May 29, 2008
i'm not gonna write you a love song
this is one of my favorite things - aiden "reading". He love books. I love that he loves book.
i got ben mario cart for the wii for father's day. it is awesome. i am addicted. i played it for 2 hours yesterday afternoon and did something strange to my eyes. It freaked me out, but once it was better, I was back to racing around that track.
aiden is going through a growth spurt. he eats and eats and eats. he is napping well. and the gymboree chick comments that he looks bigger than last week.
it hurt if he get his finger in your mouth. his teeth are sharp!
he alllllllmost crawling. He can certainly get himself around the living room no problem.
i have not done the switch to wordpress b/c i am being unreasonably picky about the site look. there are a million choices and I can't find one like this one. I can't use the same code with same WP changes b/c WP is way cooler and has wigets that update the stuff on the right without having to go into the code. that is awesome.
Posted by christina at 3:30 PM | Comments (0)
May 24, 2008
bye, bye miss american pie
so. i am making the switch to wordpress from moveable type. mainly because of the entry screen not always working. It was almost a no go when I installed regular word press and found that you could not have multiple blogs on one installation. I found wordpress mu, which does allow you to do it.
the one thing i like better about MT is the fact the categories are to the right of the entry screen. it makes me mark categories. i forget if i have to scroll down.
but word press has a MILLION more themes.
plus for MT - the coding is the blog software. I am having to use a different program to modify the code.
if you don't customize the code, the WP theme choosing thing is very nice.
i like how WP mu sets up the multiple blogs in the software.
It would be a tie if not for that whole MT entry screen not working all the time....
It was easy to install (so was MT). Easy to use (like MT).
It is currently slow going b/c of me having to look through a million themes to find something i like.
Posted by christina at 8:47 PM | Comments (1)
May 23, 2008
in closing...
so. jenny closed! with just a small amount little drama. we were at the title office for 2.5 hours, but it all worked out in the end. the realtor and broker ended up redeeming themselves. They never admitted they screwed up, but they worked really hard to make sure they closed today.
And they did. and it does make me want to use the realtor again, but i just know that i have to be real clear about making sure she communicates everything. and the broker was nice, and ended up driving out to downer grove to stand over the lender. that's nice and all, but why did that not happen on wednesday? and so if i was to use him again, i would just sit on him harder. but since i'll never move to another location in chicago, i doubt the opportunity will arise.
Posted by christina at 4:46 PM | Comments (0)
May 7, 2008
but, you're chasin' the ghost of a good thing
ben watches a lot of family guy.
seriously. a lot. and this is on top of baseball. a lot of baseball. though less now that i've complained.
not that it matters as i don't really like to watch tv. though i do. cuz i am bored. though i just finished a good book. and bought a couple more off half.com for like $3 per book. i like buying used as it feel like it helps the environment. and i am cheap.
i planted plants yesterday. i am very excited. for the first time i have filled our planters. one has green peppers, red peppers, cucumber, and basil. i have another pot of mint. and the other planter has purple and red flowers. they are on our back balcony since it is southern exposure. it was nice to look at them while I worked out this morning. too bad it takes sooooooo long for the fruit to grow/mature. oh and i got a tomato plant for my upside down hanging bag tomato thing.
Posted by christina at 9:18 PM | Comments (1)
May 5, 2008
what do you take me for? Some kind of easy mark?
the weather has warmed back up. the lake glistened in the sunshine during my run today. it was quite warm. i have a adorable track outfit for aiden. it is so cute. it makes people smile when they pass us.
i got a pedicure today. i still hesitate to pay someone to paint my toe nails, but it was nice to get out of the house and relax alone with a magazine. aiden is breaking in teeth, so our nights have backslid a little. so it was nice to have an hour alone.
i got my proofs back for my paper. and edited them. and returned them. all on saturday afternoon. there wasn't many edits - a missing m, and couple of additions to make it more uniform. all the edits were done in reader, so that was awesome. it was nice to see the paper in journal form - with all the figures and captions in the text. it is nice to to have to read it again, but it was sad to see the last bit of my science science career close. i know that i'll do research and write papers, but i do love science. and i love my research in hindsight. ; )
Posted by christina at 8:24 PM | Comments (1)
May 2, 2008
happy happy joy joy
My friend Tom defended on wednesday! He did great, and of course passed.
We celebrated by hanging out all yesterday (on a THURSDAY!). We went to lunch and we spent the afternoon playing the Wii. He kicked my bum on all the Wii play games, and I beat him at tennis and golf.
He's back to the grind today with corrections.
Posted by christina at 4:47 PM | Comments (0)
April 25, 2008
quiet hushed voices
easter egg dying a while back
so. i've been spending a bit of time poking around facebook (hence the twitter question). I have been spending the time because Ben and I play a lot of Word Twist. Last night I was poking around on friends' friends list.
Facebook is great for connecting with old friends.
Facebook is not great for reminding me of people that I was happy not remember. No enemies or anything (ha ha, like i have enemies). But there are some people i knew in college that i just did not like as human beings. I found (find) them fake fake fake. Last night I found out how nice it had been to not remember these people, as I was telling ben about some of them. I'm sure they will fade again from my memory, but as we played wii tennis last night I got all annoyed again at these people.
Today was HOT. I am not complaining, but it was hot. We were out in the heat of the afternoon without really realizing how hot it would be. I walked, Aiden rode, to Pepper's grooming appt about 20 mins away. It was to be an hour, so I planned on walking up to the walgreens and the gap during her spa treatment. I did, it was hot! (I love this new groomers. no cages!) I had to take Aiden's overall's off to make sure he didn't overheat. oh the weather. spring, where are you? is it JULY?!?!?
Anyways, Ben met us at the gap after he got home early. We got some cute hoodies (of course I am going to dress my child like me (tank, jeans, hoodie is my standard, okay he's in a onesie not a tank.)). Of course they were on sale, like i could bring myself to pay full price at the gap. I have been inspired by a random blog to start buying clothes I find on sale for Aiden to grow into. I've gotten some good deals - today- a shirt and a hoodie for 12-18 mo in addition to a hoodie and onesie for now. I got from $5 jeans from the clearance at the children's place. Awesome. Kid's clothes, I have found, can be expensive. I stomach it much better at sale price because they do not wear they that long!
On our way back to the groomers we stopped by the bagel so ben could get corned beef for lunches this weekend. Also, I got to get some cookies from the House of Fine Chocolates - "Your Neighborhood Bakery" - as it says on the package. (WHY THE QUOTES?) I love this little shop. It is old, and yummy. (So i just looked up the store to put a link to their website. Their website is quite modern, unlike their store. Funny.) Anyways. Very yummy. Cookies make the walk less hot. ha ha ha.
Posted by christina at 9:26 PM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2008
show me where the sun comes through the sky
Happy Earth Day!
I was reading the Times Magazine and saw this:
"quarter of all car trips are now shorter than a mile"
I am really surprised. Not because people drive everywhere, but that people live the close to things. I picture most of the country in suburbs where grocery stores and work places are far away.
I do not judge, as when it is cold, I drive. But now that it warm (praise jesus), I try to walk to a lot more places. Sunday Ben, Aiden, and I walked over to Whole Food to do our grocery shopping. Yesterday, I walked with Aiden to the Jewel to complete the shopping. During both of these trips the sidewalks were busy because of cubs game.
NOT A FAN OF CUBS FANS. They are drunk and/or stupid.
I am a BIG FAN of my chicken salad. And walking.
NOT A FAN of the construction.
FAN of my alderman's office, who a wrote about fencing issues and shaking of my building issues. They wrote back like they cared. And, the fencing issues have gotten better, though not resolved. They have quit taking up the entire sidewalk with their fence, but their fence is on our property. AND when the front loader came today it did not shake our building as it went by. They are either driving slower or brought a smaller front loader.
I just updated MT as the buttons were working to upload pics here in firefox's newest update. They work now and i am a much bigger fan of the new entry screen. It isn't a pain to enter categories anymore! Big fan.
NOT A FAN of the car alarm going off. I am SURE it belongs to someone at the game, since it started going off just after the game started.
Posted by christina at 3:49 PM | Comments (0)
February 17, 2008
never, never
Now that i am firmly entrenched in this motherhood, I have come to realize the people are judgmental when they are insecure in their decisions. I think this is true in general, but I can only for sure say that I am judgmental when I insecure in my decisions.
