Vacation all I ever wanted...

Firstly, thank you for your sweet and tender words of care.

Hubby mentioned that he wanted to do something this year to mark the loss.

So as the date gets closer, we are exploring meaningful acts that would work for us.

In the meantime...I have been buried in the studio and making art, and mailing submission after submission. The creative act is cathartic and essential for me but it has me thinking about a little break from everything!

It is not so easy, because of a little metal nut,(literally) that our cat ate earlier this year we have been "grounded" of sorts.

It was an expensive vet, ER, surgery and recovery thing that left us with little money.

I am very very thankful for the credit cards and the ability to take care of the cat, who is now happy and fat and playful. We are his people and it is our job to care for him after all.

*

I am sure many of you out there can relate, with cost from IF treatments

Summertime has past, and been a different one for us, well most of this year will be, so we are getting "creative" with our fun time.

We stay at home, watch movies via streaming every now and again...eat out on date night only (Friday's) and visit the bookstore, but don't buy anything. We have cut almost all extras out...My birthday was a potluck, Our anniversary will be a dinner at home most likely, Xmas will be handmade...

It is nice but doesn't stop our driving desire to get the HELL OUT OF DODGE

We are travelers, we are explorers...we are the people who take the long road home so we can find new things...but as much as I run numbers and theories thru my head, we don't have any money to do what we want to do most right now: travel.

****bitching about to begin ****

(you can skip down to my call out to the universe below)

We haven't had a break from all this "can't have a baby" stuff since it was started, 7 years ago!

Our honeymoon took two years of saving, and was our hope to make a baby, by relaxing and getting away (we went to eastern Europe in the winter)...but I was in so much pain, I was either asleep from vicodin or crying. (super romantic) and on return I was in the ER for an ovarian cyst that was about to explode.

SERIOUSLY when do we get a honeymoon ?!

A sweet relaxing, run on the beach (or assorted other lovely places) with the wind in our hair, laughing and smiling and eating lovely foods all while being naked and happy.

We had an extended weekend here and there, but we were either going to a funeral on the East coast, joining two families (5 kids) at a lake or driving for 10hours to meet family for 24hours then then driving back home to get to work. Those were our break aways.... 

***Bitching over***

Call out to the universe!!

I just want to put that out there universe, I think we need a break.

A good one too: not a "hey, here is a three day weekend" kind...or "we'll waive that $5 fee for you"

and my sisterhood needs one too!

All these ladies and gents have been pouring every ounce of love and hope out there and not catching a break. We are do-gooders and kind heart, we help others and clean up after ourselves, we hug strangers and offer kind words. We are the breathe of fresh air and why people are so glad to meet us, because " they are so nice"

Come on, there is a lot of crap out there right now, and a lot of crappy people are getting really big breaks...why not spread the good things to us:

 GOOD PEOPLE

KIND HEARTED SOULS

the ones that SMILE thru pain

LAUGH AT TRIALS AND CHALLENGES

STILL BELIEVE THERE IS GOOD IN THE WORLD

We have held up our deal...now you can do some work too!!

It is the Autumnal equinox..we are tucking the sun into bed, like a cocoon...

I hope this weekend will be the start of something better for us all!

hugs sisters

Wordless Wednesday

Things are heavy in my heart and mind, I am fighting some deep sorrow....

but I am fighting; so I am focusing on the good in that.

Here is my (inspiration) medicine for today:

Impending Anniversary

The anniversary of the first of my three miscarriages is coming up and has created a very raw feeling.

Mostly,  it feels like I am standing in the shower and the emotions are washing over me; some remain on my skin like droplets, others fall to the ground and wash away.

 I am still not sure how I am going to emotionally move thru the day.

 It has been two years, but it feels like it is about to happen again.

 Like my body needs to relive the fear and sorrow.

I am just not sure how I can do that.

On this day

*I didn't want to write about this, but after meditating on why it became obvious I needed to*

I don't watch television or listen to the radio on this day...I don't like to remember this day.

This day was a devastating day for too many people (understatement)

and I don't like to relive it or be reminded of it.

It is not that I do not acknowledge it, or honor it...it is simply too too painful still.

Five years ago in the early morning hours I was sitting on my Nana's bed, whispering into her ear, smiling with a brave face and taking deep breaths for her. She meanwhile was struggling to take her own air and was slowly slipping into her next journey...

I know she if fine, she told me so...but it still hurts.

10years ago I was working at a map company and my job RADICALLY changed from a simple customer service person, to a witness, a confidant, and a person of interest. I was thrown into the chaos of the day, all while trying to comprehend what was happening and terrified of the immediate hate that that would be set into motion. The simple interesting job that I had taken on a mere year beforehand was now all consuming in my dreams and thoughts.

This day set into motion several more years of nightmarish phone conversations

from strangers and officials.

I don't like to remember this day; not because I do not care, but because I care so so very much.

Cry me a river

Today we went to a bar mitzvah, I am pretty sure everyone knows what that is so I am not going to link it to a wiki explanation. It was for a son of a second or third cousin...regardless, someone we keep in contact with but are far from close to.

I have no idea what the teen is like to talk to, or what his favorite food is.

