Oct. 19th, 2005

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As of tomorrow I'm 38 weeks and that means I have a 4 week window of opportunity here. Within four weeks I will be unpregnant.

I slept late, took a shower, made a small to-do list of things I might actually do, set out a cup of tea to steep, and then went out to walk up to the mailbox and the office to put money in my laundry card. It's not that far to walk, but it's mostly uphill, and I was out of breath practically as soon as I walked out the door. I was ALMOST to the mail box when Madge drives by, on her way in. Without a moment's hesitation she asks if I'll hop in and take her car to fill it up with gas. Sure. So we go do that, and I park her car in her usual spot. This puts me at square one for my walk up the hill, so I got to walk up twice. It's probably good though, because I haven't been walking enough lately, and it's nice and cool out, and walking is known to help jiggle babies into place. So there you go. However, when I got back, my tea was cold.

My mom is 43 years old today. I called her when I got up and she was already crying. She wants us to make a t-shirt that she can wear on special occasions that says I Release You from Your Obligation of Fakeness. There is nothing less tolerable than people who don't give a shit about you, choosing for some bizarre reason to pretend that they do, but only in a particularly hurtful way that indicates they think you're too stupid to notice. My mom is very sensitive to such things, having dealt with it from SO many people her entire life. I'm going to make sure she has a nice relaxing time when she's up here. She could really use a break from all the bullshit in her life right now. Between my stepdad's job, and my sister's dramatic existence, and the constant fear of a repeat break-in while she's home alone (there was another attempt the other night) my mom is headed for a nervous breakdown. I keep trying to convince her to come up here now instead of two weeks from now, but she insists she has a lot to take care of before she comes. I hope she makes it till then.

As for my sister, there is never a dull moment. It's far too insane for me to even properly think about, but I'll just say that everytime I learn some new detail about her life or her past, I find myself detaching just that much more. I don't know why I'm so sensitive, but when it comes to my little sister, I have virgin ears, and I don't want to know anything more about her because it always upsets me. I can feel sorry that her life has turned out like shit, but I can also feel massive annoyance that she allows it and perpetuates it. I know there are people out there who claim to be miserable but who really thrive on drama and bullshit and lies and constant tension, and she appears to be one of them. She and her husband and Corey are all alike. And nothing my mom or I could ever do or say will improve anything. Unfortunately, though my mom realises this on some level, she still feels total obligation to stick around and be available for my sister at all times. I keep pointing out how much like Corey my sister is, and how they never really try very hard at life because they know mommy will always be there to forgive and pick up the pieces. It's not doing either of them any favors. My mom needs to detach herself just a bit, get on with her own life, and recognize that my sister is a grown woman with a family of her own, and she needs to be forced to take responsibility. I think it's terribly unhealthy to have that kind of assured safety net always there for you. What motivation do you have to do anything on your own?

Anyway. Finally getting baby laundry done today, so that's a relief. I'm not going to do it all, just what I need for the first week or so.

My midwife gave me books and tapes to occupy my empty head this week. Now I will learn about hypnobirthing, and whatever is on these two videos. I have come to enjoy childbirth videos, and Jake has come to dread them. No sooner do I turn the TV on, I hear the lilting background sounds of Age of Empires on the computer. Ah well. Reality is scary, I suppose.
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I have a happy balance of knitting projects on the needles just now. One is a baby dress (from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies) knit on size 2 needles with very fine cotton yarn. It will be absolutely adorable and just the desire to see its finished cuteness is keeping me going, though it's tedious. Still, I'm making good progress on it just doing a couple rows here and there. To counter this, I also am moving right along on Jake's mom's Ab Fab throw. It really is a good balance.

I have made a conscious effort to come up with things we can buy for Christmas presents this year so my tired hands might relax on those projects of my own choosing, at my leisure. I have the wine bottle cozies for Jake's sister. Neck warmer for Jake. A secret project for someone who reads this. And that's about it. I want to reserve my knitting energy for whatever baby projects I discover I need to do. Like wool pants. I never made any wool pants, so I'm going to try out this free pattern before spending money on the LTK pattern (I'll probably buy it anyway, though).

Overall, I'm not feeling very overwhelmed. I feel like everything is moving along smoothly, knitting is just a nice useful pastime, and everything is in perspective. It's a good place to be, though I have very little experience with the feeling.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that I got that free fuzzy yarn everyone ordered a few weeks ago. It's like a tribble on acid. I can't think what in the world I would actually do with it, so maybe I will set it on the desk and call it Psychadelic Tribble. It's really horrifying and scary. I only ordered it because, like, free yarn?

If anyone wants to get me any baby presents for cheap, I could use some cute 100% cotton baby socks in various bright colors (no pink if it can be avoided).

La la la.
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Confession: I love to knit with wool, but I hate washing what I make. This often means I don't even WEAR what I make.

I just washed the small pile of woolly baby things I've made this year. Threw it all in the bathtub with some wool wash, let it soak, then went to lay it out to dry. All the tiny little hats I made? Not so tiny anymore. The undyed diaper cover? Slightly dyed. I think I need to get a clue. It's all set out to dry now, but I don't have great hopes that it will all come out right. I have no idea how to not stretch things out. I don't wring, I barely squeeze the water out, just enough so it doesn't get weighed down, and lay things flat on a towel. What am I doing wrong???

I lost track of how many loads of laundry got done today. All my unbleached flat diapers (2 dozen) got washed FIVE TIMES as per instructions, one load of baby clothes, one load of towels/baby washcloths, one load of Jake's clothes, one load of my clothes/whatever was left. Okay, so that's nine loads. Good way to blow $20 without even trying.

I only washed the 0-3 month size baby clothes and all the receiving blankets (10). The rest can wait. The fitted diapers and dyed prefolds can also wait.

Laundry posts are so exciting, aren't they?

Just got an email back from Grainne, after not hearing from her in months. Threatening to come out here around Christmas, and I would be thrilled to see her. She generally only comes over once a year, and I've been feeling like it's about time she got here. Also, would love a legitimate reason to drive down to NY at this time of year. Driving through the Catskills is always nice.
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My backyard right now.

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