I traveled to NYC for a conference for work. It was pretty cold there, but we had a good time.

Then the week after I got back from NYC, Todd headed to Rhode Island for work.

This weekend we will be celebrating my nephew's first birthday! I can't believe that lil' Bradyn Michael will be turning 1!! I'll post pics after his party on Saturday.

Well, the countdown is on to next week and ofcourse I've been looking for answers on blogs and the Internet. I know, not the place to look, right? You jsut get so many crazy answers from people. I'm hoping that by blogging about our experience, I will be able to give other's hope and answers if they are ever diagnosed.

Look at some of the reading's I've found:

I was just reading about Pregnancy Outcomes in Unicornuate Uteri.

Our review revealed 20 studies of varying size and design that had commented on pregnancy outcomes in unicornuate uteri. These studies ranged in date from 1953 to 2006 and from a sample size of one to 55 patients. In total, we examined 290 women with unicornuate uterus reported in the literature. Of those patients, 175 conceived, to carry a total of 468 pregnancies. Incidence data in the literature reveal that unicornuate uterus occurs in 1:4020 women in the general population; the anomaly, however, is significantly more common in infertile women, as in women with repeated poor outcomes. Our review revealed rates of 2.7% ectopic pregnancy, 24.3% first trimester abortion, 9.7% second trimester abortion, 20.1% preterm delivery, 10.5% intrauterine fetal demise, and 49.9% live birth.

The Steelers & Snoop Dog!

2009-02-12T10:06:00.003-05:00

I find these pictures hilarious! So, 96.1 posted these pictures on their freak show homepage and I found these soo good I had to post them here. I really enjoy the one with Ravenstahl and Snoop! It really just makes me laugh inside to think that Holmes was out celebrating with Snoop,wondering if they smoked one together? Thoughts?

Here We Go Steelers

2009-01-28T12:47:00.001-05:00

Reasons why my husband won't let me do certain things!

2009-01-28T12:30:00.002-05:00

This is why my husband will not let me buy one of these blankets!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h05ZQ7WHw8Y

Reasons why my husband won't let me do certain things!

2009-01-28T12:30:00.000-05:00

This is why my husband will not let me buy one of these blankets!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h05ZQ7WHw8Y

You Just Never Know!

2009-01-28T10:35:00.000-05:00

So, many of you know that Todd and I have been trying to start our family. Well, recently my OBGYN has decided that we do a few tests. So, over the holidays, we went through some bloodwork and an HSG test to see what was going on with the delay in our baby making.

Well, following the HSG test we found out that I was born with a birth defect that has gone unnoticed until the tests. I was born with 1 tube, and 1/2 of a uterus. Otherwise known as a Unicornuate Uterus. It is a very rare birth defect that only 1-2% of women have. Hence the reason why our family has been delayed for about a year now. I actually found out during the HSG test that I had one tube. I was filled with emotion and had to return to work following this very uncomfortable and annoying test.

Well, it was about a week later whe my doctor called me to tell me that I had 1 tube and 1/2 of a uterus. I was filled with even more emtion when I found this out. SO, not only is it going to be more difficult for me to become pregnant, but now once I am pregnant I will automatically have a "high risk" pregnancy. After weeks and weeks of taking all of this information in, I am finally able to talk about it. It has been a difficult 2009 so far for Todd and I. We are going to attack this very open minded and hopefully with a positive outlook.

We have decided to see a fertility specialist. We will be going ot see Dr. Kubik. A very good friend of mine is also seeing her and she has came very recommended by my OBGYN who shares office space with her in Wexford, PA. The office is located in Penn Hills, a little out of the way form where we live, but she is the best from what we hear!

My husband and I are anxiously awaiting this appointment on February 25, 2009. I plan to blog more about reaching our goal of having a baby in the coming months. There does not seem to be that much information out there, and I have had a hard time finding websites that offer more information. So, hopefully this blog will serve as more information about what we are going through to have a baby.