I simply know he is family and that it was important to acknowledge this passage into adulthood.

We got there a little early, found a seat and started to watch people arrive.

We are not religious people, so when in a house of worship, we take the time to look around

and take in all the treasures, this place looked like the inside of a ship...like we were inside an ark.

It was pretty cool and intimate; we didn't feel lost in a big building or

removed from where the service was being held.

When the ceremony started we followed along and sang the hymns we knew and followed the instructions of the rabbi. It was mellow and we didn't feel silly for not knowing the words or a prayer.

Once the Bar Mitzvah boy took the stage we all smiled and encouraged him along. He did wonderful, seemed calm and ready for his reading.

( he arrived with bright green headphones on, mouthing words to himself it was cute)

When he finally read his portion I started to feel weepy...I am not sure why, but I kept it together...trying to follow along. I mean why cry at a Bar Mitzvah?!

Who does that!

When his parents came up to present him with his personal prayer shawl, I began to cry, then his mom and dad spoke and offered words of love and advice and I couldn't keep it in any longer,

I let myself cry.

Hubby saw this and simply placed his hand on my leg and kept it there...letting me know I was not alone.

When the service was finished I went to the bathroom, and found other women there who were checking their mascara. They were expressing what a beautiful service it was and how they were crying at the mothers words to her son.

I stayed in the stall for as long as I could, allowing the others to clear out before checking my own makeup.

I found hubby outside and chatting with some other family, we shared some conversations with my godparents and the bar mitzvah boy's grandparents. It was at this moment I decided to not attend the reception. Hubby was fine with this, although it did seem to disappoint our family a little.

(I am a big pleaser, so this decision left me feeling quite guilty)

~

As we drove away in silence I was reflecting why I had decided to not go to the reception.

After some contemplation I realized I was doing some self care.

Not only for myself but also for Hubby.

We both were reflecting about how we will miss this milestone in our own child's life...we won't be in our cousins place, shuttling our child to and from Hebrew school, organizing a party or offering advice on being an adult.

Hubby said that he was putting himself into another place when his emotions started to swell

I on the other hand, simply let them flow.

I have never cried at a bar mitzvah before, I am not sure why this hit me so hard, but I am feeling quite fragile and libel to cry in any public place it seems.

Now hubby is checking/watching me like a hawk and asking every hour or so " you doing OK?"

I think as a way to not only keep tabs on me, but himself as well.

Alone at night

Recently my dreams have been highly ramped up....masses of details and information has been pouring into my dream eyes and mind. I am not sure what it all means but I often find myself frustrated at m=not being able to remember all the littlest details when I wake. I have begun to say my dreams out loud the moment I wake up as a way to anchor them of sorts. Writing them down, doesn't work for me as I am blind as a bat and getting my glasses on awakens me to a new level and things begin to fall off the edges and fade rapidly. So now with my eyes still closed, I am reciting my dreams to the air above my head.

This morning I told hubby of the one I had last night.

"I was checking in on an older neighbor that lived next door and she would not speak, but I knew she was not well. She would convey her wellness in states of color, in clothing.

The more color the sicker she was feeling.

When I went to check on her, she opened the door in a rainbow banded Mexican style dress with vivid white, yellow, orange red and green cascading down to her bare feet. 

but her face was a pale green she was waving her arms at me and leaning to the side.

I ran to her door and entered her home, we were then in a far back bedroom where I could tell she was going to collapse. 

I grabbed her shoulders and felt the heat of a fever from her skin. 

She was suddenly small, very frail and she motioned for her dog to come to her. It was a dog I had given her for company. She was then a child and patting its back like an infant would do.

We both sat there and I could feel the fur of the dog on my hand and see its floppy ears silhouetted in the light coming thru the windows..

 I could tell she(the neighbor) was struggling to breathe, and I looked into her eyes and said 

" Rae we love you so very much, you are so so loved"

and with that I woke up.

I felt a longing when I awoke, but not a sadness.

Women's Health...get some!

I am a fan of "feeling healthy", heck I think we all need to be BIG fans of it.

I saw this trailer today and laughed out loud

We all have spent so much time in stirrups with tears running down our faces.

These stirrup scenes made me laugh. 

Happy Monday and go get some !!

He was...

So for the last two years, my high school boyfriend has come thru town on business.

We get together for a couple hours and share a meal.

It's nice.

He sent an email last year and asked if we (hubby) and me could join him for dinner.

It ended up being just me...and it was fine but surreal.

We have remained friends and the spoken via emails thru the years...

but

We hadn't seen each other in person since my wedding in 2002.

Dinner was a strange combination of flashbacks and memories and giggly conversations.

We mostly reasserted that we would continue to be friends and that we had shared a really important time in our lives so it seemed stranger to simply not ever talk to each other.

Since my wedding he also had gotten married.

(I am thrilled for him, as I remember many calls where I was consoling him and letting him know that he was going to find a perfect person.

It was going to happen.

It did and since then he seems to be so so so happy.

That makes me happy too!

Even though he is an old boyfriend, more importantly he is a friend.)

We talked about his wife and their life and family...and I asked if they were thinking about becoming parents.

