Well, Possibility #3 did not occur yesterday while in the bathroom at my work event (man it felt weird to do that at a work function). However, I went into my clinic today and gave them a blood sample and had an ultrasound. At first I was hesitant to go in because I knew that I had a late ovulation cycle and I had other signs that I was getting ready to ovulate soon. But if I had the ultrasound today I wouldn’t need another one before I got sperminated.
The good news is that I have two follicles on my right ovary that are ready to pop. So despite the fact that today is Day 17, I will test again tonight and either get the smiley face today or tomorrow. YAY for unknown Possibility #4!!! My body has come through for me this month…so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that CP’s sample does its job.
The timing is not fantastic as I have my stair climb race tomorrow morning but I will be able to bang that out before heading to the clinic to get the IUI. CP was hilarious after I figured out that I could participate in the race. “Are you sure you should do that?” He was worried that doing the stair race would somehow affect my ability to have an IUI an hour or two later. LOL. Boys are funny.
I am trying trying trying not to get excited, but I unfortunately can’t help myself. I know in my head that we only have a 10-12% chance of the IUI working (if there is nothing else wrong with me). But the fact that my body is working again makes me very happy and it means that we have a chance.
I’m trying not to think about the fact that this weekend could be the weekend that finally gets me pregnant!!
3.30.2012
3.29.2012
Update
No smiley face yesterday afternoon...so Possibility #1 is off the table.
Now I just have to wait until this afternoon to figure out if Possibility #2 or #3 will occur.
Come on #3!!!
3.28.2012
Worried
Today is Cycle Day 15 and I am worried. I have been using my Ovulation Prediction Kit for the past few days and I haven’t seen the smiley face yet (smiley face means that I will ovulate in the next 24-48 hours).
There are three possibilities for this cycle- two of them would suck, one of them would be great.
Possibility #1 is that I get the smiley face this afternoon when I test. This is very possible as I usually ovulate around this time in my cycle. Once I get the smiley face CP has to head into the clinic tomorrow morning to give his sample. I would then have to head in at 11am to get an ultrasound and get turkey basted. The problem with this is that I have a work event in southern CT all day tomorrow. As in, I am supposed to leave at 7:30am and not get back until after 7pm. That would obviously cause a major problem in trying to get turkey basted. I called the clinic yesterday to ask what we can do if this happens and I guess it takes a few hours for them to ready the sample to insert into me so the earliest they could do it would be 10am. I am going down to the event with other coworkers but this would really inconvenience everyone….or it would result in me not getting turkey basted this month.
Possibility #2 is that I don’t ovulate again this cycle. This would have me really worried. I mean, I did have to take progesterone to force my period after the Lupron shot, but by now I should be normal again right? I was a regular ovulator before my surgery….
Possibility #3 (aka the BEST one) is that I get the smiley face tomorrow when I sketchily test at my work event. That way I can go into the clinic Friday morning to get turkey basted.
Cross your fingers I don’t get the smiley face this afternoon- but get it tomorrow afternoon!!
There are three possibilities for this cycle- two of them would suck, one of them would be great.
Possibility #1 is that I get the smiley face this afternoon when I test. This is very possible as I usually ovulate around this time in my cycle. Once I get the smiley face CP has to head into the clinic tomorrow morning to give his sample. I would then have to head in at 11am to get an ultrasound and get turkey basted. The problem with this is that I have a work event in southern CT all day tomorrow. As in, I am supposed to leave at 7:30am and not get back until after 7pm. That would obviously cause a major problem in trying to get turkey basted. I called the clinic yesterday to ask what we can do if this happens and I guess it takes a few hours for them to ready the sample to insert into me so the earliest they could do it would be 10am. I am going down to the event with other coworkers but this would really inconvenience everyone….or it would result in me not getting turkey basted this month.
Possibility #2 is that I don’t ovulate again this cycle. This would have me really worried. I mean, I did have to take progesterone to force my period after the Lupron shot, but by now I should be normal again right? I was a regular ovulator before my surgery….
