Dear Lord,

Next Christmas, when I have an infant, please let me get my Xmas shopping done early so that I’m not one of those beleagured women with a screaming kid in the longest line on earth at the last minute.

Please let me find quiet moments in my day when I can catch up on my favorite blogs, or make scones,  or DJ or write fiction.

Please let the bean be healthy. (Actually this is my first prayer, if You’re wondering about the order.)

Please  let C and I be open to who the bean is, so that we may help create this lovely white flower for her little multi-eyed beetle.

Please let me finish my writing project before all this luscious quiet free time goes away.

Wow. They weren’t kidding

when they said “you’ll feel great in the second trimester.”

What an understatement. I don’t feel “great,” I feel amazing. I feel infused by some supernatural force that gives me energy and hope and endless gratitude. I have so much extra energy, I don’t know what to do with myself!

After a long creative dry spell, I picked up a fiction project – let’s call it “Antlerville” – that I’d abandoned a few years ago, and love the characters more than ever. The topic feels more relevent now than ever, too. Taking advantage of jet lag from last week’s NY trip, I’ve spent the last few early mornings jamming on plot, character development, technology research, etc.

My achilles heel in these kinds of things has always been my follow-through, though. Like, I love the thing for the first while, and then some obstacle comes along and I bail on the whole project. I used to get in this cycle all the time, but it started breaking my heart too much, so I quit everything except spinning music.

C is a master at plowing through obstacles. I, much more comfortable in “flow,” am not. Thus, I called a writing coach yesterday to help keep this show on the road. He seems like a smart NY jew – an affable yet extremely articulate guy with a background in psychology – perfect. He happened to have an available appointment tonight, too. Door opens, walk through.

How does work fit into all of this? I decided to do an experiment. If I can leave work @ work for the next 2 weeks, AND make satisfying progress on Antlerville, I will stay there. As an ENFP, I need structure to keep my shit together. But – if this writing coach can provide the structure I need, and/or if I am unable to leave work at work, then I go.

I know this pregnancy thing gets harder. I have to decide where to do the birth, and still must find a midwife and doula. I have all but decided on natural childbirth @ Alta Bates, but need a reality check re: my “high risk” status, since I understand Alta Bates may require more medical-ness than I want now.

But I don’t care about any of that today. I just want to remember this feeling. I wish I could put it in a bottle and sell it. Just in time for the holidays! Or maybe I’d just slip it in the Bush Administration’s water supply. Fa la la. :)

I CAN HAZ MORNING SICKNESS*?

Dear Lord – I have to do a presentation for our board tomorrow.  Please don’t let me puke during this presentation.  Please let T  forget to wear her noxious perfume that will instantly make me puke if  I smell it.

And Lord, while I have your ear, please give me enough energy to exercise.  I see all these younger women pushing strollers, bouncing down Market Street, wearing a size 4. How does this happen? Aren’t you MORE tired after your baby is born?

All I know is that my belly is swelling & my love handles are jigglin and it’s gonna get worse before it gets better.  It’s almost time to call in big guns, Lord.  Hoping you can help a sista out.

Thanks,

b.

P.S. “Morning” sickness!??! Who gave it this name? Someone who obviously never had it.  More like “It lasts so long, you’ll forget what it’s like to not want to puke” sickness.