At this dinner, I also found out he never wanted kids.

I had never known that.

we dated for a year and a half!

I told him I was sorry; that I assumed he did since he came from such a big family.

Shame on me.

He laughed and said, that helped him decide he didn't want kids!

We laughed about that.

Last month I got an email saying he was in town again and could we do dinner.

This time hubby's work schedule allowed him to make it and so the three of us had dinner together. Surreal once again.

This time I sat between my husband and my old boyfriend in a U shaped booth.

I am gonna be honest; I was nervous getting ready for dinner, and when getting dressed I wanted to make sure I looked OK...not fat or thin or tired or crazy.

Hubby found this quite funny.

When he arrived I had forgotten how tall he was and that lead to a bunch more flashbacks to events shared, conversations, and what it was like to be a teenager with him.

This quickly shifted to a checklist in my head.

As I sat there and shared pleasant, benign conversation about work, parents, family...

I started to wonder what my life would have been like with him.

I listened as I heard him tell me what he enjoys doing on the weekends and time off

and

what he and his wife hope for and share.

Nothing matched with my interests

Our story was just the classic teenage romance-

meets high school graduation -

meets I want to find myself.

poor guy, I was too independent/free spirited for him.

We learned a lot along the way.

I realised as we left and I was still in a daze- and forgot my leftovers on the restaurant table...

I think we were meant to share just that time in our lives, and not much more then

simply catching up and checking in with each other now.

I would be heartbroken if we never spoke again, but as my hubby said as we drove away.

" It was so clear that there was no spark left between you too"

He was a great boyfriend

Tuesdays Inspiration

I was moved when I heard this story on NPR this morning.

I was humbled and inspired when I learned the route she traveled....

She has just received her 10th degree
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/05/DD181KHUV0.DTL

I am a wanderer

I am feeling sort of shifty, not really here or there.

I am making packets for proposals, but don't really seem focused.

This of course starts a spiral into self loathing and personal attacks.

Earlier this week, I was invited to get some drinks with past co-workers.

I said maybe and really thought I would go.

As the day approached, I began having panic attacks.

I was flashing back to when I first learned of our infertility.

It all happened while I was holding down that job...all the "stat" appointments and tests

the visits to the ER and the arms full of bruises.

The tears and sudden need to to leave work.

All the stress and memories flooded back and I was suddenly having little movies of moments there.

All the bad moments, shared with these people...and it left me horribly uncomfortable.

On the day of the event, I lied and said I had mixed up work schedules and couldn't make it.

I felt badly for bowing out, but in many ways it felt like I needed to take this stand.

I am working so so hard on feeling whole again, and the collection of these people make me remember when I was not a whole person. So I walked away.

I got a text from someone that attended that simply said "you are missed"

I am sure it was from The Barreness

Not helping....

My hubby has a hard time with adoption, not adopted people, but the process...or the proce$$

He says that after all we have been thru that the idea of pinning our hopes on another long and unknown ending is a hard pill to swallow.

This broke in today's news....it doesn't help him or us

 just adds sadness to an already heartbreaking reality

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Sunny Side of the Street

I am feeling a little better...maybe distracted would be a better adjective.

Hubby is watching me like a hawk and we keep saying our mantras to each other.

I am focusing on all the wonderful things we can do together, that are completely ours.

What it means for us to be a family of two and how that is going to be fine.

We have each other to work with when things get murky and when we are knee deep in the

shitty feelings, and muddy emotions.

We are still able to laugh and hug each other and communicate without words.

I know this ride is really on an ocean and that there are tall waves of joy and sorrow 

but I also know that I can simply float and see where each place takes me...or swim in a direction of my choosing.

I seem to have these moments of intense clarity after a beating from The Barreness

she is resting and plotting her next attack I am sure...but I am working really hard on making myself less available to her and making her wait even longer.

Wait there Barreness, I'll see if I can find her.....

feel free to have a seat I think it might be a while.

Shot down

Well since the "fight thing" there has been a lot less TV in the house...a lot more reading and simply enjoying the patio and the amazingly mild summer we are having so far.

We do still record shows that we both like or want to watch because they make us laugh....one of the new ones we watch is called Love Bites...it kind of reminds me of a "Love American style" kind of show. That variety show came on when I was a kid and they were more like vignettes then long stories...this program is similar and feeds our desire to not watch a lot and our short attention spans.

Anywhooo I was sitting and working on some art stuff and watching this recorded show, then this part came on:

http://www.nbc.com/love-bites/video/ep-107-a-very-special-delivery/1340894

(background, sister is surrogate for sister and has now had baby, it has been quite funny) 

I was a puddle of tears when this was over...my hubby was doing the dishes and looked up because I was suddenly silent.
( She shot me, tackled me...and began to punch me over and over in my heart)

I was never going to be in this scenario, or one similar to it....then in a moment of panic I looked at hubby and said : Do you want to try something else?!

I think he was as shocked as I was...I was asking if we should open Pandora's box again.

