weekend wrap-up: dribs and drab.

weekend wrap-up: dribs and drab.

rainy-day
The weather this weekend was gorgeous; the image illustrates my mood.

a big turnout…
Saturday was Donte’s funeral. It was a massive turnout. Everyone was there. I t was supposed to start at 10; I got there early and could barely find a place to sit. By the time the service started, it was standing-room only. People were still coming after it began, and they were forced to stand outside. It was a beautiful service and a beautiful day. It was both the loveliest and saddest thing I’ve ever been to in my life.  Short sentences. What more can I say?

…and a belly to match
I thought I was slick wearing a loose, blousy top to disguise the pregnancy. Black is supposed to be slimming, right? Boy, was I wrong. All weekend my big belly was big news. Read more

weekend wrap-up: bits and bites.

weekend wrap-up: bits and bites.

cc8e2448-1
Bits ‘n’ Bites. My favourite snack as a kid.

weighing in
Yesterday marked the start of my eighth week of pregnancy. According to the pregnancy app, my little one is now about the size of a raspberry, and weighs less than half an ounce.

penny for your thoughts
The boy and I both have a lot going on right now. His recent hernia diagnosis, his impending surgery, this pregnancy and a lack of freelance work coming my way. We’re both stressed and a little testy, but it’s interesting to note how differently we deal with things. He bottles up and boils over, whereas I try not to dwell, because then whatever I’m worried about festers and grows into something much bigger than it is. And he thinks that because I’m not outwardly grumpy (until I’m around him, funny that), it means that I’m not taking things seriously. Worry doesn’t change a damn thing, I told him, so I don’t much care for doing it.

mean but oh, so funny
There’s dog shaming, cat shaming and, really just pet-shaming in general (here and here). However, this one, which is kind of like kid shaming, is the best yet. What started as a blog turned into a viral phenomenon and quickly took off (resonating with parents of toddlers everywhere, no doubt), spawning  this book.

(I could totally see myself doing something like this to my kid. Poor thing).

OT: thoughts on the trayvon martin fiasco
I really haven’t said much about the case over the last few weeks, and now that the verdict has been handed down, I still don’t have much to say. It’s disappointing, but not surprising. It also makes me worry about raising a little boy child in this day and age. If I had a boy, my son would most likely be rather fair-skinned (and perhaps not even immediately recognizable to some as half-black), but there’s a chance he could be closer to brown, like me. And maybe when he’s older, and he’s somewhere, at some time (perhaps the wrong time), something akin to what happened to Trayvon Martin could happen to my him. How would I explain this to a child? Read more

weekend wrap-up: mixed bag.

weekend wrap-up: mixed bag.

Groceries in Brown Paper Bag
Miscellany. This ‘n’ that. You know, just…stuff.

almost 100% positive
I went to see my GP on Thursday. She was surprised to see me, as I just had a physical not too long ago, and last week I’d gone in for a consult on an ingrown hair that had got a little out of control. “You’re back again? What now, girl?”

I told her about the missed period and the positive pregnancy test. “You don’t say?” She exclaimed. Her reaction was like that of a proud aunt. She chattered away excitedly while she filled out the requisition for a blood test and offered an early, but sincere congratulations. Twenty years this woman’s been my doctor. She’s been through a lot with me. As I left her office, lab paperwork in hand, I realized that I’d actually been excited to tell her.

there’s an app for this, natch
I spent the week researching and downloading pregnancy apps. A lot of them are free, and a lot of them are garbage. After loading and deleting several, I settled on the Health & Parenting app, and I think I’ll stick with it. It’s colourful (I’m a magpie), informative and by far the easiest to use. A few simple information inputs, and it calculates things like due dates, and devises a timeline of essential milestones to be aware of. There is a section for mommy (that’s me!), baby, an appointment tracker thingy, tons of infographics and day-by-day illustrations/2D/3D images of the baby at various stages, what it looks like and how big it is. Read more