Crochet Projects

I started crocheting maybe two years ago. I started doing it because I wanted something to do with my hands while watching netflix. It is a way to keep me from looking at my phone while watching. Though I still look at the project more than the television. I can still pay more attention to the what I'm watching than I can when I am scrolling through social media or playing games on my phone.

My first projects were very bad. I would make a simple single crochet blanket but the blanket would shrink with each row. I will say I still think I'm a novice, but I feel better about giving my projects to people instead of to the dog shelter.

Project 1 - Amigurumi Bees from Red Heart

For this spring, I was going to give my niece and cousin's baby crochet bees for Easter. But with the coronavirus, I probably won't see them for Easter. I will hold on to the Bees for now. I picked this Amigurumi because it looked simple compared to the other designs. It was just a ball, which I have done before and wings which I haven't done before. I think the bees turned out well.

The kit says it makes two bees, but I was able to make four. I have some yarn leftover. The yarn is thin so I needed to get a 2.5 mm hook. The yarn also tangles pretty easily, but it didn't knot bad enough that I couldn't get it out. I also had to get eyes.

I also bought the mermaid kit. We are planning a trip to San Diego at the end of May. So I was going to give a mermaid to my niece and my cousins baby. I haven't started those projects yet. I have another to complete first.

Project 2 - Baby Blanket

I started a baby blanket on Tuesday because I found out that my other cousin is pregnant. I based it on the blanket in the link. It didn't like all the colors so I am just using blue, yellow and green. I will do the colors blue, yellow, green, yellow, and finally blue. She wants to do the gender reveal on Memorial day while we are all in San Diego. I want to have the blanket ready to give to her then.

I have not done a V-stitch before but I have done the double crochet. It is also a lot faster to do a row than the blanket I made for my niece, which was single crochet. So far the project isn't getting smaller as I go. The only issue is that when I change colors I have been using a magic knot and so sometimes the color doesn't change until after the three chains at the end. I think that is ok, because there will be a trim around the blanket, and I do not think that will be noticeable.

If it doesn't work out at the end I will give to my roommate and try again.

So, if you need a hobby to pick up while quarantined or to keep your attention off your phone, consider crochet. It's a good way to help combat a short attention span, relaxing, and you can have some nice projects at the end. As you are getting started you can donate early projects to animal shelters. Dogs and cats don't care if their blankets are a trapezoid shape. At least near me the shelters are always in need of blankets and towels.

Uplifting Exchange

Last week I received an uplifting exchange chain email. I normally would ignore a chain mail, but I only needed to send it to one person. You also only needed to send one quote or poem to the person you were uplifting. Since it was easy and I wasn't annoying all my friends, I thought it would be nice during a time like this.

So this is what I sent:

Have a happy day.

Quote:  

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. –Maya Angelou

I sent this quote because I think it is during a time of crisis we need to remember what is important. The reason why we are staying home, and social distancing because we all have people that took care of us and now we are taking care of them.

Book: 

Leaves of Grass the reason why I linked this book is because I love this:

I celebrate myself, and sing myself, 
And what I assume you shall assume, 
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. 
I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass. 
My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this soil, this air, 
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same, 
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, 
Hoping to cease not till death. 

I think that is so beautiful and true.       

Video: 

I love my hairs I love this affirmations video. It reminds me of myself as a child. I sometimes watch it when I feel down.

Song:

Fight Song I sent this because of Cortex. I has been in my head and it is not bad to have there.

Poem: 

Of Love I sent this because it's good not to be too serious with these things.

Bonus:

Pale Blue Dot this speech always makes me a little happy and a little sad. It is humbling and inspiring at the same time.

What would you send to be uplifting.

One Tweak a Week Challenge

Because I decided to do monthly and yearly challenges this year I was encourage to take up the Tweak a Week Challenge when I was listening to Paula Pants's Afford Anything episode called 26 Easy Moves to Improve your Finances in 2020. I joined the Mighty Networks app so that I could join the discussion with other people. So I have some record of the last 13 weeks.

Anyone can start at any time. Just visit the Afford Anything blog and look for one Tweak a Week for an e-book about the challenge.

Tweak 1: Automate 1 Extra Percent - of your income towards savings or debt repayment anything that will improve your networth. I added 1% to paying off my 0% credit card transfer for a total of $367.