My OBGYN has stated that we do have a lot of good things going for us, we are young, healthy and we should be able to carry the baby full time. So, join us along in this adventure and I look forward to finding more women with this condition. If you want to read more, this has been a helpful site that I've been reading: http://home.earthlink.net/~hrair/introuni.html

Family Christmas Pics and lots more!

2008-12-18T09:17:00.000-05:00

Again it's been awhile since I wrote about what's been going on in our lives. It's been a pretty busy two months, probably the reason why I haven't wrote about what's been happening. We celebrated Thanksgiving for the 2nd year at our home in Pittsburgh. My family from Armagh, and Lancaster came in to help us celebrate and it was a great day! The turkey was delicious (we went all organic this year) and it's so nice to have both sides of our family together, in one house! Here are just a few pics of our day:

Every year we have made it a tradition to go with my bro/sis-in-law to cut down our Christmas tree. This year, becuase of the weather and having a 9 month old nephew, we were not able to do this. We still went together, but just to a local place to pick out our tree. Todd and I decorated outside and prepared for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving.

This year we also decided to start a brand new tradition, we decided instead of buying my sis/bro-in-law gift cards and also for my father/mother-in-law we decided to do family pictures. This was our Christmas gifts to everyone. We paid for the photographer, and we had the prints printed for our family. A very good friend/photographer, Joanna Fassinger came out to our home the weekend after Thanksgiving and helped to make all of this happen. I was thrilled with the outcome and I think everyone else was too. Here are some pics from that morning:

Shortly after Thanksgiving, and finishing up our Christmas shopping, we celebrated my birthday on December 13, 2008. I can't believe i'm 28 years old!! I remember when my parents were 28 and I thought that was "so old!" I guess it's really not that old! Todd and I went ice skating in the ealry afternoon down at PPG and then we headed to Rock Bottom for dinner. It was a nice, relaxing day! All birthdays should fall on Saturdays so you don't have to go to work!

This week we have been doing a lot of relaxing, with both of us having small colds. Tonight I am throwing a celebration party for the National Kidney Foundation's Walk, which I held back in November. I'm looking forward to wrapping up the walk and preparing for next year.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Snowman Cartoon

2008-12-15T16:22:00.000-05:00

Wal-Mart Bingo

2008-12-15T16:21:00.000-05:00

So true, and so hilarious! I just couldn't stop laughing at this one!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Dream Bars

2008-12-15T10:16:00.000-05:00

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Dream Bars

Makes: 25 squares Bake: 42 minutes Chill: at least 2 hours Prep: 10 minutes View Nutrition Facts
Ingredients
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 box (18.2 ounces) brownie mix
1/2 cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoons light corn syrup
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Whipped cream, chopped peanuts, chocolate-peanut butter candies and caramel sauce, to garnish

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line pan with foil, allowing sides to overhang; spray foil. In small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and granulated sugar. Mix in melted butter. Press crumb mixture into prepared pan. Bake until golden, about 5 to 7 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

2. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions for cakelike brownies (adding 1/4 cup water, 1/3 cup oil and 3 eggs). Fold in chopped nuts. Pour batter into crust-lined pan. Return to 350°F oven; bake until brownie is just set and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

3. With electric mixer in medium bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add peanut butter and confectioners' sugar; beat until just blended (it will look lumpy). Add milk; beat lightly to loosen mixture. In separate bowl, whip 1 cup of the cream and gently fold into peanut butter mixture. Spread mousse evenly over cooled brownie. Refrigerate 1 hour.

4. Heat remaining 1/2 cup cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until just boiling. Remove from heat; add corn syrup and chocolate chips. Cover and let stand 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. Pour glaze over chilled mousse and spread to cover completely. Return to refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

5. Run a small knife around inside of pan and lift out brownie. Heat knife under hot running water and trim edges. Slice brownie, rinsing knife after each cut, into 5 strips about 1-1/2 inches wide. Cut each strip into 5 pieces about 1-1/2 inches square. Transfer to a serving plate and garnish with whipped cream, nuts, candy and caramel sauce.

