I got contacts.

I had them in high school, but they turned the whites of my eyes into the reds of my eyes and I looked a bit like a monster. So I stopped wearing them. But as that was close to eight years ago, my eye doctor and I both thought that "breathable" contact lens technology may have progressed enough to enable me to wear contacts... I'm keeping my fingers crossed! So far, so good.


In an effort to aid my eyes, we decided that a chemical based cleaning system was probably not a good way to go, and I got this awesome UV/ultrasound cleaner. The UV kills off any bacteria on the contacts and the ultrasound will shake any dust/particles off of the contacts. Really cool, right? The chemist in me had to have this as soon as I heard about it! (Although the chemist in me also shies away from the thing whenever it is on... That purple color throws off so many cancer warning signs in my head!)

Why my eye?

Can anyone guess why I am showing you a picture of my eye?

P.S. Also, what color would you say my eyes are? I'd normally say green, but they look almost blue this close up. Hmmph.
P.P.S. Please ignore the dark circle under my eye. If anyone has any solution for getting rid of those (I'm getting plenty of sleep, thank you very much), let me know!
P.P.P.S. I hope no one 50 years in the future will be able to gain access to some record of mine because I posted a picture of my eye on the internet. Ah, privacy concerns.


UPDATE:

Good guess, Amy, but not correct! Anyone else?

The Big Plunge

I finally took The Big Plunge and made an appointment to finish my recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) testing before trying to get pregnant a third time. I'll be seeing a high-risk pregnancy doctor in Baltimore, who will finish the testing that I wasn't able to have done in Boston before we moved. She will also be able and hopefully more willing to monitor my next pregnancy more cautiously than an regular Ob/Gyn. My appointment isn't until September 21 (not too bad for a brand new patient), so we will have to be careful to not get me pregnant next cycle! Less than five weeks to go...

I decided to get testing before a third pregnancy because of an online talk I heard from a RPL specialist at Shady Grove Fertility Clinic. He basically said that although doctors used to make patients wait for three miscarriages, it's hard for them to tell patients that they need to wait for a third dead baby to have testing done, especially with the low difference in chances of miscarrying after a second and third loss. A lot of patients with unexplained RPL have successful pregnancies with TLC and a few harmless, possibly helpful treatments (like baby aspirin to help prevent clotting and progesterone in case of low progesterone, even though they don't know if this actually prevents miscarriage or not). After listening to his talk, I felt a little less crazy for wanting testing done now.

It's hard to not know anyone in real life who has had two losses before any successful pregnancies. Sometimes I feel like everyone around me is thinking that I must be a hypochondriac, that I'm just making this up. Or that because I am pessimistic in general that I am blowing this up to be a bigger deal than it is. It's hard, too, because I'm not a part of the infertility sisterhood. I felt like I couldn't make an appointment at Shady Grove Fertility Clinic because I could be taking the spot of someone who can't get pregnant on her own, and that wouldn't be fair. I can get pregnant on my own, rather easily, I just don't keep the babies.

I was thinking about skipping trying to get pregnant next month, anyway. I can only imagine the terror I would have had to have another baby due in June, to have another loss in December. Although part of me thinks, hey, why shouldn't I let the bad dates pile up in December; then I will just have a really, really rough month instead of spreading out the loss throughout the year. (I found out on December 9 last year that Max had died; I miscarried him on December 14; Olivia was due on December 7 or 16, depending on whether you trust the U/S date or my dating.)

What would you have done?

Me=hired

Who would have thought that there was a job left in this economy? Apparently babysitting teenagers is NOT a high priority position (Maybe it's the lack of benefits? Or the possibility that you will not have a job every day? Nah... probably just the dealing with teenagers part) because I was hired to be a substitute teacher for a nearby public school system. Woohoo!

Now we can have a countdown to when Abbie can finally start working! (See above.) Cha-ching!

My backup plan was to get myself a position at Ann Taylor Loft. (Believe it or not, they were also hiring, at least as of a few weeks ago.) 1) I could sell their clothes to anyone, I am a great salesman of things I believe in; 2) I already wear Ann Taylor Loft every day, so it's not like I would have needed a whole new wardrobe; 3) Can you say employee discount? Cha-ching, cha-ching! I would have walked out of there with a net gain of zero in the bank account, but some rather lovely additions to my closet.

You know what? I actually think I've seen a bunch of places hiring around here. Maybe the problem with the rest of the country is that all of the government's money is going into the defense industry, which is basically here. So... if you're looking for a job, maybe you should move to Maryland/DC/Virginia! And be my friend!

And on that positive note, here is a lovely video of a Democrat making a fool out of herself. What better way to end a happy post?

Recharged... but draining

Sorry for the lovely little outburst on Friday. I get grumpier and grumpier as the week goes on - probably from sitting inside all week long and not seeing anyone but my cat and husband. The weekends usually recharge me and get me ready for a new week of sitting inside... but it's a very vicious cycle.

Here are some pictures of our weekend with our life group visitors! We went into DC on Saturday and has a great, but exhausting day of seeing monuments and museums.

This horse was very talkative! He yelled at Jonathan for walking by, and then proceeded to drink out of the fountain.

Ticked off.

Okay, seriously? Everyone in the freaking blogging world is pregnant (or just had a baby) except me. This is why I no longer read my blogs - why bother? I know what's happening anyway.

Pg 56 Sentence Meme

1. Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
2. Turn to page 56.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post that sentence along with these instructions in your LiveJournal.
5. Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

"His plans are far from ripe, I think, but they are ripening."

There isn't a chance that any of you will get this one (without googling, *ahem, Sarah*)unless you know what I've been reading this week.

Happy Day

Well, there you go. It only took me a day!

I'm in a great mood today, probably because I got a check in the mail to pay off a loan - that's always a great feeling! Plus, our awesome small group from Boston is headed down here on Friday - it is going to be so great to see them! In fact, our August is full of fun people coming to visit - Brian and Amy, Angelin, Jon and Kate (not the "Plus 8" ones)... I am really glad that it is August - and I think my new blog look shows it!

Did I mention that I applied for the substitute teaching position? I haven't heard anything yet, but I'm not sure that MIT has sent them my transcript yet, even though I'm pretty sure it's been four weeks since I asked them to and they cashed my check two weeks ago! Oh, MIT... How hard can it be to send a transcript?



P.S. I read in Good Housekeeping last month about this guy who is trying to help people stop complaining, and has them switch a bracelet from arm to arm every time they do so. The woman who wrote the article started out with about 100 switches in the first day... I think I would have more than that (although maybe not, since I only get to speak out loud for about 5 hours each day). Her conclusion was that complaining is too ingrained in her way of life, and that it helps her bond with the people she loves. I think I just found my new best friend.

August is here

Okay, okay, so it's August and I don't have a new blog look up yet... I just haven't felt like sitting down and creating! Maybe my creative juices will be more active sometime later this week.

I know that I have gotten incredibly boring recently, and my only excuse is that my life is incredibly boring right now! I don't have a child to report on, or a pregnancy to update you all about, and I am positive that you don't want to hear about how my Lord of the Rings Online character is doing... So I haven't been around much! Hopefully in the next month or two one of those situations will change (hint, hint, I'd love to get pregnant again soon!), but we'll have to wait and see.