Gratuitous Cute Story
My apologies to those who've already had it told to them. So Jay was lolling about on the living room floor last week when Vyera stepped inside the room. Vyera is the shy cat, and Jay has only managed to briefly brush her tail, and that only once. She is an irresistible target. So he began inching towards her, looking up after every scoot to make sure he was still scooting in Vyera's direction. One time, he looked up to find her gone. She had torn past him as he was scooting, and looking around now, he found her in the dining room. So he changed directions and recommenced his scooting, quite oblivious to the fact that she can and will evade him as long as necessary. My little optimist =]

Every time he sees Kostya, Jay smiles (often squeals) and watches him intently, and, if he is on the floor, pursues him as well. Kostya is very friendly, but has had his tail and fur pulled enough to know that he does not care for Baby Jay as a playmate. Which is to say, Kostya runs from the scooting one as well. All the same, cats are a great distraction for Jay, and as such come in handy!
- posted by Lenise @ 9:33 PM |

 
Thorn in the Flesh
I've been feeling yucky lo these several weeks, even though my cough, sore throat, etc. have gone by the wayside. My rheumatoid arthritis, being an autoimmune disease, preys on me more severely when I am recovering from other illness. And, as my undetermined illness(es?) have waxed and waned, my RA has followed suit. It is so discouraging to be thrown back into severe disability immediately after I think I have turned a corner.

I have to remind myself that my version of severe disability isn't all that bad, but it does mean that I hand off a lot of duties to Paul. For instance, today I carried Jay up the stairs for the first time in many days. Guess where the changing table is! Yesterday I was in a lot of pain, particularly in my right knee, and Paul wasn't home, so I brought a bunch of changing supplies downstairs, but Paul has done a lot more daily diaper changes in the past several weeks than probably ever before (even though Jay hasn't required as many diapers recently as in the beginning). Also yesterday, I had a horrific time walking in to my work building from the parking lot, as well as anywhere else I had to walk. My knee has been slightly flexed since Sunday morning, and standing up to sing in choir couldn't have helped. Yesterday it was flexed and really painful, but today it is a little bit straighter and hasn't hurt much, so here's hoping it will go straight tomorrow and not hurt at all!

Anyway, this disease has been the defining struggle of my life thus far. I tend towards denial in coping with this (as with lots of other areas of my life, no doubt), so I don't do much talking about it (before college, I couldn't discuss it without getting teary). I often thought that my RA deformities and infirmities would consign me to spinsterhood, and not much happened to dispel that idea before, say, my junior year or so of college. Even then, I didn't have a "relationship" before grad school. Anyway, when I look back, I am especially grateful to God for providing me with a loving and attentive husband and sweet child.

I'm still working out why God allowed RA to happen to me, and I still rail inwardly against the injustice of it all when, for instance, I can't fasten the snaps on Baby Jay's clothes, or I have a hard time picking him up off the floor. However, I think learning so much about God in college was what gave me the hope that's allowed me to be a little more open about my condition. I hope someday I will learn to get past the anger, since I think it makes me less patient with my squirmy offspring and I'm afraid it also leads me to turn away from my gracious Creator.

I just wanted to share my struggle. I wanted to reciprocate the trust that a lot of my fellow bloggers are demonstrating by opening up about their weaknesses. Maybe I just wanted comfort. Thanks for bearing with me :)
- posted by Lenise @ 10:53 PM |

 

Happy Easter, y'all!!
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 6:37 PM |

 

Do you think I'll get goodies next year, Sheepy?
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 6:37 PM |

 

Baby Jay in his spiffy $30 walker
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 10:39 AM |

 

Swept off his feet
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 10:38 AM |

 
Great Post
This is a great statement of the apathy in our churches. It certainly rings true for me (except that I don't even read nearly enough Scripture, though Paul is helping me with that). We sit in our little boxes complaining about how society marginalizes us and wait for someone to ask us for our testimony (as though we were doing anything that would make anyone notice us) because we don't want to offend anyone by giving him the gospel unbidden. Obviously, we don't want to go around offending non-believers, but if we don't engage them in some meaningful way, they won't have any reason to ask who Jesus is.

