Lila

Welcome to the World!

Lila Marie Brown
September 27, 2010
7 lbs. 13 oz., 19.5 inches

Waiting for a Lovely Lady

My due date has come and gone. I am finished with work. My little lady has been moving around like crazy, but she's not moving OUT! She's one day late. And I'm beginning to really wonder what she looks like and what it will feel like to hold a newborn again. Please come soon, my lovely lady!

Monday Morning

It's Monday morning and I'm back at work. My maternity leave starts on Thursday. I was hoping that it would start much sooner (like, maybe two weeks ago), but, alas, here I am.

I can't complain though. We had a really fabulous weekend with Benny. We also managed to get more done on the house. For the past three weekends, I've cleaned like crazy. I don't want to have a new baby and a dirty house. My mom reminded me that the baby will probably come on Thursday, just when the house is at its dirtiest. She's probably right. But, if she decides to come today, the laundry will be done, the floors mopped, the furniture dusted, and so on. We put all of the curtains up - even curtains in the basement! Nate said, "Wow, it's really starting to feel like a house!" And the house is looking great. We still have a lot do, but the house is most certainly baby ready.

We spent Saturday at the mall (exchanging curtains and whatnot). I love that we can bring Benny somewhere new and it's like a whole new adventure to him. There were some cars INSIDE the mall and his world was flipped upside down! We had our neighbors over for dinner and went to bed early. Yesterday Benny and I cooked breakfast for Nate and then read books, watched movies, and generally relaxed while Nate washed and waxed both cars.

And now we wait. And wait. And wait. At my appointment on Friday, the doctor mentioned inducement. I wouldn't get induced until absolutely necessary - two weeks after my due date. That means this baby could stay right where she is for another two and a half weeks. I shudder SHUDDER at that thought!

Book Review: The Penelopiad

An amazing thing happened yesterday... Benny and I made a trip to the library. We haven't visited the library all summer. I have no excuse for this other than we were busy all summer working in the house. But that's not really an excuse.

Benny loves the library and so do I. There's a local library within walking distance. It doesn't have the best selection of books, but it does have enough to excite Benny. After I rooted around for awhile, I found some book selections for me. I checked out Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad and Jane Smiley's Good Faith. I am obsessed with Atwood.

I started reading The Penelopiad yesterday when Benny was napping. I was up for a couple of hours last night (a common theme in my life now), so I ended up finishing the book!

The Penelopiad is a version of The Odyssey, but in classic Atwood form, it is told through the eyes of Penelope, Odysseus's wife. I read The Iliad and The Odyssey way back in high school and I don't remember much about them. The closest reference I have is the movie O Brother, Where Art Though? by the glorious Coen Brothers. So, many of Atwood's references were completely lost on me.

However, the always amazing Atwood made the story very accessible for those of us who can't remember what we read last week, much less what we read in high school. The basic gist of the story: Penelope marries Odysseus and moves with him to Ithaca. She is the cousin of Helen of Troy, who is the bane of her existence. When Helen runs off to Troy with Paris, her husband asks Odysseus to help retrieve his wife. Odysseus agrees and thus begins his 20 year Odyssey. Back at home, young Penelope is left with a palace and a son. She is a smart woman, so she learns how to run a palace and farm and attracts the attention of young suitors who want to marry her for her treasures. Since there was little news of Odysseus, they pressured her relentlessly.

Penelope was able to stall her suitors by weaving a death shroud for her father-in-law and taking it apart at night. She recruited 12 maids to help her with this task. Yada yada yada, 10 more years go by and Odysseus finally returns. He kills the hundreds of suitors as well as the 12 maids. The death of the maids weighs heavily on Penelope - even in death.

Atwood tells the story as a modern narrative. Penelope is the narrator 2,000 years later as she resides in Hades. Atwood also includes "chorus" chapters, common to Greek plays, that the maids perform. Although the story is classic Greek and a little confusing with lack of background, Atwood's spin makes it amazing. I could appreciate her writing and now I want to know more about The Odyssey. One of the most amazing chapters was an "anthropological" view of the killings through the eyes of the maids. It was a classic anthropology lecture and I found it quite entertaining.

Atwood is pure genius!