She confesses her mental hangups
Monday, Jul 18, 2005
If you walked inside my house right now and saw the mayhem, you’d probably ask, “What do you do all day? Sit around and blog?!” Usually, the writer of this blog is borderline obsessive about a spic-and-span house, and well, let’s just say that Said Blog Writer is a little lax on the housekeeping right now. But she’s a little lax on the writing too (in case you haven’t noticed). Her email box is so full of unanswered mail that every time she opens it up, it asks, “Would you like to archive old items now?” It also has a subtitle that notes, “You should feel really guilty about not answering these.”
Forbid the Auto Archive thing ever happening. I’d never find the mail again. My husband tells me that I need to create folders and stop saving every document and picture to my desktop. You mean there’s another way?! If I saved it somewhere else, it’d be lost forever. Not that you can find anything on a messy desktop anyway, but I could if I ever needed to. CD’s, disks, and USB thingys are just more stuff for the kids to launch with their Lego creations. And forget saving it on the C: drive. I’ve done that before and never found the thing again.
Yes, I’m the wife of a rocket scientist who does software stuff. But, I liken that to being a pastor’s wife or cobbler’s son. Why does everyone expect the pastor’s wife to know lots of theology stuff or the cobbler’s son to have some shoes? It’s the same thing. I can’t say that he hasn’t tried to teach me this stuff, but I have a mental block. Kind of like the mental block he has about emptying his jean pockets of change before tossing it in the laundry. Works both ways.
But I get richer because of his mental block. I’ve made $1.13 already this morning, and I still have two loads to go. He’s great!
Now, I was going to say something here, but I forgot what it was. I wanted to talk about our home improvement projects, book reviews, and some more stuff about family culture last week, but I was too busy laying on the couch eating bon-bons and catching up on the soaps. (If you believe that, consider yourself a new reader.) A big thanks to everyone who helped in the garden and whoever suggested the cranberry juice and club soda for the morning sickness. I don’t think it helps any, but it tastes good.
Speaking of morning sickness (which is what I’m speaking of in the first paragraph), I will do my best over the next several weeks to not be so myopic in my outlook on life. I know life is happening and will continue to go on without me. In all these things—in sickness and in health—the glory of God is always the point. It would be a shame to diminish His glory by wallowing in my plight, not seeking to savor Him in the sometimes painful details of life.
In the first verse of Holy, Holy, Holy, the third line reads, “…merciful and mighty.” I am reminded here that He is the God who looks upon His people with mercy, care, and kindness—all the while, being the Ruler and King over all. His greatness is not diminished by His compassion. He is merciful and mighty. And because this nature, I have hope and so many reasons to be grateful.
19 Comments
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Amy, by the end of 12 weeks of nausea I was always totally surprised to find I was a real person and not an utter slug. It happened every time. It is just so hard to feel good about yourself during those 7-12 weeks and you really do start believing that it will last forever.
Comment by Cindy (July 18, 2005 @ 11:58 am )
I always find my times close to the toilet as a reminder that my works are not what keeps me close to the Lord, but it is the Lord Jesus. When I feel like a slug, who has no drive to be productive because of my “all day sickness” it is the Lord’s humbling reminder to me that He is still the same and it is in Christ that my identity is found, not my home.
Amy, I hope you feel better soon!!
Comment by Stephanie (July 18, 2005 @ 12:19 pm )
Just fyi - The pastor’s wife doesn’t need to know much about theology, but in many circles she is expected to know how to play piano. It’s a weird stereotype, but no worse than expecting you to launch a rocket I suppose…
Comment by rev-ed (July 18, 2005 @ 1:57 pm )
About morning sickness: have you tried fasting? Some say that helps.
Comment by Denise (July 18, 2005 @ 2:43 pm )
I’m feelin’ for ya on the morning sickness stuff. Consider it suffering for the kingdom’s sake! Cause that really is what it is..
Comment by kerri (July 18, 2005 @ 2:58 pm )
Amy - I know what you mean by sluggish:) I haven’t been nearly as sick as the last two times (that was hospitalization kind of sick) so I’m thankful, but I’m still plenty sick and so tired! But soon I’ll be over this part (I pray!) and on to the hauling a big ol’ belly around part:) I gotta say it’s nice knowing I’m not the only one on the couch:)
Comment by Shannon Miller (July 18, 2005 @ 5:57 pm )
Hi again–
I’m glad the cranberry juice-club soda tastes good to you (I’m the one who suggested it). Did you also try decaffeinated Coke over ice? Not as healthy, but it can taste pretty good.
In my own experience (4 kids in 5 1/2 years), nothing “helps”–there are just a few things you can sort-of-stand so you depend on them.
By my fourth pregnancy, I just figured that the sickness was a sure sign that the baby was alive and well. If I had a brief moment of feeling un-nauseated, I would generally panic and think I was about to miscarry.
