asteroid B612

About a month ago, I got a rejection for an abstract I had sent in to a conference. Of all the abstracts I had submitted for this year's conference season, it's the one I most wanted to present at. Some of my "x-super-famous-scholar" heroes will be there, and I wanted a chance to connect with them on a deeper level than grad student groupie, rather a burgeoning peer to take seriously.

Today I got an email from the program committee to say that they've had to redo some aspects of the program, and would I still be willing to be included? Would I!? You bet!!! I am so excited!!! Not only that, they liked my abstract so much that they want to include it on the website. Cool!!!

I had gotten over my initial disappointment. In fact, I had practically forgotten about it, so this offer is just thrilling to me!! Woohooo!!

On Thanksgiving Day morning, we were lying in bed, and I turned to Chris and said "Good morning! happy Thanksgiving! Now we can listen to Christmas music!" He just rolled his eyes.

I love Christmas music. I used to indulge in it whenever I wanted, listening as early as October. But in recent years and a few Madrigals hence, I have to be careful or I'll be completely burnt out by Christmas day. So I've gone back to the old rule of no Christmas music before Thanksgiving.

In college, I had a nice tradition with my friend Joanna, that started our freshman year (and was so pleasant, we made it a tradition). We were usually back from our respective Thanksgiving jaunts (if I went anywhere) by Sunday evening. At which point, we'd gather in one of eachother's rooms, and by the glow of Christmas lights, we'd put on Christmas music, drink hot cocoa, and cut out elaborate snowflakes.

Thanks to Joanna, cutting out snowflakes is one of my favorite holiday activities. These just aren't any snowflakes. It's all in the folding, and it's quite simple to get really spectacular outcomes.

Writing papers is not a favorite holiday activity, but it is one to which I must now turn my attention.

This weekend I came down with a dreadful urinary tract infection. Since it flared up on Saturday, I went to the emergency room Sat. evening so that I could get on an antiobiotic as soon as possible. Of course, at every turn I let them know that I was pregnant so that they could prescribe something pregnancy safe. Since I haven't been to the doctor yet (three and a half more days!), they gave me another pregnancy test just to confirm what I told them. They put it in a baggie and let me keep it as a souvenir. "Congratulations you are pregnant! and Congratulations you do have an infection!" Everyone was really nice and friendly, and I was in and out of there in less than an hour with words of congratulations from all the nurses as I departed. Thankfully, after an extremely painful Saturday night, the antibiotic is working, and I'm beginning to feel a bit better, though not completely so yet.

Last year this time, I was elbow-deep in Thanksgiving preparation: pies, cranberry stuff, pumpkin ravioli, soups, etc. It was grand, and I had a blast. Our house was packed. We ate out on the porch, with light rain in the background (porch is covered, though not on sides) and the warm glow of Christmas lights and candles. It was so fun!!!

We had been making plans for a grand Thanksgiving Fest again this year. But this year has gotten away from us. We are strictly tied to a careful budget (so no throwing multi-course parties for 20 people) and are tired. So we're opting to go to Pensacola for the soothing balm of visiting my great-aunt and uncle there. It is always so relaxing. We don't do much there, but they feed us our favorite food. We do our laundry. Watch the waves lap up from the bay outside their window. And have enjoyable conversation. (Maybe even play dominoes, if I can twist Chris's arm into it.) We always leave their house feeling entirely refreshed.

But it doesn't feel like the holidays. I'm still getting used to the fact that Halloween has come and gone. I feel like I'm in this dark, empty vortex of time. We need holidays to help us mark the time, or at least we've gotten used to this need. I haven't managed to turn on the regularly scheduled holiday compartment in my brain, and time continues to march on leaving me behind and befuddled at the moments of confusion when I resurface in retail world and realize that Christmas is coming. (Oh, but the greenery freshly laid out for one's holiday adornment smells SOOOO good. MOM!!! Can you cut some pine branches and mail them to me?? PLEASE). I've just got to muster enough focus to finish this semester with no incompletes. Is that asking too much?

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Today our neighbor handed me four fish...four WHOLE fresh Red fish. I don't know what to do with these things. It's the whole thing! As in: recently has been swimming in water. It was really nice of him. He told me to just to scrape of the scales, cut off the head, and slice along the belly. :-P I put them in the freezer. HELP!

I am continually astounded at the tremendous amount of Elvis's growth in the first trimester. Two weeks ago he was basically a blob. *Hello, Blob. Are you my baby?*

Now he has a heart and arms and legs and the beginnings of a brain. I hope he's as smart as me. :) I decided that the first CD I'm going to get him is Murray Perahia's recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations. Guess I'll have to wait, though, until he has ears. Gotta figure out when that is.

