Thursday, December 02, 2010

The End of Life Outside My House - A Top 10 List

Seems like I am starting to feel a bit better. I have good days and bad days, today I am weepy and feel heavy with disease, but yesterday I felt terrific, and the day before that I walked as far as I have since leaving the hospital, all the way to Ossington from our house, which is at Dundas and Brock. But the days are blurry and there's little difference between one half and the other -- time just stops in a way, even as it moves along. I have lists, I don't finish them. I have things to do, but I don't do them. I have so little energy but as least they are all slowly getting done. No pressure, that's the trick.

1. The Walking Dead is an excellent, and not too, too scary zombie show. My RRHB tried to get us to watch another zombie show, made by the BBC about a Big Brother-esque reality show that gets invaded by the chompers but I couldn't stand it -- it was terrifying. But I like the story they're presenting and the characters in the AMC drama. It's a PVR keeper.

2. I am not ashamed to say, well, actually, I am ashamed and embarrassed, but I've started taping BOTH Oprah and Dr. Oz. Yes, I am that cliched house-frau at the moment. But at least I won't miss J-Franz on Monday and today I learned that willow bark supplements might stop the creaking in my knees. See, useful, even if you're only half watching and half either breastfeeding or trying to get caught up on blogging.

3. There was a time where I watched movies. Now, I watch portions of movies. And haven't seen anything good in weeks. Any suggestions? I miss movies. We have, however, been watching the boxed set of Prime Suspect, and it is excellent. Truly phenomenal. In fact, I half-watch just about everything. Television shows, especially. Often, I fall asleep.

4. I have not finished a cup of tea since the RRBB was born. Or a sentence. Or a blog post in one sitting. Or a household chore. In fact, if I get one thing done a day from my rolling to do list, I feel like I have run a marathon. Time melts when there's no significant difference between day and night. That's not something they tell you when you're pregnant.

5. Law and Order: Los Angeles is a pale, pale, pale, pale replacement for the mothership. The closest you can get these days is Law and Order UK. Hell, it's got Apollo from BSG on it, and Danny Baldwin from Corrie Street, and they are both aces. It doesn't even matter that they're simply reversioning old Mothership episodes for a UK audience. We still watch it every week. It might be my favourite show. Either that or Cougar Town, which I adore. Don't judge.

6. Before I came home from the hospital with the RRBB, we had carpet installed upstairs. It's so cozy and awesome. There are many plusses to having carpet in your bedroom and in the hallway when you walk down after having a shower. But to prepare, my RRHB had to move all of our furniture and all kinds of other life rif-raf from the upstairs. We had friends and family help him, which means our stuff is spread out all over the house. ALL OVER THE HOUSE. I can't find anything. We didn't even know where our camera was (has since been found) so Sue, my nurse in Labour and Delivery at Mt. Sinai, had to take pictures of RRBB's birth. They're great shots. I am glad we have them. But how unprepared is that? The carpet was literally being laid at the same time they were, ahem, putting some gel somewhere to get things started. We just didn't expect him to come so soon. Hence the fact that I have one, that's right ONE, outfit that's fit for more than a walk around the block and it's still maternity clothes. Hopefully doesn't look too, too like I'm still pregnant but I literally have nothing else to wear.

7. Speaking of clothes. I have lost all sense of self respect. These days, a perfectly acceptably outfit for a walk to the grocery store: no bra (don't ask; it's a disaster) or the one nursing bra that I bought from the hospital breast feeding clinic store because I was trapped in the hospital for three weeks; a pair of blue jogging pants, with extra long legs, so I need to TUCK THEM INTO WORK SOCKS; sneakers and a sweatshirt and/or, well, a different sweatshirt.

8. Often, I'll wake up with a terrifically itchy head. Like, I'm convinced I've got lice or we've got bed bugs or a terrible case of dandruff. No. It's none of those things. It's just the fact that I haven't washed my hair in gosh-knows how long, like over a week, and hadn't noticed. Oh, I've had showers. But I can't even seem to remember to wash my hair when I'm under the water and in the tub. IN THE TUB.

9. No more books until I read everything in the house that I haven't read. I am making a promise to myself. So far, it's going well. But Amazon.ca is very hard to resist. VERY.

10. I'll have to say that it's lucky I am breastfeeding. It's definitely combating the prednisone appetite. It's not, however, doing anything for the other side effects for the meds. The puffy face. The hair falling out. The crazy dreams. The weepies. But, for the first time in a long time, I don't have the psychosis. And that's a first. There's a silver lining in every single cloud, right?

10.5 This is my favourite photo of the RRBB we've taken so far.

2 comments:

Alice said...

That photo is absolutely adorable!

I'm trying to get into The Walking Dead, but think I need to sit through a few more episodes. I'd forgotten about the UK zombie show you mentioned - it was actually made by Channel 4 here (who made Big Brother) and used the real BB house and host, Davina McCall, who was turned into a zombie.

I found it all the more enjoyable for that!

Also, your forgetting to wash your hair story just made me laugh very hard. At work. Where my co-workers are now looking at me like I'm a crazy person. I tried to turn it into a cough, but I don't think I fooled anyone.

Heather said...

He's adorable. I remember taking the car seat into the bathroom so I could shower. My sister had a little seat thing that she put her first baby in and put him right in the shower with her.

You have to remember to take time for yourself, even if it's only ten minutes. Get a friend over to do your toe nails for you in a bright colour. It will make you smile every time you see them. Don't be afraid to ask a friend to bring you dinner. It was ages before I could actually make dinner without buring it on the bottom.

Take naps when he naps. most important of anything else, take naps.

Great to hear from you again.

My Boy is Ten

My friend Heather took this photo a couple of weekends ago. We went for a walk in the woods. It was a bit cold at first, neither my boy nor ...