Now the hard part: what am I going to do about it?
- posted by Lenise @ 3:41 PM |

 
Springy Thursday Three
1) What is the one thing that you love MOST about Spring?
It's hard to narrow that one down. There's the warm weather, all the flowers, the new kittens frolicking around, but the best thing about spring has to be Easter (and not just because of the peeps).

2) ASIDE FROM POLLEN AND TORNADOES, what is the one thing that you love LEAST about Spring?
Easy. Springing ahead. Don't mess with my sleep time!

3) Name your single most favorite song, movie, play, book, painting, sculpture, etc., etc., with “spring” as part of the title.
Well, I did some research, and although I'm not sure why this came up on Amazon when I typed in spring, it's my favorite of that list! (Check out the different colors- they say different things)
- posted by Lenise @ 8:47 AM |

 
Word to the Wise
Do not watch a movie into which guillotines feature prominently (even if it is The Scarlet Pimpernel) around the time your breastfed baby cuts his first teeth. I'm just saying.
- posted by Lenise @ 4:06 PM |

 

One ring to drool them all.
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 7:18 PM |

 

Jay with "Aunt" Christy
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 7:17 PM |

 

Yeah, so I'm six months old. Big deal.
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 7:16 PM |

 
I Spoke Too Soon
Jay remains on the verge of crawling. Every now and then, he gets up on all fours and uses his feet to push himself forward, but he doesn't seem to have the ability to do so at will. Ah, well, a few more days without baby gates. Not necessarily a bad thing...
- posted by Lenise @ 7:01 PM |

 

Hier stehe ich! Ich kann nicht anders. (At least not while I'm holding on so tightly!)
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 3:43 PM |

 

M R Toofies!!!
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 3:36 PM |

 
Thursday Three: da da dooooo
In honor of Larry learning to play the bass guitar, a musical Thursday Three:
1. What instrument do you play?
Before my arthritis made it more frustrating and depressing than enjoyable and uplifting, I played the piano. Something else to look forward to in heaven, you know. We bought a bowed psaltry since it doesn't require any real single-finger strength or agility. I ought to play it more. It's really kind of nice. Oh, and I sing in choir at church. 2nd soprano. Usually the most boring women's part.

2. Which one do you wish you could play if time and talent were not involved?
I have wanted to play violin since I heard a friend in high school. She was very talented, and I'm sure I could never have played as well as she did anyway!
3. Have you ever taken lessons for an instrument or voice and how did it go?

I took piano and organ lessons. They would have gone much better had I actually practiced. I did start practicing some in college, and got to fill in part of a friend's senior recital, which is more than my playing merited, I'm afraid. On the other hand, Leland looked even better by comparison!

- posted by Lenise @ 12:29 PM |

 
Andrea, check this out

- posted by Lenise @ 12:07 PM |

 
Waking Dreams of an Overworked Mom
So after Paul brought Jay in for a wee-hours feeding this "morning", I found myself having this internal conversation: "If he's getting the professional data now, when's he going to get the inpatient and outpatient data?" "Silly! He's a baby. He gets nutrients and stuff." "Then how does he know what's going on with the group's utilization? Does he just get the high-level analysis and skip the detail?"
- posted by Lenise @ 9:13 AM |

 
I've had enough
Of work for tonight. I'm going home!!! Maybe tomorrow I can rail against the circumstances which have forced me twice this week to come in to work at night.
- posted by Lenise @ 9:26 PM |

 
I take it back
The boy will be crawling by Monday (his 6-month birthday) if illness doesn't waylay him. He's already quite mobile (eeks!)
- posted by Lenise @ 11:17 AM |

