Priorities.
Do they ever get easier to juggle?
Or will I always have to make trade-offs between one thing and another?
For example, my health.
Sleep or exercise?
Which 15 minutes will serve me best?
I don’t know.
Done with the Dr.
Something special happened today
Something extraordinary, something gay
Today I read just one picture book
And with it I took my last look
At the category of Splat-egories
Dr. Seuss wrote.
With today’s reading of Wacky Wednesday by Dr. Seuss (as Theo LeSieg), I closed the Dr. Seuss “first readers” category. I had already closed Dr. Seuss in the “picture books” category. Which means that I am officially done with Dr. Seuss.
Somehow I doubt I’ll be done for long. As I re-read several favorite Dr. Seuss stories and read a few for the first time, I couldn’t help thinking of who and how and when I might share the stories next. It’s been fun reading Dr. Seuss to myself, but Dr. Seuss was meant to be read aloud–preferably to children, who will take delight in the made up words and not too realistic drawings.
Old Favorites:
- There’s a Wocket in my Pocket-in which strange things show up in the most ordinary places.
- Green Eggs and Ham-in which a boy discovers that Sam’s novel dish is not so bad as he originally thought.
- The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins-in which a king’s pride creates a bit of trouble for a fortunate boy unfortunate enough to have 500 hats.
- The King’s Stilts-in which a king plays and his kingdom crumbles, until a boy sounds the alarm to awaken him to duty again.
- I had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew-in which paradise is always just around the corner (and so is a roadblock)
New Finds:
- Please Try to Remember the First of Octember-in which all your wildest dreams come true (don’t forget to mark your calendar for the First of Octember!)
- The Shape of Me-in which I celebrate the many sizes and shapes of many different “me’s”
- Did I ever Tell You How Lucky you are?-in which I discover that life really could be an awful lot worse.
Simple Sunday-Silliness
~Thankful for the little silly times with my Dad. Sticking our noses together and moving our heads–“Your eyes are bobbling up and down!” Kicks in the butt and flight lessons. Chasing us around the yard with a stick [a pencil, folks, calm down!] Dancing in the living room to “We wanna see Jesus lifted high”. Right angles in the library stacks. Exploring “evolution” by walking like an ape in the basement of Morril hall. And occasionally breaking out in loud and nerdy snorts in the midst of a game of Pit.
Visit Davene at Life on Sylvan Drive for more Simple Sunday posts.
Boys run in the Family
**Warning: While I attempt to avoid vulgarity on my blog, I am one to speak frankly. While I do not go into details about “how babies are made”, this post contains mention of sperm and x and y chromosomes. If this is something you are uncomfortable with, please accept my apologies and feel free to not read further.**
Davene is 36 weeks pregnant with her fourth. After three boys, they’ve decided to not find out this baby’s sex in advance. Debate has been raging as to whether this baby is going to be a girl or a boy. Many of Davene’s blog readers think this one’s going to be a girl. To which Davene replies, “Do they realize what the odds are?”
I mentioned this to my sister, a newly minted Physician Assistant, and she said, “50-50”. Because the odds for a baby’s gender are just like the odds for tossing a penny and having it land heads up. Every time you toss a penny, the odds are 50-50 as to which side it’ll end up on, regardless of what’s gone on before. This is statistical fact.
I can think of plenty of couples who have thought their hopes were gone for a child of a certain sex–but who ended up with one nonetheless. One aunt and uncle had four girls–and were surprised when their fifth (a true surprise baby) turned out to be a boy. I’ve seen even more cases where the fourth was of the opposite sex than the three going on before. Another aunt and uncle, my former pastor’s family, Davene’s neighbor Wilma, to name just a few.
But that doesn’t stop me from thinking, in a radically unscientific way, that a certain sex does “run in the family.”
Take for instance, my dad’s family (4 boys, 1 girl). Three of the boys have children. One has 6 boys and 1 girl. One has 3 boys. My dad has 4 boys and 3 girls.
Then there’s my mom’s family (10 girls, 2 boys). Both of the boys have children. One has 4 girls and 1 boy. The other has 2 girls and 1 boy.
Notice that I’m only mentioning the boys. That’s because ultimately it’s the man that determines whether a baby’s a girl or a boy. Women have xx chromosomes, Men have xy chromosomes. Mom always contributes an x to baby, Dad contributes an x to make a girl baby or a y to make a boy baby. That’s why I haven’t mentioned the girls on my Mom’s side of the family.
But even those tend to support my theory that a certain sex “runs in the family”. My mom married into a family of boys–and has 4 boys and 3 girls. My aunt Rachel married into a family of boys and has 4 boys and 2 girls. My aunt Janet married into a family of boys and has 2 boys and a girl.
