Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Trying to be Better Prepared
Look at this! Two people who saved my sanity in the infant months teaming up to save my sanity later? I am all for it!
Monday, September 27, 2010
People Watching on a Sunday Morning
Okay, so it's Monday now, but at least it's only a day late! When I went out to the grocery store Monday morning, through a combination of luck and better observation skills due to my bright eyed state, I had the most interesting interactions and people watching I've had in a long time. I only spent a total of maybe 10 minutes in the store, but my time there went like this.
The water from our tap is disgusting. It tastes like chlorine and sulfur. Our house is also old. Therefore, we've decided that it's much safer and more tasty to just buy our water and be done with it. As luck would have it, our grocery store has a purified water dispenser where you can refill your jugs for just a fraction of the cost of buying regular bottled water. We have some of our most interesting conversations at this water cooler, and this Sunday was no exception.
As I stood there, waiting for the bottles to fill, I saw a man who had to be approaching 90 at the coffee machine. His trucker hat and vest were covered in pins, and he wore a large decorative necklace that looked to be some sort of gold bird. He noticed my glance and said , "Don't drink that stuff, you're gonna get drunk!"
I laughed politely and murmured something about that being a pretty cheap drink these days. After looking askance at me he said, "Are you under 40?"
I eyed him with confusion and said, "Yeeesss."
"Did I ask you that already?"
"Nope."
"I haven't asked you? Oh, ok. Well good then, you've had your small pox vaccination."
I was a bit confused but said, "Yes, that's a good thing."
He went on. "You know, I was responsible for eradicating small pox. I was the first scientist on the team. I spent time in Africa. I was in Nigeria... Lagos and in Ghana. (He muttered other places here I didn't catch.) My children were raised in Ghana and Nigeria. Then I went to Vietnam. I volunteered at 51. But I was so afraid that I took my wife along to protect me (chuckle). While we were there, she worked for the CIA."
At this point, he started walking by me slowly, but continued with me fitting in the correct wows, assertions and head nods.
"She left me 3 and a half years ago." By his body language and tone, I correctly interpreted "left" as "passed away."
He sighed and continued, "She was a good woman. She never complained. Even when she beat me, she never complained." He chuckled heartily at his joke. "We were married 67 years. I miss her."
I expressed my condolences and he shook himself to begin with a heartier tone, "I come here to walk the aisles! I walk every aisle! After my knee surgery and my second heart attack, I needed to walk. So I come here to walk the aisles."
I told him that was an excellent idea just as his attention was caught by a man probably in his 50's who was walking toward us. The older man called out merrily, "Hello young man! How are you?"
The younger man replied and struck up a conversation about the older man's necklace (apparently from Africa, just like the ones all his kids have) and engaged him even more. As I was turning to leave, I heard the older man say, "So how old are you?"
I don't know how much of his stories were true or exaggeration. I imagine some of it was exaggerated since one of the things I heard him tell the second man was that he was once the strongest man in Hawaii and benched pressed 1000 pounds. But that didn't matter. It was a wonderful conversation. He was a fascinating person, and it felt good to talk with a lonely, friendly old man about his life. I found myself wishing I had engaged him even more and asked more questions as I walked away, but I was in a hurry to get back to my baby. I thought to myself, "I want to know his whole story. I would love to write down his whole story." The writer in me was turned on in a way it hasn't been for months. I wish I had at least gotten his name...
The people watching aspect of this story followed shortly after. As I was leaving, I saw a woman rush up to the cashier to buy a last minute thing. Her upper arms were so thin they were smaller than her elbows. Her thighs were so skinny they were smaller than her knees. She appeared fragile, shaky, delicate. She was pretty in a very sharp way. Her cheek bones were prominent, especially with her tight pony tail. I remember wondering about her appearance.
On her dash to the door, I saw her meet up with a man who appeared to be her significant other. She skidded to a stop as she noticed the large, grocer scale standing just inside the doorway and started to step up on it. The look in the man's eyes immediately turned desperate, and he tried to turn. She grabbed his arm and said, "Come on! I want to go home!" I thought it was an odd thing to say, but then wondered if she meant she couldn't go home until she weighed herself?
