A couple weeks ago, Benjamin went to Sammy’s first birthday party. Always the creative one, Sammy’s mama Jen personalized the gift bags and the hats. It was Ben’s very first party and he had a great time! He even got to wear a t-shirt, jeans and shoes, a nice change from the onesies he usually wears.
I’ve caught a pretty nasty cold, which is kinda funny because summer is on its way. My head is so congested and I’m sneezing and coughing all the time.
I’m really paranoid that I’m going to get the baby sick, too. I’ve made sure to wash my hands every time I touch the baby, especially when feeding, but I can’t suppress my coughs when I’m feeding. I hope he doesn’t get sick and this cold runs its course soon. Not only am I afraid of germs, but when I caugh it wakes the baby so he’s not getting as much sleep as he normally does. It’s also really hard not togive him little kisses and interact with him as much as I normally do.
I’m taking some over the counter stuff, but once again, I’m paranoid - this time that it’s going to get passed on to the baby through my milk or it will decrease my supply. It’s a lose-lose situation - either suck it up and not take any medication, waking the baby each time I cough or sneeze, or take some meds but risk doing something to my milk supply.
It’s hard enough being sick when you don’t have a baby - normally I’d be a brat and just lounge on the couch and feel sorry for myself. Now, I have to take care of the baby and work through the cold. Luckily, Dave has been helping out since he had the day off, but I’m on my own tomorrow.
Wish me luck!
*cough*
*sneeze*
We were at church today, and I was doing my usual “space out during the mass” when I heard a “THUD!” come from the front of the church and the whole congregation let out a collective gasp. I saw a couple of the alter servers huddled near the altar, and then the priest said, “It seems like we have a medical problem up here. If there is anyone out there who is part of the medical profession, can you please come up and see if you can help? There’s no need to panic, everyone, it’s a hot day and on warm days things like this are common.” Then he went on with mass like nothing happened.
Dave went up to the front of the church, as did several other people. It turns out that one of the young altar servers fainted. It was a hot day and Dave said it was especially hot in the front of the church. The doctors who came up checked on the girl and she came around and was wheeled out on a wheelchair and into the ambulance that came. Of course, the people in the congregation were only half listening to the priest and trying to see what was going on with the girl.
I’ve been waiting for this day to happen, the day when someone cries out, “Is there a doctor in the house?” Dave would stand up and proudly say, “Why yes, I’m a doctor” and save the day. It was a bit different from what I expected, and Dave wasn’t the only doctor who helped, but it was cool nonetheless.
I’m still waiting for the day when someone yells out, “Is there a Crystal Report writer in the house?”, “I need someone who knows how to construct a SQL query!” or “Is there anyone out there who is handy with HTML or CSS?” I’d come out with my supergeek cape flying, and yes, it would be glorious!
Today’s my birthday! Whee!!!
Life has been so crazy that I almost forgot. My husband keeps on asking me what I want for my birthday and I have no idea what I want or need, I seem to be OK with all my possessions right now.
Yesterday, I had a pre-birthday treat - we went out to the first movie we’ve been to in a LONG time - The Davinci Code. It was good, but the book was better. I still can’t picture Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon!
Bye, I’ve got a busy day!
Since I’ve been home for the last couple months, hardly working, I’ve had a lot of time to think and reflect on my life. There’s a lot of things that I need to do to clean up the house, in the two years we’ve lived here we’ve accumulated a lot of crap. Scratch that - *I’ve* accumulated a lot of crap. I’m the packrat. Dave’s the insanely clean one. The other day we passed by a clothes drive at our church. I’ve got a lot of clothes that I no longer wear. As I looked at my closet, it became obvious to me that most of the clothes I’d be cleaning out wouldn’t really be something that would be appropriate to donate to a clothes drive - my clubbing outfits.
I loved to go out and party in college and the years after. My weekends started on Thursday nights at Shelter and I’d go out on Friday and Saturday to places like Karma, The Drink, Stardust, Crobar, Aura, and whatever else was the flavor of the month. There was always something going on and we’d always know someone wherever we went. We’d drink and dance the nights away in the cutest outfits that were strappy, strapless, backless (never did the backless thing, though), shiny, and on the border of being pretty skanky. Hmm, maybe a couple tops were skanky. I accumulated a lot of club outfits throughout the years.
But I’ve realized that my late night/early morning clubbing days are over. I go out to a bar/club only once every several months now. Of course, one reason is that I was pregnant for 9 months, but even when I wasn’t pregnant, we didn’t go out as much as we used to.
So those cute tops need somewhere to go, because I won’t be using them much anymore.
However, will the people who benefit from clothing drives or the Salvation Army really need clothes to club in? Don’t they have better things to do than go out in a cute strappy red sequined top and dance on top of a platform? I think they do.
I’ll be getting rid of my outfits, though, probably giving them to my sister to see if she wants any of them because she might have a couple years of clubbing left in her. Then it’s off to my younger cousin, because she hasn’t even STARTED to conquer the clubbing world yet, and I’m pretty sure she likes being scantily clad (yeah, I’m talking to YOU, panty girl). Whatever she doesn’t need she’s free to sell to one of those stores that buys used skanky club clothing.
So goodbye, club diva days, I’ll miss you. Nights that were spent dancing and drinking are now spent feeding and changing diapers.
It seems that since little Ben was born, most of his pictures are either of him or him and his papa and/or other people, but there are not too many pics of him and his mother. Why? Because someone has to be behind the camera!
