#Posting original video which was meant to be posted yesterday but I got too tired

[cappybawa106]

Man is malding fr

(This is the original clip, do whatever you want with it)

[lostinthe-pines-blog]

Fate Doesn’t Write My Stories pt. 2 - A Best Friend

This is a multi-chapter story about MC, and Chris finding their way back together after years of being separated post graduation. Chris’s career takes him to Boston, a city he’d promised was her territory. But it’s not just Chris, fate has seemingly brought the entire Hartfeld crew back together.

NOTE: This is a fictional story based on Pixelberry’s Choices App. *Books The Freshman, The Sophomore, The Junior. I am not affiliated with Pixelberry nor do I own the rights to their original characters.

Tags: @jared2612

Traveling with children was not something Abbie would recommend, but she truly had no choice. Her job at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art was paying for her to fly crossed the country to negotiate a deal with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. The deal an attempt to partner the coasts and work to display sister exhibitions in the future. The timing could not have been more perfect for Abbie as her best friend was finally returning stateside for a string of concerts along the East Coast. Abbie used this as an excuse to put her entire family on a plane and travel to the historical city. Tyler, finally able to cash in his vacation hours was happy to join knowing he’d be able to watch the twins while Abbie worked.

“You know I saw a post yesterday, I think Chris Powell just moved out to Boston!” Tyler said buckling his three year old twins into their soft plane seats. “Wonder if he even knows about Kaitlyn’s concert?” He looks a cross the aisle of the plane to his curly haired wife. Who smiles back at her small family.

“Maybe the two of you can meet up, I’m sure he’d love to catch up maybe you could invite him to the concert.” she smiles. The pair had drifted the furthest from their friend group after college. Leaving their dramas behind them they wanted to start a new life, and they had. Tyler was a video game designer working for Blizzard Entertainment and he was making a decent salary. More than enough to provide for their twins; both girls, who’d inherited their mothers dark skin but their fathers thick straight hair.  

“I’ll shoot him a message when we land” Tyler added before responding to the cries next to him. The girls were fighting over what movie to watch on the TV in front them. It was no secret that this would indeed be a long flight for the whole family.

-

A familiar patterned knock at the door breaks MC out of her trance. Spending a lot of time in the last 24 hrs staring at walls continuously lost in thought, her stare is finally broken.

“Zack!” she beams rushing to the door and wrapping her arms around him before his bright eyes even had time to focus on her. “Well hey!” he laughs returning her hug feeling tension rising off of her. The pair of them had remained the closest out of the small group of Hartfeld friends. “Good to see you too!” he kisses her cheek. After a long moment she leads him inside. Leaning against the kitchen counter Zack stares at his friend of 8 years as she jumps to sit up on the granite counter top. His heart worries for his friend, her demeanor not as bright as it was on his last visit only months before.

“Aren’t you excited to be stuck with me for the next 6 months?” he winks hoping to return his favorite smile to her face. “I’ve rented a small apartment just down the street!”

MC’s eyes widen and the sweet smile Zack longed to see creeps out. “Explain again what it is that brought you here?”

“A construction project out in Dorchester. Kind of a neighborhood “revamp”” he says using air quotes on his hands “It needed a leading architect and I’m happy to accept it as my first leading gig” he smiles blushing in pride.

“How’s the love life?” MC pushes playfully

“Completely nonexistent” Zack laughs “But it’s a good thing because now I’m open for a Bostonian to come and steal my heart. Maybe I’ll even find a Harvard grad.” Zack finishes dramatically arrogance and mockery in his voice “But enough about me, how is Carter! And you said you got a promotion? Tell me everything!” he inquires noticing instantly the change in her body language.

MC’s face still smiling but her body is closed off “Carter is good” she says simply. Instantly noticing the arch in Zack’s eyebrow. “Ugh, I hate to say it but I’m just getting bored. I know it sounds bad but Carter is almost too perfect! I feel like I’m always the one with insecurities and fears. While he helps me through them I feel guilty for always taking and never giving. He’s a well oiled machine that never breaks or even shows stress.” she uncomfortably changes the subject answering more of Zack’s questions “As far as the promotion I get to write... finally. It’s what I’ve been working toward the past two years.” she looks down now “But my two years of hard work is not what got me the position. Tonya my superior, she found my articles from college, the ones about Chris and the Knights. They offered me a position to write and edit in Sports.” her head hangs but she moves her eyes to catch Zacks stare.

“I see the problem” he nods but does what he does best and finds the light in the situation. “MC you’re getting to in your head about something that was four years ago. You love sports! Especially football! Maybe it wasn’t your goal to write about them but it won’t necessarily be that hard for you! And I’m sorry if I’m being blunt but last I checked in Chris was working with the Seahawks. Which puts him in Seattle on the other side of the country. So cheer up MC and let's celebrate! The rest of the year will be a win for both of us!” he cheers pulling her off the counter. “Kaitlyn's concert is next week, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with-” he is cut off as their gaze turns to the door the lock turning. MC’s roommate peering inside.

Molly Lorde a 27 year old with a tall and yet petite frame, pale skin and vibrant green eyes. Her wavy hair always seemed to land perfectly. She’d used her good looks to build a social media empire. Popularity and money had never been an issue for her, but she didn’t act like it. She was humble, and kind.

Four years ago MC had desperately moved to this new city only because it was her first option out. Becca had mentioned her cousin Molly a few times and offered the open lease at her apartment in Boston when she saw her friend desperate to leave Hartfeld behind as quickly as possible. 

As Molly opens the door she sees him, the one person who threatened her current title as MC’s best friend; Zack.

“Zackary! Come to steal my title?” she chimes “Or here to surrender!” she says pointing some very serious finger guns at the slender brunet.

Zack laughs and shoots finger guns back at her. Molly dodges the imaginary bullets and runs through the house Zack chasing her “You can take cover and hide but you’ll never have my title! MC is mine FOREVER!” as he yells he tackles her onto the couch the two of them laugh in unison.

“Not that i’m not flattered but, aren’t you both getting a little old for this?” MC smiles wedging herself between them on the couch.

The three of them catch up on life events, Molly and Zack recalling the first time they met in person. Having seen each other only over FaceTime calls they recognized each other instantly at Becca’s wedding 10 months earlier in Seattle. MC had chosen to send an expensive gift and letter to the wedding with her blonde roommate, out of sheer fear that going meant she might have to see Chris. As they talked about the wedding and memories MC tunes them out getting lost in the idea of what it would have been like if she’d been there. She writes the visual in her mind, the large ballroom pillars covered in gaudy white fabrics and twinkle lights. She sees herself in her favorite cream and blue dress standing with her friends sharing moments of laughter. Not going to the wedding was one of her biggest regrets especially after she found out Chris hadn’t attended at all.