So I tend to think that maybe a certain sex does “run in a family”. I’ve thought that for quite a while. It’s just today, though, that I thought of something to take my unscientific theory to even higher scientific heights: “I wonder why a certain sex might ‘run in a family’. Is it because a certain family tends to have more x or y containing sperm–or is it because the x or y sperm in a particularly family have a competitive advantage?
Wow. Talk about stretching out pseudo-science. (Although, if you happen to know any real science concerning whether certain sexes “run in families”, please let me know so I can apply some real science to my hunch.)
**Note on the use of the word “sex”: I realize that by using the word “sex” rather than the more socially acceptable “gender”, I may have inadvertantly caused offense or caused this page to lose its family-friendly rating. However, according to Merriam-Webster, sex means “either of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many species and that are distinguished respectively as female or male especially on the basis of their reproductive organs and structures.” Gender, on the other hand, means “the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex.” Thus, sex is a biological term and gender is a cultural term. When I speak of a baby’s sex, I am referring to the child’s biological category, not to his or her cultural identification with a particular sex.**
Are you goin’ to Narnia?
One small disadvantage to my “read every book in Eiseley Library” goal is that I find myself neglecting my old favorites in the press to read more and more and more NEW books. It’s liberating, in one sense, to finish an author and breathe a sigh of relief–I’ve closed that author and I won’t have to read that author ever again unless I CHOOSE to. It’s challenging, in another sense, to be constantly forcing myself outside of my reading “comfort zone.” And in another sense, it’s outright frustrating.
I’ve probably read each book in the Chronicles of Narnia through 20 times. But still, every so often, I get the hankering to curl up with C.S. Lewis and go to Narnia. Most recently, I’ve wanted to read through the series, not just for enjoyment but for meaning. I want to tease out the the allegory, the symbolism, the intended and unintended truths to be found in the Chronicles. Problem is, I’ve already read The Chronicles of Narnia.
I have a file on my computer entitled “A Catalogue of all I’ve read since September 5, 2006”. It contains, well, a log of all that I’ve read since September 5, 2006. And, as you can see from the following screenshot
I’ve already read the Chronicles of Narnia since I started my “read every book” goal. What’s more, the books are in the pink font–indicating that I have read every juvenile fiction book by C.S. Lewis that Eiseley library owns. C.S. Lewis’s juvenile fiction works are officially “closed” to me.
Which is where Carrie’s challenge comes in handy. It just so happens that Carrie at Reading to Know is hosting a
Which offers me a perfect excuse to get some reading in. Thanks Carrie!
If you’d like to join in on the fun, go to Reading to Know and get linked up. Then read something Narnia related and blog about. Easy-peasy.
Non-bloggers are welcome to join in too–I’d love to talk with you or have you post comments on my blog related to Narnia. Or you could post your thoughts as Facebook notes. Or you could write a quick e-mail and send it to your friends (don’t forget to include me in your e-mail). Even if you don’t want to write about the experience, I encourage you to read the Chronicles of Narnia–they’re absolutely fantastic.
Passable
I’ve been teaching myself to play the piano–making faltering steps then giving up, just to take the task up again later. The progress has been slow–after more than two years of off and on practicing, I’m still only in book 2 of Faber & Faber’s curriculum. In addition to my sporadic practice schedule, a primary contributing factor in my slow progress may be my difficulty in “passing” myself on to the next song.
Both of my sisters have mentioned it to me before: “That’s one of the advantages of having a teacher–they can tell you when to go on to the next song.” As it is, I have a tremendously hard time deciding when I can progress.
At first, I insisted on perfection. My notes must all be correct, my timing impeccable, and the dynamics appropriate. Which meant that I spent forever practicing the same several songs. The thing was, I got bored with the first few songs–so I kept adding more and more–but without giving myself permission to stop practicing the first few songs. So practice sessions grew until I was playing half the book every time I sat down at the piano.
Then, slowly, my sisters’ wisdom began to sink in. I didn’t have to be perfect. It was a waste of time and energy to continue to practice “Tinkling Windchimes” (made up name, not an actual song) in order to achieve perfection. I had already learned all that was necessary from practicing that song–I’d mastered the song–I just hadn’t performed it perfectly.
Today, I sat down at the piano and realized it had been almost a month since I’d “passed” a song. “I’m going to pass one tonight,” I spoke out loud, half to myself, half to my sister. “It’s been too long.” And I proceeded to play the song terribly. Never mind that I’d been playing it pretty well for nearly three months on a decently regular basis (3-5x/week). I played it just awfully. My timing was off, I was missing notes. It was horrid.
I observed that the harder I try, the worse I do–the more I strive after “perfection” the more I realize how far from perfect I am. But I refused to give up. I was going to pass a song tonight, I had decided. So, after a couple of false starts (caused by my trying to play and talk at the same time), I played the song through again. And this time, I only faltered once. “That’s pass-able” I told myself.
