Greetings all you FFR&R'ers ~

Oh Jorr ~ that was one of those "wish I could undue the last five minute moments"

P_M ~ Bon voyage darlin! And what a scare, I am glad he is much better.

STW ~ Bon vogage to you too! And thanks for my tea, sweetie

CAPH ~ Welcome home to you as I wasn't able to post last Friday!

divingaggie ~ I think it is great you gave your former student the opportunity to earn your business! Even better that he did such a good job!

Rave ~ We are pregnant!

Rave ~ This rave is that I am not allowing myself to worry even though my doctor's office performed a blood test on me without informing me that now has them all concerned that we may not be doing well. (I am in the normal range but on the very low end of normal) I felt such resentment they perfomred this on me without consent. I do not want to spend one minute worrying. I feel that emotional health is as important the physical, so I said to myself, "Self, don't fret, enjoy this blessing" and that is what we have been doing. I KNOW everything will be ok. I will find out more at our first u/s next Tuesday.

Rave ~ I believe in miracles.

Rave ~ Our little Sophie ((&)) will turn two this weekend, she is an angel and we are so lucky to have her. Happy Birthday Soph.

Happy weekend everyone!

Thanks Jorr and P_M for the morning giggles!

Small rant: We have a blizzard warning here this morning! AGH--my poor tulips. Kids were up early doing the 'snow day' dance but alas for them, school wasn't cancelled. Am I a bad mom for being happy??

rave: My mom's second melanoma sample came back clean, which means the cancer hadn't spread. Hallelulah!

rave: DS's high school soccer game is at home tomorrow--no traveling this weekend! The past three weekends we've been on the road for games 2 1/2 to 3 hours away.

lcuy, hurray for sweet pups everywhere. What would we do without them?

Good weekend to you all!

Tiff, we must have posted at the same time. CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and you're right--don't let the blood test thing interfere with your joy--it always amazes me how many things Could go wrong with pregnancies but usually don't--I can't think of a better example of God's miracles. So happy for you!)

Tiff and Tess-great news for both of you!

Tiff-we'll have to count down our weeks together

Rave:Tiff's news. Oh happy day. Enjoy all the glories and excitement of this wonderful time.
Rave:celebrating pups everywhere. Thank them for the joy they give! Happy birthday, Sophie.

Tiff, a huge congrats on your wonderful news! I'm so, so happy for you! And I'll be praying very hard that all is well with the blood test. You're so right not to worry about it. To paraphrase Tess, if we worried about all that could go wrong, none of us would ever make it through a pregnancy with our sanity intact! Or through the years of raising a kid, for that matter!

And, Tess, I'm glad to hear the good news on your mom!

Rave: We appear to be among the 500 or so lucky winners in CyprusGATE (Great Alitalia Ticketing Error) sweepstakes as documented here: http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...2&tid=34783399. For those unfamiliar, the Italian airline mistakenly loaded $33 business class RT fares from Canada to Cyprus, and somebody at flyertalk.com spotted it and posted the news. It took Alitalia almost 12 hours to yank the fare, by which time a firestorm of activity had ensued. Much brouhaha. Anyway, it appears we're among the lucky winners. For now.

Rant: I've been at the computer so much watching this drama unfold over the past 48 hours that my spouse (she who is traveling to Cyprus for $180 all in) is more convinced than ever that she married down.

Rave: For better/worse, etc...

I am just about to leave for the airport, but I had to pop in to take a quick glance at the R&R's. Thanks to all who have wished my DH well, and thanks for the bon voyages.

And Tiff, YIPPEE for you!! I remember a few weeks ago when you said you were hopeful about something, now I know what it was!! Well done, I am thrilled for you.

Gotta run, the shuttle van will be here soon. I will now run frantically around the house, looking for anything I forgot to pack I've already checked 12 times for my passport and plane tix, so I really should calm down. Anything else I forgot will not hinder my trip. So why am I still panicking??

I'll be home April 18. Hasta la vista, babies!!

STW and P_M: Have wonderful trips!

