Next Steps (IVF)

Today is Day 6 of my cycle (Day 1 is when your period starts) and I will be starting FSH injections. Looking back over notes from last time (pre-Anya) I found that on Day 12, the doctor identified how many eggs I had, and on Day 19 the eggs were extracted and fertilised. By Day 22 the fertilised eggs were implanted. In other words, by Sept 13th I might be pregnant. Yikes!

Meanwhile I was also a little freaked to realise that I'm 38, while filling out forms. Dumb, I know, but I don't normally think about my age any more except in the vaguest terms.

This weekend we drove up the coast to Peregian and stopped to look at display homes on the way. The prevailing plan at the moment is to remove our house from the property and build a new one, since we've been unable to find a house that meets all our requirements. I've been feeling quite reluctant to get into building or renovating as I know how time-consuming and frustrating it can be, but I feel quite excited after looking at the display home! http://www.civicsteelhomes.com.au/

Hop on Pop

Reading Dr. Seuss's "Hop on Pop" to Anya...
Got the page with words rhyming with DAD:

DAD
SAD Dad is sad.
BAD Very, very sad.
HAD Dad had a bad day...

At which point Anya wailed, got up from my lap, and ran straight to David in the kitchen and gave him a cuddle.

What do you say?

Elaine: What does a dog say?
Anya: Bow wow wow!!!
Elaine: What does a cat say?
Anya: Mnow! ...Mnow!
(etc.)

Elaine: What does Sam say? [Sam is our neighbor, retired, who mostly tinkers with lawnmowers in his bak yard and likes having Anya over for visits.]
Anya: Wooo, woo! [This is, in reality, what Sam says when he's calling to her!]

... [trying to think of something else to ask her...]

Elaine: What does Anya say?
Anya: ... [dead silence... stymied! I think the answer should be, "num, num!"]

Census 2006

The Australian Census was conducted this week (8 August). I completed my form on-line. It took a long time to fill out for all three of us! I do wonder sometimes about people who design official on-line forms. Despite some good features (such as simply clicking "Same as Question 1" for additional address questions, for example) this form was, as usual, slow to get through because you had to page through so often. Why are the forms designed this way? Why can't they fit more questions (or all the questions, come to think of it) on one page? It would be to their benefit as well as ours to design forms that are faster to go through. (I know, there are probably reasons like data validation and suitability for sight-impaired users, but surely there are work-arounds that could be implemented, rather than encumbering all users with a dinosaurian process.)

Whale Breaching

I went whale watching for my birthday. David, Anya and Raema came too.

This was the second best moment of the whole day.

I didn't get a photo of the best moment -- I was busy watching it! It was when four or five dolphins were swimming with a pod of whales. They'd leap out of the water just a second ahead of the surfacing whales. Apparently, they ride on the whales' noses for fun!

IVF Round 2

I went back to see Dr. Kilvert this morning, who guided us through IVF last time. It certainly felt odd knowing that I was committing to possibly being pregnant again by early September. However, as David pointed out, we were very lucky last time in succeeding right away. Still, it's nervewracking. I don't feel ready, but I didn't feel ready for Anya, either!

For my birthday (tomorrow) I'd decided I wanted to go whale watching. We last went a few years ago as a present for Raema (David's mum) to celebrate her 70th birthday and found it quite exhilarating. Due to work pressures I didn't have time to make a booking until today, so I was very happy to find out that places were still available on the boat for this Friday.

I also got motivated and went to the gym after work tonight. It was my first visit in months. I had to give up spending the evening with Anya, though. It's really hard having to choose between Anya time and health time...

Anya's Words of the Week

New words that Anya is saying (almost) this week include:
now/mao ("miaow")
cah (car) -- but she also still goes "brrrrooo"... to our delight
noo (nude)
poo (yes, poo, that was David's idea)
buh (book)
gog (clock)
moo (moon)

Married Again!

No, it's not what you think. It's just that David finally picked out a replacement wedding ring today. It's tricolour with three separate hoops that run in parallel except where they intertwine on top. I found myself admiring it all afternoon as I happened to glimpse his hand.

I've been feeling sort of unmarried ever since it became apparent (over a year ago now) that David had misplaced his wedding ring and was going around barehanded. We still have to get the new ring resized, so he's wearing it on his middle finger for now. So, in a way, I am still not back to feeling fully married yet.

We got the ring in Fortitude Valley, where we went this afternoon to buy all our special, weird foods (the ones that make other people say, "you ate what? where did you get that?") Our purchases included sweet potato noodles, japanese seaweed and various sorts of steamed buns. Speaking of odd foods, on the "Iron Chef" tonight (Sole Battle!), Iron Chef Sakai (the French one) garnished a dish with deep fried corn silk! And it tasted good, judging from all reactions. Naturally, it didn't hurt that the dish included lobster and truffle...

Brr! Canberra

I visited Canberra this week for two days. Its daytime high, 10°C (50°F), was lower than Brisbane’s overnight low, 11°C. Brr! I was there to look at Scrivener Dam, which impounds Lake Burley Griffin. Touring the control gallery inside the dam was especially cold, as the masses of concrete acted as a perfect heat sink. I was pretty impressed with the second exit added recently which was drilled through the solid concrete at the far end of the dam to provide a virtually vertical climb out (we didn’t try it).

I called home to say hi to David and give Anya the thrill of talking to me on the phone. I think she was rather indifferent until she recognised my voice, but then accidentally put me on hold (something that neither David nor I know how to do!) I had to call back, and by then she’d lost all interest. And I was so looking to forward to hearing her say “oyley-o?” to me…

Anya at My Desk

There's just something about the curve of Anya's mouth that I like in this photo.

Anya's Words

Anya has been imitating words with varying success. Here are some gems:

Oyley-o = Hello
Shhh... = Shoe
Jay-je = Jaeden (her cousin)
Moh = More
Amma = Grandma
Brrrrr (for cars and motorcycles)
Ooffff = Woof (for dogs)

She confidently says Bye-bye, Mama, Daddy, Unh-uh (as in, "no") and Uh-Oh! She also says "nummy!" when reading about eating, expecting a meal, or playing with pots/pans/bowls.

Pressure Cooker

Today's dinner was made in the pressure cooker. Seemed like an apt metaphor for how life's been lately. Lots of ingredients, but it all tastes the same at the end. I can't wait for my boss to get back from China so I can stop acting as manager!

I had a small break today meeting David at a jewelry store at lunchtime. We were looking for a replacement wedding ring for the one he's misplaced. It was interesting... we definitely don't have the same taste. I like different, but simple & subtle (stripes & waves); David likes different, but noticeably different (knots, links & puzzles).

After trying every ring in their extensive collection, he still hadn't taken a shine to anything. Later in the afternoon he emailed me to say that he'd stopped by a further four stores after we parted, and realised that the first store had, by far, the best selection. So he went back there again!

Anya at Kindercraft