Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Lentil Soup

I was inspired to post this because Infertile Fantasies posted her own Lentil Soup. I love Lentil Soup and eat it almost every day. This is my variation of a Scottish Lentil Soup. I thought that I should send it to everyone. It is easy, nutritious, and delicious. This makes about 10 cups of soup.

1 Liter or Quart of Organic Chicken Broth (This allows you to skip the boiling of bones, careful that it has no more than 750 mg of sodium or the soup might be too salty)
2 Medium Carrots
1 Leek
1 Bayleaf
Pepper to taste
1 cup / 250 mg of red lentils (cook faster than green)

Add broth to large pot, add lentils and bring to boil. Add bayleaf and pepper. Grind or chop carrots (depending on how thick you like your soup). Wash and Chop Leek. Remove foam from soup. Add carrots and leeks. If you are not a fan of leeks, which taste like very mild onions only better, you can substitute an onion. But you will need to sauté onions until translucent before adding to soup. Stir occasionally. Allow to simmer for 1 to 1.5 hours or until carrots and lentils are tender.

Once simmering is done, I have been known to add leftover chicken/veggies from the fridge. I have also added curry spices too. This makes for a hearty soup. I hope that you enjoy this as much a I do.

Monday, January 07, 2008

101 things in 1001 days

I was reading A daily dose of Zen Sarcasm and I came across this great post about trying (and perhaps failing) to make changes. I comes from Day Zero. Here is the explanation, which I stole.


The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.


So here is my list. I reserve the right to change it. I will let you know what I have done or learned each month. I know that some of them will be hard to measure, but I will try.

General
1

Make this list √
2

Do a monthly list evaluation (0/34)

Car
3

Clean the inside of my car (1/30)
4

Drive 5 km/h slower to reduce emissions

Charity
5
Do work for a charity
6
Write to my foster child in Africa
7
Write to my foster child in SA

Family / Personal
8
Ask directly for what I want
9
Believe, think, talk and act positively
10
Decide what to do with my frozen embryos
11
Get closure on evil Uncle K
12
Have a family outing once a month
13
Have more contact with my oldest sister
14
Have my mother over once a month
15
Make birthday dr appointments for boys
16
Plan fun things to do in the summer
17
Say “Please” more
18
Update my medical alert bracelet
19
Wear makeup everyday for 2 weeks

Health and Fitness
20
Buy a new weight scale
21
Do months breast exam
22
Do more yoga (2x week)
23
Drink more water
24
Get a massage once a month
25
Get my eyebrows done 3x
26
Go a week without sugar
27
Go to bed before 11 at least 4x a week
28
Monthly massage
29
Reorganize my weekly schedule
30
Try pilates
31
Work on posture (stretch for 5 min every day)

Food / House
32
Bake once a week
33
Create my own cookbook of things we like to eat.
34
Eat more organic foods
35
Clean kitchen before bed 5x a week
36
Clean out 3 kitchen cupboards
37
Do a clothing purge
38
Do more gardening
39
Finish configuring new laptop
40
Follow cleaning schedule
41
Get dataloc for my laptop
42
Get pda connected to new laptop
43
Get rid of old VCR tapes
44
Go back on cash only for a month
45
Learn how to bake the hearty bread that I like to eat
46
Paint deck
47
Patch holes in family room wall
48
Purge desk
49
Purge furnace room
50
Put up whiteboard
51
Rearrange laundry room
52
Replace downstairs bathroom fan
53
Replace downstairs toilet
54
Replace Master bathroom fan
55
Replace Master toilet
56
Replace toilets
57
Replace weatherstripping on front and side door
58
Stop using plastic grocery bags
59
Touch up paint in hallway

Kids
60
Become a foster parent
61
Open bank accounts for boys
62
Potty train LB
63
Read book on parenting boys
64
Read book on praising boys
65
Sign up kids for swimming
66
Start teaching my youngest french

Leisure
67
Blog once a week (average)
68
Buy a new winter coat (one my size)
69
Create scrapbook for BB
70
Date my husband once a month
71
Donate excess yarn
72
Finish kids journal
73
Finish scrapbook for LB
74
Fix kids journal db
75
Fly both of my new kites
76
Get a dog
77
Get a singing prayer bowl (in C/ root chakra)
78
Get my Irish passport
79
Go to 5 hockey games
80
Go to the Opera
81
Have an outdoor family vacation
82
Learn 2 new Harold Arlen songs
83
Mediate 3 times a week
84
Piano lessons
85
Pick up french again
86
Post 10 books on BookMooch
87
Read a nonfiction book every month
88
Read Reggio Emilia book
89
Register the birth of my sons in Ireland
90
Start having something to do while watching tv
91
Start knitting again
92
Take a pottery class
93
Visit Portland on vacation
94
Work on family tree
95
Write an email to a friend once a week

