The Picture Below is not Dylan's Bike: The Blog.

I was inspired the other day when Dylan braved the creepy crawlers in our garage to dig out his bike. He told me how much he loved it and he didn't hide the fact that he got a great deal on it. I didn't hide the fact that I thought it wouldn't be of much use with only one tire. After a trip to a local bike shop, Dylan arrived home with the tire inflated and firmly attached to the front of the bike (well, kind of...). A wave of jealousy washed over me at the point. 'Why does Dylan have a bike and not me? I don't think I've been on a bike since I was 15. I want Dylan's bike'.

Des Moines has been in the news and papers for doing something crazy--adding bicycle lanes to major streets. Normally, I can't stand bicyclists and their special BICYCLE ONLY lanes...however, after seeing Dylan ride up and down our street...I have had a change of heart. I now want a bike! Oh, and not just any bike but one made out of wood (see the image above).

I'm sure the bike pictured is thousands of dollars...but can you just imagine how cool it would be? My only fear would be this: imagine you're pedaling so fast and so furiously that the bike catches on fire.

...and that's all I have. I guess I'll share Dylan's bike in the meantime. I'm sure he'll be fine with that, right? Too bad I can't lower the cross bar on it. Too bad I can't paint it pink and add baseball cards on the spokes...

:) :)

I AM GOING TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I AM SO EXCITED! DYLAN IS GOING IN NEXT FRIDAY (APRIL 9TH) TO THE FERTILITY CLINIC TO GET HIS PHYSICAL AND START THE FERTILITY PROCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THAT MEANS SOMETIME NEXT MONTH (!!) WE WILL MEET WITH A LAWYER AND GET THINGS REALLY, TRULY GOING!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't seem to come up with a neat title for this blog.

I thought I'd take a break from reading about politics and health care reform to write a new blog. So, in a matter of days (21 to be exact), Dylan and I will officially start our surrogacy journey. I am actually going to the cardiologist (Dr. Lemon) tomorrow for a check up. I already know what he's going to say: "You know, you could just adopt. I think that's the smart choice". He's told Dylan and me that at least twice now. I know he's nervous. He took care of my mom almost 30 years ago and saw what she went through and how it affected my dad.

(Awkward Story: My dad told me the story of how Dr. Lemon came out of my mom's hospital room crying after my mom had said that she knew she was really sick. The first time I met Dr. Lemon, I said 'hey, I think you took care of mom. Her name was Judy Hockett.' His reaction? A blank stare and silence. And that was it. AWKWARD!!!!!)

Either way, once I get the green light from the doctor, Dylan and I can get things started. We have to set up an appointment with a lawyer and find a time to meet with a psychologist. And then....in six months...our surrogate will *fingers crossed* be pregnant!

So, that's the update for now. My next plan for tonight is to start my political career. No joke. I sort of want to run for public office sometime in the next few years. I smell another blog a'brewin!

Be Aggressive! Be, Be Aggressive!

I WAS AGGRESSIVE TODAY! Waking up and seeing your bank account negative $1,051.17 can do that to a person. Now, before you get all worried and start thinking, "Holy crap! What is Heidi doing with her finances?"...relax. Actually, sit back and relax while I tell you the horrifying [and only slightly funny, I guess] story.

Being the responsible person that I am, I called my credit union to make my monthly car payment on Friday. Every month I pay $225.17. Sometimes more, no less. When I called to make my payment, I assumed everything was fine.

-----dun, dun, duuuun-------

Then my phone rang. The teller who took my payment over the phone told me (and I quote), "You're going to kill me". Never a good way to start a conversation. She told me that she charged my card $885.17! Of course I was upset and told her that I didn't even have that much to begin with! She apologized and said she'd reverse it and all would be splendid.

---I believed her------------

On Monday I woke up to my account being negative $448.00. I called the credit union to see what happened and sure enough, they charged me the $885.17! To make it even worse, by the end of the day I had (are you still relaxed?) 11 $35 overdraft fees (that's a lot of dough). And then...THEY CHARGED ME ANOTHER $225.17 THIS MORNING!!!!

So, I called my credit union and my other banking institution to get things straightened out. I was not pleasant toward the end of the day after talking to them. And just to prove it, here are some highlights of various conversations:

"I don't see why you're laughing; this is not funny".

"Let's try to get this figured out now because I literally have 30 bucks to my name".

"I am not paying for one damn overdraft fee!"

(Mike, I think the books you bought me for Christmas are doing me some good!)

YEAH!!!! So as of 5:00 this afternoon, I was no longer negative in my account! I'm starting to like the aggressive side of me--I get things accomplished!!!!

The start of our journey

There have been so many things that have happened in the past month that I am quite disappointed in myself for not writing blogs about them. Dylan had a blood clot (luckily he's doing much better--and I'm much better at giving him his shots), we're busy planning our California vacation, and oh yeah...we're trying to start a family!!!!