(The Barreness was rubbing her hands together, getting ready for another take-down)

I questioned our choices and decisions to this moment. I told him I would do whatever he wanted me to do. I would take any drug, do any test, go to any doctor...I simply wanted him to have the experience of being a dad. Being crazed and stereotypical and excited about a child.
Hubby rushed over to me and hugged me and I began sobbing, snot running down my nose and onto his shoulder...I couldn't look at him.
He said what would I do if it was simply up to me? If I was the one making all the choices for us.
I told him I didn't want to be in pain
I asked him the same question, what would he do if he made all the choices about this?
He said he would be right here, with me.

Hubby has been noticing fathers and children a lot more; recently he has even been pointing them out and I can see the sadness and disappointment in him face.
It breaks my heart, literally I can feel it crack in my chest.
this compounded with a family member undergoing IVF has caused me to fell less then solid
I am easily sucked into my abyss of questions and self doubt.

I told him again yesterday that I would do whatever he wants me to...
He said that it amazing him to think that I would simply overlook years and years of blinding pain, sadness and trauma for another shot at the same results.
(Madness, simply crazed madness~ she was feeding me by a spoon)

I told him that knowing it is all my fault, all of this was because of me...
that I didn't want him to regret marrying me.
Wake up one day when he was 68 and look at me and think, all that I could never give him.
He grabbed me hard and fast and whispered into my ear:
I will NEVER regret marrying you

(laughing in her ear, she is sure now that she will always have some control )

Baby dolphins

I commute. A lot

Mind you, a good chunk of my trip is along the coast,

it is pretty to watch the sun rise and set over the water.

One of the benefits of all this ocean time is that we sometimes see animals.

Today, I saw baby dolphins playing in the waves while adults feed on fish and seabirds waited for leftovers. My hubby had seen baby dolphins once while I was driving
and
I thought he was teasing me.
~

Today I saw them and the shock in my voice upon seeing them sent us into a fit of laughter.

We pulled over and I grabbed my little pocket camera and shot some images of the ocean.

It was windy, so you can hear that whipping be me.
Although most of them show no baby dolphins...it was still cool.

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful that I am staying away from the TV lately.

Like in an almost cold turkey sort of way

It has been beneficial as of late seeing that the whole world is going to hell in a handbasket.

I don't know the details of the latest trial, the newest outfit that is walking down Rodeo drive, where Paris H is and do I feel like I am missing something? Nope

but...

To be honest, I have turned off the TV since last weeks "fight" with hubby.

We had a falling out;  we don't do that...we have been together just about 19yrs and I can count on ONE hand the amount of times we have raised our voices to each other.

So they tend to be day that are remembered.

This last one, was brought on by bad timing and poor communication.

Hubby was entrenched in a video game and I had plans for him to answer my booty call!

problem is, he didn't

and then made a statement that turned it back onto me making it look like it was my fault.

Neither of us slept...nor spoke

This poured into the next morning and we had it out!

We are all fine now...a little shaken still but back on the same page again

He was mad that the TV is on all the time and he doesn't want to sit and watch TV.

When I told him that 99% of the time I have it turned on is because, it will allow me to sit in the same room as him while he is typing away at a video game and not talking to me.

It is my company keeper when he is not vocal.

Needless to say, we have made some changes.

I have only watched one show since last Thursday. Really.

Now he and I have read together after work or sat outside and enjoyed the evening air.

We don't need to talk the whole time, but we are spending better time together.

This is what I am really thankful for.

Happy Thankful Thursday



Independence Day

Happy Independence Day

May some day soon all us infertiles be free

from

sadness

pain and hopelessness

Wordless Wednesday

Mac and Cheese

sometimes that is all you need to make everything

just right

Coming and going

Well the 6th grader is running amok....

I had done some work during the day, and was getting kind of burnt out and tired by 8:30pm so I asked hubby if he was up for getting the hell out of the house.

He was and so our adventure to find food in town began.

Turns out, that unless you want to eat at a bar everything in town pretty much closes by 9ish. 

We finally decided on a greasy diner where we quickly ordered up,

 ready for this one.....

Onion rings

Coffee shake 

and

strawberry shortcake

Yep, that was dinner last night! 

I think I use to live off of the few microns of nutrition french fries provides all thru high school...

Somehow this dinner choice made sense, at least that is what we had convinced ourselves.

While driving home and wondering out loud where we left the digestive enzymes,

we saw a sign for a soon to arrive restaurant down the street...it said "coming soon"

that lead to us creating a menu for the

"Coming Soon Cafe"

all dishes are served in a cream sauce

then there are the side dishes

creamed corn

creamed spinach

cream of wheat

or

you can have

Beef Stroganoff

Everyone leaves with a smile on their face

Now I think, it has enlisted the 6th grader in my hubby just to show off how crass they can be
*sigh*

It is all in a name

Around a table last night while enjoying food and conversation

 the topic of naming body parts came up.

I think my cupcakes really started the conversation... (they were a hit)

The men were talking about how they had named their girlfriends/wives/partners boobies...

and the names began.

Apparently hubby doesn't have a name for my boobies, I simply refer to them as "the girls"

The one that received the most laughter was "Cheech and Chong"

Then the conversation went onto testicles and butts and then

someone said "maybe I should name my ovaries!"

