Day #7: Getting Organized Challenge {The Pantry}

I think you're going to notice an emerging pattern here.  We, um, don't have a pantry.  They don't come standard in the apartments we live in (or any that we've ever lived in for that matter).  We do; however, have a few cabinets that house such things as might go in pantry.  See what I did there?  I organized those.  Again, didn't use any additional organizing tools, just cleaning, sorting and stacking.

Before:

After:

Before:

After (I found so many cookbooks I forgot I had buried in that pile!):

Before: {Yes, there were a surprising number of empty things... and one poor little Christmas candy.  Oh, dear.  Made me glad we have recycling on our complex!}

After :

And that, my dears, is that.

This is my girl...

This is my girl, my Antonia.  She's woken up screaming the last few mornings, just enough too early that we're unsure whether it's two oclock or six, sometimes it is two and we hold our breaths, hoping she falls back asleep on her own.  Her molars are coming in, and it's showing the dark side of toddlerdom.

She knows when Daddy is getting ready to leave for work and grips his hands as tight as can, ensuring that he can't leave without her.  Breakfast is a mix of deciding whether she needs pain medicine (or just cranky) and trying to convince her to sit in her seat and eat something.

Daddy's actual exit is heart-wrenching.  She tries to get out the door when he does and screams when she realizes he's going to leave us.  Some mornings she flips a switch and waves a cheery, "Bye-bye!  Wuuu you!"  Those mornings are better.

Her teeth coming in have amped up the toddler destruction.  She bites, hits and throws things with a vengeance.  The biting is usually her teeth hurting, and she tries hard not to get skin, but timeouts have abounded for this either way.  The hitting usually means, "Please, please cuddle me.  I just need you."  This is always the balancing act of filling her little love tank and redirecting the hitting.  She tries so hard.  The throwing things, well, that probably has nothing to do with the teeth and everything to do with the fact that it's fun to throw things.

This afternoon we washed all of the bed-clothes, and rolled around on the bed while we waited for everything to dry.

Well, she rolled, and tried to show me that she could jump, but my heart nearly stopped when she tried to step too close to the edge.  Stay in the middle, baby, I feel like I said a thousand times.

Everything in our little world was right for the afternoon, and the world smelled like fresh laundry.

When she started to wear out, she laid her head down, and I lay next to her and we had a little chat.

She told me all of the important things she needed me to know, and I told her some too.

I told her she could always talk to me, and that I would always love her.  I told her that she was beautiful, but that she would be beautiful no matter what.  I'm glad my parents told me that, I think I would be a much unhappier person if they hadn't.  She told me a story about all of her favorite people, and gestured with her little hands, always ending her toddler-speak sentences with, "Yeah?  Yes!"

I told her I hoped we would talk like this in fifteen years, and that she would know I would want to listen.  She said, "Yeah," and patted me on the back.  I still find that comforting.

You are my Antonia, and while many things will change my sweetheart, that never will.

Day #6: Getting Organized Challenge {Dresser Drawers}

Hi, friends!  I know I'm a couple days behind, but I gave myself permission to go at whatever pace I'd like, so no worries :).  Last night I took care of Day #6.  Technically, the instructions are to go through all of your drawers and clean/sort, etc.  However, this dresser is almost brand-spankin' new as it was a Christmas gift, so I didn't feel it all that necessary to show off our drawers as they're pretty recently organized.  The top of the dresser; however...

was pretty sad.  The dresser is tall enough that anything that needs to be set out of Anni's way gets put up there... plus other randomness.  We spent the evening watching old Bones episodes and sorting through bills, books and putting things where they belonged.

The after isn't necessary pretty yet, but it's clean.  I did leave the poster waiting for a frame up there, but things are much happier and more organized now!  The end!