The stories continue throughout the evening until Molly gets ready to head out again. Checking the time MC rolls her eyes knowing exactly where Molly is off too. She’d been making late night calls to a coworker's house for weeks now. Molly promised it was only for pleasure and nothing more, but last week Molly had gone three days without returning home. Zack yawns seeing this as a good time to leave. He offers to walk out with Molly to head back home leaving MC alone now to her thoughts.

Moving to the kitchen she plays some music as she cleans the dishes left behind. She allows Zack’s advice -to celebrate her promotion- to take over. She begins dancing and singing, completely off key. Feeling complete joy she continues to clean for the next hour before heading straight to bed. She plugs in her phone by her bedside. Playing quieter music now she stands in the dark stripping down and climbing into her welcoming sheets. She reaches for her phone to check her alarms one last time when she is greeted by a text from a name she hadn’t seen in years. She feels her chest tighten as she sits up startled staring at the text to afraid of opening it. She closes her eyes tight and tapping on the message.

“MC, I don’t know if this is even your number anymore. I felt it best that you know my job has brought me to Boston for at least a year. I wanted you to hear this from me and no one else. I hope life has treated you well. All my best. -Chris P.”

MC screenshots the message and only seconds after reading it has already been sent off to Zack. Once it’s delivered she goes back to the daunting words reading it again and again. Chris Powell had forced MC out of his life in an alcohol influenced moment of anger and pain from an injury that stole his career from him. MC spent a year mourning him before even approaching the idea of dating. She had not only lost the man she thought she’d love forever, she also lost the vision of her future. MC chose not to respond tonight. She was too tired and she had to be at work early to receive her first assignment. She drifted to sleep quick but her overly stressed subconscious only chose to bring up memories of years before. Real life memories turning to nightmares.

[ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes]

Write Me a Lullaby Part 27

Summary: Delilah has been writing to her Penpal for almost six years. She doesn't know his real name and she doesn't know what he does for a living. When she's set to meet him, she's surprised to find out she's been falling in love with Sebastian Stan

Chapter Summary: Luca meets his baby sister for the very first time. Sebastian is sick of the hospital. 

Warnings: Hospitals, fluff, fluff, and more fluff, a little sexual reference at the very end. 

           Luca walked into the hospital room with my doctor. She smiled warmly and let him run up to Sebastian.

           “He’s so big.” My doctor sighed. “It feels like just yesterday we were swaddling him up and handing him to you.” She touched my shoulder.

           “I know.” I felt a wave of nostalgia. “Well, I think we’re stopping at two.” I decided and picked Anamaria up out of her bassinette.

           “That might be a good idea.” She agreed. “Your pregnancies tend to be high risk. The more children you have, the more dangerous it can get.”

           “Well, we’ve got the set now. A boy and a girl.” Sebastian scooped Luca into his arms. “Ready to meet your sister?”

           Luca looked over at the bundle and wrinkled his nose. “No.”

           I laughed a little. “Luca, baby, that’s not very nice. She’s been waiting all this time to meet you.”

           “I don’t wanna.” He buried his face in Sebastian’s neck.

           “Luc, she’s not going away, might as well meet her now.” He chuckled. But our son didn’t budge.

           “Let him warm up to her. Most siblings are a little nervous when it comes to meeting their baby brother or sister.” My doctor assured me. “How are you feeling?”

           “Good, just tired. I feel a lot weaker than after Luca.” I winced as I tried to sit up.

           Sebastian set Luca down and helped me. “How much longer will she have to stay?” He asked. I could tell he was getting sick of the hospital. He just wanted to be home with me, Luca, and our newest addition.

           “Let’s see how the rest of this day goes and assess from there.” My doctor said.

           I nodded. “Thank you,” I said and she left the room.

           Luca wandered around the hospital room, trying to touch things but Sebastian guiding him away.

           “Buddy, you can’t touch any of the machines, they’re helping mama.” He pulled Luca away from the heart rate monitor for the third time.

           “But I wanna see it!” Luca started to whine and stomped his feet.

           “Luca, no.” Sebastian knelt down to scold him. “Other people are trying to sleep in the hospital so we need to have quiet voices.” He hushed.

           “I don’t wanna be here!” He started to cry and flailed his hands.

           “Hey, I’m going to have bunica come and pick you up very soon if you don’t behave.” My husband made sure our son was looking him in the eyes. “You’ll have to go home and you won’t be able to see your baby sister until tomorrow.”

           Luca scrunched up his face in a big pout and started making noises, which I liked to describe as a muffled racecar engine.

           It was always hard to take him seriously when he was making growling noises with his lips tightly pursed. But Sebastian wasn’t laughing like he usually was.

           “Luca Christopher Stan, I’m going to count to three. You better cut out this behavior or you’re going home.”

           Luca glared at him and continued his noises.

           “One…”

           The racecar noises faltered a little but Luca crossed his arms over his chest.

           “Two…”

           Plan two formed in Luca’s head and he ran to me with tears in his eyes. “Mommy!” He cried.

           Sebastian sighed and stood up. “Luca…”

           “It’s okay,” I assured him. “Baby, you need to start behaving or you’re going to have to go home,” I said and stroked his hair back. “So please go sit in that chair for a minute. Daddy will come over with Anamaria if you’re being good.”

           Luca sniffled but it seemed to do the trick. He walked over and climbed up into the soft armchair in the corner of the room.

           Sebastian walked over to me with an exhausted look on his face. “I hate this hospital.” He grumbled.

           “I know.” I reached up with my free hand to touch his cheek. “We’ll be home soon though.” I kissed his forehead. “I put one of Luca’s favorite books in my bag. Why don’t you go read to them?”

           He sighed and smiled. “You’re the best mother.” He murmured.

           “And you’re the best father.” I let him take Anamaria.

           “Alright, are we all out of the grumpies?” Sebastian asked and walked over to the chair.

           Luca wiped his nose and nodded.

           “Good. Let’s read to Anamaria then. She hasn’t had story time yet.” Sebastian got them situated so Luca was sitting on his lap, holding the book open. Sebastian held Anamaria and wrapped an arm around Luca too. “Okay, Luca, this is your baby sister. Anamaria, this is your older brother.”

           Luca peered into the swaddle and studied her face. “Hi.” He said quietly.

           Sebastian smiled and kissed Luca’s hair. “Look at that, we’re all getting along. Now, let’s get this story on the road. Once upon a time…”

-----------

           “Ready?” I whispered and slowly opened the door for Luca, Anamaria, and Rocket. Luca was six and Anamaria was just shy of turning two. “Go get him.” I unleashed the wild kids.  

           They ran into our bedroom and scrambled up onto the bed where Sebastian was still fast asleep.

           “Daddy!” They both shouted as they started jumping on the bed. Rocket got to Sebastian’s face and started to lick him.

           My husband groaned and reached for a pillow to shield himself from the slobbery kisses. “Oh, boy…it’s father’s day already?”

           I laughed and turned off the video and saved it to post later. I walked over to the bed and helped Anamaria down. “Go get daddy his presents,” I said and shooed Rocket away.