Last week i broke my golden rule of "if i don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all" re: people's decisions.
it seems that i hurt someone's feelings. i do not know this person. at the time i didn't realize how harsh i was. i guess i am hardened by reviewers comments. I guess i felt that i was trying to make this person better in some way. but in doing so i feel worse than i have felt about anything in recent memory.
it is strange, my reaction. I apologized. that is all i can do. it isn't like i did anything really that bad. the scale of my apology was proportional to the e-mail response i received, but probably not to the crime. in fact, ben commented that he hopes he would get an apology of that caliber at some point during our marriage.
ha.ha.
in this case, i recognize right off that i was in the wrong, not in what i wrote, but in the fact that there was no need for what i wrote. i should have kept my fingers shut. i had not right to be so defensive to this person.
i think i feel so bad because i was caught by surprise about how personally the recipient took my e-mail. i know that i didn't think my e-mail was that harsh. I know that it isn't how i mean things that matters as how they are received. i also feel bad because there was no reason in the whole world for me to write that e-mail. i know it was because i was fired up and directed it toward an innocent party.
the weird thing about it is it is fairly out of character. i get fired up about stuff, but usually don't go out of my way to direct it at a specific party.
i also don't really care about what other people do/say. I am not sure what prompted me this day to lash out. I know the context was that i am so tired of feeling judged. The nurse at the dr.'s office had just judged my decision to start aiden off on avocado instead of rice cereal. I feel like everyone thinks you should "cry-it-out" and if you aren't you aren't teaching your baby to "sooth himself". If you co-sleep your kid is never going to leave your bed! The baby food book was like MEAT IS EVIL! I am really really tired of the media (society) trying to make overweight people feel guilty. It is diet soda - don't drink it! it will make you fat! if you are fat you are going to die! you are lazy! you are ugly! if you are pregnant and drink coffee, soda, eat deli meat, raw eggs...your baby is going to die! or be born with horns!
and i read too much of the internet.
and this is why i am so annoyed at myself. really. i need to stop reading so much of the internet. i have a stack of books i want to read. i should be reading printed words. i have policy stuff to read. i have science stuff to read. i have good fiction to read. i default to the internet because it is easy and quick. but no more. i'm going to unsubscrube from all the random blogs I read (including the one that caused this existential crisis). I'll keep up with my friends, and the friends of friends. But the random people? A couple I will keep. One just had a new baby and write good long funny posts. I'll keep all my women in science blogs. But the random shit. Gone. In the end, this was good. This was what I needed. A symptom that makes me realize that I need to put down the internet. Live in the printed world of editors and reviewers.
This will be a good cleanse for my internet soul. It was due. i needed something to jar me lose from the internet back into the world of the living. I'll return to my bases - this blog is for my friends at al. and so i'll rant and rave but i'll stay focused on real life things for those real life people.
Posted by christina at 8:56 PM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2007
I can't help but to hear an exchanging of words
it is amazing to me that so many people expect their babies to do what most adults cannot do - go to sleep easily and by themselves.
i smell like sunscreen despite having taken a shower. the sun shines brilliantly today and so i remember prerun sunscreen.
i run slowly, but my heart rate is high - in the 150s - much higher than the elliptical.
lots of random people walk on the lakefront on the weekend.
ben hates comcast so much that we are going satellite tomorrow. it will end up quite a bit cheaper. my only requirements was the discovery health channel and universal hd for my daily northern exposure. i heart northern exposure. it is so. much. better than any tv on now. it reenforces my distain for gray's anatomy. northern exposure doesn't have any stupid girls obsessed with their love lives. it has interesting storylines with interesting characters.
life is about choices, and today as i spend the afternoon, as i do most, laying in bed facilitating the afternoon nap, i am happy i've made this choice - where i have little to do besides grow the baby. of course, lt is sweeter when i am avoiding something - today - the reviewers comments for a paper. I did read them and they aren't scary. I just always want reviewers to come back with oh - this is great, no changes, but of course, this is not their job. but it takes me a week or so to accept that they aren't personal and to go about deciding how to respond. but it is hard when you just want to lay in bed and watch northern exposure.
Posted by christina at 2:19 PM | Comments (0)
October 18, 2007
i find it kinda of funny / i find it kinda sad
there is a such thing as being too unconfrontational.
there is also a such thing as being too confrontational.
I have always shyed away from conflict, to the point where i know that i should be better about standing up for myself.
having a kid has made me more apt to stand up for us in situations that i would have just waited out. there is nothing like a screaming child who just wants to get home and eat to spring me into action.
on one of the streets home today - a side street that is pretty wide, we got stuck behind a dump truck that couldn't get around a moving van. cars could get around the moving van, but instead of moving to the side to let the cars behind go the truck just sat in the middle of the road. after a bit and a lot of honking, i got out and nicely asked the dump truck guy to move a little to his right the cars can pass. He was not happy with the suggestion. I explained that i had a screaming baby and really needed to get by. He got angry and refused to which i just replied, I am sorry that you are having a bad day, i will just call the police and have them deal with the situation. I went back to my car to dial 311 and low and behold the guy moved over and we all got by.
i understood that the guy was frustrated that he could not get by with his dump truck, but did not understand the if i can't get by than you can't get by attitude.
Anyways, we got around and the paranoid part of my brain entertains thought of him coming by and rolling over my car. The rational part of my brian knows that that dude would not give me a second thought. the question really is, why the heck was that truck on the side street? i'm pretty sure big trucks aren't allowed to travel on side streets unless they have business on that street.
Posted by christina at 12:54 PM | Comments (0)
October 16, 2007
i've been everywhere, man
i was cleared for exercise last week. i was excited to return to my 5 mile run, which i did on friday after ben got home. i was nice to take off without the kid and the dog. It was really nice to be able to run to the lake front. With the stroller, i have to walk to the lake b/c of the bumpy sidewalk. I would like to spend the hour running. I thought that i would be forced to wait for ben everyday, but it dawned on me that i can drive to the lake and then run. not that great for the environment (i'll make it up by walking to the grocery store), but good for my very slow runs. this is a good solution until it gets to cold to have him out. then in the spring he'll be big enough for the jogging stroller which will be good to run on sidewalks with.
the weather is so! strange! it is 75 out today. in the middle of october! in chicago! not that i am complaining, but we have had some strange weather this year.
ben got his hair cut off. i laugh every time i look at him.
i'm having motivation issues with some stuff that i should be get done. i could blame it on the lack of sleep. but it is something that i didn't really like to do when i did get sleep. it will get done. someday...
i am totally loving my rss feed sharing feature.
i am also loving my new magazine called the week. it had a tidbit about a family that had a three babies each on Oct. 3 each two years apart. It quotes an "expert" saying that this is a 1 in 75 million chance. I am assuming this is calculated by (1/365)^3 ~1 in 75 million. Of course, this is totally the wrong way to calculate this. This calculation only works if each event is totally random (i.e. you are hit my a meteor on Oct. 3 each two years apart). Having a baby on a certain day is not a random event. There are 10 weeks of the year where you aren't pregnant and therefore couldn't give birth then. The fetus isn't viable until 24 weeks. Therefore there really is only 18 weeks that you could give birth and this is not totally random it is totally dependent on when you are "trying". Anyways, the odds are totally not 1 in 75 million. Assuming that the 18 weeks are random it is more like 1 in 2 million.
this is at least how i think of it. Aiden was born on my mom's birthday. The odds of this happening was 1 in 126 - as the were 126 days this year he could have been born on.
Posted by christina at 3:37 PM | Comments (0)
October 13, 2007
I am a song / I've been here all along
i got a flu shot wednesday. i know that i swore last season that i would not get a flu shot again since i did for the first time last year and GOT THE FLU also for the first time. My new primary care dr convinced me with the baby to get a shot. So I did. I was real dizzy last year after i got the shot and was afraid of a repeat, but no such side effects. I suspect that the dizziness was related to that being around the time i got pregnant and (of course) didn't know.
last night i found a really cool plugin for my page. In the sidebar there is now a box that contains links to interesting stories I've read through my rss reader.
Posted by christina at 12:27 PM | Comments (0)
October 11, 2007
under the sea
jenny, aiden and i saw the baby bulga whale at the aquarium today! It was a free day. and we had an excellent time.
