03.30.2007 | 10:54 pm | Uncategorized, Gray Matters, Breastfeeding, Natural Pregnancy & Birthing, Memes
I love the new Friday’s Feast design!
Appetizer
What are you proud of?
*My son. He’s a sweet, sensitive, loving little boy who I believe will become a wonderful young man.
*Giving birth naturally, with no interventions and no drugs in my or my baby’s system. It’s one of the two greatest accomplishments in my life.
*Breastfeeding my son for 22 months, despite almost no support, and despite enduring agonizing pain for over two months in order to succeed at it. I would’ve been one of the many deluded women in this country who “couldn’t” breastfeed, had I given up. But I absolutely refused to give up for the sake of my son’s health & wellbeing. I endured, I eventually overcame the problems & pain, and we enjoyed a wonderful nursing relationship for nearly two years. And you better believe, I’m darn proud of it! It’s the other of the two greatest accomplishments in my life.
Soup
What is the best thing you’ve ever won as a prize?
In the 9th grade, I won “Best of Show” in the county art show for gifted students. My entry was a pen & ink drawing of a still-life plant arrangement. Interestingly, Philip also won Best of Show in the same art show, in a different category—sculpture, for a bust of his own head. Weren’t we just meant to be? 
Salad
Name something you do that is a waste of time.
Internet message boards! I read way too many!
Main Course
In what year of your life did you change the most?
2004, my first year of motherhood. At first, it was horrible and I hated every minute of it, but ahhh…it grew on me. LOL! 
I changed sooo much that year because I had to learn how to put myself last, after years of living for only me. It was a very hard adjustment, even though G was a very wanted & prayed for child.
Dessert
Where is a place you consider to be very tranquil?
The beach, especially at night.
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03.28.2007 | 1:55 pm | Daily Life, Gray Matters
I doubt that four days constitutes “vacation” in most people’s minds, but that’s what our family just had. It was our first one ever as a family, all three of us together. One reason is there’s never been enough money, but the biggest reason is that Philip hasn’t ever been able to take any time off. Since he’s self-employed, if he doesn’t work, he doesn’t earn money. But there’s a good reason I convinced him to take the time off anyway and for the three of us to go away and have a great time for a few days. He wasn’t too hard to convince, since he’s been working on three very big projects for the past couple of months—because of that, our income has been decent so far this year.
We went to our favorite spot on earth, Destin, FL. We’re so lucky that the most beautiful & whitest beaches in the world are less than a 1 & 1/2 hour drive from us.
I was upset to see that the Spring rates were already in place, which are very expensive (but not as expensive as Summer rates). But Philip called one of the property management places and got us a “locals” deal, which was a nice Gulfside condo for the Winter rate! So off we went on Friday, and we stayed for three nights and left on Monday.
We couldn’t have asked for better weather! It was sunny all weekend, with highs in the 80s and lows in the 50s. Perfect! There was always a cool breeze down on the beach, so it never felt hot, but never felt cold. It was crowded, due to Spring Break. Lots of tourists, which I could do without, especially tourists from certain non-Southern parts of the country. LOL! Destin is a family-oriented beach town (most condos there won’t rent to anyone under 25), so thankfully there weren’t lots of partying college Spring Breakers, but there were lots of families with kids of all ages. While it was fun getting to meet lots of them, it was loud! There were kids running up & down the walkways late into the night, but it was nothing that turning on the bathroom exhaust fan couldn’t disguise.
We spent Friday evening on the beach, relaxing and eventually watching the sunset. We had dinner inside the condo, G went to bed in his very own bunk bed, and then I got to sit outside on the balcony and just watch & listen to the waves crashing, until I got sleepy and went to bed. That’s my favorite thing to do—sit outside at night on the beach. It’s so healing.
Saturday morning we headed out to the beach, and we spent the morning enjoying the sun & sand & surf. This was our view:
G decided to take over my chair while I was on a bathroom break:
I mostly sat lounging in my beach chair with my iPod, while G played in the sand for hours.