           Sebastian set the pillow aside and looked up at me. “You know, it gets better every year.” He sighed.

           “Well, it’ll probably get worse once they start getting bigger.” I giggled and leaned down to peck his cheek.

           “Oh trust me, Luca’s getting up there. This year I thought we were in the middle of an earthquake before they started yelling.”

           “You love it.”

           “Well, it makes me feel like I deserve the presents.” He grinned and brought me closer to kiss him properly.

           “Ew!” Luca and Anamaria returned to find us kissing. “Gross!”

           I laughed and pulled away. “Ew, Sebby, don’t kiss me, that’s gross!” I accused. “Boys have cooties.”

           “Nu-uh! Girls have cooties!” Luca yelled and launched himself back on the bed.

           “That’s right. Girls have cooties.” Sebastian stuck his tongue out at me and cuddled Luca close.

           “Oh well, I guess when I make breakfast in bed it’s going to have a heap of cooties in it.” I sighed and went back to the kitchen.

--------------

           When I returned with the traditional father’s day breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes, strawberries, bacon, and lots of syrup, Luca and Anamaria were talking to Sebastian about their gifts.

           “That’s Rocket, and that’s me, and that’s Luca, and that’s you and mommy. You two are on the moon because I built a rocket and flew you guys up to the moon.” Luca pointed to the drawings on his card.

           Sebastian laughed and nodded. “Awesome, mom and dad have a summer home on the moon?”

           “With a pool!”

           “Sounds fun.” I got cuddled up in the nest of pillows and blankets. I set the tray of food down and handed out napkins first. Usually, post-father’s-day-breakfast meant a whole lot of washing chocolate and syrup stains out of the bedspread. But it was worth it.

           “Mine, mine!” Anamaria shoved a small, wrapped gift towards Sebastian. She gave him a toothy smile.

           “What’s this?” He unwrapped the rock that she had found on a trip to the park. She’d taken a few sharpies and scribbled on a little masterpiece. “Wow! Is this an original Anamaria Stan work?” Sebastian gasped. “Look at the colors, I’ve got to say, baby girl, this is one of the best ones yet.” He kissed her cheek as he reached over to set the rock down on his nightstand. There was already a growing pile of rocks that she had found for him.

           Anamaria grinned and hugged him tightly. Luca reached for his present. “We made this in class.” He said and gave it to Sebastian.

           “Wow, buddy, look at this!” He pulled the small pin that read ‘Best Dad Ever’ in Luca’s scrawling penmanship. “I think I’m going to have to wear this to my next event.” And he would. In fact, he would wear it to many events and always kept it safe with his cufflinks and tie clips. The Internet went into a little bit of a frenzy when they found out Luca had made it for Sebastian.

           Luca beamed proudly. “I used your favorite colors.” He said. “And I learned how to write a big B instead of a little B.”

           “It looks great, buddy, thank you so much.” He hugged him tightly and kissed his forehead.  

           “Mom’s turn?” I raised an eyebrow.

           Sebastian grinned. “Sure.”

           I pulled out a box and a sappy card I’d spent a few days writing. Holidays were always a good time to reflect on how much I loved him.

           Sebastian opened the box after reading the card. Inside was a small photo album he could take with him when he was traveling. It was full of pictures dating back from when we first met to just a few weeks before when Luca turned six. Underneath was an all black tie.

           He looked a little curious. “For a special occasion?” He asked.

           “We’ll talk about it later.” I nodded innocently. “Why don’t you guys go get daddy’s coffee on the kitchen counter.” I’d purposefully left it there so I could have a second to explain my gift.

           Eagerly, Luca, Anamaria, and Rocket all ran to the kitchen. I leaned over to kiss Sebastian softly.

           “Alright, let me know what it’s about.” He murmured when I pulled away.

           “It’s just a little prop for tonight.” I shrugged and batted my eyelashes.

           “Tonight?” He raised an eyebrow.

           “I may or may not have gotten Chris to babysit for tonight.”

           Sebastian groaned. “Oh hell yes.” He smirked. “I think I’m catching your drift now.” He murmured and kissed me again.

(Headcanon: Luca doesn’t actually have a middle name. But since both Chris and Anthony are his godparents, Sebastian interchanges their names to sound more serious. Luca Christopher Stan or Luca Anthony Stan. It’s a dark day when he uses both names. LUCA ANTHONY CHRISTOPHER STAN) 

Masterpost

[carasueachterberg]

I think all of us could use a happy story right now, so I’ve decided to create another Diary of a Rescue to follow the story of Mama Mia and the Broadway Babes. The last time I did this, about a year ago, I had the same intention but instead the story took a tragic turn right off the bat.

Daisy B, the mama dog featured in that story finally found her forever family the same week that Mama Mia arrived, so that seems like a sort of cosmic seal of approval to try again.

So far, so good.

Below are the dairy entries from our first week with this little family. If you’d like to see them in real time, you can follow along on my writer Facebook page. I also post extra pictures and videos in the Another Good Dog facebook group. Here’s hoping this story proves a heartwarming distraction to all that is going on in this world.

Diary of a Rescue Day One:

I’ve waited to start a new diary hoping my original diary dog Daisy would be adopted. Paws crossed it will happen soon. Today I’m starting a new diary for a last minute rescue of a mama dog and her ten 1-week old puppies.

I got a call last night from our puppy coordinator- this mama and pups is in a NC shelter that will be closing. If they aren’t out by Saturday, they will be destroyed along with, I’m assuming, all the other dogs that don’t get rescue. (I don’t say ‘euthanize’ because that’s not what it is when you kill adoptable, healthy dogs).

Of course I said yes, I want them. So, today I met an amazing pilot, Kay Cross, who has flown rescue for over 500 dogs. She arrived at Winchester airport and brought the mama and pups.

In the coming weeks, I’ll tell you more about them, their journey, and the current situation for too many dogs caught in the wrong place at the decidedly wrong time.

Tomorrow we will work on names, figure how many boys and girls we have, and tell you more about this precious lucky family. Tonight we’re letting them settle in- finally safe. Life gets better for these eleven souls now.

Proud of my rescue family and thrilled to have met another rescue hero today.

#togetherwerescue #anothergooddog

Diary of a Rescue Day Two:

After being warned that this mama dog was very protective of her pups, it turns out she’s like some of my other teenage mama dogs – she’s ready to leave them at the drop of a hat if it means a walk or a snuggle or some treats.

She got up at 3:30am for a potty break. When I put her away, I forgot to put on the ‘gate topper’ (a contraption Nick built to keep fence jumpers in the puppy room – she proved she needed it earlier in the evening when she climbed the fence to join me watching Pitbulls & Paroles). When I got up at 7am, mama dog was loose in the hallway and had inspected the shoe cubbies, my bin of sweet potatoes, and overturned a basket of my son’s hats/glasses, but not done too much damage. We will re-think our set up today so she doesn’t hurt herself climbing the fence.