Possibility #3 (aka the BEST one) is that I get the smiley face tomorrow when I sketchily test at my work event. That way I can go into the clinic Friday morning to get turkey basted.
Cross your fingers I don’t get the smiley face this afternoon- but get it tomorrow afternoon!!
Working outside
CP and I tackled another outside project this past weekend. Before we moved into our house we tried to get the seller to take out a tall and intrusive metal pole encased in concrete out of the backyard. At some point it was used as a laundry drying line, but it looked pretty nasty so I can’t imagine that the seller used it. But she refused to get rid of it after the inspection so we had to live with it.
A few months after we moved in CP and I tried to take down the pole on a random Sunday. We dug a huge hole and looked like monkeys trying to hang on the pole to force it out of the ground….but to no avail. The concrete was too heavy and too far down for us to remove the pole.
Fast forward to this past weekend. CP and I started talking to one of his neighbors who is working on his front steps. He rented a jackhammer and we asked if we could use it if he had time left on his rental. Sure enough he offered it up a few hours later and we were ready to tackle the monstrocity in our backyard.
Finally the pole was at enough of an angle that CP and I both started hanging on the pole and it broke. Success!! The combination of our weight and a tiny hole in the metal pole from the jackhammer was the clincher. From there it was easy to pull the pole out of the hole.
We didn’t plan on this being one of our projects this spring but I am SO HAPPY this is out of our backyard!!! Our town will allow us to recycle the concrete and the metal pole so all we have to do is get it to the recycling center (which means cutting the metal pole somehow this weekend).
Now we have to fix the big hole that is in our backyard....
A few months after we moved in CP and I tried to take down the pole on a random Sunday. We dug a huge hole and looked like monkeys trying to hang on the pole to force it out of the ground….but to no avail. The concrete was too heavy and too far down for us to remove the pole.
Fast forward to this past weekend. CP and I started talking to one of his neighbors who is working on his front steps. He rented a jackhammer and we asked if we could use it if he had time left on his rental. Sure enough he offered it up a few hours later and we were ready to tackle the monstrocity in our backyard.
We made quick work on the concrete with the jackhammer (I even got to try it!) and kept digging, finding more and more concrete. Whoever put this thing in our backyard was really worried about it falling over. They went seriously overboard with the concrete. We kept pulling out mud and digging around the pole, once in a while acting like monkeys and hanging on the pole to try to flip it out of the hole.
Finally the pole was at enough of an angle that CP and I both started hanging on the pole and it broke. Success!! The combination of our weight and a tiny hole in the metal pole from the jackhammer was the clincher. From there it was easy to pull the pole out of the hole.
We didn’t plan on this being one of our projects this spring but I am SO HAPPY this is out of our backyard!!! Our town will allow us to recycle the concrete and the metal pole so all we have to do is get it to the recycling center (which means cutting the metal pole somehow this weekend).
Now we have to fix the big hole that is in our backyard....
3.27.2012
How to organically revive your lawn
Our front lawn was apparently neglected before we bought the house. I don’t know if the previous owners dumped too many chemicals on the lawn which stressed it, or simply neglected it but towards the end of last summer the grass was yellow from GRUBS.
6. Water water water. In order to get the seeds to germinate you need to water a lot in the beginning.
Cost:
Aerator rental $ 65
9 cubic yards of compost $ 265
Grass seed (1 25lb bag) $ 50
Mulch (6 bags) $ 120
Total $ 500
In case you don’t know, if these disgusting creatures make an appearance on your lawn, your lawn is unhealthy. The grubs will eat the lawn roots, which results in patches of dead grass. We had grubs and dead patches everywhere.
In order to fix the problem without resorting to harsh chemicals or ripping up our front lawn entirely, this spring we have formulated a 6-part plan to fix our lawn.
1. Rake the thatch. When the days start getting a little warmer in the spring, rake your lawn. If you have an unhealthy lawn like we do, there will be clumps of dead grass stuck together that you can easily rake out of the ground (aka thatch). Rake all of that up and get it off your lawn.
