Egad!

Posted on 08/23/2009 by chick

I have let Time, the Move, and the Baby blind me to the reality of my book problem. So many of my books were hidden in boxes, I forgot how many I had. Last night, we moved a bunch of the boxes into my office. Egad! Where will I put them all? Now more than ever I need the GLP. I have to start disposing of books at a faster rate than I acquire them!

Posted in Reading | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Still Reading, Still Writing

Posted on 08/22/2009 by chick

I am once again far behind on my reading posts. I will try to get caught up now.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason by Helen Fielding
Grade: A-

This is the sequel to Bridget Jones’s Diary. One always takes a chance with sequels, but I was pleasantly surprised in this case. Bridget is still fun to listen to. My only complaint is that Fielding occasionally went a little overboard in her attempts at humor, making Bridget look like nothing more than a dumb drunk. Ah, well. Bridget always did drink a tad too much…

Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
Grade: A-

Caddie Woodlawn is a simplistic but charming bunch of stories about a young girl growing up on the Wisconsin frontier around the time of the Civil War. I would recommend it for children, particularly tomboyish girls.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Grade: A-

I bought this at the Westerly book sale because I knew it had been made into a film and I was curious about it. It’s a story of a young man who travels to fairyland to capture a star. It is at times beautiful and haunting, hence the “A,” but it’s got some minor problems, hence the “-.” It’s the kind of book you’d want to read to older children, but there’s just enough violence and bad language to give you pause. The biggest flaw, though, is that it’s too short. There are scenes that absolutely fly by before you even have a chance to enjoy them. Still, it is one of the best fantasy novels I’ve read in recent years. I would recommend it for older teens and adults.

Aunt Dimity Digs In by Nancy Atherton
Grade: B

Aunt Dimity, the title character of a series of cozy mysteries by Nancy Atherton, is a ghost who communicates with the living by means of a journal. I haven’t read any of the other books in the series, so I don’t know how the story of Aunt Dimity began, and perhaps that’s why I found the premise so hard to accept. However, I still enjoyed the book. Lori Shepherd, the main character, had recently give birth to twins and was struggling to take care of them. I was pregnant at the time, which made it a timely tale for me. Overall, it was an enjoyable mystery with fun characters and a total lack of violence (there weren’t even any dead bodies!).

The Dark Secret of Weatherend by John Bellairs
Grade: C+

John Bellairs wrote a lot of lightweight but perfectly readable children’s books. I’ve read several of them and enjoyed each on some level, but this is probably the worst so far. I found the relationship between the two main characters, one an aging librarian and the other a boy, to be practically unbelievable. It also had a dated feel, probably because of the diminishing role of the library in this Internet-happy culture of ours. Top that off with a lame puzzle that’s solved with a big dose of deus ex machina, and you’ve got a tale that just doesn’t satisfy.

Posted in Reading | 1 Comment

Accidental Puns

Posted on 08/21/2009 by chick

I pun all the time, but I hardly ever mean to. My brain just comes up with the puns on its own. For example, my husband and I are thinking about buying a dehumidifier for our new home. Price is naturally a concern, but we’ve spent so much already, it almost doesn’t faze me. I said, “I don’t mind spending a couple of hundred dollars on a dehumidifier. It’s just a drop in the bucket.” Another example: I was absolutely exhausted the other day and I said to my husband, “I’m tired. Breastfeeding really drains me.” And worst of all, when Baby had a leaky diaper, I said, “That’s a pisser!”

Posted in Crazy Me, Interesting words, Puzzles | Tagged | Leave a comment

A Touchy Subject

Posted on 08/20/2009 by chick

I have always believed that women should have all rights to their bodies, including the right not to carry an unwanted child. The fact is, biology is working against women in a cruel way. First, a woman can be made pregnant against her will. Second, whether she wants the baby or not, she becomes a slave to it while she is pregnant. Third, she is ultimately responsible for it when it is born. It is an 18+ year commitment, a commitment not to be taken lightly, a commitment that, to be honest, some women should never try to make. A woman who is not ready for motherhood can take a sweet little bundle of human potential and ruin it utterly, and she can do so before it’s even born.

When I was younger, I felt that abortion could be an option for me if I ever got pregnant by accident. When I got older and had some financial stability, I decided that abortion should continue to be an option for others but that it was no longer the right choice for me. Then, when I finally got pregnant in my 30s, I had a whole new scenario to consider: what if my baby had Down Syndrome?

