of apples and support

one of my renewed resolutions (because they're always the same, really) is to keep learning to make room for space and activities that are purely for my mental and physical health, because I'm a better wife/mother/worker/friend/human being when I'm not wound up and endlessly tasking. a truth made all the more stark by the addition of a baby into our lives. these spaces/activities include, but are not limited to, the following:

making the most of opportunities to sleep/rest

reading

exercise

eating - not skipping meals or getting into ruts of eating things that aren't good for me

seeing friends and engaging with people

keeping up with my appearance

and volunteering my time and skills where I can, when I'm able.

and, of course, all of these fall behind the main one involving God and His desire to be on my schedule. how bad that sounds to me... fitting God into MY schedule. boo. this creation needs renewed perspective of the Creator.

I've already finished my first book of the year - Beautiful Boy, by David Sheff. I bought it almost a year ago, along with a couple of other books I'm hoping to crack into soon. according to the jacket, it was the best nonfiction book of 2008, and I can certainly understand why. it's a tough book about the descent of a young man into meth addiction, as seen through the eyes of his father. as Nic fell further into the black hole of addiction, Sheff tried to take some kind of control and make sense of what was happening to his son by doing a lot of research, which is educational but frankly interested me less than the actual story of what happened to his family. it's heartbreaking and exasperating, and a really good read for anyone wanting a glimpse into what it's like to deal with addicts, the frustrating nature of treatment for many of them, and the necessity of help and support for families of addicts. I DID find one part of his research interesting - in searching the country to get treatment for Nic, you get the strong sense that Sheff found rehabs and such to be, in many ways, a crapshoot - expensive and tough to quantify/qualify in terms of 'success' or actual, lasting help. I really enjoy true stories - real life experiences can be so compelling. that's why I like documentaries so much, too, though I don't see near as many as I'd probably like.

I've also been to the gym twice in the last week, which is a major step up from 'nothing'. it's also on the list for today! woo-hoo! I'll happily share this little piece of support equipment - yes, equipment - that has made my gym experience fully 80% better:

I never had to really worry about such things before, but we're living in a post-baby world and all things are new. I now have the gray sports bra (Victoria's Secret VSX Sexy Sport) pictured above, and I can't tell you the difference it makes. normally I avoid things with underwires, but this bra is awesome and provides really good support. my attempts at running on the treadmill are no longer painful, plus I just feel generally less sloppy. they're not cheap, but in my opinion it's worth every cent and I'd enthusiastically recommend everyone get one.

here's something guaranteed to make you chuckle. this was our first experience with applesauce. funny, we've given her a bit of banana and the applesauce, and her reactions to both were to make these faces, like they're bitter. I suppose anything tastes crazy after rice cereal, oatmeal, and multigrain/barley cereal (the latter of which is our fave). please note, she's trying to be nice and giving me smiles and things in this video, but a few bites later she was all, 'um, I hate to be rude but really don't want it. AT ALL. stop it. I'm going to clamp my mouth shut against that gross stuff.' this morning's effort was a little more successful, as I mixed just a little of the applesauce into her cereal that she wolfed down. I only tried a little more of straight applesauce at the end, a couple of small bites of which she stoically choked down. we may switch to peas after the three day apple introduction and see how she feels about veggies.