Saturday's child

I like Saturdays. Really, who in western culture doesn't? One usually doesn't have school or work on Saturday, and it's the beginning of the weekend, so one can enjoy it without yet facing the Sunday evening let-down. I was also born on a Saturday, which makes me Saturday's child. In the old nursery rhyme, "Saturday's child works hard for a living". Oh, wait, that's kind of a downer, especially when compared to Monday's child ("fair of face"). But it's pretty upbeat compared to Wednesday's child ("full of woe"), so I'm not complaining. Fortunately, I do like working and being productive, so it's not as much of a drag as it could be. I'm sure my Saturdays will be pleasantly full and busy, as I'll be readying the house for move-in at the same time as I'll be packing up and readying the apartment for move-out. But it will all be worth it!

Stealing Another Meme

From The Collective.

Why were you given your particular name?

I'm guessing that my parents just liked the name Deborah. And there is the precedent of the truly awesome woman named Deborah in the Bible (Judges 4-5). But my secret theory (which won't be particularly secret if it's posted on my blog, and also my mom reads my blog anyway) is that my mom wanted to name me after her favorite heroine (Harriet Vane) of her favorite writer (Dorothy Sayers) but couldn't bring herself to burden me with the name of Harriet so she picked Harriet's middle name (revealed to be Deborah in Gaudy Night for sure, perhaps in other books as well) instead.

What is your favorite thing to do?

Have long earnest talks with close friends, while sipping a frappucino and nibbling a yummy treat.

What is your favorite food?

I can't pick just one, but I really like sweet potatoes and guavas.

What is your favorite book?

Again, I can't pick just one. But a book that I truly enjoyed and that influenced me in a profound way is a pithy volume by the name of A Child's History of the World. It was part of my 4th grade Calvert curriculum, and it awakened in me a profound longing for and fascination with the world of antiquity, particularly the languages, literatures, and cultures thereof.

What is your favorite candy bar?

Oh wow, this is hard. It depends on my mood. Butterfingers is often a good choice, or peanut or dark chocolate M&Ms.

What is your favorite cookie?

Fresh-baked homemade chocolate chip cookie.

What is your favorite sport?

To watch or to play? I like to both view and participate (even if I'm not any good) in dancesport, hockey, and football (soccer to some people).

What is your favorite song?

Oh, so difficult! But really, one song that never fails to reach deep into my soul is the overture to Rossini's Barber of Seville.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Wife mama writer scholar journalist theologian archaeologist scientist inventor musician singer songwriter dancer advocate for the vulnerable.

What place would you like to visit?

Classical sites in Turkey, Greece, and Italy.

What is your favorite thing about your mom?

She is amazing and a great role model, because she is dedicated to doing her best at the tasks that God has given her, and she is passionate about things that she believes in.

What is your favorite thing about yourself? What are three adjectives that best describe you?

My favorite thing about myself? Oddly enough, it's also my least favorite thing about myself. I'm actually pretty good at a lot of stuff. The sad part is that I'm not really great at anything. Three adjectives that describe me? Loyal, determined, chilly (as in, I get cold a lot).

In five years, what kind of person will you be?

I don't know but if I had to guess: Exhausted. I'd like to be more organized and disciplined, though.

In ten years, what kind of person will you be?

Even more organized and disciplined! Also, (I hope) probably I will be the kind of person who can be resilient and meet any situation with maturity and a good sense of humor.

Long Day Infinity

It seems as if every day is a long day, and I'm dead tired at the end. I could try and list all the things I accomplished today, but I'm too tired and can't even remember them all.

The Little Bug actually went to sleep (though not at a decent hour) and is still asleep, which allowed me to pursue many exciting activities during the evening:
-laundry
-taking a shower and brushing my teeth
-scooping the litter
-taking out the trash
-composting (a new venture)
-sorting papers
-sorting recycle and putting it in the car
-washing (and drying some) dishes
-prepping lunch for tomorrow
-setting out clothes for tomorrow
-putting my purse and other stuff all in one place so it is ready to go out the door tomorrow

So there is a list of at least a few of the things I did today. I'm exhausted and hope that I can get to sleep. I hate it when I'm lying in bed, wishing and wishing that sleep would come and take me...

I have some posts planned for this blog that I intend to be fun and funny, but need a larger block of time to get them all together.

Okay, I'll try and write more manana!