Philip alternated between playing with G, taking pictures, and lounging next to me. This is the day I got sizzled! I got one of the worst sunburns I’ve ever had. I always end up getting burned at the beach. Always! It’s so easy to underestimate the effects of the sun. I keep thinking I don’t feel like I’m burning, so I must not be. I should know better, after a lifetime of going to these beaches, and a lifetime of getting burned badly. But, NO! I never learn! G was covered with sunscreen, but he has Philip’s skin tone, so he doesn’t burn easily anyway. Neither of them got sunburned, other than a little pinkness.
Saturday afternoon while G napped, I went out to the Silver Sands Outlet center and shopped for new sunglasses, as well as just browsed the stores for stuff I want but can’t afford. Destin is my favorite place not only because of the beaches, but because they have the best shopping too! There’s the Outlets, and there’s also the Destin Commons, which is an upscale outdoor mall. There are so many places to go & see, and everything is incredibly new & nice-looking. Destin is an affluent town, and it shows in all the buildings & shops…it reminds me of Beverly Hills & Rodeo Drive. I always kind of wonder what people think about our car when I’m there, because it’s 10 years old and run-down looking, and in Destin there are no cars that aren’t shiny new (& mostly expensive). Anyway, I’m not at all into money or material things myself (if you know me at all, you know that!), but it’s still kind of fun being there around all that fancy, shiny newness for a few days. If that makes any sense at all! It’s just all so beautiful and different than what I’m used to.
Saturday evening we went to a Catfish house and ate outside on the harbor. Then we went to Destin Commons & did some window shopping, as well as let G stand in awe of the massive Hard Rock Cafe guitar.
He was so impressed with it! Afterwards, we went back down to the beach to watch the sunset, and later that night, I got my outside balcony time. Philip went and got a dozen Krispy Kremes, and we enjoyed chocolate doughnuts out there together while we listened to the waves.
Sunday morning we went right back out to the beach. This time, I sat under one of the resort’s umbrellas (they set up complimentary beach chairs & umbrellas for guests), and I stayed in the shade the entire time. I was in pain from my sunburn, and anytime I left the shade, I felt like I was on fire. So I sat there with my iPod, watching G & Philip playing in the sand, and eventually in the water.
The water is just now starting to warm up; it’s still cold, but not unbearably so. Lots of people were swimming. G was scared to go in at first, but Philip took him out anyway and they had a good time together riding the calm waves.
We stayed out there for a long time. There were lots of kids and G met a little boy close to his age and they played together for a while. His mom was a breastfeeding mom (she also had an infant), so I liked her immediately. I don’t get to meet many nursing moms around here.
The highlight of the morning out there on the beach was dolphins! There was a fair-sized pod of dolphins swimming around very close to the shore. They were playing together and jumping out of the water, and they stayed for quite a while. Philip tried to get a picture of them whenever they appeared, but this is the best he managed (a fin):
The kids were enthralled, and a few rode their surfboards out right next to them. It was beautiful, and it’s one of the best treats of Destin. I’ve seen dolphins every time I’ve gone there in recent years.
Sunday afternoon we all napped, and when we woke up, we went to Olive Garden for an early dinner. Deeelicious. There’s nothing like their salad!
After dinner, we went back to the beach and I took a nice long walk while watching the sunset. G & Philip stayed back at the resort and played in the sand and took pictures.
Sunday night, we went to The Track. The Track is mainly a really nice track where you can ride go-carts, and I’ve always wanted to take G there. He was just tall enough to ride in the go-carts. They have double carts so that a parent can drive while the little kid rides next to them. They have harnesses and they’re flip-proof, and they have strict rules about no reckless driving, so I felt like he was totally safe. Philip & G rode together and G had the time of his life! He absolutely loved it! He had his own (non-functional) steering wheel, and he thought he was really driving that cart.
After the go-carts, we all rode the bumper boats, which was a lot of fun, especially for G. He loved bumping into me as hard as possible! They have a mini-amusement park for the little kids, and G rode the carousel (he did not like that!) and a plane ride that went round and round high up in the air (he did like that). They had a tiny ferris wheel, maybe 10 feet high, with cages for cars. He wanted to ride that, but he ended up absolutely hating it, even though he was a trooper and didn’t cry.
We got back to the condo pretty late, put an excited but very tired G into bed, and I enjoyed my last night sitting out on the balcony with the waves & the stars shining down.