Pregnancy Care Package 101

When a dear, sweet friend let us in on the fact that she was 20 weeks along in her pregnancy, I knew I wanted to send her a box of random goodness.  By the way, you know who you are, and while I don't think you read this, I'm giving you fair warning that this could ruin your surprise if you haven't gotten the package yet!  I remember feeling very lonely and overwhelmed amidst the insanely excited emotions when I was pregnant, marked by the fact that I was utterly sick.  And while I know she hasn't been sick, I do know that no one can refuse a box of happiness.  After doing a few searches for pregnancy care packages, I got a mix of things, but nothing that really called to me or my budget.  So... here we have it!

Like I said, a whole bunch of randomness.  I combined my research with some discussion with my sister (who, having had three littles, is pretty qualified on such things) as well as a couple of fun things I had tucked away to give away at just the right time.

The contents include:

Kleenex: I always had the sniffles when I was pregnant, and even without that, I cried all.  the.  time.  Hello, trailer for Blind Side, you can make me sob uncontrollably for 20 minutes. 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix: I could have made cookies and included them, but I figured this was a great way to satisfy the munchies when the time actually came.  What can beat fresh chocolate chip cookies right out of the oven?  I can tell you, cookies never made me throw up :). 

Peppermint Tea: Loved this for nausea, but also just for something hot and soothing to drink when the heart burn got bad near the end.  Things on the ginger and lemony side of things also help if you have a friend struggling with the nausea (I would just smell our bottle of lemon juice on bad days... weird, yes?  Worth it for a few seconds of relief?  Yes.)  That being said, if you have a friend who is really, really, sick, tell them to go talk to their doctor for some medicine to help.  I really wish I had!


Burt's Bees Chapstick: This is kind of self explanatory, but I especially recommend it for labor.  When I went into labor early I had absolutely nothing with me but my camera and the clothes I was wearing, and the thing I wanted first was chapstick! 

Notebooks: Yes, I just noticed the clearance sticker!  I promise I took that off before I sent it, but the notebooks were just so cute, I don't think she'll mind that they were on sale :).  There were a set of three in here, and I figured there are so many good uses: one for journaling, one for the "baby's born call list" and other necessary lists and the other, well, I'm sure she'll figure it out :).

Hop on Pop: I had to throw in a few little things for her sweet girl!  This has been Anni's favorite book since she was very, very little, so I decided to include that as well.  Any fun book will do, of course, but I love Dr. Seuss board books, because they are super sturdy, fun at any age and a little shorter for shorter attention spans :).

Frame: I included a little frame for her sonogram.  If I had been thinking, I would have printed the one she sent us all to put in it, but I wasn't thinking as I packed up (and my printer is now gone), so maybe next time!

See that adorable little onesie?  I love it!  I had been keeping an eye out for something that wasn't crazy pink and found this on zulily and loved this for her!  It's definitely a red color, which is one of this lovely mama's favorites.  (PS If you join zulily via the link above, I get a credit when you make your first purchase... so this isn't me begging, but if you haven't joined, I'd love it if you'd join through my link!)  I bought it in the largest it came (3-6 mo), because she will most likely have plenty of clothes in the newborn size!

Headband: I threw in a fun little headband from bloomz on etsy that I thought would appeal to the mama's sense of style.  I think anything fun and handmade is a great addition... I mean, it's one-of-a-kind! 

Last but not least, babylegs!  We've gotten a lot of use out of these for Nugget, and I bought a big pack of them when they had a deal a few months ago just to keep on hand for baby gifts.  I tried to go for fun and funky again, but this mama definitely has a really fun sense of style and I figured she would want the same for her sweet baby.

Now, that is all taped up and sent away, but there are a few other great ideas depending on your friend's situation and your budget. 

A maternity belly band: there are lots of different brands and types when it comes to these, but in the end they are all a stretchy band to help non-maternity clothes hold out just a little longer.  I never used them because I jumped into maternity clothes early on (pregnancy made me so very bloated!), but I've heard amazing things about them from other mamas.  Target had them for 16.99 today, and I think you can find them in nearly any department store or online.

If the mama you are treating has had a serious craving, get that for her!  Now, if you live far away, this may be in the form of a gift card or a call to a nearby friend to pick it up, but I have a feeling she'll appreciate it either way.  On the flipside, if she has a lot of aversions (this was me!), offer to make a dinner or buy whatever she *can* get down.  Nutrition can be hard to come by when you just feel like death all the time, so being pampered is definitely a treat.  Speaking of being pampered, pedicures before or after baby are a plus (I had one a few weeks after Anni finally got out of the hospital, and it made me feel feminine again... it was my first ever pedicure!)

A pregnancy body pillow: most pregnant women I know have to use 4 or 5 pillows by the end and had I known this beautiful thing existed when I was pregnant, I would have definitely considered buying it!

Tums: ah... I went through these like crazy!  Throw some in so she'll have them on handy when she runs out!

And, there's one more company I wish I could buy absolutely everything from Earth Mama, Angel Baby.  Their products are completely safe, natural and delectable.  The great thing is they have things for pregnancy, postpartum and babies... love it!   

I think that's all I've got for now, but there are so many ways to love and encourage mama's who are pregnant or who have just given birth (that would be a whole other package!).  You know your friend better than I do, so tailor the box to their needs and style.  I can promise you, 100%, that they will get some warm fuzzies when they get it in the mail. 

If you are looking for some great ways to love on new mommies (or not so new mommies ;-)), I would suggest this lovely list from the gypsy mama.  I found it through pinterest and have been loving it for the past few days. 

Love you all, hug your sweeties tight tonight!

PS I know I mentioned a lot of companies and linked to a lot of things, but those were all for your benefit, none of those companies, except maybe Zana's Ninis (she is my sister, you know) and maybe bloomz if she follows my blog, know I exist or that I'm giving them free advertising :).  I mean, if they want to send me something fun to give to you, I wouldn't hate it, but this is just me trying to help you :). 

Christmas in February!

Today we danced with fate and went to the grocery store as a family... right before Anni's bedtime and right after a fit-laden disastrous dinner.  Luckily, the fact that King Sooper's gives free cheese and cookies to kids kind of saved us.  None of this is my point, my point is that on the way home we picked up the mail and... AND... I got a very exciting package!!  I was lucky enough to win this random drawing (click on the link to see how adorably it was all wrapped up).  My hubby asked me as we opened it if it felt like Christmas... well, yeah!  Now, hopefully I got everything into the picture... Nugget tried to abscond with the pretty bangles, but I snuck them back once she was asleep.  There was also a sweet note explaining all of these fun things, but Miss Anni really did escape with that, and I'm not sure where it ended up.  The lovely Natalie at  Natalie's Sentiments based all of the fun gifts off of her favorite things.

We have an adorable little yellow and black notebook, a pink Volvo baseball cap, a decal for the kitchen that says, "Kiss the Cook", the book The Butterfly Effect (super excited to look that over tonight!) with two sets of earrings hanging from it (those yellow earrings?  wearing them tomorrow!) and a matching pendant hanging out next to the chocolate, a sweet ring, some super yummy smelling soap, a diet and fitness journal, sparkly bangles (that will be coming to Ireland with me if Anni doesn't sneak them away), two bags of beads and four pretty blue napkins (that are going to make an appearance at a tea party next week!).  Whew, pardon the run on sentence with all the asides, I get a little excited :).

Thank you, thank you, Natalie for the great giveaway!  Everyone, you can check out her lovely page by clicking on the button below!

Happy Monday!

 

Anni discovered all of the disinfected baby toys in the kitchen, drying, and had her own little concert.  I had to be very sneaky, because if she sees you're filming her she'll stop and try to snatch the camera :).

