Random Things (5)

Today I officially start my "maternity leave". I use quotation marks because,  while I am off work to have a baby, I'm hesitant to call it maternity leave. In fact, what it is according to my employer (and many others) is "short-term disability". That's a nice way of putting it, don't you think? And that's just the first 6 weeks. After that, because I work for a big company, they don't have to pay me, they just can't give my job to someone else. This country! Honestly, I still need someone to explain to me why American women are ok with this. We should be marching in the streets!

Anyway, that's not my point. I'm off work now until September, and I'm hoping this baby comes sooner, rather than later, because we don't have much time together before I'll be back at work, crying at my desk.

In honor of baby's impending arrival, I have a random baby thing to share. Something I got at the shower from "the cottage". What, your family cottage doesn't give you presents?

 

It's a blanket knit from scraps found at the cottage. I suspect my mom helped the cottage with this, because I've never noticed that the cottage had hands to do any knitting.

It even has an amazing cottage smell! I wish I could maintain that smell forever - for those days when I miss being at the cottage. It even came with a dried up cottage leaf - to make it even more legit!

Baby is pretty lucky to be born into a family of knitters (his mother not being one of them). Both grandmas and his aunt have already been knitting up some woolly delights for him, as well my BFF's mom. Come fall and winter, he'll be the coziest little bundle in Brooklyn. He'll even get to smell genuine cottage smell before his first visit there.

I said it, I did it

Friends, something big has been accomplished! I have finally finished The GG Project. Well, pretty much at least.

You may remember, back in the summer of 2010 I set out to read all the winners of the Governor General's award for fiction. Now, 3 years later, I'm ready to consider myself done.

One of the winners, The Dark Weaver by Laura Salverson (1937), is impossible to find - and I'm not the only person looking for it! Maybe one day I'll find it - maybe in a junk shop or on eBay or in a library. Maybe you have a copy? Until then, I won't truly be finished, but I'm happy to consider myself finished enough for now.

Also, full disclosure: of the 70+ books that I've read for this - many of which I did not enjoy - there was one title that I absolutely could not get myself through. I debated going back to it, but I can't. I won't. I don't know why it was so difficult, but Dave Godfrey's The New Ancestors (1970) beat me. I hate giving up on books, but this one was impenetrable for me. However, after getting through more than half of it, I am willing to consider it complete in my list.

My favorites? Hard to say, because there are some truly great books on the list, and many classic books. The Sisters Brothers (Patrick DeWitt, 2011), Clara Callan (Richard B. Wright, 2001), Thirty Acres (Ringuet, 1940) were all some surprise favorites. I say surprise because obviously the Atwood, Munro and Ondaatje books on the list would be common favorites. Obviously.

Least faves? That's easy. Besides the impenetrable Godfrey I've already mentioned, The Fall of the Titan (Igor Gouzenko, 1954), The Temptations of Big Bear (Rudy Weibe, 1973) and Such a Long Journey (Rohinton Mistry, 1991) were some low points for me.

And along the way there are many that I've read that are just completely forgettable, their award a total mystery to me.

I'm so, so, soooooo happy to finally be done with this project. I didn't expect it to take 3 years, and I've often thought about giving up on it. But I'm glad I did it, and now I can move on to just reading books I want to read. Good-bye GGs!

Random Things (4)

It feels a bit funny to take a picture of this old camera with my iPhone.

 

This is a Kodak No. 2A Autographic Brownie camera, that once belonged to my grandfather. 

The internet tells me that these cameras were made between 1916 and 1926. I like to imagine that in 2093 or so that my grown grandchildren will be taking photos of my iPhone with their futuristic cameras. By then cameras will probably be embedded in their eyeballs. Quote me on that! I predict the future!

Now I just wish I had some of the photos that it's taken. Oh well.

May Shower

Yesterday, my sister-in-law Shawna kindly, and generously, threw me a baby shower.

She had been organizing this for months - there was honestly more time and planning put into this than into our wedding 4 years ago. It was no easy task for her either, because of my unruly/unfun demands (no stupid games), AND she did it all from Seattle where she lives.

