1 Day Remaining
Last thoughts before I disappear for awhile.
Thought #1
Sleeping only 2 – 3 hours on account of all the pain is killing me. Yes, I’m working a full day today, but I’ve shoved off all my responsibilities and nobody seems to need me for anything. Good because I can take a nap after lunch. Bad because I don’t need them to go, “Hey, it doesn’t seem like we really need Mel, do we?”
But, I have 24 hours left. I check-in at 11:30 tomorrow and surgery is at 1:30.
Right now I feel sore, sick and exhausted. By tomorrow I’ll hopefully feel just sore and exhaused. Then eventually I’ll just feel exhausted. Then when I go to work and have to take the tiny human to daycare, I’ll be exhausted and sick*.
I fear this tiny human will arrive and kick my ass.
Thought #2
Harvard from Wakarusa to Monterey Way is being torn apart until Sept 2005. We moved just in time. They are redoing guttering and curbs, redoing existing traffic circles, replacing some traffic circles with roundabouts/speed bumps, adding traffic circles/roundabouts in intersections that were bare. Harvard is going to be a traffic nightmare during construction and after as all the confused people try to navigate to their houses. The wonderful retired guy who mowed our lawn on Hearthside is going to mow our lawn on Monterey. They are selling their duplex, and I found out it is because they are building a new house even further west. His wife said it is because the neighborhood is really going downhill. For those who have been to my neighborhood, does this make sense? My thoughts: maybe it is all the republicans and their fight to keep anything that doesn’t fit their mold out of west Lawrence–including (especially) Walmart**. Now they constructing roadblocks everywhere to keep people from wanting to even drive through their neighborhood.
Thought #3
I have a goo addiction. Goo is my general term for anything that I can put in my hair or rub/spray into my skin. I have so much goo, and even though I haven’t used the goo that I have, I compulsively buy more. Everytime I clean out my bathroom, I find bottles of goo that I don’t remember getting and I’m not sure what it does. If it makes some part of me soft or smell good, I’m all over it. This is my strongest girly traight. I’m trying to be extra good for Mac and not buying goo because of our house purchase, but I was eyeing it last night online when I couldn’t sleep. Then I realized that I’m having a girl. I’m now going to be buying goo for two! I’ve already looked at a bunch of baby goo. Smell is my strongest sense, and I like to surround myself with things I think smell good. But the opposite of this is I cannot stand things that smell bad. I cannot clean out my refrigerator because of the smell. I hate changing diapers because of the smell (good thing I have nose plugs). It isn’t just unpleasant. I gag and/or throw up at things that people can just say, “Yeah, that smells funny.”
So, it is going to be hard for me to not over bathe Ada. I’ll want to clean her, rub her down with baby goo so she is soft and smells good. I’ll be hugging and smelling her, and then she is going to go and ruin it. I’ll have to change a diaper, and the smell will not be the same.
However, this will be the one girly thing she will get from me. She will probably always be soft and smell good and have a healthy supply of fruit flavored chapstick***. The rest she will have to get from Aunt Tess.
Good thing that she has her own bathroom.
Though #4
I have porky-toes! You would not believe how swollen my tiny feet are. They are so funny looking. I can’t help but look at them and laugh, especially when I wiggle my toes. Most people get cankles, where their ankle and calf become one. My whole foot is going to disappear into calf. I’ll have elephant feet! Just a stump with toes! My mother likes to make fun and laugh at my tiny feet, so I should take a picture for her. She’ll get a real hoot out of them right now.
I’m going to give props to where I work, even with the policy. See, everybody is older than me on my team, and all but one of them have kids. It is the policy of my manager that if I need to take some time to care for a sick child, then take some time without using the sick day or a personal day or a vacation day. I like that I have what is classified as a “professional position” at work because I get treated that way. As long as I get my work done or make arrangements to get my work covered by somebody in a responsible manner, I get treated like a professional. If I need to take some undocumented time off to take care of an important issue, then I can. I mean, geez, they implemented the telecommuting flexible hour policy just for me when I became pregnant and was falling asleep while driving on the interstate. Now, all of IT benefits. While I get paid way more than I would working in Lawrence, I still get paid below what I should for what I do. Raises and bonuses have been the suck since I started 4 years ago at the start of the downturn of the energy business. However, I have a fantastic work environment and benefits.
**Although I don’t blame them for this. Walmart smells funny. Children run amok in Walmart without anybody there to make them behave. Seriously, I was at Walmart with Mac one time, and there was this kid running around the aisles carrying an axe. Did the parent make the child stop? No. I would rather they build a Target for us out in West Lawrence.
To continue with this topic, I was at Home Depot with my mom and Curt getting painting supplies for Ada’s room, and there was this family in line in front of us. The child kept trying to get in the stand-up cooler with soda that was beside the register. After a bit, a parent would go over and pull him out, but did he get in trouble? No. Guess what, he just went back over and did it again. This happened a couple of times until he became more interested in trying to spray the stack of Windex sitting in the aisle on the way out the door. Did the parents do anything? Nope. If that child happened to find a bottle that was set to spray and the child sprayed Windex in his eye, would they have done anything? Yes, they would have sued Home Depot. It is Home Depot, not Child Playland. If you bring your child, make them behave. Was I raised funny to believe that the bigger human was the one in charge? Shouldn’t the child obey the parent and learn to behave in public? Granted, it isn’t always an easy task, but you are the parent. If your child isn’t behaving and you cannot make them stop, then leave. Especially if you are not in a child-oriented place, like Home Depot.
***I don’t wear lipstick, however I will wear anything on my lips that tastes good. If there is lip gloss or chapstick that is flavored, I’ll get it. I found out last night that Snapple makes lip products. Yes, the fruity Snapple drinks for your lips. I must find some! I also need to find some Snapple. It doesn’t appear to be sold anymore in Lawrence.