Monday morning we got packed up and checked out, spent a little time saying goodbye to the beach, and then we headed back to The Track. G had enjoyed the go-carts so much that he wanted to go back one more time before we left town. Plus, we hadn’t brought our camera the night before, so I wanted to get some pictures of him riding his cart anyway. He had a blast “driving” next to Philip.
After The Track, we went back to the Commons to eat lunch at Panera Bread. At the Commons, since it’s all outdoor shopping, they have a little kiddie train that runs the length of the shopping area.
G had been begging to ride that since he’d seen it Saturday night, so we got tickets and he & Philip rode it together. Of course he thought that was the best thing ever, aside from the go-carts.
Finally, we headed home. We got back, unloaded the car, and rested for the remainder of the day. I was so tired! So was G, because he had skipped his nap since we’d been out & about during it. This trip marks the first time in his life that he’s ever gone without a nap! I’m very serious about napping, and we always plan all our activities & outings around naptime. But since we had to check out at 10am, and we still had lots of things to do before the trip home, we had to skip the nap. He was definitely pooped when we got home, and whiny, too. We put him to bed an hour early and he fell right to sleep and slept for over 12 hours.
My sunburn is finally starting to feel better today. It still hurts, but I’m not in constant terrible pain anymore (just constant mild pain 
), and I was able to sleep fairly well last night. It kept me awake for a couple of miserable nights. I’ll close with this lovely picture, which only shows my chest/upper arms. I got burned all over, except for my torso.
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03.27.2007 | 7:36 pm | Uncategorized
I made it three whole weeks without seeing Jenny! That’s a record for this pregnancy.
I’m 12 weeks, 3 days pregnant. The glorious 12 week milestone has finally arrived! The chances of a miscarriage occurring now are less than 3%, which is where the risk will remain for the rest of the pregnancy. Only a week and a half until I begin the 2nd trimester!
I had a great appointment with her this morning. First, she scolded me (a lot) for my severe sunburn that I acquired this weekend at the beach. I knew she was going to, the girls at the reception desk even told me she was going to, and sure enough, she did.
We listened to the baby’s heartbeat on her doppler and I told her I’d borrowed a doppler from a friend. She told me I better not panic if I ever can’t find the heartbeat myself, and I promised her I wouldn’t. I’m pretty good at finding it, though, even if it takes a little while.
She felt my uterus and said it’s now grown to above my pubic bone and can be felt easily. She showed me how to walk my fingers down my belly and press in and down until I can feel its firm grapefruit shape poking up—that was neat! I love, love, love having a midwife. She’s so good at spending time teaching me about the wonders of my body & of pregnancy. To a midwife, pregnancy isn’t a medical condition at all; it’s not something to be “treated”. Visits are long and non-rushed, and there’s lots of conversation, as well as teaching. All that, and for much less money than what a doctor charges for a rushed, clinical appointment. I can’t fathom why women would ever choose the latter!
I asked her when I should stop the progesterone supplements and she said I can stop them now. I’m so scared that just stopping cold turkey will cause a miscarriage, but she said it won’t; my placenta is fully functioning at this point and is making all the progesterone needed to sustain the pregnancy. I’m sure that’s the case, but it still worries me to just stop all of a sudden. I’m thinking I won’t take it tonight, but I’ll take it tomorrow night, then skip another night, etc….and kind of wean myself off for about a week before I go cold turkey.
I think that’s all the main stuff we covered. I go back in 4 weeks, which means I’m now on a regular prenatal checkup schedule.
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03.20.2007 | 8:09 pm | Uncategorized
I got this from Stacy’s blog. Like Stacy, I won’t tag anyone, but feel free to snag it if you want to do it.
List 7 songs that you are currently really really into, no matter what they are, and then tag 7 more people to do it.
I’m loving lots of songs right now; more than I have time to listen to. Here are seven of them, in no particular order because I don’t think I can choose an absolute favorite:
- We Both Go Down Together - The Decemberists
- Goodlove, Goodnight - Harrison Hudson
- Revolution Evolution - Harrison Hudson
- As Long - Johnny Cash & June Carter Cash
- Matthias Replaces Judas - Showbread
- More Than a Feeling - Boston (this one never leaves my list—ever!)
