What's on my mind...

I've been struggling somewhat with blog posts, especially with topics. One of the things I enjoy most about the blogs I read is they have posts are well thought out, insightful, and especially, thought provoking. And I've been trying to emulate this, but I find it really difficult to carve out enough space in my day to sit down and write, think, edit, and rewrite to come up with these types of posts.

However, I've realized that while the blogs I love have these incredibly insightful posts, they also have posts which simply catalog the miscellany of the authors. And you know what? I also enjoy these posts! They are funny and interesting, and create a sense of camaraderie with their readers. I think if I start allowing myself to do these types of posts as well, I will feel less pressure, and it may help my creative process. Then, when I have longer stretches of free time, I can work on the more time consuming posts.

So, here goes with my miscellany post for today. BabyA is seven months old, and doing really well. She has reached an age where she really interacts with us, joining in the little games we play. One of the things I enjoy the most is her anticipation of things. When I count to three before tossing her in the air, she starts smiling at my "One..., Two...," before she even gets tossed. When we play All Around the Garden, she giggles before the tickling even starts. Half the time I don't even get to the end of the rhyme before I start laughing at her giggles. This, truly, is bliss. She has also begun moving from a sitting position to her belly, and doing this on purpose, as opposed to the uncontrolled flailing of earlier months. She is usually in pursuit of a toy, and I know this is just a precursor to crawling, which I'm both looking forward to and dreading.


In topics other than BabyA, I'm finding myself with a little more time on my hands, as BabyA can amuse herself for longer periods of time, and I feel like my brain is stretching after a long case of being figuratively snowed-in with the parenting minutia. I'm starting to feel a longing to focus on other things, and I'm not really sure where to settle that focus. I think I'm going to start looking for an appropriate journal to send my master's thesis to, to see if I can get it published somehow. It would go a long way towards building up my CV and my sense of focus. I'm also thinking I'd like to do some volunteer work for some of the organizations that do work around human trafficking (the topic of my thesis). I'm not sure what kind of things can be done from a distance, but I think I'm going to check into it.

Another project I'm going to begin is going through my grandmother's notes. Just after I had BabyA, my dad gave me a folder full of miscellaneous little notes and stories he'd collected from my grandmother. I'd like to get them typed out and bound into a little book of some kind, for BabyA and her cousins. My grandma is now 82, and getting more frail all the time, so I'd like to get this project done while I can still get some input from her. I'd also like for her to see it. I think I'm going to post a least parts of this project on my blog, so stay tuned!

Anyway, that's all for the day. BabyA is waking from her nap, so my 20 minutes of free time are now up. See you round!!