Inside some of us is a thin person struggling to get out, but they can usually be sedated with a few pieces of chocolate cake. ~Author Unknown

Or in my case… cupcake!

1. Gerbera Cupcakes, 2. Let them eat cupcakes, 3. Cupcakes, 4. Mini Mini Flower Cupcakes 1

Want to see more Flickr Faves, or even submit your own, head on over to ArtMind!

Today I had a follow up scan to see how my follicles are developing and what day they can scheduled the egg retrieval.  Turns out that day is Thursday.

I’m so excited.  It seems to be getting a little more real now that we have a date.  I have all my instructions for what to do to prepare for the surgery and what to bring to the hospital on the day.

Tomorrow morning I’ll take my two injections as normal.  Then tomorrow night at 7pm (on the dot) I’ll have my two trigger injections.

Wednesday I have a medication free day. (Which is exciting me no end!)

Thursday morning I turn up to the hospital at 7:30am and I’ll be in theater by 8am.  The whole thing should be done by 10am.

While I’m off having my eggs collected HUBBY will be fulfilling his end of the bargain.

Once the eggs and sperm have been collected they’ll then be put together in the lab and we’ll know within 24 hours how many have fertilized.

Hopefully we’ll have at least one 5 day blastocyst to be able to transfer and that will happen on Tuesday 31 August. If we’re really lucky we’ll have some to put on ice in case this time it doesn’t work or we want to have more kids later on.

Image source: Getty Images

Strangely, I’m feeling really positive about the whole thing.  Physically I’m struggling with being tired, having boobs that hurt and an inability to focus on anything for more than two minutes at a time.  But, other than that I’m all good.

There’s a few little things that are happening at the moment that should this procedure work will make it extra special and I’m taking that to be a good thing.  I’m a big believer in signs… which is crazy because I know that there’s no science behind it.  But I’ll take whatever I can at the moment…

On Friday 20 August Australia lost two more soldiers to fighting in Afghanistan. Private Tomas Dale, 21, and Private Grant Kirby, 35, both gave their lives for their Nation on the eve of a Federal Election.  It seems somewhat symbolic that they should lose their lives while participating in an operation that is touted as “fighting for democracy and peace”; two things that Australians participated in by voting.

Deptofinternets said it best when he commented that Australia’s election days are characterized by sausage sizzles and cake stalls.  Unlike other countries where elections are filled with violence, bribery and military action.  We really do live in a lucky country, and that’s in part thanks to the men and women that have defended our country as part of the Australian Armed Forces.

Regardless of where you stand on whether the war of terror is valid or not your heart must break for the families that have lost loved ones in this conflict.  I for one am very grateful and thankful that there are men, and women, like Private Dale and Private Kirby that are willing to serve the demands of their nation.

I just wish that the politicians that ran for election on August 21 had given more focus to bringing those men and women home.

During the 31 Days to Build a Better Blog challenge I got to meet some crazy people.  I like crazy.  Crazy is what makes life worth living.  So when I was lucky enough to have a Blog Buddy in the form of Mandy I knew I had hit crazy pay dirt.

Mandy is the brains behind Just Gimme Coffee… a blog about celebrating life’s simple pleasures.  Mandy writes with humour and love in every post, and I love it.  Why only this week she had me in stitches with this glimpse into life in North Carolina.

So it is with much pleasure that I’ve turned over Sunday Silly to Mandy’s expert hand.  She’s covered a topic close to my heart, but not close to my reality.  (I abhor exercise… )  So without further ado..

*round of applause*

“I gotta work out. I keep saying it all the time. I keep saying I gotta start working out. It’s been about two months since I’ve worked out. And I just don’t have the time. Which uh..is odd. Because I have the time to go out to dinner. And uh…and watch TV. And get a bone density test. And uh…try to figure out what my phone number spells in words.”

~Ellen Degeneres~

Yeah, yeah, exercise, schmexercise! It’s a necessary evil. That doesn’t mean I have to like it! I don’t have anything against it particularly. I mean, I like long walks, especially when they’re taken by people who annoy me! However, walking for exercise does make me a little nervous. My grandmother started walking 5 miles a day when she was 60. Now she’s 97 years old, and we don’t know where the hell she is!

So maybe walking isn’t my cup of tea. I’ll join the gym…Yeah, tried that last year. Spent about 400 bucks and nothing happened. Apparently, you have to show up. Heck, I’m in no shape to exercise, so why would I display my silliness in front of everyone else?

