When I think about how long Hubby and I been together, I just marvel. 16 years as a couple, 14 of those married. First of all, I’m blown away by how quickly time passes. Secondly, it amazes me that we’re still best friends and enjoy the simple moments together, no matter where we are or what we’re doing. So many couples I know tire of each other after only a few years. I pray that never happens to us.

K-Mart’s Little Caesars probably ranks highest amongst the most unromantic eateries to take your date, but despite the surroundings, Hubby and I can manage to enjoy it, simply for the company — oh, and for the Crazy Bread. Dinner for two: $8.35. How can you beat that? However, I must admit that spending too much time there might make me reconsider the desire to have kids. For some reason, there is a high saturation of unruly children toddling about noisily, largely unsupervised.

A trip to Borders was next on the agenda. I spent the entire visit in the photography section seeking a book to help me “pose” groups. Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything that I was in love with, so I picked up a book for $19.95 with my $25 gift card to show me the ins-and-outs of my Canon Digital Rebel. No out of pocket on this shopping trip. Yee-haw.

We browsed around the LeSportsac and Bass Outlet, but I found myself with buyer’s remorse even before buying anything, so my wallet managed to escape this trip to the mall miraculously unscathed.

This has to be some kind of record for the cheapest night out that we’ve ever had. Normally, we can’t get through a Friday night out without spending at least $50. Hooray for cheap dates!

Day 9 of 30

Since my last entry…

* I thought I toasted my clothes dryer by STUPIDLY deciding to dry a throw rug, which subsequently left flakes of the rubber backing inside the dryer and lint trap.

* Vacuumed out most of the rubber bits from the lint trap, but couldn’t get all of it.

* Attempted to dry a load of towels and caught a whiff of burning rubber. I promptly turned off the dryer in a panic with visions of my house going up in flames all because I was stupid enough to throw a rug in the dryer.

* Kicked and cursed myself into oblivion.

* Came to my senses, picked up the yellow pages and called every dryer duct cleaning service in the area. When I finally reached a live body, he said the cost is $175 and the earliest they could come to my house was Tuesday. TUESDAY?! I have a full laundry basket and no clothes for the work week. Don’t you realize this is an emergency?!

* Resigned myself to the Tuesday appointment and attempted to make other arrangements to get my clothes laundered. With my upcoming newsletter deadline looming, I knew I would not have the time to sit around a laundromat waiting for my clothes to dry, so I called the laundromat and asked if they had drop-off service. They did, but the turnaround time is three days. THREE DAYS?! Don’t you realize this is an emergency?!

* Went to Wal-mart and picked up a collapsible clothes rack to air-dry my clothes.

* Shari offered to let me dry my clothes at her house. Reluctantly, not wanting to impose on her and her family, I decided that I will air-dry whatever I could and take a load to dry at her house later on.

* Later in the day, Hubby called and I gave him all the gory details. He advised me to try using the dryer, careful to monitor it for flames (okay, not really his words) and smell, and assured me that it would all be okay.

* Dried another load of towels, and guess what, no burning smell — and no flames! Subsequent loads of laundry also managed to escape unscathed.

Sometimes I think I just overreact to things, causing myself undue stress and consternation. That’s why I need Hubby. He’s so level-headed and calm. Especially after returning home from his one-year tour of duty in Iraq, he is able to put things in proper perspective and not get bent out of shape about the small things.

Hubby and I: Ying and yang, I tell you.

Friday, July 27, 2007
My period started. Hooray! (Who knew I’d be cheering about starting my period?) The IVF cycle is ready to begin.

Saturday, July 28, 2007
The day began and ended with IVF activities. This morning, we made a visit to the infertility specialist for another ultrasound and a blood test. After hitting our pocketbook for a cool $2000, they sent us home with a big bag of goodies. Two kinds of injectable drugs (Follistim and Menopur) and nifty stuff like vials, needles, alcohol swabs, and bandaids. The instructions: Two shots to be given twice a day, twelve hours apart — in the abdomen. Luckily, it’s a subcutaneous injection (skin only), so the needle is small and thin, so it’s not too horrible — although, I will say that it is not without a tiny pinch of pain and a little shedding of blood now and then. The egg retrieval is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, August 7. If successfully fertilized, implantation happens about 3-5 days later. But, as always, everything is up in the air and contingent on whether my body responds to the treatment as expected.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Yet another ultrasound and blood test today. Apparently, the doc wasn’t completely pleased with the way my left ovary was responding to the treatment, yielding only one or two eggs visible on the ultrasound, while the right ovary produced about six. I’m not sure how many would be a “good” number, but I guess a few more days of injections will be necessary in my case and the egg retrieval now has to be pushed back. This whole IVF process is such a wait-and-see thing. My Friday ultrasound will tell us more. In the meantime, I’ll be praying for my body to cooperate. I also have another injection (Ganirelix, again) to add to the mix starting on Friday morning. That will bring my shot count to five per day: 4 shots in the tummy and 1 in the leg.

