Weekend in North Platte

I'm so sick of driving. We've gone on road trips the past two weekends, and while I loved the destinations, the journeys were a bit long.

That's kind of how life is ... journeying to a destination we want, whether it be getting in shape to have a better body or going to school to get that dream job, or in our case, trying and waiting to get pregnant.

I've been feeling mainly relaxed and at peace about our TTC journey, but every once in awhile a twinge of sadness creeps in and I need to releases some tears. Being a Catholic dealing with infertility, there's a whole different set of rules to follow. If we practice our faith and believe what we practice, there are only a few choices for us - fertility drugs or surgery. No IVF or surrogacy or anything that removes sex from conception. I know so many wonderful people who have gotten pregnant through IVF, but I choose not to do that. So I choose to take the clomid and possibly have surgery to heal my from my infertility. That and a heck of a lot of prayers!

I've found comfort in some Catholic blogs I found online. The women writing them seem a lot like me and while some have conceived and some have not, they understand the faith journey that's involved.

I'm waiting to hear back from the doctor's office whether the clomid made me ovulate this cycle. If it didn't, then the amount I take will probably increase and we'll try again. The urine test I took last Friday was negative. If the clomid works, then that gives us a little more hope and we'll continue to try.

I'm changing subjects now to our weekend.

Jason and I had a nice time in North Platte, although it was a really short trip. I think we got there around 11:30 Saturday morning and at lunch at Jason's parents’ house with them and his nephew Corby. This time I had a really fun time with Corby (7). He’s really into animals and has a huge collection of animal figures from the Tractor store (not sure if that’s the name of it). Because I love animals, we sat and organized them and talked all about each one. He also has a reference book with pictures and information on many different animals. He’s also into Twilight (movies) and so I needed to finish up the 4th book and he had me read several pages to him. When Jason and his dad left the house for awhile, Corby, Jason’s mom and I watched the movie Duma (about a boy who raises a cheetah and then has to release him back into the wild). Corby cuddled on my lap for awhile as we watched.

The purpose of our trip was to attend the graduation party of the son of Jason's high school buddy. But because the graduation wasn’t until 2 p.m. and the graduation party wasn’t going to start until about 5 p.m., Jason and I decided to go see Justin and Stacy and their boys (Cole and Brady - Cole graduated) after dinner and Mass Saturday. We hung out at their house for awhile and looked at Cole’s photos and then the four of us met other high school friends of Jason’s at a bar. They all were swapping stories and there were lots of laughs. Those small town boys do a LOT of drinking in high school!!!!!

We lounged around Sunday morning and left NP around 2:30. We got back around 6 and ate dinner at Tropics (168th and Maple). It was Heidlbergs for awhile and we liked it then, and now it has new management, a new name and a new menu. Let me tell you that I have never seen such horrible service. We didn’t have to wait long to get drinks, but it took forever to get our food, which in our opinion wasn’t that great. They’re known for their burgers apparently, which we didn’t get. While we were there, we saw three couples be seated, never waited on and leave after waiting about 10-15 minutes! There weren’t enough servers (we found out two people didn’t show up), but even the hostess would walk by their tables and completely ignore them. Two other tables had to be asked to be waited on or went to the bar for their own drinks. I don’t think we’ll ever go there again. We were SO disappointed!

We watched the season finale of Private Practice and part of You’ve Got Mail before we went to bed. Jason and I both were crying … it was just so emotional!

Surprise Getaway

I have the best husband in the world, really! For my 33rd birthday, which was May 9, he surprised me with a four-day getaway to Okoboji, Iowa! I didn't find out about the trip until last Tuesday when flowers were delivered to my office with a note from Jason saying I would be out of the office Friday and Monday. I didn't find out where were were going until Friday morning as we were packing.

Neither of us had been to Okoboji, so we didn't really know what to expect. We were going off-season and we hoped things would be open. Well, there really wasn't a lot open, but we found things to do.

We stayed at the Wild Rose Inn, a Victorian-style bed and breakfast, that had a jacuzzi tub in the bedroom and a walkout balcony that overlooked a beautiful garden and pond. We didn't really get to enjoy the balcony or the garden because the weather was so crappy - rainy, cold and windy the entire 4 days. There was a pool table in the game room with a big screen TV that we used a lot, though. And the jacuzzi, of course. :)

We ate Mexican, Italian and American meals for lunch and dinner and had breakfast at the inn every morning. We stopped by some cute knick-knack shops, visited a winery (located on a buffalo farm) and had some delicious coffee and toffee at the local candy shop.

It was a fabulous trip and a much-needed getaway from all the stress of babymaking.

And we're off to another trip this weekend: North Platte for a graduation. We haven't really cleaned our mess from the first trip. Oh well!

Great surprises

Although my birthday isn't until Sunday, I've already begun to celebrate. Actually, Jason started it by sending me flowers to my office yesterday - gorgeous dark purple orchids - and telling me that we're going on a birthday getaway this weekend. I have no idea where, but I know we'll be driving because he told me I'll have to navigate. :) Last week he emailed my boss asking if it would be OK if I had Friday and Monday off. So completely sweet!!!! He's never been able to surprise me really, except for our engagment, so I'm grateful for the experience. I haven't been begging for clues.

We've been in production at work this week, so we've been busy. I worked late Monday night and was in Lincoln last night with Jason. Stan adjusted us and then we went to his house for pizza. Mom, Dad and Brent came over, too, and we watched American Idol. Harry Connick Jr. was the mentor last night on the show, so I was in heaven watching. The singers weren't great, but his arrangements and his sense of humor were great.

Oh, here's something funny that happened to me yesterday: As I was on my way into Happy Hollow Country Club to take a photo, I accidently stepped into freshly poured concrete!!! I stepped and felt my shoe sink and come off. When I turned around I saw it buried in concrete. So I pulled it out, put it back on my foot and walked into the club acting as if nothing had happened. I was embarrassed, though, because I had one gray shoe and one black shoe on. No one seemed to notice, though, which was good. I figured if I kept my head up, everyone else would, too. On my way out, I apologized to a worker and snapped a shot of my dirty shoe next to the imprint I left. I considered putting my initials next to my shoe print, but thought that'd be a little much. :)

Tonight it's my turn to lead Bible study. We are going to be praying for priests using a booklet I wrote about in an article. Then I'll hurry home and greet Stan and Brent, who are staying at our house tonight. They're flying to Florida tomorrow morning. Hope we'll get to hang out a little bit before all of us get tired.