Ani: Yay for the little jeans! I'm still 3 pounds away from mine and my daughter is two and I'm not pregnant. Sigh.

Caph: Hmmm . . . perhaps Guinness is a diet food?

Tiff: Congratulations! Good thoughts for you and the test results!

Rave: Saw Itzhak Perlman perform with our local symphony last night. He is wonderful and our little symphony is wonderful.

Rave: Bought our airline tickets and booked our hotel for Portland, OR in June. I'm so excited to have five days away with my husband.

Rave: It quit raining and the sun is shining. I'm hoping to get some herbs and vegetables started in the house tomorrow. It's still too cold to put plants outside here.

Rave: I'm expecting a new pair of shoes in the mail today.

Kureiff, oh if only Guinness WERE a diet food!

Isn't fun to be expecting a pkg? Kind of makes you feel like a kid again!

Yes, Tess, we were posting at the same time. I am very happy your Mom's melanoma came back clean. What a relief that must be!

Thank you all for your congrats and good wishes. Even though I have made this conscious choice to be strong and only think good thoughts there are those moments when a scary thought enters your head. Every time that happens I say a prayer and then think of positive moments, like with your DH CAPH.
My doc and everything I have read online states that the focus should not be on the number or level of the HCG, but instead how is rises. It should double every 48-72 hours, and so far, mine has. It just started out on the low end of normal. So that is what I hold on to, that it is rising as it should. My doc says that he has seen many healthy babies that begin with low HCG levels.
Again, had he not tested me, I would not have this knowledge, but you cannot unring a bell. Had they asked for consent I would not have given it. It is different knowing about something you can change, but I do not want knowledge of something that I have no control over, not usually.
All I know is that I am continuing to think positive! Plus allowing my DH to see me not worrying is so wonderful, and I think it makes him more confident too.

Thanks again for your good thoughts.

Raves: Jorr your story is too funny, I will retell several times this wknd for laughs!

Rave: Daughters tests on blood and liver functions all perfect and she is back at work in NYC and doing well.

Rave: Off to see son at college in an hour for the big spring meet - so lots of cheering, eating and fun

Rant: doing roadwork on my street and they just piled tons of dirt on top of all my lovely bulbs that had been peeking up along my stone wall !

Rave: Going to Sweden on business trip with hubby in May ! Never been, very excited.

Rant: new condo purchase still going thru - think it's funny I have to provide 4 photos of my little lap dog, a front, both sides, and a back view along with 4 references.....understand they don't want me suddenly showing up with 4 dogs of another breed when I said I have a lap dog so they have some proof....but find it funny (altho they probably can't legally) ask anything about us...we could be drug dealers with a rap sheet the length of my arm !

Of course, my baby has stellar references and adorable pics.

Rave: To Tess and Tiff !! Sometimes I think we were better off 'back in the day' with less tests and not knowing so much. Be happy. Tess you are right, it's the rising of the HCG....be confident and calm and just keep patting that belly.

Alya/Lucy: yup, I do the arm over the seat too, or else I can't parallel park for beans.

Caph52 I see your trip report is up and can't wait to read it

Raves: to everyone for all their good news, all those traveling like GoTravel and STW, and any Rants, will keep you in my thoughts.

Spring is here in NE aside from the errant snow flurries this week and here's to a good week for all...

Tiff, Congrats!

Tiff---CONGRATULATIONS!!!! I had a feeling that's what it was a few weeks back I'm so happy for you.

STW and PM--hope you have great trips!

Tiff,

You're right in being irritated about a test done without your consent. Working in the marketing end of the health care field, even I know that's a no-no. Funny how being pregnant takes away any sense of control you have...it's pretty much all in God's hands.

Before I had children, I was extremely modest and hated annual exams, etc. By the time my second child was born, though, they could have set up the delivery area in the hospital lobby and it would have been 'the more the merrier.' I couldn't believe the STRANGERS who crowded into my room right before both births--I know it's a happy time but gee! We should have sold tickets. The funniest one was with my first child's birth. He ended up being a C-section (huge baby, huge head)--the regular C-section operating rooms were full that day so we trucked on down to the surgical operating rooms. Seeing a birth was out of the ordinary for those folks--there must have been 20 people in the suite all applauding when DS was born. One of my finest moments and I was looking...not my best. LOL.