Long Day 2

In my previous post, I left off very early in the morning of this day. The Little Bug and I made it to bed around 1 am, but he didn't go to sleep till after 2. I really think that Dante missed out on some great material by neglecting to devote one of his Circles of Hell to the description of people (perhaps the Selfish, or maybe the Intemperate) receiving the ghastly punishment of undergoing The Life of a Single Parent Whose Child Refuses to Sleep... FOR ETERNITY.

Anyway, due to sleep deprivation, I didn't get up super-early, and sort of staggered around getting ready, and then we went to daycare and work quite late. I hate it when that happens. I was so tired, but decided to take control of my day and make it work for me. I accomplished:
Productive work for several hours.
Pay bills and rent.
Bank paperwork.
Go to Target to get some shoes for swing dancing.
Go to Toys R Us to see if they carry toddler beds and bedding. I didn't buy any of those, but I did get a treat for my Little Bug.
Do grocery shopping for the week.
Research compost containers and methods.
Take out trash.
Pick up the Little Bug from daycare
Grab dinner and then meet a friend for frozen yogurt.
Come home to bathe and put the Bug to bed.
Get ready for bed.
Tidy up some of the kitchen and bedroom.
Set out clothes for tomorrow.
Make lunches for tomorrow.
Crash onto couch and wait for fatigue to catch up with me enough that I can finally go to sleep.

Long Day

Today ended up being good, and reasonably productive. At this moment, I am sitting on the couch, blogging, watching a cheesy movie, and drinking a mug of relaxing tea. Soon, I will brush and floss, take some vitamins, set out clothes for tomorrow, and crash into bed.

This morning, I awoke after a late night out dancing with the Newark Swing Kids. I had a nice time snuggling and laughing with the Little Bug. Then we rolled out of bed and the day unfolded thus:
Get us both dressed and ready for the day, although the Bug never did bother to put on pants.
Make breakfast, packed it up.
Go to Caribou Coffee for our nice weekly coffee time. They are used to us there, although I'm not sure how fond they are of having a regular 2-year-old visitor.
Go to church.
Come home from church.
Make and eat lunch-- easy because it was sandwiches.
Try to put Little Bug down for a nap. This always takes a while. No success, but at least I tried.
Watch Thomas the Tank Engine and Bob the Builder and play trains with the Little Bug because it is too rainy to go outside.
Skype chat with Little Bug's daddy.
Make dinner-- pretty easy because I'm working on cleaning out the freezer.
Eat dinner, clean up.
Research compost bins and chat online with Willow, while the Little Bug plays some more.
Go out and play in the rain with the Little Bug. Because every kid should do that once in a while.
Put the Little Bug to bed. This always takes a while. He doesn't like to sleep.
Shower.
Start load of laundry.
Scoop cat litter, take out trash.
Wash dishes.
Start dish washer.
Make lunches for tomorrow.
Remember that I need to bring cookies to Little Bug's daycare. Oh noes! No time to bake cookies! But wait-- I had a spate of cookie-making in the past few weeks and actually have homemade cookies stored in the freezer, ready to go. Super-Mom is on the job!!
Make chamomile tea.
Switch laundry to dryer, and hang laundry on clothes rack.
Put in another load of laundry.
Make to-do list for tomorrow.
Give into hunger pangs and eat a spoonful of peanut butter to last me through till morning.
Go to check laundry (it needs a bit more time in the dryer), and floss and brush my teeth.
In the midst of flossing, I hear a sharp cry. @#%$%$^@$^*(%$! Sometimes the Little Bug will wake up in the middle of the night. I don't go rushing in, because he will often roll over and go back to sleep. At the second cry, I go to the bedroom, and he is already out of the bed and staggering to find me, wailing all the while. I pick him up and cuddle him, asking if he is hungry. He asserts that he is, so I get him juice and part of a bagel. He sips the juice and munches part of the bagel, but soon is done with them and wants susu instead. @(%@%^$%()()!!! Oh well, maybe he'll go to sleep. He does relax and fall asleep. It takes more than 20 minutes. I finally slip out of the bed to finish flossing, brush my teeth, and take my vitamins. He wakes up and cries again. #*%)&^! He comes out into the hall and is in no mood to sleep. I ask if he wants to come out and sit with me in the front room. "Watch Thomas Train movie", he insists. At this point, WHY NOT?! We settle down on the couch to watch Thomas (who knows, maybe he'll really fall asleep this time) and I continue writing my ever-crankier blog post.
It's all worth it when he turns to me with a sleepy smile and says, "Thank you, Mommy".
Now all that remains is to set out clothes for tomorrow (might not get to that-- depends on laundry status) and then somehow get us both to bed.

