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I'm picking Melinda and Blake to win Idol.

Dude

Could the Indian kid and the back up singer been any worse tonight? I really don't think so.

I'm still pulling for my Seattle dude to win!

I didn't see the girls last week, so I'm going to have to watch tomorrow night.

On drugs again

I am officially on drugs for my thyroid again. The blood tests found that my TSH that is supposed to be between 0 and 4 was is at 9.5. The antibodies that Darwin was speaking about that are supposed to be between 0 and 40 were 321. No where near Dar's count of 2000, but none the less, messed up.

Hopefully I'll start feeling more like myself in few days after the Synthroid gets into my system.

Good airline news

There has been some exciting air travel news in Seattle this week (at least for us!)

Starting on April 1st, Midwest Airlines will be offering pseudo-nonstop service* to and from Milwaukee! Woohoo!! They are also offering dirt cheap fares so we have already booked our tickets to go back at the end of June.

We also heard an announcement today that starting June 11th, Air France will be offering nonstop service between Seattle and Paris. Quelle chance! Too bad this wasn't an option last summer.

Finally our two favorite cities are only one (or maybe one and a half) flights away.

* there is still a 30-minute layover in Kansas City, but you don't have to get off the plane, and hey, who wouldn't be thrilled to spend a half-hour in the place where barbecue sauce comes from?

The Verdict

I had my ultrasound this morning and the verdict is in: there isn't a baby in my neck, but something that looks strikingly like a penis! That's right...I said it...a penis. The trachea looks strangely like a penis when ultra sounded. A bit disconcerting.

On to the real results. The right side of my thyroid is about twice the size of the left. Nothing else was said to be out of the ordinary and they didn't seem all that surprised that the two sides were of completely different sizes.

All I can do now is wait for the doctor's opinion about what kind of and how much medication I should be on after seeing the ultrasound and blood test results. That should be happening on Wednesday or Thursday.

Real Food

I just made our first "real" meal in a long time. It consisted of mushroom and scallop risotto, asparagus, and molten chocolate cakes with espresso whipped cream. Orgasm in a bowl! (sorry Dad) Throw in a bottle of Cakebread Chardonnay (from Jay and Jessica) and it was an amazing meal. Needless to say, my cheeks are pretty pink right now! Seriously, there is no way you can open a bottle like that an not drink it all!

It's nice to have Monday off and feel comfortable making a mess of the kitchen and getting drunk! I know I will have plenty of time to clean it up over the next couple of days ;-)

Caterpillar Roll

Yummy

Doctor

I went to see a new endocrinologist this afternoon. This one specializes in fertility and pregnancy. I wanted to see someone who could tell me if my thyroid issues let to Nora's early delivery. He told me that there is no evidence that says that hypothyroidism can cause or have any affect on an early delivery. What could have been an affect, was the fact that they kept my level at, what they thought to be, an odd level. That could have led to the 50 pounds that I gained in 34 weeks which, ultimately, could have made my water break early.

What did come out of the visit, is that I have an enlarged thyroid and they want me to have an ultrasound on Monday. They drew a fair amount of blood while I was there as well. Hopefully they are able to tell me what I need to do to get everything in check.

Interestingly enough, they decided to tell me all about possible fertility testing, just in case I need it in the future. That was interesting, but scary all at the same time. Hopefully we won't have any issues, but it was quite informative. I have a prescription for 2 vicodin if I have to have one of the first procedures done where they would have to put something into my uterus. OUCH! Although, I've never tried vicodin, that could be interesting ;-)

The most worrisome test involved having sex in the morning, going to the doctor in the afternoon, and having the doctor observe *how* the sperm are swimming. What a disgusting job!

I like Chris, Phil, Rudy, and Brandon. If I would have to pick a girl, it would be Melinda. I don't think she'll get very far because she doesn't have very much self-confidence, but I love her voice. I think a guy will win again this year. The women just aren't very strong. There are a few girls that went throught that really sucked.

It was nice to hear people that could actually sing in four part harmony. I don't think that is normal. Most of the people on this show are non-music readers which drives me nuts. Are you a musician or what? The least you can do iss learn how to read the damn music!

Did you notice that two of the finalists are from WA? The beat box dude is from Bothell which is just about 3 miles from our house!

Sucker

I'm such a sucker for American Idol. It already has me sucked in and it hasn't really even started. There are still so many shitty singers that we have to listen to every night. I can't wait until it is down to the last five or six. That is when it starts getting good!

Vacation

I've been dying for a vacation over the past couple of weeks, but these pictures will have to do. Enjoy.

Bordeaux (look at that thing on Brian's chin!)

Remember this?

Cooking Class in Thailand

Reliving old vacations: Prague

One of our best vacations

This was in Southwestern France. Biarritz was just beautiful!

Remembering Thailand

Dudes

You don't think Brian thought of wireless? The signal didn't reach every part of the house and was ticking us both off. This was the best solution.

Accomplishments

This weekend was filled with accomplishments.

First, Brian made his maiden voyage into the attic. He was able to drop ethernet cable down behind the wall where the build-in desk in the kitchen is located. We now have a fully functional desktop computer in the main part of our house! No more are the frigid ventures into the depths of the office.

Second, we finally agreed on a paint color for the front living room. There were three different 'tester' colors on the wall before we decided on a completely different color named Revere Pewter.

Third, we moved the wine fridge out of the office and into the garage. Brian borrowed a dolly from a lady at work which made it fairly easy to maneuver the beast.

Last but certainly not least, we moved all the shelves around in the garage and are now able to park both cars in the garage! We were starting to fight over who had to take the car that sat outside overnight because of the scraping required. Moving shelves around required disassembling a huge shelving unit created by the last owner. I think there were at least 30 2x4s and massive pieces of plywood. Everything is properly arranged and stored.

It's amazing what we are able to get done when we know both of our parents will be visiting in the next month!

The Milwaukee girls

We had a blast at our New Year's Eve Eve party during our time in Milwaukee. I can't believe it has taken me this long to get this pictrue posted!

Communicating through the belly

Teaching Sucks

Yesterday Brian spent his day tooling around Seattle "getting to know his team" by going on a scavenger hunt and spending time on a houseboat. You want to know what I did all day yesterday? No. You really don't.

Why can't my job be more like his? I want monetary rewards for doing a great job. I want to be able to be flown to Europe to present my full proof way of teaching expository writing to thousands of people. I want to be able to go out for lunch when ever I choose. What's that you say? I should enjoy the intrinsic fulfillment of knowing I'm helping create better citizens for our country? I should bask in the beauty of seeing one child meet his/her goal? That's BS! I just want to be respected as a professional, paid as such, and not be pitied because "Oh, you must be such a patient person!" Those of you that know me well, know that I am ANYTHING but patient.

Now I feel better. See, this is why I have a blog. So someone else beside my husband can listen to me bitch. Poor guy, that's all he's heard this week. Thankfully we have the night off tonight. Nora is going to a hockey game with Kellie and Terry's family. They've been hosting a 16-year-old Canadian that is in on a Seattle team of 15-18 year olds from all over the place. It's an interesting set up. I forgot what a boy that age sounds like. All he does is grunt.