Work

96
Do certification exam 1 (If I am ever going back to work then I need to keep up.)
97
Do certification exam 2
98
Do certification exam 3
99
Do certification exam 4
100
Learn Java
101
Write Java exam

Saturday, January 05, 2008

My IVF Past

I look at the detailed summaries that others post of their IVF cycles with awe. I have trouble even remembering how many times we tried. I am pretty sure that we tried 3 times before we did two successful DE cycles. I know we did all the usual tests, took the drugs and here we are now, but I could not give you a coherent description of it. I guess that it was the stress. I know that it was a nightmare of stress and worry. I know that it put my marriage under huge stress and luckily for us we came through it together, stronger and more in love. The first IVF was horrible and we were like two people drifting along in a fog. During the second IVF we had a huge fight. DH forgot to come home to give me a shot. He met an old friend and went out for a drink. (This was in the days before cell phones.) On his way home he remembered and came home horribly upset. He totally freaked out and so did I. When I saw him cry, I realized that he really loved me. He was in over his head too. From that point on we worked together on all of it. It made our marriage.

The needles are the thing that I remember most about our treatments. Since I am a visual learner, I tried not to watch or even see the needles. My DH humoured me in this fantasy that not watching would make it easier. I did relaxation breathing and tried hard to be calm for my needles. It didn't always work. Much to my later embarrassment, my DH practically had to hold me down one time. Luckily he has about 100 pounds on me. I took a lot of needles. I turned out to need a lot of estrogen, so no patches for me, just shots. I also continued the IVF drugs for the full three months. After a while I was numb from all the shots. It took months to get the feeling back. I also needed the Lovenox twice a day for my APC resistance (blood clotting disorder). I calculated once and I have taken over 1000 needles of Lovenox alone plus about 400 in IVF drugs.

It was worth it, but it is okay if I never do that again.

Update on me

Happy New Year to all of you. I had a very quiet new year. I was awake lying in bed with my DH. We were watching TV. Not exactly a party time, but I am not a party girl. Small children kind of kill that anyway. I don't miss it.

I have been doing much better lately. I have been seeing a Naturopath and she has done wonders. We have done a lot of little changes. My routine has changed. I start each day drinking hot water and lemon. I am taking digestive enzymes with each meal. I am taking fish oil. I end each day with hot ginger or chamomile tea. Sometimes I rub my stomach with castor oil and then put on a heating pad for about an hour. I no longer drink more than a few sips of liquids 1/2 hour before or 1 hour after a meal. I still drink 8 to 10 cups of water a day. Most importantly, I try to have 30 to 35 grams of fibre a day. The increase in fibre has been key. All of these little things and more are working together to make me better. I regularly get 7 or 8 hours of sleep at night. I rarely have to sleep sitting up. My brain is coming back and I am glad, glad, glad. I no longer percolate with gas.

Life is good

Who knew?

It if funny how infertility never goes away. I was reading an Alexand.er Mc.Call Smith novel called "The Right.Attitude to Rain". It is part of his Isabel Dalhousie series. I really like his novels. His books are intelligent and a real pleasure to read. At the end of this book the heroine Isabel who is 42 becomes pregnant from s.e.x. WTF! My reaction really surprised me. I was immediately very concerned that something terrible would happen. Luckily I had the next book in the series on hand and it starts after the successful birth of her son. I was never one of those who had a horrible reaction to the pregnancies of others. I was not aware that it bothered me, but I really reacted to this character in a book. Yes I know that it is ridiculous to react to an imaginary person. At first I was terribly concerned that something bad would happen. I was afraid for her. I didn't want her to have a bad experience and when I started the next book and the baby was 3 months old and everything was fine I reacted again. I was upset that the whole pregnancy had been skipped. Didn't the author know that this was the most important part? Obviously it had been uneventful as no one mentioned the pregnancy again in the whole book. I felt jealous of someone who didn't even exist. She got pregnant without trying and it was easy, not even worth discussing.

On a related note. I am 45. I have no fallopian tubes. I used donor eggs for both of my successful pregnancies. My eggs where terrible when I tried my first IVF at 28. I am now 3 weeks late for my period and some sad, sick twisted part of me wonders if I am pregnant. Intellectually I know that it is impossibly unlikely and yet a small part of me still hopes. (The more likely answer is peri-menopause.) The universe must have a really twisted sense of humour. I have never taken a home pregnancy test without immediately getting my period. I never took a home test during ART because I firmly believed that they were cursed. I think that I should go to the store and get a test so that my period will start.