2. Aerate the lawn. You know when you see 4-inch long circular pieces of dirt that look like poo on athletic or school fields? Well that lawn has just been aerated. You can use a manual aerator that you step on to make the holes (if you have a small lawn) or rent a machine (like we did). According to what we read, the shoes that you see in Sky Mall that have the spikes on them don’t really work because they don’t go far enough into the ground.
3. Buy compost to spread over the lawn.
We waited a week between aerating the lawn and having the compost delivered. The dirt that you see in the picture is 9 cubic yards of compost. We called a local landscaping company and ordered the compost to be delivered on Friday afternoon. We tried to get ½ in of compost on top of the grass and added more in some parts (for instance on top of where we had two dead trees taken out last year). Compost will add nutrients back into the soil and fill in the holes from the aerator machine. Surprisingly, it didn’t take us very long to spread the compost- only half a day.
4. Buy grass seed. We went with an organic brand called Jonathan Green. Make sure to grab a bag of a seed that suits YOUR lawn. For instance, in our back yard we used a high traffic seed (because of the dogs) whereas in our front yard we used a full sun seed. Spread the seed over your lawn- you can either use a seed spreader or do it by hand.
5. Buy mulch. We bought six bags of a brand called Mainely Mulch which is like a straw that has no seed in it. We then spread that over the compost and seed to hold the seeds in place and to retain moisture.
6. Water water water. In order to get the seeds to germinate you need to water a lot in the beginning.
Cost:
Aerator rental $ 65
9 cubic yards of compost $ 265
Grass seed (1 25lb bag) $ 50
Mulch (6 bags) $ 120
Total $ 500
Crossing my fingers we have a better looking lawn this year!
How do you take care of your lawn?
3.26.2012
Man Men party
Little did I know that I would get sucked into the Mad Men world this past fall. After my surgery CP came home armed with DVDs for the first four seasons to keep me busy while I was out of work. I would wait until he finished work for the day and we would watch a few episodes each night. We were totally hooked.
I’m actually kind of glad we didn’t have to wait the 17 months like everyone else because that would have been TOUGH! Last night we headed over to a friend’s house to watch the season premiere. We had dinner beforehand and went with a Man Men theme dinner- oysters (yuck), steak, and a baked potato. I’m not sure that people back in the 60s would have used a lavender rub on their steak, but I didn’t care because that is my favorite!
Also keeping with the Mad Men theme was our drinking. Six of us polished off two bottles of champagne, a couple of martinis, and a couple bottles of wine. Ugh. Don’t get me wrong….I was feeling great last night- but this morning I woke up thinking that it wasn’t such a great idea. Maybe next week I won’t try to drink as much as they do in the show!
Overall the episode wasn’t my favorite- but it did have a few funny lines. The writers had to wrap up some cliffhangers from last season and the tone of the show seems to be a little lighter. I look forward to next week’s show because I think that the writers are setting something up to go down soon.
Did you do anything for the Man Men premiere? What did you think of it?
I’m actually kind of glad we didn’t have to wait the 17 months like everyone else because that would have been TOUGH! Last night we headed over to a friend’s house to watch the season premiere. We had dinner beforehand and went with a Man Men theme dinner- oysters (yuck), steak, and a baked potato. I’m not sure that people back in the 60s would have used a lavender rub on their steak, but I didn’t care because that is my favorite!
Also keeping with the Mad Men theme was our drinking. Six of us polished off two bottles of champagne, a couple of martinis, and a couple bottles of wine. Ugh. Don’t get me wrong….I was feeling great last night- but this morning I woke up thinking that it wasn’t such a great idea. Maybe next week I won’t try to drink as much as they do in the show!
Overall the episode wasn’t my favorite- but it did have a few funny lines. The writers had to wrap up some cliffhangers from last season and the tone of the show seems to be a little lighter. I look forward to next week’s show because I think that the writers are setting something up to go down soon.
