I got socks!
(Sorry, technical difficulties. If you can’t see the socks, click the box below)

I participated in the Great Sock it to Me Exchange that the awesome Kymberli created. I was matched up with a blogger from our community (Jess, at Life in the White House) and sent her socks. Well, um, okay they were slippers. In turn, another blogger (Io at Who Shot my Stork?) got my name and sent me socks.

Let me say, the socks that Io sent rock da house! They are cozy, fuzzy and soft- all things a good sock should be. To make the socky treat even sweeter, Io sent along some delicious chocolate with bits of orange in it. She must have intuited that orange/chocolate is one of my favorite combos. Thank you, Io. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I love the socks and chocolate! FlyGuy does too. I caught him snatching a few bits of chocolate and feel sure he was planning on commandeering the socks until I headed him off at the pass.

All who read this should check out Io and Jess’s blogs (see links above.) They are both clever writers with exciting things happening in their lives. When you read their blogs, you’ll see why I believe I got the golden ticket in being paired up with these ladies.

This community has truly pulled me through some difficult times. Kymberli is the perfect example of a woman who has fought her own battle and jumped back into the ring to help another woman fight hers. I began blogging to break the silence of infertility and to keep my real life friends updated on my IF cycles. Writing about a test result was easier than getting all those phone calls on beta day only to repeat my negative pg test results over and over to well meaning friends. To my surprise, I quickly found support from other bloggers all over the world in my situation. I consider many of you friends and most of you know me better than my family.

During some of my most desperate times during IF and adoption I was crying so hard I was unable to speak. Calling a friend was out of the question, because talking was physically impossible. I was rescued by this community. I calmed myself by reading about your journeys. The knowledge that others had gone before me and survived gave me hope.

Those crying jags don’t occur as often anymore since we adopted Little Lassie, but when they do I still find hope and strength from the women in this community. I grieve with you when the road is hard and I celebrate with you when one of us finds success. There is a sisterhood here and I am honored to be a part of it.

1. A magic eraser will take sharpie marker off a wooden coffee table

2. A warm bath helps constipation (Little Lassie released a hostage in the tub this weekend, I was both relieved and grossed out. She hadn’t pooped for days.)

3. Vinegar cleans tub toys (see above)

4. Depending on the style of clothing, I can wear a size 8 or a size 12. Guess which one I prefer?

5. Husbands snore way more after having a few beers before bed

6. Baseball’s opening day makes my husband giddy

7. Puppies are smart enough to find a hole in the fence to get out of the yard and not smart enough to find a hole to get back in the yard. (I almost lost my sister’s brand new pedigree’d puppy today when I was on puppy potty watch. The darn thing ran away… then came back, but whined in the neighbors yard on the other side of the fence because he couldn’t get to us.)

8. After the low fuel light comes on in my car, I have at least 20 minutes of driving left in my tank

9. Negligent parents that blame their poor parenting on society or the health care system may not deserve to raise their children

10. My braille reading is rusty, so I read it like a second grader. I find myself sounding out simple words which makes the reading surprisingly delightful- each sentence I read feels like I’m opening a present.

FlyGuy turned 38 yesterday and because I’m the coolest wife EVER (his words) I threw him a little party. And when I say little, I mean a little boy’s party complete with a homemade chocolate cake and sundae bar. Except the sundae bar was actually a gin tasting. FlyGuy and his drinking buddies decided Hendricks is the best gin, but Bombay (not sapphire) is the best for the money. The birthday boy was so excited, he truly acted like he was turning 8 and not 38. When he opened my gift, the last 2 James Bond movies, I think he swooned. Now, he owns all 22 James Bond films. When FlyGuy was little, he wanted to be president. It think his new dream is to become James Bond. Not sure if its because of the martinis or the gadgets. Am not even going to consider its because of the scantily clad girls.

In other news, ICLW is over and I’m always a bit bummed out. My google reader grew by at least 5 blogs this time. I love finding new blogs and the comments left on eggsbene this time were extraordinary. Try it next month if you haven’t done it yet.

Lastly, Little Lassie gave me wonderful mommy moment the other day. She saw a freckle on my arm and asked what it was. I told her a freckle and she asked, “Little Lassie have a freckle?” I told her I wasn’t sure. The little darling scoured her body until she found the lone freckle on her leg. She proudly said, “Little Lassie freckle!” She walked around the rest of the day saying, “mommy freckle, Little Lassie freckle.” My heart swelled.

Before we became a family I daydreamed about an event like this. I think I savored it even more because IF made me think we’d never become parents. Maybe thats the silver lining to the IF cloud, the victory is so much sweeter because the road to the finish is so arduous.