spinning-jennie: archives « June 2004 | Main | August 2004 »

July 30, 2004

I Can't Make This Stuff Up.
Dr. Manhands: So, do you think your baby is going to get all those curls?
Me: Well, maybe. But it's a boy, so I don't know how happy he'd be about that!
DM: Oh, it'd be great for him! [in all apparent seriousness] Just look at Justin Guarini!!!
Me: Um... yeah...
DM: You know, my wife had exactly your hair her whole life. Until we had our first daughter. Three months later, it went entirely straight! And she never got her curls back!
Me: ...gulp??? [holding back strong urge to sob]
07/30/04 10:03 PM |  Comments


Hoo, Yay, Appointment Day.
It's my theory that, for the last month, they have you in every week so that you can experience airing your ladybits for as many folks as possible. Because I can't believe that they think checking for dilation so often actually has any purpose (certainly doesn't do a thing for me). I may refuse to don the buttlesswondergown for Dr. Manhands today. More than willingly, I'll give you my body fluids, arm, and belly - but my cervix is going through enough without you poking at it.
07/30/04 10:21 AM |  Comments


July 29, 2004

Don't Leave Home Without It
Yesterday I was at the fabric counter of an evil and annoying but oh-so-convenient megaplace, waiting for some yardage to be cut (and is my machine out yet? you'd think so, considering the number of days up there to the right, but no). And I was crossing said item off my list.

Fabric Lady: Are you good about keeping lists?
Me: Oh, I don't have a choice - I can't function in a store without one.
FL: I try to make sure I have one when I shop, but it doesn't always happen. And then I end up wandering around, getting everything I don't need, and almost nothing I went to get in the first place.
Me: Uh-huh, that sounds about right.

And, at least for me, it's been so much worse with all the mischievous hormones wreaking havoc in my poor head. The list keeps me sane. I must be one with the list. Leaving home without the list means nothing short of doom.
07/29/04 04:28 PM |  Comments


July 28, 2004

SOS
When the Safeway.com deliverywoman was here yesterday (grocery shopping hurts), McFly freaked out (that's just his MO), and, since we've blocked off his access to hair up/screw with the wiring inside the back of the entertainment center, his new favorite place to hide is beneath my desk. Way back there behind the tower. On the power button atop my subwoofer. And now I have no sound, and I'm too freaking huge to crawl back there and turn it on again.
07/28/04 11:17 AM |  Comments


July 27, 2004

More Militant Misogyny
Oh, the battle for perfect motherhood just keeps raging on. First the Dooce attacks, and now this lovely thread 'o vitriol. Via Jennifer.

It's when I read such things that I'm almost ashamed to be a woman. This is how the stereotypes (shrewish, catty and back-stabbing) are perpetuated, ladies.

Added for clarification: I plan on adopting as many "attachment" parenting methods as I find possible - co-sleeping, some degree of baby-wearing, long-term breastfeeding. It just burns me to read women attacking the choices of others (having an epidural will make me evil? really? periodically using a stroller instead of a sling is practically child abandonment? you don't say?). As if parenthood isn't difficult enough without all that negativity flying around.

Added for my own future reference (and because it's a riot): "Be suspicious of anyone who claims to love Motherhood but who always seems to hate actual mothers."
07/27/04 07:07 PM |  Comments


July 26, 2004

Preggie Pr0n
Yesterday, in a fit of feeling artsy and, well, not entirely like a heaving moo-cow, I decided to take a Mirror Project pic. And today, in a fit of extreme bravery, I'm showing it here. Us at exactly 37 weeks. May be considered by some NWS, especially by popes, and possibly most Republicans.
07/26/04 09:20 AM |  Comments


July 24, 2004

Back to the Positive
Well, that's more than enough of that. Now I'm going to explain why those four causes I've sponsored over there to your right are worthy of at least my own attention (the fifth just goes without saying!).

Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network - Let's just say that my interest in this organization is, unfortunately, not casual. RAINN provides crucial counseling and aid, and works towards prevention and justice.

Transfair USA - You might think it difficult to reconcile my fervent belief in free trade with the idea of fair trade. Not so. As a free individual, I can choose to support businesses that allow their workers a dignified living. Transfair is dedicated to identifying and supporting those businesses.

Depression Alliance - I've had my own battles with depression in the past. My entire family has quite a history of clinical depression. Depression Alliance, a UK organization, provides public education, research support, help for the afflicted, and all-around stigma-obliteration.