Day #5: Getting Organized Challenge {Under the Kitchen Sink}

Alrighty, Day #5.  If you want to see some awesome organization ideas, go back to that link right there, because she has some great organizers!  Unfortunately, we can't screw anything into our cabinet drawers (including toddler proofing locks, yikes!), so my change isn't anything very dramatic.  I keep a few cleaning supplies in there, but for the most part, my vinegar and dishwasher detergent always lives there as well as my trashcan... annd... that's about it.  Besides the fact that Anni could get in there if she wanted (she used to be obsessed with it in our last apartment), our last apartment had a leaking issue, so we stopped keeping much of anything under the sink just by habit. 

For the most part, everything just needed a good scrubbing, especially the cabinet itself and the trash can.  Kind of embarrassing, but it's just not an area of priority,  so I'm lucky it was on this list so I could take care of it.  There was some clutter behind everything, a couple of bins from Anni's hospital stay that we don't use anymore and the bag that the trash bags were in.  I ditched all of that, gave everything a good scrub (there are a lot of marks that won't come out, but it's clean) and oi-la!  Under my sink is complete.

We actually did do some other organizing throughout the apartment today.  Hubby had a snow day (the highway up the mountain was actually closed part of the morning!), so in between work, we cleaned, sorted, set up some cubbies that had been waiting for us and vacuumed the whole apartment.  I love a clean place, I feel like it's just a little easier to breathe (plus, what mom/wife doesn't feel just a little better about herself with a clean house?). 

Again, head back over to A bowl full of lemons for some really great tips on organizing this space for yourself!

Just a little bit of everything...

Lest you think I am spending all my time on the organization challenge, be assured, I'm not naturally organized enough to spend  more than a few minutes a day cleaning out and then a fewish minutes once Anni is in bed dealing with it all.

Soon after we got home from our jaunt to Wichita, Anni realized she was kind of sick of having only mommy, and proceeded to cry great big, toddler screams as she lunged at the door when Daddy left for work.  Mommy is no substitute for Daddy, because Daddy makes up for the time he missed while we were gone by being full of energy and generally hilarious, something Mommy isn't the best at in these days of fatigue and general blah-ness.  Thank goodness for Daddy! 

She later imitated the laundry basket races with her baby... she thinks it's hilarious to see herself having fun on video!  (As she said, "'gain!  'gain!" as in, play it again!)

There was bed jumping that I couldn't watch for the most part; my heart nearly stopped every time she stepped even remotely close to the edge.

We had some friends over (and skipped a day of organizing for a day of frenzied scrubbing and cleaning of all of the places visitors could see).

Nonna came over, too, which was good, because Anni had been requesting various family members with fervor since we left.  (It tends to go something like this, "Tinie?  Tinie?  Uncle Tinie?  Dimmy!!  HI DIMMY!  Gramma?  Taweeeeeeee.  Nonna?  Papa?)  Since Nonna and Papa actually live nearby, she got some good cuddle time in with them both.  When she wouldn't eat dinner, brush her teeth or lie still to put jammies on?  Nonna was able to get her to do all of the above (and do them well)!  It was all very impressive.  I need some of the extra grandma sweetness she saves for her Nonna and Gramma!

And when my sweet friend Sarah came over to do crafty things and discuss art and beauty, Anni pulled out the cuddling again.  I've been surprised at how willing she was this week to go to people other than Daniel and I (like I said, just a wee sick of momma I think, until today, today she was thrilled with me again).

Oh!  And I guess we've officially entered into Lent at this point, but we celebrated Mardis Gras with a homemade pizza and some fun snacks.  Anni and Daniel were going to hang out with some friends ("Don Paul!  Don Paul!" was the name shouted throughout the house all day today.), but unfortunately, "Don Paul" wasn't feeling very well, so we had to drown that sorrow in making pizza.  Anni was quite adept at cheese sprinkling, and I slowly worked off the coat and boots she had had on in preparation for her play date without too much sadness.

Onto Lent!  I'm actually pretty excited for it, I think there's a sense of freedom in relearning self-control in areas that are difficult.  Happy Day, friends!

