Monday, September 21, 2009

Back to Reality

Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm really effing lazy.

I have had a pretty big couple of weeks, and I've been really slow getting back into the swing of my regular routine. And since I suck at blogging regularly anyway, obviously you all lose.

So. I was at a wedding a couple weekends ago. I try not to go to weddings, mainly because I hate them (yes I am a horrible person), but this was a friend of mine from university. I was in a pretty cool program and graduated with a very small, very close class. We have since spread ourselves out across the country, so any chance to see my buds and celebrate with them is one I try to grab hold of.

Anyway, two of my former classmates who I got to see were pregnant. One of them, who was nine months along and just about ready to pop, is married and very excited; she has a medical condition where if she gets pregnant after 30, there's a very good chance it could have a drastic (negative) affect on her health. So she is keen to get her family started. The other is only two months along - not showing yet - and while she is also happily married and planning on keeping the baby, her pregnancy was totally unexpected. She just had a baby a year ago (also unplanned). I know that both children will be raised in a loving home and will probably be pretty awesome kids, it's pretty interesting to see how my friend and her husband are handling it. It's kind of awkward, teetering between joyous excitement and oh-god-how-can-we-afford-this. Watching the politics of what I think about/deal with every day play out in the lives of close friends is...interesting, if nothing else. The personal really is political.

I was also kind of ticked because about a month before she must have conceived, I sent them a package of crap for their wedding anniversary and the first baby's birthday, and there were a bunch of condoms in it (I put condoms in every package I send to everyone). Come on guys, I SENT you the condoms! (Seriously, I love you guys).

Anyway....the NEXT weekend, I went to the Omega Institute in upstate New York for a conference: Women + Power: Connecting Across the Generations. It was AWESOME. I met Helen Thomas!! I feel like that's all I need to write about it, but I guess I should also say that I went to a blogging workshop given by the editors of Feministing. It was really helpful and I actually learned a lot, despite the fact that I was overwhelmed about being in the same room as my blogging heroes. I also had a lot of cool conversations throughout the weekend with some pretty bad-ass ladies. Most of them, when they found out I am Canadian, wanted to talk about health care reform. Which is fine by me! Sometimes I forget how different Americans are. It was excellent to explore the comparisons.

Besides Helen Thomas (I met her!!), the coolest lady at the conference was Sakena Yacoobi. Google her. New hero of life.

So, the other thing I need my blog readers to know is that my partner, who is a third year law student, just got word that he has an articling position next summer just outside of Toronto. Which is VERY EXCITING because it means I get to live in Toronto, which means I won't be living in New Brunswick! Woop woop! Obviously not working at the clinic is going to make a difference to the blog, and I'm starting to think about what direction I want to go with it. Exciting changes ahead.

I know this entry was all personal, no clinic, and I apologize. I promise that starting this week, I will be back on track with all your favourite protesters and their crazy shenanigans. After all, this week marks the beginning of 40 Days for Life, which is sure to be fabulous. Mwahahahaha!

To keep it unnecessarily personal...just wanted to say it's been a year since my buddy Brad passed away. Rest in peace, friend.

3 comments:

Cold North Wind said...

Find a clinic in Toronto ! (for work)Is that - possible ???!!!
There will be- almost TOO much to blog about -in Toronto !IMHO

Greg said...

We had friends like that. I think he was briefly unemployed. She was at home, pregnant with their fourth. Things seemed rather hectic, so we asked them if they were planning on capping off the breeding any time soon.

The husband shrugged, "Well, there's nothing you can do ..."

Er ... what? I'll get you a pamphlet.

Bina said...

"Nothing you can do"...other than USE CONDOMS (duh!) or get the snip.

Honestly, how hard is it? An ex-boyfriend's dad got the snip, and he survived. He was sore for a few days, but an icebag in his pants, and lots of Tylenol, took care of that. Relax, fellas, they do leave your testicles in place. All they do is tie off the tubes so no little wigglers can get out. You don't even need a general to get your tube tied (unlike us!)

I really don't understand why any man who's done having kids won't do his part in stopping the baby train. Do they seriously think it's not their job? It takes two, last time I looked...and the man's part is far and away the easier, in every sense.