By the way, I definitely would not suggest fasting. As I progressed through my pregnancies, I learned that it really did help, actually, to force myself to eat even when I thought I couldn’t (small amounts of high protein foods–almonds?–or nectarines and watermelon)–to avoid getting totally empty, which always ended in complete disaster.
God Bless you!
Comment by ruth (July 18, 2005 @ 10:26 pm )
If I neglected to say it before, congratulations on the new one!
Munching crystalized ginger always helped my nausea.
One thing about pregnancy — it is natural to feel introspective and less outwardly oriented. I used to fight it with all my might and hated how placenta brain took over. I eventually learned to embrace it. The broody hen sort of feeling can actually be quite pleasant and it helps you to process the addition of a new life to your life.
Comment by Cheryl (July 18, 2005 @ 11:59 pm )
Amy, somehow I knew you weren’t still hanging out in the garden trying to figure out what the bugs were. You just keep hanging in there. I was healthy as a horse while pregnant and never had morning sickness, so I don’t have words of wisdom (seems like some of them aren’t universal anyway), so I’ll just say again, hang in there. Love ya.
Comment by Paula (July 19, 2005 @ 12:12 am )
“You should feel really guilty about not answering these.”
This Mom of 10 says no you shouldn’t!
BTW neither is the housework.
God has you where He wants you. You rest and pray and nurture that little one. Don’t worry about the blog…it’s not going anywhere.
Comment by Diane (July 19, 2005 @ 8:08 am )
Exceptionally good writing and points on the housework/stuck on couch feeling. I’ll have to re-read this next time it becomes my plight again. And, no, I wouldn’t suggest quitting eating altogether! That protein obsession really does cut down on vomiting. Now the nausea, however, I think we’re stuck with……..
Comment by Lyn (July 19, 2005 @ 10:30 am )
I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your blog.
Comment by Laura (July 19, 2005 @ 4:02 pm )
Just tell that nasty AutoArchive window NEVER to come back.
If you want things archived, you can do it yourself. And with better success. I’ve never had good success with letting Outlook decide what to archive. And the reminder annoys me.
Comment by My Boaz's Ruth (July 20, 2005 @ 6:38 pm )
Poor dear, you listen to all those moms telling you to take it easy. The last thing you want to add to your ‘plate’ is a heaping serving of guilt.
I like the ginger idea for the nausea. I’m having a big block remembering what I did to survive those 1 tri. blues…somehow it’s all a big blur.
Oh, yeah, I’m a missionary’s wife and am pretty good at both theology and playing the piano- but not playing during the first trimester. I have a vague recolection of playing for prayer meeting this last time around and even my husband telling me afterwards that it was kind of pathetic. I wasn’t stupid enough to try to be profound right then either….
Hang in there and God’s blessings for you and yours!
Comment by Cheri (July 21, 2005 @ 3:53 am )
Opps, forgot…You might try asking your dh to make you a special folder that stays on the desktop to use for all your files. Then you don’t have to go digging all around the computer and you’ll still be able to see that adorable picture of the little ones on the wallpaper.:-)
Don’t have any advice on Outlook, that is my dh’s domain….
Comment by Cheri (July 21, 2005 @ 3:58 am )
Rev. Ed, When my husband was a pastor, I played the piano.
Denise, Fasting causes one to vomit bile instead of food, and it’s much better with the latter. Trust me.
Ruth, Haven’t tried the Coke thing this time, but I have in the past. Right now, I’m addicted to my electric ice shaver.
Cheryl, Where would one get crystalized ginger?
To all the other ladies, thanks for your words of wisdom and encouragement.
Comment by Amy (July 21, 2005 @ 9:27 am )
I can completely sympathise… am just getting over it myself.
If things get really bad, head on over to hyperemesis.org. If nothing else, it will make you feel better to read about women who are much, much sicker than you
I’ve had a lot of success this go ’round treating it as a low blood sugar issue, and acting accordingly. No soda or juice, easy on the fruit, lots of protein and complex carbs, even when meat was the last thing I wanted to eat.
Comment by The Mommy Blawger (July 21, 2005 @ 11:23 pm )
My dear husband, an aviation-software programmer in his day-job, calls me the “uncircumcised Philistine” of our computer-lovin’-family. My daughters know more than I do. C-drive, indeed!
And on another note, I just hit a personal laundry money high: I found a $10.00 bill! WAHOO!
(Naturally, everyone thinks it was theirs…HA!…we have RULES, you know!)
Comment by Karen (July 22, 2005 @ 1:12 am )
My wife dropped to 96 pounds with baby #1, down to 83 pounds with #2. #3 was not as bad because of what she learned from #2.
She was so sick with #2 that she could not hold down water. She spent 5 days in the hospital with I.V.’s to receive fluids and was scheduled to receive a feeding tube.
What she did is stop, as much as possible, swallowing her saliva and started spitting it into facial tissues. She carried around a plastic trash bag and box of facial tissues everywhere that she went.
It might seem like a strange idea, but it worked for her.
Comment by Ralph (July 22, 2005 @ 8:05 am )