All ten puppies look healthy and happy, but I’ve been leaving them mostly alone, only moving them to clean their bedding. Later today we will weigh them and put on whelping collars so I can track their weights.

Mama seems young and her paperwork says she is only one. She was wearing a pink collar with rabies and microchip tags- I don’t know if that means she was surrendered by someone who cared about her enough to chip and vaccinate her or if she was wearing an old collar the shelter or transporter had lying around. So many questions I have about this sweet pup but I’ve done this enough to know her history will likely always be a mystery but that’s okay because her future will be so much better.

We also have to come up with a name for mama and a theme for the litter. Ideas welcome!

#choosetorescue #opttoadopt #fosteringsaveslives

Diary of a Rescue Day Three:

I’ve decided what to name this mama and pups! There were lots of great suggestions from many people. I especially liked the idea of naming them after toilet paper/paper towel companies (Puffs, Cottonelle, Mr. Whiffle, Brawny), but decided against it because I’m hopeful (possibly erroneously) that this pandemic will have subsided by the time these puppies are ready to go home in about seven weeks.

More so, this is a hard time and I don’t want the puppies names to be a reminder or make light of a situation that is likely to have devastating consequences for too many.

So…(drum roll please)…this litter will be the Broadway Babes. Momma dog will be, of course, Mama Mia (she looks like a Mia to me). I’m still figuring out which shows to use – there are so many! Please add your favorites to the comments.

My musical theater major daughter will be home (finally!) tomorrow, so she will likely have plenty of suggestions too. This weekend my son’s high school show should have been in tech rehearsals for Cinderella which would have opened next weekend. (Ian is the lighting director.) So, there will definitely be a Cinderella!

I weighed the puppies yesterday and gave each one a different colored whelping collar. They are feisty puppies who squalled and wrestled and pooped and peed on me as I handled them. Mia watched and occasionally licked a puppy, but mostly seemed unconcerned by their concern.

They each weigh between 1lb 1oz and 1lb 10oz and there are seven females and three males. I know they look brown in the pictures and video, but they are all shades of brown from caramel to dark chocolate, and one of them is a brindle colored pup.

Because watching the puppies is such a calming and comforting thing, I’ve been trying to post plenty of LIVE videos on Another Good Dog™ (my foster dog group) and with Ian’s help, I’m hoping to set up a Live Stream through our Who Will Let the Dogs Out Youtube channel.

There is so much to be uncertain about right now, but one thing I do know is that we will get through this and in the meantime, we must be a comfort to each other.

Please stay safe and sane.

#happinessisawarmpuppy #choosetorescue

Diary of a Rescue Day Four:

Mama Mia really wants out of that puppy room. She spends a good portion of her day whining to get out and also jumping at the gate. The first day or so, I thought it meant she had to go potty and took her out practically every thirty minutes. Now I realize that sometimes she does need to go potty, but most times she’s just bored and lonely. She whines the worst if she can hear us talking.

She is an absolute love bug. No doubt she will make some family a wonderful pet, but for now she still has mothering duties. She is a good mom, if not a truly involved mom.

Definitely no helicopter parenting going on here. She climbs in and out of the whelping box as needed, but most of her time is spent sitting at the gate or lying in her dog bed. Unlike other mama dogs I’ve had, she never builds ‘nests’ of the towels or rearranges her puppies. She’s a just-the-basics housekeeper, so I have to change the towels and pads under the puppies quite often.

All of her meh-ness aside, the puppies are growing and fat and healthy, so she is getting the job done. Lucky for her, she’ll never have to do this job again. She’ll likely wean these puppies at about 5-6 weeks and a month after that will be spayed in preparation for her real life. Too many female dogs in the south have litters every year, sometimes more than once. When I see their struggle up close like this, it just breaks my heart.

I can hear some of the excuses voiced when I’ve encountered dog owners who refuse to spay/neuter or contain their pets, mostly in the south. They shrug shoulders and wonder why they should go to all that trouble for ‘just a dog’ or they say this is what they were born to do. I don’t know if they really believe those things or if they neglect their animal out of apathy, ignorance, or poverty.

I wish the world were different, but I remind myself often that not too long ago, situations like Mama Mia’s were commonplace everywhere in this country and now they are rare in vast parts of our nation. I believe we will someday solve this crisis. I believe it will happen in my lifetime. I’ve seen lots of sad situations when I travel south to write about shelter dogs, but I’ve also seen some incredible miracles happening in the most unexpected places.

#WeCanFixThis #Spayandnueter Who Will Let the Dogs Out?

Diary of a Rescue Day Five: two weeks old!

My how time flies (joke)…the puppies are a wonderful distraction. Tonight we will give them their official names and in the morning they (and Mia) will have their first deworming.

Be safe and be sane.

#choosetorescue

Diary of a Rescue Day Six:

The puppies received their first deworming. They are strong little pups who decidedly didn’t appreciate having anything forced down their throats. They squalled and I am sticky with dewormer. (Mia watched from a safe distance and happily gobbled her dewormer.) This is the dewormer that most puppies love – the only one that actually tastes good, so I know the upcoming dewormings will be even more challenging.

Between now and when they are adopted, I will deworm the puppies nine more times. including a dewormer that is administered six days in a row, so actually it feels more like I deworm the puppies 15 times. Doing the math on that one, it means I will be force-feeding dewormer 150 times in the next six weeks. Ugh. Makes me tired just thinking about it!

Along with the deworming, they all got their first nail trim. It’s taken me about three days to get to all 90 toenails. Thankfully, this bunch does not have dewclaws! It’s easiest to do when they are sleepy, but that drowsy state only lasts for about one foot and then the rest is a wrestling match. If I don’t get those little daggers clipped, they will snag on the towels, not to mention the discomfort to Mia as they nurse. I use a baby nail trimmer and will trim nails every two weeks from here on out.

The other monumental accomplishment was finally naming this bunch! I hashed out the ideas with two of my kids who are both theater buffs and we tried to pick unique names or names that had significance for us. Here is the color key to who is who:

Purple collar (girl) Cinderella (in honor of our high school’s spring show that is indefinitely postponed)

Brown collar (girl) Pippin (a role Addie has always coveted, she played Fastrada in our school’s production. Because Pippin is such a different kind of character/show, we gave the name to the brindle puppy)

Green collar (girl) Kiss me Kate (an excuse to gather puppy kisses)

Yellow collar (girl) Hello Dolly (and excuse to sing to her)

Orange collar (girl) Thoroughly Modern Millie (another favorite role of Addie’s)

Red collar (girl) Elphaba (a unanimous favorite in this household and on Facebook)

White collar (girl) Calamity Jane (because not only do I like Annie Get Your Gun, but I just like saying the word ‘calamity’)

Light blue collar (boy) Evan Hanson (because)

Bright blue collar (boy) Usnavi (Lin Manuel Miranda’s role in In the Heights – Ian’s favorite, plus, c’mon, won’t it be fun to have a puppy named Usnavi?)

