Yuckbug runnin' around

The unfortunate dilemma remains that nobody wants to hear the following goopy complaints. But as I made clear in my introductory post, I don't altogether care. I will write about what interests me, and hope for the best. And until I get through this next phase of life called the 'first trimester', there will probably be more posts like this one!

I'm sure no one would disagree with me that it is not fun to be nauseous all day long, and so superly high maintenance! By that I mean, I can't get too hungry or it gets worse, or too full, or too active, too tired or blah blah blah you name it. I have to snack about every 2 hours or so. A mere colour or turn of the head or anything really at all can potentially set me off. That's great! And I am turned off by anything healthy. All I really want (although I've not yet had it) is candy bars and french fries. They are not permitted in the house as I know they are no good for either of us, but I still want them. And it's not wanting like normal wanting, oh no, this is like get-out-of-my-way-and-don't-look-at-me-with-that-salad kind of savage desire. It's quite intersting really, especially after a year of diet/lifestyle changing that required a lot of self discipline, I almost feel helpless against this. Before I could talk myself out of stuff, take the craving-bull by the horns, as it were, but this is a seemingly overpowering desire. I cower in the face of it! The only thing keeping me from it is absence. We do not own a candy bar, so I'm not eating one. Interesting. And salt. I want salt salt salt. Cheese, olives, aforementioned fries, ranch dip (with a little carrot stick on the side). About all I can drink happily is orange juice or tonic water. Tonic water really helps.
Housework doesn't get done, Anna doesnt' get played with, dinners are VERY simple, I might have spoken one sentence to her today in Irish. When I'm focussing on functioning, I am finding very little mental evergy for using a different language, which is frustrating. Just one more thing to make you feel useless during a time when you are .... rather useless! Not to sound overly pitiful or depressed, cause I'm not, but let's say, I am really appreciating WELLNESS.

My mom had a hernia surgery this morning, and within 4 hours she was home! Crazy. She is recouping well so far, but will be moving on Monday! Luckily the church paid to hire some movers, or she would be quite stuck!

Anna is sick too, some kind of cold, her little voice is so rathspy and broken, the occasional cough, and a mild fever. Chris and all his family have had it by now, so I was surprised she made it this long, actually. This is really the first time she's had a little fever at all. She had a small one in response to one of her shots, but that is it. She has been a remarkably healthy child to date. No ear infections, no flu, cold, anything. Amazing, really! I think a 2 day runny nose is about the worst we've seen here, so I'm not complaining, but it's always sad to see your child unwell, even a little.

On a totally different note, I found out today that my interview dealy will be featured in the November issue of Celtic Heritage Magazine, and that copies can be ordered for $4.95 plus HST plus shipping, which I'm told is approx. $1 per copy. Isn't it exciting? I haven't seen it yet, so I don't know, but I'm looking forward to finding out!

Leaves are turning...

and so is my stomach....
Goosebumps appearing...
as are the multitudinous trips to the washroom...

I am probably 3-4 weeks along-ish... it is about the size of 2 molecules. You can't tell me that that is putting pressure on my bladder, or that my stomach muscles already need to relax to make spatial accomodation ?!?!?

But it is. I'm glad to learn that my subconscious mind is much more on the ball about being prepared and having things done ahead of time than my conscious mind is. Because if it were up to my conscious mind to make these decisions, I would be thinking, oh gosh, it will be ages (months) before we need to do much in the way of space accomodation, and the bladder could certainly not be too affected for another few months, no? I am interested to know also, what is actually happening in the body chemically to make you nauseous 24/7. Is it hormonal? I mean really.
But here I am, to quote a famous modern poet, "I'd like to take a minute just sit right down, tell how my life got flip turned upside down..."
And by 2 molecules, no less.

Played the last of the summer concerts this weekend to a completely sold out crowd. Standing room only. There were 12 people (I counted them) standing outside the door looking in, listening, peering through the windows. Very cool.

For an update on some of Anna's new developments, you can check my husband's blog, the most erratic poster ever, but still, this new one is great! http://www.courtjester45.blogspot.com

Here's a new one of her. This was taken at Nanny's house last week. She is so gorgeous, and continues to defend her title as "Best Kid Ever"! She has graduated to a 'big girl bed', and after 2 days, she is already set in her new routine, never gets out after we put her in, Chris and I are just amazed, and immensely thankful.

New life in the midst of autumn

The cycles continue.

One incidence of life came this morning. I discovered that the basil seeds I planted in a pot in my kitchen window, have SPROUTED!! I am very excited about this. In a matter of time, I will be able to cook with fresh basil! I cannot wait! What a difference this will make in Thai, French and Italian dinners!! Weehoo!

Secondly, if pee tests are as accurate as they say they are, I will be sprouting my own new life come next June! Well well well... one never knows what a day will bring. But new life in general today, huh? Wow. So, life will be a changin. Funny, the first thing I've been thinking about is where we will physically PUT it, will it get the guest bedroom and then we have no place to put guests? Or can it share a room with Anna? I have no idea. We have time to figure this all out though!

Other than that... hmm... I was nauseous this morning, but not bad. Nothing a piece of toast couldn't fix. I wasn't sure if I was going to tell everybody right off the bat like this, but since Katherine is apparently the only person who has ever read this (except you, Dad) , I feel it safe to share. I'm publishing this on my blog, and the news STILL isn't getting out! Hahahaha!!!! That is somewhat humourous. I really have the smallest readership on the web! That's great. :)
I'll have to get into some self-promoting. Hmm... maybe I can hire a publicist... or maybe I can chill out... I think that's the ticket!