I'm feeling a little loopy and very sleepy and yucky. But no barfing...(yet?). This apartment hunt has got me down a bit. I'm trying enjoy this process of getting ready for Elvis. This is God's gift to us, and He will provide for it. Apartment hunting, though, isn't the most fun part of getting ready for Elvis, and I'll be glad when it's over. Pregnant Monster has moved into to my closet. I'm trying to be nice to Chris; the Monster freaks him out a bit.

This morning we have been driving around some neighborhoods looking for "For Rent" signs. It's been a fun way to see some of the details of the city. From whole houses leaning at 50 degree angle (I kid you not!) to the exciting colors one finds only the South.
I present to you the winner of today's drive: The Bright Pink!
(It was brighter in real life. The picture doesn't do it justice. By the way, it's not for rent.)

I just bought my first facsimile!!! Woohooo!!!!! This is one of the two sources that my musicology friend suggested to me as he handed me a dissertation topic, and quite fortuitously, it just happened to be incredibly on sale at the University of Chicago Press this fall. It was a real steal, and owning it will save HOURS at the library. I am so excited. This is such a beautiful baby!!!

I'm not sick--a condition that leaves me in utter shock. I feel like I should write, "I'm not sick yet". I live my life through my stomach. I react to everything through my digestion system. This group of organs is very, very sensitive to any stress or changes. So what could be a bigger attack on it than pregnancy??

So I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, highly doubting that I will be one of the lucky few who doesn't barf her way through the first trimester. In the meantime, I'm enjoying my increased appetite. I love being hungry. I get to make yummy meals and eat them, knowing that I'm feeding my baby, too.

The lack of this very significant symptom has thrown me for such a loop that sometimes I doubt the very fact that I'm pregnant. Periodic glances at my positive pregnancy tests (3!) and the calendar with the Missed Monthly Occurence are what I cling to for affirmation.

I also cling to any symptom, rejoicing at the signs my body is giving me that it's making a baby. I am fatigued. Woohoo! I'm tired, but happy. And recently I've noticed how much water my body is zapping. I know I should increase my water intake for pregnancy, but this has always been an abstraction. I don't have good water-drinking habits (which I'm trying to change), so it's easy to get bogged down in the studies and forget to tank up, resulting in dehydration symptoms really fast. I can't believe how much water my body is using!!! Is this kid a fish or what!? I have to keep remembering, though, the kiddo that's less than a quarter of an inch isn't taking all that water...it's a whole body thing. Rejoice! Another sign of life!!

And large scowls and glares if you forget to refill the Britta pitcher.

We have to find a new place to live. It's a little daunting. I wish I could just walk down the street and miraculously bump into the right place (in the perfect location) and for the right price. But I don't think it's going to happen. The perfect time to move is over the holiday break, but that means we need to be looking and finding the place now...right...at the end of the semester. :-P

And then, we have this thing about really wanting to stay in Orleans Parish. Neither of us can stomach the idea of moving out to the 'burbs. If one is going to live down here in the Delta, it's not worth it unless one is living in the coolest city in the Delta, New Orleans. (And by "cool" here I don't mean temperature--it's certainly not that--rather higher potential for poetry.) But maybe a big toe's distance from the parish line will be satisfactory; it certainly would mean cheaper insurance.

I never thought I would be living this far south. The extremes down here are startling. Take Louisiana, for instance. You have New Orleans, the developed suburbia past its prime, and the country. The country this far south scares me a little bit...too many unknowns. I've seen more bugs in the city that I've never seen before in my life. Who knows what's out there in the country? *shudder*

But I digress. For the most part I like living in Louisiana. Still feels like terra incognita in many respects...especially when one has to find a new home.

Since I've been back from AMS, I haven't been coughing. My last major coughing fit was in Seattle just as I was leaving. Perhaps being in the drier climate had irritated it all weekend? Seattle, dry? You ask. Well, drier than New Orleans. It's nice and cool back on the home front.

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. The end of the semester and much that is due looms ominously near, and I am absolutely exhausted. These past two weeks really set me back, and now I have term papers breathing down my neck.

I don't want to complain, because no place is perfect, but the combination of my commute, grad classes that are broken up throughout the week (instead of meeting just once a week in a big chunk, wh. is normal) to accomodate performance schedules, and a lot of tests (what are generals for, after all?!) lead to a semester at my school that gets sucked up quickly by busy work. I feel like I don't have the time necessary to do the kind of term paper writing I would ideally like to do. I throw together a measly 10-12 pager at the end of the semester, when I really need the practice to spend more time and depth with a topic. 'Nough said. Dissertation is around the corner, and I can put this nonsense behind me. Oh for more energy....