Tweak 2: Track Networth - I already have an idea of my networth because I use personal capital. But I updated some numbers in an Excel spreadsheet for a total networth of $174,437.49. I also track the ratio of networth to lifetime income as suggested in Get Rich Slowly. My networth is 37% of my lifetime earnings. That is pretty good. About 50% of my networth is the value I have in my house. I think it is better if your primary resident is less than 30% of your networth. Obviously, when you are young your home will have a bigger portion, but if it's too high than you could be considered house poor. The other half of my networth is mainly in retirement accounts. So even though I am proud of my networth and my ratio, I have room to improve.

Tweak 3: Check Credit Report (bonus freeze it) - I check my credit report at least twice a year, once when I do my taxes and a second time when I get raises in the fall. So, I ran the report a little early, but everything looked normal. I also froze my credit. I don't need my credit right now since I'm not planning to take out a loan soon.

Tweak 4: Have a Throw Away Day - The tweak only required one hour to declutter. So, I went through some of my clothes and my kitchen's junk draw to declutter.

Tweak 5: Sell an Item - I didn't have an item from the last week I could sell. I tried to sell an old couch instead, but I had it on the curb for a bulk trash day before I got a response. At least I finally got rid of it.

Tweak 6: Write Your Why - The reason I am doing the challenge is because this is the year of challenge and I thought a financial tweak a week went well with the year's theme.

Tweak 7: Automate 1 more percent - I now pay $417 to the credit card and I set up Surprise savings at Ally bank. It will move money from checking to savings account randomly. I have had $133 surprise savings in 5 weeks.

Tweak 8: Research Your Salary - When I changed jobs last year I researched my salary. It wasn't different than it was last year. I have averaged 8.31% raises since 2009.

Tweak 9: Create a Catch Phrase - I would rather have a baby than retire at 52.

Tweak 10: Adjust Thermostat by one degree - I don't have the thermostat on this time of year. I try not to get as far into May as I can. Last year I made it all the way through. I will keep the thermostat at 79 once I do turn it on.

Tweak 11: Fill Tires - I have never done this. So I had my dad show me how. One of the tires was low. I have not noticed a different in getting gas, because I have been quarantined for almost two weeks now.

Tweak 12: Delay Online Purchases for One Week - I did badly at this because I just bought yarn to make a baby blanket for my cousin's rainbow baby. I want it to be ready before the gender reveal. I will restart today.

Tweak 13: Switch Mortgage to Bi-Weekly Payments - I started doing this years ago. When you do bi-weekly pay half your mortgage every two weeks, by doing this you are making a 13 full payments a year. If you do this for 12 years you have shaved a year off your mortgage. My paid in full date went from July 2026 to November 2025. I have added an additional principal payment every month since my roommate, Paloma, moved in. Today I paid half of my April 2021 payment. I only predicted having a roommate for a year. If that happens my new paid-in full date will be August of 2024.

Those were the first 13 tweaks this year and another 13 tweaks to go. I like the challenges so far even though some of the tweaks I already do. I have notice some changes in the last quarter. I recommend the challenge to other people.

Monthly Challenges

My monthly challenges for the year started with intermittent fasting in January. The rules were that I could only eat between noon and 8 pm. I have done one-three day fasts in the past. I learned as a teenager that the zoo only feed the lions six days a week. I figured if a lion could fast I could as well. More recently I will not eat before noon on the weekends. 

So the month of January wasn't too difficult. I was allowed coffee as long as it was black so that was a life saver. Some days I would be ready to eat at noon but other days I would not be hungry until later. I didn't notice a change in energy or anything like that, but I didn't feel deprived either. 

I found not doing something was easier compared to doing something like the 10k steps challenge in February. I wasn't sure if my steps would count on the treadmill and I felt guilty walking but not walking my dog. So I opted for walking him instead of going to the gym. I usually got about 3,000 steps at work, and I would get 2 miles in or 5,000 steps with my dog. I got the additional 2,000 steps at home. I could get about 100 steps walking from one room to the next. 

Mid-way through the month Paloma, my roommate, and I went to a dive bar and line danced. I got enough steps for that Saturday and the next Sunday. So after that I would put on a line dancing youtube video to boot, scoot and boogie my final 2,000 steps. 