I was still laughing about something else and then my wheels all slammed to a stop....

Name my ovaries...what would I call the troublemakers?!

I mean I am so completely connected to them and they are constantly ruling my behavior and choices that it seems funny I haven't thought of it before and given them names by now.

Plus, this is totally feeding my inner 6th grader, who loved talking crass and thinking up funny names for testicles.

I came up with a name for one and hubby came up with the name for the other:

Quasimodo and plain Jane

6th grader

"Lemon make you happy~ nipple twister" cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for a friend that I know is a "boob-man"

I couldn't resist for some reason.

It just was soooo obvious to me to make these.

I can feel the shift, the "let me, be me" shift.

I am finding myself starting to walk further away from the heartbreak of being childless.

I know I can dive into that pool at any time, trip more likely

and mind you, the walk is a slow one, but I feel like I have started to walk.

That is something.

Now I am faced with this inner 6th grader, the one that wants to wear make-up and dress up in strange outfits, listen to music loud and stay up way way way too late (at least for the outer person to work well or drive safely). I don't really care what my neighbor mommies are doing, in fact I find myself prancing around the house thinking, hahaha I don't have kids I am trying to get to sleep while the sun is still out at 8:30pm.

I think I am in the middle of another growth spurt or something?!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for my man.

We often ask each other in moments of self doubt and insecurity:

What do you love about me?

When the world beats you up and and then you have to drag your ass home and still be human it helps sometimes to know that you are still worth while to someone.

Well my sweet wonderful man asked this question of me recently and I told him this...

I love that you wait as you turn the compost, so the scrub jays can eat the worms and bugs.

I watched him for half an hour last weekend, carefully turn and shovel the compost pile...watch two very eager and trusting birds swoop down, pick thru the freshly upturned soil and then perch on the wall as hubby turned the soil again to reveal more earthly treats.

I am thankful for that man of mine.

Wordless Wednesday

I got this email from a woman in the same community garden as me...I am really not sure how to respond:

"At the workday when Flora, Fauna and I were talking about extra weight on our bodies and then jokingly we began blaming our children for the weight. I just want you to know that it was silly talk and we or I do feel fortunate to have birthed a child. I come from a a family of 10 children and only the last two of the 10 had children, either by choice or circumstance. Some sibling were satisfied with their choice and some were a bit saddened because of their situation and not having children. But it takes a village to raise a child, and so when we interact with any child either visual or verbally we are giving to them. And so what I'm saying is that, you are a mother in many ways and what you do is amazing!"

* the names have been changed to the Cinderella fairies

I can appreciate that she is being sensitive to my personal situation...but I am not sure how to really react or if I should.

 In some ways I am a touched that she wrote this to smooth whatever hurt feelings she feels might have been poked by overhearing this...in other ways I am a little insulted that she thinks that I could not interpret a casual conversation/bitch session as just that.

What do you think?

Cyst, boom, meh

The Bath by Alfred George Stevens


I should warn you now, I have had a rocky week...I debated writing about it because in many ways I didn't want to think about it again...but being who I am I decided to over share instead.

Hell, if you can not laugh at yourself, who do you have left?
I am about to talk about vaginas, sex and pimples

Lets start with the latest ultrasound, two weeks ago. I have to have them every 4ish months to keep track of my growths. I decided to go off birth control two and a half years ago and since leaving the hormones, I have grown new fibroids and cysts...all of which need to be watched because they tend to want to be overly dramatic and "rockstar" out the room. So I get pelvic ultrasounds to watch them in an effort to stay off BCP, that is my sacrifice.
I travel to a nearby town to have it done in a hospital because after years of having them done, this ONE tech has treated me like a person who has lost.

The results came back the next day and it confirmed everything is still there,
but not growing as fast as it has in the past...
so I have four more months without pills.

Since realizing that we are never gonna get pregnant (without massive assistance) I have been celebrating the joys of being off the pill...mostly that I am far more sane, my hair has stopped falling out in handfuls, and I do not get nightsweats anymore!
Plus....I want to have sex again.

This is a big deal and I am sure I am not the only one who
has experienced that lack of sexdrive after years of IF and medical interventions
and then birth control pills.

Everyone knows that sex is good for you, emotionally, mentally and for your relationship...so I was eager to have that return, because I WANT TO FEEL GOOD!

Friday rolled around and I was ready for our Friday night date (we have them still) But around 2pm I started to feel ill, dizzy and then the cramps began and my back felt like I had carried a load of bricks up a flight of stairs. The rest of the night was spent on the couch with a heat pad and a frown, while hubby made me tea and "cooked dinner"(Chinese takeout)

The rest of the weekend started slow, but I got up to speed soon, and our Friday night plans shifted to Saturday night and we had a great night being together.
We were laughing and happy and then Sunday it happened...the pin prick.

That rolled into a stab, that rolled into a personal investigation of the ladyparts.

I had a lump...a red, round, hard lump.
My poor panic room wasn't even ready for my dash and door slam. I freaked out!!
I mean who wants to find a lump on your lovely lady bits?!

I made a plan that if it hadn't changed in a day I would see the doc.
I thought, maybe we just had too much fun and it took a toll on me.

