Neglect, Sleep, and Some Books

Oh my. It would seem it’s been more than two weeks since I’ve written anything on this poor, neglected blog.

Things have been so crazy here that I’ve had a hard enough time just meeting my weekly post deadline over at VirtousPla.net. I haven’t even been able to comment on as many posts as I’d like, anywhere. I’ve seen so very many good ones lately.

The main reason for my not posting is because Maggie has decided to revert back to newborn behavior and to only sleep (at night or during the day) when someone is holding her. Too bad she doesn’t fit in her baby swing anymore. The somewhat frustrating thing about her not sleeping is that there seems to be no cause for it. The week after she was sick I took her back to the doctor because she wasn’t sleeping, and I was worried she might have an ear infection. No ear infection, and no signs of teeth either (I asked the doctor to check). It seems that she isn’t sleeping because…she isn’t sleeping.

First she was sick, then once the sickness cleared up, this started happening. I normally do some blogging during her naptime, but she has been napping in my lap (and only my lap) for nearly two weeks, so I haven’t been able to swing it. My mother in law babysits Maggie on Wednesdays, but this past week I spent a large chunk of the day doing a painting project in our back foyer, so I did not get a chance to write. Quel domage (too bad).

I apologize friends for leaving you in the lurch for so long!

However, there is hope! The last two nights Maggie slept in her carseat the whole night, only waking once for her paci. Please pray for us all, that our sanity will be restored, and our baby will go to sleep!

I’ve been reading a few books lately and I have to recommend them to you. Now of course, by read, I mean: I’ve started the book, read at least the first chapter and hope to finish it sometime before I die.

1. The Immortal Life of Hendrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. This is a true-story of the woman whose cells have been reproducing in labs for over 50 years. All kinds of medical research and advances have been made using her cells. What’s even more remarkable is that her cells were taken without her permission, and her family did not know about it for about 30 years. It is fascinating.

2. A Year in the World: Journeys of a Passionate Traveler by Frances Mayes. She wrote Under the Tuscan Sun. This book is compiled chapters each about a different part of the world she visited with her husband. I love travel writing. She’s so descriptive, I feel that I’m right there with her, eating tapas and watching flamenco in Sevilla. And let’s face it, reading this book is as close as I’m getting to world traveling any time soon! Now, some of her personal thoughts about so-and-so or some of her little digs at Christianity I can do without, but her descriptions are so beautiful, it makes the book worth it.

Well, I guess that’s actually it on the book front. It seemed like I was reading more than two books because I am moving at a snail’s pace through them. Ah well, c’est la vie.

Friends, again I apologize for neglecting this little blog for so long, and promise to be back with more regularity this week!

A parting shot; the five most wonderful words of the week: