Seven Quick Takes

I can’t resist. I’m jumping on Jen’s “7 Quick Takes” bandwagon at least for this Friday. I used to try to write at least one somewhat cerebral post a week, but it’s just not happening right now. (See take numero dos and you’ll see that two little ones are quite possible sucking the brain cells right out of me.) So the title of my post should really read “7 Quick and Brainless Takes Where the Only Really Substantive Things that are Said are Quotes from People Other Than Me.”

I’m sure other quick takes participants will get you thinking.

#1

My husband has been working nights all week. When he’s not working, he’s sleeping or wrestling with two Klingons (or rather Clingons) who miss their Daddy. Thus, with limited adult interaction this week I’ve been a big blabber mouth in Blogville, dropping more comments than usual.

Aside from “talking” to fellow bloggers/blog readers and communicating via email to get my daily dose of adult interaction, I’ve attempted to talk on the phone with my mom and mom-in-law, but I did this when the girls were awake and had to quickly hang up before the toddler swallowed a handful of dried beans her big sister had been counting and then to prevent our carpet from being flooded from a pretend tea party taking place that involved several play pots that had been surreptitiously filled to the brim with water. Oh, and I had a nice chat with a grocery store clerk who asked me what Tahini is and what I use it for (hummus, bean dips). If you have been (or are about to be, subjecting yourself to this post) one of the victims to my aimless ramblings, please forgive me.

#2

I’m pregnant (due in spring) and am nursing my 19-month-old (just once or twice a day). I’m trying to decide if I’m up to the task of tandem nursing. Irony is, I became pregnant during a five-day nursing strike back in the summer (had to gently wean my first at 22 months to even be able to get pregnant with #2, so this is new territory for me). Anyway, if there are any tandem nursing moms out there, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

#3

We’ve caved in: We’re getting cable TV. Recently, my husband asked, “Do you think we should get TV? There’s so much going on in the world. Don’t you miss watching the news?” Then there was a brief pause before he added, “The new season of 24 is starting, too.” (We watched the previous seasons using Netflix.) I looked at my husband and his pleading, brown eyes and thought there’s only so much sacrifice one man can be asked to make. So, we looked at our budget, made a few other cuts, and have decided to enter the 21st century. But don’t expect me to watch the Super Bowl. TV or no TV, I’d still rather have my nose in a good book.

#4

Speaking of books, I noticed in Jen’s Quick Takes from last week that she’s reading Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and on Life by Anne Lamott. This was the most recent book I finished and one of the last books on writing that I hadn’t read. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although it made me want to start writing fiction again. So I added “write more fiction” to my list of New Year’s Resolutions. We’ll see how it pans out. (As a total Type Aer, I can be overly ambitious with my goal-setting.) I highlighted many passages in the book, but I want to share one in particular because it draws a parallel between two of my callings in life – motherhood and writing:

“…they are always yours, your books as well as your children. You helped bring your work into being, and every day you have to feed it, help it stay well, give it advice and love it when it ignores you.

Your three-year-old and your work in progress teach you to give. They teach you to get out of yourself and become a person for someone else. This is probably the secret to happiness. Your child and your work hold you hostage, suck you dry, ruin your sleep, mess with your head, treat you like dirt, and then you discover they’ve given you the gold nugget you were looking for all along.”

#5

I also just finished The Apostolate of Holy Motherhood
I went even more berserk with the highlighter on this one. The book is worthy of its own post, but in a nutshell the book is a compilation of Church-approved revelations from Mary and the Christ Child to a mom of three young children. A quote from this one:

“Mothers, teach your children to be kind to one another. The important lessons are learned at home. Do not expect others to teach your children. This is your responsibility and should be your joy. Discipline is necessary, but so is joy. Love your children. Love and cherish your children. They are gifts from God. Follow the example of the Holy Family who lived in humility and love, deferring to one another.”

I’m obviously fond of quotes and thinking of starting a weekly post called something like “Word to the Wise” where I publish a quote that made me think, laugh, cry, nod my head in agreement, scream, etc. What do you think?

New books on my nightstand include Prayer by Joyce Krupp (a Christmas gift from my godmother) and Marley and Me by John Grogan. Aside from a whole bunch of spiritual resolutions, another one of my goals for 2009 is to revert back to my bibliophile ways. Last year I didn’t make reading a priority, and I really missed it.

#6

I have a hemorrhoid (or two or three or 20; no one’s counting these guys). TMI, perhaps, but I was startled by this revelation. I’m just shy of entering my 27th week of pregnancy. So what? My little butterbean weighs a whopping two pounds or so and is 15 inches long, give or take, and is putting enough pressure on my bum to make hemorrhoids? How did I manage to avert this unfortunate side effect with both of my previous pregnancies? Other pregnancy “symptoms” that are new to me this go-round: occasional nosebleeds, nausea that is persisting well past the time it’s supposed to go away (I’m not throwing up much anymore, though. Yippie!), strange sensations deep in my pelvic area (feels like Baby is tap dancing on my cervix), and a bigger cup size (oddly, I’ve never had to go up a bra size during pregnancy before). What was your most surprising pregnancy symptom?

#7

I split a toenail the other day after a freak accident. Okay, my clumsy, preggo self tripped over absolutely nothing and I somehow managed to crack my toenail and leave a trail of blood all over our beige carpet. It’s still bleeding. My doctor-husband keeps asking if I’m putting antibiotic cream on it. I’m not. An infected toe is the least of my concerns when my bum feels like it’s on fire. (He’s also been asking if I’ve purchased hemorrhoid cream; I haven’t. This is what we’ve been talking about when I have happened to see him this week. Now perhaps you understand my increased participation in blog comboxes.)