Doctors can do tests to find out if your fetus has certain types of genetic problems, including Down Syndrome. They sold us on the least invasive type of test, which they call the Integrated Test. It is a combination of a deep ultrasound and two rounds of blood work. They put all the results together and tell you what your odds are of having a Down Syndrome child. Mine were something like 1/50,000, which was very reassuring. The thing is, after seeing the ultrasound pictures, I don’t know that I could have aborted, regardless of the baby’s prognosis. He had little arms and little legs and he was somersaulting around in my belly. He already had so many human features and seemed so alive. How could I kill something like that? I have a hard time just stepping on an insect.

So how has pregnancy changed my opinion of abortion? Not much. I still believe that abortion must be legal. Too many atrocities, from botched back-alley abortions to babies irreparably damaged in the womb by illegal drugs, will be committed if we don’t keep abortion legal.  But late-term abortions are bad, and I cannot imagine too many scenarios in which they could be justified. I would ask all women to be mindful of how quickly that blob of cells becomes something else entirely. Be aware of your body. Know when you’re pregnant. Make your decision quickly.

And I would ask the world for more support for pregnant women. Most of the people fighting against abortion are going about it the wrong way. Instead of harrassing people at Planned Parenthood, ranting on talk radio, murdering doctors, and trying to overturn necessary laws, how about providing education and options for the women who need them? If you weren’t so busy with such stupid activities, you’d realize that the way to stop abortion is to eliminate the need for it. So why aren’t you out there teaching girls and boys how to protect themselves and behave themselves? Why aren’t you trying to stop rape and incest? Why aren’t you adopting the unwanted children? Why aren’t you financially supporting the pregnant women who can’t afford to have their babies?

Sometimes half the battle is knowing how to fight it.

And that is my opinion on a touchy subject. Take it as you will.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Taking Back Our Lives

Posted on 08/19/2009 by chick

When Baby was first born, it seemed as though our lives were over. Baby took everything. He took our freedom and our free time, our money and our sleep, our thoughts and our energies, and even my looks. He took it all.

Now, weeks later, we have begun to take back bits of our lives with some critical firsts.

  • We took our first long trip with Baby. My brother was visiting my aunt and uncle, and I wanted him to meet the baby while he was in the area. It takes about an hour to get there. I didn’t know how we’d manage the round trip, what with dirty diapers and frequent feedings. Once you have no choice but to do something, though, you find a way and it never seems as hard to do as you thought it would be.
  • We took our first trip to the store with Baby. I wasn’t sure how he’d react to being in a large, noisy place with lots of people, but he was well-behaved and enjoyed (I think) being out of the house. While we were there, though, it occurred to us that someone could try to take our little munchkin and that we needed to keep an eye on him at all times. That was a scary realization.
  • I cooked for the first time since Baby’s birth. Sure, I had microwaved and toasted things, but I hadn’t actually cooked. How nice to eat a meal that I prepared myself!
  • I carried Baby downstairs for the first time without the sling or car seat. Why is that such a big deal? Because I’m terrified of the stairs. We’d only been living in the house for a few days when Faithful Reader fell down them, scaring me half to death. On the bright side, it made me cautious and I was holding the rail when my heel slipped on a step just a few days later. Then there was the time I was carrying Peeps on the stairs and she started to struggle. As her claws dug into my skin, I let go of her. I had no choice. I was pregnant and I couldn’t risk the baby for the sake of the cat. I thought in that moment that I had killed her, for I saw her tumbling down the stairs and I just knew she would die. Faithful Reader says that in reality she ran down the stairs, but that’s not what I saw in my terrified state. That’s why I hate the stairs and why it takes courage to take the baby on them.

These firsts may be mere “baby steps” but together they equal great strides toward taking back our lives.

Posted in Baby | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Bye-Bye, Bluebird

Posted on 08/18/2009 by chick

I liked the bluebird theme that I was using for this blog, but it was getting old. The twits over at Twitter seem to have been using it, too, and that bugged me. So bye-bye to Bluebird and hello to the new theme!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Double Feature

Posted on 08/18/2009 by chick

Looking back over my old blog posts, I find that I miss the Vonnegut Marathon and Sunday Stories. I’d like to bring those features back in some way. I don’t know if I’ll have the time, though. I suppose I should pick an author for the marathon and a story idea worthy of completion and then decide.

