Punctuation Outrage

Something horrible is happening in the world of the English language. Birmingham, England's second-largest city, is banning the apostrophe from all street signs. Apparently the apostrophe has been the target of much debate at city meetings, and some dude who heads the "transport scrutiny committee" just decided to ban it because he was sick of the debate. He claims they are confusing and unneeded.

!!!

I am astonished. Are people really so ignorant? I can understand not caring about the apostrophe and not taking the time to understand it. But to ban it? Isn't there some sort of Queen's English Protection Agency? How does someone have the authority to ban a very essential punctuation mark from public use?

Perhaps we few sticklers get overly offended at the misuse of one of the most commonly misused markings. However, to misuse it is better than to not use it at all. If they continued to use the apostrophe at least the educated people of the world wouldn't feel their cause has been mortally wounded.

St. Pauls Square.

Now doesn't that just look appalling?

For the full article, click below.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090131/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_no_apostrophe

Superbowl Sunday

Brent will be hosting a Superbowl party on Sunday. He always makes a ton of pizza (and if you've ever had Brent's pizza, you know it's worth it.)

I, hating football, agree to his hosting this event because:

1. he loves it
2. it's his tradition
3. he loves his traditions
4. the pizza is yummy
5. I can usually persuade some of my immediate family to come for the food and a visit. We don't watch the superbowl. In fact, we avoid any room with a television.

So if anyone feels like yummy food and football (football optional) on a 27" old television, you are welcome to come over. Please bring something yummy yourself and we'll share.

Goings On

1. Last Friday, at seventeen weeks pregnant, I felt the baby move for the first time. That is always exciting. It happened while Brent and I were watching Supersize Me by Morgan Spurlock. Not as a touching moment as when Emma felt her baby for the first time during the Tab Choir's performance of Suo Gan (the most beautiful lullaby EVER), but I was still happy with it.

It's nice being a second-time mom, because I was able to recognise the feeling as my baby a lot sooner this time around.

2. Last Sunday Jenny threw her first public tantrum. She has recently learned how to throw tantrums, and at church she showed me that she doesn't discriminate whether we're in public or not.

She has learned how to throw a fit, but I, as the grown-up, have not yet learned how to handle said fits. Ah. First-time-mom-of-a-toddler. Anyone have any tips for me?

3. Jenny is not puking so much anymore. She is eating better (as long as I feed her. She'll no longer put the food in her mouth unassisted. We've regressed.) She has traded these undesirable behaviors for giving up her sleep. She is crying when she is put down to sleep and waking up multiple times in the night screaming. It's really fun.

4. Today is Brent and my fourth first-date-iversary. Four years ago today we drove to Dick's Drive-In in Kamas, ate burgers and fries and black raspberry shakes, then drove up the canyon and went snow-shoeing.

Snacking whilst sitting on a snowbank together, Brent had a desire to "bust a move" as he puts it. He'd never had such an urge on a first date. I'm glad he didn't, because (although I was sort of feeling the vibe too) it would have instantly waved the "Player" flag and I wouldn't have wanted to go out with him again. (I've only been kissed on the first date once, and it was awful. That guy was nicknamed "the kissing bandit".)

So thanks to Laurie Noel who thought to set us up in the first place, Byron for planting the idea in Brent's head, Blane for reassuring Brent that I was worth a call despite the recommendation of a 16-year-old, and Katie and Mom for gently coercing me into agreeing to yet another blind date.

5. Today Brent and I took Jenny to the zoo. She has been once before, many months ago. She liked it then, but she LOVED it today. She loved the monkeys best, followed close by the turtles. She also loved the Amur leopard. When she saw it she kept roaring like a lion. Then she meowed like a cat over and over when she saw the lynx. Apparently the winter is when the big cats are the most active, so if you have a chance, go check it out. Last time we went the cats were all hiding.

It was a great visit. It was practically empty and the animals were very active and interested in us. (By the way, if funds are tight, the last Wednesday of the months Nov-Feb are free! One free day left this winter. Anyone want to go with me?)

The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth

The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is incredibly informative and helpful. The author is openly biased towards natural child birth, but she supports her case with unbiased and meticulous research (which she documents and references thoroughly).



I believe every woman who is pregnant or might someday become pregnant should read this book. Too often in our culture we accept the current obstetrical practices without informing ourselves of the benefits AND the risks, as documented by evidence-based research. This book can help solve that problem.



Most American women choose obstetrical, hospital-based births. That decision is based on cultural beliefs that are not based on evidence-backed facts. Obstetricians and hospitals are incredibly valuable for high-risk pregnancies and labors and for emergency complications that arise. Obstetricians are highly trained surgeons who deal with pathology and view labor and delivery from a medical, high-tech, interventionist perspective.