She got her way and stepped on the scale, and the man looked utterly defeated. I left before I heard anymore, but saw them making their way down the sidewalk as I pulled out. She was walking briskly, and he was trying to grab her grocery bag to carry it for her. She wouldn't let him take it entirely, so he held half of it, and they carried it together.
Again, I wondered about their story. Is she battling an eating disorder? Is he feeling like it will never end? His actions toward her, though desperate, seemed tender. Is she getting better or worse? Is it something else entirely? Will they get through it? It was sad but fascinating and a beautiful piece of human story in a way. Yup, the writer in me was out full force that day.
The water from our tap is disgusting. It tastes like chlorine and sulfur. Our house is also old. Therefore, we've decided that it's much safer and more tasty to just buy our water and be done with it. As luck would have it, our grocery store has a purified water dispenser where you can refill your jugs for just a fraction of the cost of buying regular bottled water. We have some of our most interesting conversations at this water cooler, and this Sunday was no exception.
As I stood there, waiting for the bottles to fill, I saw a man who had to be approaching 90 at the coffee machine. His trucker hat and vest were covered in pins, and he wore a large decorative necklace that looked to be some sort of gold bird. He noticed my glance and said , "Don't drink that stuff, you're gonna get drunk!"
I laughed politely and murmured something about that being a pretty cheap drink these days. After looking askance at me he said, "Are you under 40?"
I eyed him with confusion and said, "Yeeesss."
"Did I ask you that already?"
"Nope."
"I haven't asked you? Oh, ok. Well good then, you've had your small pox vaccination."
I was a bit confused but said, "Yes, that's a good thing."
He went on. "You know, I was responsible for eradicating small pox. I was the first scientist on the team. I spent time in Africa. I was in Nigeria... Lagos and in Ghana. (He muttered other places here I didn't catch.) My children were raised in Ghana and Nigeria. Then I went to Vietnam. I volunteered at 51. But I was so afraid that I took my wife along to protect me (chuckle). While we were there, she worked for the CIA."
At this point, he started walking by me slowly, but continued with me fitting in the correct wows, assertions and head nods.
"She left me 3 and a half years ago." By his body language and tone, I correctly interpreted "left" as "passed away."
He sighed and continued, "She was a good woman. She never complained. Even when she beat me, she never complained." He chuckled heartily at his joke. "We were married 67 years. I miss her."
I expressed my condolences and he shook himself to begin with a heartier tone, "I come here to walk the aisles! I walk every aisle! After my knee surgery and my second heart attack, I needed to walk. So I come here to walk the aisles."
I told him that was an excellent idea just as his attention was caught by a man probably in his 50's who was walking toward us. The older man called out merrily, "Hello young man! How are you?"
The younger man replied and struck up a conversation about the older man's necklace (apparently from Africa, just like the ones all his kids have) and engaged him even more. As I was turning to leave, I heard the older man say, "So how old are you?"
I don't know how much of his stories were true or exaggeration. I imagine some of it was exaggerated since one of the things I heard him tell the second man was that he was once the strongest man in Hawaii and benched pressed 1000 pounds. But that didn't matter. It was a wonderful conversation. He was a fascinating person, and it felt good to talk with a lonely, friendly old man about his life. I found myself wishing I had engaged him even more and asked more questions as I walked away, but I was in a hurry to get back to my baby. I thought to myself, "I want to know his whole story. I would love to write down his whole story." The writer in me was turned on in a way it hasn't been for months. I wish I had at least gotten his name...
____________________________________________
The people watching aspect of this story followed shortly after. As I was leaving, I saw a woman rush up to the cashier to buy a last minute thing. Her upper arms were so thin they were smaller than her elbows. Her thighs were so skinny they were smaller than her knees. She appeared fragile, shaky, delicate. She was pretty in a very sharp way. Her cheek bones were prominent, especially with her tight pony tail. I remember wondering about her appearance.