A Bail Out Plan that May work!

2008-12-11T10:25:00.000-05:00

Now here's a bail out plan that works!
I'm against the $85,000,000,000 bailout of AIG.

Instead, I'm in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in "We Deserve It Dividend".
To make the math simple, let's assume t here are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.
Our population is about 301,000,000 ± counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might b e a fair stab at adults 18 and up..

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon that equals $425,000.00.
My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a "We Deserve It Dividend".
Of course, it would NOT be tax free.

So let's assume a tax rate of 30%.
Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes.

That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.

But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket.
A husband and wife has $595,000.00.

What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?
Pay off your mortgage - housing crisis solved.
Repay college loans - what a great boost to new grads
Put away money for college - it'll be there

Save in a bank - create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car - create jobs
Invest in the market - capital drives growth
Pay for your parent's medical insurance - health care improves

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.

If we're going to re-distribute wealth let's really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( "vote buy" ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.
If we're going to do an $85 billion bailout, let's bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!

As for AIG - liquidate it.
Sell off its parts.

Let American General go back to being American General.
Sell off the real estate.

Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
Here's my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn't.

Sure it's a crazy idea that can "never work."
But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!
How do you spell Economic Boom?

I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion "We Deserve It Dividend" more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC .
And remember, this plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.

Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.
You don't want to even hear what I think about the stupid mortgage companie sthat loaned out billions of dollars to people who they knew had no way of payingback the loans, with both sides of the equation interested in one thing...fast money.But it didn't work, and now we're supposed to bail out those idiots too???

Terrible towel over Afghanistan.

2008-12-11T10:21:00.001-05:00

Another Plaxico!

2008-12-11T10:02:00.001-05:00

Warning: "You'll shoot your thigh out."

Before trying out his Christmas gift, Plaxico ponders this warning: “You’ll shoot your thigh out.”

Putting up Christmas Lights

2008-12-11T09:32:00.002-05:00

The wife has been on my case to get the Christmas lights up for a couple of weeks now. They are up now and for some reason she will not talk to me.

A Screen Shot of Santa's Email

2008-12-11T09:32:00.001-05:00

Poor Plaxico!

2008-12-11T09:30:00.000-05:00

Cheezyness!

2008-12-11T09:28:00.000-05:00

My husband asked for this for Christmas, it was obviously being a smart ass:

https://www.victoryplates.com/?mid=524065

Pumpkin Cake

2008-12-07T14:00:00.000-05:00

This is a great recipe and super easy for Pumpkin Cake!

1 29oz. can of pumpkin
1 12 oz. evaporate milk
3 eggs beaten
3/4 sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon.
1/4 nutmeg
1 box yellow cake mix
1 C pecans (chopped)
3/4 C Margarine (melted)

Mix the top 7 indigents
Pour into the bottom of a 9/13 baking dish
Pour the yellow cake mix on the top of the pumpkin mixture
Place pecans on top of everything
Pour of the melted margarine on top of that
Bake for 50 minutes on 350.

This is sooo yummy!

ENJOY!!!

Crab Stuffed Mushroom Caps

2008-11-23T15:23:00.000-05:00

CRAB STUFFED MUSHROOM CAPS
Ingredients
1 cup crabmeat
1/2 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
4 tablespoons Parmesan House Seasoning,
recipe follows 10 white mushrooms caps
1/2 cup bread crumbs Nonstick cooking spray

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the crabmeat, cream cheese, parsley, green onions and Parmesan. Season with House Seasoning, to taste.
Stuff the mushroom caps with the mixture and top with bread crumbs. Spray the tops with nonstick spray to help them brown. Transfer to the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the filling is hot and melted.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Super Busy!

2008-11-23T12:09:00.001-05:00

It seems like forever since I last posted! It's been a whirlwind month! Let's start out with what we've been doing!