 

My mom came down from Toronto and made all the food for the shin-dig. And true to form for her, she made enough food to feed an army. On the menu: 3 kinds of mini quiches, 3 kinds of sausage rolls, 2 kinds of cinnamon rolls, 2 kinds of cheesecake, a raspberry french toast strata, fruit salad, bagels and lox, cheese and crackers, blueberry muffins and cupcakes (bought, not made). I've probably missed something. 

I originally said no games, but gave into one - that I loved - which was to have guests decorate plain white onesies with fabric markers. Maybe that's not so much a game as it is an activity. Let me present to you, the gallery of onesies:

Clockwise: Thelma, John Mark, Christopher, Lindsay

Clockwise: Ji, Angela, Marie Claire and Mat

Ally Jane, Katie (top), Mike (bottom)

The baby's own father

All together now.

Another detail that I loved is that guests were asked to bring a book for the baby. This poor child - being the child of book people, who read a lot of books and both work in book publishing, and whose friends largely work in book publishing... well, he's going to have a lot of books.

They range from classics from my own childhood, to new classics and favorites of my friends' children.

The winner for best-ever wrapping paper selection goes to my friend Angela:

We also had these adorable favors, but in all the excitement we forgot to hand out most of them out! Oops! Hey, friends: watch your mailbox.

All in all, a big success - a blast to see so many friends, and I'm moved by their generosity and kindness. But now I have all these leftover cupcakes to eat.

Random Things (3)

This is Miles.

Well, not Miles himself, but a portrait of Miles by my brother Tom. Miles is my parents' cat. His full name is Miles "Burritos" Davis Cox. Don't ask.

I love this portrait of Miles because it captures his look of disdain and violence. But that look is deceiving, because Miles is very cuddly. In fact, he is an aggressive cuddler - when he wants you to love him, he will threaten you with claws in your face until you pay attention. Then he will situate himself on or near your head so you can adore him. He knows what he wants. But he looks tough.

The man himself.

We got Miles when he was a couple weeks old, and I was 18. He needed to be bottle fed because he was so young, and I woke up every hour in the night to feed him. And he is an ungrateful little bastard about it.

Until recently, Miles had a sabre tooth that stuck out of his mouth, which made him a big pimp. Unfortunately, it had to be removed and my parents, who are cruel, refused to replace it with a gold tooth as I had recommended.

You may have noticed that the portrait of Miles is quite good, by someone pretty talented. So, here is a bonus, another illustration by my brother: a beaver typing at a typewriter.

Think about that for a minute.

Vision complete

So, I think we are done with the nursery. Just one thing missing...

I could have straightened the rug. But, no.

What's missing? Well, it's not the chair that was in the original vision.

Clare chair from Macy's

No, we decided against the awesome blue chair because there's not really enough room. I still covet that chair though.

But it seems like we have everything else. Prints? check. Furniture? Check. Book ledges? Check.

From The Black Apple on Etsy

It looks like we have everything, except the baby. Well, the human baby at least, we already have Mr. Isambard K. Naqvi, Esq., cat baby.

Look what I did to your couch, and you still love me.

For the next 5 weeks until baby is expected (not a day late or a day early, buddy), we're just going to practice parenthood by pushing this bear around in a stroller like crazy people. Because the cat won't let us put him in it.

This is what normal people do, right?

Random Things (2)

Before he retired, my father traveled a lot for work. When I was a young'un, he would even bring me back some little trinket from his travels. I still have a few of those little souvenirs, including these guys.

I seem to remember that this papier mache cat came from Turkey, although I could be wrong. It was one of the last things he brought back for me, so maybe I was a pre-teen or something.

This brass vermin came from India, and is probably one of the oldest such souvenirs that I have. He also brought one back for my best friend, and she still has it. It's smaller than mine, rightly since she's just some other kid, and not his child.

Sometimes I hold this little brass mouse in my hand, and I think it would make a handy little weapon. Like carrying a roll of pennies or something. I think I could give someone a shiner.