Mercena’s Due Date (and Welcome Home, Raven)

(Photo above by Zack Robidas.) (Why am I naming days?)

8/23/14, Day, 13,990 (Mercena Day 9): Mercena’s Due Date (and Welcome Home, Raven)

Yup, this was the day that Mercena was scheduled to arrive on the scene, but clearly she had other ideas. We knew that the due date was always just an idea, but of course, I’d planned my life around it, and still have a lot of loose ends at TCG that need to be tied up during my paternity leave.  They tell you that first-time Moms (or primagravidas, as the fancy name goes) usually deliver after their due dates, but not so for us…

Today is also the day Raven, our friends Nell and Chris’ daughter, finally arrived home after coming very early at 28 weeks. We’ve been tracking brave little Raven’s journey on Facebook, and marveling at the courage of these two parents as they navigated the ups and downs of a premature birth and the hospital system. We’re so happy their family is now living under the same roof!

Yesterday also marked the second straight day of busy visits, beginning with our friends (and newlyweds) Shira and Ramon:

The Nana and Opa (grandparents on the Schulenburg side) arrived, with another visit from Aunt Marnie and Uncle Zack. There were so many great moments, including my Mom holding her first grandaughter while wearing a jade necklace that was her mother’s; of trading birth stories and first month stories; of my Dad playing the harmonica and catching Mercena’s brief but devoted attention with the sound.

Then we headed out to the terrace for some cribbage time (photo credit Zack Robidas):

After everyone left at 8pm-ish, Heather and I collapsed asleep, but lo, it could not be. We had our second night in a row of a very awake, very fussy Mercena; and we’re grateful that we’ll have a break from visits today so that we can steal a few more moments to catch up on sleep.

Technique never stands still: it only advances or retreats…

Writing: 125 out of 159 days
Spanish: 116 out of 159 days
Music: 28 out of 64 days

I’m still having a hard time clearing the mental space to write, but hopefully today…

What small things did I do yesterday to help build the Honeycomb?
(And what does it mean to “Help build the honeycomb?”)

• Ate and cooked local, organic, vegetarian food, and used cloth diapers for Mercena;
• Asked the Obama administration to stop the approval of the Round ready pesticide linked to mass monarch butterfly death;
• Asked the Army Corps of Engineers to keep Blair Mountain protected from mountaintop removal;
• Asked my Senators to pass the Protecting America’s Families from Toxic Chemicals Act.