We handed out candy to the trick-or-treaters on Halloween. Molly was dressed-up in her trick-or-treat shirt and was a big hit among the lil' kids. Here are some pics from Halloween:

Halloween was fun, and we had a good time meeitng some of our neghbors.

The weekend after Halloween was the NKF Walk at the Pittsburgh zoo & PPG Aquarium. This was my first large event for the NKF and it went off without a hitch! I was very impressed with how everything totally fell into place! We had over 800+ walkers and raised close to $90,000! I tripled the amount of walkers and almost trippled the amoutn of money they had raised in the past to fight CKD. I'm looking forward to building this walk and helping to fight this horrible disease that over 26 million Americans are currently suffering from. For more information visit: http://www.kidneyall.org/. Here are just a few pics from the day:

For our anniversary I gave Todd a pair of tickets to the Indy vs. Steeler's football game. I was so exicited about these GREAT tickets!!!! We had club seating and the best time! I searched high and low for these tickets and was able to find them on ebay.com for a great price. Although, the Steeler's lost, we had a great time tailgating with friends and drinking some Miller Lite! Here are just a few shots:

Following Halloween and the walk at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium and the GREAT Pittsburgh Steeler's Football game, I had a brief trip to Dallas, Texas for the NKF. It was a interesting trip, and a really long week. I was selected nationally to train other's about walks and how to make them successful. It was a great opportunity and will look great on my resume. I also had the opportunity to spend some time with our Philly staff, we had a great time getting to know one another.

Once night we decided to hit up a honkey-tonk. Unforunately, the Glass Cactus was not a honkey-tonk, but a very posh night club! We had a great time, but it was not what we were expecting at all!

While I was there I also had the opportunity to visit with Uncle Frank & Aunt Deb (DH's relatives in Dallas). It was great to see them! They took me out for a delicious Mexican dinner before having a night-cap at my hotel before they left. Thanks guys for a great night!

Here is a pic of one of the desserts we had at training, it was a golf ball during golf trainig. We also had a shoe during walk training, but I didn't get a chance to snap a pic of it.

Here is some of the staff hanging out at the "honkey-tonk."

As you can see, it's been a super busy month! November is heading to be just as busy! We are preparing for Thanksgiving Dinner with both of our families at our home and looking forward to cutting down our Christmas Tree! I love the holidays! Hopefully I'll be able to post a little more often!

The Spoiled Under 30 Crowd!

2008-11-19T11:50:00.000-05:00

I'm not over 30 year, but pretty darn close!

THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD!!!
When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tearswith their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking Twenty-five miles to school every morning.

Uphill... barefoot...

BOTH ways
Yadda, yadda, yadda
And I remember promising myself that when I grew up,there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!
But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.

You've got it so easy! I me an, compared to mychildhood, you live in a damn Utopia!

And I hate to say it but you kids today youdon't know how good you've got it!
I me an, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know so me thing, we had to go to the damn library andlook it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!!

There was no email!! We had to actually writeso me body a letter, with a pen!

Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!

There were no MP3' s or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself!

Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!

We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If youwere on the phone and so me body else called they got a busy signal, that's it!

And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school,your mom, your boss, your Bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation videoga me s with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With ga me slike 'Space Invaders' and 'asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your Imagination!! And there were no multiple levelsorscreens, it was just one screen . . .Forever!

And you could never win. The ga me just kept gettingharder and harder andfaster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it ca me to channel surfing! You had to get offyour ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was noCartoon Network either! You could only get cartoonson Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying??? We had to wait ALL WEEKfor cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!

And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heatso me thing up we had to use the stove ... Imagine that!

That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kidstoday have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lastedfive minutes back in 1980!

Regards,
The over 30 Crowd

The President's New Car...

2008-11-18T15:55:00.000-05:00

Some thoughts on the recent election...

2008-11-18T11:01:00.001-05:00

Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read 'VoteObama, I need the money.' I laughed.

Once in the restaurant my server had on a 'Obama 08' tie, and again Ilaughed as he had given away his political preference -- just imagine thecoincidence.