Forget exercise, I’ll just diet. Diet?? No thank you! That’s just “die” with a “t.” Dieting is for losers anyway. I did try a 30 day diet once. I lost about 20 days. It’s just too hard! I kept trying to lose weight, but it kept finding me. I finally decided that God must love calories because he made so many.

So, back to exercising to stay trim…can’t do it in public—too scary. Alright, I’ll just set up my own home gym. Yeah, well I felt I got my money’s worth just setting it up, it took so much work! Then after I got it all together, I couldn’t figure the dumb thing out. Sold it at a yard sale last week.

Image source: Getty Images

So, today I tried yoga. I figured I’d try to exercise early in the morning before my brain figured out what I was doing. So I bypassed my usual mandatory first-thing-in-the-morning cup of joe, and got up and put in my yoga video, laid out my mat, and prepared to try a more relaxed approach to getting fit. Ha! Yeah, things started well with some chilling and deep breathing, but then came the ultimate game of Twister! You couldn’t find anything as twisted in a pretzel shop! After a brief time, I decided that instead of becoming a pretzel, I’d just go eat one, along with a cup of coffee.

So after all these failures, I’ve decided I have to approach this whole thing more slowly and carefully. So, tomorrow I’ll drive slowly by a store at the mall that sells sweatpants. Maybe the next day I’ll wander in, buy a pretzel at the pretzel stand, a cup of coffee, and simply meditate…I do like exercise. It fascinates me. I can sit and meditate on it for hours! The power of positive thinking. That’s it, I’ll just think myself thin! Maybe I could market this idea and make lots of money to feed my new pretzel and coffee habit…

I hope you enjoyed this, you can find more of Mandy in the following places:

Blog: Just Gimme Coffee…

Twitter: GimmeTheCoffee

Yesterday I had my first ultrasound and blood test to see how the medications are going at stimulating my ovaries to produce eggs.  I’m still battling with the sinus infection so having to be at the Clinic by 7:30am was not fun.  The whole time I was in there I was trying hard not to breathe, sneeze or cough on any one in case I spread the snotty love.

For the first time since I started having to have tests HUBBY came in with me while they performed the internal ultrasound.  I tried to prepare him as best as possible for what the test would involve, but I don’t think there’s any amount of words that can prepare a husband for seeing his wife impaled on a ultrasound wand.

The nurse performing the test was great.  She gave HUBBY the job of writing down the results so it helped him not focus on how those results were being collated.

Image source: Getty Images

I hadn’t realised just how focused I was on this round of testing.  I feel like there’s a thousand things that can go wrong before we even get to the point where we’re hoping to be pregnant, so this test was like the first hurdle in that race.

I have been reading and participating in a pregnancy forum and I had read about women who’d gone in for the scan and been told that their lining wasn’t at the thickness it needed to be.  Or they weren’t producing follicles.  I was worried that I hadn’t been responding to the drugs; especially given my haphazard approach to taking them on time and my current bout of illness.

But as usual I was worried over nothing.  I ended up getting some good news from the nurse.

My lining is at 10mm.  (Which is a nice thickness apparently?)  The nurse also identified 3 follicles that were 15mm in diameter and 11 follicles that were in range for maturity by egg retrieval day.

This is great news as I was concerned I wouldn’t be responding at all to the drugs.

At this stage I’m tentatively booked in for the egg retrieval on Thursday 26 August.  I have another ultrasound and blood test on Monday (23/8) to see how things are developing.  They changed me over from a nasal spray to another set of injections because of my sinus infection. (There was concern the drugs wouldn’t be working because of the blockage in my sinus.)

All in all it was a great result and I’m relieved that things seem to be moving in the right direction.  It’s given me hope that the rest of the process will run smoothly and we’ll have a positive outcome.  *fingers crossed*

I like to daydream about decorating.  I’m weird, I know.  But when I daydream about decorating I like to go and find items that I would include in the room I’m daydreaming about.

A few months back I was daydreaming about what our nursery would look like and so I went hunting for images on Etsy.  I stumbled upon Cabbages & Kings Art and fell in love immediately.

I was over the moon to find out that there was a blog associated with the Etsy store and I rushed over to gobble up all the wonderfulness that is Cabbages & Kings.

Stephanie is the master mind behind this wonderful collection of whimsical images and glimpses into the life of an artist.  Not only does Stephanie share her new designs as she launches them, she also shares from her crafty projects.

One of her latest projects, the scrappy blanket, has inspired me to try and make my own rainbow blanket goodness.  I just love the colour against the white background.  It’s wonderful.

I’ve also been eying off the collection of monster prints that Stephanie recently finished.  I just love them.  They would make a great gift for someone who has children, or as I’m hoping they’ll look wonderful in our nursery.