Posted by christina at 7:07 PM | Comments (0)
October 10, 2007
i know that everything's going to be fine
i've been living by the train for 5 years now and i still have moments in which i confuse the sound for wind or thunder...
my sister jenny and her b/f are visiting, yay!
the puppy doesn't need surgery.. our awesome vet says her not walking was probably due to cramping due to her GI issues b/c it came on so suddenly and went away suddenly once she felt better.
surgery may still be in our future, but they don't do it unless she is symptomatic, which she is not.
i love the puppy. we will do anything to alleviate her pain. the vet says the joint supplement + exercise + healthy weight seem to be working.
i must mention again our awesome our vet it. i totally have a girl crush on her.
Posted by christina at 4:16 AM | Comments (0)
October 8, 2007
let's see how far we've come
i love matchbox twenty.
i'm sure that makes me less cool. though admitting that i am currently watching them on the today show makes me really not cool.
i spend a.lot.of.time on the couch nursing. i watch a.lot.more tv than i use to, but not as much as i expect.
ok the today show just got STUPID
the puppy is much better today
Posted by christina at 8:55 AM | Comments (0)
October 7, 2007
take these broken wings and learn to fly
so sad about the cubs.
well. so sad for other people. i will be glad to start watching things other than baseball during the evenings. i can put up with a football game a week, but everyday baseball grates on me after 6 months.
as vet-loving as our pets are, it is surprising that we made it this far without a trip to the e.r. until today. Poor pepper. She is really sick. but she will be okay. she is definitely going to have to have surgery on her legs. of course it is a condition not covered by pet insurance. i'm pretty convinced now that pet insurance is a crock. anyways, they hydrated the puppy (she's been quite sick from eating things she shouldn't) and gave us pain meds. we see dr. marks on tuesday. nothing breaks my heart more than the puppy hurting. Mainly because she just doesn't understand.
This is why i am quicker to medicate her or my child than I am myself. (i rarely medicate myself. i took two doses of advil after pushing out aiden and that was it through the whole recovery.) Anyways, because each one can't understand why they are in pain i am quick to try to control it - we have them on pain pills or on reflux meds to control their pain. And,yes, it selfishly makes me feel better because kills me to even think they might be in pain.
Posted by christina at 8:31 PM | Comments (0)
October 3, 2007
do you realize / that you have the most beautiful face
oh to have two hands to type is so nice. I spend a lot of time on the internet reading, typing is hard with one hand. When i do get two hands i usually sleep or so something else then the internet.
the weather is awesome. Last night (and today) can be classified as not great in regards to me getting to sleep. Aiden just wanted to sleep by me (i.e. in bed) or on me (on the couch). We do not co-sleep, but boy I can see why people do. We are too worried about that suffocation thing. It is rare, but it just happened to one of my mom's students (feel asleep nursing her 6 week old in bed, so sad), so we are scared of that (small sample size bias). it is (as i have read) impossible for the mother to smoother her kid (mother's instict they think). So it is usually a pillow or a third body. In the morning once ben gets up at 6, i usually bring aiden to bed. (I have usually been up and down with him since 4,) I nurse then we sleep until 9. It is nice.
Today i was quite tired but i dragged us all out for our walkjog. After I was happy I did it, the the walkjog felt good. The biggest benefit (beside my mental health) is tiring the dog out so we spend the rest of the day asleep on the couch or in the bed. (we all get an afternoon nap in the big bed.) It is amazing how goo it makes me feel just getting out for a little more than an hour in the sunshine. It is excellent b/c i get to take aiden with me. He sleeps. the dog pulls. and i walk/jog.
speaking of running - i got a jogging stroller. i did not register for on b/c (1) he had to be 6 mos to go in one and (2) i know that lots of people around here get jogging strollers and don't use them and then sell them on craig's list for half price. For some reason i became obsessed with jogging strollers on craigslist, even though it would be the spring before i can use it. All the ones i saw were in suburbs. I was willing to drive for a good deal. but low and behold a great stroller for a great price appeared in my old neighborhood. So yesterday I went and got it. I am so excited. I love a good deal. i love craigslist. i love the internet.
I really love the internet. it is full of information. it makes me feel better as there are other people out there with babies aiden's age. It is a good context as they also have babies that like to nurse a lot (though aide has gotten so much better once we figure out his reflux) and don't sleep and just exist.
Posted by christina at 7:25 PM | Comments (0)
September 27, 2007
it is another gorgeous day today. cloudless skies, 60 degree temps, sparkling blue lake michigan. When I gave up running during my pregnancy, I missed the lake front. I love the trees, the sparking water. I am very happy to be enjoying the fall on the lake.
I always say that spring is my favorite season as it is the end of winter (the season that sucks). But fall is better in some ways as the days are baseline warm with a cool breeze. The apples are in season.
On our walks, I pass by a bar that i use to spend a fair chunk of time my first year or so here drinking and dancing. This morning they had the gates open to the courtyard for cleaning. The glimpse brought back some memories of pink lemonade (very dangerous) nights. It amuses me to think about that self and how that self would never had imagined that i would be walking the same streches of sidewalk with my dog and baby.
In the warm months, a lot of restaurants have outdoor seating areas on the sidewalk. I noticed the other day that these restaurants have posted permits that cite how much they have paid the city for this privilege. I want some of this money as I have to deal with these areas being in my way. Though in a round about way, one could say that i am getting some of that money in reduced taxes.
In the past month, I have been reading a lot of blogs - random blogs from start to present. They are like a book, but only require one hand (very important while nursing). I've read the blog of a guy starting a tenture track position, but not that sure of his career choice. I've read a struggles of a women with infertilitiety, IVF, the loss of twins to early preelampsia, and the subsequent birth of a healthy daughter. Recently I've been reading askmoxie and children and sleep. Not that I expect Aiden to have any sort of schedule at this point, I like reading about what is coming ahead. Moxie is nice as she is down to earth and stresses do what works. My favorite segment:
"Therefore, in the first 12-14 weeks of parenthood you should take your lead from Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary. If your baby only sleeps on your chest with his/her head wedged up into your neck*, do it if you can sleep that way. If your baby only sleeps in the swing or sling or Amby hammock thing or car seat or car or front carrier or laundry basket or between you in bed or holding onto the cat's tail or on the bathroom floor or in a tent in your backyard, do it. If you have to run the hairdryer, clothes dryer, white noise machine, "La Vida Loca" CD, or any other noise, more power to you. Whatever gets the maximum number of hours of sleep for the maximum number of people in your household, that's what you should do. And when anyone asks you how your baby's sleeping, just lie and say everything's great."
We are actually doing well. There are good nights. There are bad nights. But all in all i'm sleeping, aiden is sleeping (in his crib) and life is good.
Posted by christina at 3:01 PM | Comments (0)
September 22, 2007
jeremiah was a bullfrog / was a good friend of mine
Today we went on our annual apple picking outing. It was an absolutely perfect day.
Blue skies, fall temps, no traffic out to woodstock. We filled two half-busel bags - one with courtlands for applesauce, the other with a mix of galas, macintoshes, and a couple of honey crisps. We would have gotten a lot of honeycrips but their picking bag were twice as expensive, so we snuck a couple of them in our regular bag. So yummy. There is nothing like eating an apple right off of the tree. Aiden was a champ all the out and then took right to the sling and slept as i picked. The sling is awesome. It is awesome to be able to hold him and have both hands free!
So now we have lots of apples. Tomorrow will be applesauce day. yum!
i don't know/like and lullibyes so i sing Aiden Joy to the World by three dog night. He seems to love it.
Posted by christina at 4:04 PM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2007
slow dancing on the boulevard / in the quiet moments while the citys still dark
in this past week and a half, i've gotten back on the exercise wagon. It started with just a walk for me, aiden, and the puppy. We went 3.5 miles with none of us worse for the wear. The puppy's luxing petella seemed to hold up, though I don't want to push my luck, so she only joins us every other time. This works out as I've incorporated any shopping I need to do during my walks. Monday I wented to the new whole foods as part of my route. Yesterday I went to the Jewl. The bottom of the stroller makes a convinent cart. This has resulted in me not moving my car in a week. A nice up side to walking is a reduced carbon footprint.