When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him thatI was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood therein disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip tosomeone who I deemed more in need -- the homeless guy outside. The serverangrily stormed from my sight.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the serverinside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy wasgrateful.

At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realizedthe homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiterwas pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though theactual recipient 'deserved' money more.

I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in conceptthan in practical application.

A Cup of Tea For Daddy

2008-11-14T16:30:00.000-05:00

A Cup of Tea for Daddy

One day my mother was out and my dad was in charge of me. I was maybe 2 1/2 years old and had just recovered from an accident. Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a get-well gift and it was one of my favorite toys.

Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I brought him a little cup of 'tea', which was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home.

My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!'

My Mom waited, and sure enough, here I come down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy and she watches him drink it up.

Then she says, (as only a mother would know:) 'Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get water is the toilet?'

Most Dangerous Cake!

2008-10-24T15:10:00.001-04:00

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE
4 tablespoons flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

3 tablespoons oil

3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)

a small splash of vanilla extract 1 large coffee mug
Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well.

Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed! Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT! (This can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

Pumpkin Pie Fudge

2008-10-23T10:02:00.000-04:00

Pumpkin Pie Fudge
Ingredients:
3 cups sugar
¾ cup unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 tbsp. corn syrup
2 ½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
9 oz. white chocolate, chopped
7 oz. jar marshmallow crème
1 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted (optional)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:
Stir together first six ingredients in a 3 ½ - quart saucepan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until a candy thermometer registers 234° (soft-ball stage). Remove pan from heat; stir in remaining ingredients until well blended. Pour into a greased aluminum foil-lined 13x9 inch pan. Let stand 2 hours or until completely cool; cut fudge into squares

Change...

2008-10-21T15:49:00.001-04:00

Next Season on Dancing with the Stars!

2008-10-21T15:47:00.000-04:00

Happy Annivesary to Us!

2008-10-21T15:33:00.001-04:00

Todd and I celebrated our first anniversary yesterday! It was fun to celebrate by taking the day off of work! Unfortunately, Todd was not able to take the entire day off. So, I went shopping in the morning with my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and my nephew. We traveled down to the new Tanger Outlets. I had previously been to the outlets for a few hours, so it was great to see more of the stores and spend more time checking out the stores. I picked-up a few Christmas gifts and then we headed home.

Todd and I then went to the Melting Pot for dinner. Mmmm, it's one of my favorite restaurants! We had a good time creating fondue food and enjoying each other's company. With him being out of town so much lately, it was great to have an uninterrupted dinner. We then went home, drank some Asti and went to bed.

Since the first anniversary is paper, I got Todd two tickets to the upcoming Steeler's Game against Indy. He was pretty pumped to get the tickets, as we will be sitting at t he club level! My anniversary gift was purchased at Tiffany's a couple of weeks ago! :) We hope to go away for a few days this winter to Hidden Valley or Seven Springs, but with our current schedules we are unable to get a weekend away right now. So, hopefully this winter.

Being that this was also our first anniversary, of course we had to drag out our frozen wedding cake! Yummy! We were so full from dinner, we each took two bites right before we went to bed. I didn't get any on our wedding day, except what Todd fed me, so it was nice to see what the cake actually tasted like, and it was pretty good!

We have a busy couple of weeks coming up with my work Walk coming up, as well as the holidays. I can't wait to decorate for Christmas!

Tiffany & Co Opens and our weekend!

2008-10-12T19:02:00.000-04:00

Todd came home on Friday from Las Vegas, he was there for a week for a trade show. Overall the show went well, and I missed him, so I'm glad he's home for a few days. He leaves again on Wednesday for another trade show down in Washington, D.C. I'm glad he'll be home on Saturday though since our anniversary is next week. I can't believe we've been married almost a year! CRAZY how time flies!

Friday I also had the unique opportunity to attend the opening ceremony for Tiffany & Co.'s new location at the Ross Park Mall. I haven't been to this mall since I lived in my apartment near LaRoche College, but this is really my favorite mall and they have really done a fantastic job updating and remodeling. Even stores that have been there for a long time have updated their look. The opening was an experience and I'm glad that I had the unique opportunity to attend! I literally got to have breakfast at Tiffany's!