Your 2 cents, please

I have a couple questions here, so if you will, I would like to take a wee poll, if anyone is actually reading this. Which I doubt, esp. after 10 days of inactivity. Oh well.

Question #1
I heard once an expression I really liked. "He puts the 'b' in subtle!" Now, the speaker was trying to say that the person in question was NOT subtle, that it was humourous how conspicuous this person was being in the given situation. But it made me later wonder, upon further retrospection, was that a correct usage of the expression? Isn't the person who put the 'b' in subtle, QUITE subtle, because no one can detect that b! Is it not excellently hidden? Or is the expression suggesting that when Mr. Obvious says the word subtle, you can hear the 'b', that he doesn't have the savvy that the rest of the populous has, to be able to say 'subtle' so discreetly? Is this what makes the person not-subtle? I really don't know. Comments? How would you interpret this?

Question #2
Is about art. 2 perspectives on art and I am wanting to glean some other opinions on this one. Perspective #1 about art is a common one: "[True or good] Art is timeless."
This is contrasted with perspective #2 : Art is alive in the moment, happens within that moment in time and would therefore always be changing with the time it is made. That position would hold that it is absolutely contrary to say that art is timeless, contrary to the nature of art, that it expresses that moment, ONLY that moment truly, with all the context that goes along with it, political, social, personal, everything. What do you think? I'm not sure what I think yet. I can see both points of view. I have experienced things I felt were timeless and vice versa... input?

As for reporting and updates, I had an incredible concert last night. I was chording for another exceptional fiddle player, and my my my.... I was simply SOARing, speaking of true art!!! So so good. What can be said? It can't be expressed. You had to be there! Too bad you missed it!

I am doing great in general, health good, Anna good, Chris good, music good, food good... can't complain! I am only sad to see the leaves turning... they are beautiful and all, but I hate to think of the onset of winter, which won't be too far off! * sigh * Oh well. The world, she keeps a cyclin! And she should. But really, this has to be the best time of year in Nova Scotia. Generally produce is quite expensive here, I assume because it has to be shipped in from afar, but this time of year, good grief. Everyone is harvesting their gardens, Mary (my mom-in-law) literally has a GArbage bag of fresh garden tomatoes and another of cucumbers! So Anna and I are eating them like candy every day, and wow, it is such a treat! Oooh, and plums! We have plum trees next door and apparently I am their biggest fan, so I can and am eating as many plums as I can manage. I have never had such a copious supply of FRESH produce, esp. from our own yard or neighbours. Wow. AWesome! It is such a luxury. So combine that with beautiful weather (although a LOT cooler than my American neighbours) and things are still green and gorgeous, and I'm playing music: Jenni is in her glory. I've also had an awesome time on the long drives home from the concerts because the last 2 times I've been on my own and got to enjoy sermons all the way home (1hr 15min) which has also been Such a treat! Another time of such luxury, to have all that quiet time to listen to this without distractions. It has been perfect, and I am learning a lot. Yeah!!!

A little post theft

So I was reading my friend's blog, and she had this great story with accompanying inspirational analogy, and it is all that is on my mind right now, so I'm sharing it. For anyone who reads Yvonne's blog, you will find this boring. So I'll see you back next week when I have something original. ;)

At the time of this old story, Yvonne had a 2 year old who could reach the low-placed light swithes in her house. She was taking a shower when the child came up and shut off the light to the bathroom, so she was stuck in blackness in the shower, unable to see anything. Nothing would get the child to turn onthe light, so she attempted to finish her shower in the darkness. To her surprise, she was able to find and use the conditioner, the loofah, adjust the heat, and finish her shower, with basically no sense of sight or any trouble, just on instinct. Initially, she was impressed. Then a spiritual correlation hit her and took the cool out of her pride.

She wondered how often we as Christians do the same thing in our lives. So do I.

To quote Yvonne, ""How dependant am I, really, on Jesus for direction?" Do I count on His light to show the way? Or do I simply fumble my way through on my own...relying on instinct and tradition?? In fact, people are able to live a "Christian" life, do "Christian" things...and yet sometimes operate almost completely on their own. (By instinct or simply living through the repetition or routine of the Christian-ese lifestyle".) And if we find ourselves operating on auto-pilot without Jesus....can we even call ourselves "Christians"? How legitimate is our claim then, to the title of "Follower of Jesus", or "Friend of God". Wow. Scary thought...

I don't want to adapt to Lightlessness..."

God, don't let me settle for the dark.

A bunny trail's moment to shine!

So Chris and I were in this big discussion about creation/evolution/big bang/state of matter (quite fascinating by the way, especially in his retelling of everything), and while I promise I was paying attention through it, this side note passed through my mind and intrigued me in that 500 words-per-second spare mental time I had in between his spoken words.

It pertains to man's struggle with his sin nature. To reference that bit from Romans 7: 15-20,
"15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. "

This corresponded for me to one wee phrase plucked from that long chew; he was talking about Genesis' version about how God made man from dirt/dust whatever. So we are made of dirt. Amen! It just kinda gave me a mental picture of Romans 7, how we live in a dirt box/tent/house, and are always wanting to be cleaner, but alas, we are dirt. Then it is only logical that we would struggle with dirtiness!

Good thing God looks on the heart and not on the outward appearance! : )