Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Quick Answers

I have an almost finished post addressing Anonymous's excellent questions about babies, law school, and potential career effects, but I can't give it the attention it deserves at the moment- hopefully tonight. For now I want to answer some of the "quick" questions; I'm going to fight the (very strong and almost overwhelming) urge to turn each answer into a long-winded essay, but it's going to be hard and I'm probably going to have to steal candy from the employment office as a reward when I'm done.

The Bar: We get results next Friday the 7th (although the rumor is they usually come out on Thursday afternoon at 2:30). My stomach is already in knots, though I am significantly more nervous about the election results on Tuesday as I would rather fail the Bar than see a McCain/Palin presidency. Next week will be a difficult one for my stomach, I already have Tums on standby.

Breastfeeding: This could of course be a full post, but it won't ever be because I have learned through the reading of other blogs that the internet is never, ever a good place to talk about this unless you did in fact breastfeed for an acceptable amount of time, and even then someone is going to beat you down for some reason or another. But I will answer in short that I do not believe Landon's medical issues had anything to do with his not being breastfed. I've read the studies about breastfeeding and decreased chance of ear infections, but I had five when I was a baby and JP has had hundreds and still has tubes to this day because of malformed Eustachian tubes which the ENT believes Landon has inherited- the kid was doomed. And the reflux happened because he was premature and his stomach valves weren't fully formed. And with the initial feeding tube, breathing trouble, two weeks in the NICU, reflux, digestive issues (also common in premies), fussiness, and general insanity of his first year, I truly cannot imagine the stress I would have been under, both physically and emotionally, had I also been his sole source of food. Both of us feeding him (super expensive hypoallergenic lactose-free) formula was the best thing for our family. I have zero regrets.

Favorite Celebrity: I have to confess that I kind of love all celebrities- well, all the real ones. I've never seen The Hills or a few of the other shows that now have their "stars" gracing the cover of magazines, but if you're an actor, actress, or musician I probably secretly love reading about you and seeing pictures of you dressed up in outfits I either covet or hate. I am also eternally optimistic for all of them and am genuinely sad when it turns out that negative rumors are true (like impending divorces, bad parenting, bad behavior, etc.).

Who does Landon take after? Physically he definitely takes after JP- their toddler pictures look so alike, and now that his eyes have officially turned hazel there's even less of me in him (they stayed blue like mine up until a few months ago). I like to think he inherited his sunny disposition from me and his stubborness comes straight from his dad (well, okay, maybe a little from me too).

Dream Vacation: (I'm making this plural because how can you pick one?) African safari, South American tour, Mediterranean cruise, Australian cross-country tour (with scuba diving), Skiing in Banff (skiing anywhere!!), returning to Europe to show JP my favorite places (especially Germany, Italy, and Greece), China, Israel, Russia, Alaskan glacier cruise... We're hoping to take on the world over the next fifty years, which should be helped by the fact we'll still be in our mid-forties when all our kids are off to college.

Where would I live if I could live anywhere? Internationally: Amsterdam. Domestically: Denver or any biggish ski town in Colorady. Really I'd just love to move around more (yeah I know, this from the girl who hates moving, but I do love being in new places)- I'd love to live on the West Coast for a few years, go back to Chicago for a few more (sometimes I miss it so much it hurts, like this morning when we finally got a taste of fall weather, I nearly cried as it sharply hit me that we really don't live there anymore), and of course someday come right back here to Austin. Unless my family will also relocate to Colorado or Chicago, then we can all live there forever.

Blonde.counsels' offer for Houston dinner/drinks: Absolutely! I'm sure I'll be in Houston for business again soon. I had a trip next week that was canceled, but there's another coming up on November 20th. I'll keep you posted. And I'll definitely show you around Austin should you find yourself here.

Swimming scholarships: To Rj, athletic scholarships are generally an undergrad thing but there's no rule prohibitting you from continuing your eligibility into graduate school should you have any left. You only get four years of active competition eligibilty, all of which JP used up in undergrad. The scholarships are given for a full year the first year and then by semester and are assumed renewable at each term. If you are injured you do generally lose the scholarship; mine continued through my first year even though I quit in November when it became clear my hip surgery did not bring about a full breaststroke-ready recovery and then was not renewed for sophomore year. Luckily I already had a healthy mix of academic and athletic awards, so I just threw myself into applying for more academic money.