Well it did change, it got scary looking and hurt more and
I could not ignore it or wish it away so I got into the doc.

I greeted her with, "hey, so I figured I haven't shown you my vagina enough...so here I am"
She laughed at me and we took a look at the MAD, RED, HARD Bump...
she looked at it and said "oh that is a sebaceous cyst. Do you want me to pop it? "
I think that is when I tried to go to my happy place...but I realized it needed to change if I wanted to walk normal....she offered to drain it with something...she described something about something all I heard was LARGE BORE NEEDLE and my mind made everything quiet...

I said I would wait for it to resolve itself, thank you.
Needles/vagina's...I bowed out of that long ago.

As she was writing up the antibiotic prescription I looked down again
and she had blown her lid!!
I was fascinated and freaked and the doc walked over and said
"lets get it all out"...and popped it!
I thought I was going to fall off the table...I remember breathing and then feeling like my whole vagina was in a table-vice.
She took samples and said she was sorry it hurt.
I was told to soak in a bath, several times a day and try and to "get more out".
The more I massage it the better.

OK so sit in a bath and massage myself...this was getting ridiculous.

I have been doing that for the last 24hours, it is the most unsexy, unpleasant way to enjoy a bath.

I got some new bath salt to help it feel less clinical and more...well, less clinical.
10 days of antibiotics and baths, and squeezing (not for the weak)

The one gem I can take away from this is:

I encourage all of you to check your parts, and don't wait to see the doc if something doesn't look right. As embarrassing as it was, I felt empowered that I knew what was normal for me and what wasn't and that I love my vagina enough to protect it from future mishaps.

My name is The Barreness and I grow stuff

Long Long time, like yesterday

I have been filled with sorrow as of late.

I am missing my grandmothers terribly.

One passed away in September 2006, the other in December 2008.

It feels like an eternity ago I was sitting next to either,

or

feeling their hands rounding my back in a hug.

My last words with my Nana, had her laboring for breath.

As I was leaving from a visit, she reached out to me... I turned and asked her what is it ?

What are you wanting to tell me...

and thru labored breath she simply said "I love you" 

I looked at her and told her I loved her too.

Three days later she was laying on her bed, surrounded by family

taking her last breathes thru her fluid filled lungs.

I don't remember my last conversation with my grandmother...

I spoke with her often over the phone, as I was unable to visit her in the care facility she lived.

My grandfather was in one too, and since his death in 1991 I promised I would never go back into one.

Even for my grandmother.

I was a selfish granddaughter that way

So I called a lot and spoke to her on the phone, mailed her pictures of the garden and visited with her at my parents home, away from the memories of a care facility

We carved pumpkins together in October and celebrated my parents anniversary together in November, and I called to wish her a happy Hannukah in the beginning of the month.

Then I got a call to come to the hospital a few days later; she was asleep after another fall and was not going to wake up.

We were surrounding her as well, when she took her last breath

She finally escaped the body that gave her so much pain.

Now years later I am left with the emptiness of not being able to call them.

Not hearing their voice

Smelling their perfume or soft skin

Sometimes I wake from sleep, I can hear their voices say my name

I have stopped having dreams of my grandmother yelling at me,

or

my Nana driving and complaining they got her hair color all wrong

Now I simply just feel left, like they are calling me from far away

They feel so so far away

To Hell With It All

I am having one of those kind of weeks!

I am having trouble focusing on my tasks...hubby is working late all too much.

I am in a state of constant hunger and all I want to do is make it all work.

So tonight I introduce a new theme:

 "To hell with it all"

Maybe if I throw caution to the wind and kick loose a little

I can shake back into place what is out of whack

I wholeheartedly support any of you doing it too!

Life is too short for this bullshit 

Promises

I am working in the studio today and for some reason this just felt right...

ONO - No, No, No (Tom Novy Vocal Mix) by YokoOno

Her description of what inspired the song hit home:

NO, NO, NO was written and sung by a woman who was in such a pain that her heart was cracking while she kept her mind clear so she could survive for herself and for her son. Of course that was me - right after John passed away. When John was still alive, he kept whispering to Sean that he will always be there for Sean and protect him. So when John left, Sean kept saying "Promise is made to be broken." Making it light than what it was. He was in pain. Sean loved this song. Each time when I sung "I don't remember what you promeeesed" and elongated the end of it, he used to let his body go down at the same time to the floor. I remember how hard it was for me to go through that period, especially, knowing how Sean was managing to hide his tears. Yoko

All is quiet

I have been sort of quiet recently

It freaks out hubby because his first response is, something is wrong.

Thanks to the Barreness being part of our lives, we both jump to catastrophizing things first

and then back peddle from there.

I don't think anything is wrong, I am at a low hum.

~

I found myself sitting and watching the little girl across the street

play baseball in her princess dress...

layers of tulle and satin swishing as she ran back and forth

to get the ball she had just hit and return it to her mom who was throwing it to her.

Her father riding his long board skateboard around in circles and rooting her on.

I got lost in that for a while.

~

I saw myself and hubby, in those parents.

I thought of the afternoons that we would have spent, or the ideas we could have shared.