Hygeia Foundation - This was entirely new to me, but they provide so many services... Check out their index page, it really tallies them up best. In a nutshell, they're "concerned with pregnancy loss, maternal and child health and narrowing disparities in access to information technologies and women's health services."
07/24/04 03:31 PM |  Comments


Defeatism is FunDamental
Today started brilliantly, but has quickly degenerated to sub-sewer. Besides which, I itch like a mofo. So, between visiting Project Blog sites, I'll be periodically pouring all my pent-up cynicism and self-pity on you, you lucky devils.

Henceforth, I'm officially removing myself from anything remotely political. I'll smile and nod politely, or leave the room. I don't have a leg to stand on, I'm not good at debate/argument, and it's a waste of time. I've seen the light - those who've told me that what I strongly believe in is irrelevant are correct. He doesn't say it, but my own husband thinks I'm a nutjob. So I'll cast my vote for that popular guy, the one who isn't actively trying to lambast every last shred of our civil rights in the name of, well, The-Big-You-Know-Who, making the marks on my absentee ballot with my right hand and holding a big fat drink in my left. Which, incidentally, will make me no less a nutjob.
07/24/04 01:01 PM |  Comments


FU
I'm lucky, I think, to be far enough under the radar that I've never received such nasty, judgemental correspondence (of course I'm not a mother quite yet, which could well catalyze the sense of bitchtitlement out there pretty instantaneously). But I've witnessed the snark elsewhere, and it's made me angry beyond reason, and I'd gladly join Heather in that screaming trip to the middle of the street.

Really, people. If you're that asinine, perhaps you should leave the "it takes a village" concept to those that aren't.
07/24/04 10:58 AM |  Comments


July 23, 2004

Guesty
Tomorrow early, 6:30 - 10:30 am PST, I'll be guest blogging for DJ. Come over and visit, maybe pledge a little something for the Callaway Hills Animal Shelter.

On each half-hour, I'll be posting a little something about one of the many unfinished artsy-craftsy projects that I've had brewing far too long. It's all about procraftination. Hee.
07/23/04 10:07 PM |  Comments


But... It's Not Even April First!
"California Rep. Doug Ose introduced legislation Thursday to carve the image of former President Reagan onto Mount Rushmore, where it would join the granite busts of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt at the South Dakota national memorial.

"Ose said he thinks Reagan would fit nicely on the north side of the mountain, just to the right of Lincoln."
I for one would love to share some of what he and his 16 co-sponsors surely must be smoking. Your California lawmakers at work.
07/23/04 12:43 PM |  Comments


Facetiousness
In one of the stray library publications that I'm still receiving (though I haven't paid dues to any organization since ???), there was a full-page ad proclaiming the ingenuity of offering online payment options for patrons as part of their software package. How convenient to pay late fees, begin/renew memberships, and make donations from your own patron record.

The novelty!
07/23/04 10:08 AM |  Comments


July 22, 2004

Up All Night Vol. 4
No Blogathon this year, but temporary stand-in Project-Blog begins this Saturday at 8 am EST. There's no way I can stay up all night this time, but it'll still be fun to watch. Go sponsor somebody - lots of bloggers don't have any supporters yet!
07/22/04 10:30 PM |  Comments


"But I Still Won Three Purple Hearts!"
This Land. Or, that which makes me realize that I've perhaps been missing out by not visiting Atom Films more often.
07/22/04 06:15 PM |  Comments


Yay!
All my bloodwork - liver enzymes, platelets, iron - completely smack dab in the middle of their respective normal ranges. Whew! And my BP this morning was the lowest reading I've ever had. So I'm in the clear as long as my weekly BP checks stay normal.

The advice nurse that I dealt with was very nice. So I take back half of what I said about the non-physician staff.

Even the PUPPP seems to be slowing down (knock on wood-like desktop surface). Maybe I can actually, you know, enjoy this last couple of weeks or so.
07/22/04 04:18 PM |  Comments


July 21, 2004

Eeek, 36 Weeks!
I was lucky enough to get the best doctor today. She talks straight, no condescension, explains what she's going to do. She would be the reason I'd stick with this practice.