Day #4: Getting Organized Challenge {The Linen Closet}

Okay, so I've mentioned I live in an apartment right?  So, the term, "linen closet" in this challenge will be a little misleading in what you see.  Anni's sheets etc are kept her own little closet, so the few things we have are here.  Except, we have some blankets out in the storage closet, etc, etc... you get the idea, right?  Linens, cleaning supplies, maybe my husbands poker chips...  You can see what it mostly looked like before - as you can see by the green sheets on the ground, Anni decided she was going to help empty everything out. 

I'm not sure if it's obvious by the pictures, but it really is much cleaner, things have their place and that was the goal.  Despite the fact that it will leave us without the "two extra sets" rule, I decided to donate the black sheets.  They're nice and soft, and I bought them on a whim as extras right before or after Anni was born, but then realized that they show everything.  Lint, spilled milk (I used to pump a lot in bed), they just always looked dirty, even when they were perfectly clean.  The other extras are a bit worn, but they'll do until we can replace them.  I even kept the set for the air mattress that is now gone, but if my brother lives with us this summer, we'll have to replace that (nothing but the finest for you, brother, dear).  The sheet piles are a bit clunky, because I stuffed them into their pillowcases so they aren't as easily pulled down and apart by an adorable little toddler I know, but I like them nice and contained.  I think maybe I should add a little yellow bin for all those miscellany things you see on the second shelf.

Whew, okay... sorry, my OCD kicked in and I to go do it and then prove that I had done it.  Yep.

 I realized as I cleaned that I had a ton of cleaning products... some of which I use and some I've been phasing out.  I decided to keep them all for now (I'm not sure what the proper way to dispose of some of these is) and kept the ones I use more on the lower shelf for easy access and the others a little more out of reach.  Keep in mind, I'm doing this challenge on an almost zilch budget.  Because we're going to Ireland, there's just not extra money elsewhere for cute organizing.  I bought a few bins at the beginning at Big Lots, but that's probably going to be it, so I'm sure you can manage much cuter things if you try!  (Speaking of which, those cleaning cloths would look so lovely in a little cloth basket... someday.)  

There you go.  Day 4: dominated.  (Can I say... this was way my least favorite.  I hate cleaning randomness, and this closet is a whole lot of that!)

Day #3: Getting Organized Challenge {The Messy Tupperware Cabinets}

Alrighty, getting to the organizing stuff in just a moment.  But first, thank you for all your understanding and sweetness.  I'm thankful for all of you!

And... on to organizing.

Day three's challenge wasn't too bad, really.  It was to organize that tupperware cabinet... and lucky for me, I haven't accumulated that much plastic ware during our marriage.  Here's the before:

Mostly, it's just a mess.  The tupperware really only takes up half the cabinet, but there wouldn't be room for anymore, thank you little apartment kitchen :).  It's never going to stay perfect, because my sweet 21 month old loves to help in the kitchen, or bring them to her little kitchen to "cook" with.  If it makes her happy and keeps her involved, I'm all for it.  That being said, it was time to restack and re-organize.  There were a few pieces in there and we don't use a lot, so we set those aside to donate. (I'm saying we, but I was really the only one working on this.  My hubby has dish duty, so we was plugging away at those.)  And the after - all stacked and ready to go.  And yes, the bowls did multiply, as I said, my hubby was working away at the dishes.   Oh, and nothing was said in the challenge about keeping Nugget's magnetic letters off the ground... so, just focus on the lack of clutter okay?  Focus :).  

PS Can we ignore that there are canned tomatoes and other possibly embarrassing things stored in the background?  I promise we're working our way away from them... we've found a great alternative in Pomi, but I'm still weeding out the cans and trying to find a steady supply of the other. 

Sometimes... I don't know what I want

After another run-around on my tests (I'm always having to remind people where they need to send these things, for some reason), I talked to my doctor today.  He told me I had had some kind of an infection which caused the hormones and that I shouldn't need medicine.  He'd see me in two months.

um... okay?