Austin litigation: I already wrote "Matt" back personally but yes, the litigators at my firm definitely seem happy :)

Favorite Austin restaurant: For those who know Austin, you know this is a nearly impossible question to answer. The food and restaurant scene here is phenomenal, especially for a city of its size. Our favorite fancy place is Shoreline Grill (it's next to the Four Seasons), we got engaged there and celebrated many other milestones there over the past 7 years. My favorite BBQ is County Line, my favorite cheap tex-mex is El Arroyo ($1 Margaritas on Thursdays, you can't beat it) or Chuy's, my favorite expensive tex-mex is Fonda San Miguel, my favorite steak place is Sullivan's, my favorite fancy Italian is Carmelo's, my favorite breakfast place is Kerbey Lane, and my favorite breakfast tacos come from Red River Cafe, Juan in a Million, or Taco Deli. There's a million more wonderful places, but if we eat out it's almost always for Tex-Mex or breakfast. Mmmmm, now I want a breakfast taco.

And that's all for the quick stuff! Back to my diligence list.

12 comments:

  1. Delightful! I feel like I've seen deep into your soul. :)

    I can't tell you how glad I am that you read gofugyourself! I'm always happy to find another fan. And I'm the same way about celebrities that you are - I always hope the best for them.

    Side note - I love the honesty of your posts. So refreshing.

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  2. I love Kerbey Lane for breakfast. And lunch and dinner too. And I had the same reaction to the cold morning... sadness that I am not in our old town getting ready for winter (although our winters weren't nearly as bad as Chicago's). Fall is a special time.

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  3. Just a quick bit of support - I didn't breastfeed my son either and I'll have you know, he didn't get even a cold until he was 11 months old. Kudos to you for making the decision and sticking to it. I too get very tired of people questioning how I chose to feed my son when he was an infant.

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  4. The part about how you'd rather fail the bar than see a McCain/Palin presidency made me laugh! I completely understand!

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  5. I love it that you talked about breastfeeding or lack thereof. I also did not breastfeed for similar reasons and I also have absolutly no regrets.

    My daughter, Morgan, has had a tough time with ear infections too, and just like you, I do not believe the lack of breastfeeding has anything to do with that.

    Love your blog by the way...our kiddos are very close in age so its fun to keep up and see how you and Landon are doing!

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  6. I love that you would rather fail the bar than see McCain as president- I think I would feel the same way!!!

    I hate that people make moms feel bad for not breastfeeding for the first year! Why are people so passionate about the way other people choose to feed their babies!?!

    You don't have a favorite celebrity? Not even a handful of favorites?

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  7. I am so glad you responded to the breastfeeding question. I almost posted in your comments my own reply to those questions but thought I would wait until you talked about it yourself.

    I was not able to breastfeed either of my children. I tried for eight weeks with each of them but my milk never cmae in. I met with lactation consultants, tried medication, etc, etc. Nope, no milk. So, my daughters have been formula fed since day one.

    My oldest daughter is four and has been to the doctor for sick visits two times in her life- once at 14 months for a bad cold and once at four for an ear infection. She goes to pre-school and is around other children a lot. She catches the normal amount of colds but fights them off in a few days.

    My youngest daughter is two and was not breastfed either. She has been to the doctor one time for a sick visit- for a bad cold.

    I am so tired of moms beating up other moms for not breastfeeding. And to imply that the reason your son had medical problems was due to you choosing not to breastfeed is insulting.

    I love your blog and read along all the time but have not posted until today. I guess those questions stirred me up a bit!

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  8. On the breastfeeding thing--I breastfed my son for almost 14 months, and that whole "it prevents ear infections" story is BUNK, at least for us. My boy had to get tubes at 18 months, after having more than one ear infection a month for a year. I'm not saying that I didn't love breastfeeding for other reasons, and I'm very grateful it worked out so well for us for so long, but you can't believe all the hype.

    But everyone's different--both their preferences, and their body's capabilities (or their child's!), and what you choose to do, for whatever reason, is really no one's business but your own. Anyone who judges other moms for not breastfeeding apparently just cannot comprehend any other perspective but their own. And that's sad.

    As for the election--well, I'm not waiting on bar results, but let's just say I really, really don't want to be depressed for days after this election like I was after the last two. So I hear you!

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  9. I've never commented before, but I laughed at the McCain vs. Bar thing, becuase we, too, are waiting for next week's Bar results (for my husband). And I just happened to blog about it a while back. I'm glad I don't actually get to pick, because I really don't want to relive last summer.

    http://derangednarcissism.blogspot.com/2008/09/this-isnt-political-blog.html

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  11. I'm still laughing about your dream vacation... come on, there have to be a few others you want to take! ;)

    I've been trying to convince PJO that we should take a ski trip on President's day weekend to Tahoe or Mammoth and just bring my mom to watch the baby ... crazy? maybe...
    I can't wait to see pictures of Landon practicing the pizza wedge in a little chubby snow suit!

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  12. I'm so bringing you a memento from your favorite city. What sort of (legal in the U.S.) souvenir would you like?

    Pannenkoeken, here I come! (In 12 days...)

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