- Alive and Kicking - Simple Minds
I suspect the average person will only recognize a couple of those artists or songs and will think my list is boring. 
I wish I could list 20 songs, because that’s more in line with how many songs I’m in love with at the moment. And can I just say that if you don’t own Harrison Hudson’s CD, then you are missing out? Yeah. You are. And he’s an awfully nice guy on top of being a great musician.
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03.20.2007 | 1:50 pm | Gray Matters, Homeschooling
I promise this isn’t going to become a homeschool blog, but this happens to be what we’ve been immersed in lately, so I have lots to share since it’s pretty much all that’s been on my mind. So bear with me for the time being.
Week 2 of our preschool endeavor is upon us, and this week is even more fun than last week. I came across a fellow homeschooler’s website and she had a neat little curriculum that she used with her kids, and I liked her ideas. I made some changes to her curriculum in order to fit G & his interests better, and we’re trying it out this week.
We’re still focusing on letter sounds, specifically “Bb” this week, and numbers, specifically “2″ this week. I’ve added a shape of the week—this week is “square”. He knows his shapes, but sometimes confuses square & rectangle, so I thought this would be a good idea. More on that in a minute.
And following this new curriculum, we’re doing a theme of the week (”Bugs” this week), and we have a vocabulary word of the week (”Bee”, related to this week’s theme). So there’s a little bit of science this week, although the theme of the week will vary to include social studies, or art, etc. I thought it was a neat way to get to touch on those other subjects, without having to include them all each week.
I’ve also added a nursery rhyme of the week. Shame on me; I’ve never read or taught G nursery rhymes. I don’t have anything against them, it’s just that we’ve never had a book with nursery rhymes, and I’ve never found a good one that I can afford. I probably need to buy one anyway. But for now, there’s a website that has a bunch of them, along with pictures.
Regarding the shape of the week…wow, has that been a hit! I had a few square objects ready to show him yesterday: a square block, a cd case, a square book, and a square box. Then we got up and did a “square hunt” around the house. You would think this was the funnest activity in the world! He LOVED it! He even got his magnifying glass out and held it up to his eye as he looked around for squares…it cracked me up. The cool thing is, he found squares everywhere. He continued pointing out squares for the rest of the day, and even on our walk last night, he was pointing out squares left & right. He now completely grasps what a square is, as opposed to a rectangle. All in one day! He woke up this morning still looking for squares.
Another neat thing that’s happening is he’s really improved his counting skills (he’s had problems with his teen numbers). We’ve been counting Cheerios, pennies, and other things each day, and he can now count up to 20 without any prompting from me when he hits the teens. I’ll reinforce that this week, and next week I’ll work on helping him recognize the teen numbers by sight.
The nursery rhyme this week is “Hey Diddle Diddle”. I read it to him yesterday and we did this online painting (G chose the colors you see). Today, when I read it to him, he recited most of it along with me—he’s almost learned it already! How does that happen? I was so surprised that he picked it up so fast, and also that he enjoys it so much. He thinks it’s funny and especially loves the part where the dish runs away with the “sploon”. I guess I underestimated how fun those rhymes are to a preschooler. I know I used to love them, though; I guess I got too caught up in adulthood to remember how fun they were.
I took a few pictures of last week’s work, this week’s work so far, and a couple of the things I mentioned in my previous post.
Last week’s “A” & “1″ worksheets & projects (we did a little St. Patrick’s Day stuff too):
The weather wheel that Philip drew:
G’s sticker chart:
This week’s “B”, “2″, Square, Bugs, Bee, & Rhyme, plus other work he’s done:
On that “2″ worksheet at the bottom, he gets to put stickers in those jars each week, based on what the number of the week is. Today, he chose Spongebob stickers. SB looks like he’s screaming from being stuck in that jar…maybe it reminds him of being trapped in that fishbowl in the SB Movie.
G’s really, really good at writing “2s”. I thought it would be hard for him, but he surprised me. And the dots that are all over…he said those are footprints.
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03.16.2007 | 12:36 pm | Daily Life, Gray Matters, Homeschooling
It’s been a busy week! I guess I’ll do a recap.