On the last Saturday in February I walked to the shopping center and grabbed pho. Paloma came to pick me up after and said I was like an old man with dementia wandering away from my home.

Mediation March is the current challenge. I was doing well with it, but I was sick last week skipped a few days, so I paid a dollar to the jar! The rules are that I must mediate 30 minutes a day or try to. I use youtube or a podcast to help.

I am a skeptic so I only use mediation for relaxation. It is the only claim that has evidence and that evidence does not compare mediation to other forms of relaxation. So an activity like listening to calm music or journaling may be just as good. I believe I am good at relaxing, but when I mediate I do notice that I feel like I do when I get a massage. So maybe I don't relax as well as I thought prior to March.

April is Keto diet challenge. I figured that only way to get through Keto is to plan ahead because if I have to figure out what I'm doing in April I will mess up. So two weekends ago I bulk prepared 8 freezer meals that feed 6 people so that should be enough for dinners. I am planning to fast in the morning until noon, so I will probably break the fast with hard boiled eggs and cheese squares or steamed veggies and avocado simple meals like that. I have no expectations for Keto. It is just a challenge to beat.

Future challenges include, No Internet, Walk Up at 5 am, No Coffee, Vegan, No Added Sugar, Mediterranean Diet, Stephen King's Writing Schedule and Bedtime at 8 pm.

Year of Challenges

Hey, it has been a while. I have been out of touch because after my first IUI. I had some LIFE changes. I changed companies for the first time since 2008. I rented one of my rooms to a friend and her two puppers. I also became an Aunt.

So I haven't been back for the second IUI, and I just paid to store the semen for longer. All these changes have allowed me to save and earn more in preparation. My HSA from my previous employer is set to pay all the medical expenses of pregnancy. 

I'm not sure when I will try again, but with the coronavirus postponing non essential procedures, I'm waiting at least a little longer. I will reassess in the summer. 

In the meantime this year is themed the Year of Challenges. Years previously I have give up fast food and soda successfully and this year I decided to do the same. Fast food is anything I've seen with a drive thru usually I allow Starbucks but I'm not it this year. Soda is any sugary drinks with a fizz. I also decided to give up alcohol until my birth which is 5 months of the year. 

But I have been watching Wheezy Waiter videos over the last year or more and he has completed many monthly challenges that I decided to do the same. I used monthly goals that he has done or is planning to do this year to label each month.

Lastly, I added the One Tweak a Week for 26 weeks challenge from Paula Pant when I heard her episode regarding the same.

Another podcast, Cortex, that I listen to says to give years a theme instead of a goal. So this year's theme is Challenges. 

So far I have been pretty successful in my challenges except for drinking occasionally during family dinners. If I break a challenge then I have to put $1 to $5 in a jar. My roommate has her own goals so she also contributes to the jar. We will probably use the money to throw a party at the end of the year.

Well until next time. Wash your hands.

Baby Crazy News

I have had an exciting last two weeks. I will tackle them in order. First I had my menses a little after I post last. Woohoo! It started on the 31st, the dated maybe important for calculating 40 weeks.

So I called the nurse's triage. They scheduled me for my blood work for the Tuesday after. That was to test for STDs, and also general hormone levels. They also told me to start my femara later that same day. I could take it at any time, but I would want to take the medication the same time every day.

As you may know femara is officially used to treat breast cancer, however is has been used in fertility since the 90s. It is used in a similar way as clomid which has been used since the 60s. You take both medications for a few days after your menses, usually 3-5 or 4-6. Clomid works by blocking the estrogen receptors in the brain. The brain thinks there isn't enough estrogen so it instructs the body to make more estrogen. Femara works by preventing androgen from becoming estrogen. So the brain thinks more estrogen is needed. The extra estrogen helps produce an egg. The benefits of femara are that the hormones are out of your system in days whereas clomid takes weeks, this could make it more difficult to get and stay pregnant even if you produce an egg. Another benefit is that with clomid the body produces a lot of follicles which results in a lot of eggs, whereas femara usually only produces one big follicle. Therefore the chances of twins with clomid up to 10% and 1% for triplets, the chances of twins with femara does is about 5%. The chances of twins normally is about 3% age and race can increase chances too. This is my layman's understanding of how they work.