The down side to the walking is that it is boring. I just can't walk the whole 3+ miles. I've begun to jog slowly. (Like i was a fast jogger before!) I am suppose to wait 2 more weeks, but I don't think my slow jog really counts as vigorous exercise. My stroller, though not a jogger stroller, does quite week on the running path.
All in all it is nice to get out and exercise. Aiden naps for the most part. The downside is that I really get nothing done the rest of the day. During what would pass as his afternoon nap, I nap. Then Ben gets home around four (it is awesome his teacher schedule), so then I do get to do the little things like work on birth announcements or my t-shirt quilt or dinner or dessert (currently, i am loving oatmeal raisin cookies. they have fiber and a fruit so the are good for you (ha ha)).
we had our first of what i know will be many calls to my mom about breaking the baby. this weekend it was a crusty eye which was heal by 24 hours of warm wash cloths & eye massage to heal a blocked tear duct. Really, we would go crazy if my mom wasn't available to assure me that we didn't break the baby...
Posted by christina at 12:47 PM | Comments (1)
September 16, 2007
bright blessed days / dark sacred nights
I'm too sexy for this song...
Yesterday was the 4 year anniversary of when I met Ben on a porch on a random september evening. Yesterday was also my 10 year high school reinion.
Ben and I celebrated the former by spending the afternoon and evening laying around in our bed - him watching baseball and football, me napping and reading. We capped it off with a game of scrabble after grilled cheese sandwiches. Yum. Our bed has two inches of memory foam and therefore is very comfortable. It was the dog's favorite day ever - she loves to lay in our bed, but doesn't like to be away from the action. Yesterday she got to lay around in our bed and still be with us.
One might expect me to say I can't believe that it has been four years or ten years...but I can. I've accomplished a lot in the four years and even more in the ten years. Every year my life has been vastly different. No September goes by which I feel like my life even resembles the one before. At GT every year was different due to activities, friends, life.... Then in chicago every year involved a change either in the introduction of ben, some major step in our relationship or a major step in my graduate career. So I do feel each year that has gone by and feel like each one was lived.
I, as you might guess, did not go to my 10 year reunion. I was planning on it before the whole baby thing happened. My graduating class was smallish (150) and so I am interested in seeing how everyone ended up. When it comes down to it, though, I see the people that are really important to me every year. And they reminded me last night how awesome they are when they called and left a really sweet message about missing me. So i am excited to see them at Christmas for our annual get together. In the end, they are they people I truely care about and know that i really didn't miss anything but them yesterday.
Sid, me, Amanda, and Courtney. Missing is Tera who had Jack around this time last year so couldn't come.
Posted by christina at 3:03 PM | Comments (0)
September 10, 2007
blackbird singing in the dead of night
A new whole food opened up 5 blocks from us. It is about 2 blocks closer than the other whole food. it is quite a bit nicer. First, it was not busy today at 11. The other one is crazy at 11 on mondays. the parking is much better along with the elevator. the store is huge. We could definitely walk there. And I would have, except that i wanted to take the puppy and she can sit in the car, but cannot sit alone out front.
Papers take FOREVER to get through the review process. I submitted a paper (basically half of my thesis) in May. I logged in to change my e-mail address (as my NU one finally expired) half expecting that the paper would be out of review, but no, my memory of 6 months is right. Though, as i said as we were slow in submitting, that a later publication date is better for my CV. I'm trying to figure out my timing from here - when to go back to class in order to minimize a gap on my resume for another kid. I also think about getting a internship summer that is more applicable to my goals. I have lots of time now to look and bother people, so I have no excuse. I would like to stay in chicago, but the upside to ben being a teacher is that he is off this summer and we can go somewhere else (as long as we can take the dog and cat).
this is my current dream - we'll see. I'll be honest, I can't imagine making any sort of decisions with my hormones still settling and my sleep still interrupted.
Posted by christina at 12:21 PM | Comments (0)
August 30, 2007
My immune system has returned and with it my allergies are in full force. No allergies were a nice bonus of pregnancy.
The weather has cooled off up here. It is as gorgeous day. My mom is up and we went out to bed bath and beyond for a hamper and target for other baby related stuff. It was nice to be out. My brain is still fuzzy and i totally missed some turns but me, my mom, the puppy, and the baby made it just fine.
Everyone is settling in nicely. Pepper is really cute about Aiden. She is protective when I am feeding. And gets rally concerned when he cries. She likes to smell him and lick his feet. Aiden so doesn't care. He is chill. He sleeps mostly. Eats and poops like a champ.
Posted by christina at 8:09 PM | Comments (0)
August 20, 2007
Where is your boy tonight? I hope he is a gentleman.
This is my beautiful cat, with her bum ear.
We've gotten a lot of rain lately. I love it. I miss the rain. It rains in the south way more than up here. I love waking up in the middle of the night to thunderstorms. Of course, it is better than the waking up in the middle of the night to potty or because my body is preparing eviction notices, both of which kept me up last night. I really hope that I don't have three more weeks of this. But alas, I just breathe and try to enough this small window of my life where I have few things to do besides haul around this baby and keep up with my daily brain age calculations. The game does like to give you a hard time if you miss a couple of days. According to the local news I just saw while working out, some suburbs have gotten a foot of rain this month! Crazy!
One of the restaurants we went to in michigan had a no children under 18 policy. I thought this was interesting and of course had no problem with it after an earlier in the week dinner that had us sitting amongst a ton of kids. But the weird thing was that we got there and sitting close to us outside on the deck was a couple and a kid who was like 7. She was well behaved. Her parents were not as they spent a lot of the meal chain smoking and ignoring the kid. I felt bad for her. The food was excellent though.
I'm off to my 37 weeks appt this morning (crazy). and then to lunch/brunch with a friend from NU, who had no idea i was pregnant. I did warn him via text message when he messaged me that he was in town and wanted to catch up. He was surprised, but said that i shouldn't have told him to I could witness his eyes dropping out of his head when i walked in. I have been with child for sooooo long now it is hard to imagine not being with child, but in reality, it must be very surprising to those that wouldn't know.
I am still getting use to MT 4, but it seems that the best part is an auto-save feature. I hope it will avoid lost posts!
Posted by christina at 8:02 AM | Comments (0)
August 18, 2007
who'll stop the rain
kisses
why does it make my afternoon to smoothly upgrade to MT 4? The entry screen is much different.
We are back from Michigan. It was a good vacation. We had pretty nice weather - nice enough that every day that we were there we sat for a bit on the beach for my favorite vacation activity - a beach chair in the waves with a book. Of course, lake michigan is no ocean, but it was pretty close. We had pretty good waves and no salt or jelly fish or sharp shells. So that was awesome.
We got to see some of ben's friends get married on Saturday in Grand Rapids. We saw some old frat brothers of ben's whose wives we sat in front at the ceremony. They did not know i was pregnant and we got a big jaw drop when i stood up, which is always fun. We had a good time chatting at the reception. We also left earlish b/c much to my dismay, i really couldn't get down on the dance floor. i did make ben dance two non-butt shaking dances with me. And then we left.
In case you were wondering how the drama with the smell ended, the mechanical people decided that it was a gas company problem. ben called the gas company who came out and explained that it was not the gas. According to them, there was a chemical in our air that was oderless until it came into contact with fire (our water heater, the stove, etc) and one of the combustion products smells like lighter fluid. The only solution was to air the building out (the smell was in everyone's apartment).
The main question, of course, is where the chemical came from. That week, the building's outside was sealed, and the most annoying people in the building went on vacation and had their floors redone while they were gone. They had a housesitter, and it was blazing hot that week, so all the windows and doors stayed closed for the air conditioning. The gas man couldn't say which one produced the smell, but did say that only crazy people get their floors redone in august when the building is shut up tight against the heat. The building sealers came out and assured us that it was not their chemicals. I believe them mainly b/c the concentration was so strong on friday. They sealed monday morning. The smell showed up on Wednesday, the day after the first coat of varnish was laid downstairs and the first time we took showers hence making the water heater turn on. B/c the A/C just recycles the air from inside the apt and all the windows and door had been closed, i doubt that the chemicals in the sealing could have become that concentrated in our apartment.