I officially began homeschooling G this week, on a preschool level. We did it for 4 days this week, but I think once we get a good routine down, it’ll be more like 2 or maybe 3 days per week. This was a real breaking-in week! I had no idea what to expect, but it turned out wonderfully.
Last week, I picked up some supplies at the homeschooling store to make his “classroom” more exciting & fun. I got & laminated a big calendar and interchangeable month cards. I got Philip to draw me a weather wheel; it’s a circle divided up in a pie, with 6 different weather scenes portrayed: sunny, cloudy, rainy, stormy, windy, etc. We laminated that and I fastened an arrow in the center. G gets to look out the window and decide what the weather is like, and then he moves the arrow to the right weather picture for the day. He LOVES that.
We start each “class” in the morning, after breakfast. We begin by reading one of his preschool devotions, and then a short prayer. Then I point out the date on the calendar, and also what day of the week it is. Then he gets to look out the window and do the weather wheel. Then we start our work!
The main focus is on reading and on pre-math. We spend a half-hour doing alphabet activities; practicing letter sounds and doing worksheets, coloring, & other letter-related activities. He has a list of words each day to sound out. This week we focused on short-a sounds: cat, fan, ant, gas. He also practiced handwriting A’s and a’s.
After the reading segment, I let him run around & burn off some energy for a few minutes, then he comes back to do math (pre-math). We practice counting to 20, work on visually recognizing his “teen” numbers, and he does counting worksheets, dot-to-dots, and matching worksheets. This usually takes about a half hour, too.
Our total class time has been working out to be about an hour long, which I think is perfect for now. Eventually I want to add in short segments of science & social studies, as well as art, but that’ll be further in the future. For now, I feel like working with reading & math are most important, since he’s excelling so well at reading—and conversely—is lagging a bit where his numbers are concerned. He can count and recognize his numbers from 1-10 without any problems at all, but his “teen” numbers give him trouble, especially recognizing them visually. This is probably what I get for focusing so heavily on reading to him since day one, while not focusing on counting very much at all. I absolutely hate math, and I can see that I’ve unintentionally passed on to him my lack of interest in numbers. Gotta work on that.
I’m really using these first weeks as a learning period for both of us. I want to get a feel for how much he really does know, where his strengths are, as well as what his weaknesses are. I want to find out what activities he enjoys the most, and also what type of learner he is. So far, I suspect he’s very “hands-on”, because his very favorite activities were ones that involved gluing things, handling things, and counting physical objects. I’m reading a lot about the Montessori theory, which I like a lot, and I hope that I’ll soon be able to find a curriculum that is based more on that approach, than just winging it like I am now. I want to find out which teaching/learning style he can benefit most from and thrive on.
The consensus this week is that we both absolutely love homeschooling! I had the best time with him each day, and he seemed to be having a lot of fun, too. He loves to learn; his face just lights up whenever he thinks and comes up with the right answers. I love getting to do this myself, rather than send him to someone else to do it for me, someone who doesn’t care for him like I do. I think the basic thread of any homeschooling relationship is that homeschooling moms want their kids to be taught with love being at the core of everything, and we know that only we can give our kids education mixed with love.
We get to spend precious one-on-one time with each other, which is truly priceless. I enjoy watching him while he works, seeing his face light up whenever he “gets” a concept. I love to give him a pat on the back, a kiss on the head, or a rub on the arm whenever I praise him—all things that he wouldn’t get from a random teacher at a center. And I think he enjoys having me to teach him as much as I enjoy teaching him. He loves to please me, he thrives on my praise, and it’s easy to see he really enjoys the one-on-one time, too. I think this is really going to be the thing for us.
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Last Friday I got to go to the library, and I left with two books. The first one, Summer Sisters, is by Judy Blume, and it’s now one of my favorite books ever. Not quite as good as Jane Eyre, but it’s right up there with it. It’s about two girls who begin summering together as young teens, and it follows them through the next 6 years of summers, as they grow into young women together and experience all those fun things that happen during those years. Then they go their separate ways—one to college, the other on to travel the world and live a glamorous (but empty) life. They keep in touch, but they inevitably grow apart, as well as betray each other. The book ends several years later, after they’ve made their amends and salvaged their friendship, but the ending is quite a surprise, and it’s not necessarily happy.
