it seems like my facebook posts that garner the longest (and, sometimes, most heated) comments are those dealing with my pregnancy. being a relative latecomer to the parenting game, i have quite a few lady friends who’ve already taken the plunge into motherhood; each of them is very intelligent (i tend to avoid stupid people, after all), and each has had a different experience – and, thusly, came out with different opinions and insights about the matter. from how to deal with the not-so-pleasant (or anxiety-inducing) moments of pregnancy to whether or not to use drugs in order to make the birth experience a little easier, i’ve gotten loads of advice from these wonderful women…and i love them for it. yes, i have books and websites at my disposal to get all this information, but the testimonies of real women that i know and trust are far more important to me than any printed word. this is going to be the most terrifying and most incredible experience of my life, but knowing that i’ll be in good company when it’s all over makes it worthwhile (not to mention the fact that we’ll have a beautiful new son…that’s really the best part). ^_^ (more…)
what a difference a year makes 8 March, 2010
as so many others have done on the interwebs, dear blog, i have forsaken you for the shiny of the facebooks. yeah, i’ve been keeping a sporadic handwritten, old-school journal (and if it makes you feel any better, the last entry i’d made in that book was back when ben and i were dating…). but people have been bugging me about blogging about the pregnancy, so…
oh, did i forget to mention that? well, i guess we have been out of touch, haven’t we? yeah, i’m at about 6 months now. maxwell benjamin’s estimated date of arrival is june 3rd, though i’m not putting any money on that. he’ll show up when he’s ready, and if he’s anything like his parents, he’ll be fashionably late. ben is absolutely ecstatic…in the nearly 12 years we’ve been together, i’ve never seen him this happy. and here i’d thought i couldn’t love him more than i did… 🙂
and as for me? man, i can’t even begin to name a single emotion that describes how i’m feeling right now. of course, i’m thrilled about being a mom. i can’t wait to finally get to hold max, to look at him, to just have him here on the outside and get to know him. and i’m nervous…i mean, this is HUGE. my life, our lives, will never be the same. this precious little person will be relying on us for everything. that’s a slightly intimidating prospect, no? and i won’t even get into the financial concerns, or the “oh god, we’ve only got 3 more months to prepare for this life-changing, earth-shattering event!” panic that sometimes grips me. i like to think that my emotions are along the same that i’d be feeling on the ride up the lift to go bungee jumping off something really huge, like the arch in st. louis, except i get a baby at the end.
there are some things about which i’ve definitely made up my mind. i definitely want to have natural child birth…no offense to my friends who’ve had c-sections, but i’m just not down. i definitely want to have ben there with me every single second through the labor and delivery. i thought i’d made up my mind that i wanted an epidural, but the more i look into it, the more i’m starting to question that decision…
i’m sorry, little dude 9 February, 2009
teen girl at check-out desk (looking at a book her mother had just put down): facebook, mom? really?
mom: yeah. (seeing her daughter roll her eyes) what? i have a page!
teen girl (lifting the previously named book and reading the title of the next): and blogging?
mom: yes! i have a blog! is that so weird?
teen girl: yes.
me: no, what’s weird is when your mom friends you. i mean, how to do decline her request? (to mom) no offense…
teen girl: i’m on myspace.
mom: but your brother’s on facebook…
i have the hots for rachel maddow 28 January, 2009
i’m watching her interview with the esteemed governor blagojevich from last night. it’s poetry in motion.
oh rachel…were we not both committed to other people and i were a little less intimidated by your razor wit and intellect, i’d offer to buy you a drink…
even keith olbermann has conservative friends…
…and yet here i sit, cringing at some of the names (and opinions expressed by those folk) on my facebook list.
i just feel so…i dunno, dirty, unclean in a bad way, when that smug sonofa posts some snarky-yet-impotent political something-or-other, and guy-who-used-to-be-awesome-but-is-now-just-obnoxious makes some snarky remark about it. i know, i know, bad steph with the lack of bipartisanship. i love that our new president is big into the bipartisan spirit. i wish i could be that awesome. but i can’t…the truth is, after eight long years of republican rule, i am stoked about the new administration, and i want to dance around and laugh at the conservative tears of frustration and fall asleep to the gnashing of their teeth. i took (and, in many senses, am taking) great delight in watching the conservative empire crumble, and maybe i should also take delight in the toothless attempts by those folks on facebook to show a strong face, stiff upper lip, wot wot. maybe it should be so cute when they take comfort in their progressively-more-frantically-absurd rush tirades, like they’re huddling around a dying flame while the cold reality of a democratically-led government closes in around them.
it all sounds like a good idea as i write it here. but as soon as i go back onto facebook and see more of their shenanigans on my update page, i know i’ll just roll my eyes and debate once again whether i should just remove them from my list…
it’s just…weird… 21 January, 2009
so yesterday was fantastic and wonderful and about 17 other hyperbolic adjectives. yes, i watched the whole day, from the pre-inauguration coverage through the last inaugural ball that the obamas attended last night (and i can’t tell you the massive chuckles i got from hearing chris matthews and keith olbermann talk about “balls” all night…but then, sometimes i’m juvenile like that…).
but that’s not what i’m here to talk about today. at this particular point, i’d like to talk about the facebook. because it’s seriously weirding me out, yo. (more…)
hodge-ama-podge 19 January, 2009
today is weird and wonderful and wildly…emotional. i keep bursting into random fits of pride and tears whenever i remember that, at this time tomorrow, obama really will be the president. i can’t remember the last time i was so proud to be an american. i’m also fighting with my back, and i suspect the reason it’s being so difficult and grumpy is the OMG SNOOOOOOOOOOOW that’s forecast for tomorrow.
yes, snow. on the same day that the political sun will be shining full beams onto my tear-streaked face for the first time in eight long, frustrating, bitter years.
between back pain and american pride, you’ll find me today.
swiped 9 January, 2009
from the lovely mrs. esmon…because the mood around here is entirely too gloomy lately. (more…)
well then 8 January, 2009
everybody’s busy ’round the holidays, and yours truly is no exception. when we weren’t preparing to travel and visit family, we were preparing to be bombarded with friends to ring in the new year together. in previous years, new year’s day marked the end of the excitement and a return to the more relaxed business-as-usual schedule we typically enjoy.
not so this year. (more…)
So like... 