05.06.2010
I’m looking forward to the Babies movie that’s out. It is a documentary following the first year of life of 4 babies from 4 different cultures. VERY, VERY CUTE!!
[This post is out of sequence cause I'm still Internet and blog challenged and just figured out how to post the video instead of the site address.]
05.07.2010
We went out tonight to a place called Cache in Santa Monica and I looked around at the bar/restaurant where we were and I loved the layout and its motif. It was so chic and cool with this great rectangular, mirrored fire pit surrounded by throngs of people as a DJ played awesome music. At one point I turned to Rob and said, “Wow, so this is what a nightlife looks like! I totally forgot.”
Sigh…I might as well have children cause I’ve reached the point where I’m no fun anymore.
(laugh, laugh, chuckle, chuckle….sigh…)
05.05.2010
War changes lives. Not a new concept by any means, but nonetheless, a concept that awoke new perspective tonight inspired by a class discussion tonight.
We were talking about the Vietnam War and my instructor, who’s a young guy at the ripe old age of 27 (makes me feel kinda dumb that someone younger is critiquing me and doling out a grade to me but whatever. Age is a number, I guess). So we’re discussing the Vietnam War and he mentions that his parents knew people who chose to stay in school and eventually got PhD’s because it would keep them in school and they didn’t have to go into the military. Before the draft was in full effect you were apparently exonerated if you were attending college. So people who would’ve otherwise not gone to college or stopped going after a BA kept going so they wouldn’t have to ‘Nam.
It got me thinking about how much life in general takes us on unexpected turns – sort of along the lines of my entry from a few weeks ago about “unexpected detours.” But how so much of this really happens when war breaks out. If WWII never happened, I would’ve most likely never been born cause my grandparents would’ve stayed in Lithuania and my mom would’ve never met my dad (who is not Lithuanian). Or, even better, if my grandparents hadn’t chosen to leave Lithuania at the start of the war then I probably would’ve never been born either.
Our lives unfold before us on a daily basis without us even realizing it. We get involved in our daily routines, problems, issues, etc. that we don’t really reflect on how it is that we got to this very moment. What choices were made in our past, in our parents’ past, our grandparents’ past, etc. that brought us to this exact moment. I do believe in purpose and that everything happens for a reason and it happens when it is supposed to happen, if it even is supposed to happen. It makes me wonder about our future child and, if it’s meant to happen, how the timing of that little person will be just perfect.
05.04.2010
I’m in need of an OB/GYN and I can’t begin to explain how difficult and ridiculous this process has become. It’s become a theatrical production, to say the least.
I’ve gotten several referrals from friends, neighbors, and even on-line but none are in my insurance network. Where I live, there are only 3 doctors within 5 miles that are on my plan. I know I could extend the miles but let’s zoom in on the number 3. In a city of thousands…
I started hating insurance companies back in 1994 when I injured my ankle and went through a nightmare of dealing with them and what they would and would not cover all the while I could not walk and no doctor could figure out what was wrong with me. After multiple x-rays, an MRI, and 2 different doctors who both found my case inconclusive but pumped my ankle with cortisone, I finally found a podiatrist who found a problem (not the problem) and with treatment and $600 orthodics that I had to pay from my own pocket, I was at least able to walk again.
Ladies and gentleman, it should not be this hard. I’m not even going to go into how doctors lack people skills anymore. I’m just focusing on the fact how hard it is to find a doctor/specialist. The issue of “people skills” comes in at a close second.
Rob and I were talking about me going to a gyno to take a fertility test but we were hit with some insurance stupidity (they dropped me w/o telling us cause my primary care physician left his group) and this had caused temporary havoc. But, as a result of a recent MRI for my back, I was given some results today that strongly suggest I go to a gyno as soon as possible and so now the hunt is on and it’s pissing me off. It really should not be this hard and what I’m truly scared of is when it comes time to find a pediatrician. I have only heard horror stories…
05.03.2010
Two articles I’d like to share. One deals with children who are obese and how this increases their risk of being bullied at school.
http://health.yahoo.com/news/healthday/bulliestargetobesekids.html
The other article is about scientists finding a link between children who watch TV at the age of 2 and the (physical) problems they face at the age of 10.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/watchingtvatage2linkedtoahostofproblemsat10
Regarding the 2nd article, the only thing that comes to mind for me is that I never watched TV until I was about 7 years old because we didn’t own a TV until then (and that was only because my sister’s dad and other daughter moved in with us and they needed to learn English). I had major trouble in school by the time I was 10 but, now that I think about it, it probably had more to do with what was going on at home than not watching TV at 2. Anyway, interesting read.