It’s a beautiful read, and a very realistic portrayal of real-life friendships between girls & women as they come of age together. I related very deeply to the girls’ friendship, since I once had a friend like that, and we also grew apart and now live totally separate lives—only we’ve never been able to reconcile (not from my lack of trying, though). 
The other book is Daphne’s Book. I’m about halfway through it now, and it’s been a good read, also. This one is actually from the teen reading section; I love to read books written for the middle-school reader. Not the cheesy romances, but just regular stories of middle-school dilemmas and angst. I’m not sure why, but I always relate to them…probably because I had my share of angst at that age. I also love the memories they bring back. For instance, this current book feels like being in 7th grade all over again, for better & for worse.
The coolest news is that our town is finally going to have its very own library next month! All this time, if I want to go to the library, it requires a half-hour trip that’s completely out of my way. So, I rarely go, and sadly, G has never been in a library. All that will change next month when our new library opens! I can’t wait, and I can’t wait to bring G and introduce him to something that I absolutely lived for as a child.
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03.13.2007 | 2:04 pm | Uncategorized, Daily Life, Gray Matters, Ranting
It all started last night, when we went out to pick up some stuff at Home Depot, and then Wal Mart. G was fine in Home Depot, as he’d been all day long. When we got in the truck to leave, he started fussing; when I asked him what was wrong, he said his mouth hurt. I couldn’t see anything wrong, so we proceeded to leave the parking lot. He whined a bit and pawed at his mouth, and I started to get nervous because more than one of my friends have told me that their preschoolers would complain vaguely about their mouth, just before throwing up all over the place. To my great relief, that never happened.
He continued to periodically complain about his mouth hurting as we went through Wal Mart picking up our various items. He even started hacking a dry cough now & then. I gave him a piece of candy cane, which temporarily helped, and I told him we’d check on his mouth when we got home. When we did finally get home, he was clearly very agitated and continued telling us that it hurt really bad. I asked if it was his throat that hurt, or did it hurt when he swallowed, and he said no, it hurt underneath his tongue. He opened wide and I shined a flashlight in his mouth, looking for a canker sore or anything like that, but I didn’t see anything. His throat looked a little red, though.
We proceeded to get him ready for bed, and he begged Philip not to brush his teeth because his mouth hurt too bad. He brushed them anyway, and it didn’t seem to cause any extra pain. We got him into bed and he fell asleep really fast, since we’d been out an hour past his bedtime. I figured that was the end of it, and we settled in to watch our recorded epis of “Wife Swap” and “Super Nanny” (and yes, it was as upsetting as I expected it would be, since Jo “helped” a mom to wean her “still”-nursing 14-month old cold-turkey, and even worse, tried to force the baby to take a bottle. Grrrrrr…). We went to bed as usual and that was that.
Then at about 1:30am, G started crying. He was awake and he was beside himself with more mysterious mouth pain. He was also coughing and choking. He told me he wasn’t able to suck his thumb because it hurt too much. He tried to go back to sleep, but coughs and pain would jolt him awake. At this point, I started getting suspicious that it was a cold coming on, with all the coughing. And you know how sometimes when you first start coming down with a cold, your throat gets so scratchy and it can burn something awful. We gave him some cough medicine, and I offered him a couple of animal crackers & water to chase it down, but he refused the crackers because he said they’d hurt too bad. Hmmm…yep, he must be sick!
He lay back down and asked me to lie down with him. Normally I’d be glad to, but words can’t describe how tired I’ve been and how desperately I needed to sleep last night. I asked him if it would be okay if Daddy laid down with him instead, and he nodded. So Philip saved the night and lay down with him until he managed to fall back asleep. I went back to bed, turned my white noise fan up, and I slept until morning. I never heard anything else, and Philip told me that G slept fairly peacefully the rest of the night, only coughing a few more times, but not waking up again.
