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Aug. 6th, 2011 02:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lenora_roseThat long since I posted. Eep! Not that the last DDOS attack on LJ helped any, since I think in the middle of it was the last time I rather wanted to.
And it sounds like the DDOS was again politically motivated, trying to silence dissent in Russia. Which... rargh. How do you even start to discuss that sanely? But it does suggest that, for every 13-year-old blurting out their life, and every Lenora Rose not saying much, there really are things this tool is useful for above and beyond the advantages of community and fanfiction I see.
The fact that I'm technically writing this in Dreamwidth notwithstanding, LJ is still where I get most of my comments and reading (Though I have journals I read on both, the majority on DW - crowdog66 is the biggest exception -- are journals I follow but who don't follow me. I still think of DW as the backup for LJ, in case the political stresses there get big enough to put the kibosh on the whole place. I don't want to have to either lost the text or scramble to save it all last minute.
Anyhow. Life.
Gestation continues. Colin and I have had the serious name discussions and the silly ones, sometimes all in one. Colin doesn't want to name our child Cornelius, but he likes to bring it up. I'm not actually quite as sure about Yorick, though he concedes it doesn't go with Patrick at all. So far I think my only vaguely silly suggestion is Gilead, which I might name a character, but not a baby. But we were having a lot of fun with initials, too (My two loudest objections to Y.H.W.H. were "Too many parents give their kids inflated egos as is." and "OH, god. That puts Yorick back int he running."), and jokes about multiplying his middle names ("We could include all the Prophets! So-and-so Ezekiel Elijah Jeremiah Mohammed ...")
So far, my second choice seems to be the front runner. The only problem I have with this is that my brain keeps trying to imprint my first choice on the baby already.
A part of me has suggested that since Colin doesn't like my first choice as much, we save it to use if something goes badly wrong and we lose him still. (Both the miscarriages ended up with names, though I'm not telling them to anyone but Colin. it's a reasonable grieving mechanism, especially for the one where I KNOW I touched it with my own hands.) But that way the name we both agreed on doesn't end up used, and he still gets a name that says eh was loved.
Yeah. I still have some pretty dreadful anxieties. Even though it's all going well.
We've made it swimming twice this week, too, which is good, both from a bit of back relief (Floatation!) and from exercise perspective.
Which leads me to a positive thing with Colin; he's been going to the gym with R., a friend of ours, most of this week. Some of it is his therapist giving him one more push, part of it is that they've been talking about it for weeks, if not more. He bought the pass during one of our swimming trips (It also gives him access to the pool, so it's only me paying day by day.) I've reminded him not to push it, and I don't think he's been exercising LONG each time, but it's a good start. My only worry is that it might continue to put other exercise forms aside. We've neither of us arched this summer. And September event isn't so far away as that.
I have my own gym thing I've been wanting to do, but for the moment, I decided that trying to figure out an annual pass with maternity in the middle was a bad idea, so I'm hoping to start a month or two after Baby is born, depending on healing, general craziness, and at what point it becomes as much a way to get out of the house for an hour or so and do something adult. I'm also thinking very much that one of the things I'm likely to be asking for at Christmas will be Mom & Baby Aqua classes.
(And there is is again. My brain is mentally substituting name choice #1 on that sentence. Bad Brain. Baby is not named. Husband DOES get input...)
_____________________
My in-laws are away this weekend, down in Morden; possibly returning tonight, possibly as late as Monday, depending on who they get hold of to visit (They weren't done phoning before they left.) Sicne no reno can really happen over the weekend at this point, this makes sense. So the house is suddenly quiet. This... is pleasant to my introvert brain.
My M-i-l is leaving us for home a week Monday. My f-i-l is staying until the renovations are done or near enough for Colin to settle for himself. Since we're still in the phase when other workers are doing the work, he's mostly acting as contractor and contact point, which is no small thing.
The Framers are done. We have the solid wood shape of our extension, including roof. The roofer and the windows are coming this week. HVAC has at least been here to make the first arrangements. Other than that, I believe it's my F-i-l and Colin doing most of the insulation and electrical and drywalling. (Back to "Sunday electricians" and the fact that, yes, I believe when it's inspected, Colin's work will be up to code.) And taking out the still-standing wall to the rest of the house, patching the floor, and putting down whatever flooring we're using. As far as I know, we haven't decided at all on interior paint colours, or flooring on either floor (Not carpet for either,t hat's all I know. And what that does to the carpeting in my study, if they're not putting BACK a wall in the new extension, which we probably aren't, I don't know. But I haven't been asked to move the computer or desk because they're on the "safe" side of the room) We only just finally picked the *siding* colour, and we'll need that rather sooner.
Some setbacks:
Our original framers backed out a week before they said they could start, but gave us an alternate who A) Could start DAYS sooner, which is a plus, B) As far as those who do woodworking could determine, did good solid work we won't have any reason to regret, and C) finished a day earlier than their original estimate. Even though one other day was a half day based on the heat last week. So. 4 1/2 days fee instead of 6. So... I can't really consider that a setback. But it sure felt like it the moment the first set backed out.