The varnish, on the other hand, was laid in the building with no open doors but to the common hallway. The smells of varnish was pretty strong in the building. The VOCs would have definitely gone further. Of course, the annoying apt occupants tried to say it was the sealers b/c it was really strong in their dryer vent and how the sealers must have sprayed into their dryer vent. The weird thing about this e-mail was that in all of the e-mail no one was assigning blame (we did not included the august floor redoing crazy comment). We were just informing everyone so no one else would spend $400 to have a bunch of people out to figure out what was wrong.
The smell was pretty much gone when we got back into town on monday for a drs appt and an elliptical appt, but on friday it was still going strong in the floor apt - further proof it was the varnish. Besides a total lack of sensitivity for anyone else, I (nor did anyone else) really blame them. There was no way for them to know. The thing that pisses me off is always their response to any of these events. They always try to put the blame on someone else instead of just saying, oh we didn't know. or not saying anything (or calling their floor person to see if this was a problem).
So that is the story of the smell. If i was in my first trimester, i would be pretty pissed as a large amount of VOCs can't be good for a forming baby. But i'm not (thank goodness). and so i'm not worried that much. All i can do it hope that sack is big enough and that the chemicals i unknownly breathed didn't pass the through the placenta filtering system.
In other new, the cat is so happy that we are back she follows me around. she is so cute.
and it is the air and water show this weekend and so we are currently living with a lot of LOUD flighter jet fly bys. They are so cool when we can see them.
off for yummy bbq and the simpsons movie (ben's idea of the "best evening ever" as he announce a bit ago. good to know.)
Posted by christina at 4:19 PM | Comments (1)
August 9, 2007
Looking at you now you would never know
sitting like a person.
crazy dog.
our apartment still smells. and we aren't crazy. we've had two different companies and both of them had smelled it. it appears that the flew is blocked, and something something needs to get downstairs and something something all very suspicious as we had people out her on monday on the roof sealing the building. so hopefully they'll take care of it tomorrow morning.
also on the plate for tomorrow is going to Michigan for vacation so hopefully funny smell won't hurt our kitty.
Posted by christina at 6:23 PM | Comments (0)
August 8, 2007
passing notes
beauty
the days pass quickly and quietly. we do our daily training on the eliptical and brain age. we invest some time in a mario bros game (version 3 for him, version 2 for me). i do a sudoko or two. the dog curls up on our laps all day and spends the evening harassing us and the cat.
we did smell this weird smell coming from the water heater/air conditioner/furnance closet. our favorite company who does this sort of thing was here within 30 minutes to assure us that it was nothing...that if it was something our carbon monoxide detector would be registering something beside 0. the smell was like lighter fluid after it has been lit...the dude said that it was just a temporary block of the exhaust of the water heater. he was right; it did go away a while later.
i finished my natural child birth book - ida may's guide to childbirth. it was good, though must be taken with a grain of salt (though what don't i read without a healthy dose of skepticism?) The book is pretty anti-hospital, but, though updated recently, doesn't really reflect the current attitudes of some hospitals (specifically - my hospital). In the past couple of years, i feel, hospital and OBs have embraced natural child birth techniques. My hospital has alternative birth rooms that allow you to give birth in any position - including the tub. In the regular labor and delivery room you have all the same options, except the tub, plus the option of drugs. The default policy is room-in (they don't take healthy babies to a nursery). It is routine for them to immediately place the baby on the mother's chest, and they encourage you to breastfeed right away. These are all points that ina may says that hospital don't let you do and why you should go to a birth center. the more i read the book, the more happy i became with our choice of hospital. I feel that the progressiveness is important.
I have decided about the epidural - no and yes. I am going to try as long as possible, but if it is a loooooong time, epidural it is. I don't think there is anything wrong with the epidural choice. For me, psychologically speaking, not being able to get up and move is a major problem. so hence the avoiding of the epidural. plus, with the hospital 4 blocks away, i plan on staying here, in our huge tub that never gets used, as long as possible.
but the book is good. i really recommend it, keeping in mind that it is biased. and only if you are not going to let it make you feel bad for choosing an OB (vs midwife) or a hospital (vs birthing center/home birth). Everyone is different and one should make the best choice for you.
that being said, the book gave me a lot of confidence in my body's ability to have this baby. Up until, well, a month or so ago, i truly believed that birth was so painful that drugs is the only way to go. i still believe that birth is painful, but this book gave me the confidence to not be afraid of the pain. it reminded me that my body is meant to give birth and that my fear of pain is always worse than the pain (i.e. the needle stick of drawing blood). it convinced me that giving birth was something to look forward to, not be afraid of. and so we shall try it au natural.
i must admit that i am sure this attitude is partly based in my compulsive desire to do things that hard way just to see if i can do them....
Posted by christina at 6:07 PM | Comments (2)
August 5, 2007
do do do do-dodo
ben and i passed the 14 month old test yesterday. We babysat the little boy that my sister is babysitting for while his parents were out of town. he was really cute. and really good. he took a long nap. and then just loved to play. he put up with our CRAZY dog really well, and even petted the kitty on the head. it was really cute. ben did most of the lifting, as the kid was pretty big and out of the weight range i am really suppose to be picking up.
other than that, we have just been enjoying being on vacation at home. we sleep late. then we work out. we eat. we run an errand or two. then we sit on the couch. it is nice. i have focused on just enjoying this time of peace and quiet and calm. no stresses. nothing to do. we are doing little things around the house - like replacing the toilet seats. and we have bought ourselves a new toy.
we've been talking about getting a nintendo ds since the beginning of the year. i've been wanting it to pay brain age. ben almost got it for me for my birthday, but didn't as he knew i would be annoyed at the price tag. I've been selling some stuff on e-bay lately and so we started talking about getting one off there. after a couple days of watching options, i found that the ds were running ~$80 + shipping. The internets told me that we could get a used ds from a store near our place for $80 that came with a 30 days guarantee. so we decided to do that. and so we did. we got the ds for $80 then also got the $10 replacement plan.
we got brain age and the sims. one of the other reason we wanted the nintendo was to get the old-school mario games. they didn't make a ds version, so we got mario 64, used. it wasn't good, and since it was used we could and did take it back.
we found out that the 3 marios we wanted were on game boy advance. and then we found out that you can play the game boy advanced games on the ds. and today we got those. they are awesome. except that we have to take turns. but once the baseball game starts it is all mine. I've already played #2 for a while, and it is amazing the crap that come back to you. i remember all the short cuts and secrets. it has been at least 15 years since i was obsessed with mario 2. crazy.
Posted by christina at 5:39 PM | Comments (1)
July 30, 2007
would you think you could meditate / in the middle of the eye of a hurricane
puppy - prim and proper
so, the farm bill is out of the house. amazingly. we got some of the increase that we wanted for our section, but not all of it. but an increase from 25 million/year to 150 million/year is nothing to sneeze at, that is for sure. the senate will take it up in sept. we have a lot of support there, so it may come down to the conference committee. oh, american system of government, how truly messed up you are...
my current favorite brunch place was featured on rachel ray's tasty travels. i am not a rachel ray fan, but we saw in the description she was in chicago, so we watched. and she ate at my yummy brunch place with yummy cinnamon rolls.
Posted by christina at 3:01 PM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2007
betting on train
my babies
today i went to heaven. or at least what i picture heaven to be like. it was a giant book sale at a library between here and downtown. Mounds and mounds of books for cheap. it was awesome. It was sort of busy, as it had only been open an hour or so when i got there. i got a lot of books for $17. it was awesome.
it is also awesome that i don't even thing about driving somewhere if i can take the el. that is the best thing about having worked downtown and got so use to taking the train. and the el was empty this afternoon. and speedy.
yesterday was my last day of work. i had mixed feelings. I had arbitrarily picked the end of july as my end day. i suspected the the heat of august + 8.5 month pregnant + el would not equal happiness.
but the weather has been mild. and my comfort level is still the same. yeah, i get hot, and tire easily, and my abs muscle hurt if i sit in my office chair all day. but i could definitely go another two weeks. up to when we go on vacation. and then after that i'm going to be walking my ass off trying to encourage this baby to decamp before the end of august. unfortunately ben's sister will be studying aboard for fall semester and so i really would like to have sack before she leaves. but one can't control these things and he will just really be a bump on the log during those 3 months, so she won't really miss much.
anyways, my timing of the end of work also times with Congress's august vacation, so it probably will be quiet around the office.
i'm really enjoyed my internship. I am very glad that i managed it the way i did. i've gotten a taste of NGO policy and advocacy work. I have felt the frustration of our legislative system. and the uncertainty of how it will all end. It has been a great experience and have left with some great contacts - including an invitation to their science advisory council in sept.