Then I got mad...mad at myself for falling for the Barreness's seductive ways.

She is a sly one, feeding me daydreams

and

spoon feeding me sweetness that she knows makes me sick.

~

So today I am trying to work; work on other things that don't hurt or kick deep down inside me:

Two cups of tea

watering the garden

going over images for new submissions

sending love notes to friends

petting the cats

kissing my hubby

Really...



I have never really dealt with the idea of PMS,

or maybe a better word is, acknowledged.

Before the whole IF nightmare began; I took great pride in the fact that no one really knew when I got my period.

I never talked about it, I was able to do anything I wanted whenever I wanted and it was a badge of honor for me...as I often felt that women were dismissed because of it.

My hubby has an thing on his phone that keeps track of my cycle; he says that it is empowering to know where I am in my body. He wants me to feel the same about it.

Ugh, whatever....

Today though, today I have found myself working uphill to make anything happen.

I didn't want to get out of bed, I didn't want to get dressed.

I got dressed, I fed myself, I went to the garden and turned a water heavy pile of compost.

I came home and found that I just wanted to sit on the couch

watch stupid TV shows and eat the worst food for me in the house.

I am trying to not beat myself up about not being in the studio.

Not being productive

not being useful today.

I am suppose to get my period next week....but that is a whole week away!

I think I have PMS

OMG what has happened to me?!

Fotunate Friday

OK so I missed my Thankful Thursday post...and turned it into this one instead.

As Sunday approaches I decided to take to the garden early yesterday. I got a funny email from a fellow gardener reminding me that my garden was overflowing with food and it I wasn't careful I would "miss the treasures from my garden".

Well I read that after I got past the, boy your garden needs to be tended undertones

I reminded myself that my garden played a key role in my recovery from depression and that it was well worth the early morning trip to tend it.

I am thankful....

As I was quietly pulling the peas and carrots and turnips from the vines and ground I could hear myself breath. I realized I was in active meditation. I was quiet, my mind was quiet and the world around me was calm. Scrub jays were picking at the cleared earth I was leaving behind and feasting on the insects and worms.

I was even.

I was tending to my mother and celebrating her.

My hubby bought tickets to a music thing three or four months ago and told me to mark my calendar for the dinner and music night. I did and realized it was the day before my fathers birthday....it wasn't until about a week ago that we were told that it also fell on MOTHERS DAY

I kissed him and was so sosososososos thankful that we had plans, months before being aware of it, that would keep us from the flurry of the day.

My mother is a wonderful person who has come to understand that I mostly want to run for the hills on Mother's day...and that this day has dramatically shifted me in a way I will never recover from.

She and I spend time together on our whims and are not dictated by a marked day on a calendar.

My Mother-in-law, she simply wants to be acknowledged by hubby and we do that and she is happy.

I sometimes feel badly that I have taken Mother's day away from my mother, like, because of my perception of the day I am not able to celebrate her anymore.

My Aunt use to throw these elaborate parties on Mother's day, she would invite all the women in the family and all the mothers would get gifts and cooed over and told how wonderful they were. I participated in these events for years and years...then when The Barreness moved in I couldn't go.

I was chastised and scolded that I was being selfish.

So I went.

There was a moment at these parties,when all the mothers are given gifts...I remember sitting there with my smile and a sunny made up disposition and watched people on all sides of me being given gifts.

I sat with my plastered smile, paralysed.

Then I remember Hubby simply handing me a fruity something.

I spent the rest of the event holding back tears and wondering why I had folded to family pressure.

From that party on I rejected future invitations, and was scolded and "black listed" for years.

My Aunt even tried to change the name of the event to Women's Day...but still hold it on the same Sunday.

I never went back...It has been 5years and just now, I am not spoken of in hushed whispers.

This is what I think of as Mother's day...isolation, depression and shame.

My garden yesterday wiped that all away.

I think I actually saw The Barreness standing by the fence, pouting.

Thankful Thursday

Thank you all for your warm wonderful birthday wishes!

I was so deeply touched that you sent them.

Thank you most sincerely

I am so thankful to have this blog to express my deep, dark sorrow and dreams.

I am sure I am not the only one, but birthdays are markers of not only time but accomplishments for me.

In many ways far worse then the "high school reunions or post college get together".

I find that for myself, my birthday gives me time to assess what I still would like to accomplish in my life.

~

I feel thankful this year: that I am talking to others about my infertility, I am able to speak frankly about the pain and lifelong ache and

I have add the word hope on my list of words I would like to use in the coming year.

I don't use it even in casual conversations, I would like to use again without reservation or fear.

My Birthday

Today is my birthday....last year when I discovered that it fell at the same time as NIAW I was heartbroken.

I wanted a break from what I carry as the darkest part of my heart.

I realize now that it is not a curse, but a scar, a story.

I am a Barren woman

I have been to dark dark places, I have felt sadness with no end

I have cried to the point of dehydration

I have been lost

and I am still alive.

Busting my myth for NIAW

In honor of National Infertility Awareness Week, I am busting a myth and taking names!

"You did something to cause your infertility that is why you can’t get pregnant"

According to RESOLVE there are few lifestyle choices that cause permanent damage to your fertility. I think when push comes to shove; the easiest path for most is the “blame game”.