Our roofer backed out this last week - though he was supposed to start yesterday. (Even those who think he had a legit point still looked on his behaviour about it as... unimpressive. I wasn't even told he backed out until the next day, though, so I can't swear as to the validity of his reason. But it does strike me as being kind of like backing out on a wedding on the day instead of bringing up the problems at the usually numerous chances beforehand to run away.) We've had some other names recommended, but they may not be able to start as soon as we want.
________________
Writing: I kind of took time off to work on a project that was wholly for fun, but I managed to pull some good progress on Soldier of the Road yesterday.
I rather want to be able to call the book done, and have made a good way into the next, before Baby comes. It's, if nothing else, an obvious deadline...
________________
Just finished Malinda Lo's Ash. It's a good solid YA book, strongly based on Cinderella.
I had a few nitpicks. Her stepmother's motivation in turning her into a servant is never made clear. Did her father legitimately leave them in a pile of debt? It's implied that he might not have, that the real reason for selling property and any further debt is the stepmother spending their wealth on herself and on presenting her daughters as rich and attractive enough to marry. But it's not sure. And it's also not clear whether Ash could, if she stood up for herself in court, make a legitimate complaint of being defrauded. I got this nagging feeling that if anyone looked at inheritance laws and her father's will, she could have done a lot more than just walk away. Now, it's true Ash wouldn't care enough to do so, but it still felt like an unexplored corner. (I grant you, if she knew when she finally walked away that her stepmother wouldn't dare make a fuss, because if she did, **things** would come to light, it might undercut some of the courage of that step.)
Similarly, we nee nothing of her brief life with her stepmother AND her father, or much relation between her and her stepsisters. The only time we see Ana before her father's death, Ash snubs her. We don't see Clara much at all until later. Yes, Ash is absorbed in her own grief, and her stepmother doesn't help, and certainly in the long run, none of her stepfamily treat her well, even the almost-sympathetic Clara. But ... were there overtures on either side? I wanted a bit more flesh on the stepsisters.
I also felt a bit cheated at not actually seeing the fairy world at the end. I can understand why that bit is skipped; Ash has already come to all but the very end of her character arc, as has Sidhean. And we've had glimpses throughout the story. But... a part of me wanted even a few lines, even in retrospect after the fact.
But I liked the story, the writing was solid, Kaisa was an appealing romantic interest, and Sidhean was given more substance, and more legitimate lure than the cold appeal of being a fairy. I am curious about the next book.
And it sounds like the DDOS was again politically motivated, trying to silence dissent in Russia. Which... rargh. How do you even start to discuss that sanely? But it does suggest that, for every 13-year-old blurting out their life, and every Lenora Rose not saying much, there really are things this tool is useful for above and beyond the advantages of community and fanfiction I see.
The fact that I'm technically writing this in Dreamwidth notwithstanding, LJ is still where I get most of my comments and reading (Though I have journals I read on both, the majority on DW - crowdog66 is the biggest exception -- are journals I follow but who don't follow me. I still think of DW as the backup for LJ, in case the political stresses there get big enough to put the kibosh on the whole place. I don't want to have to either lost the text or scramble to save it all last minute.
Anyhow. Life.
Gestation continues. Colin and I have had the serious name discussions and the silly ones, sometimes all in one. Colin doesn't want to name our child Cornelius, but he likes to bring it up. I'm not actually quite as sure about Yorick, though he concedes it doesn't go with Patrick at all. So far I think my only vaguely silly suggestion is Gilead, which I might name a character, but not a baby. But we were having a lot of fun with initials, too (My two loudest objections to Y.H.W.H. were "Too many parents give their kids inflated egos as is." and "OH, god. That puts Yorick back int he running."), and jokes about multiplying his middle names ("We could include all the Prophets! So-and-so Ezekiel Elijah Jeremiah Mohammed ...")
So far, my second choice seems to be the front runner. The only problem I have with this is that my brain keeps trying to imprint my first choice on the baby already.
A part of me has suggested that since Colin doesn't like my first choice as much, we save it to use if something goes badly wrong and we lose him still. (Both the miscarriages ended up with names, though I'm not telling them to anyone but Colin. it's a reasonable grieving mechanism, especially for the one where I KNOW I touched it with my own hands.) But that way the name we both agreed on doesn't end up used, and he still gets a name that says eh was loved.
Yeah. I still have some pretty dreadful anxieties. Even though it's all going well.
We've made it swimming twice this week, too, which is good, both from a bit of back relief (Floatation!) and from exercise perspective.
Which leads me to a positive thing with Colin; he's been going to the gym with R., a friend of ours, most of this week. Some of it is his therapist giving him one more push, part of it is that they've been talking about it for weeks, if not more. He bought the pass during one of our swimming trips (It also gives him access to the pool, so it's only me paying day by day.) I've reminded him not to push it, and I don't think he's been exercising LONG each time, but it's a good start. My only worry is that it might continue to put other exercise forms aside. We've neither of us arched this summer. And September event isn't so far away as that.
