This tidbit about yet another benefit of long-term breastfeeding comes at exactly the right time – today is my first day back to work after my seven weeks’ maternity leave. Granted, it’s only 16 hours a week, but the pump was debuted (or re-re-debuted?). Have I mentioned how much I loathe the pump? It hulks under my desk, leering at me, waiting for me to take it out and plug it in every two hours. Evil thing. (Good thing I don’t feel that way about the baby, eh?)
Notice I am not especially stressed about leaving the boys. I am fairly certain that they are in better hands with the babysitter than they are with me. She’s a heck of a lot more patient, if nothing else. And she probably won’t yell at them for rhythmically kicking the filing cabinet while they lie on the floor coloring, or for painting on the table with their yogurt spoon, or any number of other innocent acts that send my OCD tendencies into orbit.
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Gina is sick. Everyone send health vibes her way. No one should have to feel like there’s broken glass in their throat. Least of all Gina. Get better, dear! (So we can have lunch when I work next Tuesday : ))
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Re: The New York Times 100 Notable Books list – even Jessa Crispin of Bookslut said that she’d read only four of them. If she has only read four, then I am home free. And she mentions that some of the books she thought would make the list did not – specifically, Voices from Chernobyl which was one of the most devastating and enlightening books I have ever read. Now, however, we have the Christian Science Monitor list…. this list is more like it. I’ve never understood why the Christian Science Monitor is considered a reliable source for book reviews. Although I understand it is. Here is what I found out: http://www.csmonitor.com/aboutus/about_the_monitor.html. I sorta was under the misapprehension that it was like having the Mormons publish book reviews (they panned Under the Banner of Heaven and everything by Augusten Burroughs) or the Baptists (they panned everything except The Rainbow Fish.)
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OK, I like Nabokov. He was an amazing writer. Reading Lolita was a life-changing experience. If he willed for an unfinished manuscript of his to be destroyed, I trust him. Destroy it.
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I left the house without my camera this morning. On purpose. I feel as if I left a limb at home. Because there’s this student standing here in front of me wearing a hideous bronze-colored T-shirt two sizes too small, black culottes, and Uggs. I want to photograph her atrocious outfit and share it with the blog masses. There have been many other things I wished to photograph – is it illegal to take people’s pictures without their knowledge? - and I just can’t bring myself to bring the camera to work and take the photos. I feel like it’s unethical and not very productive. And maybe sort of embarrassing. But oh, some of the things I have seen today…do people not look in the mirror before they leave their dorm rooms? Kids today…
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I explained to Primo the meaning of “penultimate” yesterday, walking up to the coffee shop. It was in context, people! I fear for my ego when he is older. He’s scary enough now. Thank God his father was a math major in college, so I never have to tread the dark, scary path of calculus with that child. I failed calculus. I loved it, but it was like a giant puzzle that I COULD NOT SOLVE. And he will probably be solving differential equations by fourth grade. (Do you solve differential equations? See what I mean?)
11 comments:
Going back to work is hard hard hard.
I've done it, but being with grown-ups is nice too.
Give that nasty pump a kick for me.
Hooray for the long term breastfeeding.
And boo for only 7 weeks of maternity leave?! Wow.
And, how come I hadn't twigged that you work at a university too? Hmmm.
Somehow I worked palindromes into a Sunday School lesson a few weeks ago (1st grade) so I think it's entirely rational that your first born should understand penultimate.
And the only books I've read on that list are the children's - all of them.
I feel terrible for missing your back-to-work extravaganza! Or just lunch. I'm feeling much better today--I'm going to class tonight (for at least a bit)--my throat has improved enough to allow me to swallow, which allows me to drink, which makes things all kinds of better. I'm still sluggish and breathless and stupid, but . . . better.
Math is my dirty little secret. Sometimes I think I missed my calling, because I loved Calculus and did well in it. I toyed with the idea of becoming an engineer, but deserted for English because it was fun *and* effortless. And then I took the GRE and scored highest in Logic, then Maths, THEN Verbal.
I never do anything right.
Too bad you don't have one of those sneaky camera phones!
If every year of breastfeeding lowers your risk of developing Type II, by 15%, then I am at 105%. Woo hoo!
What kind of breast pump is it? Have you tried a Medela?
On the math thread, I know at least two men and one woman who are mathematically minded and literary minded: one went the literary route, the other two are engineers. Gina, I don't think there is a "right or wrong" -- we're journeying. I never would have become a librarian first!
wwstax: wild women start taxes early! (or not)
BB you were brave to leave your camera at home. :)
Gina feel better!
And to both of you... guess what I picked up at the library this afternoon? Two books: On Green Dolphin Street and The Historian. While I'm very excited, the latter has me all tied up in knots and I haven't even started it yet. Why the knots? Both books are due 12/20. The Historian's 600+ pages don't scare me, but I haven't gotten much reading done lately. I'm afraid I'll have to turn it back in without the luxury of renewal (there are currently 819 holds for 208 copies of this book), and then what will I do?
I think there's only one solution. Stop working on my niece's Christmas gift -- which I can tell you here is a rag-edged quilt -- and start reading.
start reading, Peg - it's fast and you can skim some of the middle stuff in The Historian. You'll finish.
And what's a rag-edge quilt? Sounds cool.
Carolyn - I have a Medela Pump in Style. It kicks ass. Which is sort of why I hate it. It's a love-hate relationship. So I will happily kick it for Blackbird.
Suse - Typical US maternity leave, if paid, is six weeks. Mine was unpaid since I am part-time so I took an extra week for Thanksgiving. My work has been really cool and flexible, fortunately. I work for a Catholic university so they look approvingly on procreation so try to make it nice and easy for us : )
Andrea - I work Tuesday days and Thursday evenings. Come see me! How'd Avi's shots go?
and gina - you do everything right.
and isn't it weird that i never knew that about you and math? it's a cool thing to be good at.
Awww, I hope being back at work is fun, at least, despite the evil pump.
Penultimate made me chuckle.
A rag-edged quilt is my first attempt at quilting. It has a wide margin of error, which is a comfort. Basically, you use flannel and/or homespun 10" squares, with a 1" seam all around that makes an 8" block. Thing is, you sew the blocks together wrong-side-out (including your filler) so that the seams face outward. Then they fringe after a washing. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Up til now I've felt the same way about quilting as I did about pie crusts... but nothing ventured nothing gained.
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