For us the first years of our infertility was my fault; according to doctors and family at least.

I cannot tell you how often I heard that I must be doing something wrong… you must not have counted the days correctly. You must not have kept your pelvis tilted long enough? You probably didn’t have sex enough or at the right times.

If they were not focusing on our sex life; they were offering up suggestions for food, exercise, eastern medicine and rituals. In our physicians, friends and families eyes, this was entirely our fault and we had clearly overlooked something. It quickly became insulting and hurtful.

Well we were rabbits! I have been a healthy vegetarian for close to twenty years, I had never drank, I had never smoked, I took my vitamins, I moved my body, I wasn’t overweight or underweight. I was just your average healthy Jane; nothing remarkable or special about me. We explored non-traditional medicines, exercises, meditations and non-evasive medical treatments that fit our beliefs.

When I finally to complained about extreme pain (I waited several months to do this as I thought I needed to suffer to become a mother), I was told that I was overreacting to having painful periods. It was only after advocating for myself that it was discovered that there was a medical reason for my infertility, and it had NOTHING to do with my lifestyle or lack of trying.

My Infertility came from a combination of a birth defect and aggressively relentless fibroids and cysts. Nothing I could have eaten, taken, or chosen did this. Making love 24 hours a day, 7 days a week would never have changed this. It was not my fault and no one is to blame.

It is this message that is the hardest to still get thru people’s minds. The easiest route is to play the blame game; the harder choice is to be empathetic.

Be tough and make the harder choices.

I cried for you

I am feeling sentimental and kind of blue.

When I get that way I turn my thoughts to Paris.

I use to live in that city many years ago.

Not for a long time but for a sometime

an important time in my life.

When I get blue my first thought are of returning there and recapturing that romantic mood and time in my past. It was all mine, I was free in my mind, my soul and my heart. I had not known the heartbreak of a miscarriage or the loss of what I thought my future would hold.

Last night while work I was listening to this song and I was instantly transported and began to cry.

So many women talk of getting away after finding out about their infertility or having a miscarriage. I always fantasize about just that.

Taking an overnight flight, walking into a nice hotel and falling into a bed with crisp white sheets that overlooks a beautiful spot in the city. Sleeping, really sleeping... and feeling the down blankets cradle me and allow me to loose myself in that moment.

Then, awake and find myself wandering pre-dawn streets and smelling the bakeries and feel the cool autumn wind on my face....

last night this gave me no comfort, but merely had me crying.

Thankful Thursday

Seeing as that it seems to be Thursday again

and I am working on changing my normally sarcastic outlook (well,this week)

I decided to focus this energy for the powers of good

*

I am thankful that I have been able to clear a longtime clogged slate of anger

(it is a doosie; so being the experimenter that I am , I thought I would see how long they could keep me from turning away from them, ball is in their court. I showed up to the game) 

I am trying, again

*

I am also thankful that when invited to visit with a long time ago friend I didn't run for the hills when I discovered that she was 8 3/4 months pregnant.

I am thankful indeed

Thankful Thursday

I got a call from a location that had read my proposal.

I have a studio visit next week

I am thankful that someone opened my envelope and thinks my BARREN show is worth exploring further

What's in a name

I have found myself in a loop, a loop like a skipping record.

I am hearing names and remembering all the names I had picked out for children.

It seems to be overwhelming as of late; where conversations I am engaged in mention a person or friend or family member by name and it triggers an instant image of a list of names I had written.

Beautiful wonderful strings of names that, have deep meaning and symbolism to us.

Names that would surely accompany our wonderful children thru life, inspire them to help others, remember where they came from and strive to make things better for those that will follow.

Names that have been collected, researched and gathered since I was a child.

Names that have been in the family for generations, names of lost friends and beloved members of the family, names that carry spiritual meaning

Sacred names, secret names, musical names

All those names seem to be cast off into the wind, I can see them floating in front of me in the breeze.

Dancing and bobbing in the clear air

slowly moving farther and farther away from me

Infertility and pet populations

Yesterday Keiko Zoll brought to my attention this latest campaign from PETA, after reading her statement and the responses from PETA I was moved to sign the petition, please take a moment and consider it too:

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) launched a publicity campaign/contest on March 31, 2011 offering a free vasectomy to a man who spays or neuters his pet during the month of April "in honor of" National Infertility Awareness Week. Instead of honoring this community, PETA has decided that it's acceptable to ridicule, devalue, and trivialize the infertility patient community experience in the name of promoting responsible pet-ownership.
The "Win a Vasectomy" campaign is not only a mockery of everything that National Infertility Awareness Week seeks to promote, but is a cruel execution of a promotional concept at the expense of millions of patients for whom infertility is no laughing matter.


Tell PETA President Ingrid Newkirk that infertility is not a joke and demand an apology for and immediate removal of the link between their campaign and National Infertility Awareness Week.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN PETITION


As a lifelong animal lover, animal rights advocate,vegetarian, and sometimes vegan I am outraged.
I am without words....I signed the petition and have asked others to do the same.

Longing

wordless wednesday