Did you do anything for the Man Men premiere? What did you think of it?
3.23.2012
Girls Night Out
Last night I had an awesome night with friends where I didn’t have a care in the world. Living Social had a deal about a month ago for a Girls Night Out-type event- for only $12.50/person this event was SO worth it. My only complaint was that the Living Social coupon said that there would be complimentary drinks….but then we cozied up to the bar and had to pay $7 for a glass of wine. The “complimentary” drinks were two booths that gave about half a shot of booze. Boooo.
But there were free small cupcakes (I held myself to one peanut butter yumminess), people rubbing/massaging your hands to try to sell you products, free facials (mine is booked for next month), and lots and lots of free products. I now have free nail polish, mascara, under eye cream, Philosophy products, lip gloss and all of the free swag they give you in the goodie bag.
A local beauty academy was there and some students were on hand for free mini manicures.
My French manicure is so boring, but considering the bright green and sparkly nail polish I had on last weekend for St Pattys Day (which caused CP to comment that I looked like I had fingered a leprachan), I think it was necessary. :-)
A henna tattoo artist had a booth. I went with a design on the inside of my arm not wanting to attract unneccessary attention at work for the next two (ish) weeks. Of course I ended up wearing a short sleeve shirt today to work because it is 72 degrees out, so I’m pretty sure people at work saw it anyway….
Henna paint on my arm with sparkles
The finished product
But there were free small cupcakes (I held myself to one peanut butter yumminess), people rubbing/massaging your hands to try to sell you products, free facials (mine is booked for next month), and lots and lots of free products. I now have free nail polish, mascara, under eye cream, Philosophy products, lip gloss and all of the free swag they give you in the goodie bag.
A local beauty academy was there and some students were on hand for free mini manicures.
My French manicure is so boring, but considering the bright green and sparkly nail polish I had on last weekend for St Pattys Day (which caused CP to comment that I looked like I had fingered a leprachan), I think it was necessary. :-)
A henna tattoo artist had a booth. I went with a design on the inside of my arm not wanting to attract unneccessary attention at work for the next two (ish) weeks. Of course I ended up wearing a short sleeve shirt today to work because it is 72 degrees out, so I’m pretty sure people at work saw it anyway….
Henna paint on my arm with sparkles
The finished productAfter a few hours of walking around checking out the booths and services, the four of us decided to get dinner because my three glasses of wine were hitting me hard without food in my stomach. I ended up passing out around 10:30 and woke up with a slight hangover. Whoops.
If a similar event comes to your area, I would recommend going. It was a fun night out with friends (although I could have done without the hangover!).
If a similar event comes to your area, I would recommend going. It was a fun night out with friends (although I could have done without the hangover!).
3.22.2012
First IUI (hopefully) this month
This month will hopefully be the month of our first and only IUI (ha- if it were only that easy)!
I came back from vacation and started my monthly visitor soon afterwards. On cycle days 2 through 6 I took 50 mg of Clomid, which seemed to have no effect on me (aka no crazy hormone issues). Starting tomorrow (day 10) my doctor has me using the Clearblue Easy “Easy Read” Ovulation Test with Smileface Indicator for five days to predict my ovulation (it might not come as late as usual because of the medication).
Per my fertility clinic, I will be testing in the late afternoon/early evening and will just have to restrict my fluids for at least two hours prior to testing to get the same results as a morning test. Once the test shows a color changes, I will be inseminated the morning after. CP will head into the clinic that morning to give his “sample” and I will head in three hours after that for the turkey basting process.
I want to be excited for this. But I worry that I am not going to ovulate since I didn’t last month (crossing fingers the Clomid works). I worry that CP is going to have to travel next week when I need him here to do his part. I worry that something is going to come up at work making it difficult for me to get away to get inseminated.
There are a whole lot of things that I can’t control. Even if everything falls into place and we can do the IUI our odds are not great (10-12%). So in order to save myself from more worry wrinkles, I have not really been thinking about it too much. It has been pretty easy because I have been so busy with friends, the warm weather, the dogs, work, the garden, etc.