I hope everyone else had a good day and is ready to start another fun-filled week.

Week update

It seems as though I've suddenly turned into "can't catch a break" girl. In the past week:

• The Little Bug had a cold and cough.
• The Little Bug had stomach flu.
• I had stomach flu.
• I missed a lot of work due to aforementioned illnesses.
• I am way behind on cleaning the apartment.
• We had at least 4 inches of snow over the weekend.
• The Little Bug was climbing on a chair (though he has been told not to, again and again) and fell and hurt his foot.
• And so forth.

I hope Christmas brings some respite for both of us. A mere 38 hours remain until we depart for California!

Bummer

I already fell off the NaBloPoMo wagon. Oops.

Nothing really exciting going on. This weekend, I visited Redondo Beach with my parents, where they were cat-sitting. I went to Starbucks. I didn't sleep much, because Nathan is teething.

I've been tutoring an SAT prep class, and while I really enjoy doing it, and enjoy the students, I feel bad because my professional assessment is that for the most part, they are not ready for the SAT, and I'm afraid I won't be able to work miracles to get them ready in time. And if I can't, I feel badly about charging the parents money for the lessons. I'm doing my best, and I hope the students are doing their part (but I have no control over that). I guess I just want everyone to succeed.

I haven't read any good books lately.

To Do (posted here so I don't forget)

On the docket for today:

• Trip to the yarn store
• Working on some knitting projects

Things to do after the New Year holiday (writing them here so I don't forget):

• Get new AZ driver license
• Sign up for childbirth class w/ Jeff
• Complete our baby registries (I've been putting this off because I HATE to shop)
• Pre-register at hospital where we plan for delivery
• Research for good pediatrician in our insurance network
• Side note: Egad, I'm becoming a responsible adult!!!!!!
• Write thank-you notes for Christmas gifts we received
• Make sure to send out those few remaining Christmas presents I haven't gotten yet to their recipients (again, I'm cutting myself some slack because I just moved; don't make me play the pregnancy card, too)
• Get together with Sharon
• Get together with Bekah
• Put together calendar and contact information
• Notify friends and family of new address and phone #
• Clean, simplify, organize our home
• Get our home set up for Fuzzy's arrival into the outer world
• Contact local school(s) regarding tutoring
• Spend time with Hobbes and Touchy so that they don't get a complex when Fuzzy shows up

Missed

So I missed another day of posting. Well, dear readers, I guess you'll have to take what you can get.

I am immersed in unpacking and organizing. So much to do! I can't imagine trying to do this while gainfully employed at the same time.

Let's see.
-The cats are pretty much completely adjusted by now. Now they both love sleeping on the bed with us. Hobbes sleeps at my feet (keeps them warm), and Touchy tucks into the crack between Jeff and me (I am trying to think of how to tactfully encourage him to move to another spot, since he could get squished). There's not really room for five in the bed, but oh, well.
-My ob/gyn visit yesterday gave me a lot of confidence. First of all, Jeff and I had considered finding a nurse midwife and/or birthing center, for a more low-key and natural (but not drug-free, oh no) birth experience. However, we discovered that none of the above are covered in our insurance network in the Phoenix area. Boo! But we found that we like the doctor we picked (I chose her solely because when I looked up my options, her office was closest to our apartment and she practices at the hospital closest to the apartment); she is competent, down-to-earth, and open to dialoguing with patients. We think we just might stick with her. Second of all, both the baby's and my vitals were pronounced to be good and healthy, so that was encouraging.
-Ultrasound and blood test scheduled for 1:30 pm tomorrow (this dr office does not lose any time, let me tell you).
-Have an appointment with OfficeTeam in Scottsdale for 4:00 pm tomorrow.

Still working on:
-Calling other employment possibilities.
-Calling schools about tutoring.
-Setting up kitchen and other rooms in the house.

So THAT'S what happened to Common Sense!

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn't always fair, and maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they themselves failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Aspirin, sun lotion or a Bandaid to a student, but could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband; churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is survived by three stepbrothers; I Know my Rights, Someone Else is to Blame, and I'm a Victim.

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

Wake Me Up When September Ends

Well, in the month of September, I learned, among other things, that just because I CAN do 45 squats in a row, doesn't mean that I SHOULD. Words of experience, people. Heed them.

