One Tidbit; Two Coming Soons

Tidbit:
I picked up Mel's book "Navigating the Land of IF" today.  It's my first IF-related book and I think it was the perfect first pick!  I'm only two chapters in, but I'm already so pleased that I decided to read it.  And, only two chapters in, I already feel obliged to say if you haven't read it yet, go get it!  It was this line in the intro (page 8) that convinced me that this was the perfect book for my current state of mind: "....its (the book) focus is not on how to leave this island, but on how to live on it...at least for now." 

I definitely need to start getting comfy with the idea that this is where we are.  Hopefully not for long, but we're hear all the same.  With that in mind, I need to start amassing the tools, supplies and rations we'll need while we're here.  I can't change the fact that we're here.  I can change what I do about it why we are.  At the very least, I can try.

Coming Soon #1:
In a few hours, I'm going to post a super fun (hopefully you'll think so, too) craft circle contest.  The first five people to reply to that post will receive handmade items in the mail made with love and care just for you from me!  Admittedly, there is a tiny catch to keep the game interesting.  Stay tuned for more...

Coming Soon #2:
In preparation for tomorrow's uro appointment, I'm hoping to finish a post compiling all of my research on sperm count, motility, morphology and anti-depressant/sperm quality/production.  If I don't finish that up before tomorrow, please know that it's in the works.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Distractions

I need distractions. I O'd on Saturday...But, for once it's not the 2 week wait that I'm looking to avoid. Right now, we're in the countdown to the 8/25 urologist appointment and finding out (hopefully) what our plan will be. What are percentage chances are right now; what we can do to improve them; if Andy's meds are a problem; and so many more currently unanswered questions! Of course, I also have a nagging realization in my head that we're going to leave that appointment without actually knowing anything new. *sigh* TTC is all about patience and waiting. It's all waiting. And, patience is not my strongest virtue!

So, distractions keep me from obsessing and help me pretent that I actually have some patience! Last week's big distraction was the Twilight Saga (WOW!). I read the entire series last week. By my rough count, I read somewhere around 2,500 pages last week (including Dan Brown's Digital Fortress). Whew! I don't know when the last time I read that much in one week is!!?? But, now I'm sadly done and back to my usual worrying impatience.

Any book recommendations for me? I'm collecting quite the list from my iV buddies. Feel free to add your favorites to the growing list. I'm considering some sci fi options for my next book, but add any and all genres to the list!

Wednesday Hodge Podge (Highs, Books and Workouts)

Highs
My post from Monday was right on, as it turns out. The wave of hormones that I registered as mood swings, also registered on my Clear Blue Easy Fertility Monitor (CBEFM) on Tuesday as my first High fertility day of the month. The good news is that, so far, I'm not the raging maniac that I was last month around this time! I think that just knowing what's going on has made it a little easier.

Books
In the last four days, I've started 3 books and finished 2! I go through cycles when it comes to reading books. Sometimes I would rather just read magazines or websites and don't feel the need to lose myself in a book. Other times, I can devour books for days. This is one of those times. And, I'm grateful for the good timing. Reading keeps my head in a book rather than biting other people's heads off (see above, or below post for that matter). It also is helping the time go faster between now and the 8/25 appointment. In fact, we're officially less than 2 weeks away! I think that I'm going to search out one of those bookshelf gadgets for the blog to hopefully keep me motivated to keep reading...Here's the list so far.


Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
One of his first. A little dated in some parts (Prodigy and AOL mentioned in present tense, for example), but the general premise holds true even 10+ years later. It was an enjoyable and fast read with all of Dan Brown's usual twists, turns and puzzle solving.


Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
I couldn't take it anymore. I caved. If one more person told me that I should read this series, I was going to scream. Rather than scream, I bought the book and joined the throngs of obsessed fans. Amazing how quickly that happened, actually! The want-to-be English teacher in me is also rather amazed at Ms. Meyer's writing ability. Seriously, the amount of emotion she crams into these books is staggering. She writes about facial expressions and the minutia of vocal tone in such a way that I have begun to recognize those things more in real life, too! Any good English teacher could go to town with her writing (assuming you could get past the parental consent necessary to read a book about vampires in class...but, that's a subject for an entirely different post).


New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
I told you I had joined the obsessed! :-) Seriously, there was no way I could not keep reading; they're just that good. That said, I haven't found New Moon to be quite as enjoyable...yet. I'm only 300 pages in. The switch in a few of the main characters keeps things interesting, but I find myself longing for the "original cast." (And that's probably all I can say without it being a spoiler for those who haven't read it yet).


Workouts
Part of our new healthy attitude (at least one new, healthy thing per day) is more exercise. I dare say that I'm having better luck at this for the moment, but I think I can bring Andy over soon enough. He's focusing more on healthy eating at the moment. Anyway, I've been doing On Demand workout videos through Time Warner Cable...mostly because it's 100+ degrees outside in the afternoon and I just can't talk myself into going out in the heat, even though the dogs would probably enjoy the walk. I've been pleasantly surprised to find that I rather enjoy Leslie Sansone's Walk at Home series. I would have thought it could be pretty boring just walking around the living room, but she keeps it interesting. And, the music forces you to walk at a very brisk pace...you can walk 2 miles in right around 30 minutes! I'm not sure I'd have so much luck if the dogs and I were walking outside! Still, I do long for a bit cooler tips so they can get more exercise than fetch alone...
 
By the way, the English teacher in me also wants to know why Blogger is missing an underline tool for those book titles up above.  Hmmm....am I just missing it?