It was clear this morning that he’s definitely got a cold. He’s coughing and sneezing and his nose is running all over. He seemed to feel fine and was in a happy mood, though. The first thing he said when he woke up, was that his mouth didn’t hurt anymore, so I’m thinking it must’ve definitely been a burny-scratchy throat that went away once the cold set in. That was a fast-setting-in cold, let me tell you! Not a sign of anything amiss until his sudden complaint at the store last night, and BAM! This morning he’s a sickie.
I’d like to take a moment to thank whoever it was who thought it was just fine & dandy to send their kid to church sick on Sunday morning. 
I know that’s where he picked it up, because the incubation timing is perfect, and he didn’t go anywhere else over the weekend where he would’ve been exposed. Anyway, sending kids out sick, especially to be around other kids, tops of the list of rude and inconsiderate things parents do. I can’t imagine doing something like that, and I never will. If my kid is sick, he stays home, even if it means we have to miss out on activities, or even necessities, for a few days. Why can’t other parents grasp such simple consideration for others?
I’m lucky—I have a healthy child with no chronic issues. A cold isn’t going to kill him, though it’s a real pain in the butt for the entire household—and that should be enough reason in and of itself for people to stay home when they’re sick. But what if he had a condition that made his contracting of a cold dangerous? What if I did, or someone else in the family? Sadly, it doesn’t matter to most people how what they choose to do will affect other people. It should, but it doesn’t.
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03.12.2007 | 1:20 pm | Uncategorized
No real news to report. I was just thinking that I’m 10w 2d pregnant today. I was 10w 2d pregnant the day I went in for a checkup last November 1st, and found that the baby had died. Ugh, not a sweet memory on this gestation date!
I’m thankful for another chance, and hope & pray that this baby is doing just fine in there. If my sickness and exhaustion are any way to measure its health, then let me just say that all must be well!
Another odd thing that I noticed is that I turned 10 weeks pregnant on Saturday, and it happened on the weekend of the DST time change.
Last fall, I also turned 10 weeks pregnant on the weekend of the time change, only that time we were “falling back”, not “springing forward”. I don’t know why I notice odd relationships like that, but I always tend to do it. Then I start getting superstitious and wondering if it will mean anything this time, since it must’ve meant something last time (although it really didn’t, and my logical side knows that).
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03.10.2007 | 10:58 pm | Uncategorized, Reviews
I recently read This Much Is True, by Tina Chaulk, and I thought I’d take a stab at a review.
First, here’s the publisher’s description on the back of the book:
Is it okay to tell a lie? Lisa Simms thinks so. Lisa leaves her small town and moves to the big city to find work, and her letters home tell of an ordered life and success at work. The reality, however, is rather different. From crazy days at work, to disappointing love affairs, from dealing with death to discovering love, Lisa takes the reader on a ride of laughter and tears as the fiction of each letter dissolves into the roller coaster of life. This Much Is True is a romp through the 1980s, about a fish out of water struggling to find her place in the world all while sheltering her parents from the truth.
I really enjoyed this book. I found it to be an easy read, with quick, to-the-point chapters that waste no time over-describing or over-analyzing. I’m not a patient reader, and I don’t like to get bogged down by too much detail, so this was a great book for me.
Each chapter begins with a letter that Lisa, the main character, has written to her parents. The short letter tells of nothing but good things and portrays near-saccharine success in her career & life. But as the real-life part of the chapter begins, we get to see how things really turned out. Usually, the short answer to that is “disastrous”. Nothing seems to turn out right for Lisa. The predicaments she inevitably ends up in are sometimes comical, sometimes sad, and a few times they’re downright scary.
Couple the fast pace with the page-turning plot sequence, and you have a good description of how enjoyable this book was to read. On the first night, I read over 100 pages, which is unheard of for me. I usually move rather slowly when reading a book—I get trapped in the details and then get distracted and end up putting it down. Not so with TMIT. The chapters are fairly short, and they stick to the point. I loved that! I found that when bedtime approached, I would tell myself I’d put the book down as soon as I finished this chapter…but inevitably, I’d get to the next chapter, get sucked in by Lisa’s next fabricated letter to her parents, and I’d end up reading “just one more” chapter. This happened a lot. I ended up finishing the book in four days (a record for me!).
