The Skinny

Here it is, the update all (or none) of you have been waiting for.

It's nearly December and that's just the beginning.

1) Lauren is pregnant still, sick still. The one thing she can palate 100% of the time, no questions asked, is Animal Crackers. That's about it. All other foodstuffs swing wildly from the safe-and-desired to the abhorred-and-wretched ends of the pendulum, depending on the minute/hour of each day. She has good days where the deities de vomitus don't visit, but even on said days she feels rotten and is very tired of the nausea.

1a) Super sickness also means the baby is really glued in there and not coming out till it's damn-well ready. This is an amazing, wonderful thing. Sickness sucks, but our little gal/guy is developing A-OK. As of this post she is 11 full weeks along. Baby is about 2 inches long and has real honest-to-goodness arms, legs, eyes, ear(lets), and even fingers/toes. Still looks like a creepy alien manatee, but by God it's OUR creepy alien manatee.

2) I'm coming unraveled. This is related to item number one, above (since I am still searching for how I can be "useful" or even "tolerable" through all the mayhem), and also related to the ongoing dynamics at work. I could go into detail, but in order to keep my current job I'd need to mark this blog as "Draft" and not let you all see it (which is the opposite of my intentions). So for now I'll just make this official statement: Things absolutely must change or I'm going to go bonkers. And not a funny, Animaniacs or Patch Adams sort of bonkers, but a Jack Torrance sort of bonkers with a definitive point of no return (IMDB that name, if you need).

3) It's nearly Christmas. Despite our grandest intentions, Christmas typically turns (and is already beginning to turn) into a stress-fest instead of the family/loved-ones/celebratory-time we really desire. How and why does this happen, and why are we powerless against the forces at work? Bah-humbug, not in relation to the season, but in relation to the obligatory gift-giving.

4) I'm tired, but since it's from riding my bike it's OK. However, this tiredness often leads to an overall grumpy and over-analytical Calvin. A few rest days are in order and on the horizon. I better get rested up before the snow really flies and my new skate skis start screaming at me to be ridden.