Fertility Fears

As some of you might know, I have a basic laundry list of fears in life that looks something like this:

- Dying
- My loved ones dying
- Someone dying or dead in my bathtub (which is why I have to have opaque shower curtains--not clear curtains, b/c I'm also afraid of someone accidentally walking in on me in the shower)
- Being impregnated w/o my knowledge (it's happened before, and it just might happen again, and let me tell you, I am definitely NOT Mary, Mother of God, so any child that I have in this way would most likely be some sort of demon, gremlin, or elf)
- Being infertile

I'm not entirely sure how that last fear evolved, but somewhere down the line I just got this feeling that I'm not terribly fertile. My mom had a hard time conceiving my brother, and I just have this nagging suspicion that I'm going to have the same problem. (TMI? Sorry.)

Anyway, I developed this timeline in college: get married in my 20s, have babies before 30. It might look simple, but I definitely struggled with it. I'd always kind of thought that I'd be a career woman--you know, college educated, graduate school, pulling absurd hours and rising the ranks at some magazine. And maybe, MAYBE getting married in my 30s, have children a little later on, that sort of thing. As you can see, my fear of infertility changed my life's plans quite a bit. So much for gung-ho feminism, right? Let's have some babies, stat!

Oh, you laugh. Many people did. But Steph sent me an article a couple days ago that completely validates my fears: Women lose 90% of their eggs by the age of 30!! And only have 3% left when they're 40!!! NOT COOL, WOMB. (You can access the article here.)

What the heck?? How is that fair?!?! How come guys can have babies 'til they're 70 without a second thought?!!?!? GARGH. If there's anything more frustrating than having quasi-irrational/completely speculative fears is having that fear confirmed by science.

So if this happens to all normal women, all I can think of is how much worse it will be if I'm not all that fertile to begin with. I had planned to stick to my timeline before, but you can bet that I'm definitely gluing myself to it now. (Watch out, boys! Just kiddingggg.)

Stay tuned for my next post, where I'll tell you about my fear of scurvy!

Bopping and Grilling

Last night, Tyler and I covered a basketball game at Evanston Township. The game was at 7, so we decided to grab a quick dinner somewhere close to the high school. I let Tyler pick the place, and he decided on this hole-in-the-wall place called Bop N Grill that recently sprung up along the Bus 93 route. (Read: I dropped subtle hints all week that essentially strong-armed Tyler into "making" this decision).

As some of my Korean friends/aficionados (ahem, Nicholas 107) might suspect from the name, Bop N Grill is a little Korean-owned establishment that serves a combination of Asian and American foods. BBQ short ribs and french fries? Sure. Angus burger topped with a fried egg and a side of rice? You got it, dude.

"This place is like an American restaurant and a Pan-Asian restaurant had sex and now we're standing in its baby," Tyler said, checking out the diner-style menu board and a wall taped with pictures of its star dishes like a proud mama's living room. We both ordered the BBQ short ribs plate, which came with scoops of rice, a side salad drizzled with Thousand Island dressing, and heap of french fries. Check it out (all pics are from their website, http://bopngrill.com/index.html):

Picture is slightly misleading, as there was no kimchi. I think I'll ask them about that next time. Anyway, the kalbi were hot and tasty, reminding me a lot of Connie's mom's amazing cooking. Of course, it was more fast-food-y, and less made-with-love-y, but still, quite yummy. Tyler and my dinner conversation went something like this:

T: Yum. That was good.

V: Mmmphtgrrffff [tears into another piece of beef] Ohmygarrghmmmm.

T: [scoots away] Easy there, lioness.

The guy behind the counter was super nice and seemed to know a lot of his repeat customers by name and recent agenda. He asked if we liked sweets, and then made us the restaurant's only dessert, the eggroll brownie, on the house.

I imagine it must be what a fried Twinkie must be like--hot and sweet on the inside, kind of crunchy and kind of oily-tasting on the outside. It wasn't bad. I dunno if I'd get it on my own, but you can't turn down free dessert, right? I would've gone back for the food alone anyway, but that definitely sealed the deal. Guy knows how to do his business, huh? So yeah, if you're in the mood for delicious and reasonably priced Asian-American food and happen to be on Church St, this is definitely the place to go!