See, at this point, I was disappointed.  While it's great that it shouldn't be a long term thing, what about all those symptoms I was attributing to the thyroid issue?  The relief I felt that maybe I'd feel better than I ever had?  Kind of dashed some hopes there.  I mean, when I go back, there could still be an issue, but it could also mean that the anxiety, depression, fatigue, weight gain, etc etc were all just that.  Their own issues that I need to figure out from square one.  I think I was most disappointed that I couldn't solve all of my problems in one disease.   I think I was a little disappointed that the specialist didn't take a moment to say "and if you still feel like ... poo... we should look into this further" or explain things.  Yes, I should have been my own advocate and asked more questions, but I get a little stunned and over polite when I talk to people who are smarter than me that hold my medical records.  My mom, being the dear, sweet, super smart nurse that she is, spent pieces of her day researching for me and coming up with a little nugget that often they still treat the symptoms until the virus is all cleared up.  She told me I could/should call back and figure some of these things out, and she's probably right (my mom usually is, she's good like that), but I'm not sure if I have the guts yet.  Maybe I'll just start feeling better?  I'm seeing fruit, dance parties and a whole lot of cleaning in my future to try to bully myself into a better attitude.  Anyway, this is a whole lot of rambling, but I figured I could say it, and you could read it if you want. 

and if you skip ahead to the cute picture, I don't mind one bit.  Sometimes I do it, too.

Day 2: Getting Organized Challenge {The Computer Desk}

As I mentioned, I'm doing a little 21 day challenge.  Day 2 was the cleaning of the top of the computer desk.  Ugh.  Okay, here's time for honesty.  I hate my desk, like a lot.  It's hard to move (we've been in three apartments in three years), it's clunky and there are a whole lot of spots for me to stuff random stuff.  I'm a bad random stuff stuffer.  I like things to be organized, but am not very good at following through.  My desk becomes the place to put everything I don't want our long-legged, long-armed little Miss to get into.  It gets ugly.

Case in point:

Apparently I couldn't even be bothered to try to take a decent picture of it... my apologies.  Those two glasses, by the way?  Um, I collect water glasses... I just pick up one everytime I walk through the kitchen.  This is pretty good, of course, I took this earlier in the day, so I think I added a couple more before I was done.  My big issues always come from the random stuff.  I just don't know what to do with it, and some of it I just can't pitch!  I did take everything off the desk; though, even the computer, so I could scrub remnants from whatever had been sitting on the desk away.  That printer?  Well, as much as I love printers... this one has been on the fritz for a while... it works, but sporadically.  We decided we should move on and consider finding something smaller, but useful, when we can afford it.  LOVE having that space back.  The printer didn't sit all the way back in that cubby, so I was always losing things behind it. 

I worked hard to sort the random (that took me into the evening... sorting random things doesn't work with a nearly-2-year-old who wants all the random things).  I even weeded out my overflowing mason jar of pens, moved some pictures around, put the cleaning supplies away and added that little tower of drawers.  I'm not sure it looks that organized in the after picture, but trust me, it so is.  It feels SO nice to sit down and work, now.  I kind of love it, I even tried to get a better picture of it, I liked it that much.  I'm not promising it will stay this awesome, because I just don't work like this.  But I promise I'll keep returning it to this awesome, because I do work better like that :).  My hope is to replace the desk someday, but in the meantime, I can be happy with an organized hand-me-down (except, ahem, for the drawers... luckily today didn't include those!).  Happy Friday!

You can find Day 1 here.
 

21 Day Challenge: Day 1

So, our apartment is a bit of a mess.  Part of this is because we're busy and I'm an awful sorter, and part of it... well, no, that's pretty much it.  Oh, and we have a two year old.  I saw this 21 Day Organization Challenge {she had a button, but apparently too many people have used it, because I couldn't get it to link, so go to that link right there to check it out!) through pinterest and decided I would try it... baby steps, right?  Yesterday was Day 1: The Junk Drawer.  Well, we have a whole lot of drawers... with junk in them, but no specific junk drawer, so I chose a few drawers in my kitchen.  They weren't necessarily rife with junk, just messy, disorganized and in need of a really, really good scrub down underneath everything.