I took the femara from Tuesday the 2nd until Saturday the 6th. I had one night where I felt flush and nauseous after taking the femara, but other than that no real side effects.

Then, on Sunday the 7th I went to Tucson because it was my uncle's 71st birthday and his granddaughter's 1st birthday. Ainsley is the first great-granddaughter on that side of the family. She was so happy and adorable. The party was really fun, even though she wasn't much of a cake smasher. She had no problem being past around to anyone who would hold her. I think it made me only a little sad to say good-bye. I will hopefully see them again for Easter or at least Mother's Day.

When I arrived home from my long weekend visiting family, there was water in my garage. My water heater had started leaking! My water heater sits on a pedestal that goes into the house and backs up to the living room/kitchen. So, I contacted my work to let them know. The next morning I called a few water heater people and found a good company called Classic Guys Plumbing. They were really great about replacing the water heater. It is on the ground for now, but they said they would come back out to put it up, or maybe the repair people could. They also had a company that would take care of the drying, called EcoDry.

At that same time, I was supposed to go to the doctor to do an ultrasound to check my follicles and a Hsg test to make sure my tubes were not blocked by mucus, which is a common issue with fertility. So, I called my dad to come out to the house to meet the plumbing people. I actually returned home before they arrived, but if my dad hadn't been there I'm sure they would have shown up earlier!

So at the doctor appointment, my ultrasound was a little bit of a let down. I knew from cycle tracking app Flo that it was pretty far from when I would ovulate. My cycles are about 33/34 days, so I wasn't really surprised that the follicles were still small. So I scheduled another appointment for Thursday.

Then I went next door to the lab to do the Hsg test. It was a very quick test, the waiting took the longest part. A few nurses asked my medical history, and took my blood pressure. Then I went into the lab. Dr. Craig performed the test. He is a really good doctor. He explains everything before he does it. For example, when he put the speculum in he would say okay going to left, then would move it to left. So, you are always prepared for what he is doing. This was helpful to keep me relaxed and calm.

Anyway, the test was very quick, and there was some pressure and cramping, but just when it gets bad it is over. So, if I have to I am fine doing it again. I did have some bleeding the next day and some bad cramps then, but not any worse than when I was a teenager. I don't really have bad cramps with my period anymore, especially not compared to back then. So anyway the results were great and there is an added bonus to the test, it helps clear a path as well, so you are 3 times more likely to get pregnant in the next 3 months, and twice as likely for six months, and the test is good for a year. Dr. Craig also said this after it was over.

Then, I ran home to handle the water heater snafu. The EcoDry people helped me call my insurance to deal with the water damage that was in the garage and in the house. They work with insurances a lot so it was a really simple process. The claim was filed and EcoDry scheduled to come out on Tuesday to start the drying process.

I didn't want to take another day off of work, so I asked my dad again to come out to the house to be there with the EcoDry crew. He came out again! He is about 40 minutes away and it took all day. The damage is where my television is so he didn't have much to do, so instead he deep cleaned my kitchen and living room and spare rooms. What a treat when I returned home.

So, on Wednesday and Thursday the EcoDry company came out to assess the progress of the drying. I work about 30 minutes away so on Wednesday I took an early lunch to meet them. I had to make up a little time after 5 pm. On Thursday, they scheduled to come at the same time as my second ultrasound! So, I had to call the Fertility Treatment Center and they helped me reschedule to Friday. The receptionist was worried that it would mess with my cycle, but because of my long cycle I wasn't worried.

Also, on Thursday I had a meeting with my director, because I asked for a 20% raise on the Friday before. I got it! I was also promoted to paralegal! I have been acting as a paralegal for at least 6 months after another paralegal quit. That is why I was asking for the raise, but I am glad that I was promoted. I will officially move to my office on Monday the 22nd. I will have to work 40 hours instead of 36.25, but I have pretty flexible schedule. I need to bill 1600 hours a year. That is about 32 hours a week for 50 weeks. Paralegals also get 6 weeks of paid maternity leave, I was planning to use FMLA for all 12 weeks, now I will only need to do 6 weeks.