On her dash to the door, I saw her meet up with a man who appeared to be her significant other. She skidded to a stop as she noticed the large, grocer scale standing just inside the doorway and started to step up on it. The look in the man's eyes immediately turned desperate, and he tried to turn. She grabbed his arm and said, "Come on! I want to go home!" I thought it was an odd thing to say, but then wondered if she meant she couldn't go home until she weighed herself?
She got her way and stepped on the scale, and the man looked utterly defeated. I left before I heard anymore, but saw them making their way down the sidewalk as I pulled out. She was walking briskly, and he was trying to grab her grocery bag to carry it for her. She wouldn't let him take it entirely, so he held half of it, and they carried it together.
Again, I wondered about their story. Is she battling an eating disorder? Is he feeling like it will never end? His actions toward her, though desperate, seemed tender. Is she getting better or worse? Is it something else entirely? Will they get through it? It was sad but fascinating and a beautiful piece of human story in a way. Yup, the writer in me was out full force that day.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Bullets... again
- I apologize to Danifred. If I was capable of organization, this would be Friday Night Leftovers.
- After some pretty heavy stuff, I'm going to attempt to change my attitude and be upbeat more often. Stay tuned.
- In the same vein as the aforementioned, Hub and I are going to try to move toward Hub working from home with his own business, while I continue to work full time. ANY ADVICE WELCOME. So far we just have "saving lots of money in the savings account," as an agenda.
- Something that HELPS the aforementioned: I PAID OFF MY STUDENT LOAN THE OTHER DAY! WAHOO! That sucker has been an albatross around my neck for quite a while.
- I like the word "aforementioned." I don't even know if I'm using it correctly.
- E is really rather eh about solids. Is this normal?
- Fun interactions post coming later.
- The Amazing Race starts tonight!!
Oh What a Beautiful Morning.
I woke up feeling like myself this morning! It was damn good. We took a walk in the morning cool (ish) air. That was damn good until the sauna* washed in. We picked flowers, admired (and tried to eat) pretty red leaves and patted and loved on each other. That was the best.
I also had the most fascinating interactions and people watching experiences at the grocery store first thing this morning. Apparently Sunday mornings are a gold mine for interesting. And since I felt so much like myself, I came home and immediately wrote down all I could remember so I can write about it later. It's nap time now. Woot! Don't get all beside yourself with suspense. I know all 3 of you are shivering with excitement.
Loves,
FCiF
*Remind me sometime to tell you about the man who wanted to have an outdoor sauna put in the home he was building so that he could move to Florida. Yeeeaaah.
I also had the most fascinating interactions and people watching experiences at the grocery store first thing this morning. Apparently Sunday mornings are a gold mine for interesting. And since I felt so much like myself, I came home and immediately wrote down all I could remember so I can write about it later. It's nap time now. Woot! Don't get all beside yourself with suspense. I know all 3 of you are shivering with excitement.
Loves,
FCiF
*Remind me sometime to tell you about the man who wanted to have an outdoor sauna put in the home he was building so that he could move to Florida. Yeeeaaah.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
More on Co-Sleeping
This is some fascinating bed sharing and co-sleeping information from Dr. Sears. I was nodding my head as I recognized so many of the issues and thoughts he presents. I particularly liked how he mentions that they found out so many other couples had used bed sharing as well because I've found the same in my life. I wish "current" medical professionals could get past their generally intense bias against this practice and work together to find out how beneficial it could be, how it can be done safely and how to support parents who choose it. My current doctor does a wonderful job with this. I believe having 6 children has given him an insight not a lot of other people have.
Such a Better Day
I had a pretty bad couple of days this week. Then, in the middle of the day today it's like something just went "click!" in my brain, and it was better. I swear, hormones have to be playing a messy part in all this. It was literally that quick. In the span of a half an hour, I felt like laughing and joking, and I was confident to be myself again. No wallowing or sadness. One thing I did do differently today was that I tried to be very cautious about what I ate. I tried to act more like I would if I was on Metformin again. I remembered that my moods evened out a LOT on the Met, so I thought it was worth a try. Oh the confusion.
Can sugar highs and lows really do that to your body?
Can sugar highs and lows really do that to your body?
Friday, September 24, 2010
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