My last fasting glucose test was 100% normal. She wants to do another one soon, just to be safe. My blood pressure today, however, was not okay. Rather much not okay. She thinks it's just a fluke, because I'm not showing any facial/much ankle swelling, or spilling any protein in the urine, or having headaches at all. Tomorrow I'll go in early for another reading, and if that's high (and my bloodwork from today shows signs), I'll be sent to the hospital for some other monitoring. And if that goes poorly... ugh. I rail against early induction, but I know pre-eclampsia isn't something you want to screw around with (unlike gestational diabetes, we're talking possible maternal and fetal death). Meantime, I'll just keep hoping/believing it was a fluke reading.

I'm not at all effaced or dilated. Oh, well. There are a few movies I want to squeeze in, anyhow (barring events tomorrow, of course).
07/21/04 09:11 PM |  Comments


Ranty
Do I have enough on my plate without worrying about infantile family feuds, too? Yes, I think I do.

I keep reading more and more about women who are pressured or even attacked legally by doctors and hospitals when they won't kowtow to their increasing need to induce births with drugs or deliver via surgery. I understand that sometimes these things are medical necessity, and I'm grateful that they exist in real emergencies. But. Given some flak I've already been subjected to by my own practice for not bending to other unnecessarily harmful procedures, this has me a bit concerned. I think these last weeks of appointments will determine if I pick a closer alternate hospital at the last minute. I wonder if my doctors could take legal action if I stayed at home (not that I think I'll be trying it).

Related, someone on a board was shocked yesterday to find that their insurance covered vasectomy, but not tubal ligation. Viagra, but not birth control. Also recently discussed - many women have apparently been under suspicion when their babies don't grow in line with national weight charts. Even though they're eating well and plenty. I guess I didn't realize we were living in the reproductive Dark Ages.

If you want sponsorship for Blogathon stand-in Project Blog this weekend, perhaps your site shouldn't be password protected. Just sayin'... I'm still digging around for the perfect combination of Needs Sponsors, Cause I Can Get Behind, and Writing I'd Like to Follow All Night.
07/21/04 12:07 PM |  Comments


July 20, 2004

Your Friendly Neighborhood Lumbering Leper
I could probably scare a small child with my welts. They're pretty much everywhere now, the worst spot being between my fingers, runner-up my ankles (because those are hard to reach). My calves aren't terrible... yet. Oatmeal - no. Calamine - no. Benadryl - only because it knocks me out. Cortizone - no. Cold compresses - please. I'm going to try Benadryl gel next. Tomorrow I'll ask the doctor about non-drowsy antihistamines, and how safe she thinks they are. Because I know they've got to be a lot safer than steroids in any case.

I think he's dropped, because I have whole new brand of pressure and stiff-sore going on. It's a load off my skin to feel at least some sign of progress. Commence with the waddle!
07/20/04 10:16 AM |  Comments


July 19, 2004

You Rock.
I love you, new neighbors. You only make normal people noises (and sometimes the occasional puppy bark, but who could find issue with that?). I never hear loud, trashy diatribes coming from your yard. Your three little boys must be angels. Tomorrow is trash day, and I see you haven't purposely parked a rusted-out mini-van in the only safe place along the curb to put the bins. I want to bring you cupcakes and give your puppy the biggest Nylabone I can find.
07/19/04 09:59 AM |  Comments


July 18, 2004

McFly Update
McFly is acting normally this afternoon, walking fine, sociable, and able to jump up on things. He's also regained his appetite, which is good. And the other two cats have stopped treating him like the Evil Alien Cat. So things are looking good for now.

D. just talked to the vet; apparently there was nothing in the routine bloodwork, but they're still waiting on some results for parasite tests. If those are normal, the doctor thinks it may either be epilepsy (treatable with phenobarbital), or a brain tumor. Of course we're hoping it's not that. Maybe we'll know more tomorrow...
07/18/04 06:26 PM |  Comments


July 17, 2004

Scared.
I was sitting here in the office just now, when I heard this series of crashes in the living room. McFly was having massive spasms next to the tv, writhing and flopping and panting. D. threw some clothes on and made for the vet (I don't even know where the closest emergency place is around here). I wish I were quicker at dressing right now, because I'm just going to worry until I know what's happening.

I wish now that I hadn't made bad jokes not an hour before about how I didn't like him anymore (he gouged my inner thigh while hopping off my lap abruptly).