Black collar (boy) Mr. Mistopheles (because we have to name at least one puppy after a cat. In fact, I’m seriously considering naming an entire litter after the characters in Cats next time!)

Now you’ll know who’s who in the weeks to come (or at least until they outgrow or destroy their whelping collars!).

Stay safe and sane. Hold the ones you love close, even at a social distance.

#rescuedismyfavoritebreed #opttoadopt #BroadwayBabes

Diary of a Rescue Day 7:

Mia is so over this mom thing. She spends her days darting in and out the box but mostly waiting at the gate for me. The puppies are fat and healthy so I know she’s doing her job but gosh, is she ready to be over it.

The puppies grow cuter every day but they are still basically little lumps. I don’t know when they will cross that line between lumps and puppies but I think we’re getting closer.

I am trying to appreciate this easy time because soon enough they will be a serious amount of work.

Hug your fur babies- they were once this tiny. Do any of you have pictures of your dogs when they were two weeks old? I might have pictures of a few of your pups….

#choosetorescue

Thanks for reading!

Cara

If you’d like regular updates of all my foster dogs past and present, plus occasional dog care/training tips from OPH training, be sure to join the Facebook group, Another Good Dog.

For information on me, my writing, and books, visit CaraWrites.com. I have a new book, One Hundred Dogs and Counting: One  Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues, coming out in July. If it sounds like something you’d like to read, I’d be beyond grateful if you’d consider preordering it. Preorders contribute to the success of the book, not only giving me and my publisher some peace of mind but hopefully attracting media attention.

And if you’d like to know where all these dogs come from and how you can help solve the crisis of too many unwanted dogs in our shelters, visit WhoWillLetTheDogsOut.org.

Our family fosters through the all-breed rescue, Operation Paws for Homes, a network of foster homes in Virginia, Maryland, D.C., and south-central PA.

If you can’t get enough foster dog stories, check out my book: Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs . It’s available anywhere books are sold.

I love to hear from readers and dog-hearted people! Email me at carasueachterberg@gmail.com.

Diary of a Rescue Week One #animalrescue #fosteringsaveslives #puppiesoverpandemic I think all of us could use a happy story right now, so I’ve decided to create another Diary of a Rescue to follow the story of Mama Mia and the Broadway Babes.

[wbwest]

New Post has been published on WilliamBruceWest.com

New Post has been published on http://www.williambrucewest.com/2017/05/26/west-week-ever-pop-culture-review-52617/

West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 5/26/17

Here we are, on the verge of a 3-day weekend, which means nobody’s gonna read this thing. Still, “the show must go on”…

Well, the week was filled with spider news, as last Friday Sony announced that Tom Hardy will star in a Venom film. If you’re not “in the know”, Venom is a Spider-Man villain comprised of an alien symbiote suit and Peter Parker’s professional rival, Eddie Brock. Sadly, the film’s not meant to cross over with Spider-Man: Homecoming or any bit of Tom Holland’s portrayal. I’m starting to think Sony’s deal with Marvel Studios is actually a bad thing, as it seems like Spidey’s addition to the MCU is to the detriment of his expanded universe to which Sony still owns the rights. I don’t really care about a Venom without a Spider-Man. To add to that, yesterday, Sony announced a film starring Spider-Man supporting cast members Silver Sable and Black Cat, to be directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball). I really don’t think there’s much to say about these characters without the possibility of a Spider-Man cameo. I get where Sony’s coming from; they have all these characters, so they might as well do something with them. That said, earlier talks made it sound like they were building their own Spider-Man-centric film universe, but since the MCU deal went through, Spider-Man no longer seems to be part of the equation.

Meanwhile, the Licensing Expo was this week, and we got our first look at the poster for the animated Spider-Man movie, starring Miles Morales. Apparently it was created by a child. Maybe a Make-A-Wish kid? Seriously, that thing is terrible.

It wasn’t all bad Spider News, however, as we got the third trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming. They’re basically giving away the movie at this point, but I’m still a guaranteed butt in a seat. A lot of people are having issues with it, but I kinda like that this is basically Iron Man 4. I really didn’t need a new Spider-Man, so throwing Tony Stark in there is a good way to get me interested. I mean, I liked Tobey Maguire. I liked Andrew Garfield. I’m sure I’ll like Holland, but I’m kinda tired of the Spider-Man revolving door. Now that he’s tied into the MCU, I hope the Holland casting sticks. Then again, we’ve had three Hulks already, so…

This poster, however, is horrendous, but endearingly so. I mean, it’s really bad Photoshop, but I still kinda like it. It’s busier than Times Square at rush hour, but I love it in all its ugliness. It looks like it should be airbrushed on a denim jacket at the mall.

Across the aisle, things aren’t going so well for the DC movie slate, either. First up, Doug Liman has dropped out of directing the Justice League Dark film due to his commitment to Lionsgate’s adaptation of the young adult series Chaos Walking. In case you didn’t know, Justice League Dark would focus on the more mystical DC Comics characters, like John Constantine, Zatanna, Deadman and others, battling supernatural threats – ya know, like the kind the Suicide Squad had no business fighting. I’ve got no interest in this, but that’s ’cause I don’t really like magic. If they manage to get Swamp Thing into the movie, though, I think it’ll increase its appeal. Right now, though, they’re just a bunch of magical nobodies coasting on the Justice League name which might not even hold any power if that movie fails this Fall.

In sadder news, Zack Snyder bowed out of Justice League post-production work to spend time with his family as they grieve the loss of his daughter, Autumn, to suicide. It was revealed that Joss Whedon was brought in to finish the film, which now has fans cautiously optimistic. Just last week, there were reports that there had been so many reshoots that the film was basically a different movie from what was originally shot. It’s possible, however, that these reshoots were part of Whedon’s plan. It’s really unfortunate what the Snyder family is going through, and it’s deplorable that some folks are making jokes about the situation.

In other movie news, it was revealed that Tom Cruise’s upcoming film, The Mummy, will kick off a Universal Monsters cinematic universe called Dark Universe. I bet they stayed up real late to think of that one! Anyway, Russell Crowe will portray Dr. Jekyll (who also appears in The Mummy), Javier Bardem will play Frankenstein’s monster, and Johnny Depp will play The Invisible Man. The next film in the franchise will be The Bride of Frankenstein, to be released on Valentine’s Day of 2019. Ya know what’s funny? DC’s Justice League Dark film was also going to be called Dark Universe. Somebody’s gonna have to lawyer up!

In TV news, it was reported that Hamilton scribe and star, Lin-Manuel Miranda, will voice Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera AKA Gizmoduck in the upcoming DuckTales reboot. Cabrera? Really? He’s even brown now to go along with the name change. I know some folks are gonna have an issue with this. Hell, I even kinda have an issue with it. But if they’re gonna inject some diversity into Duckburg, I guess I’d rather them do this than, say, Launchpad McQuack-Jenkins.