Stephanie also produces some of my favourite Flickr Faves as part of ArtMind’s Tuesday challenge.  I love seeing how she interrupts the challenge each week.  I’ve especially enjoyed the last few where Stephanie announced her pregnancy.  Yay!

I can’t wait to see more of what Stephanie has to offer, especially as she gets ready for the arrival of her first child.  It’s going to be something amazing to see the evolution over the coming months, not just of her art but of her life.  So get on board now, it’s going to be a wonderful ride!

I’m crushing on stars at the moment, and not the Hollywood kind.  There’s something just whimsical and wonderful about them.  I think it’s because to me they always remind me of fun times, like parties, dressing up or decorating school posters.  Here’s six star items I wouldn’t mind adding to my collection.  Enjoy.

1. Destini Necklace 2. Galileo Gingerbread Necklace 3. Moroccan Star Kitchen Towel in Ruby 4. A Song for Deep Space 5. Twinkle Earrings 6.  Tiny Silver Star Necklace

Today I’ve been given the marvelous pleasure and honour of guest posting over on Maken Art.  It’s my first guest post ever, so I was rather nervous.

Maken Art is run by the uber fabulous Jess.  Jess describes Maken Art as

“… a place to create, try new things and not be afraid (or embarrassed) by the end result. Maken Art is a place to participate in projects and connect with all the wonderfully creative people on the interwebs. So pick up a pencil, get paint on your hands, and start Maken Art!”

Jess and I attended the Problogger Event, but alas didn’t meet.  We did however meet via Twitter just after the event and it turns out that Jess is in Canberra as well and shares so many of the same interests.  Sometimes the internet is such a small and fabulous world!

Anyway, you can check out my guest post here – it’s about my top 8 artist crushes.   Leave me a comment as I’d love to know what you think about the post and whether you found a new artist to love.

I was over on Sarah London’s blog just minding my own business and crushing on all her crocheting goodness when I spotted these pajamas from Peter Alexander.

Image source: Peter Alexander

It was love at first sight so I skedaddled over to Peter Alexander to see if they had any available online.  Seems I was out of luck.  So I filled them away in my wish list and went on with my day.

However, when we were recently in Melbourne I happened upon a Peter Alexander store.  I nearly walked by without even thinking about the pajama love.  Luckily my mind gave me a swift kick and I went in for a look.

I had a cruise of the store not holding out much hope as I’ve never been able to fit into their clothing before.  Just as I was leaving the store I spotted a bit of crochet poking out from under a pile of multicoloured mix and match items.

I held my breath as I picked up the first pair I came to.  I dared not believe it they were XL’s and they fit!!!! There was a chorus of heavenly voices.  They were on sale as well for the bargain price of $14AUD.

I purchased the last two pairs of the crochet shorts and left the store with a smile on my dial.  (I would have gotten the long pant version as well if they had them, but alas my good fortune only went so far.)  I can’t wait for summer slumber when I shall wear them with my Victoria Mason Crochet Necklace!

Last week the amazing Amanda from Calico & Co gave me a wonderful compliment and awarded me the Versatile Blogger Award.

As part of the award I have to say 7 things about myself and pass the award on to some of my favorite blogs.  It’s the first time I’ve been awarded a blogging award and I’m really excited to be passing on the love.

I’ve posted ten things to know about me in the past so I’m not going to list another 7 now.  (Mainly because I’ve run out of things to confess!)

Now down to the exciting things.  I’m passing on the love to following wonderful blogs (in no particular order):

• Button Tree Lane – Michelle is a fellow Brown Owl and a most amazing crafty lady.  Michelle is the creative force behind the wonderful Sunnyboy Project Bags and the Box for Socks.  Her blog is a great snapshot in to the life of a creative soul who finds the beauty in the things that surround her.

• A Little Red Ribbon – Gretel has such an eye for vintage it’s a joy every time I alight on her blog to see what she has discovered.  Gretel also sells handmade coin purses on Etsy which have incorporate vintage embroidery.  I would love one!

• Violet LeBeaux – Violet is amazing, seriously amazing.  I have never in my life seen someone take $10 worth of groceries and turn them in to an outfit.  (They couldn’t even do that on Project Runway!)  Violet is the mistress of tutorials.  I love reading Violet’s blog as it’s a glimpse into a life that I would never be able to lead. (I’m hopeless with hair and makeup!)

• Colour Me Katie – I’ve featured Katie before as part of Blog Love.  Katie’s blog is like a rainbow on the internet.  Whenever the winter skies are getting me down I like to head on over to Katie’s blog and get some sunshine in my day.

Image source: Getty