Besides the Pink

Amidst baby shower, work party, birthing classes, and baby room preparing, you'd think my life is all awash in pink. I just want to tell my boys how much I love them though and how studly they are. Tyler's been working hard on basement repairs. The goal is to get Caiden off the couch and back into a room downstairs and then finish the rest up when the baby comes. Here's the HB post-insulation-installation into the walls downstairs.

Then Caiden started football on Saturday and last night was the first practice in full pads. He's been wearing the shoulder pads around the house for a week ever since we picked them up, but here he is in full practice gear (minus the helmet of course).

I love you guys!

Not so "Yummie"

Recently I read 2 articles that really got me thinking. One was about Yummies--that is Young, Urban, Mormons. The other was about black women's marriage rates rapid decline. The marriage article talked about how black women far outnumber black men who have gone to college. It talked about how their marriage partner choices were more limited because men in their demographic didn't meet their standards and though many of them wanted to be married, they are beginning to believe that marriage is only for white people.

I can't help but relate to how this is happening to Mormon women everywhere and that I believe there is a growing chasm between young women in the religion and other members. It seems that more and more young women in the future will be looking for relationships outside of it due to a lack of place for them within. I'm not talking just about marriage prospects or saying any of these women are clamoring for certain authority within the religion, I just don't think they have people to relate to or men their equals to partner with. (Please insert all disclaimers you can possibly imagine here--i.e. fulfilling marriages don't have to be between totally equal partners or matching demographics, etc. etc.--I recognize and value differences).

I was going off on this idea because I consider myself quite modern and extremely independent and because I see a need for change. However, it was when I shut my mouth and looked at my husband that I realized how ridiculous it must all seem when I'm sitting with him at the table, 9 months pregnant, barefoot, with salsa spattered all over my shirt. I am not Young, Urban, Mormon. I am a defender of individuality and independence, but in truth, I am traditional--I want to stay home with my children, I expect my husband to be a leader and role model for my family. But overall, I hope that together we can encourage our children to think for themselves and expect of themselves what they expect of others to have fulfilling and rewarding relationships.

Ode to "the Main"

Having recently moved from downtown Salt Lake City, I rode my bike to my new local library--a county branch. What followed were the most depressing moments of my weekend. The place was a crap-hole, tiny, and I imagined all of the guests there were pedophiles. I couldn't imagine finding a book I wanted to check out there because the selection seemed so small and I feared the books were all crap that I didn't want to read. The librarian reassured me that if they didn't have what I wanted they could certainly get it from another branch. But who goes to the library to only have to go home empty-handed and return on another date? I did however leave empty handed and promptly ordered a new read from Amazon. For now I'm going to keep up a visit to the downtown branch because the atmosphere there is so much more stimulating. Perhaps the library quality in the suburbs is why people don't read as much anymore? I certainly can't afford to buy all of my reading material on Amazon when I go through 3-4 books a month!

So here is a photo tribute to the "Main" library downtown in the city network of libraries. It's where I studied all during my graduate work because there my mind felt more free than in the campus library of plain walls, box rooms, and no windows. It's where I attended arts fests, lectures, went on walks, brought out-of-town visitors to see, browsed books, wrote papers, etc. Sometimes the HB would stop by and say hi to me when we were dating and I had lots of homework to work on. I love walking up the outside stairs and visiting the roof-top gardens. I also love the little children's play areas in the downstairs.

Paternity Envy

Yes I have paternity envy. Not what you'd think it to be exactly, not totally envious that he doesn't have to have swollen feet and difficulty breathing, but envy over his paternity leave. Why is it that I don't get 1 single paid day of leave while my husband gets 12 weeks paid leave? It's because they're giving him a week for every year he's been with the company and he's been there 10. Then, they're giving him 2 additional weeks if he agrees to come in a few times a week and make sure things are going smoothly since he is the only person in his position at work and the place can't quite run without him. As for my own lack of leave, I can only blame myself for switching jobs so often, but I can't help feeling there is something wrong with this picture.

Of course I'm excited for myself to quit working for a while--a few months off is what we've saved up for because I can't bear the thought of leaving my infant in day care so I can go to work. But somehow the HB's 3 month paternity leave still makes me jealous even though it's great for him. The truth is, I want him around to help and to be with me and hopefully we can find time to do some fun things together too during that leave. But with the notion of me not having to head out before him each morning (as it has been for the past 3 years), packing my gym bag the night before, I was imagining many mornings of him getting ready and me dragging him back to bed for some action, some slight protesting from him and then giving in fully to my desires. Of course this can happen while he's on his leave, but not in the same way I'd imagined. So now I just have to adjust the fantasy a bit.

Venetian Blinds Tee

This t-shirt actually has a string you can pull on for ventilation. Why don't they make it in maternity???