While we knew that Bobby Moynihan was leaving Saturday Night Live, just hours before the season finale it was revealed that Vanessa Bayer would also be leaving. Then, Monday morning, it was reported that Sasheer Zamata would also be leaving the show. I’m really gonna miss Vanessa, as she definitely grew on me. Her characters have this adorable aloofness to them that I’ve come to enjoy. She’s got a big future playing the best friend in romantic comedies ahead of her. Sasheer was simply underutilized. She was always in the background of sketches, or only had a line or two. I hear that she really shined in the writers room, coming up with sketches like Black Jeopardy. I feel like SNL will merely be a footnote on her resume, as she goes on to bigger things, like Noël Wells and Jenny Slate.

Last week, I had the pleasure of joining some of my favorite people on the Nerd Lunch podcast, where discussed some of the greatest pop culture deaths. Nobody was safe, from Santa Claus to Michael Knight! And I finally got to join my pal Vincent (@RobotsPJs) on a podcast, which has been years in the making. We had a great time, and I think you’ll have a great time listening to it, so check it out!

Song of the Week

This week, I’ve got “It Ain’t My Fault”, by Brothers Osborne. Not only are they local boys, but I love the fact that this song/video has layers. Read the title and then watch the video. They’re trying to tell us something – the same kind of thing that sank the Dixie Chicks all those years ago. My how times have changed!

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

Fresh off playing nurse Claire Temple in the Marvel Netflix shows, Rosario Dawson is in talks to play Dr. Cecilia Reyes in the X-Men spinoff film New Mutants. Just go to medical school already, Rosario!

Twin Peaks made its triumphant return for those of you who are fans. Based on the ratings, that’s not many of you…

The Get Down was canceled by Netflix after one season.

Chicago Justice was canceled by NBC after one season.

The Ben 10 reboot was renewed for a second season at Cartoon Network.

SpongeBob SquarePants was renewed for season 12 at Nickelodeon, taking it through its 20th anniversary.

Trial & Error was renewed for a second season at NBC.

The Black-ish spinoff, College-ish, received a 13-episode order on Freeform.

TruTV’s Impractical Jokers will enter national weekday strip syndication this Fall.

The bodies haven’t even gone cold and they’re already announcing a reboot of the Resident Evil franchise, this time produced by James Wan (Saw).

Tom Holland has been cast as young Nathan Drake in the film adaptation of the Uncharted video game.

In the realm of musical sequels that no one asked for, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! will be released July 20th, 2018.

Elizabeth Banks is producing a Charlie’s Angels reboot, scheduled to be released June 7th, 2019.

Tom Cruise announced that a Top Gun sequel is planned to begin filming next year. Fat Val Kilmer is waiting by the phone.

TJ Miller is leaving HBO’s Silicon Valley at the end of the season.

Surprising no one who’s been paying attention, Power Rangers continues the trend of just adding “Super” to the title of its latest incarnation’s second season with Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel

The Boss Baby 2 is a-coming, March 26th, 2021.

Sophia Bush is leaving Chicago P.D. after last night’s season finale

In the UK, there’s an annual event called Red Nose Day, where they’ve been raising money to end child poverty for nearly 30 years. Launched by the nonprofit Comic Relief, the event has since raised over $1 billion globally. The event came to the US in 2015, where you can buy a red nose at Walgreens for a dollar, with the proceeds going to the charity. One of the co-founders of Comic Relief happens to be Richard Curtis – writer and director of one of my favorite movies, Love Actually. Now, a lot of people hate the film because it gave way to Garry Marshall imitations like Valentine’s Day and New Years Eve. You know, those schlocky romantic comedies with an ensemble cast where all the storylines converge at some point. I don’t care, ’cause I happened to like those movies, too, but I especially like Love Actually.

Well, to celebrate this year’s Red Nose Day, Curtis reunited most of the cast of Love Actually to give us a 15-minute sequel to the film, called Red Nose Day Actually. We get to catch up on the characters 13 years later, and I have to say that I was smiling the entire time. It was great seeing those characters again, from Bill Nighy’s Billy Mack to Hugh Grant’s Prime Minister. I could’ve done without Rowan Atkinson’s meticulous shopkeeper, but it was even sorta nice seeing him again, too. You feel old as shit, though, when you see little Sam, who’s now 26 years old. I think his segment made me the happiest of all. Or maybe it was seeing Jamie and Aurelia and their kids. Or maybe it was seeing Martine McCutcheon again (why doesn’t she get more work stateside?!). I don’t know. I loved the whole damn thing.

The special originally aired in the UK in March for their Red Nose Day, but they’ve gone to great pains to keep it off the internet. Yesterday was the US’s Red Nose Day, and a new version of the short aired last night on NBC. Ya know, they should really have everyone celebrate on the same day worldwide, but what do I know? Anyway, I actually missed the NBC version because of things, but I was intrepid enough to find the UK version online. This morning, however, NBC posted it on their website so I was able to compare and contrast. The only real difference is that the UK version cut out the Laura Linney update, with Patrick Dempsey as her husband. It was a nice aside, but I guess British audiences don’t know who Dempsey is, so they didn’t miss out on much. Anyway, I wish more movies would give us short reunion updates, maybe on anniversary edition Blu Rays or something. It was nice to get just a taste of what everyone’s been up to, without them being burdened by a full film that would be more than likely fall short of the original. If you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go watch this thing a few more times, but it’s safe to say that Red Nose Day Actually had the West Week Ever.

[luckygoami]

The Maine @ 9:30 Club [May 3, 2017]

Please ignore any and all typos in this. It’s coming from my phone since no real wifi to do it in the computer. But that’s okay because I don’t mind one bit.

So yesterday, May 3, I along with my older sister went to Washington, D.C. We were meant to be there all day but people do things and plans get ruined. I digress though! The reason we were in D.C. was because The Maine was on tour!! I mean obviously anyone who enjoys the band knows they were on tour but still. The last time I saw The Maine was in May 2011 in North Carolina, so a good 6 years have passed. Back then, I was only 14 I believe. I had either not started high school yet or was just starting. So for me to be able to see them again live at all was amazing.

My sister (who I’m visiting) lives all the way in Baltimore. The two of us caught a train to Union Station but because of a track issue, the train (well every train) was delayed for at least 2 ½ hours. We boarded around 3:30 were meant to arrived by 4:30 at the latest but because of the delays, we didn’t actually get to D.C. until much later. It was already 7 when we were at the stop before ours. Then we still had time to go and didn’t reach D.C. until about 8. That big of a delay even after we started moving. So imagine my sadness when I found that I had missed Beach Weather. When my sister and I got into the club, they were setting up for The Mowgli’s. I’ve made a promise to myself to see Beach Weather one day.