Posted by christina at 4:11 PM | Comments (0)
July 24, 2007
as the night comes
our dog is good practice for a baby.
i like that everything i go to is within 6 blocks of my apartment.
i remember this time of year. when it seems like baseball is on all the time. in the past i've been working...but i still remember these feelings.
not that i care. i am currently writing a small memo on community wind projects.
i am also wearing my new jeans from the gap. gotten for half price. i got another pair also on sunday for half price. i love chicago that i am still in jeans at the end of july. i also love the big sale at the gap by my apt in the maternity department. very exciting.
oh - the funniest thing of the week so far is that the chick downstairs with cancer decided to trim the hedges today and totally cut off every branch of the two brushes at the end. All that is left is the base with the bases of the branches sadly coming out. I am not sure why as ben told her yesterday that we are in the process of hiring a company to do all the yard work. It really does now look like crazy people live here. and it just makes me laugh. i really don't care about things like that. they just make me laugh. but it does make one wonder how she has all this energy to cut down the bushes outside, but not enough to put the stroller in the closet!
Posted by christina at 6:43 PM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2007
when the coast is clear
33.5 wks
As I walked to my haircut today, I briefly cursed the humidity. But then I realized that it is only in the high 70s. I remembered how I would spend chunks of my summer outside at summer camp without air conditioning in arkansas in 90+ heat. We would always say it isn't the heat, but the humidity. It is great weather today, though a touch humid.
i miss summer camp. i miss being in the woods, spending the afternoons at the swimming pool and the evenings around the campfire. my kids are definitely going to have the opportunity to go to overnight camp in the woods. with cabins. and campfires.
yesterday I had lunch with my friend emily. she is 17 wks pregnant. i think that i think that i am smaller than I am. she is showing pretty well. it is cute. her friend just had twins and had the very experience that i was afraid of having had I chosen to deliver at Northwestern.
Her friend was carrying twins and her doctor decided to induce once she made it to 38 weeks. Her appt was at 2 am. (so as to deliver in the afternoon or so). She got there, and they were so busy she had to wait in the waiting room for two hours! She said there were other people there who had waited 12 hours. The L&D was very busy as they usually have 30 births, and they had had 50! Her friend didn't even get a regular L&D room, but one of the operating room. Crazy.
Though i tell people that I am not delivering at northwestern because it is snooty, the real reason is that it is sooooo popular that things like this happen. And so I am quite happy with our decision.
We started baby class last week. It isn't as bad as I feared. The 4 other couples seem normal. The instructor is not that great (but not horrible), and therefore it is boring. We did get a tour of L&D and the Mom & Baby unit. The most interesting thing is that they don't have a nursery. The babies stay with the moms the whole time. I was planning on insisting on that anyways, so i am glad to know that it is SOP.
(side note - several people have told me that i should let the baby go to the nursery the first night so i can sleep. if this is what you want to do great, but i am not. i have ben. and others. so i think i'll be able to sleep if i can. in the end, i think that i'll sleep better if he is in the room with me. but to each their own. do what works for you and your baby.)
of course, there is a NICU, in case something goes wrong.
Anyways, it was good to see. It was also good to see that all of the rooms are private, so ben will be able to stay (there are a couple of semi-private just in case).
I see a lot of pregnant women nowadays. i think i just notice it more. and in the winter coats cover bellies. but i know a lot of people whose birthdays are in august. so a lot of late summer babies. i only wonder this as i wonder how busy the hospital is going to be. but there are only 5 couples in our class (all due in late august through the middle of sept.).
As i've noted here, this pregnancy has gone really great, but the hormones i must comment on. yesterday i almost cried at the sex and the city rerun where carrie and mr. big break-up for good (well, except for the affair in later seasons and the end of the series). sigh.
Posted by christina at 2:22 PM | Comments (0)
July 18, 2007
more than i am
i love the rain. it has finally felt like summer with summer thunderstorms. i love summer thunderstorms.
i have two days of work left. i will miss it. last week i was perfectly alright with the life of leisure. this week, not so much. though time is passing quickly. i have work next week. then visitors the next. then vacation. then just waiting around for the child to come. it will be fun. ha ha ha.
i am tired. i have vast admiration for those who are 8 mos pregnant and work full time.
our vet is awesome. very awesome. and the dog's supplements have done wonders for the limping as in she doesn't limp any more, not even the day after a crazy day of playing with cosmo.
my tomato plant has four tomatoes!!!!!!
today i found out someone i kind of know had a miscarriage. she's older. it makes me glad that i choose to do this in the order i am. it makes me feel so lucky.
cool stuff that i have gotten lately:
highchair this chair i got for 30% off and was the highlight of last week. it is suppose to be an excellent highchair, but expensive. 30% was like $75. and that made my day.
Posted by christina at 6:49 AM | Comments (1)
July 14, 2007
i never knew / i never knew that everything was falling through
i saw Sicko (the movie) last night. I was reluctant to see it as I know a lot about the health care situation in this country and knew that the movie would just depress me. And it did. I didn't learn anything new, and actually had some issues with michael moore's extreme one-sided presentation. but it is a movie and I do hope that it opens people's eyes to the mess of insurance system.
The thing that bothers me most about insurance is the for profit aspect. Why do we as a society allow some members to capitalize on other member's bad luck? People don't chose to be sick. I think that all health care should be nonprofit.
Unfortunately, the health care debate is up against people who have insurance through their jobs, therefore the preexisiting conditions and denials of private insurance focused on in the film probably will not ring true. Losing one's house because of co-pays and deductible will. I wish he would have focused on that more.
Moore's focus on the Canadian, French, English, and Cuban nationalist health care system glossed out an important point. Each of these countries have COMPLETELY different systems of governments than ours. Moore did interview a guy who made this point subtly, but it was almost lost on me (with a ton of political theory knowledge), so I am sure it was lost on everyone else. The parliamentary system of the first three allows the poor a lot more power. In fact, the individual voter on average has a lot more power as one can vote for a candidate with goals closer to one's own and it not be a wasted vote as it in is the two party system here in the US. Nationalized health care will never happen because one needs 60 votes in the Senate to get anything passed (with the support of half the house, more if you don't have the support of the president). Legislation (if you have noticed) is virtually impossible. VERY FEW THINGS actually make it into law. It is even rarer that an important, life changing thing makes it in to law. (Of course, this is a good thing in case the people in power are crazy, but bad if one actually needs to make any changes). In parliamentary systems, one only needs half of the votes and so things get changed, like health care.
I do think change is coming. I don't think that "liberals" should think that that change is going to be nationalized health care - i.e. everyone on medicaid. I think if insurance companies were made to be non-profit, it would be a step in the right direction (and a fulfillment of the actual definition of insurance, though what we want is more like insulation and not insurance).
On a personal note, I know way too much about the theory behind insurance. Hence when we were deciding on which plan to go with in the fall, I pushed up toward the HMO as healthy people (in theory) self-select into the less expensive plan, so the premiums are more reflective of your actual risk. Less healthy people self-select into the more expensive plans and therefore your costs probaly outweigh your risks. So we decided on the HMO of a major national company . Then we pick a peditrican and find out that they only take the PPO plan. Of course, just the idea of not being able to see the doctor we want made us change our mind. That and the horror stories of HMOs and my mom's comment that more and more doctors are not accepting the HMOs b/c of issues with payments. We are lucky lucky lucky enough that the extra $60 a month isn't a big deal to us, but to a lot of people, the cost difference b/t the PPO and HMO is a big deal. Of course, we are lucky to even have the choice at all.
Posted by christina at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2007
once upon a time / not a long time ago
our entertaining ourselves with the pack and play. the puppy, not so entertained.
i "worked" 11 hours yesterday. and i loved it. i don't mind "working" when i have interesting/important stuff to do. I was in early for a roundtable thing with a congress person and "environmental leaders". A question about the environmental movement's support for nuclear power illustrated how little science both environmental leaders and congressional members understand. all the problems with nuclear are political. the problems are not scientific. we have the engineering capabilities to store the waste at a risk level much much less the the harmful effects of coal and oil. so it isn't a waste issue as people (especially environmentalists) say. I almost said something, but kept my mouth shut. it wasn't important. it is a political issue for sure. but coal plants, oil refineries, waste dumps/incenterators also all have their own political problems.
the other thing that the hour illustrated was how much the environmental community focuses on bandaids - biofuels, solar cells, wind - there are all stop gap measures. What we really need to do is focus on reducing our consumption - through fuel efficiency standards, through energy saving technologies. I am all for renewable energies (of course), but we should also be focusing on the other side also.