Once the ceremony was over, the doors were opened, as I entered everyone received mimosas, small breakfast hour'douvs, and was able to shop! Everyone also received a small gift bag with an adorable Tiffany & CO. blue box wrapped in a white ribbon like pictures at the top of my blog. It was really cute and I'm glad I was able to receive it as a gift from Tiffany's. It was so much fun to be one of the first people to enter! Here are a few pics:

What's going to Tiffany's and not doing a little shopping? Of course I had to do a little shopping, what type of question is that? I picked up these really cute earrings

I also picked up a great necklace:

It was a great day and I was thrilled to be a part of it!

Also on Friday I was thrilled to hear that my wedding bouquet was FINALLY done! Almost a year ago my bouquet was picked up at my reception to be freeze dried by Frozen in Time. I booked Frozen in Time as one of my many wedding vendors because they had the pleasure of picking up my bouquet at my reception, which was great. HOWEVER, they took almost a year to return my finished product to me. When I returned from my honeymoon the week after my wedding, I paid 1/2 of the payment and ordered my frame, at that time I was told 6 months. Well, almost a year later and I finally have my finished product. I would not necessarily book them as it they seem to take a lot of orders and they can't keep up with them. If you want instant gratification, go some place else like Kathy's Keepsakes. If you want to take your time, and you don't mind waiting a year for your bouquet, then take it to Frozen in Time.

Overall, I'm happy with the quality of work, but they did forget to place my husband's boutonniere in the bouquet, which I am frustrated about. Here is a quick shot of my frozen bouquet laying on our dinning room table. I am not sure where I am going to hand it yet because it can not be hung in direct sunlight. So, we're thinking maybe our bedroom.

Sunday I had a few appointments in the morning and then we headed over to my Mother-in-law's house for dinner. I got to spend sometime with my adorable nephew, and now we're home catching-up on some rest! I'm glad I have tomorrow off, however, I am taking my car to get inspected. Hopefully I won't have to spend all day at #1 Cochran.

A Waffle House Wedding

2008-10-09T13:57:00.001-04:00

http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/ftp/multimedia/waffleweddingx/publish_to_web/

Would you vote for me instead of McCain and Obama?

2008-10-09T11:33:00.001-04:00

Check this out:

http://www.news3online.com/index.php?code=92O2CiW3QX5sp65Ho102

Long time..not post...

2008-10-03T15:29:00.000-04:00

It's been a few weeks since an update. We've been pretty busy and trying to adjust to the cold weather that has came rather quickly. Todd leaves today for a week in Vegas for a convention, so it'll just be Molly, the cats and me until next Friday. I have some plans to catch-up with some friends and clients and spend next week in the field a lot for work trying to gears up for our walk on November 2, 2008.

I am pumped that Todd knows that I got him steeler tickets for our anniversary, so we will be heading to the Indianapolis/Steeler game on Nov. 9th, I can't wait! It's our fisrt game in over two years, so we are pretty excitied. I also can't believe that we have been married for almost a year! It's crazy to think of that!

Other than that, life is going pretty good, and we are chugging along.

How to make a Women Happy...

2008-09-26T12:56:00.000-04:00

How to Make a Woman Happy
It's not difficult to make a woman happy.... A man only needs to be:
1. a friend
2. a companion
3. a lover
4. a brother
5. a father
6. a master
7. a chef
8. an electrician
9. a carpenter
10. a plumber
11. a mechanic
12. a decorator
13. a stylist
14. a sexologist
15. a gynecologist
16. a psychologist
17. a pest exterminator
18. a psychiatrist
19. a healer
20. a good listener
21. an organizer
22. a good father
23. very clean
24. sympathetic
25. athletic
26. warm2
7. attentive
28. gallant
29. intelligent
30. funny
31. creative
32. tender
33. strong
34. understanding
35. tolerant
36. prudent
37. ambitious
38. capable
39. courageous
40. determined!
41. true
42. dependable
43. passionate
44. compassionate

