Friday, February 21, 2014

7 Quick Takes (Vol. 36)

 -1-
It just hit me this week that I'm going to have a baby in a MONTH.  It's not like there's much to get ready....I pretty much know what I'm doing by now, and we already have all the "baby stuff" - it's just a matter of dragging it all up from the basement (a job for my husband, and not me).  But I'm not sure that I've really mentally prepared for it.

-2-
Tom is scheduled to go on a business trip less than two weeks before my due date (!).  It's something he *could* get out of, but it's potentially useful for his career that he go.  We've been discussing the pros and cons.  My other two kids were born a little early - seven days and five days, respectively.  Still, the chances of this baby being farther ahead of schedule seem rather slim....

On the other hand, if I did go into labor while Tom was gone, it would be a pretty big deal.  To be honest, I don't think I'd mind too much about my husband missing the birth (at least I'll still have my doula with me!).  It's that I would have to deal with all the arrangements completely by myself - having contractions at home (hopefully at home, and not out somewhere!) while making frantic phone calls, trying to find someone willing to pick up and entertain my kids for the day (or night?) as well as a ride to the hospital for myself.  Usually, Tom handles all that stuff, because while I'm in labor, I'm just not in the right state of mind to deal with all that crap.

We still haven't made the final decision about what he's going to do....but I think we're leaning towards him going.  Yikes!


-3-

Earlier this week, I watched Milo and Otis for the first time since I was really young.  Oh. my. goodness.  First of all, I felt like the whole premise of the film was: "let's have Milo and Otis encounter any and every type of creature we can get ahold of - whether or not it makes sense for that species to appear in this particular landscape - and just see what they do with each other."  Did you know that lobsters and crabs live on farms?  Neither did I.  It really strained credibility to see the combinations of animals that supposedly lived together in this imaginary country.


But mostly, I was seriously disturbed the entire time by all the risky situations they put those poor animals into.  Was it really necessary to send the cat down a waterfall in a wooden box, or have the dog fight with a bear?  There is NO WAY some animals weren't killed or seriously injured during the filming.  I checked Wikipedia, and it seems that many others have had the same concerns...


-4-
It seems like all the cool bloggers are going to the Edel Gathering this summer.  It sounds like a really great event, but unfortunately, I won't be there.  Not only would it be difficult to swing financially, but....having to bring a four-month old baby would just make it a lot less enjoyable, I have to be honest!  I'll try not to feel jealous of the opportunity to meet so many interesting Catholic ladies.


-5-
I've been starting to think about Lent (which starts March 5th this year!), how I should observe it, and what to give up.  I'm afraid the whole season will get rather overshadowed by all the stressful (but exciting) things we have going on these next two months: signing on the house, fixing up some stuff in the house prior to move-in, giving birth, planning a baptism, moving day... (ideally in this order, but the "having a baby" part I don't really have any control over!).

-6-
I'm thinking I should definitely reduce my internet use during Lent, since it can get out-of-control at times.  And I don't even own a laptop, tablet, smartphone, or any of that stuff.  Very intentionally, we have only a desktop computer.  And that is temptation enough for me, believe me.  A practice I think would be good, yet challenging, is to not allow myself to use the internet except when the kids are in bed - for naps or the night.  So many times during the day, I pop into the room just to "check my e-mail", and it turns into twenty minutes of browsing Facebook or reading random articles people post about "23 things you'll only remember if you were born in the 80s" or something else stupid like that.  It's unnecessary, and it takes time away from my family.

Kendra has some great ideas for Lent that I will have to look over again.


-7-
Aaaaand, because I'm running out of ideas, I'll share a few recent quotes from my little man.

Listening to a song with the lyric, "there he knelt down on the floor."
Sly: "That song just said 'meltdown on the floor' - Stella does that!!"


Sly, to Tom, as soon as he walked in the door after work: "Mommy said I can't have a snack because I lied. What's up with that?!"

Sly and I were waiting forever for Stella to climb up the stairs.
Me: "What's taking her so long?"
Sly: "Probably gravity."



Quick Takes is hosted at Conversion Diary

6 comments:

  1. Jon is traveling a done throughout this pregnancy, but thankfully the last month is clear. Michael was about a week and a half early so I would be so nervous! I have a doula this time around, but yeah, husbands are nice to have around! ;)

    I gave up Facebook at work already (started Septuagesima) and think I will add in extra prayer for Lent. I'm horrible at giving up anything food related when I'm pregnant or nursing so I may just steer clear of that this year.

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  2. I have no idea what I'm doing for Lent. I know if I give up any sort of food I will spend the entire duration of Lent having major cravings for it and while I can handle that when I'm not pregnant, I don't see that working during the final weeks of my pregnancy at all.

    I'd be nervous about Tom traveling so close to your due date. My husband usually stops going on business trips about 3-4 weeks before my due date up until the baby is about six weeks old. But he insists on being near by in those final weeks because he knows I'd happily deliver at home by myself if left to my own devices.

    If the Edel conference was being held in the north east I'd consider going to it but there's no way I'd even consider having to hop on a plane with a little baby even if it would be a really cool getaway. Someone needs to have something like that up near where we are.

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  3. 2: Is there a parent/brother/sister/in-law/friend who you can recruit to stay the time with you? My husband had a trip scheduled for 10 days past my due date this time (definitely couldn't get out of it, so we were relieved of the decision making at least). So frustrating. And I went a week longer then I had with any of my others so I was seriously seriously a blubbering mess of a pregnant person those last few days. I ended up going into labor on my due date but still wasn't ready to do time on my own with the newborn and other kids so my mom came and stayed with us while he was gone.

    6. We have all our family lenten observances set, we will mostly just carry over from last year, but I know that my personal one needs to be about limiting online time. I think my ideal for Ordinary Time would be no internet until after morning prayer (which I hardly ever do...), reading to younger kids, dressed for the day and cleaning something. I want something a bit more restrictive for Lent though. I'm trying to figure out how to limit myself to 'intential' internet, as opposed to just surfing. Not sure if I can make concrete rules for that.

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  4. 6--I have trouble with figuring out how to give up internet too... I was just thinking this morning, maybe I'll give up morning internet time (I usually browse while eating breakfast for 20-30 minutes). I had already been thinking about making the effort to get to either Mass or 15 minutes of Adoration (the chapel is 1/2 mile out of my way) before work in the mornings, so that would work together.

    I laugh every time I think about Sly's quote about gravity. Chuckie thought it was pretty great, too.

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  5. I can't believe you're having a baby in a month either!!

    And I've been thinking about the internet and Lent too ... I'm in the same position as you where I just have the desktop computer. But it's right there in the living room. So 1) Michael spends more time looking at a screen than I'd like, just because I happen to be on the computer, and 2) it is way to easy to sit down in this chair and get sucked in.

    So I'm thinking of only using it when he's asleep, too. (Basically there are maybe ten minutes a day when everyone's asleep, so that is more of a sacrifice than I'm willing to make. :-P )

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  6. I love the gravity comment!

    (And thanks.)

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