Rave: my jury service was 1 day only, happy to be back at work at my computer

Mini-rant: did I say "happy to be at work"? Yuck!

RANT: I HATE "DRESS BARN"!! Picked up a couple of cute tops, and the girl at the cash register gave me a SENIOR DISCOUNT!! Oh the horror of aging! And I am not yet eligible! Only for AARP (50), not even for Elderhostel (55)!

I called Dress Barn, asked at what age the discount starts, they said actually at 55, but on Wednesdays we don't ask for IDs. Feel a bit better.

Jorr, too bad you were in the driving seat or you'd get a free wash too! Mental note for myself: put the kids in the pickup and drive through the wash.

Bon Voyage, P_M, SeeTheWorld, Gardyloo!

Get better, Mr P_M, Tess's mom!

Welcome home, MikeMo!

Happy upcoming birthday to Ani's daughter!

Otto, sending cyber-hugs your way!

Wishing good health to moms-to-be: Ani, Tiff!

Jorr--Too funny! Because of your little escapade, the 70's song "Carwash" is playing in my head.

PM--At least your DH didn't suffer for years...I was getting bad pains on and off for a loong time before OWJ2 forced me to go to the doctor! That laproscopic surgery is a breeze and the 'bullet holes' go away. I only have one scar that's still visible.

PM, STW, GoTravel's trips--enjoy!!

Ani, Tiff--best wishes!!!!

Otto--I went through the same thing my g'father a couple of years ago. His mind was still sharp but his 91yr. old body had had enough. This world lost a great man but I smile when I think how lucky I was to have him for so long.

Tess's mom-yay!!

Gardyloo's coup!! I tried getting that deal but didn't get as lucky as you guys!

Caph--Just want to say hello. Guess I need to go looking for your trip report

JJ5--Just checking in and saying hello...

Since the news on the board is about babies this week, I'll let you guys in on a secret...We're adopting!! No more thinking about it. We've taken the plunge! We have an adoption consultant working for us, we're almost done with our homestudy and hopefully within the next 6-8mo., we'll be parents of a newborn baby boy or girl! We just have to find a birthmother, so if you just so happen to know someone...hint hint, wink wink

Rave: All of our homestudy paperwork is done! Unless you've adopted, you just have no idea how many things you have to pull together; I had heard it was a lot but....I told one of my dear friends that I didn't know which is harder, being pregnant or adopting cuz both are exhausting and rewarding!!!

Rave: Great friends who check in w/you if they don't hear from you

Rant: OWJ2's disc problem continues to bother him. He had an epidural last week and it's only starting to work.

Rave: He's moving a little bit better and not sleeping on the floor anymore

Happy weekend, all!

Congratulations OWJ. I hope everything works out well for you OWJ2. Adoption is such a blessing; my sister and her fiance are/were birthparents in an open adoption. What was an incredibly difficult situation has really turned into something beautiful.

OWJ,
My sister and her DH adopted a Korean orphan infant who is now graduating from the University of Paris at age 20 and (gag) going to law school in the fall.
Some way wonderful and attractive ninos here.
Best wishes.
M

What wonderful news, OWJ! I hope it goes very smoothly and very quickly.

My brother and his ex adopted twice. The birth mother the first time was a high school girl in a nearby town. They were very involved and my ex SIL was in the room for the birth. They kept in touch with the birth mother for a while. But their son is now 9 or 10 (I'm ashamed to admit I'm not sure which!) and I don't think they've had contact recently.

Their second was a little Mexican girl whom they got when she was 6 months old. That one proved to be much more difficult in terms of red-tape, etc.

But I suspect that, for you, making the decision may have been the hardest part. You have that and much of the paper work behind you. Good luck! And keep us posted!