Not being able to try for the last 7+ months has left me feeling weird. The lack of pressure has been nice, but by not focusing on it I feel out of it. It’s hard to explain. It’s not like I don’t want to be pregnant, but the urge has subsidized somewhat. I feel more detatched from the whole process. It’s like I am going through the motions, despite this being a first time we are doing an IUI. Not quite sure why this is (trying to save myself in advance from the pain of yet another failed month?), but it is what it is.
I came back from vacation and started my monthly visitor soon afterwards. On cycle days 2 through 6 I took 50 mg of Clomid, which seemed to have no effect on me (aka no crazy hormone issues). Starting tomorrow (day 10) my doctor has me using the Clearblue Easy “Easy Read” Ovulation Test with Smileface Indicator for five days to predict my ovulation (it might not come as late as usual because of the medication).
Per my fertility clinic, I will be testing in the late afternoon/early evening and will just have to restrict my fluids for at least two hours prior to testing to get the same results as a morning test. Once the test shows a color changes, I will be inseminated the morning after. CP will head into the clinic that morning to give his “sample” and I will head in three hours after that for the turkey basting process.
I want to be excited for this. But I worry that I am not going to ovulate since I didn’t last month (crossing fingers the Clomid works). I worry that CP is going to have to travel next week when I need him here to do his part. I worry that something is going to come up at work making it difficult for me to get away to get inseminated.
There are a whole lot of things that I can’t control. Even if everything falls into place and we can do the IUI our odds are not great (10-12%). So in order to save myself from more worry wrinkles, I have not really been thinking about it too much. It has been pretty easy because I have been so busy with friends, the warm weather, the dogs, work, the garden, etc.
Not being able to try for the last 7+ months has left me feeling weird. The lack of pressure has been nice, but by not focusing on it I feel out of it. It’s hard to explain. It’s not like I don’t want to be pregnant, but the urge has subsidized somewhat. I feel more detatched from the whole process. It’s like I am going through the motions, despite this being a first time we are doing an IUI. Not quite sure why this is (trying to save myself in advance from the pain of yet another failed month?), but it is what it is.
3.21.2012
Commence OLTFA
Boy I have been bad about blogging recently- but I have finally shaked off my various illnesses and I am ready to get back into it!
First up: Operation Lose the Fat A**.
Yep. I think that I have finally come to my breaking point. I’m exercising sporatically (other than taking the dogs for a 20 minute walk every day) and I have been eating like poop. It’s time to stop. Yes I have said it before. But ESPECIALLY with sleeveless shirts and shorts weather coming up I have got to get serious.
As soon as we got back from our vacation I kept with my healthy breakfast: oatmeal, banana, a Chobani yogurt. I started to make salads at home to take to lunch. My only “cheat” on my salad is croutons. Otherwise it is lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, snap peas, and grilled chicken with a light balsamic vinagrette dressing. My afternoon snack is grapes or a sweet pepper with a little hummus. Dinners have been fairly healthy usually with a side of sauteed spinach, swiss chard or lettuce for a side salad from our garden.
I have been training weekly for my upcoming stair race with a friend. Every Saturday morning we head to an outdoor amphitheatre to run the 87 stairs up 10 times (870 stairs- more than the almost 700 for the race). We had thought that it was getting easier, but our first practice climb was this past weekend and boy that was tough (didn’t help that it was the day after St Patty’s Day!). I was in MUCH better shape when I did the Chicago (John Hancock) and Denver stair climbs so it kind of SUCKED. I hope to finish the race in less than 8 minutes on the 31st so I probably need to add some training days into my schedule!
A couple friends and I have joined a weekly body shape up class through our town. Tuesday night we had our first class and it was nice. It wasn’t hard, just a lot of dance/ballet moves using your body weight. But I will use it as my stretch/strengthening day because…..last night I decided that I am going to train for a local 10k in the beginning of June.