WITHOUT FORGETTING TO:
45. give her compliments regularly
46. love shopping
47. be honest
48. be very rich
49. not stress her out
50. not look at other girls

AND AT THE SAME TIME, YOU MUST ALSO:
51. give her lots of attention, but expect little yourself
52. give her lots of time, especially time for herself
53. give her lots of space, never worrying about where she goes

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT:
54. Never to forget: * birthdays* anniversaries* arrangements she makes

HOW TO MAKE A MAN HAPPY
1. Show up naked
2. Bring food

A Special Invitation!

2008-09-25T18:21:00.000-04:00

Todd & I where thrilled today to receive an exclusive invitation to the grand opening of Tiffany & CO. We were invited to an opening ceremony, as well as breakfast at the new location on 10.10.08. Since our wedding bands and engagement ring are from there, this totally made my day! Let's just say Todd and I have spent enough money there, so t he invite is the least they can do! LOL I immediately RSVP'd for both of us with hopes that we will receive some free goodies!

Unfortunately, Todd will be in DC for work during the opening, so I may need to go by myself OR I will bring someone from work to tag along. Needless to say I'm so pumped and can't wait to experience this exclusive opportunity!

Here is an article from: http://www.post-gazette.com/

Another dazzling jewel: Innovative Tiffany has grand plans for its store in Ross Park Mall

