Dispatch from Babyland

Hello from Babyland. Some days I get some reading done.  Some days day I put on makeup.  [Correction: just that one time just that one day.]  Yesterday I managed 15 minutes of a 30 minute workout DVD; I couldn't come up with the other 15 minutes.  I've started pumping in preparation for returning to work, so my time is even more udderly occupied than it was before.  I don't know how mothers of two plus do it. 

Anyway, The Book I Read:

Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story: A Life of David Foster Wallace by D.T. Max.  If you are a fan of DFW, this is a great read - I couldn't put it down.  Followed it up by reading essay collections Both Flesh and Not and Consider the Lobster (in progress).  I don't have the mental stamina for Wallace's fiction right now... or perhaps ever... besides I have a feeling that I may enjoy his essays more than his fiction (something he shares with his friend and STL native Jonathan Franzen).

One passage in particular had resonance for me.  I am one of the lucky people who doesn't think about my body too much; it does pretty much what I ask of it (nothing too strenuous).  How extraordinarily fortunate not to think about aches and pains, or an unresponsive limb, or a numbness, or a wound that won't heal. [Health is the greatest possession/attribute, and so fleeting. Nothing gold can stay.]  However, pregnancy and childbirth reminded me very forcefully what it is to have a body, how it acts unbidden (the growing fetus, labor) and recuperation (the pain and soreness of healing).

From "Federer Both Flesh and Not", Both Flesh and Not by David Foster Wallace on Roger Federer's effortless grace and athleticism:

In other news, I've been back to cooking a bit, trying out recipes from ATK's new Comfort Food Makeovers (verdict: OK but no standouts so far).  Perused Martha Stewart's Meatless but I think I'll pick up The Meat Free Monday Cookbook instead:

via

The recipes are organized by season to take advantage of in-season produce and each week features a breakfast; lunch; side; dinner; dessert; and - ingenious - packed lunch recipe.  The photography is also gorgeous.  And, bonus! kale is not heavily featured.  I know it's a superfood but I just don't like it very much. 

Definitely going to try out these Pinned breakfast items as vetted by Laura. 

In other healthy-ish news, these frozen-then-you-microwave-'em grains are delish: Village Harvest, as are Chobani Bites.  Fig with orange zest?  Fancy.

Have you gone down the Mormon mommy blog rabbit hole?  There's some seriously twee and cute and Instagramagical stuff there, but beware the use of the word 'littles' for 'children'... a usage I find puerile and cannot bear.  (It's sort of like my hatred of Bed Bath & Beyond - as vehement as it is completely undeserved and out-of-nowhere.)  But the overall message of Family First is great.  In general I don't read the blogs of people I don't know, but the feeding of my own little (gritting teeth) has prompted the expansion of Things to Read in Semi-Darkness While Semi-Conscious [now Nat the Fat Rat, whose narrative voice I really enjoy, and Love Taza, where cuteness > substance but if I wanted substance I would read Infinite Jest, no?]

Tried out a sample kit of Paula's Choice skincare and liked it mucho-- I think a full size kit will be my return-to-pre-preg weight reward.  I was planning to order a sample kit but after chatting with the online person to find a non-retinoid containing regimen, they sent one to me for free.  Impressed that toner plus serum plus sunscreen did not feel like A Bunch of Stuff on My Face, and the gel moisturizer was non-shiny.

Something Else That's Awesome: Red Laser.  Scan a bar code or search a term and it will tell you where the item is online and locally- and, importantly- whether it's in stock locally.  Recent searches: "bottle warmer" and "breast warm/cold compresses".  With searches like that mama does not have time or the emotional wherewithal to go to Target AND Walmart.  Thanks Red Laser!

We are sans water at the moment during repair of a shower leak... now the bathroom is covered in a fine dust, no one is wearing masks, and the time to completion is a moving target...

Have a great day, everybody!