The Sad Side To My Downtown Commute July 30, 2007
I saw two homeless people on my walk to work this morning. One was a man asleep on the bench at a bus stop and the other a woman, walking down the sidewalk barefoot. The woman walking barefoot struck a chord with me. Here I am with two pairs of shoes, one on my feet and the other in my bag, and who knows how many more pair at home shoved in my closet and strewn about the house, and this woman appears to have no shoes at all (nor a house to scatter shoes about). Its either that or she just likes to walk barefoot, though she did not walk as if her feet were all that comfortable.
It occurred to me that maybe I could give this woman my sneakers and just finish my walk in my dress shoes. After all, the shoes I was wearing were an extra pair of sneakers, an old pair given to me by my mom just the day before. This thought came to me too late though. The moment had passed. Shoeless woman was walking south and I was heading west, so by this point we were almost two blocks from each other. Maybe I will see her again and have another chance at it.
For a second I was tempted to feel guilty about not thinking of it sooner, but I let that temptation go. Random acts of kindness do not come natural to most people. In fact, I don’t believe they come natural to anyone really. I think it is something that must be learned. I am still learning.
Lunch July 26, 2007
I’ve been packing a lunch ever since I went back to work. It takes some extra work and planning but it’s worth it. It’s terribly convenient when it comes time for lunch and you are seriously hungry – all you have to do is open up the lunchbox and your food is ready. The plan is to designate Saturdays or Sundays for doing prep work, and that way I don’t have to worry about it every day. I just open the fridge and grab what I need. Last week I made my own pudding cups. This week I made my own jello cups and filled little snack bags with pickles and sliced cucumber (not in the same bag… ugh). I also hard boiled some eggs. For Monday and Tuesday I made my own fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt. It was way better than the store bought stuff, which I find rather disgusting. This was with fresh sliced strawberries and plain yogurt which I sweetened up with sugar and vanilla. It was delicious. With packing my lunch it has been pretty easy to stick to eating healthy, and I’ve yet to get tired of the selection. The foods I crave are generally healthy and I don’t go overboard on sweets very often but I do have my weaknesses. Cupcakes, for example. I’m sitting at my desk and I opened the June 11th issue of Time Magazine to an article called “The Science of Appetite.” On the left page is a giant picture of a cupcake – a chocolate cupcake. Suddenly the lunch I just ate doesn’t satisfy. I’m interested in the article. The first two paragraphs seem to be talking about me:
“Somewhere in your brain, there’s a cupcake circuit. How it works is not entirely clear, and you couldn’t see it even if you knew where to look. But it’s there all the same – and it’s a powerful thing. You didn’t pop out of the womb prewired for cupcakes, but long ago, early in your babyhood, you got your first taste of one, and instantly a series of sensory, metabolic and neurochemical fireworks went off.
The mesolimbic region in the center of your brain – the area that processes pleasure – lit up. The vagus nerve flashed signals to the stomach, which began to secrete digestive acids. The pancreas began churning out insulin. The liver cranked up to refine the body’s chemistry to accommodate the sugar and fat and starch that were coming in. As all those complex processes were unfolding, your midbrain filed away a simple, primal, unconscious idea: Cupcakes are good. A lifetime love affair – perhaps pleasant, perhaps tortured – began.”
Well said! I totally have that cupcake circuit. My midbrain tells me that cupcakes are good!
I Am A Morning Person July 25, 2007
I admit it. I never thought I was, because I have always had a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. Now I realize that it’s only due to poor sleep and the pain and stiffness I get, not because I don’t like the morning. Now that I am forced to get up early (Luke wakes up to eat between 5 and 6 am) I realize I love the morning. The world is so peaceful and it’s great to have that time to get ready for the day. When I’m up early I have plenty of time to mosey around. I hate feeling rushed. Why does the world have to move so fast? When I have all that time in the morning I find myself doing the tasks that I generally procrastinate doing. I’m not tempted to watch tv because there isn’t much on (except Joyce Meyer, which is actually a great way to start the day). Cleaning and other such chores are so much more pleasant in the a.m. than at night after a long day’s work when all I want to do is just relax and go to bed. Plus it’s sweet coming home from work to a tidy house.
We think Luke happens to be a morning person too. He is generally in a good mood as far as babies go, but in the morning he is at his best. It’s nice to know he takes after his Momma, even if its just a little bit.
The only problem with this is that Mike is definitely NOT a morning person. In fact, he loves to sleep in. If he has any sort of interruption to his sleep patterns he reacts very badly. Two nights ago Luke had a rough night sleeping and Mike and I were both up taking turns trying to get him back to sleep. It was probably the most Mike has ever had to be up in the middle of the night (not counting that first week home after we had the baby, and the time when he was having those horrendous cluster headaches) and let me tell you, he had a rough day that day. By 6 pm he was hurting. I think he fell asleep on the couch somewhere during the first inning of the Tigers game.
I wonder how this difference in preference of waking and sleeping schedules will play out in our retirement years. I’m hoping that by then old age will have caused Mike to be unable to sleep in. I hear it often works that way but we’ll see. I would love to enjoy reading the newspaper with him while we slurp our early morning cups of coffee. Oh, see now I just revealed a glimpse of my ever-secret romantic side. Oops!
Coffee Rediscovered July 23, 2007
Now that I’m back to work I am drinking coffee again. Not like I used to, where it was every day and in large quantities, but every once in awhile I’ll walk across the street to Cornerstone and get a refill for $0.53. They don’t always have the same flavors available, but some days they have the Kenya AA. This is my favorite so far. It’s a medium blend described as bold and hearty. With a little half and half it’s perfect for my palate. DOUBLE YUM.
New Challenges July 19, 2007
Boy, I am just exhausted. I’ve been running myself ragged trying to stay caught up on everything now that I’m back to work. I’m deciding it’s just not worth it. I am stressed to the max and I’m no picnic to be around. These are the steps I need to be taking to lower my stress:
- Ask for help, especially from Mike. He doesn’t know unless I tell him, and he’s more than willing.
- Get my routines down on paper. That way I don’t have to remember everything and my brain won’t get overloaded.
- Forget about the small stuff. Just do what’s necessary and the rest can wait until the weekend.
- Pump breastmilk twice a day at work instead of three. I need that lunch hour to relax – it’s the only guaranteed chance for down time that I have and I had better take it. It means Luke will have to get formula once or twice I day but it’s a small price to pay to have a sane Momma.
I think if I do those four things I’ll be feeling a lot better. I knew this was going to be a tough adjustment but we will get through it.
I am still loving my job! I’m learning quickly and it’s work that I really enjoy doing. The people are great so far. They are mostly accountants so with my personality I fit right in. I think this could be a great long term gig for me. Let’s hope.
I was able to fit into yet another piece of pre-pregnancy clothing today. Yay! The amazing shrinking woman!
Gentle Poet, Gentle July 13, 2007
Here is a nice shot of our friends’ son Poet being so gentle with Luke… for a second. Almost immediately after I took the picture Poet raised his arm up high and whap!… hit Luke square on the head. Luke didn’t even flinch. He was apparently sleeping pretty hard. Michelle did mention Poet had entered into a “hitting phase”. We made sure to keep him away from Pele, aka “Mean Kitty Ow”.
I Swear We Feed Him July 11, 2007
I swear we feed him, just maybe not soon enough sometimes. Luke tried sucking milk from his arm and gave himself a hickey.
Here’s a closer look:
