okey dokey

Just a quick post. Anna is okey dokey...and home sleeping....

would have a pic of her in the gown...but I can't make the camera work.....4am came real early.....sooner than normal I think...

MJ

installation directions

Since we have just finished up some of the major projects in the house, I wanted to pass along some of the how tos I learned the last week....mainly...the ceiling fans. These directions are written in three languages by people that speak none of them. I believe that the companies are angry, and get their kicks by torturing us with their product....here's some of the directions:

"thank you for purchasing your lovely new ceiling fan. You are few quick steps away from enjoying this new fan.

To begin: Begin by installing the mounting bracket included in this kit. Please note, the screws provided in this kit are not designed to actually work...they are too short. We advise you use your local hardware store to get the correct screws.

Second: you will need to loosen the mounting screws. Please note, these screws are designed to strip on the very first turn. Again, your local hardware store will have replacement screws available.

Third: For you convenience, we have supplied 38 feet of wire for you, although you will only need 8 inches. If you do not strip off most the wire, your fan will never mount. You will need a wire stripper, available at your local hardware store.

Fourth, You will need to lift the base unit of about 20 pounds for several minutes while trying to line up screw holes. You will need to hold this base unit one handed, while tightening screws.

Fifth: We have included, for your convenience, rubber stoppers screwed in over the holes you need in order to attach the fan blades. You will need to remove these, and an electric screw driver will not fit for this task.

Sixth: You will need to attach the glass globe, the guide piece through the two pull chains to the locking bolt. We strongly recommend you use all three arms to this task."

I have hung four ceiling fans. I am well versed in these directions now.

MJ

Best Birthday Present

I am so proud of my ovaries- they did it! At my appointment yesterday, Dr. Vaughn confirmed I have 6 eggs that are the right size for IVF. Yea! Frr reference, 4 is necessary, 6 is great!

My retrieval procedure is scheduled for Monday morning at 5:30AM. It will only take 5-10 minutes and I will be "out" for the actual process. Marcus and I are elated- we are closer than we have ever been; however, we do still have concerns we would ask that you pray with us.

1. Please let the procedure go smoothly. I have never been "out" before.

2. While I am going through the procedure, the embryologists will be working on Marcus' frozen friends. Pray that they survive the big thaw and are able to participate in the IVF process.

3. Pray that we are given guidance about the big decisions that will come before us this week.

I will be home resting on Monday and then back to work on Tuesday. The transfer, which places the embryos back in me, will happen on Thursday or Saturday depending upon how quickly they mature. A pregnancy test would occur in mid-April.

We are so very blessed to me this far and thank you all for loving us through it!

Marcus and Anna

Thirty Two-rreffic Day!

Marcus planned wonderful birthday for me!

When I walked out of the bedroom Saturday morning, there were roses and tulips on the bar to surprise me. (they spent last night in Marcus' car!).

Marcus took me to breakfast after my bloodwork in the wee hours. We tried The Omlettry which is a central Austin dive. Marcus' omelette was good, but my pancakes were a little dry.

After breakfast, I met up with my Mom and spent the day house shopping- curtain rods, rugs, etc. Thank you Mom for all of your sewing help!


At breakfast, I opened some vvery thoughtful gifts- thank you Marcus, Katy, and Alison. Love it all! Marcus even commented that he needs to call my girlfriends when he can't find a gift for me.

He did buy me a lovely James Avery bracelet I have wanted and found a cool Austin vendor for these retro chairs for our backporch. Two red chairs and a table are on their way to me!


After hanging some curtains and getting more presents, thank you Tiffany and Cristina, we went to dinner! Marcus arranged for a group of our frends meet us last night at Cheesecake Factory, one of my favorites. Gotta have Strawberry Shortcake on your birthday! I appreciate you guys and girls celebrating with me!

Here's hoping this year is truly terrific!

Happy Birthday to you....

Today is Anna's birthday! She leaves the Thirty one-derful, and heads to the Thirty Two-rrific.

And of course, being Anna's birthday, the weather is rainy, and cloudy, and drizzly....crazy Spring weather!

If you get a chance, send her some bday love!

MJ

Happy Birthday Alison!

Alison,

I hope you have a wonderful birthday with the kids today and with Brad this weekend!

Love,

Anna

PS- I promise to go to the post office soon and send treats your way!

You Are Ugli!

I took the recommendations of a few Cedar Park/ Leander locals and shopped at a new HEB for groceries last night. They had some great things that my old store does not have, like ugli fruit.

What in the world? Who eats this? I'm not planning on making an ugli fruit salad or ugli cobbler anytime soon.

Favorite Moving Pictures

for a small second I questioned my need for so many shoes. Shoes boxes take up a lot of space in the moving spectrum.

the moment passed, the shoes were packed and no one was lost in the shuffle to the new house. thank goodness, I need them all!




the move was hard on kitty. we have been saving a cat carrier in the garage for 5 years for just such an occassion.... that is, until the movers packed it in the truck without the cat. Marcus ended up moving her in a laundry basket and a trash bag. If you know JG, you know how that ended up!




Yea, new furniture! We got 2 new dining room tables, a new coffee and end table and a new desk for Marcus' office. Once the trash man removes them today we can park in our garage again!

I am curtain shopping this weekend and promise to post new inside pics of the house on Sunday. We are so close!

moving....

So the pics of the move are coming, and the announcement about all the great things going on...but before all that....I wanted to send out my log of Thursday through Monday morning....

Thursday 7:30 - "Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! We close! What a great day! Yeah! This is going to be a big day for us. I'm so full of energy and ready to go!"

Friday 7:30 - "Whew! Closing is done! Now the moving starts! This gets REAL! I'm gonna get a good breakfast, and be ready to get going! "

Saturday 7:30 " I've been up for half hour, I still can't see this dang HDMI cable. I'd go by feel, but apparently the nerves in my fingers are broken. The wind hurts when it touches them. I'd go do something else, but I need about twenty minutes to stand up again. My back has some how decided that it doesn't want to straighten anymore. Maybe some donuts and coffee will straighten the kinks out. "

Sunday 1:30 am - "OW! where are my Advil PM pills? I went to go to the bathroom and almost fell down like a wooden statue.....my back or legs don't work right. My left eye looks like I got hit in the face....did I get hit in the face? Who knows?"

Sunday 8am - " Bless you inventor of the Advil PM! Bring it on! My fingers no longer have any finger prints on them...I have rubbed them off. My back works, but my feet move like I'm on romper stompers. But hey! No pain! Did I even shower today? Forget it...I think these are the same shorts from Friday."

Monday 630 - "Time to make the donuts. Haven't shaved since Thursday....Must find coffee.....Thank heavens all the muscles work again...but now everyone at work will be like...'you do anything this weekend?'"

Marcus

It Isn't All Sunshine and Puppies!

IVF has ups and downs and today was down.... this is the painful bruise or burst blood vessel that occurred on the site of my injection. I added Gonal-F to my daily injection routine and this is what it did to me!

I called the doctor and they said "some people are more sensitive". I was prepared to be cranky or weepy all the time, but not covered in bruises. I will be doing Gonal-F for at least 10 days! Tonight, the injection did not hurt nearly as much and did not bleed. I hope that is a good sign and I don't get a matching blue spot for the left side.

With this drug, there is a high chance of cysts, so I will seeing the doctor and giving blood every 3 days until the retrieval date which is looking like March 31st. This month! Wow!

On a side note, we closed on our old and new house today! Yea! We'll be unblogable for a couple of days but will return with great pics of the new house.

Baby Movies

If you have ever met me or spent 10 minutes on our blog, you know that I am a busy girl. There is always omething going on- I like to have an agenda for my work, church and personal life. Sending Marcus a calendar request in Outlook is not unreasonable.

The thought of spending 2 days stuck in the house after my IVF procedure in a couple of weeks scares me- will I get bored? will I want company? will I go crazy and sneak a Target run?