Update 1:06: D. tried a hospital on Watt and Madison, and the woman was a total bitch about the fact that they "don't accept emergencies." At a vet hospital. She at least referred him to a different center on Howe and El Camino, and I called, and it's open (and the woman I talked to seemed very nice, at least). They're headed that way now. Elmo is still freaking out, I can't find Elli at all, and McFly is making a new, scarier noise.

Update 1:46: They're keeping him at least until this evening, possibly overnight. Doing some bloodwork and whatnot. I guess when D. left just now, he was acting completely normal again. Freaky, freaky stuff. I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

Update 7:55: They told us we could pick him up today, so we did. But he still really can't use his back legs well; he's lying listlessly on the rug in front of the kitchen sink. Well, at least until I paid him too much attention - then he dragged himself under the kitchen table to hide. I don't think they let him try to walk around at all before calling us. The test results won't be in until tomorrow or even Monday. I hope he shows some improvement by then...
07/17/04 12:42 PM |  Comments


July 16, 2004

Wow, That Was Fast
We already have new neighbors! - they're moving in right now. And they seem nice enough. They had a whole cavalcade of family helping, and one of their mothers even stopped to talk. So much better than being greeted by hostile stares right off the bat. Hopeful...
07/16/04 05:20 PM |  Comments


July 15, 2004

Nope, Didn't Need That.
Really. As if I weren't feeling uncomfortable enough, I've developed a skin condition, PUPPP (or, less charmingly, Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy). Tiny, unbelievably itchy welts that began on the lower abdomen, spread to the upper thighs, and, just today, have started to cover my hands and forearms. It only occurs in an estimated 1 of about 200 first pregnancies. Lucky, lucky me. It's found twice as often in those carrying males. There's no cure except delivery, and treatments for the itching (topical steroids, oral antihistamines) are reported as inconsistently helpful at best. Yay!
07/15/04 10:17 PM |  Comments


Solitary Sport Goes Social
Aw, man. It's too bad I don't feel quite safe driving that far...
07/15/04 05:11 PM |  Comments


Whew.
I admit I was a bit frightened until the vote. Whatever your personal opinion on gay marriage, you should've been, too. Bad Republicans. Bad.

Are you sure you don't want an intelligent someone who'll champion the right values - personal and economic freedom for all - in office?
07/15/04 12:52 PM |  Comments


July 14, 2004

Gotta Love that Disclaimer
Okay, I need to learn some serious woodworking, because this bed is only the coolest thing ever. The price is of course a little prohibitive.

Update: wouldn't it go really well with a lighthouse? Oooh!
07/14/04 11:19 AM |  Comments


I NEED TO SLEEEEEEP.
There really isn't any other way to properly handle it. Anyone who uses a weed-whacker mere yards from my window at 7:30 am will from this day forward summarily be shot on sight. Consider yourself warned.
07/14/04 08:26 AM |  Comments


July 13, 2004

35 Weeks
I make a really good kitty bed these days... D. clicked this just before McFly jumped up on my lap for a nap, too.
07/13/04 08:35 AM |  Comments


July 12, 2004

Downtown
Becky and Harley visited from Seattle yesterday. We hadn't seen them since 1999, back in Escanaba. Checked out the inside of the Capitol for the first time in a few years, and shouldn't have been too surprised to find only one entrance now - heavily guarded and metal-detectored. After that, we walked through K Street down to Old Sac. Some kind of filming was going on downtown, but the area wasn't fenced off, so I assume it wasn't anything major. Too bad it was too freaking hot to eat on the balcony at La Terraza! I decided against the usual Veggie Chimi (now that I think about it, I have one favorite dish at every area Mexican restaurant that I usually don't stray from) in favor of the Chile Verde, which was good. Of course I was envious of all that delicious crushed ice in the margaritas...

It's been awhile since I've walked very far, especially in the heat, and I think I overestimated my capability a little - not feeling the best most of today. I'm fine now aside from some really annoying rib pain, which I believe our little devil is taking a certain glee in exacerbating with some well-placed kicks!
07/12/04 08:23 PM |  Comments


July 11, 2004

Stop the Federal Marriage Amendment



Just in case there was any lingering doubt about my stance on the issue ;-)
07/11/04 01:05 PM |  Comments


July 10, 2004

Sigh.
Too bad this isn't at all a reliable election predictor.
07/10/04 10:48 AM |  Comments