Wednesday, September 10, 2008By LaMont Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Tiffany & Co."Bird on a Rock," showcasing the 128.54-carat Tiffany Diamond, one of the world's largest yellow diamonds, is on permanent view on the main floor of Tiffany's New York store.NEW YORK -- The name Tiffany hasn't always conjured images of dazzling diamond rings and blue boxes the shade of a robin's egg.In 1837, when Charles Lewis Tiffany and business partner John Young opened the first store on Broadway in lower Manhattan, Tiffany & Co. specialized in stationery, silver flatware and fancy gifts -- and generated headlines with non-negotiable prices.But the nature-inspired rings and necklaces that came later are what made Tiffany America's preeminent jeweler and one of the most respected luxury brands in the world. And as the luxury goods sector of the U.S. economy enjoys a sustained boom that runs counter to the current slowdown, new Tiffany stores continue to open at the rate of five to seven per year.The Pittsburgh store opening Oct. 10 at Ross Park Mall is the third of four domestic store launches this year, with Columbus, Ohio, becoming the last in November. It will be the first time Tiffany goods are available locally, other than through online orders.Company executives decided to open a Tiffany in Pittsburgh based on activity from local customers on its Web site. They don't expect the new store to underperform because of online buying."Often, customers will browse online and find something they like and go into the store to buy it," said Tiffany spokeswoman Linda Buckley. "They complement each other very well."At the Ross Park Mall store, merchandise will be displayed atop counters rather than inside windowed cases. At 5,700 square feet, the store will be the size typical of those outside of New York City, but there won't be enough space to display all of Tiffany's products. Products will range from high end to low end, and anything not on display can be delivered to the store.Tiffany executives said all of the ingredients are in place for the Pittsburgh store to do well."Pittsburgh is such a great American city with its own great history. It seems to be a perfect match," said Ms. Buckley, noting that pop artist icon and Pittsburgh native Andy Warhol designed Christmas cards and window art for Tiffany.Through the agesTiffany's history reveals more than a tradition of fine jewelry.Tiffany designers in 1885 redesigned the Great Seal of the United States that is printed on every $1 bill and they created the invitations for the opening of the Statue of Liberty at Ellis Island in 1886.The following year, Tiffany introduced the six-prong setting, the first ring design to elevate the jewel above the band to better showcase its brilliance. Tiffany has been the source of elegant White House china for generations, with Lady Bird Johnson commissioning a service in 1968 that featured 90 flowers.When honorees receive the Medal of Honor, they become owners of a Tiffany design. Tiffany also created the NFL Super Bowl's Vince Lombardi Trophy, and the company makes the World Series trophy for Major League Baseball along with occasional awards for championships in golf, tennis, auto racing and other major sports.Tiffany has introduced four gemstones to the world, including tanzanite. The company also has exerted significant influence on domestic commerce, developing its own silver and platinum quality quotients that later were adopted as national industry standards.Many Tiffany jewelry pieces are based on designs by master jewelry designer Jean Schlumberger, who opened his salon in the store in 1956. He designed for Tiffany until his death in 1987.Other baubles are the fruit of longtime collaborations with an exclusive handful of designers. Tiffany has partnered with Elsa Peretti for 34 years, Paloma Picasso for 28 years and architect Frank Gehry for the past two years.Tiffany also has collaborated with prestige watchmaker Patek Philippe for nearly 160 years.It's time for Tiffany to initiate another design collaboration, said Stan Herman, a fashion designer and past president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America."They're very consistent," he said. "But their consistency is far from boring. They've never peeked over the edge, but they've always reached for the stars. They've always done what they felt they could do well. If ever there was an iconic label, it's Tiffany."Tiffany in New YorkThe core of company creativity originates at the regal Tiffany flagship at Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, which was the first centrally air-conditioned business in the Big Apple when it was built in 1940. The seven-story building -- three more floors were added later -- was designed by Cross and Cross, the same architectural firm that designed the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.With elegant green marble, teakwood and an exotic striped hardwood, the expansive first floor was designed with an invisible H-shaped ceiling support rather than pillars, unusual at the time. Large, high windows allow northern sunlight to illuminate the space along with recessed ceiling lights rather than the suspended lamps that were standard at the time.With its 24-foot-high ceilings, the space has the feel of a ballroom. It's grand, open and inviting, almost overwhelming.In a display case built into a wall rests the legendary Tiffany diamond, mounted in a Schlumberger-designed setting named "Bird on a Rock." The stone, one of the world's largest fancy yellow diamonds, was found in the Kimberley diamond mines in South Africa in 1877.Tiffany bought the 287.42-carat rock for $18,000 and had it sent to Paris, where the company's chief gemologist, George Frederick Kunz, supervised its cutting into a cushion-shaped brilliant weighing 128.54 carats. Traditional brilliant diamonds had 58 facets, but this one was given an unprecedented 82 as Kunz sought to emphasize beauty rather than size.The first four floors and mezzanine, about 40,000 square feet of selling space, display Tiffany creations made by jewelers, setters and polishers in studios in the United States and Western Europe.In a windowed corner room, with natural light aided by desk lamps and magnifying glasses, 12 jewelers and three diamond setters representing seven nationalities toil side by side at desks. As they create jewelry with great skill and focus, no gem is too tiny, no shard of platinum too insignificant to go unaccounted for.Some pieces of jewelry take thousands of hours to create, all overseen under the watchful eye of an amiable Carlos Lucyk. An immigrant from Argentina who fell in love with jewelry making as a teen, he began working at Tiffany in 1970 and remembers setting the Tiffany diamond with security guards stationed on his left and right.Those intimidated by the Tiffany name may not be aware that alongside extravagant six-figure rings are breathtaking diamond engagement rings that start at $1,200.The company is courting a younger clientele with "Charmed by Tiffany" bars in some stores that allow shoppers to custom create their own charm bracelets, anklets and necklaces.Tiffany occupies an unusual niche in the competitive jewelry industry in that it competes with the entire range of jewelry retailers, from Wal-Mart and independent specialty stores to fashion jewelry lines and top-shelf names such as Harry Winston.The company also is expanding its book publishing area. It published its first book on table manners for teens in 1961. In recent years, John Loring has written several coffee-table books about American design from a Tiffany perspective and in November will release the newest, "Tiffany Styles: 170 Years of Design."These books also will be available at its Ross Park Mall store.