The 10k will bring back memories for me because it is where I ran my half marathon last year! I only have 10 weeks to train so I certainly don’t have time to get ready for 13.1, but I have plenty of time to get ready for 6.2! Hopefully I can get some friends to do it with me for support. I’m hoping that my workout schedule is going to look similar to the training schedule I put together today!
Operation Lose the Fat A** commence!!
First up: Operation Lose the Fat A**.
Yep. I think that I have finally come to my breaking point. I’m exercising sporatically (other than taking the dogs for a 20 minute walk every day) and I have been eating like poop. It’s time to stop. Yes I have said it before. But ESPECIALLY with sleeveless shirts and shorts weather coming up I have got to get serious.
As soon as we got back from our vacation I kept with my healthy breakfast: oatmeal, banana, a Chobani yogurt. I started to make salads at home to take to lunch. My only “cheat” on my salad is croutons. Otherwise it is lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, snap peas, and grilled chicken with a light balsamic vinagrette dressing. My afternoon snack is grapes or a sweet pepper with a little hummus. Dinners have been fairly healthy usually with a side of sauteed spinach, swiss chard or lettuce for a side salad from our garden.
I have been training weekly for my upcoming stair race with a friend. Every Saturday morning we head to an outdoor amphitheatre to run the 87 stairs up 10 times (870 stairs- more than the almost 700 for the race). We had thought that it was getting easier, but our first practice climb was this past weekend and boy that was tough (didn’t help that it was the day after St Patty’s Day!). I was in MUCH better shape when I did the Chicago (John Hancock) and Denver stair climbs so it kind of SUCKED. I hope to finish the race in less than 8 minutes on the 31st so I probably need to add some training days into my schedule!
A couple friends and I have joined a weekly body shape up class through our town. Tuesday night we had our first class and it was nice. It wasn’t hard, just a lot of dance/ballet moves using your body weight. But I will use it as my stretch/strengthening day because…..last night I decided that I am going to train for a local 10k in the beginning of June.
The 10k will bring back memories for me because it is where I ran my half marathon last year! I only have 10 weeks to train so I certainly don’t have time to get ready for 13.1, but I have plenty of time to get ready for 6.2! Hopefully I can get some friends to do it with me for support. I’m hoping that my workout schedule is going to look similar to the training schedule I put together today!
Operation Lose the Fat A** commence!!
3.14.2012
Back from vacation
I’m back! Tan, relaxed (until I saw the number of email messages in my inbox), and a teensy bit sick. CP and I had a wonderful week in the Dominican Republic. I’m hoping to get all of the pictures together tonight so that I can post them later this week.
In a nutshell, our trip was….
Spent with friends. The groom was CP’s fraternity brother and roommate. He decided to invite a lot of their fraternity to the wedding and was surprised by the large number of people that accepted. Despite the fact that CP and I went to the same small university and even had mutual friends, I had only met the guys that came to our wedding. So I met a large number of people that I never knew in college. It was pretty crazy.
A fun destination wedding. It wouldn’t have worked for us but it is a GREAT idea. What a fun way to celebrate your big day with friends AND have a great honeymoon.
Lots of drinking. The resort was an all-inclusive, so while the food wasn’t stellar, the free alcohol was great for the wallet. We showed up to our hotel room and we had a minibar stocked with beer (Presidente), soda, and water. On the top of the minibar was four half bottles of liquor- whiskey, vodka, a Baileys-like cream liquor, and rum. We broke into that immediately. Other wedding guests brought inflatable Beirut tables for the pools. The resort featured two swim up bars (LOVE LOVE LOVE) and 11 or 12 bars throughout the property. My liver still hurts.
Amazingly nice people. Unlike the people in the Bahamas who seemed put out most of the time you asked them a question, the people in the DR are the complete opposite. I’m sure that it is drilled into their heads that customer service is key, but they genuinely seemed happy and not put out in the least bit. This wasn’t just at the resort…this included people at the dive shop, people on our booze cruise, etc.