Then, it hit me this morning, I am going to use the time to catch up on some movies. I never go to the theater, so I think 2 days of fun girly movies would be great. And, for good measure, I think movies focused around being pregnant or babies would be good. Get me in the right frame of mind. Send baby magic my direction. Scare me to death.

So, I know I want to see Knocked Up. Send me your suggestions- what other baby-centered movies should I watch while trying to harvest my own baby?

Happy Birthday Bill!

I have been meaning to post this picture from last week.....

Tuesday night we went to Wings N More to celebrate Bill's birthday. Bill and Marcus have been friends since elementary school. Looking at Bill's fingers reminds me why I don't like wings- they are messy!



Marcus opted for the creamy peach (chipotle ranch) finger accessory rather than the fire orange color chosen by Bill.

Gross!

and I made it home will all my fingers....

This is me and my friend Bella. Actually, before the evening of this picture, Bella looked at me like I was a snack.

But its amazing what a relationship you can build when you split Pizza Rolls and beer.

But this doesn't mean that the desire to eat me as a meal is done...so...we will see what next visit brings.....

Congratulations to the Beach Zoo!

This is my grilfriend Meg, her husband Matt and their new baby girl Allison. Meg is the most dedicated blogger. Head over to The Beach Zoo and read Meg's posts from the maternity ward! Yep, you read me right, Meg kept us all informed of her progress from her laptop at her hospital bed. She blogged at 5:34 PM and had her daughter at 7:04 PM. Wow!

She is a blogging champion!

When the wife's away....

So...yet again, Anna is out again for a conference....it's no worries..we are about done with the house stuff, and let's just say that packing becomes a little faster when its just me ;)

But, in the mighty game of World of Warcraft, I am trying to get a fast flying mount. this costs 5K gold. I have, as of today....4250 gold. With Friday and Saturday wife free....I think I can get there.

I just need time to gold farm...or hire one of these guys.

No joke....it was recently reported that in game commerce (buying in game gold on ebay, ebay of avatars or toons) is about half a billion a year, and is a major influence to the Chinese economy. You see...these guys are paid about $10 a day to play WOW for 14 hours, and farm gold. And no, that would not be my dream job. can you imagine having a quota for producing in game gold?

Marcus

You Want Me to Put That WHERE?

On Wednesday, my package from Freedom Drug arrived. They are an infertility pharmacy in the Northeast that my doctor recommends. It came in a big box and was filled with needles, big scary pills, oils, liquids and even a little red hazardous materials bin for all of my used needles.


So, this morning I had a doctor's appointment and was given a clean bill of health to start the next phase of IVF- the injections. Marcus and I spent an hour in injection training with Amanda. As you can see from the picture, Marcus was much more freaked out. He will have to do my progesterone injections which come in early April. The needle for that one is large, long enough to go into the muscle and has to be done in an area I can't reach so well. Amanda told us it will feel like a tetneus shot- burn a little. You also have to alternate sides for that injection because it can create knots. They recommend going for a walk each night and using the muscles after your shots. Fun!


There is no need for progesterone just yet, I started with Lupron tonight. The goal of Lupron is to prevent ovulation. So, I will be on it for another 10 or more days. It was a little needle that goes in the fatty part of your belly. It was no problem- I got extra padding right where I need it! They say this one will make you moody and give you hot flashes. Nice!

We are so excited to be at this stage. I have waited so long to get the go ahead and start injections. Today felt good, needles and all!

On a side note, we received great news from our insurance company today about coverage. We will likely hit our annual maximum this month and everything after that is free. For us, that means having a baby could be free or trying this again if it does not work this time will be free. We love Avnet and their insurance, Cigna! Thank you to everyone who prayed financial blessings on us.

quick poll....

Is this shirt offensive? Is it offensive to a 5 year old child?

Ok...now...if I tell you that its a shirt for the Austin roller derby team...is that ok?

Turns out I wore this shirt to dinner, and got recognized as "Marcus the juggler". Yeah. From Church. Yep.

