This Saturday - Feb 2!

Having a person

I rode my bike inside this morning and read about half of the Supernanny's book. While I was reading, it occurred to me that we are not having a baby, we are having a person. We made a person who is going to be living with us for at least the next 18 years. And I had thought that we should quickly try to make another one to give him a friend, but at this point, I think he's just going to be lonesome. Not really, but geez, I am starting to freak out, again.

The main thing Supernanny stresses is stay calm during your consistent presentation of the world and its limits. I think this will be very challenging. It is hard to remember, even with adults, that they are not doing it to me, they are just doing it. I also think my new year's resolution of staying in the present is not going to be challenging, because babies need your immediate and present attention. There is no ADD jumping from task to task as usual.

I put together the swing and playpen/bassinet. I had to call the swing tech support 2x. Both women I got on the phone acted like I was really stupid. While I felt stupid, the instruction manual was not very instructional, so I had to call for help. The playpen thing was much easier.
The last thing to install is the car seat. I am glad it looks assembled, though I know putting in the car will be much harder than one would think.

I am really looking forward to this being my last week of swimteam for a while. I hope I become delighted, again, after my hormones calm down. I haven't been delighted by them in a LONG time. I do remember being delighted quite a bit by my Canyon Creek kids. In fact, it was there I entertained the idea of having one of our own. I assume the genetic thing will make it easy to be delighted by Hank. It has always seemed very narcissistic to me to breed. But, the physiological and physical similarities between you and your mate neccessarily and adaptively make it easy to love the kid. If the kid looked nothing like either of you, it would take a lot of magnanimous generosity to be as delighted by him as you would be someone who looks like you. TZ could do it.

I filled out a lot of Hank's baby book. I am sure he will not be interested in it at any point, but I will be, and his wife (or husband) might be.

Headed to pajamas and David Sedaris.

Detach with love

BH came home for lunch yesterday because I was having a hormonal meltdown. It was very sweet.
He can detach with love or possibly indifference from his work. I know the swim team is an opportunity for me to practice for the ultimate challenge. I realized yesterday I do want my child to answer or pay some sort of attention after his name is called once. I do not think I will drop him off at swim team until he is at least in middle school, and even then, I don't think I will routinely drop him off. I also don't think I will take my 6 year old to swim practice outdoors when the outdoor temperature is below 70 or the water is below 79. The little kids actually didn't drive me as buggy as the big kids did, yesterday. BH told me when they were given a track workout of 6x400, they would want to do 10x400 because they thought that would make them faster. Isn't that the goal??? Most of the big kids try to talk me down like it's an auction. I made the mistake of doing it once, so part of that is my fault. Meanwhile, Steve and I have both given several inspirational talks. It's actually not the whole team. It's the boys that whine like little girls. The middle school kids asks if what is next is going home. I say, "Yes, you can always go home. I don't have a gun." I also have been ignoring the questions: Is this set hard? Is this the last thing? What time is it? What time do we get out?
There may be others. It would never occur to me at any age to question my coach in activity I wanted to do. I remember telling the gymnastics coach I was afraid, but I let him talk me into trying. I don't know. I do know the problem is me, and I need to let it go. Do what I can, and let it go.
I have many thank you notes to write on Hank's behalf. I am very grateful his room is setup enough so that he has a place to sleep, eat, and get cleaned up.

I am extremely hormonal.
I read a lot more of the Bradley book this morning.
I am ready to get the show on the road.

More naked peeps

I like this lady except for her possible resemblance to me at age 50.












Skeleton Lady













The infamous Spencer. Everyone's drawings of him looked pretty much the same - a rock with arms and legs.













I forget what the orange oil-crayons are called, but this one turned out kind of neat.










Collage

Name the speaker

"I am the decider. I decide."

Here's a pic around 30-31 weeks.
I am now 34 weeks. WHOA.

indigent dogs

Small dogs + poodles are the best. Poodles are ugly and snooty, but add them to a cute, small dog and they are awesome. They hardly shed, and they are smart. If you know about an indigent dog, let me know because I don't think Brad would let a dog die in the cold, harsh winter of Austin, TX.

Pomeranian + Poodle = Pomapoo
Papillon + Poodle = Papapoo
Shiz Tsu + Poodle = Shipoo
Yorkie + Poodle = Yorkiepoo
Bichon Frisé +Poodle = Poochon.
Chihuahua + Poodle = Chipoo.
These combos are all 4-8 lb dogs. How much mess could an 8 lb dog possibly make? The cat weighs 14. Brad weighs 150. I think I am currently holding at 159.

Bichon Frisés + tiny dogs are also good because they also hardly shed.
Same for Miniature Schnauzers, but I haven't seen a cute combo with a schnauzer, yet.
Cocker Spaniels are the final low-shed breed, but they are too big for me.

Helen's dog is a paperanian. I didn't notice any stray hairs anywhere in the house, but I think both poms and paps do shed some. But, again, she weighed 5-6 lbs. Her poop was the size of a tootsie roll.

I am extremely hormonal. And, consequently, am still very upset that I only have a 49% vote on the dog. C'est la vie, je suppose. Si triste.

I wanna dog

There was a "song" in Sid and Nancy sung by this yahoo who was trying to pitch a song to Johnny Rotten. The lyrics were, "I wanna job. I wanna job. I wanna good job. I wanna job. I wanna job. I wanna job that pays. I wanna job. I wanna real job - one that satisfies my artistic needs."
Totally random, but that song keeps popping up when I think about a DOG.

Got a lot done yesterday. Took pics of old artwork. When you spend 8 hours+/week drawing naked people, you end up with a lot of drawings of naked people. I like these 2.

I STILL WANT A DOG

Ready

to be able to lie on my back.
for Steve to be back. I was kind of enjoying coaching the whole team, but today I felt pretty exasperated at 2:30 pm after being at the pool since 5:15 am.
to not have a baby poking me in the ribs.
to be over my stuffy nose and sleep in the same room as Brad, again. Poor Brad, sleeping with Archie Bunker must be unpleasant.

This morning it was in the low 20's. I actually have been a LOT colder at the pool before. Today there was no wind, and the water was 81-2˙, which was AWESOME. I am loving swimming, which is good because it's the only PA I am doing.

Resolve to be present, not rush through one task to get to the next.
Carry over resolutions: you can't take it with you, and love and tolerance is our code.

Selling off a lot of my record collection. Surprisingly, many LPs go for $10-200 on Amazon. I was fairly shocked by the variety of punk rock and new wave records listed for sale and the prices they are going for. I listed them all yesterday, and have already sold 4 at a little over $12 a piece. I had to buy $50 worth of shipping supplies, but after these records go, I'll be in the black. I haven't begun to list my rare Sex Pistols collection or some picture disks that did not show up in Amazon's listing.

2 more days without Coach Steve. I think I can handle it, but I also think I am going to bed about 7.