I stuck around late to do some faxing to d.c. time is getting tight in the context of congress and their breaks, so things get important in waves. I really like it. I like think that i might be helping make a difference.
Do i think that i am really making a difference? Hard to say. It is interesting to compare my academic knowledge with the real world. I know that research shows that special interest groups don't really effect how congress people vote (even if they do give a lot of money). the attitudes of their constituents matter much more. So as a special interest group, we strive to motivate the constituents to communicate with their representatives. You should communicate with your representative. votes do matter.
the best thing about working late is the boy drove down and picked me up and then we went to yummy boston market. and then dairy cream, which has a line out the door! they are fast, so we waited, but it was strange.
i saw the cute doctor today for my 31 wk visit. (I am now seeing other doctors in the practice so i meet them all before i go into labor. whoever is on call is the one who delivers. i've really liked all the ones i've met, and i really like that none of my appts have to be rescheduled b/c my doc is off delivering.) I now start the every two weeks. appts are so fast. they weigh, take your blood pressure, check your pee, listen to the heart rate and measure your belly. everything was normal. my tummy is measuring a little small, but he said that is was fine.
my appt was quick, and the wait not too long. the waiting room was packed with women who brought multiple kids (like older kids) with them. it was really annoying. you aren't suppose to bring kids. i'm the first one to recognize that child care can be impossible for some, so their presence doesn't annoy me as much as the fact that they were taking up all of the chairs and patients were having to stand. at least make your kids sit on the floor if there is not enough chairs for all the patients. it is funny how the makeup of the waiting room changes with what doctor is in the office. when we normally go on monday afternoons there is hardly anyone there. and there are no kids. If there is a baby, there is a dad to wait with it.
question of the day - why does the usual suspect park her suv in the middle of the two spaces in front of the building? It is more annoying b/c she knows that i am out and about in the middle of most days and would really like to park in front of the building seeing that it is 90 degrees, i have groceries, and am almost 8 months pregnant! she just need to move her monster car up 3 feet or back 3 feet. sooooo annoying.
Posted by christina at 5:24 PM | Comments (2)
July 8, 2007
first thing on my mind
the puppy trying out the baby bjorn
it is hot here. i know that it is rarely hot here that i shouldn't complain, but i feel like i put up with A LOT of DAMN COLD temperatures, so why so hot? not that i'm really affected as i have not ventured outside beyond watering my tomato and basil plants on the balcony.
speaking of my tomato plant. i have two tomatoes! I am SO EXCITED.
why does the boy like to watch old movies on tbs what he has on dvd?
why are the other people who live in my building (with the exception of one other couple) unable to show up to a meeting they all said they could come to? it is an important meeting as it involves a special assessment of $10,000 (to be split) for the sealing of the building. it needs to be done as people are getting water damage. and so people need to come to the meeting so we can get it approved and get the ball rolling. seriously, it is like these people are college students.
Posted by christina at 5:57 PM | Comments (0)
July 6, 2007
every little thing she does is magic
me. 30.5 weeks
There is a police (as in sting) concert going on at wrigley. We have the door open and I can clearly hear every word. it is better than being there. comfort of my own apartment and a concert. it is much like how on the 4th, the people down the street put on a nice little fireworks show (with real in the air fireworks). we watched from the back balcony with Jenny and Rachel. It scared the shit out of the dog, but it was nice. We had them over for grilling. They brought a lot of yummy sides and desserts. It was all quite nice.
My mom and other sister (also named Jenny) were here last weekend. It was really nice having them here. We saw Wicked, which was excellent. We had great seats and had a great time. I do really like Wicked. It was better the second time. Musicals are better the second time for me for some reason. I am not sure why. i think it is because i'm not trying to figure out where the story is going or how long it is going to last. I can just enjoy it.
While they were in town they also put in a good hard day of shopping and lunch at the taste of chicago. They also went to a cubs game. neither event i could participate in because of the belly. walking around all days hurts the belly muscles. and my problem with crowds has gotten worse with the belly, so cubs games and taste of chicago are just not my thing.
On sunday, ben's mom, sister, and my sister threw us a baby shower. it was fun to see his family and to have my family there. We got a crazy amount of stuff. our families, they are crazy generous. statement of fact. so now we have pretty much everything we need. ben and his dad are going to put together the crib and bookcase tomorrow and we shall have ourselves a nursery. crazy crazy. considering I'll be considered full term in about 6 weeks, it is nice to be getting all the stuff taken care of. ben is so excited about the furniture. it is amusing.
i want the glider to come for no other reason than it is crazy comfortable and i would like a comfortable chair right about now. my back is hurting from my car trip to naperville yesterday to see liz. it was great to see her. it is always great to see her. plus she knitted the sack of organs a blanket and a hat. her knitting skills are amazing!
Posted by christina at 9:05 PM | Comments (0)
June 23, 2007
soul meets body
saturdays around here
so there is this southwestern airlines "want to get away ads" that features a couple trying to break into what they think is their car, but it isn't. i commented to ben that wouldn't you notice that the stuff inside the car was different before you tried to break the window with a brick?
Thursday night we went to dinner. Ben got a spot right outside the restaurant. After dinner we walked out and walked to his car. We both opened our doors and I noticed that my book was missing and in its place was a chicago wedding magazine. My first thought was who would steal my book and leave a wedding magazine in its place? As I was asking ben if he didn't lock the car, I noticed that there was other stuff in the car, and low and behold it was not our car. We figure this out the spilt second before ben sat down. It was the same color and was a sedan, but wasn't a camery. The camery was the next car. and there you have it. one does notice. well, i notice, ben would have sat down and tried to start the car.
Posted by christina at 1:19 PM | Comments (0)
June 19, 2007
lights go down
picture by rachel
so i wonder if ben would rather i wasn't such an engineer and needed his help doing handy stuff around the house. i must admit, usually i am lazy and let him do all the "handyman" things like replace the ceiling fan and put together furniture. Maybe it wasn't so much that i was lazy as I always had some school thing to do.
Now that I have time I have accomplished the four projects that have been on my list.
1. the bottom drawer of my ikea dresser has had a warped bottom for like ever. This weekend i got a big piece of particleboard to replace it. I thought that the utility knife would cut it, but not so much. I used the pruning shears to very slowly and painfully cut the board to size. It wasn't pretty but it worked beautifully and now i have a better than new dresser as the new board is definitely more stiff than the old one.
2. shelves for the cabinets above the computer. weird that there were no shelves in the huge cabinet. now there are selves. it took 4 trips to home depot, but now they are beautiful.
3. hanging the picture frame thing with all the wedding pics.
4. planting a tomato plant. VERY excited about this one.
the crib and bookshelf came today. they sent it ups. crazy. it wasn't like we ordered it from wal-mart....
i kept the dog so busy today with the three trip to HD. she is so funny when she is tired.
Posted by christina at 5:57 PM | Comments (1)
June 17, 2007
the power of orange knickers
It drives me crazy when some commercials are way louder than the tv show. Discovery Health is having a Untold Stories of the ER marathon this afternoon, so I've had it on while I've ironed a million things. I have been successful in cleaning off the to be ironed papasan chair so it can be moved down to storage. We ordered all the baby's furniture Thursday. We basically ordered the room - the crib, dresser, glider. We feel in love with the wood and really found nothing else we liked (and we look elsewhere). Ben and I are both people who once we find something we like we just look for it elsewhere.