Yet it remains fact that most women are healthy, most pregnancies are low-risk, and most women would labor better and have fewer complications if they were allowed to labor naturally, with minimal or no intervention.



I'm all for informed consent, and this book helps women become informed. Most women are not informed about the risks of obstetrical intervention, they only know they're afraid of pain and want it to be taken away if possible. That choice is fine, as long as the woman is fully aware of the risks involved so that she can evaluate her own cost-benefit ratio.



It is written in a helpful format so that you can jump around to the topics that interest you, be it epidural, cesarean, breech birth, hospital vs. out-of-hospital birth, induction or augmentation of labor, obstetrical model of care vs. midwifery model of care, etc. If you are contemplating a natural child birth, this book will give you the information you need to commit to, defend, and succeed in your decision.


View all my reviews.

Who Needs Sleep, Anyhow?

About two weeks ago I walked into Jenny's room in the morning to find her covered in dry, crusty vomit.

About five days later, the same thing happened. I thought it was odd that she didn't wake up crying when she puked, and how gross to lie there asleep in a pile of sick all night.

Three days later it happened again.

A few days later, at about 3:00 a.m., I hear her crying. It is not like her to cry in the middle of the night, so I went to investigate. Puke. Gross. Fresh puke. Double gross.

I didn't want to wake Brent so I proceeded to take Jenny to the bathroom. I stripped her, plopped her in the tub, stripped the bed, wiped down the sides of the crib, and scrubbed the carpet. (All of this was accompanied by much heaving and vomiting myself, since the whole pregnancy thing makes me very sensitive to unpleasant smells.)

At that point, Loki came upstairs meowing loudly, as he often does. My puking, my talking to Jenny, the running bath water, Jenny screaming as I washed her hair: none of this woke Brent up. Loki meowing, however, did the trick.

He stumbled out of the bedroom to see what was going on. I made him rinse out the bedclothes and start the washer because I just couldn't stand to face the smell again.

Couple days later. Repeat 3:00 a.m. experience. Except this time I woke Brent up immediately and made him do the bedroom cleanup while I did the baby cleanup.

Next day. Repeat 3:00 a.m. experience.

11 hours later. Jenny is crying after only laying down for an hour. Odd. Normally she naps longer than that. I go in to check on her, expecting vomit.

Nope. No vomit. Fecal matter. She had taken off her pants and her diaper, was sitting up in bed with feces smeared all over her body, shirt, socks, bedding, etc. I laughed out loud and almost went to get the camera, but she was crying too much for me to enjoy the event at her expense.

You know, sometimes being a mom is awfully fun.

Intact or Circumcised?

My beloved and pregnant sister just found out she's having a boy. Yea!!

Of course, now she is starting to debate over the circumcision issue.

I know lots of you who read my blog have boys of your own.

How do you feel about circumcision? How did you decide?

I Am Such a Slacker!

Some of my devoted readers may not yet know that Brent was let go from his job about a month ago. The financial industry, as I'm sure you all know, is suffering right now, and his bank had 10% layoffs. His job was made redundant and all his duties absorbed by the parent company, based in NYC. We got a very generous severance package, and Brent already has a new job lined up; they're just not quite ready to take him on yet (it's with a new bank currently in organization).

So basically Brent's Christmas bonus this year was several months paid vacation, rather than any sort of monetary supplementation. We're not complaining, because the gift of time is just as valuable in my ways.

My problem is that ever since he came home full time, I have turned into a total slacker. I am guilt-ridden about this, because as a woman and a mother, I am usually full of guilt for one thing or another. We have to have an excuse for all our self-loathing, right? :)

Brent is SuperDad and SuperHusband. He cooks. He cleans. He feeds the baby and lays her down for naps. He entertains her and plays with her and takes care of her so I can lay about moaning or go out to lunch with my mom.

I have completely lost my routines that used to be so grounding for me. I feel lost every day, knowing what I should be doing, but not finding the motivation to do it. In the past, when Brent went to work on Monday morning, it sort of felt like I was going to work too. I immediately started bustling about, full of productive energy. Now I sit listlessly wishing I had the self-discipline to fold the laundry.

In other news, I had my first prenatal appointment a couple of days ago. My midwife is wonderful and I'm so excited to go to her. She was rather surprised at the size of my uterus, and thinks I'm further along than I do. I keep really good records on my calendar and know without doubt that I'm 12 weeks along. I told her that, but she still thinks something is up.

She recommended that I have an early ultrasound to measure the baby and see what technology says my due date is. Because we all know that technology is infallible and much more accurate than the human brain, right?

There are eight sets of twins in my neighborhood, so I told Brent that there must be something in the water here and I'm having twins, which is why my uterus is measuring large. Oh, I hope I didn't just jinx myself.