I have noticed that the hormones have been making me a little more emotional than normal. As I was driving home listening to Josh Groban, I nearly broke down in tears as I sang along with the song, “In Her Eyes.” I have always said that Josh’s voice was so beautiful that it could bring me to tears. I guess that wasn’t too far-fetched a statement after all. I also got all teary-eyed this afternoon as I was telling Hubby about a “Focus on the Family” radio broadcast that I heard today that explained the challenges that parents of autistic children face. Hubby should just be thankful that hormones only affect my emotions and don’t turn me into the Wicked Witch of the West.

The IVF experience has been growing my faith and also teaching me that I need to just “let go and let God.” There are some things that I simply cannot control and this is a prime example of one of them. As hard as I try, I cannot force my body to do anything. All I can do is rely on God, trust that Father knows best, and that He is in control, even when I am so not. This experience has also taught me that I can trust Hubby with anything, even a needle. He has been so loving and supportive throughout this whole ordeal, I could not ask for a better man to share my life with — with or without children. I am so truly blessed either way.

I have many fond memories of my childhood in Wahiawa. One of the most cherished is of the little candy store down the street called B-Sweet. Growing up, sweets were in short supply in our house, so Dad and I would walk down the street to B-Sweet for ice cream when I was behaving myself and deserving of a special treat. Later when I started school, I would visit the shop every afternoon to buy snacks: Coke in the glass bottles, M&M’s, ring pops, funyuns, haw flakes, crack seed, or pop rocks to keep me wired enough to make it through my 3rd bell class at Japanese School.

Bill Sugimoto, the candy man with the kind face and generous spirit, would always tease and joke with me as I made my daily purchase. For reasons that will now forever be unknown to me, he would call me “Jonesy,” even though he knew my real name. In the early days, before he passed on, I recall Bill’s elderly father sitting outside on a rickety folding chair, watching as kids would come and go from the store that he founded in the late 1950’s.

I wish I had visited Bill before he passed away on June 14. According to the article, he collapsed into a customer’s arms while he was working at the store. Despite his age, 85, he was still dedicated to running the store for the children in the area and did so until the very end of his life.

The closing of B-Sweet marks the end of an era and I will always look back upon those daily after-school visits to Mr. Bill with fond remembrance.

Rest in peace, Bill.

Love, Jonesy.

“Do you know what today is?” Hubby’s mom quizzed us in the church parking lot as we were saying our goodbyes following the morning service.

I quickly scanned my brain for birthdays, anniversaries or other dates of interest and came up with “no results match your search criteria.” Even Hubby was stumped.

“It’s the day you came back from Iraq,” she grinned from ear-to-ear. Undoubtedly, one of the happiest days in all of our lives. Hubby’s safe return from a year-long deployment to a warzone is certainly an event to celebrate. It’s been two years since.

It’s amazing how quickly we forget those long months apart, the painful goodbyes that ripped my heart out at the end of every brief, but precious phone call, and the countless prayers lifted for Hubby’s safety and prompt return.

Two years. Time flies and we have settled into our common lives once again. Those moments seem so far away.

It reminds me that I am already blessed. I have a beautiful and loving family: my husband, parents, and in-laws — all of whom I am so thankful for. Everything else is just gravy.

In exactly a month, I’m going under the knife again. This time around, the doc says it’s a 4-week recovery period. I already turned in my leave slip and I’m psyching myself up for the procedure.

During my afternoon walk with Hubby, I mused about what I should do during those 30 days of R&R.

“Maybe you should set up a wireless connection and buy a laptop so you can surf the web from bed?” he offered.

“A MacBook?” I quickly sought clarification.

“Yeah,” he said and he went on to convince me of why I should get one. Now that’s a switch.

If we get a MacBook, it’ll probably be a 13″ for maximum portability and affordability. I’m still undecided about the purchase. After all, we already have a kick-butt 24″ iMac and a Dell which is still in top shape. Do we really need another computer? What do you think?

Spending a lazy Friday night with Hubby lounging in bed, under the soft glow of a single bulb incandescent lamp, listening to the rain outside, and chatting for hours about everything and nothing.

It’s moments like these that I wouldn’t trade for anything.