And that’s when it struck me. Passable. It’s a word I’ve always despised, equating it with mediocrity. Passable: (adj) satisfactory but not outstanding; adequate. And that is what it means. In one sense, that is. But passable also means “that which can be passed, traversed, or crossed.” Passable means I can move on.
Because if I truly want to achieve excellence, if I really want to be outstanding, I’m going to have to move past my mistakes and keep learning. At some point, harping on those mistakes became a hindrance holding me back rather than a tool to spur me forward. It’s that point that I must aim to find–the point at which something is “passable”.
What’s holding you back today? What area are you waiting to get perfect before you move on with your life? I encourage you to take a hard look at that situation. How important is it that that certain thing be perfect before you move on? Is your pursuit of perfection getting in the way of accomplishment?
Just like I had to “pass” myself on some of those simple songs in order to free up some time to work on the more difficult songs, maybe you need to “pass” yourself in that area so that you can move on to something else.
“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid holdof me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Phillipians 3:12-14
An Inconvenient Convenience
I work within five minutes walking distance of both of my banks. So when I needed to transfer some funds this morning, I took off my lab coat and jaunted off for a quick walk. After all, it would take at least 5 minutes to get up to the parking garage and out of it. Then I’d have to tangle about in traffic just to spend another five minutes traversing the parking garage maze again. It’d be much simpler-and better for me–to walk. And so I did.
What I didn’t count on was my bank not opening their lobby until 8:30. So, when I got to the bank at 8:15, I couldn’t go in. I started on my way back, then stopped short, realizing that I wouldn’t have time to get anything done before heading back to the bank again anyway. So I walked up to the drive-through and tried to do it that way.
The teller wasn’t quite sure it was safe for me to walk up to the drive-through. Cars just speed up to those things, you know. She warned me to keep watching over my shoulder–but she did let me complete my transaction.
I got to the other bank around 8:20 to discover the same situation–but this time the drive-through was filled with cars. So I sat outside the doors for ten minutes until the lobby opened up. Then I deposited my money and walked back to work.
I understand the convenience of a drive-through bank window for some people–particularly for mothers of young children for whom unpacking everybody just for a quick deposit might be overkill, and for disabled individuals for whom getting out of a vehicle is a huge rigamarole. But for the rest of us, are drive-through windows REALLY that convenient?
Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer to walk into the bank. Yes, I have to turn off the car, leave the AC, and walk a whole twenty steps or so. But I get my money just as quickly, and I have personal contact with my bankers–such that they know who I am and recognize me when I come back in. On the other hand, driving through the drive-through means wasting gas idling while the person in front of me dinks about, it means messing with a machine that is nothing if not unwieldy, and it means opening my windows and letting the AC escape anyway.
It seems to me that the spurious “convenience” of the drive-through window is very little compared to the significant inconvience of not having the option of visiting the lobby. After all, since motor vehicles are the only entities generally allowed in drive-throughs, having only the drive-through open necessarily excludes at least three classes of people: those who walk, those who bicycle, and those who use public transportation.
What might be a “convenience” to some is just plain exclusive to others. And, an inconvenient truth regarding drive-through bank windows? They promote the waste of fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gases by idling vehicles, while penalizing those who choose eco-friendly forms of transportation (namely: walkers, bicyclists, and users of public transportation.)
Just About Everything
There isn’t enough time in a day to do everything. So I settle on doing just about everything. Still, I manage to get quite a bit done.
I got up today at 5:30–and as you can see, I’m just starting to wrap up now at 11:30. But check out what just about everything means today:
- Get up :-P
- Fix bed
- Dress to shoes (Okay, you caught me, I’m going through my “Flylady” morning routine)
- Fix hair
- Do makeup
- Take meds
- Make and eat breakfast
- Unload dishwasher
- Devotions
- Brush teeth (using left hand to increase the mental workout)
- “Swish and Swipe” bathroom
- Return a dozen items to their proper places (clearing the clutter in my bedroom!)
- Do a ten-minute Spark People kickboxing workout.
- Run to my parents to retrieve my baby shampoo
- Take a dozen photos of the bunnies out back.
- Renew my library books online
- Assemble tonight’s dinner (a bean and tomato concoction I thought up last night)
- Get car dropped off at the shop
- Work a little over 8 hours (2 diet educations, 4 new admits, 1 follow up, 1 set of rounds. Not bad.)
- Read an article on family mealtimes
- Pray over a couple dozen issues while taking the stairs at work
- Read a chapter on Nutrition programs for children
- Pick car up from shop
- Go grocery shopping
- Water indoor plants
- Start yogurt going
- Enjoy a leisurely discussion with roommates
- Work on quilting
- Practice piano
- Make tomorrow’s lunch
- Go to Ice Cream with friends–and have a great chat about…what we don’t talk about (in mixed company)
- Check Lincoln’s “Dial-a-Registered-Dietitian” voicemailbox
- Practice recorder
- Read all the new posts on class discussion board. Respond appropriately.
