A Repeat Movie Recommendation

In December, I posted about the movie Shut Up & Sing, a documentary about the Dixie Chicks, which takes place in 2003 after lead singer Natalie Maines made a comment about President Bush that set off a series of events, including CD-crushing rallies, a death threat against Maines, and a downturn in record sales. The film follows the band through the release of their latest album, Taking The Long Way.

Last night, one of the directors of the movie came to school to screen the movie and do a Q&A. It was very interesting and served to re-spark my interest in the film.

One thing I liked about the movie was the exploration of motherhood. Between the three women, they have seven children. Martie Maguire and Emily Robison (who happen to be sisters) each has a set of twins conceived through in-vitro fertilization. Who knew I had so much in common with two Chicks?

Anyway, if you haven't seen the movie and it is no longer playing at a theater near you, you can rent or buy the DVD on February 20 when it is released. I highly recommend it.

Going Public

I’m delighted to tell you that I crossed the 12-week mark today, and that—combined with a successful doctor’s visit this morning—means that we can now go public. So… WE’RE EXPECTING A BABY IN AUGUST! It’s a secret no longer!

When I was trying to get pregnant, going to my ob/gyn was a really difficult experience. All of those pregnant women walking in and out--I used to feel so depressed when I walked out of there. Today I saw those women and realized that I was one of them! I felt great relief--and great sadness, remembering how awful it was. My fertility doctor has a policy that patients aren't allowed to bring their children with them unless it is an emergency. I think that's a great policy. It is so hard to struggle with fertility when there are lots of little children around. I once thought I was going to lose my mind in a shopping mall right after a failed treatment! All those kids...I had to ban myself from the mall for a while.

On another note, so far I really like my new doctor. She is cautious but not freakishly so, and she has great bedside manner. I'll get to meet the other doctor and the nurse practitioner at future visits. If this appointment was any indication, I think I'll like them too.

My Continuing Frustration with Southwest Airlines

I don't fly Southwest Airlines because of their "Customer of Size" travel policy, which requires obese passengers to "buy" the seat next to them. I have an issue with this because it stinks of size discrimination--especially when airline seats are so small anyway. (I understand that people should be able to fly without someone's hip spilling into their seat, but it feels so wrong to be targeting people becasue of their size. It is the last thing that people are allowed to discriminate against.) It's humiliating for the passengers involved, especially since the Southwest representatives make a judgement about whether or not the passenger should buy a second seat without knowing for sure if he or she needs to.

I just read this article on Big Fat Blog about a "Customer of Size" case that almost killed a man who couldn't afford the extra seat. And so my boycott continues...

So Proud of My Husband

As many of you know, my husband, P.C., recently took a job coaching baseball at UCLA. It's his first time back on a college baseball field, and this weekend was opening weekend for the Bruins.

As I watched him standing in the line of players during the National Anthem, I was filled with a lot of pride. So many of us like our jobs, some of us hate our jobs. But very few of us really, really love what we do for a living. P.C. loves coaching baseball. He's living his dream. It's not always perfect, and it's not an easy job (as his 7-day work weeks prove), but in his heart he's doing exactly what he wants to be doing. If only everyone could have jobs they loved as much.

By the way, the Bruins won two out of three games this weekend. So far, so good!

Update

Just an update to let you know that all went well today. We got a new picture of the little one--if you look closely, you can see that it is lying face down with its head to the left of the picture. Or, you just might see a little blob! In any case, if you compare it to the picture from my last post about going to the doctor, you'll notice that it has really grown and is starting to look more human!

So, onward to the new doctor next week!

Speaking of Carly Simon...

"We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them anyway
And I wonder if I'm really with you now
Or just chasing after some finer day
Anticipation, Anticipation
Is making me late
Is keeping me waiting"
--Carly Simon, "Anticipation"

Did you know that there are lots of songs about waiting? For example:

"The waiting is the hardest part."

--Tom Petty, "The Waiting"

"Ya see, in life I know there's lots of grief
But your love is my relief
Tears in my eyes burn
Tears in my eyes burn while I'm waiting
While I'm waiting for my turn."

--Bob Marley, "Waiting in Vain"

"A smile relieves a heart that grieves
Remember what I said
I'm not waiting on a lady
I'm just waiting on a friend"

--The Rolling Stones, "Waiting on a Friend"

In the hours before my doctor's appointments, I find myself singing "The Waiting" by Tom Petty. (In fact, I blogged about this song in an earlier post.) It got me thinking about all the songs that had the word "waiting" in the title. Lyricsplanet.com shows 109 matches, by artists like Dolly Parton ("Will He Be Waiting for Me"), Ozzy Osbourne ("Waiting for Darkness") and The Beatles ("Crying, Waiting, Hoping"). Perhaps I should start singing Ozzy instead of Petty!