Amazing beaches. The sand was white and the water was turquoise. It was the perfect temperature to lay out and the water was warm enough to cool you off. If it was too windy to sit on the beach, there were a bunch of pools on the resort that had free cabanas all day every day and plenty of chairs.
Good scuba diving. We did a day of diving off of Saona Island and both dives were fantastic. Lots of different things to see- eels, lots of different fish, sea urchin, colorful coral, etc. After our two dives we had a two hour drive back to our hotels so the dive company plied us with rum and cokes and beer for a party bus ride home. It was great.
Sickness. Like in Mexico, you aren’t allowed to drink the water. The resort, the dive shop, etc. all provided bottled water 24/7 (it KILLED me to not be able to fill up the water bottles and reuse them- arrrggh!) so I have no idea how CP and I (and some other wedding guests) came down with the DR’s version of Montezuma’s revenge. In fact, I am still feeling the effects of it….along with a nasty cold. Booo.
Stymied by the resort. CP and I agreed that we are very happy that we went, but in general, it is not our type of vacation. I wanted to see the National Park but our tour operator didn’t have an excursion there and it was recommended that we only use the tour operator that booked our airport transfers. We didn’t want to rent a car because the DR had crazy drivers. I’m sure we could have gotten there somehow, but we were a bit too lazy to figure it out. We did do a dune buggy excursion which ended up sucking because the trip just took you to a beach (which was beautiful) where you had to stay in the water or get hassled to buy something, a place where they make coffee and hot chocolate (where you get hassled to buy something) and a cave with a dipping pool which was cool, but once again you got hassled into buying something. Then of course CP drove into cow poop and it splatted all over us. Gross. We also would have liked to get off the property and into some local restaurants but that’s not entirely possible either. Everything around us was a resort.
Overall, it was a great vacation. Despite the last two paragraphs we had a great time. It was great to come home, pick up the dogs and then have the entire weekend to get ready for the work week.
How have you been (I’m still working through my Reader!)?
In a nutshell, our trip was….
Spent with friends. The groom was CP’s fraternity brother and roommate. He decided to invite a lot of their fraternity to the wedding and was surprised by the large number of people that accepted. Despite the fact that CP and I went to the same small university and even had mutual friends, I had only met the guys that came to our wedding. So I met a large number of people that I never knew in college. It was pretty crazy.
A fun destination wedding. It wouldn’t have worked for us but it is a GREAT idea. What a fun way to celebrate your big day with friends AND have a great honeymoon.
Lots of drinking. The resort was an all-inclusive, so while the food wasn’t stellar, the free alcohol was great for the wallet. We showed up to our hotel room and we had a minibar stocked with beer (Presidente), soda, and water. On the top of the minibar was four half bottles of liquor- whiskey, vodka, a Baileys-like cream liquor, and rum. We broke into that immediately. Other wedding guests brought inflatable Beirut tables for the pools. The resort featured two swim up bars (LOVE LOVE LOVE) and 11 or 12 bars throughout the property. My liver still hurts.
Amazingly nice people. Unlike the people in the Bahamas who seemed put out most of the time you asked them a question, the people in the DR are the complete opposite. I’m sure that it is drilled into their heads that customer service is key, but they genuinely seemed happy and not put out in the least bit. This wasn’t just at the resort…this included people at the dive shop, people on our booze cruise, etc.
Amazing beaches. The sand was white and the water was turquoise. It was the perfect temperature to lay out and the water was warm enough to cool you off. If it was too windy to sit on the beach, there were a bunch of pools on the resort that had free cabanas all day every day and plenty of chairs.
Good scuba diving. We did a day of diving off of Saona Island and both dives were fantastic. Lots of different things to see- eels, lots of different fish, sea urchin, colorful coral, etc. After our two dives we had a two hour drive back to our hotels so the dive company plied us with rum and cokes and beer for a party bus ride home. It was great.