- Write reactions to family mealtime article on discussion board
- Create job description for marketing project
- Set out clothes for tomorrow
- Read a chapter of a novel
- Catch up on a few blogs
- Post on my own blog
And now I should probably work on the last thing on my list–getting ready for bed.
It’s been a full day today–but Mary’s Fuller! That is, tomorrow is likely to be full too–so I’d best get a bit of sleep before tomorrow begins!
The Next Generation
My family has been going on “romps”–long rambling walks through the pastures of my grandparents’ property–for as long as I can remember.
In the beginning, we romped our way to the old stove, where my mom and aunts used to use cowpies as pretend food to be cooked on the wood-burning stove.
Later on, we romped across fields and through pastures in a circuitous route to the “crick” for some “wading”.
And most recently, we’ve romped through the little stream right below Grandma and Grandpa’s house, out through a few pastures and to the windmill and the “cracks.”
This weekend, I saw that my grandparents were a bit weary and the younguns’ far from worn out–and so I began to gather whoever was willing for a romp. One cousin heard that there was a romp in progress and asked my Aunt Martha, who has been the instigator of romps for as long as I can remember, what the plan was.
She said she didn’t know. That I was planning it. That maybe it was time to pass romps on to the next generation.
Which got me thinking. Aunt Martha was my age when I was born. She probably wasn’t much older than I when she instigated the first romps. And from my earliest memories, she was the fun-planner for the family. She had funny stories to share, she had gifts for everyone, she had some way to make each kid feel oh so special.
And now I, the next generation, have the opportunity to do the same.
I thought of it as I walked along beside my young cousin, discussing long legs and whether our other little cousin came along just to have some one to talk at. I thought of it as I called some cousins near to show them gooseberries–and to encourage them to give one a try–even if they are rather tart. I thought of it as I held open a half a dozen barbed wire fences so children could slip between the wires. I thought of it as I untied the water bottle from my waist so a straggler could have a drink from the windmill-pumped well water. I thought of it as I assisted cousins across the boggy little stream as we neared home.
I thought, “Wow. I really am the next generation.”
And I thought, “I couldn’t do it better than my aunt Martha–but I’m sure gonna try to do it just as well.”
Pregnancy
What should I be eating now that I’m pregnant? Everybody talks about eating for two, but what does that look like? My friend’s doctor said she could gain as much weight as she wanted–but then I’ve seen her struggle to lose weight after she had the baby. And then there’s this pregorexic thing. I mean, I don’t want the baby to make me fat, but I certainly don’t want to become anorexic or anything–especially not while I’m pregnant.
So…
Did I manage to scare all of you who read the first paragraph of my every post in your feed burner or on Facebook? You needn’t be afraid. I am not pregnant. I am still a virgin (that’s for my few brave high school readers–you can do it!).
Instead, I’m taking an online course in Life Cycle Nutrition. As part of that course, I have been asked to review the USDA’s “MyPyramid for Moms” website. While all I have to do for class is review the site and discuss it on the class discussion forum, I thought I would share my thoughts with you all as well. So here goes…
MyPyramid for Moms
Advantages:
- Calculators Galore-You can calculate a personalized MyPyramid Plan that tells you how much of each food group to eat during each trimester. You can compare what you’re eating to the recommendations. You can even calculate how much weight you should gain during your pregnancy.
- Understandable information-What information is present is written in a fairly easy to understand style.
- Personalized Plan-The MyPyramid Plan for pregnancy and for breastfeeding is personalized to your height, weight, activity level, due date, and whether you’re breastfeeding completely or partially. It’s further broken down into trimesters of pregnancy and months after delivery.
Disadvantages:
- Wordiness-You’ve got to sort through a lot of text to find what you really want to know
- Not very specific-for example, the site proclaims that “when you are pregnant, you have a higher need for some vitamins and minerals”, but fails to mention which vitamins and minerals you need more of.
- Skirts the issues-MyPyramid never actually says how much your nutrient needs are increased during pregnancy. It has an eating plan–but you’d never know from MyPyramid that for most women, “eating for two” means only an additional 300 calories per day (about the calories in a large candy bar.)
Please take a look at the MyPyramid for Moms website and let me know what you think. Was my assessment correct or am I way out there? Even the non-Mom’s can participate in this one. Just do as I did–enter 12/01/09 as your due date for the pregnancy calculators and enter 05/01/09 as your child’s birthday for the breastfeeding calculators. I’d love to hear what you think (and your insight might add something worthwhile to my class’s discussion of the topic as well!)