Before the announcement of the tour, I had actually never heard of The Mowgli’s. But I’m glad I found them. Their overall energy and vibe are amazing and Katie’s speech during the break between songs was nothing short of amazing or love filled. Her words about love and being accepting and just being good and okay is something I could really get into hearing all the time. Not only that, but the raw feeling of the band itself and the connections I didn’t even think could happen actually happened. If this sounds like a lot of running around words and not saying anything, that’s literally how I felt listening to them. They have a great sound and their energy is hype but it’s not something I can put into words correctly. The saying “you have to see it to believe it” really rings true. If any of The Mowgli’s read this, come to Charlotte NC please. I wanna see you guys again and get a picture with you next time!

So… onto The Maine event. Like my pun? No? Okay. Anyway! Let me tell you why I feel like I set up the best day of my life so far. Originally I was on the right end of the stage but something told me to just move over to the other side. Of course I could’ve ignored it but you know. Why would you ignore your instinct at a freakin concert? So I moved and got some pics as they changed from The Mowgli’s to the LLL stage. The roses were great but the turf was a nice touch. The lights dimmed and then it happened. The guys came out on the same side I was standing on. They didn’t see me coming in and only Kennedy waved going out but that close proximity. Anyway there was literally no way. When I first saw them, Black & White was “new.” Not new but it was the most recent album. Who would’ve thought that a year old was “recent.” In Darkness & In Light was out by the 2011 concert too but that’s not the point. The point is, if you needed a mental picture of time there it is. So it’s been a loooong time.

They started playing and being right next to a speaker was probably bad but it was pretty good cause you’re literally right in front of the music. Anyway, I’m not here to rate the concert. I wanna tell how great it is for me and GOD it was AMAZING. During the concert, John was John. Talking about gettin those pits sweaty. My favorite part though was when he was lookin over the crowd and pointed me out. It wasn’t random though. I have an unhealthy obsession with headbands and at the current moment, I have about 10. I won’t go into all of them but I have a lot of cat ears. One of them I recently got and it was perfect. Red cat ears and with roses on them. When getting ready that day, I was trying to decide if I could wear my rose cat ears or a crown. With respect to the current album’s aesthetic, I chose to go with roses and my sister had some rose earrings that I wore too. During the show John looked over and noticed them and as a result, noticed me. You have no idea how happy that made me. Then there was Jason! Hands down the best part of the set. This concert was the stuff that I absolutely LIVE for. As they were going off later on, myself and some others called out to get some of their attention but only Kenneth noticed. He waved and we were happy.

Later, a lot of people got outside because it was over what else do you do? I wanted to get a picture like everyone else with them so we waited outside. That is until Pat came out and told us they’d actually be inside. I didn’t even notice Pat came by until I turned and he was basically next to me. The people at the club kept trying to tell us that nobody can come back in after they went out because they were trying to clean of course, all of us were like that’s not gonna fly because Pat just told us they’d be inside. Luckily they eventually let us in and we all had to line up. There were so many people that it basically reached back down stairs and into the main floor. It was about 10, maybe 15, minutes before the boys came up to meet and take pictures. It had to be real quick so at first it was pic or autograph and no videos or anything. After it was pic OR autograph, not both. Picked picture because that’s amazing compared to an autograph to me.

Let me tell you. These guys are amazing close up and I almost died. Like I was exploding with happiness because last time I saw them I didn’t even get to say hi up closed, I had to go. Anyway, John recognized my ears and high fived me along with giving me a hug. For the picture, I was between Kennedy and Pat. I really think they’re the only “normal” ones of the band. But the craziest one is probably Garrett who seems to have done something crazy in every photo he took. But that’s why I love him ya know? I always say “Oh x is my favorite” or “Y is the best” but honestly it’s hard when they’re all so genuine. My sister kept telling people it was my birthday (which was last week) and so they all wished me happy birthday and ghddjndwjjej it makes me happy just thinking of it. So we said our goodbyes and such and they wished me happy birthday again before we left. I saw some of my new friends down at the bottom of the line too so we pretty much shared happiness especially after they got their pictures.

My sister and I hung out for a bit outside Satellite Room. Well I was in the half in-half out area since I couldn’t go alllll the way in but it was okay. When my sister came out, we say one of the girls I met and we were both basically just waiting around for selfies and to say good bye one last time. It took a while but I and another girl in our group we were with got one last picture with John. He wore my cat ears and ahhh so happy! He also gave me another hug so there’s that. Ever underestimate how tall or short someone is? I don’t realize how tall John was. Pat is around my height & Garrett may be too, but Kennedy, Jared, and John are actually tall. In the selfie, John had to bend over in order to be the same height as me.

After that, we got to go home. It was a fun experience and I immediately went to sleep when I got in. I was so tired and drained that I didn’t even take my shoes off or change clothes. I’ve been sleep most of the day too so until I’m fully up or forced to go out, I’m not changing yet. That’s all there was though.

During the concert, both myself and my sister meet some really cool people. Some traveled a few states, some within the state, some all the way from another country. I even got the red flag they were selling. I wanted more but the flag was my #1 want. I really just had a lot of fun and couldn’t ask for more. My sister who had never head of them even really enjoyed herself which was my main goal.

Did you go last night at 9:30 club? If not, have you gone to any of the LLL tour dates or do you plan on it? Sorry for this super long post. Funnily enough, it doesn’t even go into all that I enjoyed. Some things can’t be put to words.

With this, I hope to get back to reviewing music and concerts that I go to. So many bands and musicians follow me on Twitter every week that I feel like I need to do SOMETHING. So, if you have a band that’s had/having a recent release please let me know. I also plan on going to see All Time Low in August which my sister does know and maybe even Vans Warped Tour this year. I’ve actually never been to Vans or an ATL concert (that’s a totally different story too) so I hope this is the year I do more than I have ever done. Thanks for reading!

You can check out basically all of my pictures from yesterday on my Instagram (@happyflowercami). Go check it out!

