To Be More Specific...

This post is for my brother-in-law Peter, who made me smile first thing in the morning with a comment. It made me remember that I had resolved to post today some more specific information about what I'm really doing, thinking about, and engaging in all day. So, ok then.

Reading: 
This book came to me in a care package from some dear friends in Juneau. I devoured it, along with the homemade caramels it came with. Detailing the lives and work of expat journalists at a newspaper in Rome, it's tightly written enough that I can ignore the siren call of the US Weekly magazine sitting on the coffee table, and smart enough that I don't feel bad about reading the US Weekly when I'm done.

My friend Mary is working on a great new website, "A Prosperous Way Down". It's a look at our civilization's future in world with less fossil fuels and less explosive growth. Instead of a prognosis of economic collapse and disaster, it charts a path to the future where people re-learn to be comfortable with less, and changes in attitude can lead to a prosperous way down. Check it out- it's an enormous amount of food for thought. Brilliant.

Watching:
Party Down details the lives of aspiring actors and writers in Hollywood, working as caterers to make ends meet. It has a great cast. It was tragically cancelled after two seasons so it's probably not going to keep me occupied for very long.
I'm still sticking with the program of not watching TV in the day time. I haven't really been working this week, so some days it's been more difficult to stick to that goal. I also spend a lot of time staring at my computer screen, surfing the internet or chatting and deep down I wonder if there's really any difference. Someday I'll break the rule, and then you'll find me in bed, watching Revenge with the shades drawn and the dog curled up beside me. And that day my husband will come home early, and I will be 100% busted.

Learning:

Many people suggested I take this time to learn a language. It would indeed be a handy time to brush up on my Russian or Spanish (and by brush up, I mean "learn completely over from scratch because I only remember a few phrases like 'I have a brain tumor"). Instead, I joined Code Academy, which endeavors to teach web code via weekly interactive lessons. I don't know how far I'll make it but I do know that it engages a part of my brain that I've left to lie fallow for a long time.  I also signed up for one of Stanford's free online classes. I'm going to start Computer Science in mid February. It's free and utterly voluntary, so again, I can't promise how far I'll get, but it's something I find intriguing and completely foreign. Very excited about all this. A big thanks to Kelly for her great ideas. Also from Kelly, I'm spending some time browsing Khan Academy every day. Pinterest won't let me in yet, so that's what I'm doing on the web (besides Facebook, Words With Friends, and Sudoku).

Thinking About:

•  The Oxford Comma. The Oxford comma seems to be experiencing a come-back of sorts. For those who aren't grammar nerds, here's a series of graphics demonstrating use and non-use of the Oxford comma.

I'm still struggling to abide by my editor's and graphic designer's decree that I stop using the double space before starting a new sentence. I'm aware that it makes print and web writing look bad, but it's such a hard habit to break. Same goes for the Oxford comma. I'm pleased to see it's making a comeback, even if it's only on Facebook.

• The Baby. Baby names. Baby furniture. Baby room. Baby showers. Baby bump. Baby kicks. She is the reason for the bed rest, and I think about her all the time. I can rarely lie on my stomach anymore, because she kicks me, hard. It's amazing to me that she's already communicating, in a way. We haven't picked a name yet, but some call her Lola, some call her Wiggles, and some call her Gumbo. She's doing great, and the evidence of her growth is becoming pretty obvious. Danny and I will take some pictures this weekend of the burgeoning belly.  Here's some older pictures and video of her. She's quadrupled in size since then, but that also means we've graduated to the 3d sonogram pictures and I'm not going to share those with you because they make our baby look disgusting. I still love to get sonograms, and peek in at her and watch her kick and roll like an otter. Fortunately for me, I'm high risk and so I get to see her every week or so.
  
  
  
  

 

• Eating. I think a lot about eating, of course. We've been so lucky to have many friends bringing delicious food for us. It's great because it keeps me off my feet, and I don't have to think ahead much about what to eat. I'm sort of unusual in that I haven't put any weight on during my pregnancy. In fact, mostly due to the morning sickness and now due to the bed rest, I've lost about 15 pounds and haven't gained any. My doctors say this is ok, since I started out heavy and it's obvious that the baby is growing normally and rapidly. So, I am enjoying one of the chief joys that I can have right now: eating anything I want, anytime I want. I'm still sticking to the healthy foods, with lots of vegetables and whole grains and smoothies and vitamins. But if a milkshake sneaks in there, it's just fine. I've never had dietary carte blanche in my life, and don't expect to ever again, so I'm enjoying it. I wondered how bed rest and lack of exertion would affect my appetite, and I'd say that I still get hungry at mealtime, but rarely have the urge to snack. I try to have smoothies and soup whenever possible, because it's hard to digest when laying down, and it seems to be a little easier.