Sickness. Like in Mexico, you aren’t allowed to drink the water. The resort, the dive shop, etc. all provided bottled water 24/7 (it KILLED me to not be able to fill up the water bottles and reuse them- arrrggh!) so I have no idea how CP and I (and some other wedding guests) came down with the DR’s version of Montezuma’s revenge. In fact, I am still feeling the effects of it….along with a nasty cold. Booo.
Stymied by the resort. CP and I agreed that we are very happy that we went, but in general, it is not our type of vacation. I wanted to see the National Park but our tour operator didn’t have an excursion there and it was recommended that we only use the tour operator that booked our airport transfers. We didn’t want to rent a car because the DR had crazy drivers. I’m sure we could have gotten there somehow, but we were a bit too lazy to figure it out. We did do a dune buggy excursion which ended up sucking because the trip just took you to a beach (which was beautiful) where you had to stay in the water or get hassled to buy something, a place where they make coffee and hot chocolate (where you get hassled to buy something) and a cave with a dipping pool which was cool, but once again you got hassled into buying something. Then of course CP drove into cow poop and it splatted all over us. Gross. We also would have liked to get off the property and into some local restaurants but that’s not entirely possible either. Everything around us was a resort.
Overall, it was a great vacation. Despite the last two paragraphs we had a great time. It was great to come home, pick up the dogs and then have the entire weekend to get ready for the work week.
How have you been (I’m still working through my Reader!)?
3.01.2012
The State of NSC- February 2012
FYI: Google Friend Connect won’t work for any non-blogger based blogs starting today!
A monthly take on my world.
Weight: 212.5 (Ugh. Must COMMIT to doing something about this when we get back from vacation!)
Current Feeling: Excitement for our Punta Cana trip- we leave tomorrow!
Running Stats
Total Miles Run: 8 miles
Time Spent Running: 1 hour, 46 minutes, 2 seconds
Longest Single Run: 3.32 miles
Current aches and pains: I don’t want to totally jinx myself, but my plantar fasciitis is feeling pretty good these days. I think that my Newton running shoes are helping. I’m sure that it also helps that I have only run 8 miles the past month (yikes!).
Current Favorite Song: International Love- Pitbull*
Looking forward to: Other than 80 degree weather every day for the next week? ;-)
Annoyed about: The fact that I didn’t ovulate this month. I had a spike three days ago in my temperature but then it plummented back down. I’m on day 18 which means that this was not a good month. I hope that this doesn’t foreshadow ovulation problems in the future…. I was pretty regular prior to my surgery.
Proud about: Keeping my sh*t together at work while working really long hours. I haven’t allowed the stress to get to me- the bottle of wine I shared with a friend last Thursday after a 12 hour day might have helped!
How are you feeling with the start of this new month?
*However, I hate that this song features Chris Brown.
A monthly take on my world.
Weight: 212.5 (Ugh. Must COMMIT to doing something about this when we get back from vacation!)
Current Feeling: Excitement for our Punta Cana trip- we leave tomorrow!
Running Stats
Total Miles Run: 8 miles
Time Spent Running: 1 hour, 46 minutes, 2 seconds
Longest Single Run: 3.32 miles
Current aches and pains: I don’t want to totally jinx myself, but my plantar fasciitis is feeling pretty good these days. I think that my Newton running shoes are helping. I’m sure that it also helps that I have only run 8 miles the past month (yikes!).
Current Favorite Song: International Love- Pitbull*
Looking forward to: Other than 80 degree weather every day for the next week? ;-)
Annoyed about: The fact that I didn’t ovulate this month. I had a spike three days ago in my temperature but then it plummented back down. I’m on day 18 which means that this was not a good month. I hope that this doesn’t foreshadow ovulation problems in the future…. I was pretty regular prior to my surgery.
Proud about: Keeping my sh*t together at work while working really long hours. I haven’t allowed the stress to get to me- the bottle of wine I shared with a friend last Thursday after a 12 hour day might have helped!
How are you feeling with the start of this new month?
*However, I hate that this song features Chris Brown.
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