...but but but... what if you're not in the mood for all of the holiday bullshit because you effectively hate the winter holiday season?
My mother's a little bit annoyed with me because I won't put up a Christmas tree this year, which y'know considering I'm Muslim & husband is Jewish and The Boy is somewhat mishmashed in between those and nothing - it doesn't really make sense to have one. But we've always put up a little artificial Charlie Brown tree (it even blurts out words only Harvard students use). This year... I don't feel like it. So I'm not doing it. And now she's mad at me.
*le sigh*
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Oh Hell No!
From today's NYTimes.com blog section (Parenting Blog: Motherlode)
70-Year-Old Woman Gives Birth
By Lisa BelkinRajo Devi became the oldest woman in recorded history to ever give birth on November 28, when the 70-year-old delivered a baby girl in India.
Married for 50 years, she had been trying, without success, to have a child for much of that time, until she entered menopause (which was 20 years ago). The Hindustan Times, announcing the birth yesterday, quotes her as saying : “We longed for a child all these years and now we are very happy to have one.”
The baby was conceived through the use of a donor egg that was injected with Ms. Devi’s 72-year-old husband’s sperm. And she seems to be a preemie, since the embryo transfer took place on April 18, according to newspaper reports, and she was born seven months later.
I explored the topic of the shifting boundaries of fertility in a New York Times Magazine article more than a decade ago. It was assigned after the record was broken for the first time, and a 63-year-old gave birth. An editor called and asked me to find some more 60-somethings who were having babies and write a cover story about them.
There were no others to be found, because most sextagenariuns aren’t all that interested in giving birth. But I did profile a 55-year-old, who was post-menopausal and breaking the laws of nature in order to have her first child. I started out seeing hers as a science story and came away thinking of it as simply a sad story — the darker edge of the sharp scientific sword. Just because a technology exists, does not necessarily mean it should be used.
The record age for giving birth has inched up over the years (well, it’s the record if you don’t count Sarah and Abraham in the Bible) passing through the sixth decade — from 62 to 66 to 67 — an occasional woman at a time. Ms. Devi’s newborn can be called a triumph of science over infertility, but is this really a triumph? Where does the yearning to be a parent become selfish disregard for the life of the child being created? A child whose parents will almost definitely not see her into adulthood?
How old is too old to have a baby?
(http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/pregnant-at-70/?hp)
70-Year-Old Woman Gives Birth
By Lisa BelkinRajo Devi became the oldest woman in recorded history to ever give birth on November 28, when the 70-year-old delivered a baby girl in India.
Married for 50 years, she had been trying, without success, to have a child for much of that time, until she entered menopause (which was 20 years ago). The Hindustan Times, announcing the birth yesterday, quotes her as saying : “We longed for a child all these years and now we are very happy to have one.”
The baby was conceived through the use of a donor egg that was injected with Ms. Devi’s 72-year-old husband’s sperm. And she seems to be a preemie, since the embryo transfer took place on April 18, according to newspaper reports, and she was born seven months later.
I explored the topic of the shifting boundaries of fertility in a New York Times Magazine article more than a decade ago. It was assigned after the record was broken for the first time, and a 63-year-old gave birth. An editor called and asked me to find some more 60-somethings who were having babies and write a cover story about them.
There were no others to be found, because most sextagenariuns aren’t all that interested in giving birth. But I did profile a 55-year-old, who was post-menopausal and breaking the laws of nature in order to have her first child. I started out seeing hers as a science story and came away thinking of it as simply a sad story — the darker edge of the sharp scientific sword. Just because a technology exists, does not necessarily mean it should be used.
The record age for giving birth has inched up over the years (well, it’s the record if you don’t count Sarah and Abraham in the Bible) passing through the sixth decade — from 62 to 66 to 67 — an occasional woman at a time. Ms. Devi’s newborn can be called a triumph of science over infertility, but is this really a triumph? Where does the yearning to be a parent become selfish disregard for the life of the child being created? A child whose parents will almost definitely not see her into adulthood?
How old is too old to have a baby?
(http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/pregnant-at-70/?hp)
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Another Door Opens
Hey recession! Nice of you to finally introduce yourself. Me? Oh... my name is "Officially Unemployed."
So... I was fired yesterday. Okay - technically, I wasn't really fired; I was laid off. My position was eliminated blah blah blah ongoing reorganization blather blather reduction in force.
I have to admit that I'm ecstatic. Maybe its because I'm inherently lazy, but I am glad to have a little time off from work. Nevermind that I was just out for 2.5 months because of a work-related injury. Nevermind that I am the primary breadwinner of the family. Nevermind that I certainly don't have a 6 month financial safety net.
I just feel... free.
I'd spent the better part of 3+ years in a tumultuous relationship with the organization. I'd spent the last year or so fantasizing about simply walking away. I'd spent most of Wednesday morning kicking myself for leaving my resignation letter on the foyer table.
I spent most of Wednesday night laughing & celebrating.
I had a weird dream last night though... I dreamt that I forgot to pick up the boy from his after-school program. Well, it wasn't that I forgot; I simply slept through my unemployed day. So at 2:35 a.m. I sprang awake in a panic.
I think I won't sleep all day every day - although I am definitely a fan of naps. I think I have a lot of writing to do (maybe some of my kabazillion blogs will have a little more activity); I think I have a lot of crocheting to do; actually I have a lot of crafty, creative things to do in the coming weeks & months.
Someone on another blog of mine responded to my news with an icon that said "Be open to whatever comes next." Not only am I open, but I am squirming in eager anticipation of it.
So... I was fired yesterday. Okay - technically, I wasn't really fired; I was laid off. My position was eliminated blah blah blah ongoing reorganization blather blather reduction in force.
I have to admit that I'm ecstatic. Maybe its because I'm inherently lazy, but I am glad to have a little time off from work. Nevermind that I was just out for 2.5 months because of a work-related injury. Nevermind that I am the primary breadwinner of the family. Nevermind that I certainly don't have a 6 month financial safety net.
I just feel... free.
I'd spent the better part of 3+ years in a tumultuous relationship with the organization. I'd spent the last year or so fantasizing about simply walking away. I'd spent most of Wednesday morning kicking myself for leaving my resignation letter on the foyer table.
I spent most of Wednesday night laughing & celebrating.
I had a weird dream last night though... I dreamt that I forgot to pick up the boy from his after-school program. Well, it wasn't that I forgot; I simply slept through my unemployed day. So at 2:35 a.m. I sprang awake in a panic.
I think I won't sleep all day every day - although I am definitely a fan of naps. I think I have a lot of writing to do (maybe some of my kabazillion blogs will have a little more activity); I think I have a lot of crocheting to do; actually I have a lot of crafty, creative things to do in the coming weeks & months.
Someone on another blog of mine responded to my news with an icon that said "Be open to whatever comes next." Not only am I open, but I am squirming in eager anticipation of it.
Monday, December 1, 2008
heropsychodreamer
some stumbling past might wonder why i even stay.
i love my son. i love my husband. i love this family unit... i just don't exactly understand how i got here or where i fit in.
each of us at any minute is a hero or a psycho or a dreamer. i spent most of my time being psychotically heroic - that in itself is a dream-state, is it not?
is it dreaming or heroic or psychotic to take a leap & fly on faith? is it all of the above?
we'll see...
i love my son. i love my husband. i love this family unit... i just don't exactly understand how i got here or where i fit in.
each of us at any minute is a hero or a psycho or a dreamer. i spent most of my time being psychotically heroic - that in itself is a dream-state, is it not?
is it dreaming or heroic or psychotic to take a leap & fly on faith? is it all of the above?
we'll see...
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