05.02.2010
My plans for today got altered at the last minute and a group of friends and I went to the last day of the “America I Am” exhibit at the Science Center. The exhibit was awesome and I’m so glad that we went. I always feel much more enriched visiting a museum and, when leaving, wonder why I don’t go more often.
The exhibit focused on the imprint that African Americans have had on America taking you from the depths of Africa to the US, how slaves adapted by forming their own culture and religion and how this permeated into American culture. One of the highlights was seeing Prince’s guitar as well as handwritten notes on Marvin Gaye’s compositions!
Anyway, one part of the exhibit really struck me. When you walked out of the dungeon part that was meant to replicate the conditions that Africans were kept in when stripped from their tribes and families and forced to wait for months until ships would come to pick them up and take them to the new worlds, you walked into a room which housed various artifacts of slaves or those pertaining to slaves. There were pieces of furniture, a whip, and even one of the oldest written autobiographies of a very educated African taken from his country and brought over to the States to be a slave. But the item that stuck out the most to me was a child’s doll. It was made by a mother in the 1700s, I believe, who took a black nylon, stuck a disc to give a face, sewed on eyes, nose and mouth with grey thread and the clothes were made out of cotton, I think. I wouldn’t necessarily call the doll cute, at least in the traditional sense of what we perceive dolls to be today, but I could easily envision a little girl taking it with her anywhere she goes because, after all, it was probably one of the few possessions she had. This doll somehow symbolized to me that even in the darkest of the dark the human spirit will always prevail. You may have nothing, but the human being’s will to live is so strong, for the most part, that it will make something out of nothing. A child is still a child regardless of societal status. A child is still going to want to play regardless of societal status. And a parent is still going to want to provide regardless of societal status. I wish that with all the intelligence that the human race supposedly has that we would be able to look beyond the surface of the skin, the face, and the body. When one hurts, we all hurt and it pains me so much knowing that there are parents out there teaching and spreading hate, and many in the name of religion.
I hope that somewhere deep inside her heart, the little girl who played with that doll whose path crossed with mine today, knew that not all people are monsters and that, even hundreds of years after her death, someone like me would come along and smile at the memories that she created with that doll.
05.01.2010
Rob’s cousin’s daughter is turning 13 next week and I had resolved in my head to buy her a cute summer outfit with maybe a nice necklace or a bracelet.
I decided to visit this one kid’s store (or rather, the only store I knew) in Century City that I knew had cute clothes with a nice variety. I was armed with the sizes necessary and once I walked into the store, I immediately could tell that the clothes were going to be too small. This girl for whom I was buying is very tall and thin and is already wearing juniors sizes. So, realizing this, I had to find another store and thought, “How hard can this be?”
I don’t know if it’s the nature of the shopping mall or what, but crap was it hard! I went to Juicy Couture (at first avoiding them cause I operated under the assumption that they sold slutty clothes) but realized that apparently clothes that look like pajamas are in style now. At least, according to this company.
Then I hit J. Crew, my favorite store once before Dawson’s Creek catapulted them to popularity and they ballooned their prices (I used to buy their clothes when they were “catalog only” and you could get a great pair of pants for under $25, thank you), but apparently J. Crew doesn’t believe in juniors sizes. At least, not at this store location.
BCBG, a store that would be my favorite if I could afford it, was, well, like I just said, too expensive, so I didn’t even go in. Plus, I probably would’ve found a pair of shoes that I would want and then get depressed that I couldn’t buy them.
The other choices left were overpriced ones as well like Lucky Brand Jeans, Kate Spade and then some store’s name that I can’t even pronounce and, judging from their store display, was selling slutty clothes.
So…I went to Macy’s. They had a small juniors section and I found a cute outfit for a very reasonable price and there was peace in the world.
But, uh…what the hell? First, let me back up a sec. I always hated fashion and that was mainly because clothes never fit me. My weight is all in my thighs and finding pants, even to this day, is a larger production than I care to admit. So I learned to hate fashion and I learned to hate shopping. It’s a waste of time to me. (Even when I’m at my goal weight.) I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to clothe any child that I have. You have to fight a fashion industry that sells “sex” and “slut” to girls using pieces of synthetic cloth that costs an arm and a leg or you have to go on a serious hunt to find appropriate clothes that don’t break the bank which will put me in an even crankier mood. I wonder if life on a nudist colony would be a viable option for us…