Here are a few ideas for the marathon.

  • Agatha Christie, born September 15, 1890—all 36 or so of the Miss Marple stories
  • Charles Dickens, born February 7, 1812—the 20 or so novels
  • Edgar Allan Poe, born January 19, 1809—the complete works (mostly short stories, very easy)

It’s important to have a meaningful start/end date for a reading marathon, which is why I’ve included the birth dates of the authors. Christie was born in September (like me!), approximately one month from now, so she seems like the best of the three choices. So, if in September I feel up to it, the Marple Marathon will begin on the 15th. It will be a real challenge. There are lots of Miss Marple stories and I may have trouble finding them all.

As for stories, I have a couple of half-finished ones that I’ve been meaning to write for a long time. If I can find the time, I’ll start one of them and post a portion the Sunday after next. I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but I’m not very hopeful about this because Baby takes up so much of my time. However, I do have one thing in my favor. While I don’t have a lot of time to sit in front of the computer writing, I have plenty of time for thinking, particularly during late-night feedings. If I can write it in my head, then typing it up should be easy enough. It would make me happy to get some writing done again. Wish me luck!

Posted in Crazy Me, Marple Marathon, Reading, Sunday Stories, Vonnegut Marathon, Writing | Leave a comment

Tradition

Posted on 08/17/2009 by chick

As you may recall, going to the annual Westerly book sale has become a tradition for me. It was one of the things Faithful Reader and I had planned for the week leading up to Baby’s due date. We decided to go on the first day of the sale, even though there was an entrance fee, just in case Baby wanted to arrive early. Good thing. I was having contractions again that day, and by the time we got to the book sale, they had gotten strong enough to be a distraction. By the time we left the sale, they had gotten regular enough for me to be concerned. By the time we reached Providence, it seemed prudent to stop at the hospital. You’ve already heard what happened next (yup, the baby soon popped out).

It was an eventful day, thanks to Baby, but let us not forget about the books. I only spent about $10 (not counting the fee) but I came back with a nice haul.

  • Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman (for Baby, of course!)
  • Aunt Dimity Digs In by Nancy Atherton
  • The Blue Fairy Book, edited by Andrew Lang
  • Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink
  • The Dark Secret of Weatherend by John Bellairs
  • The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss (another for Baby!)
  • Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier
  • Hal Leonard Guitar Method by Will Schmid
  • The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • How to Clean Practically Anything by Consumer Reports
  • The Lost World & The Poison Belt by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
  • Miss Thistlebottom’s Hobgoblins by Theodore M. Bernstein
  • The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie
  • Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
  • Naked by David Sedaris
  • Salamander by Thomas Wharton
  • Stardust by Neil Gaiman (which I started reading in the hospital waiting room)
  • A Tune a Day for Classical Guitar by C. Paul Herfurth and Stanley George Urwin
  • A Tune a Day for Guitar by C. Paul Herfurth
Posted in Reading | 3 Comments

Puzzling Thoughts

Posted on 08/16/2009 by chick

Writing is like a puzzle, isn’t it?—Faithful Reader

That’s what he said to me last night when he looked over and saw me toying with a block of text. Writing is a sort of puzzle, one with constantly shifting pieces. You must find all the pieces and put them together in some meaningful way before the pieces shift and the thought falls apart. When it works, when all of the pieces lock together, it is thrilling, and knowing that no two people could ever take the same story idea and produce the same story, that is a beautiful thing.

Posted in Writing | Tagged | Leave a comment

All About Baby

Posted on 08/16/2009 by chick

Baby’s changing table is in the master bathroom. Sometimes, after a diaper change, he lies there on his changing pad, jauntily moving his arms and legs and smiling at something (we think it’s the hideous egg-shaped light). But when he wakes me up at night for a feeding and I take him in there for the requisite pre-meal diaper change, his head barely touches the pad before he scrunches up his face, rapidly turning scarlet, and screams with pure rage. How dare I bring him there when he’s hungry!

If he has to wait for a feeding, when he finally latches on he grabs me with both hands and looks around furtively, as if on guard against anyone who would try to steal his meal or take him away from it.

When he’s being burped, he opens his eyes wide and raises his eyebrows in a comical expression of surprise.

Posted in Baby | Leave a comment