April 11, 2009

• Life has been chugging on by without blog lately. I’ve been in journal-mode, getting my head in order for the future air-breather that lives in my stomach. Things have been good, though. I’ve been happy and my journal is getting right-full of love.

  I took a really fun screenprinting class with a friend last weekend and discovered a new art form that gives me much pleasure. Screenprinting is one of the few art forms that can give a person quick gratification using very simple shapes. I made a cute grocery bag featuring bacon, a pear, a biting fish, a skull, a chicken drumstick, and a fetus.

  Behold:
  

  My brother Juje is in town this weekend to visit us and help set up the baby room. (Currently, he is snoring on the futon. He has a really funny, sporadic snore.)

  Yesterday, Juje and I spent the afternoon listening to music and installing baby art. The design is by a UK studio called Tado. The work itself is comprised of hundreds of little vinyls. To assemble, you have to apply each thing individually, like a puzzle, to create the scene. The best thing is that the puzzle has extra bits, so you can make individualized amendments to the design.

  Behold the finished product:
  
  The wall is actually a soft, pretty green color–the camera flash sort of made it weird.
  
  Here’s part of the work in detail. When I say that “each piece was applied individually,” I mean that the mushrooms in this picture were white stems, white dots, red caps–you fit them all together to make a mushroom. Same with the little monsters–all their facial features and details were put together by hand.
  
  We call the guys in this detail “Horrible Hippos” and “Business Whale.”
  
  This death swing cracks me up.
  
  We decorated the light sockets with some of the extra bits.
  
  Babies love bats.

  Next month, my cousin Sheri moves into her first house. This is a HUGE deal, people. That woman put herself through a doctoral program, is now earning some much deserved dolla-dolla, and has bought herself a real live grown-up house. We’re going to spend a weekend with her in Grand Rapids, MI to help with the move. Shaun can do some lifting and I will wrangle her ferrets and help with unpacking. I can’t wait to see her and celebrate this happy accomplishment.

  What else?

  I joined a book club at work and we’re supposed to be reading Nabokov’s Ada, but I got sucked back into Gravity’s Rainbow (will I EVER finish that book?), so I’ve got to get on with that.

  I also wrapped up my regular yoga class and started a pre-natal yoga class. I really like it and it is neat to be around other pregnant people–none of my friends or colleagues have the preggers. It’s just nice to get to chit chat with other ladies who also have all these random, new things happening to them. It’s also nice because most of the class are new to the mommy train like me, so it feels more sort of like an adventure.

  Shaun and I have also been continuing our three-day-a-week work outs at the park district gym. Plus, the weather is nice enough for us to resume our neighborhood walks. I read somewhere that kids with moms who maintained a regular work-out schedule have a few extra advantages in life. They are more apt to be fit themselves and they score well on tests. I don’t usually take much stock in “findings” like that (too many factors skew it, namely: the fact that fetuses grow up into individuals with individual inclinations and personalities), but it helps to keep me on a rigorous routine. Usually, the thing that kept me on a routine tended to be getting faster, getting stronger, getting lean mean muscle-tone. But the goals are different during vessledom.

  What else has been keeping me occupied? Not sure. Friends, new exhibition at work, going to bed at 9:30 every night.

  I found some random pictures from March on my camera. Want to see?
  
  Rainy walk
  
  A beach day in March.
  
  Snowy sand.
  
  I do, too!
  
  I got some excellent new earrings for my birthday. They are made of the various green currencies of the world. I enjoy them a great deal.
  
  I took a picture of this miserable shulmp bear during my birthday outing to the zoo.
  
  Behold this handsome polar bear! (Bears have always my favorite zoo animal.)
  
  From the Lincoln Park Conservatory.

  Work is going good. Our new exhibition is busy, in no small part to it’s opening coinciding with spring break. We’re all preparing and excited for the Olafur Eliasson show that opens in May. My maternity leave plan is in order and my boss has approved my distribution of labor to the other staff. If all goes well and I am able to work right up to my delivery, I’ll be away for about 7 or 8 weeks. I wish I could go on leave longer—and originally had high hopes of doing so—but it’s just not economically feasible at this point.

  Usually, recovery from a standard, healthy birth is about 6 weeks. Work pays for 30 calendar days of maternity leave, so that’s about 4 weeks of salary. The remaining 2 weeks I get 60% of my pay, thanks to disability insurance. I have to use my paid time off before I can dip into any unpaid time off, which gives me two additional weeks for a total of 8 weeks. Federal law will protect my job for 12 weeks of leave (thanks, FLMA), but they can’t do anything to assist with my income during that time.  Plus, I still need to be getting income for us to keep up with the insurance coverage—playing catch-up with bills like this would be very stressful.

  I’m trying to keep a sunny outlook about the abbreviated maternity leave. I try to forget that my friends in Scotland all get 1 year paid leave, plus job protection. I remind myself that I am much better protected from the horror of the financial crisis/accessible health care crisis than many American mothers-to-be. My workplace is much more accommodating than many in this country. News of the impending baby have been met with support and joy from my bosses and colleagues. Our little family is going to have to get used to a new routine sooner or later and for us: it’s just going to have to be sooner. Plus, sunniest outlook of all: We’ll have a little bundle of snuggle in the fray. Added bonus: I won’t be pregnant anymore! (Not that is is so horrible or anything, but I definitely prefer my normal-lady state.) 

  In other news, next week is going to be pretty excellent:

  * On Tuesday, Shaun and I go to the doctor for the super long 20-week appointment. There, they will take glamor shots of the fetus showing off it’s boy or girl bits. Looking forward to it! 
  * On Friday (Payday! YAY!), I’m going to dinner with colleagues and on Saturday, Shaun and I are taking a Cuban Cooking class (his very delicious birthday present to me).

  Lots to look forward to. And more busy busy to come.
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  What is your favorite animal at the zoo?

  • 10:38 am
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