 
Lutherans, Take Note!
Faith without works is dead. Thanks for the reprint, Valerie!!
- posted by Lenise @ 11:05 AM |

 
Who Knew?
They really do grow up fast! Now that he’s got teeth coming in, baby Jay did a great job eating tonight, despite having not practiced (on solids) in a week. He didn’t keep trying to intercept the spoon with his hands, and once the food made it into his mouth, he generally managed to swallow it. There were still plenty of carrot guts to clean up, but he was much neater than last time, and didn’t even get much on his sleeves. He’s also working on stepping when I hold him up in a standing position. He doesn't seem to be getting much closer to crawling, though. He can still aim himself with his arms, but seemed to be pushing himself backwards as much as forwards. I don't know how I would feel about his skipping the whole crawling stage...
- posted by Lenise @ 10:17 PM |

 
Blogiversary!
Well, I've been blogging for a year today, and really, what's changed? (I mean besides having my life turned inside-out and upside-down by a beautiful bouncing baby boy) Let's see!

A year ago this week:

• I endured abuse and scorn from co-workers who think that only morons support President Bush
• I endured abuse and scorn from drivers who think that their commutes should be unimpeded by lesser mortals
• I wondered why people couldn't be more considerate of one another

In the meantime:

• W was re-elected and vindicated (in the eyes of some, anyway) by free and popular elections in Iraq
• I reduced my work schedule so that I only have to drive to work 3 days a week
• They moved my cubicle, with the unintended result that my co-workers have to be unreasonably loud for me to hear their political pronouncements
• Jada Pinkett Smith was lambasted for speaking as though a woman might actually want to marry a man

I guess you can draw your own conclusions.

- posted by Lenise @ 8:19 AM |

 
Serves Them Right
They're lucky they weren't billed for the helicopter fuel, too!
- posted by Lenise @ 10:15 AM |

 
Grumpiness Explained?
As Paul mentioned, our little one has not been very cheerful the past few days. He had some sort of eye discharge, which has pretty much resolved, and now he's got a runny nose. The true cause of his grumpiness, though, I suspect, has to do with what I perceive to be the changing topography of his lower gum(s?). I think the poor kid is teething! Do we medicate? Is Baby Orajel good stuff?
- posted by Lenise @ 8:41 PM |

 

After a busy day of terrorizing the village, Babyzilla takes a nap.
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 8:38 PM |

 

May I help you?
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 8:37 PM |

 

Computer zombies
Posted by Hello
- posted by Lenise @ 8:37 PM |

 
Thursday Three on 3/3
#1--What three commonly served food items cause you to become nauseated when you smell them? (The “commonly served” will be judged loosely to allow for regional specialties that cause you unease that might not be available in other parts of the world.)
As I mentioned in a recent post, I'm really not generally prone to nausea, even after having become a mother. I did get repulsed by a family-size jug of mayonnaise to the extent that I wouldn't eat mayo for a year or two afterwards (it was huge!!). And I did get nauseous during a recent showing at my house of Wodehouse Playhouse, series one, disk 1. I think that had more to do with my illness, though, which also manifested itself in fever and chills. It seems like I smelled something purportedly edible that gave off a riotous stench recently, but I can't remember what it was (no, not Paul's borshch, though it tastes much better than it smells).

#2--What three non-cable, non-satellite television shows can you just not stand to watch? (If they make you nauseated, even better.)
Probably some political commentary show disguised as news. I can't come up with any good examples, though, because we haven't gotten any reception on our tv since we cancelled the cable years and years ago. I also can't stand to watch the Cowboys, Raiders, Buccaneers, Eagles or Ravens win a football game. Or whoever's playing the Redskins. Oh- also Oprah and such-like boring talk shows.

#3--What three things are you immune to that seem to make other people ill?
Well, some folks act like it would kill them to listen to country music, W, or a Biblical Christian exposition on some un-PC topic. I guess those might count!
- posted by Lenise @ 10:17 AM |