- Ami

[jmkieper13]

The Big World Keeps On Turnin'

So, I haven’t updated in a bit, but there just hasn’t been a ton to say. Things have been pretty quiet. The craziness of the holidays has calmed down, and things are getting back into a routine for us. We have very recently started trying to get exercise back in our day-to-day. Nothing crazy, just walking and getting some extra activity in there. We do hope to get pregnant (obviously) at some point (hopefully sooner rather than later) and when that happens, I want it to be a healthy pregnancy. I want to make sure that things like blood pressure, blood sugar, circulation, and heart rate are kept at a healthy level. I haven’t been going to the trainer since early-November, for a couple of different reasons. I am so paranoid of miscarriage. Infertility, and recurrent loss specifically, can create a certain level of PTSD, and I do think that I have a touch of this. I wouldn’t say that I obsess over it, but I definitely am so afraid that when we do get pregnant, I have genuinely been afraid that I’ll be too scared to enjoy being pregnant. Knowing that pregnancy is this thing that I’ve dreamed of experiencing since I was young, that’s a hard one for me. I want to be pregnant, but with that, I want to enjoy it. A friend of mine has said that she prays for us that when we do get there that we’ll be given the same peace that she had. I pray for this, too. But…first things first…we have to get pregnant. (Please, God…soon!) So, back to quitting the trainer. The trainer wasn’t cheap. Absolutely worth it, but definitely an investment. I was going 2-3 times a week, and we worked hard. I definitely had my butt kicked every single time. I was getting stronger, which was a wonderful feeling, but I know that with pregnancy, you’re not supposed to lift heavy things, so when I would get to the post-peak half of my cycle each month, once we were back to actively trying to conceive, I was so paranoid to the point of near-tears a couple of times, that if I did get pregnant, that I wouldn’t know and would go to the trainer and do a 150 pound deadlift and it would cause the baby to not implant properly, or cause a miscarriage before we even got off the ground. I don’t know that there’s any truth to this, but I’m just so afraid of risking it. With this, I found myself not going the second half of every cycle. Once I knew I was past ovulation, and was officially in my two week wait, I would stop going. I would make excuses or just not show up, but at the end of the day, I was going two weeks out of every month, roughly. At the same time, I also started worrying about being able to justify the expense, with us actively back to hoping for a huge and permanent added cost. So, when you pair me going two weeks out of every month, spending what I was spending, and having trouble justifying it as is…I just felt like it was time to walk away for at least the time being. So, since early-November, I haven’t been working out with any sort of regularity. I want to make sure that I am establishing and maintaining healthy habits, before, during, and after any pregnancy(ies), so we’re phasing ourselves back in. It definitely feels good to get moving again! As for this cycle, the last time I checked in, I had gone to the doctor and was told that I would start Clomid on CD5, and would take it through CD9. At first, I didn’t have a ton of reaction to it, but noticed that if I took it at night, around lunch time the following day I’d start to feel sick. I noticed that this would continue any time I let my stomach get too empty, so each day around lunch time I would feel pretty blah. I would get nauseous, super tired, a bit dizzy at times, and just generally felt gross. It did get progressively worse by the end of the 5-day course of meds, so I was grateful when it was time to be done, though it never got super bad. I never did actually get sick, and all-in-all, it wasn’t too terrible. The dizziness definitely got worse by the end, but all things that I’ve experienced before at one point or many through the last 3.5 years of us traveling down this road. I remember that the one other time I’ve been told to take Clomid, I didn’t have much of a reaction to it, so in a strange way I was excited to see it working. Peak day came relatively quickly, but only a day or two off from what peak day had been in previous months, so it seemed to line up pretty well. Peak day came around day 11, and I started my count for the P+7 blood work to check my progesterone and estrogen levels, which will actually be drawn tomorrow. This cycle is different as we’re not doing progesterone shots, so I, once again, am in a world of unknown expectations. The last two months I had some waves of nausea around this point (6 DPO) and some mild cramping, but the last three months of progesterone therapy haven’t been successful yet, so it’s fairly clear to me that those things were being caused by the progesterone. The nurse reassured me that the hormone can mimic pregnancy symptoms, so that would certainly make sense. So, jump ahead to this month…no progesterone, but starting on 5DPO (yesterday), I noticed some mild cramping near my right ovary as well as some general abdominal cramping today and yesterday. No spotting at all (knock on wood) up to this point, a couple of random headaches, and even a single wave of nausea Sunday evening, which is right around when implantation could have been starting if I did, in fact, get pregnant this month. I also have been having crazy, super insane dreams every night. Some nights these are disturbing (for example, last night I had a dream where I had our 1 year old niece with me, and I was somehow out of town without my sister in law in a strange place, completely unsure of why or how I got there, and some man was trying to convince me to sell two of my framed photographs, that had been taken out of my parents’ old house. He told me that he expected to get around $10,000 for them at an art auction, so I said he could. His sister (both of these were people that I neither knew nor have I ever seen before) then was supposed to be driving us to our hotel, and I was sitting in the back seat holding the little bug because there was no car seat wherever we were, and she was driving the opposite direction. I asked where she was taking us and why we weren’t going back, and she got mad at me asking why I was so worried about it, and I told her that the baby was tired and I needed to put her down to sleep and got very worked up. She finally took us to the hotel and it was a super sketchy dive motel, and made me very uncomfortable. By then, the baby was wide awake and kept rolling off of the bed while she was playing…SO. STRANGE.) I have noticed today that I have a bit of a super-sniffer, as I had broccoli with lunch and as soon as I took the lid off of the container, I was smacked in the face with the smell of broccoli so strong that it almost turned my stomach a bit and made me not want to eat it. I also have noticed that, even when I’m drinking plenty of water, I’m a bit bloated and dehydrated (doing the pinch test on my hands and fingers, it stays pinched for a good few seconds after I let go, even after 100 ounces of water that day). The last thing is that I’ve noticed an increase in cervical mucus (apologize if TMI). Since these seem to be all of the same things that I noticed the last couple of cycles, I had originally shrugged all of these things off…but then I remembered that we’re not doing progesterone this month, so I shouldn’t have the false symptoms…which gives me some hope. Obviously, it’s way too early to tell, but it’s rare (read: never happens) for me to be crampy for several days without signs of a period starting, so we will see what happens. I’ve started watching pregnancy vlogs (video blogs, for anyone not familiar) and I would love to keep one. Whenever we do get pregnant, this may be something I try. I’ve loved watching people’s journeys, and one of them today pointed out that they realized that they hadn’t posted a bunch of update videos because they didn’t want to post them and then have something go wrong…but that they realized that these are the people that they would want for support if something did go wrong, so they went ahead and posted them. This is pretty much how I feel about any future pregnancies. I’ve toyed in the past with starting some sort of YouTube channel or vlog, and haven’t ever actually done it, but starting to really think that I might, come the time when we are pregnant. For now, I’m trying to eat healthy things, get my water in, make sure I’m moving around enough to keep the blood flowing, and just keep stress low. I don’t want to over-think things so much that I’m adding unnecessary stress to myself, so I’m being cautious of that. All of these things are things that could easily just be my normal cycle and not pregnancy at all, so I’m hopeful but trying not to think about it all that much. As always, we would appreciate any and all prayers that we can get, we would LOVE for this month to be the one that ends with the wonderful news of a second pink line. Speaking of second lines…I’ve thrown away the package of tests that resulted in a false positive last month, as I just don’t have any desire to go through that emotional roller coaster again. So, I’m opting for the more expensive, name brand tests for now. I’ve heard good things about some other cheaper brands, but am just so nervous now. In any event…thank you, again, for all of your support and for taking the time out of your busy life to read about ours. I am so touched to have so many people praying and hoping with and for us, and the kind words that we hear are so heart-warming. It truly makes the hard days a little easier, and confirms that we’re fighting for exactly what we were meant to be…parents. ❤