Two Weeks Later

Two weeks ago tonight, I was woken out of a heavy sleep with a migraine. The headache has varied in intensity, but has not gone away completely since then. So two days ago, I saw a headache specialist. She recommended avoiding Tylenol and Fioricet, and trying physical therapy and biofeedback. Now, I'm waiting (with an ice pack on my head) until my appointments with those therapists.

The nausea is much, much improved, but not quite gone yet. I'm also really thankful that I found the headache patches that I love. I can't wait until the headache lets me go, it's going to feel amazing.

Bargain Hunter!

I.Do.Not.Want.To.Talk.About.My.Headaches.

On a brighter note, [don't tell my stomach... it doesn't know I'm here...] I have had FOUR blissful, nausea-free, vomit-free days. And that's been amazing. I could get used to this.

Yesterday, I was spurred into action to go and check out some roomier clothes. First, my faithful Girl Friday and I checked out Nine in Minneapolis, a maternity consignment shop. Cute stuff, good prices. I will definitely go back there. After dinner we happened to be by an upscale maternity boutique... It's crazy what some things cost new. As in, I bought nine pieces of clothing for the cost of one pair of designer maternity jeans. Good thing I don't desire designer clothes. There is at least one more maternity consignment shop I want to check out on another day.

This morning, I woke up and remembered I hadn't checked the "IBM" online classifieds (difficult to explain) that came out a few days ago. From past months, I've noticed people sell baby stuff CHEAP. So today I picked up a solid maple baby cradle, good condition, little used, for $20. When I say I picked it up, though... the story is actually a little more complicated. You see, I could tell by the area code that it was being sold in SE MN, likely in the Rochester area. When I called, he said, "I'm in Byron, do you know where that is?" Yes, I do, indeed. Now, it would have been a slick thing, because I could have had my parents pick it up for us, since they live in Byron... Except they're in Florida. So... Carrie called her mom, (also a Byron resident) and SHE picked it up for us. And that was greatly appreciated, because it saved me a few hours driving and a tank of gas.

And then, I picked up a few more pairs of jeans and capris on Ebay for a song...

So the tally for the weekend:
6 shirts
5 pairs of pants
1 skirt
1 swim suit
1 baby cradle
--------------
less than $160

heartbeat

Let's Go Wild!

Congratulations to the Northwest Division Champions, The Minnesota Wild!

We went to the game last night, and it was a blast. We had EXCELLENT seats and were talking during the game about going to our NEXT game. (So what, we have no tickets...)
If we couldn't already tell that we had good seats, the lady sitting next to me pointed out that Gov. Pawlenty was sitting a few rows behind us.

The Wild beat Calgary 3-1, and we even got a good old fashioned hockey brawl. I'm not sure if it was because we were on the Club level, or if it was because it was fan appreciation night, but the goodies in the store were 1/3 off... So since Dave & I were both wearing jerseys, I figured we needed this for next season:

More Movies

Well, I've been gradually going through Audrey Hepburn movies, and trying to catch the ones I hadn't seen. So, I rented "Paris When It Sizzles". Yikes. Painfully bad. I didn't make it to the halfway mark before I decided it wasn't worth my time. I guess I should have paid more attention to the reviews.

So instead, I rewatched: "The Nun's Story".

Wow, I love this movie. In it, Audrey Hepburn plays a woman who leaves her past life behind her and enters a convent. It shows, with stark clarity, the sacrifices she must make to take her vows.

As the movie goes on, time and time again, she struggles to maintain her utter devotion to God, even at times when that dedication is putting her at great odds with her true self.

I've read online that there has been debate about whether this movie is anti-Catholic or not. As a new Catholic, I found the rituals shown in the movie absolutely fascinating and beautiful. There is conflict within the convent, but I felt it was more human conflict than a case of the Church having the wrong beliefs.

And Audrey! Ah, Audrey. She was dressed by Givinchy almost exclusively in all of her films.. but naturally she wears the simple dress of a nun through the majority of the movie. And it's never been more clear that her grace and luminosity is all her, not the way that she is made up.

I highly recommend this one.

Melting.. Melting...

What a world, what a world.

Monday's snow is slowly but surely losing the fight. It's slipping off of trees and roofs with a juicy splat that is quite satisfying (unless the splat lands on you).

Yesterday was an up-and-down kind of day, overall a good day with a few bouts of sick scattered through for balance. Some moments I hit my limit, and just want to feel normal again; I had one of those moments yesterday. And then yesterday I was overtaken with peace about it; The outcome is a good one. All of this is worth it. What if I had cancer, wouldn't I be more sick and more tired? What if I had one of those illnesses that hangs on for months or years, draining wellness from the body physically and emotionally, and doctors couldn't find a definite cause or cure? So I'm tired. So I'm occasionally unpleasantly sick. I still have a lot of cause for joy in my life. Most days, more than I merit.

In the evening, Dave & I went to our marriage enrichment class, and it was good. We had completed a questionnaire the previous session, and this week we discussed where we had differing responses. Oh, the landmines were definitely there, but we talked through several things and I had a complete "AHA" moment... Something that was an unhealthy part of our morning routine had such a simple solution. Sometimes I think about how much I love him... That's powerful stuff.

Today I'm at 13 weeks, and my next appointment is Monday. Sometimes I worry; I am sure it's natural. Dave took the day off to go to my appointment with me. We should be able to hear the heartbeat together.