Here are my befores:

As you can see, the top drawer is kind of the catch all - crumbs, scissors, random utensils and cookie cutters that didn't make it to their home.

 
This drawer really just needed to be straightened, the cookie cutters to find a collective home and to move those aluminum pans somewhere else (I needed one once and now have the leftovers forever!)

annnd... After!  They aren't perfect, but much happier.  Random utensils moved to another, less opened drawer, all the drawers got scrubbed and silverware washed (just in case).

Here the cookie cutters found a home and all of our boxes got a straightened up a little.  While we're trying to cut down our use of all the plastic baggies, we're not quite there, so they need a place for now.

And, I don't have a before of this one because I didn't know I was going to do any organizing... but it's Miss Anni's drawer.  Pretty much imagine all of those spoons (I'm not sure how we have so many, but we do!) and other little parts scatter everywhere!  I got this little organizer while picking up some other organizing bins at Big Lots yesterday, and she was pretty excited to un-organize and sort everything!  It's nice having a place for things :).

That sweet day

Yesterday, Daniel took the day off.  That had more to do with the fact that I couldn't hold a toddler and stay still during my thyroid scan than with the fact that it was Valentine's Day... but that was kind of a bonus.  I went to take my radiation pill by myself, because it was supposed to only last 15 minutes and Anni was just rolling out of bed.  By the time the first half hour had ticked by, I was lonely and wished I had both of them there.  This part was technically simple, they brought out the (single) pill in a lead-lined bottle.  I mean... really.  One pill in it's own chamber.  Should I really be putting that into my body?  It had another container inside, from which I was supposed to put it straight into my mouth (no touching with my HAND!  This was supposed to go in my body and destroy things there).  Okay, probably being a little over dramatic... but you wouldn't read this otherwise, right?  After that I went home and was tired.  I had to go back for the scan in a few hours, but in the meantime, it was breakfast burriters and chocolate... lots and lots of chocolate.

My scan was actually super quick and nice and painless (minus the moment of panic as the um, scanner? got a little too close.  I'm just a wee bit claustrophobic).  The tech told me there would be three "pictures", each 10 minutes long... except, after the first one, he helped me out so he could measure something and pronounced me ready to go.  When I asked why, he told me it was pretty obvious from the first scan, and I didn't need to do anymore.  I, of course, just wanted to know what was obvious and he (after an appropriate disclaimer that I would need to wait for sure to hear from my doctor) told me that a normal thyroid absorbs this stuff at a rate of 16% by this point (or 6-9%, Daniel and I disagree on what we heard... either way) and mine was currently at 1.4%.  Yeah... my thyroid is barely functioning, which kind of blew my mind since it was supposed to be crazy overactive and all that.  He explained that hypothyroidism (thyroiditis most likely in my case) presents as hyperthyroidism when an infection sets in and explodes a bunch of hormones everywhere.  Weird.  I'm not exactly sure what any of it means, so more waiting until my doctor decides to call.  That's all.  Except the tech was wearing Cornhusker crocs. 

Upon returning home, we realized there really wasn't time to make the stew I had planned, and we threw together a haphazard meal as we walked through the aisles of the grocery store while giggling (just a teeny, little bit) at the vast horde of men gathered around the flower section, a few looking completely bemused. 

Luckily, my husband saved the night with wine and love songs on the guitar and taking care of me when I felt yucky.

Oh, and more chocolate.

Today my funk continued... I'm blaming it on my darn thyroid.  Luckily, sweet Lucy and her mama came to play in our amazing blanket tent.

They brought sugar cookies and talked and played.

Anni adores Amy!  They spend enough time together that she's completely comfortable with her.  Plus, Lucy is kind of her best friend.

All in all, a pretty good day.

Take that, funk.