July 09, 2004

First Time for Everything
Well. I've never been asked by a department store (Kmart) clerk if I needed help out to my car before. Not that I'd ever accept it unless I had a piece of furniture or something - and I'm too independent, so I wouldn't get something if I couldn't handle it myself (unless it's at OSH, where they always load the heavy stuff right into your trunk from a special dock, preggers or no).
07/09/04 01:58 PM |  Comments


July 08, 2004

Yaaaaawwwwn.
So tired. Slept all night, and most of this morning. Just like the past week. It's not very productive, but I'm too exhausted to care (much). I guess schlepping the bump around takes more work than I thought it would. Seriously, I've no idea how some people are physically able to work all the way up 'til the end - especially without the benefit of large draughts of caffeine!
07/08/04 01:46 PM |  Comments


July 07, 2004

Can I Get a WooHoo!?!
Do you hear that?

No screaming. No thumpy music. No cackling. No wall-crashing.

And, look there, do you see? Where are the rags hanging over our fence? And the piles of crap in the driveway? What about our daily dose of silent stares?

Our duplex-mates moved on Monday, apparently very quickly, quite unbeknownst to us. I went to get the mail yesterday, and was surprised to see the place cleared out. Of course the next tenants could always be a treat, too. I guess we'll just enjoy the silence (and cleanliness) while we can.
07/07/04 09:03 AM |  Comments


July 06, 2004

Stream-of-Consciousness Linkfest
Two things not horribly far from Milwaukee that I can't believe I never visited: The House on the Rock, and Taliesin. As kids our family always (always!) vacationed in Michigan's U.P., never in Chicago or our own backyard. Must make a trip to Wisconsin when the kidlet is old enough, and catch the Dells and Holy Hill while we're at it.

Strawberry upside-down cake. I'm saving this one for later.

FYI: if your local affiliate stopped carrying Martha Stewart Living, you can at least get some sort of fix now on Style.
07/06/04 05:47 PM |  Comments


July 05, 2004

Home Stretching
*scratch scratch twitch scratch*

Oh, someone please stop the itching. I'm about to take a bath in hydrocortisone. And - thrills! - I've got newer, deeper stretch marks every day. *scratch*

We've got a severe weather alert for triple-digit temps today (didn't quite make it) and tomorrow. This is not making the thought of lumbering through another month any more attractive. Which of course means that he'll arrive late (now that we've seen the photographic proof that he's not some sugar-bloated monster baby and I won't be forced into surgical removal three weeks early).

Started watching the childbirth DVD, and are now just getting to the fun part. And by 'fun,' I really mean 'like Hell,' because she's just told us that "you're not really in labor until the contractions are five minutes apart and they're so bad that you feel like you want to bite your own toes off."

Um. So. Ye-e-e-aaaah.

The itching... it's really not that bad.
07/05/04 10:32 PM |  Comments


July 04, 2004

Have a Safe and Happy Fourth!
07/04/04 09:45 AM |  Comments


July 02, 2004

Knit Magic Redflux
Someone found one of my posts about the Mattel Knit Magic, and asked if I might scan and send the instruction manual, which I was more than happy to share. Then I thought that it might be useful to others who got hold of the machine without manual, so I posted it for posterity here removed it when someone else wasn't happy with my blatant abuse of copyright law, but found you an alternate source - in nasty, poorly-executed .pdf, but at least straight from the horse's mouth.
07/02/04 05:03 PM |  Comments


Time Flying While Frying
So, I realized today that we've been in Sacramento exactly four years. Because Sunday will be our fifth Citrus Heights fireworks, and we arrived a couple of days before the Fourth in 2000. I've been here almost exactly as long as I was in Detroit. Though do I whine about living here - it's really still a huge improvement.

Unless you're talking about European food. Then, not so much.
07/02/04 11:10 AM |  Comments


July 01, 2004

I Guess I Needed to Wash the Floor, Anyhow
I did something that was, apparently, incredibly stupid today. The patio chair cushions were grody, so I decided to stick one in the washer. I used to do this in the old apartment washer without incident. But the new washer doesn't like it, and showed its displeasure by spitting up a good couple gallons of rinsewater on the kitchen floor. I mopped up as much as I could before my back went wonky, then left for a bit. The good thing about living in such a dry climate is that much of it evaporated while I was away.

Again, the cats sat in the kitchen doorway and looked amused, while I was not.
07/01/04 02:15 PM |  Comments


Happy Canada Day!
07/01/04 10:29 AM |  Comments