Anyway, I write this because, as I mentioned a couple of days ago, tomorrow is my last (hopefully) visit to the fertility doctor and I'm feeling a little anxious. I feel this way everytime I have a doctor's visit scheduled, probably because so much is going on inside my body and I can't see a single thing that is happening. For example, according to the pregnancy calendar on www.ivillage.com:

"By the end of this week [week 10], your baby will have verifiable fingers and toes. The tadpole appearance diminishes as the tail completely disappears. Eyelids fuse and will stay shut until weeks 25 to 27. Both the external ear and upper lip are complete, and the beginnings of external genitalia appear. The average size of your baby-to-be is 27 to 35 millimeters, crown to rump, or 1.06 to 1.38 inches. Your little one weighs in at a hefty four grams! At the end of the eighth week of gestation your little one is no longer an embryo; from now on he or she is refered to as a fetus."

Sometimes I wish I had a camera permanently implanted in my belly so I could watch everything happening!

Anyway, going to the doctor means I get to confirm that all of the craziness going on in my body is proceeding normally, so there is a little bit of anxiousness about that. Of course, my anxiousness is tempered by my positive visualization exercises, so I don't walk around wringing my hands and worrying. (For anyone who's been paying attention, by birthday resolution to stop worrying has been working pretty well. Of course, the kid isn't born yet...) But I do find myself living appointment to appointment, which I understand from my friends is par for the course.

Anyway, please keep us in your thoughts!

Fascinating Songwriters, Part IV

This weekend I was watching "Hangin' With..." on VH1 Classic. This week's guest was Carly Simon. She was promoting her latest album, Into White, a collection of mostly covers and a few original songs. This show really took me back. I hadn't listened to Carly Simon in a long time, and I was reminded of how much I love her music. I discovered Carly Simon when I was in high school. I was the stage manager for the Baltimore Young Dancers' Theatre, and one of their pieces was performed to Carly Simon's "Boys in the Trees." At the age of 16, those lyrics stuck with me:

"I'm home again in my old narrow bed
Where I grew tall and my feet hung over the end
The low beam room with the window looking out
On the soft summer garden
Where the boys grew in the trees

Here I grew guilty
And no one was at fault
Frightened by the power
In every innocent thought
And the silent understanding passing down
From daughter to daughter
Let the boys grow in the trees"

Boys in the Trees is my favorite Carly Simon album, and reminds me so much of my teenage years. One song, "De Bat (Fly in Me Face)" is a whole lot of fun. I used to love singing this song, even though I had no idea what on earth I was singing about:

"Well I come home from a party
And I'm feelin' a little spaced
And I walk on in the kitchen and
A bat fly in me face
Well de bat come down the chimney
You see he wait in the fireplace
When he hear that I'm getting a little snack
De bat fly in me face"

This song smacks of vulnerability now, and yet it has such a fun party beat!

And Carly's more well-known songs have resonated with me as well. How about "Anticipation?"

"We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them anyway
And I wonder if I'm really with you now
Or just chasing after some finer day"

Or what about "That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be," about bad relationships?

"My father sits at night with no lights on
His cigarette glows in the dark
The living room is still
I walk by, no remark
I tiptoe past the master bedroom where
My mother reads her magazines
I hear her call sweet dreams
But I forgot how to dream

But you say it's time we moved in together
And raised a family of our own, you and me
Well, that's the way I've always heard it should be
You want to marry me, we'll marry"

Another sad song of unhappy relationships is "Coming Around Again":

Baby sneezes
Mommy pleases
Daddy breezes in
So good on paper
So romantic
But so bewildering
I know nothing stays the same
But if you're willing to play the game
It's coming around again
So don't mind if I fall apart
There's more room in a broken heart"

This song breaks my heart whenever I hear it...

But they're not all sad. Take "Haven't Got Time for the Pain":

"All those crazy nights
When I cried myself to sleep
Now melodrama never makes me weep anymore
'Cause I haven't got time for the pain
I haven't got room for the pain
I haven't the need for the pain
Not since I've known you"

And then, of course, there's one of Carly Simon's most famous songs, "You're So Vain." Is is about Mick Jagger? James Taylor? Warren Beatty? She'll never tell, but you can judge for yourself by reading all the evidence on the Carly Simon website. (That's where I found the picture above, too.)

Do you have a favorite Carly Simon song?