I have several social and political issues about which I should like to write on this blog, but for which I never seem to have inspiration when I am at my computer. Among these are:
-The thing about which everyone has an opinion these days - Ahmadinejad speaking at US university.
-Humpbacked whales, evolution, and the limits and hypocrisy of practicing scientists.
-Burma/Myanmar, and the fact that despite their claims, world leaders don't really want freedom and justice for all oppressed peoples. They are interested in helping only those whose oppression is not beneficial to themselves.
-The ridiculous and pointless political system in the US.

However, I don't know if I will have the patience or fortitude to write about those topics. Some of them just make me really irritated.

Any votes for topics you'd like to have addressed? Feel free to write in nominations for something not covered above.

By the Way

I am once again gainfully employed. I'm working in construction administration at a local architecture and engineering company. I enjoy the industry. I wouldn't want to do my exact job forever, but it's fine for now. I could, however, see myself doing something in the realm of civil engineering for a good many years.

Strangely, both of the coworkers in my department are LDS. Coincidence? Or a leading to return to some parts of my life that I might rather leave behind? It's reasonable to suppose that despite what I want, it's not really possible to just brush away pieces of one's past (or their implications). Are we, as humans, really essentially a summation of our past experiences? Or more appropriately, created in such a way to be shaped and molded by our past experiences? Are we, as Plato might assert, wax that is intended to be imprinted properly (i.e. to reflect the image of the True-cast Mold of the Creator), but can occasionally (or rather, in real life, regularly) be impressed upon by improper images (the effects of sin)? "What is good wax?" Is it possible that, even if we warm ourselves in the fire of the Spirit, becoming pliable and attempting to reshape our waxy selves in the Right Form, we cannot totally rid ourselves of the traces of bad imprints, until the Great Fire at the end of time melts us down completely and gives us new heavenly wax for eternity? And why am I trying to rid my waxy self of imprints that are not necessarily sinful, just because I want to be different from what I am?

We are currently in transition-- AGAIN. Jeff is going to Phoenix to start work for a company there. We'll figure out a way to get me out there soon.

Update, Part 2

In early July, I went down to LA to help Mom and Dad move up to their new house in Camarillo. Hard work! Mia toted cleaning supplies, Mom dealt with masses of mess, and the moving truck was more than sufficient to hold all their worldly possessions.

Update, Part 1

What have I been doing this summer, when I haven't been posting?

Well, Jeff's grandfather died, as I've mentioned previously, and because it was unexpected and tragic, it took up most of our attention during the latter two-thirds of June. Olaf 's grave marker was still being made at the time of the graveside service. The roses mark the spot; he is buried right next to his mother, Lenora Feely.The memorial service was in a church, and there was a flag thingie in the front, which was related to Olaf being a WWII veteran, along with a display with his picture and some other paraphernalia.
Mom and Dad came up for the funeral, to be supportive. A fun time was not had by all, even though the church provided a nice luncheon reception.

The next week, we got Rosalee a kitten to give her something on which to focus and provide companionship. Rosalee named her Mittsy. She's so cute.

Panjang Umurku

Yesterday was my Hari Ulang Tahun, known in the US primarily as "birthday". My parents were visiting, and while Jeff had to go to work, so I didn't get to see him all day, I had a lovely day of relaxing and doing what I enjoy: Starbucks for breakfast, a visit to the library, a stroll through downtown Visalia to look at shops with Mom. Then we had pizza dinner at Debbie and Jerry's house, and Rob and Candace were there, so it was nice to see them.

Sunday report

We are currently enjoying a visit from Sam and Melissa, which is very nice, but sadly, I am rather sick. I have a pretty bad cold, and am constantly snuffling, sneezing, and hacking up nasty phlegm. Last night, matters were complicated by the fact that I started having spontaneous nosebleeds. I do not, as a general rule, spew bodily fluids at random. It's just embarrassing.

We have stuff planned for the week, such as taking Sam and Mel to see the big trees (you know, THE big trees in the big tree park), although I may not be able to go, due to health issues. We are currently playing a lot of WoW and watching Futurama. That's good stuff.

Winding down

Not much to report of the exciting nature. I've reached the just-under-four-weeks point at work, so of course I'm just as antsy as the students are to get out for summer break.

Don't know what I'm going to do after June 12. I guess we'll take it one day at a time and find out.