I kind of hated to finish it, because I’d grown to really like Lisa, and I enjoyed accompanying her throughout her experiences trying to “make it” in the big city. I identified with how it felt to be young and inexperienced in an uncaring city, far from home, because I’ve been in those shoes before. I laughed alongside her and enjoyed her wit, her dark humor, and her sarcasm toward the world. I felt all her disappointments right alongside her, of which there were plenty. Halfway through the book, I was seriously wondering if this poor girl would ever find success in her career, as well as at love. It looked like she was never going to find the happiness and success she longed for. However, it turns out that she eventually finds all that and more.
If you want to know all the details of how she finally ends up with a life that truly rivals all the letters that came before, I highly recommend this book.
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03.9.2007 | 12:45 pm | Memes
I thought Friday’s Feast was boring this week, but I ran into this meme as I was doing my blog rounds this morning. I figured I’d do it. I love to fill these out (actually, I love filling just about anything out! Is that normal?).
How tall are you barefoot?
5′ 4.5″
Have you ever flown first-class?
Never
One of your favorite books when you were a child?
I have many favorites from back then, but I can’t remember any titles. I was an avid reader, though, and went through tons of books.
A good restaurant in your city?
Chet’s, Olive Garden (sorry, I just love Olive Garden)
What is your favorite small appliance?
My rice cooker
One person who never fails to make you laugh?
Philip. He’s one of the funniest people on the planet and his humor is exactly the same as mine.
What was the first music that you ever bought?
The very first tape I ever bought with my own money was Cyndi Lauper - “She’s So Unusual”. It was the summer of 1984 and I used my birthday money from my Grandma to buy it. I bought it at TG&Y, if anyone remembers that store.
Do you do push-ups?
Three sets of 15, at least 1-2 times a week.
What was one of your favorite games as a child?
I loved the MASH game…you know, where you use counting & elimination to predict your friends’ futures.
When you were twelve years old, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I always wanted to be a mom.
Your favorite Soup of the Day?
Zupa Toscana at Olive Garden…yum!
Have you ever met someone famous?
Philip & I met and chatted with Jeb Bush
Famous people I’ve seen in person but not met are:
President Bush—the 1st time was in NYC-at Ground Zero in 2001, and then we saw him again here in our city in 2004, during a campaign stop.
Reba McEntire — we were in NYC and passed her & her hubby walking down a street.
Sheridan & Luis from the soap “Passions” — we went to one of their publicity appearances in NYC…I was obsessed with the show back then.
From what news source do you receive the bulk of your news?
Philip. LOL! Seriously, I rarely watch or listen to national news…I’m just not interested unless something big happens. When I’m in the car during the day I listen to talk radio and get some news that way. I watch the local news every night, though.
Current hate?
I don’t hate anyone! I do hate American Idol, though, with great passion. And I’m sick, sick, SICK of hearing about it! American people are way too easily entertained by crap.
Favorite place to be?
In bed, asleep. If not in bed, then just hanging out at home with my boys.
Least favorite place to be?
Doctor’s office, especially the oncologist.
Do you consider yourself well organized?
Yes, mostly.
Do you believe in an afterlife?
Absolutely
Where do you think you will be in 10 years?
Hopefully right here in this same town, but in a bigger, nicer house. With my family right beside me.
Do you burn or tan?
Burn to a crisp, then freckle.
Are you more optimistic or pessimistic about the future?
I’m definitely not optimistic. There are some really stupid people in this country, and they vote…and they usually vote democrat.
What did you fear was going to get you at night as a kid?
The hand that I saw pop up out of our bathtub when I was four. That thing still haunts me.
What’s in your pockets right now?
No pockets today
Last thing that made you laugh?
G said something so sweet & cute, that I laughed.
Worst injury you’ve ever had?
The ones from my mastectomy/reconstruction surgery in 2001.
How many TVs do you own?
One
Best compliment received?
Uh…I don’t receive many compliments. Some people say I can write well.
What leaves you speechless?
Not much! LOL!
What is your favorite book?
Jane Eyre
Last meal you cooked for the opposite sex?
I cooked meatloaf on Tuesday for my boys.
What were you doing at 12 midnight last night?
I had just gotten into bed; I was probably already asleep
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