Jenna at Mama-luia inspired me to use the Daybook prompts to compose a blog post. Here we go:
Outside my window: Dare I show you a photo? I think that if my Texan sister were to see what our backyard looks like, she might be hospitalised. As a meme on the internet said: "April, you had one job!" Suffice to say, it is cold, there is snow and any tentative forecasts for rain always include flurries as a possibility.
I am writing: Ummm, this blog post? Oops, I misread my own handwriting and the title is actually, I am thinking. So, I am thinking: that I really don't want to make supper, that it is only two hours until Mariana can legitimately be put to bed, and that I should stop eating popcorn.
I am thankful: for the woodstove that provides such wonderful warmth and cheeriness. Also, for the close relationship that has developed between Joseph and my parents. I did not expect Joe to be the son who gravitated to them, and it is delightful to see how much he loves spending time in their company.
Learning all the time: About how iron, particularly ferritin (the store of iron that we have in our bone marrow) is necessary for the circulation of thyroid hormones. This is the first pregnancy that I have been on Synthroid for a slightly underactive thyroid (underactive for pregnancy). The doctor also asked me to take iron as my ferritin was very low. I hate taking iron because of its effect on the digestive system. My midwife looked at my very high hemoglobin/circulating iron numbers and told me that there was no need for the iron. So, I stopped. But then the weight began to pack on despite watching what I was eating and walking 5 km/day. Then I read about the relationship between ferritin and iron and began to wonder if I should still take iron to try and stem the weight gain. Or, maybe it's just the popcorn.
Celebrating the liturgical year: I am a minimalist so decorations around the house really bother me. I mean, don't we have enough people in this house that decorations are just overkill? Somehow a banner declaring that it is Divine Mercy Sunday would rob me of all merciful feelings. We did, however, make it to mass as a family yesteday for the Annunciation.
From the kitchen: Popcorn. Dave, Joe and Ben are away for the week at Tim Horton's camp - do I really need to cook? I am hoping that the remaining kids are so satiated by popcorn that they all forget about the supper hour.
I am working on: staying motivated at exercising. When I am pregnant my limbs often feel like they weigh 20 pounds each, and my Fitbit registers my heartrate in the fat-burning zone when I come up from the basement after doing laundry. While eating popcorn today, I actually considered propping up my arm on something so that I could reach the bowl with as little effort as possible. Amazing how in one trimester I can go from biking 20-30km/day to a Weight Watchers "before" advertisement. Even eating an orange causes the numbers on the scale to creep up!
I am creating: a baby. A very active, opinonated little baby who kicks up a storm lest I slightly compromise his or her position in the womb in an attempt at some degree of comfort. I told Dave about this newest babe's feistiness and he replied, "Good. How else will a new baby make it around here?" True.
I am going: to put away laundry and try not to look at the snow that is falling.
I am hoping: for spring and that the forecast might say something really different the next time I check. I'm also hoping that my progesterone levels keep rising as they should and that all goes well with this pregnancy. And that I don't gain anymore weight.
I am praying: for the Humboldt tragedy, that much good would come out of such tragedy. I'm also praying for the safety of our school's students who are travelling to and from Tim Horton's camp on a bus just like that used by the Humboldt hockey team.
I am reading: two books: Precious and Grace by Alexander McCall Smith, the latest in the No.1 Ladies Detective Series. These are delightful books about a "traditionally built" lady detective in Botswana, Africa. They are sometimes a little platitudinous, but I still enjoy them. This light reading is countered by On the Edge of Infinity, the Michael O'Brien biography. Strange to read the life story of a man who sits only a few rows ahead of me in church.
Pondering these words: "Religion consists of a look casts toward the Cross." - Simone Weil
I am listening: to Hannah practise piano and to the banging of the unclosed backyard gate. Also, in the middle of the night, I listened to the large salad bowl fall from its precarious perch on the drying rack. This rattled my nerves and caused me to check all the doorlocks and to make sure that none of the kids had been taken. Dave heard nothing.
Around the house: wondering if I will ever put the paintings and photos back up on the walls. I like the simplicity, but when I see photos of our great room, it looks rather bare.
One of my favourite things: roasts, of the meat variety. They are so easy and require so very little of me. I really hate cutting raw meat, especially chicken, and roasts ask so little of my culinary skills.
This week's plan: to try to enjoy a change from the norm, since Dave and two middle boys are gone. The last time they went to camp I was only 16 weeks pregnant and experienced terrible cramping the entire time. At nearly 24 weeks, I am hoping for a less calamitous week. Also, it is Jacob and Hannah's 15th birthdays next week and I need to make sure that I have all that is required.
A little peek at my day: honestly, laundry. Laundry is the chore that runs my day and I take great pleasure in its completion. Some days there are four loads and, at least one day of the week, there is only one load. The one-load day feels strangely empty. Next comes the need for supper and an attempt at making sure that Sarah is literacy- and numeracy-ready for her entry into grade one in the fall. (I guess the last part qualifies as homeschooling.) The best part of the day, however, is when I nap for an hour at around 1pm. I can never nap when I am not pregnant, so I take great delight in this ability when with child. A nap makes all things bearable.