We found a very nice and responsible young woman (I just found out she's my age) to be our surrogate. I am not going to share her name yet, but once things get moving along I will talk more about her. I can tell you that she has a nine-year old daughter, a job, and a home. I work with her and she has told me time and time again that she wouldn't do this for anybody but Dylan and me.

We have all met with the fertility doctor and have a good grasp on what's going to be involved: money, lawyers, psychological testing, and a little bit of luck. I should be getting a phone call tomorrow or sometime this week from the nurse at the clinic. She's going to tell us where to go to find a good family lawyer and ask when we'd like to get started. If we could, we'd do it tomorrow. But, there's not rush and we'll be happy with whatever the outcome.

We have told our surrogate that if nothing comes from this, it's okay. No pressure. The doctor has told us that the odds of having multiples are pretty high. He seems to think that twins could be a pretty good possibility!

Until then, Dylan and I will just sit back and relax. Well, at least Dylan will be...and that's because I am making sure he's keeping his leg elevated. KEEP THAT LEG UP, DYL! AND TAKE YOUR MEDICINE!!!!

More to come...soon!

Hello! I can't believe it's been so long since our last blog. I hate using the excuse of "oh, we've been busy"...but sure. I'll go with that.

There are lots of topics to discuss in future blogs. Surrogacy, football,...and of course, work stories. I really wanted to write a blog about me accidentally flushing my work badge down the toilet at work the other day...but "I've been busy".

I can't wait to write more soon. As always, thanks for reading!!!!

Tomorrow will make 3 weeks. 3 weeks of itching...3 weeks of scratching...3 weeks of oozing and bleeding...3 weeks of hearing "oh my god that looks disgusting"....3 weeks of pain...3 weeks of poison ivy.

It started at our company picnic where in I managed to walk through what everyone, after I had been in it, immediately identified as poison ivy. The first week wasn't bad, a little itching and redness. Of course, since it wasn't too bad yet, I first wasn't even sure I had poison ivy and certainly wasn't aware that I was periodically spreading it to every corner of my body.

The first weekend was when it started getting bad. We were in Fort Dodge for our friends' wedding, which I was officiating. It was a great time and I think I did an alright job not ruining their wedding. I had one unfortunately loud POP at the beginning when I asked People to "Please rise" and the Puff of air Profusely Pounded the mic Past its Positive Pressure Point. After this, however, I actually remembered to tell everyone to be seated...a minor detail I forgot at my last wedding. The only tough part, other than trying not to squirm and itch my leg, was when the unity candle ceremony began. The way it was set up had me holding the candle while it was lit - which sounded like a good idea until I saw those drops of hot wax beginning to fall. I managed to brace myself and not even react as the droplets landed and solidified across my fingers.

After this weekend, it all got worse. It spread and deepened...and got infected. I don't know where the infection came from, but I'm tempted to blame the America's Best Value Inn in Fort Dodge (which is a "best value" for a reason) - but that's just because I'm prejudiced about exterminators and pest controllers roaming the halls of my hotel looking for entry points. Not that our house couldn't use an exterminator also.

I wound up having to make two separate trips to the doctor - luckily only the second was bad enough to involve two shots, one in each "hip." So two shots, steroids, steroid cream, three different antibiotics, and endless gauze wraps - if that doesn't do the trick, I don't know what will.

The hideous boils and rashes have led to a few interesting experiences however....people keep their distance, for one. This weekend when I was home visiting, Aaron was worried what swimming might do to my leg....while my dad was worried what my leg might do to his pool. I've never seen him actively suggest someone not go swimming. Also bad, was when I wore shorts through the airport the other day, but kept my leg bandaged with gauze. However, one bandage kept coming un-taped and falling down. I've never seen such looks of horror on people faces as when they saw my exposed sore...the dressing dragging across the ground. I'm sure I would have been nervous too. However, the one person who didn't see it...or didn't care...was the woman sitting next to me on my flight to Florida. She asked for several drinks before the flight, but couldn't get them until we were airborne. Instead of being calmed by her vodka/orange juice, she was calmed by repeatedly grabbing my shoulder...asking what that noise was...and begging me to tell her everything was okay. I tried to do this, telling her the noise was just us leveling off and making up a bit about altitude and flight trajectories when she was worried we leveled off too soon - unfortunately, she was a lawyer and immediately saw through it and called me out accusing me of making it all up and "pulling it out of my ass." I considered just putting on my headphones and letting her panic at that point, but decided to talk her through it. She made it through the flight, and was appreciative...and in a strange coincidence, I actually ran into her and her son at a Jacksonville Baskin Robbins the next night. (I hear Oreo shakes were good for soothing poison ivy...is that not true?)

While this whole poison ivy thing still sucks, I think it is actually starting to get better the last two days - it hurts less, but there is still an awful lot of itching....and....wait... what are those red dots on my chest?