Gosh, I guess I am an Omnivore.

Found this on The Idle Mind of Beth and thought it might be fun. Especially since I put more in my mouth than I ought to (ask me about my near death experience after ingesting dairy products in Peru). My brief stint with morning sickness was fascinating to hubby, who had just assumed I had guts of steel. So let's just see how I rate here...

Here’s what you do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating. (I can't figure out how to strikethrough in blogger so I'll just mark them red)

The Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Wow. 72 out of 100 items already ingested. Only 4 on the no-can-do list and they are all more or less the same thing IMHO. Sorry dudes - no innards, blood or brain products for me. Thanks.

More from the U.T.E.R.U.S, Brigade - Pass it on!

No word from the boss yet, but lots of good ones from you. Thank you for putting things into perspective and keeping me sane.

That being said, I am less than productive at work today. I'd rather be Xmas shopping. Or knitting, or doing anything other than figuring out last minute details and such for our conference which is ten days away.

Speaking of shopping, the U.T.E.R.U.S. brigade is at it again. Long story short, bloggers can do more than just blog. In this case, we can unite and put our talents and pennies together to help a family that could really use some help right now.

How?

• Donate an item to the eBay auctions or bid on an item yourself.
• Donate an item to the etsy store (I heart etsy) or buy one yourself.
• Sell ad space on your blog and donate the ad revenue to U.T.E.R.U.S.
• Donate a skill--web design, etc--or run a garage sale at home (and then donate the money)
• Do this really cool thing that Lori found and donate the money you make from it.
  
• Tell people about U.T.E.R.U.S. and ask them to get involved too.

What's more is that Mel at Stirrup Queens made this crazy announcement this morning:

When we last left off, we had $837.12 in hand. And then an anonymous donor issued a challenge. She will match bloggers dollar for dollar over any amount made through the eBay auction, the etsy site, or direct donations. In other words, if you donate some pottery to the etsy store and it sells for $40, it actually sold for $80 because this person is matching you dollar for dollar.

If I had time, I would totally steal the buttons that Calliope created and stick them here so you had more of a visual enticement. For now, I'd better get back to work.

After I browse the U.T.E.R.U.S. Etsy shop....

My Reaction - Too Much or Not Enough?

Today I got a kind of shocking phone call at work that makes me think my boss (whom I shared information with in confidence) has been a little too free in sharing that confidence with others. Yes, we are a tight knit organization. Yes, I have know most of the members of the assoc. for a decade. But I'm thinking not only did my boss (if she did indeed spill the beans) show a serious lapse in judgment here, but on a personal note, shared medical details of mine that were mine to share.

Anyway, here was my email to her today (she's away on a business trip). Told hubby about the incident and of course he is furious and says I should threaten litigation. Come on now. Don't be daft. I am not going to threaten to sue someone who I know in her heart means well and for a decade now has been pretty d*mn supportive of everything I have wanted to do with my life - even when it made things seriously inconvenient for her. Ok, here's the message:

I really appreciate your enthusiasm and support around my pregnancy. It is wonderful to work in an environment where I feel I and my future family will be valued. But I just received some congratulations from an employee at ____ that was a little more detailed than I would have liked. She mentioned that _____ had shared some of the info you had shared with ____ and then went on to tell me about a family member of her own who had cancer, couldn’t have children, used artificial techniques and went on to have children. It was a heartfelt congratulations from this person, but I was very, very shocked and surprised to hear it in the way that I did.

While I’m neither shy nor ashamed of the path we’ve taken toward parenthood, I would like to keep such details as my story to tell and to be able to select the listeners. I am uncomfortable with some people, especially those whom I interact with professionally, knowing my very private details. IVF and related means are still frowned upon by some and I wouldn’t want those judgments to interfere with the work that I need to do.

Am I being too sensitive here? Not sensitive enough? Some of my own co-workers don't know the full extent of my story - at least they haven't heard it from me. I suppose I should assume it's all out of the bag now. Like I said, I'm not saying that I wouldn't have eventually told the people in question, but dammit, I wanted to be the one to make that decision, not have it come out like another piece of water cooler gossip. I think the fact that I even had to compose this email is ridiculous. Hubby thinks I was far too tame. What do you think? Where do I go from here?

Phew!

I have really been looking forward to this morning.

And now, I'm so happy and relieved with the news I received: 1.) Daisy has a BFP!!! This is just the coolest. Not like I've ever met Daisy in person, but our cycles have been cosmically connected ever since she and I both had canceled cycles followed by 2 rounds of BFNs. Daisy took some time off and now....well, now I am hoping she joins me in twinland. 2.) the seedlings are great. As you know, I've been needing some reassurance. And I got that this morning.

At the doc's this morning, I had my first experience with a doppler, which found one heartbeat right away. Strong, fast, loud! Maybe I got a little teary. But then we searched and searched and searched a little more and couldn't locate a second one. I think the nurse saw me getting anxious and said, "forget about this. Let's go get an ultrasound!" I could barely eek out, "yes. please. can we?"

The room was free and I went inside to fret just a bit before the NP came in. We gelled up, moved the wand around, and then saw two big headed bodies - one getting kicked in the head by its sibling.

But don't worry. Not for long. They were both moving like crazy! Flipping, spinning, and um, kicking. Each other. How can I not feel that? The nurse pointed out the arms, the legs, the spines, the heartbeats....no pee pees yet, but Nurse confided that she had decided the primary kicker was a boy.

But maybe she doesn't know how feisty us ladies can be.

But I Don't Feel Tardy

So, I suppose it had been a while since I posted. Sorry about that.

I'm cool. Hubby's cool. The seedlings are, for all I know, chillin'. We are 14 weeks today. My next appointment is Tuesday. And I am really, really looking forward to it.

Will I get an ultrasound? Will we get to see some heart beats? What guarantee will they give me to ensure that something's still going down down there? What's the protocol for these "normal" OB appointments?

Because maybe I haven't posted because I have yet to feel it. You know, feeeeel it.

The other weekend, I was indulging in an evening of total control over the remote control while hubby was working late (and I now understand why I rarely get that privilege when there is more than one person on the couch) and I found myself watching Velvet Goldmine, one of the worst movies ever made, but one of my favorite. Jonathan Rhys Myers, Ewan McGregor and Christian Bale? All tarting it up at 70s glam boys? Come on. What's not to love? Anyway, at one point, Ewan is writhing on stage in what is obviously his best Iggy Pop impersonation and is screaming, imploring,

can you feel it . . .
I got a feeling
I got a feeling
I wanna feeeeeeel it
oh, I wanna feeeeeel it . . . . . . .

And I knew exactly what he was talking about.

I'm feeling great. Energized, non-pukey. Looking fatter, but was I really all that svelte 14 weeks ago? Happy. Functional. Hubby mentioned the other morning, "Oh my god, somebody's got their funny back."

So, can someone please verify that I am indeed pregnant?

You Must Le-ea-rn

Do these little guys have ears yet?

I hope so. Because last night, me and the seedlings saw the best hip hop emcee ever. Ever.

A message on my phone yesterday afternoon asked me if I wanted to cover an event for the local alt newspaper that I write for. I knew the caller was connected with a local hip hop posse. (yes, I just said posse. In this particular situation, it fits and I couldn't really think of a better term to describe a tightly knit yet independent group of emcees, dj's, promoters, you know, a bunch of kids trying to make something cool happen in their hometown. So there you have it. Posse)

So, hubby and I pondered. hmm. What's going on tonight? What did we forget about? What show could he mean? And then it hit us both. Holy shit!

KRS-ONE.

At this point, I had to tamper down my excitement knowing that hubby would be leaving for work in just an hour or so and would most likely miss the entire show of his favorite hip hop artist. The person he claims changed his world view at first listen. The person he will, without hesitation, say is among the best and the brightest of the entire genre. Oh sweetie. He'd have to live vicariously through me and the twins, who would be getting their second dose of a live hip hop show in utero.

D*mn. These kids are spoiled.

So, I called my pal S., pulled out my press pass, had hubby set his camera to the most idiot-proof setting possible and switch out the new lens to an older one and off I went.

Here's a sampling of the conversations me and hubby's camera had:

"Hey, take a picture of me!"

"Sure."

"Ok. Now let me take a picture of you! It's cool. I'm in a photography class...."

"Hmm. I don't know about that."

"C'mon. It's only fair."

"Ok. But if you harm this camera, my life is in your hands. Know that."

"Cool. cool. [posing and ridiculous camera banter ensues] See! I told you I was good. Look. Here you are.....Damn! Your titties is huge!"

"Um, yeah, and believe me, it surprises me more than you. P.S. I'm pregnant so I think they're supposed to be like that."

"Right on, girl! you gotta feed those little ones!!"

And he gave me a hug, laughed and walked away. S. shook her head and asked, "did that guy really just say something about your "titties"? He did. He did. And somehow it was quite sweet.

S. perched herself on a stool towards the back of the club. I went to the stage to try to get some crowd shots and to get ready for the show. And oh my goodness, what a show. What a great frigging show. Maybe I doubted my hubby's claims. Maybe I thought to myself, ok, how good could this guy be?

He was amazing. And the vibe in the club was among the most positive I have ever experienced. Nearly ever person knew every word of his songs. Everyone laughed at the punchlines in his freestyles. The show went on and on.

And ended just as hubby came rushing through the doors as his shift ended. Damn. He caught a glimpse of his hero, but not in action. He was a great sport, promised that my excitement was enough for the both of us, then took me for some late night pizza. We hung out. I tried to relay the songs KRS did and didn't do - at one point, hubby ended up pulling out his mp3 player and just rolling down the album tracks with me going yes, yes, I think so, nope, not that one. Satisfied, we all went to bed.

What a great night.