On Friday, I went into my ultrasound at lunch. The doctor said my right ovary wasn't very active, not a surprise, sometimes I can feel it when I ovulate and it's always on the left side. So I think I mostly ovulate on the left side. The left side is superficial so it is really high up. The doctor couldn't get a good look at it from inside, so she did it from outside. There I had one follicle that was 21 mm, there was also an 11 mm follicle in there...a little bigger and they both might produce an egg.

So, I was given the go ahead to do my trigger shot. I am going to go in on Monday at 11:30 am to do the insemination, so 36 hours before that is tonight, Saturday the 13th at 11:30 pm. I'm super excited, but also a little nervous. It's always a little scary to make this decision and at every step I could pull out, until Monday. After Monday I will have the 2 week wait (2ww). I think I can take a pregnancy test on the 25/26th and it might show up positive, but I  am going to try to wait until Monday the 29th.

Anyway, at first I thought all of this water heater and water damage was an obstacle and a sign to not continue the cycle, but actually the traveling back and forth to meet with the drying company has provided a bit of a cover at work. On Monday, I also have an insurance agent coming out to assess the repair work, and there will also be repair work. My work is pretty flexible that I can make up the time missed before or after, even on the weekends. Also, I think a bit of an obstacle may mean that this is a sign that the IUI will be successful this time. It has taken my mind off of worrying about getting pregnant and that is always helpful. Also, the fact that the obstacle is outside my body now there won't be any obstacles inside my body. Plus at the end of the week, I was given good news about my job, and also about my follicles. So, I believe it will all work out the way it is supposed to.

Ok, so on Monday, I will do the insemination. I will try to post next weekend, even though it is Easter weekend. I might have some pregnancy symptoms then, so be prepared for me to talk about my sore breasts, however, I will mostly talk about how the procedure and shot went.

Baby update March 16, 2019

I had two baby related appointments this week. The first was regarding the IVF trial. It was on Tuesday. It was about 30 minute consult. The second was a psych screening.

IVF Appointment:

The IVF trial is for a company that is developing their own fsh shot. It is already used in Europe and Canada, so that makes me comfortable with it. I would give myself the fsh injection every day in the tummy, this would trick my ovaries into producing more eggs. The eggs would be collected and fertilized with the Champion sperm. This would create embryos. After five days the very best embryo would be put into uterus. The remaining embryos would be frozen. 

This all sounds like pretty typical IVF treatment, so no problems there for me. The cost is about $900 and the embryos would be frozen no cost. Since this is a study about 10% of ladies will receive placebo drugs. The placebo would be water. So at that time when they retrieve the eggs there will not be a bunch of eggs to retrieve. If a lady does receive the placebo then the company will pay for regular IVF later.

I would be a good candidate, except for 1 issue. I need to try to get pregnant by other means for two cycles first to show I have infertility issues. So, if I am not pregnant with IUI this cycle or the next I could qualify, but the study might be full then. However, the clinic might have another study in October, with a different company/situation. Hopefully, I will be pregnant after my first cycle, but if I do have trouble IVF does look like it could be an option for me.

Psych Screening:

The psych screening was on Wednesday. It was with Angela Bowers. I had to drive 45 minutes to get there, but really that's not a lot for a single appointment which will help me become a mom.

The office was in a building with a courtyard with an adorable water feature. Inside the office it was a little new-age medicine for me. They had hindu statues, and mediation books. This wouldn't affect their ability to determine if I would be a good mom. 

I spoke with Angela for about thirty minutes. It was while I was speaking with her that I realized how much thought I have put in to this adventure. Every question she asked, childcare, support system and financials I had an answer. I didn't even need to think. I already knew the answers. 

After speaking with Angela, I took an assessment on a computer. The questions were about drug use, drinking, mood, and behavior. I answered false, slightly true, mostly true, very true and ?. I'm not sure about how accurate someone can be with words like slightly and mostly, but I answered nonetheless. There was one question at the end that said: "Does your drug use affect your friends and family." I couldn't say false because did that mean I was admitting to drug use. I couldn't say true because then I would be admitting that my drug use causes a problem. So, I answered ?. 

Other than those appointments, I gathered my prescriptions and have me schedule set out ready for me to start. There is really any steps next week. So I think I will do a blog post about names or my thoughts on girls vs boys.