We also, finally, found a tv stand. We looked at like 15 places - furniture places, tv places, random places and finally found the perfect stand at target. of course. it was nice to finally find it, but seriously, target? somewhere we go there somewhat often. but, in the end, we knew exactly what we want and can never say we didn't look hard enough...not that we would, because it is fabulous.
the life of leisure is tiring. all this tv watching really takes it out of you. well, yesterday we did venture out to take the cat to the vet. she had to get some more blood drawn so she could be typed to become a blood donor. since i currently can't give blood, i've been all about trying to encourage others in my life to. not that the cat has a choice...
i've been doing more research on cloth diapers. I have to admit that I am back on the fence about a diaper service. There is only one in the entire chicago area, so i figure, they are probably driving by my street anyways, so how much more CO2 would using them contribute? How is that offset by their economies of scale with water and dryer heat? Turns out you have to wash the diapers a couple of times... Add the convenience and i'm leaning toward the service. I am leaning mainly because it turns out the service isn't that expensive (less than disposables) and it offset somewhat by the avoiding having to buy the diapers.
Posted by christina at 3:39 PM | Comments (1)
June 13, 2007
cars and guitars
the weather in chicago has been perfect. it was perfect weather as we spent sunday wandering around downtown. After Steve's panel thing (rumor has it i was on book tv some), ben and i wandered around the book fair tents. There were a lot of cheap used books, but i never did find anything that i wanted to get. ben got a couple of books for the sack of organs and the dog. both like to be read to. then we did some shopping enjoying the afternoon until we met emily and david for dinner.
life has been quite busy despite no school (yay!) , i've been "working". yesterday we day tripped out to Schaumburg for some Ikea action. We did the babies r us thing - picked out strollers and swings and stuff. tomorrow we'll do the furniture thing/sheet thing at pottery barn. my sister did all the little stuff at target because she is far more knowledgeable than me on bottles and stuff. it seems like we actually might be having this baby. it is weird, though this week is the third trimester. crazy.
Posted by christina at 9:49 PM | Comments (1)
June 10, 2007
Well there are always words that could’ve been used
two of my loves. my apple. and the sack of organs.
It is funny to me how we care about people's opinions about us. People who were aren't friends with. Or people we are. As i've mentioned, since i got pregnant, my caring about what people think has diminish greatly. I think that it might be due to having a life instead your body. One that you worry about. You worry for the first 12 weeks. Then you worry whenever it has gone too long without feeling a kick. You worry if the shock from the elevator buttons hurt the baby. You hold your breath until you get home and lay down on your right side, which is currently a sure-fire way to feel some don't lay this way kicks. Feeling the kicks are a reminder that things are still okay. They remind you that you are so lucky to have gotten pregnant easily, to have had (so far) a very easy pregnancy. When the boy rubs your feet and your back you feel lucky that you know this dude is going to be an awesome father.
And in all this you cease to care if your neighbors like you. You are quicker to voice your annoyance. You aren't afraid to tell your neighbors, be considerate, because it is the right thing to do, to let everyone know you are drilling into the side of the building. to not take up the entire common area with your stroller? To not destroy the common area with the said stroller? Just to remember that we are a community. But I really don't care about that, but feel some sort of responsibility since we got drafted to be "president". By collective action theory, we are suppose to stand up for the group. This is a classic collection action problem - the cost far outweighs any benefits. But with such a small building, do you care more about what your neighbors think of you or what is right? or are you even right? should you care that people totally disregard the common area? and that makes you think that they would do the same with the holes in the building? But i really don't care about the holes because they are below our apartment and so won't cause water damage to us, but may other people and so as president do we stand up for those people? Even if they are silent? Do we stand up for the other apartments in regards to the damaged common area even if they are silent? or do we just lay low and try not to upset the boat? as long as no one complains to us, why do I feel compelled to act? why do i feel compelled to act? maybe too much collective action theory. maybe too much liberal public policy education about caring about the idea of a community.
why do I care about the community as a whole while others care what people think? or is caring about the community caring what people think?
at this point the costs are faaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrr outweighing any benefits - even summed benefits and that is when groups fail.
Posted by christina at 9:46 PM | Comments (0)
and in this moment...
Last night we were walking back from Rachel's when a lot of bicyclists started passing us. First it was weird that there was a parade of bicyclists riding down the street at 10:45 at night. Then we noticed that some were dressed weird. And then we noticed that some weren't dressed at all! It was at least 200 bicyclist is various states of undress (many completely naked) riding down the street. It was by far the strangest thing I've ever seen.
When we got back, I looked it up on the internet. It turns out that it was world naked bike ride day. They were advocating decreased dependence on oil.
Later today, my father-in-law will be speaking at the Printer's Row Book Fair at 1pm. You can watch him at the same time on C-Span 2. In case you miss it, it will be repeated at 1 am. Tune in!
Posted by christina at 8:03 AM | Comments (0)
June 7, 2007
counting the stars
me. 27 weeks.
My father-in-law was on Chicago Public Radio's news magazine 848. He talked about his book he wrote: Crossing Hoffa. It just came out. I've read a good bit of it (and will finish now that i am done with school yay!), and it is quite good. The interview was interesting. I'm fairly jealous as I love 848.
So, yes, i am done with school. it is a little weird, as I am not sure what to do with myself. Though i do have a million of little things i've been putting off for 10 weeks...like the wedding album. i was busy today dropping my paper off, making my quarterly trip to target, and getting my glucose test done. And tomorrow I "work".
The glucose test involves going to the doctor's office building lab and drinking an orange soda. You wait an hour and then they draw your blood. There are some interesting (annoying) people that come through the waiting room. There was a pair of 19 year olds girls with a one year old. One of them was there for the same test I was and so I spent the time trying to figure out whose kid it was. I think it was the pregnant chick's kid. so. sad. Then there was the really old lady who complained that the waiting area was cold (it was 90 degrees today) and the older man who told me that reading was a good choice as everything on the tv is trash. (The tv was on people's court and it was TRASH. One case involved them describing a 50 year-old man as a sex boy toy.) It was a pretty strange hour. I was so. happy. when they calling my name. I hope i don't have diabetes. I more hope i didn't screw up the test by having a granola bar for lunch. i didn't really plan eating today very well.
Posted by christina at 4:53 PM | Comments (0)
June 6, 2007
i love the sky when it's blue
oh summer. life is good.
Chicago has had some random temperature swings. 90 one day (like tomorrow) 67 the next (like yesterday). From my morning on the elliptical tv watching (there is nothing on at 7 am except really stupid morning shows), i know it is because the jet stream is right on us, so any movement can drastically change our temps. When it is mild (normal) like today (upper 70s), I open the balcony door. The puppy loves the balcony, now that she has gotten over her fear of scary porch monster. For a while she would not go out there, but a couple of trips out in our arms and a visit from a dog who loved the balcony got her over her fear. Now she loves to lay out there in the sun and look at people walk by. It took ben and i a while to trust her to not find a way to fall off, but now we just let her go.
i am having some major motivation issue in relation to writing this last paper. It is my last school thing for at least 6 months.
Posted by christina at 9:57 AM | Comments (0)
June 2, 2007
We're in new york with ben's parents. to see his brother's band play. I couldn't see them when they were in chicago (b/c of the smoke) so it was a good excuse to join his parents for a trip out here. The best thing about traveling with his parents (besides having someone else to talk to) is not having to think about any sort of plans...or at least the execution of them. Things just happen, like dinner at an excellent restaurant last night. mmmmm. yum. it was excellent. i am said that i couldn't get the steak tartar or the halibut (raw meat and mercury fish), but my roast chicken was excellent. i would never get chicken when we go out (as i can cook chicken at home), but the restriction on my diet have made me branch out and for that I am happy.
Posted by christina at 9:39 AM | Comments (1)
May 28, 2007
you don't have to tell me now
the highlight of today is the discovery of a new internet radio station - pandora radio. So far, for the past 4 hours hours it is has been awesome. no audio ads, all interesting music. i just put in the name of a band that i like and it creates this station of music like it. so interesting. all three i have tried have been pretty right on. well, Hem radio produced a couple of show tunes, but a couple thumbs down made those go away.
it is nice to have this day "off" from "work". I have worked on school work all day. Besides the requisite last week of quarter push of assignments, i am also trying to get a jump on my 2 final papers and final exam. due to the fact that i am going to new york on friday to see pete and jay play. yay for that. i am looking forward to the trip. i really enjoyed new york when we were out last june.
the day off is also good because it was quite the busy weekend. on sat i went to get the rattling checked out on my car and my suspicions were right, it was just a look exhaust. i hear that it is a quite common thing around here as the salt rusts that bolts on the strap that holds on the exhaust. yay for it not being something complicated. though still not cheap. well, maybe cheap in the car repair world