So, to make sure that there are SOME pictures of me and my baby out there, I decided to take a pic of just the two of us.
Isn’t he adorable?
I’ve taken this personality test several times throughout my life and end up being the same thing most of the time - “The Healer” or INFP. The only one I’ve gotten outside of that was “The Entertainer”, or ESFP. Anyway, I think it’s an interesting test and many of the things used to describe me I think are right on the money. Here’s how I scored on the test:
Introverted - 11%
Intuitive - 12%
Feeling - 75%
Perceiving - 33%
….and here’s the descriptions, with the “yeah, that’s so me!” parts in bold:
The Portrait of the Healer Idealist (iNFp):
Healer Idealists are abstract in thought and speech, cooperative in striving for their ends, and informative and introverted in their interpersonal relations. Healer present a seemingly tranquil, and noticiably pleasant face to the world, and though to all appearances they might seem reserved, and even shy, on the inside they are anything but reserved, having a capacity for caring not always found in other types. They care deeply-indeed, passionately-about a few special persons or a favorite cause, and their fervent aim is to bring peace and integrity to their loved ones and the world.
Healers have a profound sense of idealism derived from a strong personal morality, and they conceive of the world as an ethical, honorable place. Indeed, to understand Healers, we must understand their idealism as almost boundless and selfless, inspiring them to make extraordinary sacrifices for someone or something they believe in. The Healer is the Prince or Princess of fairytale, the King’s Champion or Defender of the Faith, like Sir Galahad or Joan of Arc. Healers are found in only 1 percent of the general population, although, at times, their idealism leaves them feeling even more isolated from the rest of humanity.
Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving
INFPs never seem to lose their sense of wonder. One might say they see life through rose-colored glasses. It’s as though they live at the edge of a looking-glass world where mundane objects come to life, where flora and fauna take on near-human qualities.
INFP children often exhibit this in a ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ fashion, switching from reality to fantasy and back again. With few exceptions, it is the NF child who readily develops imaginary playmates (as with Anne of Green Gables’s “bookcase girlfriend”–her own reflection) and whose stuffed animals come to life like the Velveteen Rabbit and the Skin Horse.
Of course, not all of life is rosy, and INFPs are not exempt from the same disappointments and frustrations common to humanity. As INTPs tend to have a sense of failed competence, INFPs struggle with the issue of their own ethical perfection, e.g., performance of duty for the greater cause. An INFP friend describes the inner conflict as not good versus bad, but on a grand scale, Good vs. Evil. Luke Skywalker in Star Wars depicts this conflict in his struggle between the two sides of “The Force.” Although the dark side must be reckoned with, the INFP believes that good ultimately triumphs.
Some INFPs have a gift for taking technical information and putting it into layman’s terms. Brendan Kehoe’s Zen and the Art of the Internet is one example of this “de-jargoning” talent in action.
Famous INFPs:
Homer
Mary, mother of Jesus
St. John, the beloved disciple
William Shakespeare, bard of Avon
Helen Keller, deaf and blind author
Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood)
Dick Clark (American Bandstand)
Jacqueline Kennedy Onasis
Tom Brokaw, news anchor
Julia Roberts, actor (Conspiracy Theory, Pretty Woman)
Amy Tan (author of The Joy-Luck Club, The Kitchen God’s Wife)
John F. Kennedy, Jr.
Lisa Kudrow (”Phoebe” of Friends)Fictional INFPs:
Anne (Anne of Green Gables)
Calvin (Calvin and Hobbes)
Deanna Troi (Star Trek - The Next Generation)
Bastian (The Neverending Story)
E.T.: the ExtraTerrestrial
Hell yeah, I have the same personality profile as E.T.!
So take the test…I’d love to know what kind of personalities you all have out there!
I went to the doctor last Friday for my 6 week checkup, and I got the clean bill of health. All the stiches are healed, everything internally is going back to where it should be and the blood pressure is at my normal “barely alive” low reading. It wasn’t the most pleasant of visits since there’s a lot of prodding that takes place to make sure everything is internally ok - you know it’s gonna hurt when your doctor says, “sorry, I’m moving around your uterus…”
It was also Benjamin’s first trip downtown, and the first time I used the stroller. We had a fun adventure in the big city with Tita Claudine, going to shops and visiting my office - because I’m such a work-a-holic that I just can’t stay away. The guys at the office had a good laugh at Benjamin when he farted - I don’t think they thought that babies could have farts as explosive as that!
I now have a new appreciation for handicap access, since that’s needed for pushing a stroller. It’s hard to maneuver a stroller up a curb if there isn’t that helpful ramp for wheels! Also, I need to watch out for deep cracks in the pavement. I hit a couple of those and the stroller made a jarring stop, shaking around poor little Benben. Luckily, riding in the stroller seems to have the same effect as riding in a car, so he was happily napping most of the time.
So now I can live life normally again, well, as normal as one who is sitting around at home not working and taking care of a bottomless pit of hunger 24 hours a day. I don’t have to worry about straining anything or that I’ll pull out a stitch. I can work out and lose the baby weight so I won’t look so huge for Claudine’s wedding in a month. I can take my baby in the car with me and cruising around the city in search of adventure.
Whoo hoo!
Ben’s growing more every day, and his face is constantly changing. He’s lost a little of his baby fat so his face is a little slimmer now. These little photo shoots are pretty fun to do, I love trying to catch his different expressions!