So with that....I now have a new workout shirt for the gym.

MJ

moving...and shopping...my favorite things...

And this is a Marcus post...so smell the sarcasm there.

Actually, I am getting excited about moving to the new house. This house on Montoro has served us well...but its just time to move to a new place.

Anyway...the moving process has begun. Time to throw everything in boxes.

Jean Grey : "Forget you and your moving...if you need me, I'll be on the bed for about 14 hours".

Unbeknownst to me, moving to a new house requires a lot of new stuff. I thought we had stuff...but turns out we neededto shop for a bunch of new stuff.

And where do you go for a warehouse full of stuff? Ikea.

I was breaking my streak today....no Ikea shopping in like, 4 years I believe. It was nice. But turns out, there was some great stuff there at Ikea. For instance, the Malm was great...looked really classy. Of course, you need a new Slorven when you get a Malm...duh!

We also saw the Orgen, and Flagen, and the Benno system. We debated the Ektorp..but we could not find a comfortable one. I feel bad though...I think I broke a Hedda...."Clean up on isle slobenheit!"

While we didnt get a Galant system while we were there, or a Knodd...we think that we may come back at a later time to get them...they looked pretty neat.

Anyway, we were there at closing, so we had to get out...we had to ask for directions to get out, and they said go to the Kurbas, and turn left, and we were there....but we went to the Kelvas, and turned left, and ended up back at the Arbnras. Crazy.

Ikea. Better living through crazy Swedish names.

Marcus

I Was In...

San Francisco, but I flew into Oakland to save money! Congratulations to Bryan, Susan and Caroline for getting it right. I landed back in Austin at 2:30 this morning. I may sneak away from packing for a nap this afternoon.

My meeting was purely business- I am working with the California Academy of Family Physicians on a smoking cessation project. It should be a fun learning experience for me. If anyone out there I know smokes, beware I've got knowledge!

I made one quick fun stop at Paper Source with my meter on the cab running. They told me they are looking at opening an Austin store! Yea!

Where in the world is Anna Jenk tonight?

So Anna is out of town today...but instead of just posting the pics, you need to guess where Anna is at now! Send your comment guessing where she is!

Offer not valid in the state of Hawaii, to anyone with the initials KR (with children with the initials of IRR, LER).

Heres your clues:

10. I saw the Grand Canyon on my flight
9. I used my rapid rewards account
8. I heard the Wheel of Forture theme song in my layover
7. The airport I ended up in has a new wing
6. I passed a baseball stadium named after an antivirus software
5. I drove under a tunnel, and saw water.
4. I drove my a hotel Marcus and I stayed at 3,5 years ago
3. I did not eat rice or Chinese food with my dinner.
2. I did not see Wyatt Earp, even though he is here...
1. This time, I was not in Bronco gear, and the people were much nicer where I landed.

Who Could Resist these Cute Faces?

Not I! I spoiled them both with toys, presents and sweets in the 10 minutes they visited on Sunday afternoon. Paybacks are goin to be bad when my sister gets to spoil my kids with sugar!

March Desktop

This month holds many exciting things for us. We hope it also bring you excitement!

Shrimp Boil

Along with a pancake breakfast, we do a shrimp boil with our Sunday school class every year! This year, we had over 60 people attend. I tried out a new cupcake recipe - White Chocolate Macademia Nut with Toasted Coconut. Yummy!





Look at all of that food! We had shrimp, sausage, potatoes and corn. It was all fabulous!

Plus, everyone brought a side dish or dessert so there was a lot of food to go around.




Here is one of 6 tables- I am hanging out with Rob and Josette n the left (he is our teacher and the King Boiler)!

I can't imagine ever leaving this group of friends. The feloowship of our class made us stick around!

Dessert with the Girls

Tuesday night was a treat! A couple of my church girlfriends and I met at Chez Zee to celebrate Kathy's birthday. She is in the white shirt next to me.

Conversation, dessert and coffee were all wonderful. Happy Birtday Kathy!