I have my own gym thing I've been wanting to do, but for the moment, I decided that trying to figure out an annual pass with maternity in the middle was a bad idea, so I'm hoping to start a month or two after Baby is born, depending on healing, general craziness, and at what point it becomes as much a way to get out of the house for an hour or so and do something adult. I'm also thinking very much that one of the things I'm likely to be asking for at Christmas will be Mom & Baby Aqua classes.
(And there is is again. My brain is mentally substituting name choice #1 on that sentence. Bad Brain. Baby is not named. Husband DOES get input...)
_____________________
My in-laws are away this weekend, down in Morden; possibly returning tonight, possibly as late as Monday, depending on who they get hold of to visit (They weren't done phoning before they left.) Sicne no reno can really happen over the weekend at this point, this makes sense. So the house is suddenly quiet. This... is pleasant to my introvert brain.
My M-i-l is leaving us for home a week Monday. My f-i-l is staying until the renovations are done or near enough for Colin to settle for himself. Since we're still in the phase when other workers are doing the work, he's mostly acting as contractor and contact point, which is no small thing.
The Framers are done. We have the solid wood shape of our extension, including roof. The roofer and the windows are coming this week. HVAC has at least been here to make the first arrangements. Other than that, I believe it's my F-i-l and Colin doing most of the insulation and electrical and drywalling. (Back to "Sunday electricians" and the fact that, yes, I believe when it's inspected, Colin's work will be up to code.) And taking out the still-standing wall to the rest of the house, patching the floor, and putting down whatever flooring we're using. As far as I know, we haven't decided at all on interior paint colours, or flooring on either floor (Not carpet for either,t hat's all I know. And what that does to the carpeting in my study, if they're not putting BACK a wall in the new extension, which we probably aren't, I don't know. But I haven't been asked to move the computer or desk because they're on the "safe" side of the room) We only just finally picked the *siding* colour, and we'll need that rather sooner.
Some setbacks:
Our original framers backed out a week before they said they could start, but gave us an alternate who A) Could start DAYS sooner, which is a plus, B) As far as those who do woodworking could determine, did good solid work we won't have any reason to regret, and C) finished a day earlier than their original estimate. Even though one other day was a half day based on the heat last week. So. 4 1/2 days fee instead of 6. So... I can't really consider that a setback. But it sure felt like it the moment the first set backed out.
Our roofer backed out this last week - though he was supposed to start yesterday. (Even those who think he had a legit point still looked on his behaviour about it as... unimpressive. I wasn't even told he backed out until the next day, though, so I can't swear as to the validity of his reason. But it does strike me as being kind of like backing out on a wedding on the day instead of bringing up the problems at the usually numerous chances beforehand to run away.) We've had some other names recommended, but they may not be able to start as soon as we want.
________________
Writing: I kind of took time off to work on a project that was wholly for fun, but I managed to pull some good progress on Soldier of the Road yesterday.
I rather want to be able to call the book done, and have made a good way into the next, before Baby comes. It's, if nothing else, an obvious deadline...
________________
Just finished Malinda Lo's Ash. It's a good solid YA book, strongly based on Cinderella.
I had a few nitpicks. Her stepmother's motivation in turning her into a servant is never made clear. Did her father legitimately leave them in a pile of debt? It's implied that he might not have, that the real reason for selling property and any further debt is the stepmother spending their wealth on herself and on presenting her daughters as rich and attractive enough to marry. But it's not sure. And it's also not clear whether Ash could, if she stood up for herself in court, make a legitimate complaint of being defrauded. I got this nagging feeling that if anyone looked at inheritance laws and her father's will, she could have done a lot more than just walk away. Now, it's true Ash wouldn't care enough to do so, but it still felt like an unexplored corner. (I grant you, if she knew when she finally walked away that her stepmother wouldn't dare make a fuss, because if she did, **things** would come to light, it might undercut some of the courage of that step.)
Similarly, we nee nothing of her brief life with her stepmother AND her father, or much relation between her and her stepsisters. The only time we see Ana before her father's death, Ash snubs her. We don't see Clara much at all until later. Yes, Ash is absorbed in her own grief, and her stepmother doesn't help, and certainly in the long run, none of her stepfamily treat her well, even the almost-sympathetic Clara. But ... were there overtures on either side? I wanted a bit more flesh on the stepsisters.
I also felt a bit cheated at not actually seeing the fairy world at the end. I can understand why that bit is skipped; Ash has already come to all but the very end of her character arc, as has Sidhean. And we've had glimpses throughout the story. But... a part of me wanted even a few lines, even in retrospect after the fact.
But I liked the story, the writing was solid, Kaisa was an appealing romantic interest, and Sidhean was given more substance, and more legitimate lure than the cold appeal of being a fairy. I am curious about the next book.
